It amazes me how my energy shifts from Labor Day Monday to back-to-work/school Tuesday. The last week of August and the days before the holiday weekend crawl. And then BOOM! It’s business as usual, as though nothing has ever been other than business as usual.
I’ve been contemplating where to put my focus this fall. Two Mastermind Groups that were on the calendar are now off. I have a few 1:1 client spots open. My next Remarkable Women’s Network event is filling nicely, and I’m grateful for that. I have several speaking engagements lined up which I look forward to.
But my focus is going to be on something different.
I received an email newsletter from Ken Nelson who asked: Do you Google all of your deepest questions? I laughed out loud, then read a terrific piece which quotes him regarding mindfulness in this age of technology:
The mindfulness tools Ken teaches at Kripalu can be used in any circumstance, time, and place. “Whether you’re driving, in front of a computer, or on the phone, you can practice being present, and cultivate a capacity for conscious witnessing,” he says. “It’s about allowing sensations, thoughts, and feelings to arise inside of awareness, and noticing that everything is a movement inside of awareness.”
The process he teaches involves five steps that are at the heart of the Kripalu methodology: breathe, relax, feel, watch, allow. “Our capacity to experience awareness can grow any time we notice that everything is moving: The breath is moving and changing, thoughts and feelings are moving and changing,” he says. “But awareness itself doesn’t change. When you notice in the foreground that everything is changing, and you begin to identify less with that foreground and more with the background, you can see yourself inside of an ocean of awareness. And you can bring a natural capacity for kindness and compassion into your relationship with whatever’s happening in the foreground.”
Yesterday I had a session with my coach, Michele, then read a shamanic newsletter she sent me this morning. Both of these newsletters, Ken’s and the one Michele sent, and my conversation with her led me to my own inner wisdom and the answer to the question I ask as the subject of this blog–What are you majoring in this semester?
I’m going to major in ALLOWING this semester. If you don’t know what I mean by that, you probably haven’t even read this far into the posting. I can’t put it any better than this paragraph from the second newsletter I read:
This is more of a “being” month than a “doing” month. Certainly you may have energy to put into tasks and projects but the motivation and support for their accomplishment comes from a place of being rather than a place of doing and effort. Because of the unpredictability of the times, things may manifest in very unusual ways if you allow them to. This requires putting your fixed ideas about how it should be done aside so that something new can emerge. It is a good month to revisit all of your intentions and determine whether you have enough flexibility to allow a new way of manifesting.
Perfect timing, perfect words, perfect thoughts…tx for putting this out there.
@Ruth
You’re welcome!
positivity
Jane, the things that you’re reading and that are resonating with you are so, so similar to things that are sweeping me along right now to what feels like new awareness and richer living. Thank you so much for risking the skepticism often shown to non-mainstream spiritual traditions. I’m enjoying a Nightingale-Conant program right now called “Speaking the Lost Language of God” by Gregg Braden. It explores ancient “lost” spiritual traditions, and it, too, speaks of the power of being instead of striving. So much to know and understand, but what an exciting journey of discovery!
@Elizabeth
I used to (25 years ago) think it was all woo-woo–until I opened my mind to the possibilities I was hearing. Now I think it’s WOO-HOO! Thanks for your thoughts.