This is a teaching by Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh.
And it is perfect for a Friday as we head into our weekends.
An overlooked aspect of health is environmental wellness. We often only consider the physical: what we eat and how we move.
But our environment is so important! What we surround ourselves with, and how we arrange and revere our space, can have a huge impact on our state of mind.
And it goes far beyond making sure that we have things in our rooms that are pleasing to their eye, that our spaces are clean and not cluttered…
When we protect the space around us and make it ours, we send a signal to the brain that says:
“I am, and can be, safe right here.”
And when we practice non-attachment to our physical items and possessions, we release ourselves from constantly needing to protect them.
This in itself can cause us a certain amount of stress: that new vase (don’t drop it!), that particular carpet (don’t muddy it!)
But if we see that these things are only temporary, and that they too will one day fade away, break, become obsolete, lose importance…
…the moment we acquire them, we know that they are already broken.
They become less important.
They lose their power to occupy our minds.
This reduces our attachment to them.
The cup is already broken.
Have a nourishing weekend, my friends.
