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Change is brilliant, no matter how bad it is – possibly

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Change season

Change is in the air

Autumn and winter are periods of retreat in the world of nature. Growth seems to be at a standstill and animals have to forage or hunt with greater skill and determination until the spring comes. We, too, have our periods of less activity, when our earth element predominates more. Then gradually, or sometimes with a burst, our creativity emerges from its rest. We become the instruments of change, which can be very exciting – or maybe a little frightening.

Things cannot stay the same

Change is inevitable. That’s a good thing in some ways because when the days are dark, we know that they will eventually get lighter. Nothing stays the same because change is inherent in absolutely everything. Even the mountains are gradually changing. But this can create a tendency in us to hang onto the good times, to the days of laughter and pleasure. Change is everywhere. Sometimes the prospect of it seems like fun but often we resist. I should know – I’m an expert at resisting.

Act or accept?

When circumstances are bad and there is something constructive we can do, of course we should act. At other times, though, not accepting what life is presenting to us simply makes us unhappy. If it’s raining, we can blame the weather forecaster who promised sunshine. But what a waste of energy that is, and it actually makes life harder and the day more miserable. Alternatively, we can choose to be happy – marvel at the miracle of rain and enjoy life as it is now.

Accepting the present moment and what it brings actually makes us feel safe. Then we can smile and be free of the fear of losing anything.

More on this in The Art of Not Doing

Upcoming workshop in Staffordshire: Longevity – A Case for Leading a Long and Happy Life. Details here.

Related posts:

  1. Mortality: why our own impermanence is such a wonderful gift
  2. Time: why keeping an eye on the clock shortens your life
  3. Feeling stressed by Christmas? It’s largely a matter of choice
  4. Action: Why everything you do and say is more important than you think

Home: four reasons why love in the home is crucial to your health

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Home healthHome is where the heart is, but is our heart in the place we come back to after work, where we eat, sleep and spend many hours of our life? It should be a haven, but for many people it isn’t. For far too many, there isn’t even a place they can call home.

Home life can affect health – and society

It is absolutely crucial to the spiritual, mental and emotional well-being of the human race, as well as the physical health, that each and every home is filled with love. It doesn’t matter if we live on our own or in a household of many. If love is absent, the home is not happy – and happiness is a major factor for good health.

So why not choose better?

Although that is obvious, or should be, it may not be at the forefront of most people’s minds that the greater the love there is in a home, the healthier and happier it will be for everyone within it. This isn’t something we reserve for our nearest and dearest; it is love for the whole of one’s home environment. This is something real and quite easy to do.

A sacred space?

When there is love for where we live, there is a deep respect for it and for everyone who steps inside. Here should be a place of sanctity, a sacred space, and a refuge from the bustle of the outside world. We should feel blessed as soon as we enter it. We can bless the house, apartment or bedsit, also – not in the form of words necessarily but simply from a level of feeling that comes from the heart. This may be a mixture of appreciation and gratitude, and perhaps an intention of goodness.

Our home should be uplifting

By doing so we immediately uplift our surroundings. Everyone who enters the home receives a positive effect from the general energy of the place. Whether we live in a grand house with beautiful gardens or in an apartment or bedsit is immaterial. The important thing is to create a pleasant, supportive environment or build on the one that is already present.

Be peaceful and at ease

Within the home we should smile and go about our activity easily. If we do everything with haste or a misplaced sense of urgency, we cannot fill what we do with the wonderful heart-energy we all possess. Be peaceful and at ease instead, and see how different everywhere seems. It’s magic!

From Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self Realisation

Related posts:

  1. Love: why cosmic glue stops us falling apart
  2. It’s not all bad news – love heals, both inside and out
  3. Home improvements that strike at our essence
  4. Radiance and the energy effect: why we all need it

Time: why keeping an eye on the clock shortens your life

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Time is a bit of a bugbear, isn’t it? There is either not enough of it or ittime life passes too slowly. Time rules our lives – something has to be done by a particular date or a certain hour. We go about life with one eye on the clock or our watch, or perhaps more these days on our phone. Does this near-obsession improve our quality of life? Of course it doesn’t, and in fact it leaches the quality right out of it.

But surely we need time to organise our lives?

It would be very naive to suggest we could live without time altogether. Once, people lived according to natural rhythms and cycles, as animals and plants do. But modern society has to organise itself, so calendars, schedules, clocks and appointments will probably always be with us. Unfortunately, they can also put us under pressure and it is that – our attitude to the passing minutes, hours and days – that is the problem.

The more we do, and the faster we do it, the less happy we are

Quality of life is not about having or doing more but about satisfaction and fulfilment. The more deeply we experience life, the more fulfilling it is. We may get a temporary buzz from the achievement of doing a lot of things in a short space of time, but in terms of consciousness, it is very shallow.

Do I allow myself time to appreciate drinking a cup of tea or do I take quick sips from my mug while doing something else? Time management might suggest the latter is more efficient, and that may well be our habit. But in doing two or more things at once, we lose the precious gift that those moments are offering us. Instead of gaining, we literally rob ourselves of time.

Take a step back – out of time

Our natural state of consciousness is free and rather like space without any boundaries. It is beyond all concepts, including time. It is simply presence.

Consciousness is like a screen onto which the appearances of daily life, together with our thoughts and emotions, are all projected like a film show or a movie. When we get drawn into them, as we usually do, the concept of time appears. But with presence, time stands still. Fully conscious, we step out of time.

So if I’m fully present, I’ll live longer? Maybe, but that isn’t the point

It is generally recognised that high levels of stress can reduce life expectancy. When we live with full awareness, our stress levels drop immensely. That may or may not affect the length of life in the conventional sense. Quality of life will improve immensely, though.

But should we consider our lifespan anyway? As soon as we think in terms of “how long will I live?”, we have lost our presence. Let’s face it, there are just too many other factors, such as general health, the quality of the air we breathe and so on.

With full awareness, there is no concept of long or short. Lifespan ceases to matter. We simply are. Life just is, and life is full. No matter what, we are free. Unless we keep our eye on the clock, that is.

Thanks for reading this. This subject is explored in greater depth in my book The Art of Not Doing

Related posts:

  1. Taking refuge can give us what we really want
  2. Mortality: why our own impermanence is such a wonderful gift
  3. Thinking too much? Why it can make you ill
  4. Can we let go of needing to know?

Passion is life: why we are dead if we don’t have it

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Passion is not something we get very excited about very often. Let me re-phrase that. Passion is something we don’t get excited about often enough. Why? Because without passion there is no heat, no fire and no life. A person who chooses not to be passionate about life is like smouldering coal or damp firewood. The energy is there, inside – but produces little warmth. When we are like that, we are half-asleep. Something in us is slumbering and needs waking up.

Passion is light, life and fire

When we are enthusiastic about something, it is as if we have thrown a switch. The lights come on, our eyes sparkle and our skin seems to glow. We feel good, don’t we? When we feel passionate, it is as though we have become more alive. Our speech is more animated and we have the power to motivate. Passion is good! Or is it? Is it just trouble ahead?

passion fire

Emotions are not bad

I have met many people over the years who want to become “more spiritual”. In their quest, they have come across teachings that describe emotions as being problematical. So following that logic, they decide that they need to train themselves into overcoming them. Or avoiding them. They aim to become the colourless sap of the tree instead of being the glorious effulgence of the tree itself. The error there is that if we do that, instead of allowing consciousness to flow, we tend to block it. In blocking the flow of consciousness, we also obstruct the natural flow of energy in and around us.

Love life and all is good

To have passion for life is not to let the emotions run riot. Rather, it is about letting our natural inner light do its job of illuminating what we do. And all we have to do is be interested and love. We don’t need to make a drama out of mindfulness or turn it into a tough discipline. Just loving what we do, being genuinely interested in others and our world will naturally generate mindfulness. Let the awareness expand and fill the senses. Be natural, be life, be alive. It’s so much better than being dead.

This theme will be explored further in our evening workshop Mind – The Way to Bliss on Monday 3rd April 2017. More information.

Read more on passion in life in the book Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation

Related posts:

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Radiance and the energy effect: why we all need it

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Radiance beamingRadiance is wonderful. It is diametrically opposed to dullness. To be radiant is to be like the sun, shining and sending out warmth everywhere. So what is it and how do we get it?

The key to radiance is love. For most of us, love is something that we perhaps mainly feel towards members of our family or a close friend. This is great but radiance needs more than that. Love needs to be inclusive, not exclusive. It needs to go beyond our immediate circle. Radiance extends to those we don’t know as well as those we do. Selfless love towards people we don’t know very well may seem a tall order. It may even seem rather unnecessary. It isn’t that difficult, though; not really. And the effects on our own life can be extraordinary.

Radiance and comfort zones

Each one of us creates a certain amount of protective space around us – comfort zones. Provided nothing radiance castle wallthreatens our comfort zone, we are fine. We have many comfort zones. Some relate to how we act in certain circumstances and others how we maintain distance from other people.

Why our comfort zones are counter-productive

A comfort zone provides a limit on how far we are prepared to extend our energy – and to a certain extent, too, how far we are prepared to receive energy from others.

When a comfort zone is threatened, the radiance from our own energy starts to withdraw. There is a “turning in” while we subconsciously draw the energy back towards us. As that happens, the amount of available energy for us to act plummets. Our light goes dull. Sometimes it completely goes out.

Extraordinary though it is, our habitual tendency to defend ourselves through our mental and emotional responses frequently works against us rather than for us.

Self defence

Sometimes, of course, some level of protection or some defence mechanism is desirable or even necessary. If we have injured ourselves, for example, we naturally guard against the injury being touched or knocked. At a more subtle level, an emotional trauma will usually result in some guardedness against anything that may carry the risk of further emotional pain.

Either way, the result is that our energy is not fully available – for ourselves or for others. To live life fully it is important that we restore our radiance as soon as we can.

Healing and flowers in the sun

Few people truly realise the extraordinary capability of their energy. Radiance can heal, bring comfort and help others realise their own potential. It helps to make a better world.

Some of the time we do well. But rather like those flowers that close up when the sun goes in, we are a little picky. Under certain circumstances we shine but when the conditions change, we close up – sometimes partially and at other times completely. Then we lose out. Energy level drops and the feel-good factor disappears.

What we really, really want

Deep down, we don’t want that. We want to be happy. So we need to learn how to reverse the tendency towards unnecessary self-protection. Instead of being black holes, we can be like miniature suns. We will have more energy, more fun and more joy in our lives. Radiance really is a no-brainer.

Adapted from Awakening Heart: The Blissful Path to Self-Realisation

Related posts:

  1. Home: four reasons why love in the home is crucial to your health
  2. Love: why cosmic glue stops us falling apart
  3. Home improvements that strike at our essence
  4. True love: cosmic glue that heals