#535 Mindful Heart Monitoring

     Cultivating stable, continuous awareness - monitoring - the state of my mind-heart is key. Then I recognize:

           • What impact my being kind, aware & open mind-hearted has on my own & others' quality of life,
           • Compared to when I'm self-centered, "driven" & closed mind-hearted.

      "The path to loving-kindness will always entail our gentle attention to the very things that block our way to it."  
                              Ezra Bayda

      See:  http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2013/02/285-how-my-heart-feels-heavy-or-open.html
 

#518 Meeting Fear Effectively

     "By inviting fear into the relaxed, openness of your heart, by reaching out to your fear when you feel calm and grounded, you can begin to develop a connection between these two areas in yourself. Later when you become afraid, a connection already will have been established to help you call upon your calm, grounded being. When you feel connected to your inner wholeness, you can offer that as an ally to the place in yourself that experiences the pain and helplessness of being afraid. Shunryu Suzuki said, 'The only way you can endure your pain is to let it be painful' and maybe the same is true of fear. The way to endure our fears is to just be with them. Being present without trying to change our experience is how to tame and transform our pain."
 
        Phelan JP. Practicing with Fear. Mindfulness - published online 06 September 2012.

wgjohnston   www.dpreview.com

#485 Intentionally Opening Awareness

     Optimal functioning of a human, animal or plant requires that each cell of the multi-cellular organism have open lines of communication with all the billions of other cells of the body, and with the outside world. Awareness of inside and outside - absolutely basic & essential to health.
      Yet much of the time we're obsessing over someone or something that's bugging us (aversion), or something that we really really really want (craving). When thus preoccupied, we're ignoring virtually everything else inside & outside of us. This is SUBoptimal functioning and it makes us feel lousy (biofeedback to restore balance).
     When our bodies tell us that things are not right, we can open our senses up to become aware of all that's going on inside & outside of our skin boundary. Curious, relaxed, non-judgmental awareness is natural, healthy yet so underutilized. We can intentionally continuously increase this healthy, optimal state of awareness - it's called mindfulness practice.

Rudy Pohl   http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudypohl/sets/

#329 Judgmental : Grateful Ratio - Impacts your Quality of Life

     It's good to learn to be aware of when we're being judgmental - harshly critical of ourselves, first & foremost. Why? Because when we're hard on ourselves, we're almost certainly hard on others as well. And we may not be aware at all of our self-criticism, and it may be "business as usual" when it comes to criticizing others. How often are YOU harshly judgmental of others?
     It's also a good idea to become aware of when our hearts are open, and aware of the fact that we owe a massive debt of gratitude to so many people for being alive, for all that we have, etc. None of us can cause ourselves to be born, to grow up, to survive. This is a thoroughly interconnected incredibly complex web of life - we depend on each other far more than we can possibly realize. Gratitude should be common, normal, dominant emotion for all of us. How often are YOU overwhelmed by loving gratitude?
     What's the ratio of times when you're judgmental vs when you're grateful? Which is more realistic ie more appropriate to or in tune with reality? Which of the two is going to make you deeply satisfied, filled with joy? Think deeply about this. You have far more control over your quality of life than you realize!

Fredrik Lonnkvist   http://travel.nationalgeographic.com

#149 Guardedness, Approriateness, Compassion

Though this is a blog, readers' comments have been rare, likely due in part to the fact that the Comment section is NOT easy to see / access. So, I'd like to share a recent comment re post #143 "Wound of the heart - part 1":

Comment:

"I can relate to this guardedness particularly when under stress and it is related to my experiences in my family of origin. I would like to know how to transform that guardedness to openness?"

My Response:

"As you imply, this guardedness is entirely healthy & appropriate, based on all your previous experiences. As an adult, you start to see that responding to life with an open heart is a more appropriate, healthier way to live. Nevertheless, the guardedness comes up automatically. Awareness of how you respond, of how you & others feel as a result, and compassionate understanding for yourself & others, very gradually but surely diminishes your reactivity / guardedness. In the process, you develop deep insight into others' behavior - since they too all had imperfect parents / childhoods and so are also guarded & reactive. "Awareness itself heals" is a potent motto to remember, realizing that awareness involves the mind-heart ie includes compassion for self & others."