It is all about slowing down, taking time for yourself and establishing new habits that will last a lifetime.
Theme – Raising Joy
The focus this week was to look at joy as a distinct energetic frequency and signature, and to see how the ripple effect of happiness affects how our spaces feel.
In what ways did you experience a direct connection between your state of being (in this case joy) and the spaces you inhabit?
There is a Buddhist meditation called Metta Bhavana (loving kindness). The principle is set in four stages: Wishing love for yourself, wishing love for good friends and family, wishing love for someone your neither like or dislike and finally wishing love for someone you really dislike (an enemy). The mantra for the last three is – ‘may they be well; may they be happy’.
The effect of the third stage is sometimes quite profound. The idea is that you concentrate on someone that you see regularly but is not a friend, maybe someone you pass every morning going or see in a local shop. Whoever it is that is the person you focus on for that part of the meditation. The idea is that eventually if they are receptive to the influence that they will move up to be included in stage two leaving stage three for another person. This could be for many reasons other than an invisible connection though. It could be that you react to them differently, look for signs that the meditation is working and inadvertently make eye contact, or smile more when near them. The final stage is to think about everyone in the world and wish them well.
It has been recorded that stage three very often works, which has got to be a good thing. Too many people are isolated because we in the UK especially are no longer a nation that no longer takes the time to interact.
The most memorable time for me was a smartly dressed man of advanced years that I passed every morning at 7am on my way to work. He was always dressed immaculately including a hat and carried an umbrella, even in the summer. After just a few weeks we started saying ‘good-morning’ and then as the months past the exchanges lengthened to pleasantries about the weather, disasters on the news, the state of the roads … all sorts of things and the time spent chatting lengthened. He was Polish and stayed here after the second world war as a refugee and his family were eventually allowed to join him but, now his boys had moved on with their own life and just before I started seeing him his wife had died. The reason for the early morning stroll was to collect his newspaper, which was always folded exactly and held under his arm. He said that was the only time he went out all day. It was clear that he was lonely. As he passed my house I invited him to join us for breakfast at the weekends, which on accessions he did.
I still try to practice this although it is rare that I see strangers on a regular basis now that I do not go out to work but, it is working with people on my street as there are far more people that I say hello that I pass on the way to the local corner shop.
What were some of the differences that you noticed when you compared a space that feels unloved and untended with one that is harmonious and "loved-up"?
TUNING IN PRACTICE:
- Spend a few minutes in a space that feels cluttered, unloved, untended, dark, congested. Notice your breathing, mood, energy level.
- Repeat the exercise in a space that feels harmonious, tended, light-filled, sparkly, clutter-free. Go outdoors if you have to. Notice your breathing, mood, energy level.
- Be mindful of your sensate and energy body as possible. How do you feel during and afterwards?
- Compare the two experiences. How does each space feel physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Is it possible to compare without judging them as good or bad?
After the experience of two different living environments, record your impressions:
- Sitting in a space that feels unloved, untended, dark, congested, and cluttered makes me feel [physically, mentally, emotionally] – anxious, stressed, and drained.
- Sitting in a space that is harmonious, tended, light-filled, sparkly, and clutter-free makes me feel – Cool, collected, peaceful and focused.
- One small thing I can do today [this week] to change the way my home feels is - to address areas of clutter that bother me.
The one-minute practice I am going to do for 10 days is …
- Rest in beauty: Look up from your screen and place your attention on something beautiful and allow your mind to rest in that.
Day 10
A bit of a change this morning for the last day and one that fits in quite nicely with the idea of the infectiousness of happiness. One the green out the front a little travelling fun fair has set up and the combination of the music, the customary shouts of the ride operators and the screams and laughter and the mood of the mainly young people is quite catching. I found myself watching and listening to them more than the beautiful view. The teenagers do not care about the state of the weather, they are determined to enjoy themselves.
It brings back all sorts of memories. Those from childhood and the excitement of seeing the huge lorries carrying the rides, the thrill of watching them all be erected and the joy of even just walking around the stalls and listening to the travellers plying their wares in a bid to get customers to taking your own children. Sadly, most fun fairs these days seem to charge a fixed price entrance fee which allows for as many rides as are desired rather than the site being open, and a price levied for everything else individually. Which I think is a shame as there must be a whole population of people that no longer desire to go on anything but would love to stroll around, soak up the atmosphere, sounds and smells to relive past memories.
This is something that I am going to continue with every morning. I like the way it makes me stop and take note of what is going on around me, and the way it is a key to focussing my energy on bring creative.
This week has got me thinking about all the places I have lived and there are only two places in my life that I can truly say have really felt like home. The first was my Nana’s house, the place I spent most of my early childhood and was more of a home to me that the house where I lived with my parents. The second is where I am now, living right on the coast with a sea view. There have been many other places I have lived but I have not felt as happy in them as I do right now. It seems things have come full circle.