And so life goes. We sit, we be and we do what we do. A day in the life. This past week of days has been filled with experience and emotion for me. I have sent my youngest child off to school and sat with the emotions of it. I have picked up a new regular client, which has reminded me that I am indeed a good practitioner. My lover and I have reached new levels of understanding and communication – discussing and sharing chunky issues without story-telling or finger-pointing. I have suffered the disappointment of missing what appeared to be an opportunity, sat with it and found new opportunities opening up in its place. By remaining present to what is, life unfolds and develops. I have fed the creative aspect of my soul, and made peace with someone I was in conflict with.
Our experiences shape us and direct our path to a certain extent, which direction you are heading depends largely on your attitude and choices.
Where have you been this week? What have you experienced?
Look in the mirror and say “I am okay. I have felt and experienced …. today and I am okay.”
Ask yourself “What can I keep doing and being because it is working for me? What can I do differently?”
Remember, all experiences and emotions are valid. They are yours and add to the sum total of who you are.
Would you like to share your experiences? Please join the freedomsbridge group on FB.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/320977464596060/
Many blessings on your day
Atalanta <3
2011 has drawn to a close, in with 2012. What are you doing this year? Who are you going to be this year? Time to think about What was the best bit of 2011, what would I do differently, what the next year shall bring.
It is also a good time to think about and set some goals for the year in the different areas of your life. One of mine is to assist my girls to become more independent. School starts in February and I intend to teach them to make their own lunches. Another is to allow my relationship to develop as it will.
Once you have some goals, put some dates on them. Some will be ongoing like the examples above, others will have a definite completion date. Then break them down into smaller “action steps” with dates. I am embarking on some advertising to grow the practice, the publication date is February, so by early to mid January I need to complete the editorial and write a couple of ads.
You may not complete all your goals if you set them, but you’ll certainly achieve more than if you don’t set any goals. Pen, paper, write.
I would love to hear what your goals are - feel free to post them on our FB page http://www.facebook.com/freedomsbridge
Much Love to you and wishing you a wonderful and creative 2012
This is a practice that creates more love and space within all your relationships. The practice involves the use of Tantra, Moment-to-Moment Awareness and the five principles set out by Robert Rabbin (Be Present, Pay Attention, Listen Deeply, Speak Truthfully, Act Creatively). With these, a space of authenticity is created – opening the way for deeper communication and connection.
You know how it is, things get busy and there is a slow (or fast) descent into chaos in one or more areas of your life. It has been happening for me, as I begin my new practice and learn how it fits in my life. I see it as a slide in the house work – what has been a vital part of my personal practice – housework has been my meditation and contemplation time. You will witness it in whatever form it is for you.
So what is the cure for the chaos? Coming back to awareness…We come back to being present and paying attention. Switching off the thought-stream and noticing what is going on in and around us, then responding accordingly.
As life becomes bigger, the propensity for chaos increases. The question is what level of chaos is acceptable? I like having a level of physical order in my house so I reintroduce the housework mediation – multi-tasking for self-care and care of the home.
I use the moments of silent awareness to full advantage. As I am more present and paying attention to what is real I find that time stretches. Much may be accomplished when the mind chatter is minimal. What takes half an hour when there is procrastination, projections, memories and self-talk, takes moments when done with silent awareness.
I hesitate to share this as it sounds like a sell of my spiritual practice. It isn’t. You know what works for you and if there is more chaos than you like then it’s a good bet that your personal practice has ceased to be regular. It could be the coffee on the deck at sunrise listening to the birds sing the day in. Whatever it is, do it and the rest will flow.
That is a cure.
This is a big one. This is where we step out into the world and announce who we are. To speak one’s truth requires the silence gained by being present, paying attention and listening deeply. It is the truth within and without. For me it is about speaking the truth of who I am, what I am, what I want and what I don’t want. This truth-telling must exist to live authentically.
Call me if you want to talk about it more. <3
If you go to Robert’s Authenticity website http://www.authenticityaccelerator.com/SpeakTruthfully/ you can download his book…costs you nothing…
When we are being present and paying attention, okay how about I use I instead of we…I am after all talking about my experience, not yours…you are the only one who can have your experience. When I am being present and paying attention, I begin to listen deeply to the wisdom stored within me. I hear that which is below the thoughtstream, I become open and receptive to everything, all at once.
It is listening to intuition, observing what lies beneath the surface of a situation, listening to the desires of the heart and mind and body and honouring them as truth, calling, path, purpose. We all have this capacity – we are born with it. We forget what we always know. So to be present, pay attention and listen deeply brings me back to connection and acknowledgement of my truth. It is something that is in the doing,not the telling.
Love
Atalanta
Now you are in the present and living from awareness and not the thought-stream, it is time to turn to the second principle – Pay Attention. It is simple, but takes practice. To pay attention means to notice what is happening and what we are doing in real time.
It can be as mundane as washing the dishes – seeing whether they are actually clean or not after being washed…or paying attention in a discussion with a loved one, and responding to what is actually being communicated rather than superimposing the distortion of the thought-stream…noticing our intentions, rather than being oblivious to them.
My education in paying attention has largely come from my children, bless them. When they were babies it was about noticing that they needed feeding, changing, cuddling. As they have grown it has been about paying attention to what they are communicating to me. When I don’t pay attention, my kids jump on it and act out accordingly. When I am paying attention, they still push the boundaries, but because I am present and paying attention, I respond to what is actually going on and not some distorted pictures in my head.
So we have to pay attention to what is going on outside, we also have to pay attention to what is happening on the inside. If you don’t notice your feelings and emotions, you become them and they rule the show, and become destructive patterns of behaviour. We get lost in them, this is when shit that hurts happens.
By being present in real time, no longer lost and determined by the monkey-mind, I am free to pay attention to what is going on around me and within me. Silent awareness it is called, and it allows us to act from a place of authenticity, free of stories and chatter.
It is a challenge for me to put what I understand from Robert’s work into words because it is experienced from a place without words.
Often we are caught up in what Robert refers to as the “thought-stream”, or the “monkey mind” in Buddhist philosophy. We get stuck in memories, assumptions and projections. We are not experiencing what is really going on, only our perception of it – filtered through our memories, assumptions and projections.So what is necessary to step outside of the thought-stream and focus on what is actually going on around us? Be Present. It is about letting go of projections and seeing clearly with both inner and outer vision. The Buddhists call this moment – to – moment awareness. Shutting the mind down when it is projecting by turning attention outward. That is, noticing what is going on around you rather than your own thoughts and responding rather than reacting. However you do it – use something that works for you, try a few methods if you have to. Call me if you get the shits with it and we can talk about it a bit more and maybe clear up those pesky projections. <3
for more information on Robert’s work go to http://www.authenticityaccelerator.com/
Today I am sharing the work of Robert Rabbin. I was blessed to meet this man a few years ago. He is one of the most extraordinarily genuine person I have ever met. Anyway, I want to share with you today the ten words Robert has developed for living an authentic and genuine life. Hell, you only have this one in it’s entirety so you might as well enjoy it to the full.
BE PRESENT
PAY ATTENTION
LISTEN DEEPLY
SPEAK TRUTHFULLY
ACT CREATIVELY
Over the coming days, I will be sharing my thoughts on what I discovered when I introduced these ideas into my life.
Many blessings
Atalanta
for more information on Robert’s work go to http://www.authenticityaccelerator.com/
Getting great feedback on the Forest Visualisation. Happy for anyone to use it after running through it with me. <3
http://www.freedomsbridge.com/spiritual-practice/clearing-the-past/