Dear Friends of Mindfulness Northwest,
As the year turns, I find myself reflecting on the journey and adventure Mindfulness Northwest has been and thought I’d share a bit this month.
Sometime in 2009 a dream started to take shape in my life.
I was starting to see “mindfulness” everywhere – from friends in the Zen Buddhist community, in the media – it seemed like mindfulness was just in the air.
And I wondered two things.
First: Is this real? Does whatever they mean by mindfulness touch the depth of experience I’d found so powerfully helpful, if sometimes very challenging, in my experience as a Zen practitioner?
Second: Is it something I could help with? Maybe even as a way to make a living??
As you know, the answer to both of those questions turned out to be a big YES. I wouldn’t be writing this for the Mindfulness Northwest newsletter otherwise!
Of course there have been troubles and challenges along the way, and there have also been great joys: The wonderful staff that has gathered to work together with such joy and passion to bring this all to be. The thousands (!) of people who have experienced the benefits of mindfulness. People in class reporting realizations, shifts in perspective, and breakthroughs that increase their well being, their ability to function, support deep healing and help them connect more fully and joyfully with people in their lives. More than one person has even told me they believe that their work with Mindfulness Northwest literally saved their lives. It’s been incredible.
As we enter our 14th year I’m reflecting on all of this, and I invite you to reflect on your own journey, too. A helpful thing to do at the new year.
We’ve all faced big choices, and difficult periods, and times of deep joy. We’ve all known great ups and downs in life.
What’s helped you to sustain yourself as you navigate the highs and lows?
This may sound simplistic, but I think the root of what’s helped me the most is the practice of being present that I learned through mindfulness and Zen training. This has helped me notice when things are going well, and when I’m lost in fear and how future-based that tends to be. It’s helped me be more clear, when I’m feeling the tug of anxiety and self-doubt, how past-based the images my mind is re-running are. None of this is happening now, Tim, come back. Take a breath. It’s okay.
And I’m learning as I approach my 60’s that to simply and powerfully be present is a deep ingredient of trust, and probably an essential aspect for acceptance in general.
When I’m more present – and that means more embodied in my experience – it’s more clear that all I can do is make my best effort, right now. It’s easier to see that I can’t control what just happened, and I can’t control what happens next. That my own choices and actions are important, but they are just a part of a larger whole that I can never fully understand and can certainly never predict.
And that there are likely to be some pleasant surprises along the way that my mind has failed to predict! I hope this practice of presence is supportive to you in the new year.
Thank you for attending our programs – we know it’s a big commitment of time and resources. And thank you, if it fit your circumstances, for your donations. In the year-end appeal we raised over $10,000 which puts a nice dent in our budget deficit! Thank you so much – receiving such generous donations is another thing I never could have imagined when we started this.
Before I go, here a few things I’m excited about in our 2025 offerings in addition to our usual line up of classes, workshops, and retreats:
- The new Sunday evening weekly drop-in practice we’re simply calling Sunday Sit. I’m delighted we can add a second weekly online drop-in. Our Wednesday noon-time practice, Midday Mindfulness, has been successfully running for over 4 years now. These programs are such a great help for maintaining a mindfulness practice and it’s been surprising what warm communities of practice arise at these. Plus they are no-fee, donation supported drop-in programs. Part of our mission at MNW is to make practice as accessible as we can.
- Our new Winter Weekend Retreat in February, at a venue in Federal Way right on the water, adds to our successful weekend retreat offerings with a retreat much closer to the Seattle area than our main overnight venue on Samish Island. Weekend retreats are such a great mix of in-depth practice and accessibility. It’s been wonderful seeing so many of you at them.
- The new online class Practice, Not Perfect: Strategies & Support to Keep you Meditating starting in April. Karen and Carolyn have created a wonderful new 8-week class to complement our ongoing offerings of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion.
As I reflect on the joys and challenges that the Mindfulness Northwest journey has been in the end I’m left with one feeling: gratitude.
So thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Tim