Sometimes words change their meaning. Have you ever been thinking you knew something until you suddenly one day understands it in a new way? While thoughts are just thoughts, manufactured by the mind, insights seem to come from another source. From an intelligence beyound the mind, from a place where wisdom reigns. This summer I have been reading Joe Dispenza, Krishna Murti, and The Presence Process by Michael Brown, all point in the same direction: The only way we can find peace is by listening to the source behind the thought-stream. And how do we do that? I smile when I write this, because I thought I knew the theory, and I have for years discussed this with friends and students, sharing the teachings of my teachers… However, this summer I have been hit by the fact that I am reacting a lot more than responding, that I am living much more in my mind than I believed I was, that I feel disconnected from the source. While I am writing this I´m in this process; lost inbetween old patterns and belief systems, and new ways of experiencing the world, which feel familiar and yet still sort of un-reachable. What I do sense, is a deep desire to find my way back to the source.
And how do we practice this? There are no short cuts or ways around it. The only way is through. Through listening before talking, taking a pause before acting, observing before judging. We can practice this in daily life. The key is to practice presence.
Through permitting yourself to be in the place where you are at each moment: I am here… while washing the dishes, travelling to work, while bathing your child or brushing your teeth.
Observe how you react or respond to events, circumstances, people around you.
Through your breath: Pay attention to your breath, salute your breath in the morning, observe it through out the day. And when you feel stressed, try to close your eyes and take three deeper breaths, and then check in with yourself, the inmediate felt-response has probably changed.
Give yourself time. Allow all sensations to go through you.
Pick a mantra, one that works for you. One I have used this summer is: I AM HERE NOW IN THIS (one word, one breath). Or maybe SO HUM works better for you, (I AM). Before your immediate reaction, when you feel the auto-pilot is driving you into places already too known, take a pause, breathe, and repeat your mantra. Sit at least 5 minutes every morning and evening, listening to your breath and repeating your mantra.
…Mantras and words, just as each inhale and exhale – they can all get a new meaning (going beyound the surface)… Life can get a new meaning 🙂
Lots of love and deep breaths!
I would love to see you this fall, online or face to face 😉 🙂
Mia
