Wings

 The practice of mindful breathing is very important.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Samatha- calm abiding, tranquility...to stop

Vipassana- insight; looking deeply, "to see things as they really are."

Hanh describes these two practices as the wings of breath.

Without insight you cannot  stop.

Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us , if we are deeply wounded, we need to heal and we heal by stopping.  Many of us are not aware of how to stop.  That is where Vipassana comes in. Looking deeply helps us to become aware of when we need to stop and how. 

We are all deeply wounded in one way or another.

Reminded of this:

Wings

Oh beautiful bird with expanded wing,
carry me away,
to the kingdom my Self longs for,
a place where I can stay.
I put away my running shoes,
my need to hide, to  grasp, to seek  
and close my eyes and wait for you
 to clasp me in your  beak.
Lift me up with gentle ease,
 and save me from my fear.
Take me to that special place
 that exists nowhere but here.

 Place me on  the graceful wing
where time is hushed and stilled
 and where mind and body stop to breathe
as nature surely wills.
Upon your feathery pinion,
I will stretch out in passive form
giving up my struggles and my fight
to resist each passing storm.
I will surrender graciously,
as we glide through spacious sky,
and I will notice how blue it is
while the grey clouds pass us by.

I will have faith in you my friend
to shelter and protect,
as I let go  into the sureness of your strength,
my view you will correct.
As you hold me on your wing,
and we skillfully swoop and glide,
I will know that where you're taking me
is nowhere but inside.
And as I breathe in each precious breath,
I will observe  each internal knot release
from    the twisted  pain of wounded cells
to settle into peace.

Then when there is no longer in me
a place for fear and grief to hide,
I will crawl so gratefully over you
to the wing on the other side.
There, I will lie and look about;
the wonders of the world, I will see
and understand so perfectly
the way it was and the way it's meant to be.
And without a noise of flapping wing,
you will gently set me down
in the home of Self where I never left
and where I always can be found.

Dale-Lyn  May 2020

All is well

Plum Village/Thich Nhat Hanh (2024) Stop Running.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qch5ISD9Bxo