Play to stretch body-mind

Notice new experiences stretch mind- body. Some question the difference between spontaneous and impulsive. This journey challenges self-created limits, nudges us out of comfort zones. Everything unfolding invites us to deepen connection to the heart. Where to from here? Options are as unique as snowflakes.

As we immerse into spontaneous movement, twiddle our fingers, move our shoulders and hips and rest of the body, sing, we rediscover the power of free spirit enables us to feel more alive. Exchanges with like-minded souls spark more curiousity, elicit humor, nurture growth, even unforeseen healing. When we feel stuck, indecisive, lack confidence, allowing our playful spirit expression is like giving ourselves permission to shake up and let go of our illusions. Things can fall into place without control. Where the mind is too serious and constricted, then life feels too confining.

The key to remembering who we are and being that arises from free-flowing, heartfelt actions; jump into puddles, dance, twirl in bare feet, skip in the sand, fly in an aerial hammock, on skates, in a hangglider or some other way that enables you to be one with nature, wind and energy flow of existence. Let the body move. Let Soul be your pilot. See what happens, what shakes itself out.

A widely forgotten truth is that the genius of play naturally guides us to pay attention and focus on what matters. Play is not only about ourselves. Its about how are we relate to environments, energy flow, others and the world around us. We can pay attention to the body-mind and sacred heart in a whole new way. Discover the joy spontaneity evokes and rekindles any moment.

Reprogram the Mind

Notice options exist to consciously reprogram the mind:

1) Do your best to accept others. What we see in others is simply an external manifestation of their program. In this way, they are no different from us, except for programs & levels of awareness.  What annoys us and what we dislike/ hate about others is our own reflection. Everything is a mirror.

2) Accept thyself. Know our actions arise from our mind. Know our inability to accept self fully causes our suffering. To accept the self, is to alleviate one's own suffering.

3) Watch habitual reactions to people and environments. Attachment to the external can lead to discontentment.  Let it go.

4) Identify your greatest needs, attachments, and desires. Trace causes of present anger & unhappiness to source. Triggers help us to recognize and release emotional hang-ups.

5) Be present. See planning as part of being in the now, not the future. Enjoy every action. Savour being alive. Be the best version of yournself in this moment.

6) Know you are not your body, not your mind or emotions. Spirit and soul are having a human experience. Our consciousness is the part of us that sees all events. As we purify mind, we begin to identify with consciousness not body-mind.

7) Be open and direct with feelings as much as possible.  Remember everyone has potential to gain higher levels of awareness. Present attitudes are often caused by conditioning. Do our best to see the potential for good in all people.

9) Do not avoid difficult situations. We are taught to ignore or postpone sources of discomfort. Yet it is they who can show us most clearly how our mental programming works. As we make the unconscious conscious, then we are aware and can shift it.

10) Imagine yourself in other people's shoes. Deepen understanding of self through gifts of other people's behaviour, all this shows U.

Snap out of the Trance

Notice discomfort (what doesn't taste right) comes up to the surface to be purged or let go. Let awareness do what it wants to do. It will be drawn into the feelings and experiences outside and then on the inside of the skin. The inward environment has things to listen to. If you get hijacked by a thought, make no effort to get rid of it, change, alter or control it. Deep listening is simply noticing things as they are. The more you relax, the more the spaciousness grows obvious. What you miss before stands out. Awareness loses fixation on things so to rest in its natural state. Thoughts, feelings, objects arise. Amidst all this, tune into what openness feels like. In this sense of opennness, every moment, awareness is present. We need not exert effort to grow more aware. Space itself is highly awake. Entities are not "aware." Awarness does not originate at any particular point. Awareness itself is already in a profound state of listening. It is open, not picking or choosing, judging, fearing or manipulating. It is simply being itself. As awareness happens, you are no longer in the trance of thought. See and feel for yourself what its like to be awareness. No answer exists to questions of how to get here. This is not about a goal, not about controlling thought or feeling. Awareness itself is not aiming to change you. Everything happens spontaneously. Its simply drawing you into True Nature.

5 Steps to more conscious living

Ever feel like a peice of wood drifting through life, not going in the direction you want to go? Is it clear to you how you got where you are today? Do you feel drawn to change anything?

Living consciously is about taking control of your life, about making deliberate decisions rather than making decisions willy-nilly without thought.  This is about consciously creating the life that we want rather than settling for the one that somebody tells us we deserve. Consider these 10 steps to more conscious living;

1.  Reflect regularly on your life

This involves reflecting on who you think you are, how your feel and behave in different situations.  It includes growing more aware of patterns playing out through your relationships and being open to change.

2. Reflect on how you spend your time

Notice whether you focus attention on what matters most to you or, whether you are working toward doing that in the future. The key is to find courage to stop doing things that do not stimulate creativity or fulfull you, to stop interacting with people who do not matter, stop spending money on stuff we do not need to impress people. What would you ideally be doing and where?

3. Nurture your sense of humor

Laughter is brings balance and recalibrates well-being. What tickles your funny bone? Laugh longer & more often. Spend time with children who giggle and animals that play spontaneously. Be open to allowing some of this to rub off on you. Allow yourself to be silly.  Be okay with it. Lose the conditioned fear of embarassment.

4. Review life goals often

Notice what you truly feel destined to do with your gifts and talents. Are you are in sync or off track? Ru moonlighting? Its useful to grow aware of the nature of distractions we create or excuses we make to hold ourselves back from doing what the heart knows fuels our spirit.

5. Reflect on your impact on the environment

This includes what you eat, how its produced, how far it travels to get to you. How do you feel when you eat? Are you being authentic, eating what feels right or making changes as your body gives you signs to do so? Which modes of transport do you use? Be mindful that everything we do affects more than us, but everything around us in some way.

5 key points on connection

Notice restlessness and discontent are symptoms of disconnection. This goes deeper than the physical disconnection you feel when your mobile phone, computer, internet or other technology is not working on your terms. Maybe you are feeling a range of confusing emotions that disturb peace of mind in relationships or other aspects of reality? What can you do to feel more at ease?

Consider retraining the mind, that is how and what you see as your reality. What happens as you shake up your sense of who you think you are and review discomfort from a different point of view? Ponder these five points about connection. How do your emotions and understanding of what is happening in your world change?

1. The nature of intimacy in your relationships mirrors love, acceptance, intimacy with yourself 
2. No one thing or organism exists on its own (we share the same water, air, light, etc.) 
3. No thing or organism acts on its own (everything is interconnected energy flow)
4. Every organism is a process understood by its actions (motion of allowing or resisting)
5. The behaviour of all organisms is only understood in relation to its environment

This said, reflect on fear, guilt, shame, anger and other examples of emotions you are feeling in relation to specific situations. How are these emotions pointers to another way of being more authentic (or living a mroe authentic life)?