Today is Day One of our 10-Day Jewish Mindfulness Challenge.
Welcome!
Here’s how it will work:
When you sign up for the challenge, you will receive an email from me each morning for ten days, as a reminder to meditate or practice mindfulness. Each day I will recommend a kavannah or guidance for the day and a few questions.
Every email will also contain a poem that expresses an element of mindfulness and a photo that showcases beauty. Hopefully, there will be something each day to inspire you.
The whole idea here is to begin to develop a practice.
It helps a lot, when developing a new habit, to have other people who are also working on the goal. And the hope is that your practice will bleed into your day. If you can be still for a few minutes a day, you will create more stillness in your life.
You can join the discussion for each day in our Path with Heart Facebook group or chat with our group in the free Insight Timer app!
What is Jewish Mindfulness?
Judaism is, at its very root, all about being mindful. Woven through our tradition is the message to pay attention to the present moment, notice and acknowledge beauty, and practice gratitude.
For example, we have a panoply of blessings that remind us to: Stop. Notice. Be Grateful. Shabbat itself is 25 hours of mindfulness once every week. The core of Shabbat is to appreciate what is. It’s about be-ing, not do-ing. You can also practice the principle of stopping outside of Shabbat!
There are multiple ways to bring Jewish mindfulness into your day. One of these is with sitting or walking meditation. There are many others, some of which I will suggest during this challenge.
Meditations
There is much to be said for a regular period of stillness and quiet each day. If you are a beginner, you can start slowly by sitting for 5 minutes and gradually build up to more time. If sitting is not your thing, you can do a walking meditation because the principles are the same.
I’ve created several guided meditations for you. Each is about 10-14 minutes long, although you can also choose to sit for longer.
Please see the Resources section for the meditations. You can also use the free meditation app Insight Timer and find guided meditations to last a lifetime, or simply use their timer to set the amount of time you’d like to meditate.
Many blessings to you. May these practices add stillness and awareness to your day and your life.
Rabbi Jill Zimmerman
Day One
Day One Guidance: Setting an Intention (Kavannah)
Today’s guidance is about setting an intention. The Hebrew word for intention is kavannah. It also means “setting a direction of your heart.” In Jewish mysticism, when we set a kavannah, we also engage levels of consciousness that can bring us closer to the Divine. Our personal kavannah mingles with the energy and unity of the universe.
A kavannah can be simple like “May I bring my full presence to this meditation.” It can also be, as Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk offers: “I am doing this for the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be God, and the Shechinah, in order to bring pleasure to God.” Another example of an intention is: I intend to learn to be more self-accepting or May I learn to take three mindful breaths when I am triggered, emotionally.
Remember the principle of teshuvah – that I talked about in the Sunday workshop. When you stray from your kavannah, you simply return, again and again to your intention. For example, if your intention is to practice gratitude, and you notice that you find yourself being overly critical, come back to your intention. Always practice teshuvah with kindness for yourself, because it is a natural human thing to be distracted.
Today:
- Set an overall kavannah for this 10-Day Challenge. What is it you most desire from the practices over the next ten days? What do you want your attitude to be? Write down your intention. Decide what time of day you will set aside and put it in your calendar.
- Do one mindfulness practice today:
- Sit/meditate for 5-10 minutes. Set a timer. Set an intention or focus for your practice, such as your breath, or sounds.
- Another suggested mindfulness practice is: Take a slow walk outside. Set an intention before you go, such as noticing beauty or shades of green, or the signs of late winter/early spring.
- After you practice, re-visit your intention and see if you can extend it throughout the day. Fill out the Mindfulness Challenge Worksheet in the Resources section below.
- Go to the Day 1 post in the Facebook group or the chat in our group in the free Insight Timer app and share your experience.
- Congratulate yourself on completing Day 1!
Today’s Mindfulness Poem
Wake Up
On the radio this morning
they played something truly
remarkable—the sound of unknown
birds around the world awakening
to first light, starting in the east at dawn,
going west—hoots, howls, warbles,
then riffs and trills as another
contingent, another continent woke
up, until I could feel earth itself
turning with its brocade and bristle
of trees and music, that strange
and lovely communion of birds.
I wished and failed to name them.
Miffed, I let other thoughts jump in—
What were they doing? Why were they
singing? For mates, for space, for joy?
I heard only myself, my mind a darting
squirrel making a din, while the dawning
music slowly died. Maybe it’s time to listen.
To think sunrise, birds, trees, earthturn.
To sing a little song at daybreak.
Resources
Lovingkindness (Chesed) Meditation
Mindfulness Challenge Worksheet
Path With Heart Facebook Group
Leave a Reply