Happy International Day of Peace 🕊️
Every spiritual tradition anywhere in the world teaches the value of being present. Being present with your thoughts, to the needs of your body, to each moment, your relationship within nature, and being present with your breath.
Buddhism has many beautiful things to teach us on this topic and my
favourite peace activist is Thich Nhat Hahn.
“Dwelling happily and peacefully in the present moment is the best thing we can do to ensure peace and happiness in the future.”
“Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”
~ Thich Nhat Hahn
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In its purest essence,
BE HERE NOW, with LOVE
My family tease me about it but I really don’t like people being mean to each other.
And about 30 years ago, I decided that if I was going to be an effective Healer in my Community, then watching the ‘news’ was not going to be a peaceful option for me.
Once a year however I do get to see the news, when I visit my parents in Queensland. As far as I can tell, I’m still not missing anything. Murder, violence, blood shed, people being mean to each other. Infinite human suffering.
My parents just say they don’t worry about it, they don’t notice it.
Think about that.
One evening I was cooking dinner whilst they were watching. I asked them to please turn it off, because when you make food for others, you are weaving your thoughts and feelings into the very food which your loved ones are then going to digest. What are you watching or listening to as you prepare your meals? What else is your family ‘digesting’?
Have a think about that, on a global scale.
World Peace begins with you, and your family, in your home.
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Subsequently all this ‘news’ watching helped me notice that I was feeling unsettled. Significantly wary and nervous in public. More tension in my body, face and jaw. I was far far away from, BE HERE NOW. I was in Story, everyone could be dangerous, and I felt very unsettled. And if I am feeling unsettled, then guaranteed other folks are as well.
Whenever you’re feeling unsettled, fearful or ungrounded, stop what you are doing, be still, come to your breath and your heart. FEEL.
Step One ~ be here now
Come into this present moment by grounding your feet, and gently lifting and lengthening your spine. Balance yourself between Heaven and Earth. Open your senses, what can you hear, taste, see, feel and smell. Senses bring us back to the moment. Learning how cultivate inner peace and stillness so that we may be an anchor for others is a gift beyond measure.
Step Two ~ anchor your breath
Close your lips breathe in through your nose, as you breath out create a gentle sensation of hugging your windpipe to create a softly audible sigh. Notice how your sigh sounds like the ocean, or like the inside of a sea shell. The simple act of listening to your breath can become a place of refuge. Connection to breath is a soothing and intimate experience.
Step Three ~ align with your heart
The ‘news’, fear, violence and negativity will sadly always be a part of life. Learning the practice of leading the mind, breath and heart into Stories of compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, empathy, and love, helps tip the scale, helps bring balance and healing to suffering. Remind yourself that you are a Soul having an Earthly experience and that lessons and challenges will always be there. Life is more than just surviving.. its learning how to positively thrive 🌻
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Did you also know that the posture of your tongue is an integral part of bringing the above 3 steps into alignment? If you are a patient of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine then you are accustomed to your practitioner asking to see your tongue so that they may discern your Pattern of Disharmony and treatment plan.
In Pranayama, tongue posture is called Jivha Mudra and and technique to stoke the lymphatics via the tongue is called Jivha Bandha. The blogpost before this one discusses the fascinating topic of the importance of your tongue, for diagnosis according to Traditional Chinese Medicine and successful Pranayama practice!
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Thanks so much for being here.
Transmuting, fear and violence into love and forgiveness isn't easy.
If you would like to become a part of an online spiritual community, devoted to weekly classes enjoying pranayama conscious breathing techniques and spiritually encoded meditations and help tip the scale towards peace then please book here
Love ❤️ Bec