Good morning world.
I'm sitting out on my balcony listening to the birds and the rain this morning.
It's my last day of summer and I couldn't be happier than just sitting listening to the rain,
To the birds.
So I thought I'd bring you along with me this morning and I'm adding in a mindful coffee drinking experience.
So maybe you pause this and get your cup of coffee.
I have mine.
And each morning when I come out onto the balcony,
I have fresh lavender,
Spanish lavender,
Regular lavender and I smell it.
And then I hold my coffee cup and I just feel the cup and I look at the Nespresso.
I have two shots.
I look at the foam and then I just close my eyes and smell the coffee.
It's Italian.
It's so good.
I feel the warmth of the cup in my hand.
And before I take my first sip,
I give gratitude.
I think about the coffee,
The life of the coffee from when it started as a seed.
The hummingbird just flew up to me.
They like the energy of meditation.
The hummingbird's like a thought and suddenly interrupted.
So coming back to the breath,
To the coffee.
So I think about how the coffee started as a seed,
A bean maybe,
A seed.
And how it needed all the elements of the earth in it,
Sun,
Water,
Earth,
Air,
Nutrients.
And we are made of all those things,
The sun,
Water,
Air,
Nutrients.
There is no separation.
And I think of all the people that worked so hard to bring this one little cup of enjoyment to me.
The farmers,
The pickers,
The truck drivers,
The processing.
Even more truck drivers getting it delivered.
There's probably so many people to think about to bring this one cup of coffee.
So I give gratitude.
And then I usually go into a little bit of gratitude for my day,
Gratitude for this beautiful rainy morning,
Gratitude for the rain,
Gratitude for my ability to sit here in peace,
Drinking coffee and listening to rain and birds.
Gratitude for my health,
Gratitude I'm alive.
Gratitude for the hummingbird who flew back up to me just now.
Gratitude for all of you who listen and practice.
Now let's enjoy our coffee and listen to the rain.
Take a deep breath in,
Sitting up tall,
One last smell.
Now we drink and we listen.
And we savor.
How lucky are we?
Can we just enjoy the cup of coffee?
This is a mindfulness practice.
Can we just be here with the rain,
With the coffee,
Just holding the cup of coffee?
This is the moment of life.
Let's take five deep breaths before we go into our morning.
Make sure your nose is breathing,
Feeling the belly expand on your inhale.
On the exhale just let it go.
Four more just like that,
Inhaling through your nose.
Exhaling let everything go in the body.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale.
One more.
Make it count.
Now let go of anything that no longer serves you.
Notice your energy.
Notice how you feel.
This mindfulness practice,
Coffee,
Gratitude of breath,
Thanks for sharing your morning coffee with me.
I hope you have an amazing day.
I'll leave you with this quote from Thich Nhat Hanh.
To be mindful is to be fully present with whatever we are doing.
If you are drinking tea,
Just drink your tea.
Do not drink your worries,
Your projects,
Your regrets.
When you hold your cup,
You may like to breathe in,
To bring your mind back to your body,
Stop your thinking and become fully present.
In that moment you become alive and the cup of tea becomes alive.
In this state of true presence and freedom,
You simply enjoy drinking your tea.
I hope you remember this practice.
Every morning you have the privilege to drink your tea or your coffee.
