With this breath

Sometimes when we practice mindfulness, or actually, when we live our lives more generally, we can get caught up in thinking things have to be a certain way, or that we only want certain feelings to be there and want to block others out or make them go away. I wrote this poem whilst on a retreat in Wales, really as an encouragement (to myself and others!) that it is actually OK to feel what you feel and that giving sadness, joy, anger - all of it - a space, can be helpful.

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With this breath

With this breath
You are good enough.
With this breath 
Your stomach can rumble.
With this breath
You can fidget, yawn,
Giggle & be child-like.
With this breath
You can be awake one minute
And gone the next.
With this breath
You can give sadness its space.
With this breath
You can cry puddles of tears
For no reason, or many.
With this breath
You can have doubts and uncertainties.
With this breath
You can have questions
To which there are no answers.
With this breath
Let the doubts play on waves of uncertainty.
With this breath
Reflect that honesty back into the world.
With this breath
You are not broken
You are human
You are living
You are good enough.

Ruth Ormston (Trigonos, January 2018)