Author: Mindful Frontiers

Anne-Marie Emanuelli is the founder and Creative Director at Mindful Frontiers LLC, a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) committed to Community Wellness. We provide individuals, families, schools and organizations mindfulness meditation tools that nurture positive social-emotional growth. With over two decades of meditation experience, Anne-Marie is a certified meditation leader and labyrinth facilitator. Featured practices can be found on Insight Timer app and YouTube channel. Our website is ⁠MindfulFrontiers.net⁠. Linktree: @mindfulfrontiers Mindful Frontiers LLC is a Benefit Corporation (BCorp) committed to Community Wellness by providing schools and organizations with mindfulness meditation tools that nurture positive social-emotional growth.

Motherhood Memories & Meditation

Mother’s Day meditation reflections for May 10, 2020.

Marielle is 15 1/2 and I’ve been a mother for 16. My heart is full of gratitude for this Mother’s Day.

My personal path to motherhood started around 2001 when I learned that I had a lot of uterine fibroids that were making conception difficult. I bled so much each month that I became critically anemic. By 2002, I was so sick and weak that one day I ended up in the emergency room because of excruciatingly painful cramps. I was told my blood test showed I was critically anemic and was offered a blood transfusion that I didn’t accept. The GYN doctor gave me a form to fill out accepting a hysterectomy. After refusing, she suggested I read “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” by Dr. Christiane Northrup. The book saved my life!

Meanwhile, I joined a Yahoo community on “uterine fibroids” and met many women living around the world dealing with this female issue. We communicated with each other and shared experiences and advice. Along with the WBWW book, this online community was a great support. The WBWW book also pointed me in the direction of Caroline Myss’ book “Spirit Anatomy”. This resource helped me learn about spiritual healing, personal body communication, and eventually helped me decide when I was ready for medical intervention.

After lots of prayers, ceremony, reflection, meditation & research on the different kinds of fibroid surgery, I chose a couple I wanted to explore that would retain my womb. Then, I sent out 40 letters to doctors in my insurance network and waited for responses. Two doctors responded and I chose Dr. Lynore Martinez of Santa Fe OB/GYN. She looked me straight in the eye and told me she would remove the fibroids without jeopardizing fertility. During surgery, she removed 16 fibroids of varying sizes and reconstructed my womb.

One and a half years later I conceived and became a mother. What a thrilling joy and blessing that was. For the entire pregnancy, I swam and exercises and had the most healthy 9 months. When I arrived at the hospital for the planned c-section, I was tanned and toned and at peek health. Marielle was born full-term but before labor could start because Dr. Martinez said there weren’t enough women who had gone through natural childbirth after uterine reconstructive surgery for it to be considered safe.

Today, 16 years after my first Mother’s Day, I am grateful for the beautiful and sensitive daughter my husband and I are blessed with. Even as we navigate her teenage topsy turvy chapter, we are grateful she was brought to our life. As we live through the 2020 Covid19 pandemic and spend 24 hours together, I am mindful of daily family blessings. This year’s Mother’s Day will be special because it is so different from any other. We’re confined to our home. There won’t be a celebratory dinner in a restaurant. There won’t be a family hike with a picnic. We’ll just be home with the food in the pantry and will make it special just as it is. Plus, it’s my husband’s birthday this year as he was born on May 10. Every so often these two special days fall on the same day. It really feels intensely special this year.

Happy day to mothers, grandmothers, and caregivers who serve as mothers.

Enchanted confinement – 5 weeks

#pandemic2020 #incasa enchanted confinement New Mexico style

Some days are boring while others are exciting and full of activities.

Week 5 of confinement. Routine is settling in. Each morning starts with setting a positive intention for the day. “May I be healthy; may I be safe; may I be at ease; may I have pleasant, productive day”. After a meditation at my labyrinth the work day begins.

Virtual teaching schedule starts at 8:00. I have “prep” first block so I’m not really accountable until 10:00. I’ve been getting up later than during the normal school year when I have to be at school by 7:50. During the confinement I check email around 8:30 and respond as necessary. DTC duties have fizzled with the cancellation of standardized student assessments. I have taken on the responsibility of daily staff check-in email which have been fun. The intention of the daily staff check-in is to continue schoolwide community relationships. From 1:00-4:00 I am have Writing Lab tutoring. Students sign up for a 30-minute appointment to get help. On Tuesdays at 2:00, I have a group check-in for students taking a foreign language using Rosetta Stone.

Around 4:00, my virtual teaching day is over and I can transition outside for physcial exercise. This is my ultimate motivation for each day: the sanity break that comes from balancing body, mind & spririt through movement in the natural environment.

At the end of the day, I fill my mind and soul with further meditation, teachings & reflections through podcasts, videos, reading, and journalling. Some of the teachers I’m following: Deepak Chopra, Caroline Myss, Oren Jay Sofer, Ten Percent Happier Live, Brené Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Abraham Hicks.

Vulnerable, New Spring #pandemic2020

Mountain bluebird illustrates mindful awareness.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

“Everyone” is writing, blogging, discussing, commenting, sharing about our vulnerable, brave new world during the #pandemic2020. Here is my personal experiece since the virus arrived in New Mexico.

On Thursday, March 12, 2020, the school director asked all staff to meet. We had learned during the week that the Covid-19 coronavirus had reached New Mexico and there were two confirmed cases in our state; by Thursday there were three. She explained to us that so far schools were still on schedule and we would be coming back on Monday, March 23 after Spring Break. There was uncertainty in the room as she explained the current situation from the school’s perspective. Teachers were whispering that school would surely be closed soon.

She explained that if anyone was leaving the state during the break, there was a strong probability they’d have to prove they were not carrying the virus upon return or spend 14-days in self-quarantine without pay (other than regular leave days accrued). Apparently, there had been a virtual meeting for all school administrators that afternoon with the Secretary of Education for NM at which contingencies were explained.

By the time I got home that day, school had been closed in all of the state’s schools for 3 weeks. The NM Secretary of Education with the Governor had “called it” by 6:00 pm on Thursday, March 12. “Schools in New Mexico are closed until April 6”.

Starting Friday, March 13, we knew that we were not going back to campus for at least three weeks. That’s where it stands at this point (3/22/20) although many believe schools will be cancelled for the rest of the semester and that we will be doing our best to offer online, virtual instruction to students until the end of the school year.

As the news sunk in, we realized we were in a new, vulnerable world. By the time I write this post, there are closer to 48 cases of the virus in NM. That’s over 2000% increase in one week. For a few days I was in shock and thought the sky was falling, the world was ending, we were done-for. Stock markets crashed several times over the span of several days. My investments have lost 15% of the original principal which apparently is better than the overall stock market that dropped 30%. I have to sit tight and wait until the economy improves. This could take months just like the crash in 1987. Patience and resilience is required.

After freaking out, I began searching for direction and perspective. There are quite a few podcasts and videos providing guidance on YouTube and Instagram at the moment. The majority of workers in the US are working from home now and are finding ways to be productive and of service. The teachers I’ve been following are meditation/mindfulness, new consciousness, and mind-body healing inspired. Most are nationally acclaimed and have an audience that now is seeking guidance.

Oren Jay Sofer events page

Brené Brown blog

Ten Percent Happier Live videos

Deepak Chopra Wellness and Deepak Chopra Instagram videos

Caroline Myss videos on the journey

Tara Brach “Create a Home Retreat”

Doterra Daily Covid-19 Updates on YouTube

Since I began watching these, my outlook has improved. I’m using my time productively. Creative projects, reading, writing, journalling, exercising and enjoying the example of nature’s resilience to inspire positivity. The birds and plants continue to follow their evolutionary process of getting ready for Spring. They don’t seem a bit affected by what we are dealing with and it helps to watch them day to day. I find strength in my daily long walks and jogs as well as walking my labyrinth and meditating. Something positive will come from this difficult chapter in our life.

Meanwhile, like the poem by Kitty O’Meara that I included in a previous post, after the danger passed, the people joined together and the planet began to heal.

May we be healthy;

May we be safe;

May we be happy;

May we find ease of mind.

Namaste – Amen

An Exercise to Help Identify Your Standards of Integrity

Standards of Integrity activity. This is an insightful exercise that was shared at a recent teacher in-service and led to some deep contemplation and personal evaluation. I am sharing it from the blog entitled The Lotus Experience

“I would highly recommend you to do this assignment as well, but to get the full impact you have to do it without reading ahead. So if you are open to doing this, please grab a couple of sheets of paper and something to write with. And again, do not read ahead. Also, if you decide to get the book, it is on page 68.

Take out a sheet of paper and on the left side of the paper write down the names of people who have qualities you admire. These are qualities that spark a warm feeling for you and that make you feel like you want to be around them. Go back to your earliest memories and up to now. This list can include the names of family members, friends, teachers, co-workers, and people you don’t know such as authors, political leaders, historical figures, fictional characters (superheroes, cartoon characters) and mythological characters.
On the right side of the paper and next to the name of the first person listed, write down the qualities this person has that you admire. Go down to the next person and if this person has qualities that the first person did, then put a check by that quality. If they have a quality that the first person didn’t then write that new quality down. Repeat this process until you have reached the end of your list.
Grab a new sheet of paper. Look at the list of qualities you wrote down in the previous step and on the new sheet of paper write down the qualities that you feel an attraction to (even if it’s just a little). It can be all the qualities you just wrote down or some of them.
Take a look at the qualities you have written down. This new list you have is a list of the qualities you possess and are called your Standards of Integrity. These are qualities that your authentic self has and when you are acting in a way that does not match your Standards of Integrity, you are likely to feel unbalanced or out of sorts.

This exercise acts on the premise that what you like in others you also have in yourself. It’s the same as when we don’t like something about someone else; we usually have that in ourselves as well. It works both ways. When we are acting in ways that does not reflect our Standards of Integrity, not only do we begin to feel unbalanced, but we can also feel anxiety or depression, and we can begin to see it more clearly in others and begin to compare ourselves to them and feel jealousy and envy.”

When I finished this activity, I realized that the qualities I admire in others definitely are qualities I see in myself or wish to have. I also noticed that there were two or three qualities that almost all the people had so it made me think that these are the main ones that are vital to my life: Intelligence, Patience, Strength of Personality, Independent Character, Creativity.

My Standards of Integrity

Standards-of-Integrity-AMEmanuelli2

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Respectfully sharing from The Lotus Experience blog

A Kinder World?

Screen Shot 2020-02-23 at 9.39.16 AM

(This photo came up on Tara Brach’s Insta page this morning. May the photographer and subject enjoy the love and appreciation that we experience by sharing this image.)

The Dalai Lama once said that “If every 8-year-old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation.”

This quote appeared in my social media thread this morning. It seems it had gone viral several years ago and just today came to my consciousness. Serendipity? What is the message I am to get from this? Did the Dalai Lama really say this? When? Where?

Anyway, it reminded me of a fundamental goal of Mindful Youth Mindful Future: teaching youth mindful meditation and compassionate awareness are ways to encourage a kinder future. I’ve had this idea for a while when contemplating future endeavors in mindfulness. I’m curious whether teaching mindfulness-based calming practices would be a way to avoid school shootings in the future. What if one would-be gunner had learned mindfulness meditation, and if that child used meditation instead of guns to deal with stress, how many young lives would be saved?

How old is “old enough” to teach children mindfulness, meditation, contemplation of self in the moment? Surely, the very young can sit and color a mandala, walk a labyrinth and follow a finger labyrinth. Eventually, each child could learn to focus on breath, bodily sensations, internal feelings.

Article on teaching youth meditation from HuffPost

One million youth meditating for world peace in Thailand from https://www.enlightened-consciousness.com

New Year – New job – New experiences

At the end of the semester, a couple teachers announced they were leaving half-year. As I listened to this announcement, a thought came to mind. Since I am retiring at the end of the school year and a new teacher will need to be hired to replace me, AND these two staff members are leaving mid-year, should I tell my administrators that I’m retiring? The message I received from Source was, “yes, let them know that you’re leaving and maybe there’s a new job in this for you”. So, I told my instructional director and offered myself to a new position if my talents and skills could be of better use elsewhere than in the classroom and/or if I could help train my replacement. She already knew that the group of 9th graders had been challenging me and that I am not really happy teaching them.

So, here I am in a new position: District Testing Coordinator. Completely different from online curriculum adviser and English Language Arts classroom teacher. I’m learning a whole new set of duties and skill-set. So far, in the first month, I have attended several online webinars, learned new vocabulary, collaborated with a staff I was not directly involved with before and joined the Leadership Team for weekly meetings. I’m well suited to this new position with strong organizational skills, attention to detail, technical knowledge, leadership skills. I CAN do this!

… And there’s a possibility that I could do the DTC job next year on an individual contract and work mostly from home. If I could do this along with my family meditation project and teaching a class or two at the community college, I would come out way ahead income-wise. I’m sending out energy towards this for sure.

Chapter 5 is looking like this:

Family meditation group: $400 / month
Teaching at UNM-Taos: $2000-$4000 / semester = $500-$1000 / month for 8 months)
DTC contract: $5000 / semester = $900 / month
Creativity projects sales on Etsy and eBay: $300 / month

May It Be So!

Looking ahead…

women s white top and orange floral skirt — Photo by Samuel Silitonga on Pexels.com

12.15.19

Ten days to Christmas. Five days to the end of the semester. The last lap before retiring from full-time secondary school teaching.

What will the next chapter–Chapter Five–look like? What do I want it to look like? Allowing Source to guide me, here’s an affirming story to manifest the next chapter.

I am teaching mindfulness and meditation in a variety of ways. I have a weekly family meditation group. The “students” donate (dana) in a abasket and I earn a comfortable return for my service. By teaching mindful meditation to families I am sharing the importance of present-moment awareness and self-compassion to youth and their parents. Through this weekly practice, I am helping to create mindful youth, mindful future.

With a mindfulness-based grant for early childhood community school initiatives, I share mindful meditation with many youth in kindergarten through second grade at local elementary schools. I teach mindful meditation in five classrooms weekly. The teachers come to my family-based weekly mindful meditation group for support with their own formal meditation practice.

Other than mindfulness practice instruction, I teach a couple university classes at our local community college in French and English or Computer Applications. Mindfulness is incorporated in those classrooms as well because it belongs everywhere and for all ages.

My post-retirement schedule also includes coordinating DTC functions for a couple local schools during Spring semester. It’s a way to bring balance to my professional endeavors by using both brain hemispheres (mindfulness meditation teaching for the right hemisphere and testing coordinator consultation for the left). It is something I started my last semester of teaching and it ended up being a contract that I was able to continue after retiring.

Each year, through challenges and successes, through sadness and joy, I have grown into the teacher, woman and person I am now on the precipice of retirement and new frontiers. What a long, strange trip it’s been.

May This Be So (Ainsi Soit-il). Gratitude is powerful.

What about this idea?

In the middle of getting a rejuvenating massage today, an idea was brought to my attention. How about an office/home-based mindfulness/meditation center to reach like-minded families?

home-schooled children or a playgroup of families could offer gatherings on mindfulness.
youth and family group workshops through an existing organization or wellness center.
one-on-one mindfulness lessons to families in their home or in an office
homework tutoring that included a mindfulness check-in/focus practice
webinar/online mindfulness course for families with young students
membership card/punch card for weekly mindfulness sessions at a location in-town such as a massage or health center.
school clubs or departments to offer a mindfulness-based stress reduction class/session for their members.
civic organizations contract with me to offer an MBSR session to their members

This could be either instead of or in addition to offering mindfulness classes and training to local schools.

Staff mindfulness workshop

At the end of Spring 2019 semester, we had a day-long staff mindfulness training with Rio Grande Mindfulness Institute. Three teachers led our staff of about 20 in a variety of practices: sitting, walking, eating, visualisation. We started the day with yoga stretches and chi gong style movement to get us warmed up and awake. Then, after some guidance from Kara, a meditation teacher from Durango, we sat for about 20 minutes. Throughout the day, we alternated between guided sitting, silent walking, guided movement and a noble silent lunch buffet. I was grateful and pleased with how our staff responded to the training. Everyone participated, shared and was able to sit for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. The walking meditation went well, too, with some people walking back and forth inside while others went outside. It was a cold May day outside and the chilly temperature was envigorating. The sun came out in the afternoon while I was doing a walking practice around the swimming pool. I tried backwards walking, too.

It is possible that next year, using the Healthy Schools grant, that staff will have the encouragement and funding to attend further mindfulness workshops with RGMI at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe.

Mindful Communications

Notes from the online course through MindfulSchools.org in Aug-Sept 2018.

The process takes its inspiration from Non Violent Communication techniques introduced by Marshall Rosenberg. The teacher of this course, Oren Jay Sofer, has written the book “Say What You Mean” which goes into more details with the precepts of mindful communication.

First step: lead with presence. Observe self, others, situation.

Second step: come from curiosity and care. Share feelings.

Third step: focus on what matters. What are the needs.

First Foundation: Presence: Effective communication requires presence. Stay aware of your presence in the conversation; maintain focus; honesty with self about what’s happening. The more aware we are, the more choice we have. Accept the unknown of what is going to happen and new possibilities of the dialogue.

Second Foundation: Intention: Intention determines direction. Intentions shape experience; Be aware of habitual conflict styles in order to transform underlying beliefs. Avoid thoughts of blame and criticism. Everything we do, we do to meet a need. People are more likely to listen when they feel heard. Reflect before responding.

Third Foundation: Attention: Attention shapes experience. Differentiate between “strategies” and “needs” to have more choice and clarity. The more we understand one another, the easier it is to find mutually beneficial solutions. Establish mutual understanding before problem-solving. Awareness of emotions supports ability to choose how we participate in conversation. Take responsibility of our feelings, connecting them to our needs makes it easier to be heard. Hear others’ feelings as a reflection of their needs which helps us understand the other person without blame, the need to agree or feeling responsible for their emotions. Having empathy for ourselves makes it easier to listen to others. Stating clearly what happened without judgment or evaluation aids in being heard. Observations rather than judgement or evaluation. Check in with other for understanding; use fewer words and more sincerity; speak in short chunks makes understanding easier. Be clear about what is wanted and why to get more creative about solution. Awareness of our reactivity to help make wiser choices of what to say. When in conflict, listen more closely to the other person first; increases chance of their willingness to listen to us.

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