Checkered Background - Ice Cream for the Soul by Joy Koenig, MD - Personal Growth, Wellness, Healthy Lifestyle, Meditation, Inspiration

CHECKERED BACKGROUND
CATEGORY

        Meditation Game

DESCRIPTION

        Turn your picnic into a meditation game.

INSTRUCTIONS

        Buy a paper tablecloth with a traditional red and white checkered pattern. As you enjoy your picnic, write words, phrases or short poems in each of the white squares. If you use an inexpensive cloth version, choose either washable or permanent ink. Write using just one color, a different color for each person, or draw in every color of the rainbow.

RELATED IDEA

        Make your own chess board and pieces, and paint an inspiring word in each square. Pick a favorite game piece, then play a regular game of chess with a friend. Write down all the words that piece lands on, and see how they fit into your life.

JOY'S JOURNEY

        I enjoy meeting people who have turned a "checkered past" into a charitable future. I think its one of the primary reasons I enjoy working with recovering alcoholics and addicts. The changes are touching and sometimes even dramatic.

        I remember teaching a course called "Healing the Soul" one summer. It was an introduction to various forms of alternative medicine, including Reiki (see MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK). Often, one or two students will stand out among a class of thirty. That particular summer, I was drawn to a handsome and burly man. I was touched by the warmth in his eyes and smile, and the quiet yet confident way he spoke with and touched others. He had a gentle strength that impressed me. At the end of the week, several days after my class had ended, he approached me to ask how to become a Reiki practitioner. He said, "I know this is the path I want to take. I have had a hard life, and have been in and out of prison many times and done many wrong things. I have been in recovery now for 13 years, and think I've finally found where I belong." His manner was so kind and loving, I couldn't imagine him being any other way. Yet, I couldn't see how he'd survived the inhumanities of prison if he hadn't been tougher in the past. His soul's journey reminded me that we always have the right utensils to eat whatever ends up on our plate.

QUOTES

Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying.
Fran Lebowitz

Never argue at the dinner table,
for the one who is not hungry
gets the best of the argument.
Richard Whately

The gods play games with men as pieces.
Titus Maccius Plautus

After the game the King and pawn go into the same box.
Italian Proverb

Dr. Joy is available to present playful workshops (playshops) at your corporate training retreat, non profit organization gathering, or club membership meetings. She is located in Denver, Colorado, and travels throughout the US to deliver Serious Fun ™ Programs for personal growth, wellness, and inspiration. Please see the program pages for details and contact information.

This playful meditation activity is COPYRIGHTED. If you are a professional trainer, coach, human resources person, counselor, or therapist it is not ethical nor legal for you to use it or share it with your clients or those you supervise/train as part of your job. See the copyright notice on the front page of this e-book. Remember, character is what you do when no one is looking. Please take the high road, and pay me appropriately to use these materials professionally, even if you work for a church, school, non-profit or the government.