Spanista Suggests NYTimes Style Magazine Article The Meaning of Life

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Dear Wellness Seekers,

Spanista Suggests NYTimes Style Magazine Article The Meaning of Life by Tim Wu to start the week off on a note of mindfulness. Spending time in California Wine Country has many joyful emotional effects if you are open to allowing them to seep into your soul. Granted the physical satisfaction of great culinary experiences in beautiful surroundings is priceless but  there is also a spiritual side that is equally as beautiful to me. Getting off the beaten path of world-class wineries, for example, I have heard of place called Spirit Rock Meditation Center from my California friends. I had hoped to stop by to explore it for myself but time did not allow it on this trip, sad to say. So much to my surprise, I discovered this article, ‘The Meaning of Life’ by Tim Wu in The New York Times Style Magazine 10^th Anniversary Issue, dateline Sunday

PINIMAGEOctober 19, (BTW, it is a splendid edition for many reasons so if you get the chance do check it out. It’s a true celebration of American Luxury Culture through the eyes of Manhattan’s Fashion and Lifestyle Curators.)

The author touched on several themes that align with the Spanista Philosophy. Mr. Wu eloquently points out that “the spiritual enlightenment sweeping the America has strong ties Buddhism due to one huggable ex-monk in California.”  Much is keeping with my views, the article speaks to “The desire for more and more of us to find new techniques to deal with the challenges of daily living. And the origins of many of todays solutions can be linked to the principles of Buddhism and meditation practices championed by Wellness Seekers of the 60’s and 70’s especially in California.” He tells the story of the founding Father Jack Kornfield, who founded Spirit Rock and how he established methods to connect to society and expand awareness of the benefits of meditation. Helping these mindful practices to become more acceptable to the mainstream public. To Spanista to this such great news because my purpose is to bring this same message of the benefits of mindfulness practices to more everyday people.

Going deeper Mr. Wu goes on to point out, “Over time, Kornfield and his colleagues began to believe that Americans needed a particular meditation practice closely linked to concepts of self forgiveness and loving kindness – a training in the unconditional acceptance of imperfection”. Personally, I found this insight compelling. We do live in a complicated culture in America that has deeply influenced how we view ourselves and navigate in this world. We have such high expectations with layers of lifestyle values that have come from multiple generations of family and societal influences – ethnicity, religious, geographic, gender that builds a thick callous skin that is tough to penetrate. It holds us hostage to emotional intensity, driving ambition, self-criticism and guilt.

One could not help but think of visionary Steve Jobs and his passion for Buddhist practices as well as other prominent writers like Wayne Dwyer who professed the power of such mindful practices and beliefs. There passion brought greater awareness and interpreted how these practices could better align with the way we live today. Especially touted as beneficial for anyone is the practice of MEDITATION to calm the mind. I so admire people who have mastered this practice. I wish I could achieve it.  Have you tried meditation?

Honestly, I have never been one to fully absorb the principles of dedicated meditation practice – no matter how much I tried, I could not get into that groove. Now I know everyone is different, so I tried various methods to really ‘clear my mind’. But frankly, I could get into the medative zone ONLY if  I was in a mode of what I call ‘Slow Living’ for a few days (e.g. read as Spa weekend of vacation time ) and in this world that is as rare for me as it is for you. When I did experience deep focus it was blissful. However for everyday life, with experimentation, I discovered what works for me  with satisfying results is dedicated Reflection Time. With it I am not forcing myself to empty my mind which is really difficult in short windows of time. Instead it comes with short windows of private time devoted to “My Time” – something like a relaxing bath, massage time or walking alone.

If I make it a regular Ritual, this short times restores me  – give me a happier more balanced feeling. And the cumulative effect is a more joyful state of mind.

What is your experience with Meditation? Have you tried it? If this topic intrigues you too, may I suggest you check out the article ‘The Meaning of Life‘ by Tim Wu.

Spirit Rock is still on the bucket list.  But for now I am happy to indulge in the more accessible Spanista Values System that feeds my soul with joy an everyday person like myself needs to be happy.

Tomorrow stop by for Spanista’s Best of Sonoma Wine Pairing Experience.

To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,

Ginny