Online Mindful Writers Group Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Online Mindful Writers Group

Day 306, Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Reflections After breathing, the senses of taste and smell are elemental for living beings. Did you know these two senses are the oldest and essential for our survival? They play key roles in such basic processes as eating, avoiding danger and mating. Your nose knows even if your eyes are closed. When you are closer to sea, standing on freshly mowed grass, or next to wet mulch, you know what it is. But you cannot describe the smsell. You can only name the object that is giving away the smell hoping that what you say would resonate your experience in the mind of the other person. When we taste with attention, even the simplest of foods provide a universe of sensory experience. One bit of juicy apple, freshly baked bread, cool water...

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Day 304, Monday, November 4, 2024

Inspiration Seeing There is sheer joy in seeing. Watch nature through the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the clouds, the ocean, the river, the waterfall, the lake, the flames, the crackling sparks. Whether you are a child or a ninety-year-old, you can never see anything better. How can one learn to use visual skills to the utmost? Start observing nature and art any day, any time. The details in painting, sculpture, architecture, and crafts will surprise you. Take in the sense of composition, color hues, gradations, and visual balance. See artworks viscerally. There is no logic to what you learn thus but you will begin to appreciate the world around you with new understanding. Whatever style or period of art charms you or touches your heart, keep looking at those works. Let them...

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Walk in Nature and Feel the Awe

Day 303, Sunday, November 3, 2024

Good morning Friends! How familiar are you with the sensory world? Our five senses and the mind create meaning of the world that surrounds us. Yet we’re jaded to our sensuous power. Therefore the meanings we receive are dull as compared to their finest possibilities.What if we pay deeper attention to every sense while it is functioning fine? What if we don’t wait for something to go wrong? We begin to "see" instead of merely "looking." The words “look” and “see” are as different as “hearing” and “listening.” One is ordinary and the other mindful. So let's be mindful of what we see, hear, touch, smell and taste. There is seeing and, as Jon Kabat-Zinn writes, there is "being seen:" a caring person looking at you with kind and accepting...

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The image refers to the blossoming of Self after ten months of practicing Mindful Meditation and Journaling

Inspiration: Unblocking Your Creative Flow

Day 301, Friday, November 1, 2024 Welcome dear Mindful Writers and Mindful Creators, This is quite an exciting morning for me as we begin a new phase on our ongoing creative and spiritual journey together. The goal remains the same only the Power Spot has moved. This month's (Month 11) topic is "Mindfulness, Awe, Wonder and Delight." from the book Unblock Your Creative Flow: 12 Months of Mindfulness for Writers and Artists. What a topic to begin with from our new home!We begin with today's Inspiration from Day 301; pp. 362 from the book mentioned above followed by the Journal Prompt and the Link to today's meditation. The time it takes to practice these is between 30-45 minutes. Enjoy the process! Inspiration Awe and wonderment are sacred emotions that kindle spiritual delight, tenderness,...

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Chicken, Lotus root slices in red sauce

5 Senses and Cooking

Indian cooking lessons continue at Online Mindful Writers Group (OMWG): https://tinyurl.com/ycktmxwn Try Indian Cooking lessons at: OMWG: https: //tinyurl.com/ycktmxwn Did you know cooking is one of the few nonverbal hobbies that incorporates all our five senses. Seeing the colors of vegetables, grains, meats, spices Smells of freshly cut vegetables, ground, roasted and fried spices Sounds of food sizzling and liquids bubbling Touch when you wash, peel and slice the ingredients; when you eat with fingers And finally taste. . . oh, the taste! Cauliflower goes well with yogurt raita. Not only the five senses but your feelings affect the taste of any dish you prepare. For instance, if you are tired, angry, frustrated or envious and not in a mood to cook the food does not taste its best. Honestly, when I'm not feeling my normal self, I prefer...

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Matters of Mindfulness and More

Matters of Mindfulness, Mindful Writers Groups and More (Cont.) At the end of October, we are moving from Wexford, Pennsylvania to Ashburn, Virginia to be closer to our daughter. Never has mindfulness been more helpful to me than it is now. Moving to a new home from the one where you have lived for thirty years is believed to be a traumatic experience as traumatic as death of a loved one, divorce, major illness or job loss. The in-between period can overwhelm you, bring you down or depress you. But with mindfulness as my tool I’m going through such a negative experience with self-awareness and loving attention to the tasks at hand. And to my own surprise I feel no stress, regrets or nostalgia midst all this emotional disarray. Remember me, the one...

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From Mindful Path to Mindfulness

From Mindful Path to Mindful Writers Groups

From Mindful Path to Mindful Writers Groups (Cont.) One of ways in which invisible realities that our eyes can’t see, ears can’t hear and mind can’t comprehend are made visible, audible and comprehensive by creativity and imagination. I believe creativity is rooted in spirituality. Like creation of life, artworks seemingly conjure from nowhere and nothing. I am the one who writes or paints but the process itself is guided by an inner source from which new ideas bubble forth. At the same time, the universe assists by sending cues and clues. Once birthed, an artwork has a life of its own. To be able to create one must be completely devoted and dedicated to one’s art whatever it may be. As an author I have a morning routine that I have diligently...

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On A Mindful Path (Cont.)

On A Mindful Path (Cont.) Not until I was in my mid 50’s did I felt a need to ask myself, is this all there is? The question had taken a permanent seat at the back of my mind since my voyage around the world. The things that had excited me once no longer did.  With the practice of Writing Meditation, the braided practice of journaling, meditation, deep reading, nonverbal activities and, of course writing, I was on my way to integrating my fragmented self. In time, the practice helped me connect to the spiritual space within, my inner guide, my true Self.  Many of you already know that our true self is the inner compass that dwells within us. It points us toward the right direction only after we harness with it...

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Genesis and Growth of a Novel

I'd love you to join me today and the rest of the week to read my posts about a topic that fascinates me—the genesis and development of a work of fiction. What makes a writer devote months, if not years, filled with passion, purpose and one pointed attention to create a fictional dream? What drives us as we keep revising draft after draft until the final manuscript is completed?  I'm sharing the genesis and growth of my novel, THE LAST SUTTEE at Online Mindful Writers Group #mindfulness #meditation #journaling #reading#writing #visual arts #research #attention #Awareness #Authentic Self  #Dailywritingprompt #silence and solitude #Awe and Wonder #Transformation #Imagination #Creativity #Self-Contemplation #Self-Improvement #Motivation #Inspiration #Self-Help #Daily Guidebook #Fictionwriting #Suttee #Women’srights #Genderequality  Please follow my: Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/madhubazazwangu/Instagram: @Madhu.WanguBookbub: @Madhu-Bazaz-WanguFacebook: @MadhuBazazWangu Links for my paperback and eBooks:  Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/mr24djxyRakuten Kobo: https://tinyurl.com/2p8yt732Amazon Books: https://tinyurl.com/haayyacmSmashwords: https://tinyurl.com/2p8aj9td ...

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