We begin the work week not with a busy recap of all that came before, but with this simple bit of music and a few morning images of matcha to gradually and gratefully ease into the Monday morning at hand. We will return to our traditional recap a little later if you want to revisit some pretty marvelous posts, but this feels right for now. With Mercury in retrograde, it may be wise to go gentle on ourselves in the next couple of weeks, being mindful and present and forgiving with whatever foibles wait around the corner.
The music here is tranquil and calming, and it lasts for an hour, which provides ample time to simply exist – breathing in and out, slowly deepening and elongating the breath where it’s still comfortable, but perhaps a little calmer. It need not be a formal, full-fledged meditation – it’s just a method of managing a Monday morning.
A cup of matcha, warm and prepared with careful consideration, is another way to enter the week with quiet assurance and deliberate grace. When the day begins in contemplative form, when we start any endeavor coming from a place of peace and calm, such intention informs whatever may follow. We won’t always have control over it – most days we don’t have much control over anything – and the freedom in that realization lightens every burden.
For now, it is enough to put a kettle on the stove and sit in stillness while the water takes its time to boil. It will not be rushed, and it will take as long as its going to take. Some days when the kettle is full and the water begins at an icy temperature, it may take longer than usual. Other days, when there is just a small amount of water left, when it may be warm from someone boiling it not an hour before, it may take less.
Sit with your cup of tea or coffee. Sit with your thoughts, whatever they may be.
It is the hardest thing to do in an age where constant stimulation and the bombardment of all our senses is thrust upon us the minute we start scrolling through our phone or turning on the computer. Pause and reflect before that happens. Begin in the place where you want to end up.
Here there is peace, and you may embrace it. At the very start of the day, before anyone else is up, before the world has had a chance to impart its madness, take this moment to set your daily intention.
