Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen

"She has made some important matters wonderfully clear, and every page is informed by a sweet concern for the well-being of her reader." Leonard Cohen

Foreword and Afterword with Joyful Heart Praise!

In the mid nineties Leonard Cohen wrote the foreword to my book Mental Fitness which on a light note, I now see as sipping yogi green tea to "chill & reach stillness." At the time, I wasn't ready to accept the awesomeness of what he wrote. I actually shared his foreword in a previous blog (Get a Sip of Zen in the Zoo of Life). This post is a new perspective.❧

In keeping this short, sweet and to the point, DGMS (don't get me started:), I've made absolute peace with the divine timing of my daughter Grace Sakura being born a few months after Mental Fitness was published from Weatherhill now Shambhala. In short, I'm a late bloomer in promoting myself, realizing that being a mother was more important and to this day the most sacred honor to uphold. As stated in the quote above from the foreword, I resonate with "every page is informed by a sweet concern for the well-being of her reader." The expression "sweet concern" reminds me of the Sanskrit word "Madhuvidya" which means sweet knowledge, and the simple act of infusing spirituality into our everyday lives. I am honored to share with my readers delicious ways to restore well-being. ❧

On a side note ♫ Neil Pasricha's The Book Of Awesome helps us infuse those tiny little sweet moments into our lives empowering us to play our A game of Awesome. We attain Altitude with his 3A's; Attitude, Awareness, and Authenticity as mentioned in a previous blog.

Indeed, the intent of this blog, and my work which Grace calls "FunZen" (making mindfulness and breathing fun & imaginative) is to cultivate sacred moments aka itsy bitsy joys that sweeten our daily life. Thank you for joining me in a rebirth of Mental Fitness where I'm onboard to help you embrace your original nature and turn what your soul already knows into joyful heart steps in the dance of life.❧

FOREWORD

My old teacher, Joshu Sasaki Roshi, has asked me to say a few words about the book which you are holding. He never really learned English, and he has forgotten much of his Japanese, but he knows a good thing when he sees it, and he wanted me to thank Michiko Rolek, on his behalf, for her very helpful instructions.

I live with a number of bewildered souls on a mountain in southern California. The place is called a Zen Center, and it probably is, but it is also a kind of hospital for people who have forgotten how to breathe, or sit, or stand, or walk. Michiko has developed a simple and effective approach to these fundamental activities. Some of us are breathing better already.

This workbook may not solve the Burning Issues of Your Life, but you sure as hell can save yourself a lot of trouble by looking into it. You might even be able to skip having to visit a place like this, or if you are already in one, perhaps with this valuable information you can slip away.

In any case, we want to join Roshi in expressing our gratitude to Michiko for her kindness in presenting to us her manual on Mental Fitness. She has made some important matters wonderfully clear, and every page is informed by a sweet concern for the well-being of her reader.

Thank you.

Jikan Eliezer

a Mt. Baldy monk

(Leonard Cohen) ❧

Inspirational Recipe: Making Mindful Breathing a "Staple"

Gratitude is the Mother of Lovingkindness & Joyfulness

(Pure Joy comes from our Spirit) "Joy is prayer~Joy is strength~Joy is love~Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls..." Mother Teresa

Heart❤Warmer Spiritual Exercise: Breathe in slow and deeply: ❤ Opening your heart, (expanding lower ribs)

Breathe out: Expanding your net of pure love (firm-up core on exhalation) ❤

(perform 3-4 breath cycles) repeat connecting the heart ❤ dots at your pace of comfort & joy through out the day one ❤ breath at a time... (gentle reminder, we forget a lot, i'm simply here to offer little hints helping you refresh & re-center, perhaps making the miracle of mindfulness your daily ritual...;) ❤

Listen-up and Zenjoy!

For this blog, please ask about special offer for Mental Fitness... Thank you.

Looking forward to hearing from you...❧

Contact: Michiko (lil mama) Rolek

Twitter: Follow @ZenMommie

email mjrolek@aol.com

Life Coaching: (805) 490-2391

Get a Sip of Zen in the Zoo of Life

The idea "Got Zen?" was an inspired Aha! moment, after I took author/friend

Dan Millman of amazing book series "The Peaceful Warrior"

suggestion to heart and watched Neil Pasricha's "The 3 A's

of Awesome." The light bulb has stayed switched on...My daughter Grace was also awestruck and couldn't wait to get and soak in "The Book Of Awesome."

Now, it's your turn to discover for yourself the pith and bright story about Neil's award winning 10 million-plus-hit blog "1000 awesomethings.com".

The expression "Got Zen?" reminds me of the fact that everyone has zen or buddha nature but many rarely realize it. Essentially zen means meditation, it is the art of mindful living with non judgmental observation moment to moment. It is multi-layered and beyond the scope of this blog to discuss the various means of energy (light) work, prayer and meditation for returning home to our original nature of enlightenment or oneness. I am grateful that the essence of Zen can be found in understanding that the art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity.

The Zen mind Beginner's mind element that I see and admire in Neil Pasricha's perception of simple brilliance; is the celebration of our senses and the wonderment of being a child again. He also acknowledges the sweet simplicity of zen mastery. To see the world as if you were seeing it for the first time, doesn't require a New Year's resolution, or more time to fix and change anything about yourself. To directly experience Awesomeness is your choice to grab an Aha! moment and get a sip of zen by catching a breath wave and riding your ahhhh long breath out.

When Leonard Cohen wrote the foreword to my book Mental Fitness aka "Yoga off the Mat" in 1995 (see below) I wasn't ready to accept the awesomeness of what he wrote. For brevity dgms (don't get me started), let's just say being born into a zen lineage is easier now. With zen gaining more popularity; the perspective is more accessible. For instance, my zen mama tweeps and soul cheerleaders have helped me see that my message of reaching zen-like calm to carry on smack in the middle of life; is like helping each other find the rabbit's foot that's hiding in the bottom of our pockets.

FOREWORD

My old teacher, Joshu Sasaki Roshi, has asked me to say a few words about the book which you are holding. He never really learned English, and he has forgotten much of his Japanese, but he knows a good thing when he sees it, and he wanted me to thank Michiko Rolek, on his behalf, for her very helpful instructions.

I live with a number of bewildered souls on a mountain in southern California. The place is called a Zen Center, and it probably is, but it is also a kind of hospital for people who have forgotten how to breathe, or sit, or stand, or walk. Michiko has developed a simple and effective approach to these fundamental activities. Some of us are breathing better already.

This workbook may not solve the Burning Issues of Your Life, but you sure as hell can save yourself a lot of trouble by looking into it. You might even be able to skip having to visit a place like this, or if you are already in one, perhaps with this valuable information you can slip away.

In any case, we want to join Roshi in expressing our gratitude to Michiko for her kindness in presenting to us her manual on Mental Fitness. She has made some important matters wonderfully clear, and every page is informed by a sweet concern for the well-being of her reader.

Thank you.

Jikan Eliezer

a Mt. Baldy monk

(Leonard Cohen)

Inspirational "Staple" Recipe:

Gratitude is the Mother of Lovingkindness & Joyfulness

(Pure Joy comes from our Spirit) "Joy is prayer~Joy is strength~Joy is love~Joy is a net of love by which we catch souls..." Mother Teresa

Heart❤Warmer Spiritual Exercise: Breathe in slow and deeply: ❤ Opening your heart, (expanding lower ribs)

Breathe out: Expanding your net of pure love (firm-up core on exhalation) ❤

(perform 3-4 breath cycles) repeat connecting the heart ❤ dots at your pace of comfort & joy through out the day one ❤ breath at a time)

Got Zen? will be an ongoing daily/weekly blog in 2011. My goal is to continue to support cool topics that clarify ideas like getting our head in the A 4 Awesome game with Neil Pasricha's 3 A's using Mental Fitness as a playbook while we Talk and Walk in Gratitude with Grace and Grit ❤❤❤ looking forward to your input to keep the ball rolling.

Mental Fitness (Foreword by Leonard Cohen) still available: Amazon, Bodhi Tree Books, or, contact me for an autographed copy and free gift telecoaching session. Share with your friends and Zenjoy ❤

In Gratitude w/Love ❤

FunZen Girls OX
Michiko and Grace


Life Coaching Services now available: 805 490-2391
Contact: MJRolek@aol.com
Twitter: @Zenmommie
I teach Kids FunZen and train Parents to be Mindful.

The Art of Zencouragement

"The essence of all art is having pleasure giving pleasure." Misha Baryshnikov

Lucky Charm Starter ♡: let's apply the essence of this quote with a delicious inspirational recipe; for helping you find your Comfort & Joy Ritual.

Start simply by being curious about what brings you pleasure or joy... Just asking the question and getting quiet by breathing deeper will empower you to hear your lucky "Aha" message smack in the middle of life, perhaps rustling in the Fall leaves, ❧ or twinkling in the night sky.✳


Thank you for visiting the FunZen Bakery, ♡

Zen mommie and Grace oxox