Begin to practice a deep acceptance and authentic appreciation of every season of life. Begin to see birth and death, young and old, as two aspects of the same rhythmic cycle of life.
In The Blooming of a Lotus, a book of mindfulness practices, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh offers the following practice on the divine messengers to help us move past denial and come face-to-face with our fears. He says that, as we welcome our fears into awareness, they lose energy, and their impact on us lessons.
“Knowing I will get old, I breathe in. Knowing I can’t escape old age, I breathe out.
Knowing I will get sick, I breathe in. Knowing I can’t escape sickness, I breathe out.
Knowing I will die, I breathe in. knowing I can’t escape death, I breathe out.
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Determined to live my days deeply in mindfulness, I breathe in. Seeing the joy and benefit of living mindfully, I breathe out.”
— Connie Zweig, Thich Nhat Hanh in The Inner Work of Age by Connie Zweig