Greetings Spiritual Warrior!!! And welcome to another week of The Source.
This week, we dive into awareness which is our fully present attention on a particular aspect of our existence. Our awareness can be on:
- our words, thoughts, or actions;
- those of someone else; or
- an aspect of our environment.
Most often – in spite of where we are or what’s going on – we are in our heads and our awareness is on the non-stop flow of thoughts & feelings. (60,000 -80,000 every day!!!)
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The same is true for when we meditate. Whenever we meditate, after a few moments of present-moment-awareness, we will quickly drift to the thought of the moment and then follow it around a bit. This is normal!! This is what it’s like to have a brain in this human body of ours.
So whether we are meditating or in our normal waking state, the same experience occurs. Thoughts pour in and we can begin to feel overwhelmed by them. We start making lists in our heads, replaying a conversation in our mind, visualize ourselves doing something in the past or fantasize about something yet to unfold in the future. This often manifests in our body & our mind as stress. And from this seed of stress, we make poor decisions, react in a conditioned way, lash out or shut down, or become frozen.
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But if we can have the subtle intention to connect to nature the very moment we begin to feel the first wave of stress, then we can effortlessly relax the potential constriction and provide ourselves with some breathing room. There are literally a million ways we can become aware of & commune with nature – so here are a few easy steps to get the process started:
- look up into the sky – feel its expanse,
- drink in the warmth of the sun,
- gaze at a body of water or a vast expanse,
- garden,
- bathe in your surroundings,
- immerse into a flock of pigeons,
- go for a walk, swim, or run,
- hug or caress a tree,
- pet your companion animal,
- watch the river run,
- smell the earthy sweetness of flowers, trees, herbs, and plants,
- walk barefoot on grass or sand,
- stare into the night sky until you settle on a star or the moon,
- listen to the chirping and cawing of birds,
- watch an ant crawl along a window sill, or
- drink a glass of water!
Whenever we drift our attention to nature, as long as we are in observer mode and are mindful of the moment, we recognize the interconnectedness of our essence with every other strand of existence. The flower came from the earth; the earth is filled with rain water, pollen, decomposed leaves, insects, and every other fragment of life; the wind is filled with the cells of every other being and the breath of everyone who has ever lived.
This is our aham brahmasmi moment! (Where you remind yourself “I am the universe.”) With each breath we take, we breathe in centuries of exhales from those we revere and respect – the Buddha, Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, Mother Teresa, Einstein, Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks – and anyone else who has lived on earth.
It’s in these moments of awareness of union – one-ness – merging, that our very existence becomes eternal. In that moment, we are timeless – never born…never died. And that is the magnificence of awareness, which we can invoke and awaken whenever we choose. So, this week, let’s commune with the infinite nature of our being and in that process…we will become one.
I hope you’ll visit with me on Hay House Radio or at one of my retreats… and in the meantime, I’ll see you in the gap! Peace. -davidji
