We’re already at the 3rd pillar of well-being!
As a quick review, the first two are:
-Meaning, the ability to be more present, tuned into your here and now as well as to your mind chatter.
From Dr Davidson directly:
“Awareness: A heightened, flexible attentiveness to one’s environment and internal cues such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings.
Skills: Mindfulness, attention, self-awareness”
How is your practice of awareness coming along?
Another way to think about awareness, is mindfulness. If you google that word alone, you’ll find loads of practices (in addition to the pause one I gave you) to support you in cultivating more awareness.
Today we’re exploring the 2nd pillar of well-being that Dr Richard Davidson identified with his neuroscience research.
Have you heard of a neuroscientist named Richard Davidson?
He’s been doing research on the brain specifically related to mindfulness, meditation, and well- being for decades. And his research is fascinating!
One of his key findings is around the idea of well-being. Through extensive study, trials and research, he has identified what he calls 4 pillars of well-being.
The really exciting news is that these so-called pillars aren’t inherent qualities, or even simply acquired knowledge. They are qualities that each and every one of us can cultivate and apply every day of our lives! Wahoo!
Have you experienced the past few months as intense, chaotic, and full of uncertainty?
Yes?
You’re not alone.
Some days feel like a tough slog. Like we’re moving through dense resistance. Which is all the more reason to embrace your spiritual practice and deepen into it.
Many seers have spoken of this time we are in as an amplification, when everything is speeding up and gaining power. This is exactly why you have to choose your own sanity, clarity and peace.
Not only because the chaos is ever growing, but because the benefit of you doing your inner work is amplified during this time. In other words, you can use this time to fast track your liberation.
Recently, we explored the big idea in which I asked you what myth are you living. If you’re still ruminating on this, here’s another tool that might help you drill into it: archetypes.
The concept of archetype is something Carl Jung spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and is so rich! Caroline Myss has built on Jung’s work and expounded on how we can access and utilize archetypal energy to better understand ourselves and the world.
We’re already at the 3rd pillar of well-being!
As a quick review, the first two are:
-Meaning, the ability to be more present, tuned into your here and now as well as to your mind chatter.
From Dr Davidson directly:
“Awareness: A heightened, flexible attentiveness to one’s environment and internal cues such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings.
Skills: Mindfulness, attention, self-awareness”
How is your practice of awareness coming along?
Another way to think about awareness, is mindfulness. If you google that word alone, you’ll find loads of practices (in addition to the pause one I gave you) to support you in cultivating more awareness.
Today we’re exploring the 2nd pillar of well-being that Dr Richard Davidson identified with his neuroscience research.
Have you heard of a neuroscientist named Richard Davidson?
He’s been doing research on the brain specifically related to mindfulness, meditation, and well- being for decades. And his research is fascinating!
One of his key findings is around the idea of well-being. Through extensive study, trials and research, he has identified what he calls 4 pillars of well-being.
The really exciting news is that these so-called pillars aren’t inherent qualities, or even simply acquired knowledge. They are qualities that each and every one of us can cultivate and apply every day of our lives! Wahoo!
Have you experienced the past few months as intense, chaotic, and full of uncertainty?
Yes?
You’re not alone.
Some days feel like a tough slog. Like we’re moving through dense resistance. Which is all the more reason to embrace your spiritual practice and deepen into it.
Many seers have spoken of this time we are in as an amplification, when everything is speeding up and gaining power. This is exactly why you have to choose your own sanity, clarity and peace.
Not only because the chaos is ever growing, but because the benefit of you doing your inner work is amplified during this time. In other words, you can use this time to fast track your liberation.
Recently, we explored the big idea in which I asked you what myth are you living. If you’re still ruminating on this, here’s another tool that might help you drill into it: archetypes.
The concept of archetype is something Carl Jung spent a tremendous amount of time exploring and is so rich! Caroline Myss has built on Jung’s work and expounded on how we can access and utilize archetypal energy to better understand ourselves and the world.
A powerful way to help understand where you are on your life path, is to recognize what story or stories are playing out in your life. This is a question/idea that comes from Carl Jung. He famously said:
I was driven to ask myself in all seriousness: “What is the myth you are living?”
I found no answer to this question, and had to admit that I was not living with a myth, or even in a myth, but rather in an uncertain cloud
of theoretical possibilities which I was beginning to regard with increasing distrust.
Happy New Year!
Are you ready for 2025?
It still feels pretty new, which is why it’s helpful to employ some anchoring exercises to support you as you get clear about how you want this year to be for you.
I always start my year by choosing a word or phrase, something to focus on, dive into, and act as a theme or inquiry for the upcoming 365 days.
Some of the ones I’ve chosen in past years include: receive, relax, joy, shine, communion… you get the idea. Once you hit on your word (or phrase), the invitation is to spend the next 12 months deepening into how you can experience it in your life.
I love sharing spiritual tools with you with this blog.
Sometimes it's a poem, mantra, prayer, breath exercise, or affirmation. But each technique is one I’ve tried and tested over the decades and is now part of my box of go-tos. The ones I rely on when I need additional support, assistance or help reconnecting to the truth of myself, which is love.
Today I felt called to share one that I return to again and again. It's a breath I was taught by my guru over twenty years ago called the Chittakash, which is the heart space over the head.
The other day I saw this quote by Stephen Covey:
“The biggest communication problem is we do not listen to understand. We listen to reply.”
I’ve always considered myself a good listener, how about you?
I enjoy paying attention to what others say, but it’s definitely a different kind of listening when we truly want to understand what someone else is saying!
And despite thinking I was good at this particular skill, I got a whole new perspective a few years ago when I received training from a facilitator who was part of the Compassionate Listening Project
Some days it feels hard not to succumb to strife – be it internal or external.
Particularly when there feels like there’s so much churning taking place. Whether it’s within your own being, with your family/friends, society or planetary, it’s hard not to get sucked into it.
The other day, one of my daughter’s said to me, “no one was going to save me. I have to save myself.”
I nearly fell off my chair.
Why?
Because she’s 24-years-old!
I don’t even want to think how long it took me to understand that idea!
Instead, for SUCH a long time, I was hooked on the fairy tale of being rescued. Think about it, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel… ugh.
As I began to awaken to the truth of who I am, I began to see that, just as my daughter reminded me, the only one who was going to save me was ME.
At first, it felt like a big blow. Ouch. I was upset. My paradigm was getting busted.
For our final blog in this series offering tools to support you when you feel anxious, uncertain or dread, we’re focusing on community.
Firstly, what does community mean to you?
Take a moment and really think about it. What might in include:
Family
Friends
Church/temple
Walking Group
Whatever community means to you, here are 4 ways to deepen those connections.
This blog is focused on ways to support you on the physical level, when your nervous system gets hijacked by anxiety, worry or fear.
The first tool:
Take a moment right now to become aware of your breath.
Is it slow? Fast? Deep? Shallow? How we breathe directly impacts how we feel.
When I was in high school, I was on the crew team. Before every race began, when we’d be adjusting the boat, assured we were in the correct lane and pointed in the right direction, I’d get so nervous I’d actually stop breathing.
Of course, that’s the EXACT opposite of what my muscles needed to win! But it’s what anxiety can do. Fight-flight-freeze
Which is why we have to train ourselves to breathe and regularly check in with our breath.
In the last blog, the focus was on spiritual strategies to help you feel less anxious and afraid. Today, we’re exploring ways to harness the power of your mind to help control your thoughts so they don’t control you.
Ready?
One of the ideas we discussed in the last blog was: How you start your day is how you live your day. Remember?
Intention ties into this beautifully.
Let’s be honest, some days are just hard, especially if you’re a sensitive person!
We can glance up from the microcosm of our lives, and gasp at what’s happening across the globe, from searing heats and drought to political discord.
Maybe you’ve found yourself, your emotional self, teetering on the edge - trying hard not to fall into fear or anxiety- as you face this elevated level of uncertainty.
To support you through these times, I’ve put together tools to help you manage the discomfort you’re feeling be it anxiety, apprehension, dread, fear…
Over the next few weeks, I’ll provide you with tools and practices you can incorporate and use. This blog, is focused on the spiritual level. In subsequent weeks, we’ll look at mind habits, body practices, as well as community engagement.
Let’s dive in!
