Meditation Mondays
11.17.25
Thought
Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.
– Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
Quote
Leonard Cohen on acceptance::
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to remind myself of the abundance I already have.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
Meditation Mondays
11.10.25
Thought
Compassion distinguishes human presence from all other presence on the earth. The human mind is one of the most gracious gifts of creation, the place where nature gathers at its most intense and intimate. Paradoxically, the human being also has the greatest possibility for intimacy. Compassion is the ability to vitally imagine what it is like to be an other, the force that makes a bridge from the island of one individuality to the island of the other.
– John O'Donohue, The Presence of Compassion
Quote
Alan Watts on being:
“Don’t strive for what should be; celebrate what is.”
Intention of the Day
My intention today is to approach each interaction with warmth and understanding.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
11.3.25
Meditation Mondays
Thought
But the adult is not the highest stage of development. The end of the cycle is that of the independent, clear-minded, all-seeing Child. That is the level known as wisdom. When the Tao Te Ching and other wise books say things like, "Return to the beginning; become a child again," that's what they're referring to. Why do the enlightened seem filled with light and happiness, like children? Why do they sometimes even look and talk like children? Because they are. The wise are Children Who Know. Their minds have been emptied of the countless minute somethings of small learning, and filled with the wisdom of the Great Nothing, the Way of the Universe.
–Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
Quote
Leonardo da Vinci on simplicity:
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to approach today with a sense of wonder and curiosity.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
10.27.25
Meditation Mondays
Thought
Jung, who introduced the concept of psychic energy, also looked at dreams as a flow of events, a sequence of images which represent or visualise a certain flow of energy. That is why in looking at dreams, the lysis, or catastrophe, in which they all generally end, is so important, because that shows where the flow of energy is aiming. In analysis, while I listen to a dream, I always think "and then, and then, and then?" and I keep the end sentence of a dream in mind.
Sometimes people let that peter out, and I say:
"Is that really the end sentence of the dream?"
"Yes, there I woke up" - and then I know that that is as far as the flow of psychic energy went.
We know then where the life stream underneath consciousness is flowing and what it is aiming at, the direction in which it is going. The opening sentence of the dream is important because it shows the present situation, it shows where the dreamer is now in this world of confusion. Then come a sequence of events, and the end sentence gives the direction in which energy is flowing.
– Marie-Louise von Franz, On Divination and Synchronicity
Quote
Marcus Aurelius on presence:
“Do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to give freely of my time, energy, or encouragement to others.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
10.20.25
Meditation Mondays
Thought
The sense impression I have of green exists only because of me, I am its bearer. It seems absurd to us that a pain, a mood, a wish should rove about the world without a bearer, independently. An experience is impossible without an experient. The inner world presupposes the person whose inner world it is.
– Gottlob Frege, The Thought: A Logical Inquiry.
Quote
Carl Sagan on interconnectedness:
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to look for ways to brighten someone’s day.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
10.13.25
Meditation Mondays
Thought
“A leader is best
When people barely know he exists
Of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will say, “We did this ourselves.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Quote
Eckhart Tolle on surrender:
“Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to approach my tasks with clarity and purpose.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
10.6.25
Meditation Mondays
Thought
The Wu Wei principle underlying Tai Chi Ch'üan can be understood by striking at a piece of cork floating in water. The harder you hit it, the more it yields; the more it yields, the harder it bounces back. Without expending energy, the cork can easily wear you out. So, Wu Wei overcomes force by neutralizing its power, rather than by adding to the conflict. With other approaches, you may fight fire with fire, but with Wu Wei, you fight fire with water.
–Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
Quote
Robert Brault on simplicity:
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to focus on what truly matters today and let go of distractions.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val
9.29.25
Meditation Mondays
Thought
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. Everything can be taken from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.
– Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
Quote
Lao Tzu on acceptance:
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
Intention of the Day
My intention is to appreciate the efforts of others and celebrate their successes.
What’s your intention today?
Happy Monday,
Val