Your Zen Tune-up Experience

"One can appreciate & celebrate each moment there’s nothing more sacred."

Pema Chodrun

I recently read Author, Host, Tom Bergeron's superb book I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can! Zen and the Art of Staying Sane in Hollywood. When he mentioned "giving himself a Zen tune-up backstage to find his center" I was spellbound. Tom fondly mentioned an Alan Watts quote "If you hold your breath, you lose it." In that moment of reading that quote, I instantly recalled a "A Single Breath" meditation exercise I learned at Cal Arts from legendary Zen poet Gary Snyder. He was friends with philosopher, Alan Watts (also a student of my great grand father Sokei-an) and studied Zen at my family's First Zen Institute in Kyoto, Japan.

Without further ado, here's a quick on the spot application you can use to find your center, in the gift called the precious present, your Zen moment to be zenjoyed, that's what gifts are for. Consider Phil Jackson's wise words " The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single breath. Here we go...

Inspirational Recipe; Snow Globe Cupcakes

One Breath Meditation (Centering technique)

Consider a Snow globe turned upside down and shaken about. When it is set upright, the snow begins to settle and the scene is clear once again. Think of your mind the same way. We get tossed about by the stressful events but in an instant of the miracle of mindfulness, with One Breath, we get ourselves upright, our thoughts begin to settle and our mind becomes more clear.

Gentle Reminder; Stop (press your zen button, Whooosh) Breathe, Feel (Centered) ; Clear Mind, Peaceful Heart activation of your warrior (warriorette) spirit... It doesn't take more time to get centered, thinking on your feet, it takes intent. It's always an empowering choice we can make to live in what brilliant Author, Eckhart Tolle calls "The Power of Now."

Thank you straight from my heart inspired author of Along the Winding Path: A Little Personal Journey, a mind-body-spirit work ...@JulieShanti for being my cheerleader soul angel and inspiring me to post this to share my best and highest good, Ti amo... ❤ Brain storming with you is refreshing, like tasting zenlighten-mints.

Tom inspired me to mention Starbucks & this Heartwarmer quote:

"Friends are like snowflakes: each one different and beautiful..."❤

Cupcakes in picture from click here Sprinkles

Mental Fitness (Foreword by Leonard Cohen) still available: Amazon, Bodhi Tree Books or, contact me for an autographed copy.

In Gratitude w/Love ❤

FunZen Girls OX
Michiko (lil mama) 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.

Yoko (ocean child) Ono's commitment to spread Imagine Peace clarifies the meaning of a zen mommie; let a little peace begin with the me in mommie.

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.

Make, Bake and Decorate at the FunZen Bakery

"Words are like a recipe's ingredients for me." ~ Nicola Karesh, Author

One of my favorite things about the FunZen Bakery is that parents and kids--in fact anyone--can benefit from picking up our sweet treats to restore character and build confidence. However, our recipes aren’t locked away in a secret treasure chest. We love sharing everything on our menu…along with their very special ingredients and simple instructions for preparation.

You just need to Make, Bake and Decorate.

Make: up your mind to engage and take action.
Bake: to maintain the heat of your concentration power.
Decorate: and magically create your day, your way.

Today’s special treat will be a revitalizing exercise I call the “Morning Glory Cupcake.”

At its very heart, the "Morning Glory Cupcake" gives us special nourishment for the soul that has at its core an expression near to my heart: “Go within or Go without.”

This short maxim basically means that when you look inward towards stillness, you will find your life lesson. Ignoring the inner stillness, and focusing on the storm around you, can cause you to miss out on a blessing. An incident that happened recently led to my stepping inside the FunZen Bakery to use this inspirational recipe myself.

Earlier this year, I received a tweet from a man who expressed disapproval with the idea of FunZen when I used it in conjunction with the Heraclitus quote, "Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play."

The man wasn't’ buying it. He firmly stated that, to him, "FunZen was just New Age mumbo jumbo..." At first, reading his tweet didn't’ just catch me off-guard; it stung me. My initial reaction was to feel insulted… But I took a mindful breath and centered and refocused myself. My inner samurai girl went from reactive to reflective as I reminded myself to choose to detach from negativity. I recalled my life lessons and past teachings which made his words empower me with self-love rather than hurt me emotionally. Getting mad would serve no purpose. I re-tweeted the man and explained that FunZen came from the mouth of a babe, my daughter Grace at 5 years old. It was her name for the breathing and centering exercises that we still practice together everyday.

After telling him about the origins of FunZen, the man said that he now had a new-found respect for it, and acknowledged its usefulness. By not sinking to his level of antagonism, I was able to bring him onboard. It was like a breath of fresh air to see my fellow tweep now shift his perspective. And by going within, and listening to my heart, I was able to make art and communicate with compassion when things seemed to be falling apart. It’s something we can all do: Rather than be reactive when life throws you a curve ball, use your spiritual perspective to gain insight and learn from the issue at hand.

Truly, you can reach the sweet spot of "blessed aha's" with an instant understanding when you are able to see a situation with new eyes. I see this all the time through the eyes of my daughter. FunZen has emerged as a professional tool for Grace as she continues to work as a voice-over artist, and it consistently ignites brilliant performances from within her.

There are many of these exercises on the menu here at the FunZen Bakery, and over time I will be sharing them with you. Some of the centering exercises that have worked like a charm to enable Grace to activate a happy-calm state of concentration are "The Miracle Diamond Lemon Bars,” “Mermaid Starfish Cookies” and “Angel food Cupcakes.”

In future blogs, we'll be serving up more "you-nique ingredients for the Magic of Mindful Living. I will detail each of these exercises (and many more!) so that others may gain the inner peace, courage and confidence that come from using them. At 12 years of age, Grace continues to use these "cool tools" while incorporating FunZen into her everyday life.

Now, let's roll up our sleeves, and take a mindful breath, as I offer you today’s special of the day from the FunZen Bakery--the “Morning Glory Cupcake.”

I find that it’s a holistic tune-up in the morning to start your day…or anytime you need some inspirational “food for thought.” It's all good. It's organic.

The Morning Glory Cupcake

Follow your heart in 3 quick steps as you Make, Bake and Decorate:

Make: Whooshhh… Slowly exhale, quieting down from within. Now, pixie pause.

Bake: Look inward, visualize still water… Then, intently inhale inspiration.

Decorate: Slowly exhale… Ahhhh… Listen to your seawind breathing. Here’s where insights arise out of the stillness and the golden sound of silence.

Repeat as needed…

You can now tune in to the wisdom that always resides in your heart, enabling you to turn any obstacle into a learning opportunity. Thank you for joining us and engaging in today’s FunZen Bakery’s interactive recipe. We’re always here to Make, Bake and Decorate delicious little nuggets of fresh insights.

P.S. Look at the photo above, and guess who said this. "I have been teaching the art of fine baking for a long time!” Hint: She's a domestic goddess media mogul. Yes, kudos to Martha Stewart.