Thank you to all who joined for our New Year's session on January 3rd. @Caren Stelson centered us with a body scan meditation so that we could notice what we are holding in our bodies and send loving attention to the areas in need of transformation.
I shared a quote from the book, Awakening Joy: 10 Steps to Happiness by James Baraz with Shoshana Alexander:
DOING YOUR PART (Awakening Joy by James Baraz)
Once you consciously set out on your pathway with a clear intention to be happy, it might look like something magical or mysterious is happening as you actually find more well-being in your life. It's like when you learn a new word, you suddenly notice it everywhere. Neuroscience tells us that setting an intention "primes" our nervous system to be on the lookout for whatever will support what we intend to create for ourselves.
In his book The Mindful Brain, Daniel Siegel talks about the effect paying "attention to intention" has on our brain and thus our experience of our surroundings. He writes: "Intentions create an integrated state of priming, a gearing up of our neural system to be in the mode of that specific intention: we can be readying to receive, to sense, to focus, to behave in a certain manner." This suggests that when we pay attention to the intention to bring more happiness into our lives, we are more likely to notice the actions, opportunities, people, and things that can bring that about for us. It's sort of like recognizing which piece of a jigsaw puzzle will fit the picture.
Life is always presenting us with unexpected circumstances-obstacles as well as opportunities. Remaining aware of your intention helps you to more readily recognize, from the multitude of options life offers, those that support your vision.
Applying the work of Robert Fritz on manifesting vision and leadership (https://www.robertfritz.com/wp/), I invited us to reflect on our current experience and three items we'd like to release from our lives. We reflected on how we could transform each of our three items in a vision of what we would like to bring into our lives.
In 1:1 conversations, we talked about what steps we would like to take to alchemize what we release into our "re-solution." In our 1:1's, we talked about our projects, how we might support one another, as well as how to transform our fears to positive, grassroots work, our need for certainty to a spirit of discovery and our continual adapting to a process of intentional investments of time in what brings peace and hope. We agreed that beginning with our reality and vulnerability - and working from there to seek transformation - was grounding.
We ended with a few quotes to inspire our new re-solutioning:
"Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." Carl Jung
WALK SLOWLY
It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still, and just like that, something in me settles, softens, makes space for imperfection. The harsh voice of judgment drops to a whisper and I remember again that life isn't a relay race; that we will all cross the finish line; that waking up to life is what we were born for. As many times as I forget, catch myself charging forward without even knowing where I'm going, that many times I can make the choice to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk slowly into the mystery. Danna Faulds, from Go In and In
Our next online session is scheduled for Wed., Feb. 7th from 11:00am to 12:30pm Central.
Yours in weaving peace & justice,
@Kate Towle
