MaW session of 27th July

Today's mindfulness practice was a bodyscan and Adrienne introduced it with this poem:

Between

by Bev Schofield

What is the heartbeat without the silence 

between the thudding pump of our life organ? 

What is day if there is no night into which it can dawn? 

What is spring if there be no winter out of which to bud,

and what is winter’s respite without summer’s

punishing expectation of achievement?

Rest now, in the place that you thought was dark;

in the silence where you feared the heart 

would never beat again. Heal

in the spaces between your breaths. 

Embrace the exquisite stillness of that quiet 

till you care no more what’s to be done with the breath to come

nor what was said by the breath before.

Bev offered several writing prompts inspired by the poem "These Days" by Giovanna McKenna:

waiting

waiting quietly

moving silently invisible

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And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

inspired by ‘These Days’ by Giovanna Mackenna

by Kay Ritche

 

like waiting for Godot

I topple off the edge of each day

burn up dead time

return with the night

to blackbird blues which

croon a crease into the boredom &

wait   a burstingness in my heart for

what will be

untitled

by Bex Woodsford

So just wait

      still silent sitting

Not twisting

       Not turning

Body breathing

        surrounded by space

Expanding to embrace

         the chance of a new possibility 

Not a race

          No striving

And new steps may emerge in the dance

Moving silently, invisible

by Candyce Reynolds

 

Walking the streets,

I am barely noticed

Or so it seems

 

My mind, which is still young and pert thinks..

I must move silently

Not heard, so not seen

 

The truth I know

is within me

It is

My body

It registers a void --

Invisible, Invisible

Grey hair transparent; my creases fold onto each other

Nothing there to respond to

 

I worry that my gaze will start to mimic theirs

That I’ll become more and more see-through,

Quieter, smaller

Eventually impossible to be seen or heard

 

I want to jump up and down, yell and push them

To be noticed

To be notable like I used to be

A head nod in passing

Perhaps a hello

That’s all I ask.

 

I want to remind them:

Grey is a color and creases have dimensions

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Amber: Hello, sorry that I'm late! Very happy to be here.

Catherine: I am sitting in a park with children so will keep audio and camera mainly of as on holiday

Kay: as always   wonderful thanks adrienne

Kay: lovely to see you catrice

Joyce: that was fabulous Adrienne thankyou xxx

Karen: Sorry I haven’t been able to participate properly- I’ll take the theme and write something later. Visitors still here…

Bev: No prob Karen

Catrice: Here listening today. Camera off.

Nichole: Lovely Bex

Catrice: Beautiful

Joyce Nicholson: I love I gap the mind

Giovanna: “that period when you are arriving somewhere but still elsewhere”

Annan: Yes!

Giovanna: “my creases fold on to each toher

Nichole: Wonderful Candice

Giovanna: each other” “I am not invisibel”

Candyce Reynolds: thanks

Giovanna: “where has the ground gone? / where is my next breath?”

Nichole: Thank you Giovanna, that was  so moving

Joyce Nicholson: amazing Giovanna thank you

Giovanna: thank you ❤️

Nichole: Beautiful and powerful Amber, thank you.

Giovanna: “I lived through the mess / the political unrest” “for friends on the edge of hope / and for those who’ve already chosen to leave us”

Bex Woodsford: So powerful

Giovanna: I loved that Amber, and maybe it’s my poet’s mind but it certainly felt like poetry to me. I’d love to read it again

Doreen Kelly: I agree

Giovanna: “golden fresh dampness / the joy of petals up-stretched” “intentfully making space”

Nichole: Thank you

Giovanna: Thank you Bev, Adrienne and everyone, I feel so lifted for being with you all tonight

Doreen Kelly: Thanks. Night night,

Kay: thankyou thankyou thankyou

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners

MaW session 20th July 2021

Course 2 started with a remarkable session that brought all the reassurance and connectedness of the Mindfulness and Writing "room".

Adrienne introduced her Mindfulness with the Support of Breath practice with a poerelatively new piece by John O’Donohue: The invitation to friendship with Nature

Bev took a writing prompt from "The Journey" by David Whyte:

the one line already written inside you

or

you are not leaving, you are arriving 

*******************************************************************

And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

by Kath Higgens

“…the one line already written inside you” David Whyte, The Journey

I have tasted a wedge of freedom

and now am ravenous for more.

What does it mean to come to the open page

as to the ocean –

full of swell

ready to carry me away?

What do the poets mean when they say

let the poem lead you, let new discoveries

surface from the seabed –

or no, not even from there –

maybe from the fluffy, swirling, whitish foam

whose flecks glance off the incoming wave –

something hanging in the air

that wants to emerge into being,

that you didn’t know was waiting there?

For this I give myself to the discipline of the page –

the quest to bring to the dazzling light

the one line already written inside me

by Doreen Kelly

The one line already written inside you is not about judgement. Not about right and wrong. And not about similar or different. Search for that one line while throwing away judgements. Unburden yourself of all unneeded past criticism. Shame has no place in this search for that golden first line. You are not meant to find the one line written gently inside your core as a leaving gift, as a revelation at the end of it all. 

No you are arriving and if you listen well enough that silken line will whisper out from within you as you arrive at the starting line. The trick then is not to be distracted by those trying to carve themselves on to you. By all means build on the solid foundation within you but do not allow those hammers and chisels anywhere near the one line already written inside you.

Inspired by David Whyte’s ‘The Journey’

by Kay Ritchie

 

there were no sharp edges to her voice

she took words into her mouth to warm

then Kay she’d say & it was the bonniest sound

which took the edge off guddled-up emotions &

still I find her lines

written on my heart

in perfect copperplate

encouragement   advice   support

but what I’d give just to hear her

say my name

one more time

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Kay: thanks Adrienne   have missed your sessions  kx: really beautiful, thank you Catrice

Catrice: Thank you, everyone!  Very kind.

Janey: Absolutely beautiful Catrice. Really moved me

Catrice: So sorry Cath.  Sending you love from USA.

Nichole: so sorry you’re going through that, Cath. thank you for sharing your pain, beautiful words xx

Janey: Cath , thank you for sharing which I know must be painful

Joyce: sending love to you Cath xxx

Nichole: gorgeous Kay, thank you so much

Catrice: Remarkable Kay!!!!

Britt: 'a love lead life'....

Nichole: wonderful Joyce, in the beautiful dharma

Nichole: thank you Helen, so moving

Nichole: really powerful Doreen, thank you

Kath: thank you Nicole. Courageous.

Catrice: Might be buried, but it’s not dead. — Good line Nichole!

Nichole: Thank you :-)

Karen: thankyou so much for your lovely comments and for making me so welcome. x

Catrice: Masterful, Sally.  You master brevity and depth so well.

Janey: That was wonderful Sally

Joyce: sally you are amazing xxx

Catrice: “But yet there is Fatih in these boughs and branches”. — Lovely, Brit!

Catrice: *Britt

Nichole: Thank you so much, Britt. Such beautiful imagery. Gorgeous reminders of nature and life. Love x

Catrice: So vivid.

Nichole: Thank you xx

Karen: have a wonderful week

Catrice: Thank you.

Kay: thankyou bev and adrienne   wonderful to be back with everyone   x

Joyce: fabulous,  moving and inspiring  xxxx

Y: Thank you for such a beautiful evening. Ps. I love the evening session. I was awake lol xxx

Jan: Thanks everyone

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners

MaW session 19th June 2021

A great again today - Adrienne introduced her Loving Kindness practice with a quote from Albert Einstein:

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

Bev took a writing prompt from the poem

LIFE IS THE POEM

by Kay Carmichael

          He continues quick and dull in his clear images; 

          I continue slow and sharp in my broken images. 

          ...

          He in a new confusion of his understanding; 

          I in a new understanding of my confusion.            Robert Graves

to try is a mistake

it is better

to wander through paths of uncertainty

to taste surreptitiously

to smell the faint perfume 

of unorthodoxy

to savour an error

time stretches and contracts

to meet our longings

not to wrap in plastic

the thoughts that conflict

new understanding of my confusion 

Kay shared a link with us:

Poetry and Settled Status for All - a Call for Submissions

*******************************************************************

And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

‘New Confusion of My Understanding’

by Judith Boardman

I thought I understood, had it all clear in my mind – the past, the present, the future, a linear explanation. Persistently looking back at past mistakes, regrets, missed opportunities. Hoping that the future would be different, that what I had learnt would influence decisions and actions to come. I barely noticed the here and now, my breathing, my feet on this solid earth; hardly took heed of this precious moment. But now my understanding of has been shaken. As the snow globe fragments settle, I’m coming to realise that now is all that matters, all there really is. Time does not exist. Is this confusion? Am I throwing up into the air all that I felt sure of, everything that once seemed clear? No, not confusion, but a fresh clarity and perspective on what is important. Focus on now, it is the only reality we have. The dwelling on the past is what brings confusion, along with the anxiety of what is to come in these uncertain times. Be present, it’s enough.

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Jules: It's sunny and breezy in west Wales..

Kay: can't believe this is the last    these meditations have given me so much strength these last few weeks   thankyou so much  kx

Jules: I'm sorry Einstein but . I cannot embrace the bluebottle that bombarded me all through that. The equivalent of a jet ski with wings bouncing off every surface...

Beccy: :D

Jules: Love it Beccy!

Hilaire _: That was profound Adrienne, thank you!

nicholevilleneuve: I have to leave early today, sorry I’ll miss the last of the writing. Thanks very much for the opportunity to be involved in the past 6 weeks of wonderful mindfulness and writing. Very best wishes to 

Bev: (prompt) new understanding of my confusion

Kath: Mark Nepo

clairebolger: I like the comparison of being able to live with uncertainty because we embrace uncertainty in the act of writing a poem. Thanks Kath.

Beccy: powerful and I could feel myself there

Beccy: great metaphor for life!

Kath: Wonderful, Beccy!

Kath: sharp-tongued/long grass - love it

Judith: I liked the 'go through the thorny bush not around it' - good advice

Jules: Wonderfully powerful Catrice..

Jules: Wow Calire!

Beccy: I love how it captures this big idea in just a few lines

Jules: remembering only what we need to say..

Beccy: love that - a good reminder that it is all a gift

Helen: thanku everyone for sharing this space and time.

Judith: Thank you for letting me share this time with you. I have been humbled and overwhelmed by your wonderful words.

Catrice: Thank you.

Louise: To Adrienne and Bev, and all here in our connected kindness  - thank you for these sessions. A calm inspiring wholeness amongst my whirlings.

Kay: thankyou bev Adrienne and everyone    hope to see you all again soon    kx

Kath: I have loved all your smiling faces and affirmations, making this such a safe space. Thanks to everyone of you!

Sheila: Thank you everyone this has gladdened my heart ❤️

Beccy: Thank you - I've grown fond of all your faces so quickly x

Angie: Thank you for a wonderful session. Have a wonderful weekend. xx

Fenella: for me, the mindfulness is an essential component as it frees the mind to do the unexpected, for good or not!

Helen: thanku to Bev and Adrienne for providing such a special safe plavce

Jules: Thankyou I hope to join in some more morning sessions. And would like to be able to connect with all the wonderful women here

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners

MaW session 12th June 2021

Another powerful session: Adrienne introduced her Mindfulness with the support of Sound practice with 

The Sound of the Sea

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep,

  And round the pebbly beaches far and wide

  I heard the first wave of the rising tide

  Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep;

A voice out of the silence of the deep,

  A sound mysteriously multiplied

  As of a cataract from the mountain's side,

  Or roar of winds upon a wooded steep.

So comes to us at times, from the unknown

  And inaccessible solitudes of being,

  The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul;

And inspirations, that we deem our own,

  Are some divine foreshadowing and foreseeing

  Of things beyond our reason or control. 

Bev offered two possible writing prompts from the poem Summer Farm by Norman MacCaig

with metaphysic hand I lift the lid and see

or

a hen stares at nothing with one eye

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And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

With metaphysic hand I lift the lid…

by Claire Bolger

With metaphysic hand I lift the lid and see memories of others calling out to me. They got deposited there over time, many footfalls on stairs, bringing their offerings to the attic of my mind. Left there for safe keeping. A sanctuary of sorts. I play them back through me when I walk the sands of my time. Take in the sea as it pushes at my toes and listen. I go deeper in, let it bathe me, paddling all the way to the end of the line. And there I see another creature like me on the sand. Seal eyes that are open to the depths.

Inspired by Norman McCaig, from Summer Farm

by Beccy Golding

“A hen stares at nothing with one eye”

… but with the other it examines the ground for seeds and grit that will help it grow shells to form around the eggs it will hatch. Our pet hen, Cassie, would sometimes lay eggs with soft shells, held together by the inner sac, surface tension just holding, like a pond with water boatmen skating. She’d lay double yolks too sometimes, and race us to the back door when we opened her run – racing to the dog food in the kitchen. Sometimes I’d hold a half bitten Malteser between my teeth and she’d peck at the honeycomb. Peck, peck, gauging her peck with one eye, still accurate, and one eye staring at nothing, or something, the blue of the sky before it falls in, the missile, the meteor, the comet, ready to cluck and scrabble, the same way she did – she could never contain herself – the same way she would announce an egg she had laid, and I would wonder, if ever she could keep a secret, maybe she could brood her egg and hatch it, maybe there would be a chick. But she was not a secret keeper, proclaiming her eggs, dashing for doors, pecking for food. As a chick we kept her in a kitchen drawer with a layer of newspaper, and even when she had a garden to scrabble in she’d run to a newspaper and scuff and peck the newsprint. Maybe she was reading all the news that was in the world, with one eye down and one eye to the sky.

untitled

by Kath Higgens

Afraid of where a thought might take me

I sink down into my body

ably guided by a gentle voice.

How good it feels to have a companion

in this dark and lonely place.

I hear the starlings scrabbling on the tin roof,

I look out afar at mountains, still and stately.

How much safer it is to stay with these

sounds and sights that save me from my thoughts.

Remember, I tell myself, with all the compassion I can  muster,

to return again and again over the next hours

to this safe place, this body, this sensate location – 

afraid of where a thought might take me

a hen stares at nothing (after Norman MacCaig)

by Hilaire

her egg coddling inside her

not yet ready to enter the world

the jelly shell trembling towards crisp solidity

albumen and yolk still considering

their yin and yang relationship

mother hen withholding her cluck

paused in her sifting for food

as a sunbeam lights on a likely patch

for settling

for puffing of feathers

and laying of plans.

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Kay: thankyou me   thankyou Adrienne   thankyou everyone

Kay: perfect

Joyce: thank you Adrienne  -  you are wonderful xxx

Jules: Lovely and soothing Adrienne...

Kath: thank you to our two wonderful facilitators

Adrienne: Thank you everyone

Hilaire: That was wonderful Adrienne - thank you

Bev: with metaphysic hand I lift the lid and see or a hen stares at nothing with one eye

Jules: That's amazing Angie, and I believe God is in all..

Beccy: Fab - love it!

Beccy: love the list

Kath: Lovely, Angie

Helen: beautiful...the jeans of my ancestors, and the eves pudding..wonderful

Hilaire: Love that Angie!

Jules: So powerful Cath..

Helen: Sorry about that Bev

Lesley: really powerful Cath, loved the line about the sword of war thrust into innocent hearts. x

Joyce: brilliant Beccy x

Jules: Wonderful Beccy. I want hens!

Adrienne: me too

Helen: really good journey that too us on..hung on every word..Beccy

Beccy: love the sum up in the last line

Jules: That is so simple but deep Sally..

Helen: many footfalls on stairs...haunting

Jules: beautiful Claire..

Beccy: my mind created beautiful images listening to that.

Beccy: "the panic of surviving" - great line

Lesley: Claire, loved that, especially memories of other calling out to me..and the footfall on the stairs. x

Beccy: so many amazing words in there!

Kath: Lovely, Kay

Jules: You took me on that journey with you kay, the scudding swallows.. fabulous!!

Jules: Ive lost sound again will rejoin..

Helen: beautiful endings

Jules: All these poems are worthy of an anthology....

Jules: Thank you another great session. 

Joyce: thankyou xx I will miss you all next week  -  go well xx

Angie: thank you everyone for a wonderful morning. xx

Kay: wonderful session   thanks to everyone   kx

Helen: wonderful...thanks for all your sharing and support

Hilaire: Thank you everyone! That’s set me up for the rest of the day

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners

MaW session 29th May 2021

Today's mindfulness practice was Loving Kindness and Adrienne introduced it with the poem Kindness

Naomi Shihab Nye.

Bev introduced the writing with Emily Dickinson's poem:

If I can stop one heart from breaking

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

Our writing prompt was 

I shall not live in vain

Many thanks to Kath and Helen for sending various Emily Dickinson links:

Coincidentally Emily was this week's Brain Pickings offering

This is the book of Envelope poems

The Dickinson series

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And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

I will not live in vain

by Judith Boardman

I will not live in vain.

I'll make the soup, and wash the dishes.

Buy the birthday gift, and bake the cake.

Spread the icing, let them lick the bowl.

Bathe the grazed knee, wrap them in my arms.

Change the nappy, put away the toys.

Read the bedtime story, sing the lullaby.

Offer her an ear when things go wrong.

Clean her house, and hang the washing out.

Give kindness in abundance, offer love,

and even when her cruel words

cut deep and cause me pain,

I'll rise again with self-love.

I will not live in vain.

I shall not live in vain...

by Julia Angell

as long as I care

I can carry on

if I can care for everyone

every one

whether near or far

buttercup or bee

if I can see

that care means hope

then there is hope for me.

(untitled)

by Hilaire

a pebble dropped in a pond

does not see its ripples

as it settles into the soft receiving mud

but the ripples spread out

a leaf rocks

a bird dips its beak

catches an insect 

a child counts the ripples

remembers the pebble

lets it settle in her heart

a small memory

spreading through her life ahead

Counting Hearts

by Bev Schofield

A virus they called,

flayed us with numbers too alarming

to be meaningful people.

Confused and obedient we huddled down

under the hurtling hands of the clock saying

“it’s okay, we’ll wait what difference can we make?”

Till suddenly

silently

in numbers too small to count

our hearts began to break.

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Julia: Everywhere here has two names we are St Dogmaels and Llandudoch... 

Candyce: Today 2 AM is getting to me.  I think I need to go back to bed.  Happy writing!  I’ll see you next week.

Sheila: Unexpected visitor so will leave now.  Happy writing. Ps. I’m happy xx

Kath: Thank you Adrienne. That was wonderful.

Kay: so powerful Adrienne   thankyou    kx

Julia: fell asleep!

Judith: Very powerful Adrienne, and most welcome. x

Michele: Thank you Adrienne, always find the lovely kindness meditation to be powerful, this was very good.

Adrienne: thanks everyone x

Bev: I shall not live in vain

Julia: Wow! Well stitched thatch we call home...

Kath: Love those last 2 lines Cartrice!

Beccy: I love the planting of the seed section

Catrice: Thank you!

Claire: Politely leave all the parts of my life behind ,  Wow

Julia: Amazing ending! Powerful! 

Catrice: That was GORGEOUS Angie!

Julia: Beautiful...

Claire: Galaxies of humanities

Catrice: Excellent, Beccy!

Helen: ive stayed so others can leave...wow

Catrice: Iconic poem, Beccy!

Hilaire: Very powerful Kath!

Julia: Emotions, letting go, very wise..

Kath: So simple and thoughtful Julia

Kath: Lovely insect imagery, Claire

Beccy: Dickinson: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8518136/

Joyce: wonderful Lesley  - love your list !

Julia: Love the list. lesley

Julia: That's wonderful !

Catrice: POWERFUL, KAY!!!!!

Lesley: Kay, I loved  the image of your cooing, loving  wood pigeons.

Beccy: Kay I enjoyed the journey with the birds and at the end you bought us back to the prompt.

Julia: I want to give Sally a hug!

Lesley: Joyce, I loved your line 'recovery is found in the kindness of others.'.

Helen: flare your nostrils to the lavender....I will I will..thanks

Kath: Love hold the line, Bex

Joyce: hold the line ! love it bex

Julia: Someone said, Letting go and it's so important to do that..

Beccy: I really appreciate the strength and importance of your feelings Fenella. I've found today strongly emotional too x

Kay: as always a wonderful powerful emotional session   thankyou to everyone

Helen: Thanks for all your sharing today

Angie: thank you to everyone for a wonderful morning

Julia: Thank you and love from St Dogmaels x

Lou: lovely share adrienne

Joyce: thankyou xx

Hilaire: Thanks everyone for another wonderful session. xx

Lou: rounds all the care and share and words of our morning xx

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners

MaW session 22nd May 2021

 

Today Adrienne calmed us to comatose with her amazing Body Scan Practice that she introduced with a poem "The Journey" by David Whyte.

Bev took a writing prompt

in the last of the light at the edge of the field

 from the poem "Hare" by Toby Litt that links you to BBC essay where you can hear Toby read it, here is the link to the poem.

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And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

Barn Owl

by Judith Boardman

In the last of the light, at the edge of the field, I catch a flicker of white. I turn towards the dunes, where the persistent rays of evening sunshine illuminate a bank of golden gorse, and there you are.

I stop, hold my breath and feel my heart thumping with expectation and excitement. In full view now, just ahead of me over the spikes of marram grass, your ghostly, pure white wings beat silently; your head turns slowly, this way and that, seeking, listening, hunting, aware of, but ignoring me.

As the light fades quickly, and this vast open space between the sea and the town falls into shadow, I’m drawn to your magical luminosity, and transfixed by this fleeting moment.

Then suddenly you drop, and are gone, and once again I feel my feet on the path.

At the edge of the light I will wait for you there. 

by Sandra Walls

I see you from my peripheral vision 

At the edge of the light

In shadows

Just out of sight 

I see you in dreams

In black and white

Then in sepias in shadows 

At the edge of the light

I see your familiar outlines 

In streets ambers and yellows

Dulls shades n brights

In the shadows just out of sight

In that corner I hover

At the edge of the light 

I grow towards you

I’m drawn to your halo so bright

I’m stuck in the shadows 

I’m in the night

How did I get here? 

and am I … where?

At the edge of the light

I will wait for you there

In the last of the light at the edge of the field 

by Claire Bolger

In the last of the light at the edge of the field I can look out of my window and touch the wide expanse of it. See the blue sky, the clouds wrapping across and the sun going down. My eyes stretch to make out the blue of the sea in the distance. The field slopes down to the hollow and lifts up to the boundaries end. The air has disappeared from my lungs as I remember and comprehend now, that there are last moments. Last moments of standing in your landscape. The last glance at a familiar view. You will never go there again. Finality in breath leaving and whooshing you back to your table.

after Toby Litt (untitled)

by Bev Schofield

In the last of the light at the edge of the field 

will I walk with bare feet in wet grass. 

Let me ask of the day and the daisies galore 

what more could I want but the springing green leaves

 and the breath that I breathe saying 

leave all the wishes, the wants and the woes 

reach up on tip toes to the roughness of bark 

arch my back to the curve of a clearing blue sky, 

lie down at last among needles and cones 

at the edge of the field, the forest and day 

find the edge of my life where there's no more to say

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Kay: thankyou thankyou thankyou adrienne

Judith: Thank you Adrienne. x

Adrienne Hannah: xxx

Michele: Lovely body scan, thank you Adrienne.  Blew away the cobwebs and back to spaciousness.

Julia: That was so relaxing, didn't want to come back...

Hilaire: That was so necessary - thank you Adrienne!

Julia: What was the poem that was read again?

Lou T: the best body scan Adrienne :)

Adrienne Hannah: The Journey David Whyte

Bev: In the last of the light at the edge of the field

Angie: Superb Sandra.  I loved that.

Julia: Lovely rhythm sandra

Beccy: sums up the life of a poet!

Claire: Loved the physicality of it

Bex: sorry my wifi is a bit unstable so turning video off

Beccy: beautiful - you captured a feeling for me

Julia: Yes, that took me with it...

Lesley O'Brien: Beautiful Claire, really beautiful

Lesley O'Brien: fantastic Angie!

Bex: loved that

Joyce: fabulous Beccy  loved it

Angie: I want to go there Beccy.  That sounded wonderful.

Julia: Amazing! Love the alliteration and internal rhymes beccy

Angie: 'impending gifts of darkness'  I love that line.

Julia: Powerful Joyce...

Beccy: beautiful imagery

Beccy: yes I want more of that!

Lou T: in the wilds of catterline - love it - if spelling that right :)

Julia: Hope we hear more of that kay..

Kay: lou's correct   catterline  x

Beccy: great!

Beccy: Love both of those nature poems.

Angie: I liked the imagery of the wet whiskers Helen.

Angie: Wow Nicole that was so powerful. x

Julia: Poignant!

Beccy: so moving, and love the circular-ness of it

Helen: that is amazing..it has helped me..thanks nichole

Kath Higgens: Superb, Bev

Kay: so many beautiful poems   thankyou everyone

Diane: So inspiring to hear your beautiful words thank you

Angie: Thank you Bev for your prompt and inspiring words.

Lou T: what a beautiful soul full morning - thank you B&A et al xx

Judith: Powerful and beautiful words and images from everyone. Thank you to all for sharing and such a privilege to listen.

Julia: Thank you everyone

Hilaire: Thank you everyone for your wonderful words

Joyce: thank you everyone  - another inspiring and moving morning  - heartfilled!

Angie: Thank you Adrienne and Bev for a wonderful session.  Good to see everyone again.  xx

Bex: Thanks all, see you next week

Michele: thank you all, lovely poems.

Sheila: Kindness to all.  Amazing words xx 

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners

MaW session 15th May 2021

 

These sessions never cease to amaze us; the growth and creativity that comes out of 25 people sharing a screen. Today Adrienne introduced her Memories of Kindness practice with a poem Your soft heart by Nikita Gill. 

Bev took a writing prompt from the poem The Kindness of Memory by by Mary Lou Healy:

memory will bend

We have news from Lesley O'Brien about some upcoming writing events, the Lapidus walkabout writing sessions in the park. These sessions are coming to a park near you if you live in or around Glasgow as there are a few facilitators doing similar in parks across the city. Here are links to book tickets for the Cuningar Loop and Glasgow Green events (all details on Eventbrite).

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And now for some of 

YOUR WRITING:

Memory will bend...

by Julia Angell

Sometimes I wonder 

if it was as black and white

or whether the smile was cheese

the images are small and fading

and they are gone

but the fluffy cat they gave me

still plays the lullaby

they never sang.

“You are still the child” from Nikita Gill Your Soft Heart

by Kath Higgens

You are still the child

who was not talked to,

the child who had to live inside,

who had to survive without human interaction.

No wonder since a baby you have felt vulnerable, unsafe.

Of course there are regrets,

but don’t let them immobilize you.

Accept now the safety offered,

where there is room for kindness,

where the holding is enough

to let your kind heart

locked inside

reach out to touch the others –

those within and without –

who also find themselves wounded and in need.

Memory will bend

by Kath Higgens

Shine up the special moments

so they glow, she said.

I am trying to find them,

those positive memories

from childhood.

Haunted by specifics

that come tumbling

one after another

devastatingly

into my mind,

can I find space

where kind memories

can float in?

Pause, breathe, and breathe again.

Still no good memory

wants to emerge.

Stay still. Wait.

Do not panic.

Well, if I cannot find

a good memory to bend,

let me at least

learn to throw a gentle shawl,

warm and cosy,

over the outline of the bad ones,

so their edges become blurry,

so they can finally be handled

beneath the soft cover,

soften and transform.

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Thanks to you all ...

... for your heartening feedback as always!

Candyce: Beautiful Catrice.  Thank you.

Diane: thanks to you - I am so moved by your support and encouragement and honesty

Julia: so true x

Kath: Thank you so much, Catrice

Catrice.: <3 My pleasure.  <3

Fenella: Catrice, that is luminous. x

Catrice.: Thank you, Fenella. <3

Joyce: thank you for all that   - wonderful and thankyou for enabling non writers to write and share x I love this process and it feels like a rebellion for me to read something held in the groups support

Kay: beautiful Adrienne   and that bowl is singing now   thankyou  kx

Angie: Thanks Adrienne.  I feel very relaxed now. xx

Helen: fab..could u tell me the poem again

Candyce: Thanks Adrienne!

Bev: Your soft heart by Nikita Gill  https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/544724517426620144/

Bev: memory will bend

Catrice: Cath, that was brilliant!

Angie: Wow Kath, that was wonderful.  Thank you for sharing.

Diane: thanks you - I’m moved by your courage

Catrice: Kath, thank you for pouring these beautiful poems forth today.  What an honor to hear your heart today. <3

Helen: shine on Kath

Joyce: thankyou Kath for sharing and for being here  -  sending love to you

Hilaire_: Thanks so much for sharing Kath. Big hugs

Candyce: Amazing.  Our vulnerability saves us and others

Lesley: wow so powerful and beautiful Kath, I  absolutely loved the warm shawl over the bad memories. Thank you. x

Cath: Cath, let us give u kind words to place in your kindness memory. it's lovely that u shared with the group

Kath: Thank you all

Sandra: Thank god u did share. Moving and heartbreaking sending love and positive vibes xxxx

Catrice: POWERFUL Joyce!!! Wow!!!

Angie: 'kindness is the most rebellious of all revolutions'.  Fabulous line.

Beccy: Yes!

Sandra: Kindness of those neighbours changed that outcome. Wonderful poignant

Lesley: Loved it Joyce!

Lesley: Helen loved the image of the hanky and the grape from the child!

Angie: Helen, it was lovely how you show that children can be so gentle and kind.

Beccy: beautiful image

Joyce: wow bex  I would love to see and hear that again

Claire: Memory not born yet

Angie: Beccy I loved that poem.

Hilaire: That was fabulous Beccy! Packed with such vivid images

Angie: Sally that was wonderful how you took us all back in time.

Beccy: fabulous pictures you created

Joyce: amazing Sally I loved that   xxx

Kath: My mother did same with butter wrappers!

Julia: I do that with my butter wrappers..

Bex: my mum still does!

Sheila: My MS loses memory so it has been great to find some of mine through you all. Thank you

Beccy: "the house you love is always waiting" - love that

Helen: you calling the rooms awake..very beautiful

Lesley: Clare I loved that, especially memory will follow you down the hall x

Joyce: excellent Lesley xxx wise words xx

Angie: Lesley that was lovely and so full of beautiful images.

Sandra: So lovely Leslie

Hilaire : That is so powerful Julia

Kay: what an amazing session    I feel very privileged to have shared it with everyone    thankyou so much for such courage and generosity  kx

Sandra: Beautiful peice

Julia: Thank you so much everyone x

Catrice: Excellent session.

Sandra: What a great session. Heartfelt and emotional. I’ll send the rest of my writing to Bev

Joyce: thankyou all - a heart felt day ..go well all xxx

Sheila: Thanks for the mindfulness loving cup

Claire: Thank you 

Angie: Thank you again for a wonderful session.  xx

Bex: Thanks everyone, see you next week x

Susan: thank you for sharing 

Helen: amazing women..have good weeks

Lesley: thanks wonderful women! x

Charlene: thank so so much . such a rich session xxx

Hilaire: Such a rich session - thank you everyone

Julia: So sad to have missed most of the readings but so happy to have joined in at the end. 

Nichole: thank you

Julia: Really good to know others struggle with memories x

Julia: Bye all x 

 

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Thanks to funders

Lapidus Scotland gratefully acknowledges the support of Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership via the Wellbeing for Longer in Glasgow Fund managed by Impact Funding Partners