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Inducing Conciousness in Others
Over the last few years, I've clocked some serious hours on my meditation cushion. Sometimes, serenity evades me despite my best efforts. But at other times, I get a glimpse of liberation. I've come to understand that that state is present and...
Lectio Divina
Lectio divina is a very useful and practical discipline for spiritual growth. Rooted in ancient monasticism, the practice is a fourfold cycle: Reading, Meditation, Prayer, and Contemplation. In fact, the term itself means “sacred reading.”
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Mind and Self Hypnosis: A Short Introduction
Introduction
First, I want to suggest to you that all hypnosis is fundamentally self hypnosis. This idea is not new from me, for one of the real pioneers of modern hypnosis, Dr. Milton Ericcson made this statement many years ago. The fact is,...
Mindfulness and Depression: Things Are Looking Up
From yoga studios to cancer clinics, from preschools to college campuses, mindfulness is quite the buzz. Law schools are offering courses in mindfulness as a tool to help in mediation, and business consultants are pouncing on mindfulness as the...
The Interplay of the Five Elements in Our Lives
As you are sitting here reading this allow your awareness to turn inwards into yourself. We are going to discuss the five elements and see how they interact in our lives. A good place to start is with a simple example. Just imagine that you are...
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Mindfulness and Independence: Observing Fireworks
“It’s a free country,” they say. “Celebrate our independence,” I hear.
Well, I’m all for having a party, but it strikes me that you don’t have to be an American to appreciate freedom, and doing what I’m told isn’t the best way to exercise independence.
So, let’s expand that notion of freedom just a bit, and look at how we can become more aware of the fireworks that are lighting up our minds.
What sets off your mental fireworks? What ignites your personal bottle rockets?
Perhaps it’s a simple pet peeve, like small handbag dogs, or Jello salad, or people who talk on their cell phones too loudly. Maybe you go ballistic when you hear a certain song. We often have extreme reactions to relatively minor things based on our own little stories about them.
Maybe you save your fireworks for the big-ticket items—issues like war, poverty, health, and education.
In your head or in the sky above, when those fireworks start exploding, you’ve got two choices. You can either:
1) Hoot/holler, ooh/ahh, whistle/clap
-or-
2) Watch quietly
What do YOU do?
How do you respond when that initial flash appears? Do you get caught up in the excitement of it? Are you likely to share your enthusiasm in a way that is
noisy—or are you more likely to watch in silence? What is your NATURAL TENDENCY?
In the name of freedom everywhere, I’d like to offer this tip to those who may be convinced that mindfulness requires silence: try making noise. And to those who are more likely to hoot and holler, here’s a suggestion: be quiet.
In other words, use fireworks as an opportunity to free yourself from your typical response pattern, and pay attention to the newness of it. After all, mindfulness starts when we notice something new. So, instead of focusing on always finding something to get excited about, try tweaking your own way of reacting. And then, watch THAT.
Start with the big, glorious displays in the night sky. Observe. Watch yourself. Do what you normally wouldn’t do.
Later, try the same thing with those mental fireworks. Observe. Watch yourself. Do what you normally wouldn’t do.
And celebrate your independence.
About the Author
Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse in Portland, Oregon. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she teaches creative and powerful eyes-wide-open alternatives to meditation. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, please visit http://www.MassageYourMind.com.
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| Healing Music|Meditation Music|Self Help products |
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