Mindfulness – Page 2 – Tracy Cochran

The Beauty of Being All There

Tara Protecting from the Eight Fears, Kham Province, Eastern Tibet; 19th century Pigments on cloth, Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, F1997.15.1 (HAR 237).

One day in downtown Manhattan, I walked behind a man who laughed, block after block. There would be little lulls when the laughter would glide into happy sighs but then a fresh gale of laughter would kick in, sometimes coupled with jogging and even skipping. At first, this public display of wild happiness delighted theContinue reading “The Beauty of Being All There”

Standing (or Sitting) in Our Personal Power

At times, everyone faces the darkness of the unknown. Practicing presence can help us connect to our personal power. Once at the Rubin Museum, I was asked to talk about power. And not just power but a specific embodiment of power. The image that was to illuminate my talk featured the Fifth Dalai Lama ofContinue reading “Standing (or Sitting) in Our Personal Power”

The Power that Reveals

Zoltan Tasi, "Penshurst Place & Gardens," Penshurst, United Kingdom via Unsplash

Now seems a good time to gently remind people that presence can be a refuge and resource. On paper, it may not seem like much. The Oxford dictionary defines presence as “the state or fact of existing, occurring or being present.” This seems so rudimentary, just bare existence, as if you are showing up atContinue reading “The Power that Reveals”

Being Like Trees

Photograph by Aperture Village on Unsplash

In challenging times, we humans tend to fall back on our earliest and deepest understandings. We fall back on our earliest way of relating to the world, which is not in words, but through the body. We don’t usually think of the body as comprehending the ways of the universe. But the body knows things.Continue reading “Being Like Trees”

Letting it Be and Being Kind

Alphonse Osbert (1857-1939), "Silence of the Water," 1895

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Paul McCartney wrote this famous song about his own mother Mary, who died whenContinue reading “Letting it Be and Being Kind”

Easter 2019

A group of us are going to sit down and meditate together this coming Easter Sunday. It feels like an especially auspicious time to be still together, awaiting a miracle. This week will also include Passover, celebrating liberation from bondage. Both of these great stories offer a dramatic resolution to the strange tension that hauntsContinue reading “Easter 2019”