Archives for August 2014

 

 Here are 4 very different techniques for being mindful and staying present in moments of stress or emotional turmoil, yet amazingly similar below the surface:

www.sageinacage.com

Based on the technique to adopt when you are literally on fire!

1  Stop                                            2 Drop                                                      3 Roll

reacting to the                             your irritation and                         with the emotion and

stupid stuff                                   anger                                                     stay in the present moment

(Awareness)                                 (Manage yourself)                              (Be mindful)     

 

Dr. Melva Green, “Breathing Room” —learning to let go of material things 

SLICE

1 Stop  

2 Listen – to your emotions with compassion for yourself

3 Intend – remind yourself of your intention; what you are trying to do

4 Clear the energy – let go with grace and gratitude

 

Cynthia Bourgault, “Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening,” the Welcoming Prayer ; from the Christian Contemplative Prayer process 

1 Stop – when you are aware of the thoughts but before the emotion rises

2 Focus and sink in – ‘ride’ the building emotional and physical energy in your body

3 Welcome it all, saying: Welcome pain, welcome anger, etc.  Don’t let it chase you out of your ‘presence’

4 Let go (surrender as an inner practice, not an outer practice) saying:  I let go of my anger or I give my anger to God.  And I let go of my desire to change the situation.

 

Pema Chodron, “Comfortable with Uncertainty,” the Buddhist approach to mindfulness

1 Start where you are, between acting out and repressing; aware

2 Notice your thoughts and the texture of the emotion under the thinking; breathe it in with every breath, don’t resist

3 Contemplate the emotion; look fear in the face, work with your shadow stuff; recognize that this is a fear we all face and breathe out compassion and light and space to yourself and to all of humanity (Tonglen Meditation)

4 Stay where you are, between acting out and repressing

 

It seems humanity is learning a new (?) consciousness; as long as we all bury our fear and aggression and consequently project it outward onto the world, we will continue to live in a world of fear and aggression.  What ever we defend against in life, is what we draw to us… wherever you look, there you are!

 

 

If you’ve noticed, there is a lot of talk about mindfulness these days with articles on the internet and talks on youtube.  At this point in time, my understanding of what it is and how we can apply it is as follows.  (My next post will be 4 brief techniques for becoming more mindful.)

It is important to recognize that consciousness is very new to human development and we don’t really understand it or ourselves very well at this point.  We are learning about ourselves as we evolve and at this point in time we are becoming aware of how our mind, brain, body and emotions function as an integral whole.

First: What is the difference between awareness and mindfulness?  Awareness is noticing–the observer self (witness)  taps you on the shoulder.  Mindfulness is what you do next, or rather ‘how’ you do it.  i.e.  Awareness– I’m talking a lot right now and feeling excited.  Mindful doing – I will stop talking.  I’ll ask them a question and get them involved.  Mindful inquiry — I wonder why I’m feeling I need to convince them?  [I don’t necessarily have an answer.]  Mindful doing— I bring myself into the present moment and stay open to what is happening.

It is the mindful internal inquiry that is the key to our personal growth and the key to our suffering; the reminder of our tender hearts that we all share and all  try so hard to protect.  It also is directly related to our levels of awareness;  the more we are open to learning about our inner landscape (our own shadow), the more conscious we become and the more finely tuned our awareness of others and our ability to resonate with them.