feeding the body, feeding the soul

UntitledI am currently - sort of (on and off) - doing Deva Premal & Miten's 21-day mantra journey.  During the introduction to Day 5 Miten points out that just as we feed the body (with food obviously, but perhaps also with exercise and fresh air) we also need to feed the soul, that other part of us.  We can feed our soul in all sorts of ways.  I think anything that emphasizes the quality of life feeds the soul, such as beauty, friendship, love or serenity (did you notice that these are all things money can't buy?).Untitled 2 Mantra chanting, as Miten explained, is one such soul food.  In the German September 2013 issue of GEO was a small article on the benefits of singing together.  Researchers discovered that the hearts of a group of mantra singers beat in synchronicity.  The controlled breathing of mantra chanting, similar to the controlled breathing practised in yoga, slows the heartbeat down and strengthens it, which is so beneficial.  When a group chants mantras together each individual melds into the group togetherness through the common synchronized heartbeat.   Neat!Untitled 3

here's some magic

What about pragmatism?  What about rational-analytical thinking and the glorification of science?  DSC05266What about pushing our emotions under the rug, or believing our Western culture to be superior to or more evolved than indigenous cultures? DSC04271These beliefs are all a reflection of the loss of the spiritual, the loss for an appreciation of the mystical, the wonderment of life.  When I was little Christmas was so full of glitter and magic and mystery.  My sister and I would even climb into the attic in the middle of the year to open up the Christmas boxes and look at the sparkly ornaments to try to recapture some of that magic (but it works better when it's cold outside, the candles are lit and it smells like cinnamon and cloves).

Life is so one-sided, so devoid of sparkle without this magic - so, well, pragmatic.   But the magic is there, it's right in front of your eyes.  Whether the sparkle of a Christmas ornament, the glistening of rain drops on a leaf, or the shiny beauty and perfection of these red peppers - it's really quite magical.  It pays to tune into the magic because it's everywhere around you!DSC07214

 

 

an attitude of gratitude

DSC08017How about thinking of life as a gift, as author Charles Eisenstein suggests?  What an extraordinary opportunity, what a biological coincidence, what a marvel that you find yourself incarnated in this body, in this place, during these times which Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker has called the most peaceful on earth yet (despite what the media coverage might suggest). Think about this opportunity as a gift to experience life on this beautiful earth, a gift to express your spiritual self in this three dimensional realm through all the things you do, a gift to share your life with all the people you choose to have around you.  This perspective creates an attitude of a half full glass instead of a half empty glass, an attitude of gratitude, an attitude of joy, amazement and wonder.  Research suggests that people with a positive outlook on life, a good social network, and a can-do attitude have a longer life expectancy.  So from that perspective alone it's worth it.

What if life were really only about the actual experience and joy of being?

 

the sacredness of things

DSC08008Mass production takes the sacredness and magic out of things.  It makes them cheap.  One-of-a-kind things, like artwork or a hand made craft or a knitted sweater, or even an apple pie made from scratch, are infused with the imprint of the maker.  Such an item has a totally different energy than say that cheap plastic mug DSC08014with its advertising logo, which ends up first as a pencil cup (although, annoyingly, it keeps tipping over), or as a brush cup (the weight of the water keeps it standing), but then inevitably gets thrown away or at least recycled. handmade felt balls my children made

Why do you hesitate to throw away your high schooler's clay bowl she made in 3rd grade?  Why can't I get myself to throw the chocolate rose away my son gave me in 2nd grade for Mother's Day, and which has been sitting in our dining room cabinet for eight years now?  Because these things are infused with significance and meaning.

our dining room windows

But I am ruthless with cheap stuff we seem to collect - useless Disney key chains (how many key chains do you need?), plastic Lei from some party long ago which lost their magic the morning after, too many t-shirts with logos and pictures to advertise someone else's cause, plastic toys too ugly and cheap to save for future generations.

Buy less, but buy thoughtful, or make it.

forget your watch

DSC07999I did not take a watch on our recent camping trip.    It really did not matter what time I woke up and climbed out of the tent, what time I sipped tea and ate breakfast, what time I went biking or ate lunch.  You can actually tell pretty accurately by the sun's standing in the sky and the quality of the sunlight about what time it is  - not that it really matters when you're on vacation.  It is nice to just let yourself float through the day by your feelings of hunger or need for rest or activity.DSC07998 The accounting of time and its equation with money rob time of its magical qualities - and us of our connection with nature.  Charles Eisenstein wrote that John Zerzan thought "Clocks make time scarce and life short."  Remember when childhood summer afternoons stretched languorously and lazily into eternity?  I am sure it has happened to you that you had to get something specific done in a fairly short amount of time - and managed somehow magically to accomplish it within that tight timeframe.   Swedish children's book author Astrid Lindgren wrote in The Children of Noisy Village that it is those endless Christmas Eve afternoons that are responsible for our gray hair because those afternoons stretch on forever and ever and ever.  And you might have seen Salvador Dalí's famous painting of the stretchy clocks.

Salvador Dalí's 1931 "Persistence of Memory"

It's Labor Day  week-end.  Put your watch away and enjoy time without counting it.

 

amazing intent

Intent is the creative energy we use to put thoughts or ideas into action.  The stronger the intent the quicker we can make the idea happen (wavering slows the process down or even brings it to a halt).   One could say that intent solidifies thought. DSC07339We are currently building a house.  For the longest time this house only existed as an idea.  But as we kept working at this idea we put processes in place to solidify it and make it appear in the physical realm.  We bought property, we imagined how we'd like to live, we sketched floor plans on paper, we thought about what we'd like the house to look like, we hired an architect, then a contractor, we got financing, and now this house we imagined for so long is actually emerging from the ground.  Our ideas are becoming reality. photo[1]

Thought creates matter is what they say.  In a way it's quite magical.  If you can think something up you can create it.  Imagine the possibilities!!!

healing is shifting

"Doctors don't dispense wellness, they suppress symptoms," Dr. George Wootan, a pretty enlightened family practitioner from West Shokan, NY, said recently during a talk I attended.  There you have my gripe with allopathy, the Western medical healing paradigm.  Suppressing symptoms is not healing because it maintains the same underlying thought patterns. A friend recently posted something like this on Facebook:  "Has it ever happened to you that all of a sudden you see something in a totally different light, and you wonder how it happened, and why you did not see it in that light all along?"  A shift has happened.

Some of these shifts happen gradually over the years, some of them happen suddenly.  Eckhart Tolle describes such a sudden shift early in his first book The Power of Now.  After years of dread and depression he woke up one morning and suddenly the world looked bright and beautiful to him.

True healing comes from within.  It arises out of shifts in thinking, in consciousness.    I believe that almost all ailments are due to emotional hang-ups - such as negative thoughts and beliefs, emotional trauma, or past life residues.  When you clear these, through your own work and intent, or with someone's help, the energy channels open up and the shift happens, all by itself.

making cat cupcakes

DSC07891I am the first culprit when it comes to what I am going to say now, although I have worked my whole life towards what Confucius supposedly said: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." In general we need to play more in order to enjoy more.  We are rusty at playing - at least I am.  Much of life seems to be a chore.  So when my daughter made cat cupcakes a few days ago - because she loves cats, and she loves to bake - it reminded me of how little I play.  I am just not silly enough (my excuse is that seriousness is in my astrological profile, something about Saturn I think  - but then the scientists have already proven that DNA is not static and that we can change our nature and our biology).

Martha Beck says in her Finding Your Way In A Wild New World: "...the way to cope with the increasing complexity of the wild new world is to play more."  When we are happily doing and forget about the thinking - whether we dance, sing, make art, make music, play with our children, write a poem, make cat cupcakes - that's play.  Now all we need to do is figure out how to make doing the laundry, or driving the kids all over town, or commuting, or any number of chore-like activities a playful thing.  Any thoughts?

 

why men need women

Women are more generous than men, Adam Grant noted in his NYT article of the same title yesterday.  Yesterday, too, a friend raved about her daughter's female boss, who provides her with benefits and vacation time even though the daughter works only part-time. I am not saying that women make better bosses.  But we are naturally more nurturing and empathetic, while men are more driven and result oriented, the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy.  Yet, we shouldn't want to do away with the guys in business.  Balance is everything, and we need both energies - the driving and the nurturing one.  The article reports that women inspire the men in their lives to greater philanthropy and generosity - i.e. Melinda Gates is the driving force behind the Bill & Melinda Gates philanthropic foundation according to Grant).

I believe that the incoming cultural paradigm is or will be more balanced, more heart based, more sustainable, because we are beginning to realize that strict bottom line capitalistic exploitative yang behavior is dangerous to our health (environmental damage etc) because it is unbalanced.  We need both energies, since they complement each other perfectly.

Women are slowly leading men away from ying domination to greater balance.  The rise of women's empowerment, their greater involvement in business and politics, and their slow and steady recognition as equals attest to that.  Adam Grant concludes his article with the (wise) recommendation that men follow our lead.