Reflection
Reflection on Sue Patton Thoele
The Mindful Woman
By: Mayra C. Hall, April 26, 2010
As Sue Patton Thoele explains in her book, The Mindful Woman, neuroscience researchers have been able to show the measurable benefits of meditation and living mindfully. At the psychological level, it can make you much more self-aware, and can help you in your response to difficult situations in relationships and in all of life experiences. However, because one cannot separate the psyche from the body or the spirit, mindfulness is also a spiritual practice.
Sue explained that in her own practice of mindfulness, she has developed a sense of inner peace and harmony, as well as, joy. She also said that in it, she has found a great source of creative energy that stimulates her writing.
Inner peace, harmony, joy, and creativity sound like the qualities of being in and aligned with Spirit. So, I invite you to sit with the question, ‘Do I grow deeper in relationship with the Divine by being mindful?’
Anything that helps me become more aware of my authentic self, stripped of ego, creates in me a movement toward God. The more mindful I become, the more I seem to be able to do this. And since noticing the intricate details in each moment is part of being mindful, it also makes it possible to explore the moments that seem to be beaming with light; those that can guide me and deepen my relationship with God.
In the Christian Gospels, I am drawn to Mark 5:30, “Jesus aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who has touched my clothes?’” That noticing, that awareness, that mindfulness, made space for the acknowledgement of a precious moment of spontaneous healing. There is a desire stirring in me to follow what Jesus models here. Now, I invite you to notice, what is stirring in you?
