~Lao Tzu
I recommend taking time daily, every single day, to be with yourself in mindful silence. Whether that means meditation for 30 minutes, or simply a nice 15-20 minute session of sitting out in nature, or in a quiet room. The setting is important, it has to be free of distraction to truly enter a state of inner silence. This setting will vary person to person, and you may not have easy access to walk off into the woods every day, that is fine. Wherever you feel at peace that is at least moderately conducive to allowing for silence will do. Even if this just means walking into a separate room while your kids play, or stepping out of where you work on your break for a quiet walk.
Intention is everything when seeking to create silence. The goal on a physiological level is to move from the driven productive state of beta waves, into alpha or even theta for just a bit. This allows us to recharge and center. Focus on the breath. Focus on coming to the center. Allow yourself to be still. Close your eyes if that helps, or if you are somewhere beautiful, focus on that beauty. Allow the silence to wash away any worries, or excessive thoughts. Remember that worrying rarely helps us be more successful, it rarely solves any problems. While centering and calming yourself allows for solutions to present themselves more clearly. Silence is where we can listen to the heart. Silence allows us to check in with ourselves and know what it is we might need.
2) CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Exercising creative expression is cathartic and powerful. What better than to emulate intelligent creative expression by becoming creators too? Whether you are a skilled and gifted artist, or someone who has never been “crafty” there is still great value to allowing yourself to have the experience of creating without attaching yourself to the outcome. It is the process that heals us. The process of creation allows us to tap into the creative and emotional mind. The more we connect with this aspect of ourselves the more deeply we connect with our emotions. This can also strengthen our ability to express them in a healthy and healing way. So much within us is just waiting to be expressed.
Consider trying this activity, close your eyes and think of something that brings you peace or joy. Something of beauty that enlivens your spirit. What I want you to do is use any medium, crayons, markers, paint, colored pencils, or even clay and attempt to create this. Do not stress yourself about trying to replicate the vision in its perfection as you see it. We are trying to tap into the process which unfolds naturally and cannot be controlled. Just allow yourself to enjoy this creative expression in each mark of the crayon, each stroke of the paintbrush, or each curve of the clay. Enjoy the progression of this creation. Get lost within each layer.
Make it a point to have arts and crafts time at least once a month. Get the kids or your partner involved if you have them. This is a great group activity with friends or family. Or take this time to become close with your own most creative intelligence within. Either way what will exist afterward is something that never existed before, and you will feel much more balanced and centered for having made it.
Nature is one of the most underused remedies to nearly every malady that our often hectic daily lives create. From depression to high blood pressure, from chronic bronchitis to anxiety, nature is the great healer. Shinrin-Yoku is the Japanese art of forest bathing. The principle concept is to literally surround yourself with the elements of nature and utilize every sense. Actual interaction with nature is the point. Touch the leaves, smell the air, feel the earth, view the colors, the beauty. This activates and stimulates us on a primal and even spiritual level. Science has shown this is both restorative and induces deeper states of relaxation. Connecting with nature allows us to gain better focus, it puts things in perspective. We gain a clear appreciation of the interconnectedness of all life to something much bigger than ourselves.
Go out into nature, if this is something foreign to you I suggest going online and looking up “nature trails near me”. If you are particularly drawn to water over forests try a search of “waterfalls near me” or “lakes near me”. Then grab some water, an apple, some nuts to snack on, wear comfortable clothes and shoes you don’t mind getting dirty and head out for an adventure!
While in the woods, or walking out try to increase your awareness and deeply appreciate all the little things. The way the sunlight shines through the leaves. The textures of the bark on a tree. The lovely scent of the fresh air. The little creatures, birds, and chipmunks scurrying about on their little missions. Realize here, you are in their house. Treat it with the same respect you would entering another’s home. Look at the clouds and the sunlight. Stop and actually touch the leaves, smell the wildflowers. Interact with this experience. Take off your shoes if weather permits. Let the soles of your feet soak in the wonderful energies of earth. If you have something you need to let go of, this is the perfect place. Imagine any worries, issues, or negative things are coming down out of your body through the soles of your feet into the welcoming earth. She can transmute those energies for you. Give thanks to her for all she gives of herself to us.
This is the most sacred of places. You have entered the temple of nature. If not for all of this working together just exactly as it does, we would likely not survive. We depend on the water filtered by the streams and mountains, the tides of the oceans to cycle through the seasons, the rain produced by the clouds to water our crops, the oxygen produced by the plants and trees, there is not one element of nature that is wasted without a Divine purpose. We are indeed connected to this living system.
Time in nature is time spent in the outermost expression of the innermost self. Make this a weekly practice, or as often as time allows. Don’t be picky with the weather, rainy days have just as much to marvel at as a sunny day. Every season has its own beauty and wonder. When you spend time in nature, you will always return with something more then you went out with.
4) REFLECTION
What is reflection? It is an image which mirrors an object back to itself. Self-reflection has been a constant tool for me in my life. It allows me to gage where I am at. To assess my own perspective. To give some objectivity to the otherwise subjective reality I would otherwise continue to believe in without question. From self-reflection comes self-awareness and that is what we are looking to increase.
To engage in self-reflection is to question your own perspective and reality. To ask the kind of questions that can keep us in check such as; am I doing my best? Have I been acting from a place of Love or fear? Could I be doing better in my relationships or at work? Am I listening to what I need? Am I living up to my responsibilities? Could I be interpreting anything someone said or did with bias? Is there another way to look at what I perceive to be a problem or issue in my life or in a relationship? What am I learning from my current problems? This is a highly personal example of questions and you can make your own as you practice this for yourself.
The most important thing is to challenge your own beliefs about your situations, your role in your life, your viewpoint on relationships with others and yourself. This must always come from a place of compassion and non-judgment. This exercise is never meant to degrade you or make you feel bad about yourself. This instead empowers you to see things a little differently and often you may find the answer to many problems or issues may not lie outside of you (such as in another changing what they are doing or a situation changing) but in changes you can make within yourself and how you view them.
Meditation is an ancient practice of going within used by various spiritual groups throughout the ages. Its origin is speculative but has been used perhaps as early as humanities emergence, we might imagine our early ancestors staring into the flames of a fire to enter deeper states of awareness. It has mainly been popularized by Eastern culture and the Buddha has become its icon. However, it is not a requirement to be either religious or spiritual to undertake the practice of meditation. Anyone can meditate for any reason, whether to gain deeper self-awareness or become more focused in school or business. Many people have found the benefit of meditation for practical reasons, aside from being a tool of spiritual development. Meditation is utilized by people from all walks of life, from lawyers to athletes, from business people to monks.
Meditation has shown to help ease chronic pain, anxiety, depression, stress, improve heart health, and boost mood and immune system function. It lowers blood pressure, decreases metabolism, improves breathing, heart rate, and brain waves. In studies done with Buddhist monks long lasting changes in the brain were demonstrated in areas of attention, memory, learning and perception (consciousness). Meditating even once or twice a day for as little as 20 minutes leads to measurable shifts in energy, focus, and feeling of relaxation throughout the day. [1]
One of the amazing things about meditation is that the more you do it, the more you practice, the deeper you will go. Deeper meaning; reaching a deeper sense of connection, deeper self-awareness (in the broader send which extends beyond the body), deeper relaxation, and deeper emotional resonance. The root of the word “Meditation” in Latin “meditato” means “to ponder”. To ponder deeply within yourself leads to the ultimate self-discovery, profound healing, and a rich sense of purpose and meaning in life.
6) GRATITUDE
The transformational power of gratitude in our lives cannot be overstated. Where gratitude is present you will find problems and issues become lessons and challenges which we can grow from and overcome. Where gratitude is present you will find you have a greater understanding, compassion, and appreciation for relationships and situations in your life. When practicing gratitude you will find it is endless. There is no end to things we can be thankful for and appreciate in our lives.
Make a list of everything you are grateful for. Even if you truly feel you have nothing please I do ask you try with compassion and an open mind and heart. Start with the basics and work your way out. I will ask, can you read this sentence? Then you are lucky as there are 775 million people in the world are currently illiterate. Can you see the words? Then you are lucky as there are 285 million people who are visually impaired and 39 million people who are blind. Do you have a functioning heart, lungs and brain? This is a gift! This itself is a great miracle! Do you have access to fresh water? 783 million people do not have access to clean water. Do you have a toilet? 2.5 billion people do not have access to sanitation (can you appreciate just exactly what it would be like if your toilet stopped working for even a week?) Do you have food to eat? 850 million people in the world are presently going hungry (and we will talk about this global crisis of humanitarian need later in this book). Do you have a roof over your head? Around 200 million people are homeless worldwide (this number is an estimate as it is harder to gage those who may be off the books or missing). I am assuming the majority of you said yes to most of these questions, if so, we are living in privilege and have no right to be anything but falling-on-our-knees-daily kind of grateful. We also owe it to the world to do all we can to ease the suffering of others who do not share our comforts.
Gratefulness you see is not just about being happy with what you have, it is about caring for something greater than yourself as well. A truly grateful person is an active contributor to the greater global community we are a part of. It is a wonderful thing to appreciate your life every morning you wake, every bit of food that you take, every warm clean sweater you put on, every person who is kind to you, every step that you take. But it is also important to extend yourself outward and share with those who need it. Helping others brings a much greater sense of purpose. You may even find you are more grateful for giving to another, than having for yourself. Happiness does not come from what we have, it comes from who we are. Be someone who cares, who helps, who heals, who comforts and supports. This is one of many ways we can be truly grateful.
"The Self Beyond" A Field Guide to Personal Activation,
by author Lisa Falcon G. Coming SOON!!
© Lisa Falcon G, Universal Hidden Insight