An Invitation

Taking the space to pause and reflect has helped me cultivate a contemplative heart centered approach to my life. In contemplation, I have been able to see more clearly my need and desire to grow in greater authenticity, connection, and purpose. I have been, and continue to be, able to find emotional healing, dismantle limiting beliefs and agreements, authentically relate to others, and reimagine my vision for the future.

I’d like to invite you to Pause & Reflect, to join me in a contemplation of the following reflections as I add them. Please reach out for more information on a guided journal with related practices, and/or for individual or group support on your journey.

Reflections:

• The Gift of Attention
• Grounded in Gratitude
• Waking the Dreamer
• The Truth Will Set You Free
• Healing Lif’e Hurts
• Recovery for Everyone
• Roots of Disconnect
• Radical Responsibility
• The Art of Listening
• Saying What’s Real
• The Power of Intent
• Starting with Why
• The Economy of Gift
• Pursuing Collaborative Awareness
• The Foundation of Consent
• The Opportunity of Conflict

Gratitude shifts our energy from past or future concerns to present appreciation of what is. It shifts our focus from scarcity to abundance, from what we don’t have to what we do, from the pursuit of more to the luxury of enough. Gratitude challenges entitlement in a culture where too much is never enough, and cultivates a sense of reciprocity in a world of abundance. 

Being grounded in an awareness of gratitude provides a foundation for a heart centered transition from what was to what will be. It establishes a foundation for a transformational shift of consciousness – the way we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. Gratitude provides a focus for creating the life we want, the intuitive access to follow your heart.

The HeartMath Institute has been studying the personal and relational effect of gratitude for over thirty years. Recognising that the heart contains neurons similar to the brain, they established scientific studies to explore what we intuitively refer to in the expression to “follow your heart”. Through the measurement of heart rate variability, brain waves, and the electromagnetic field, HeartMath has studied the communication between the heart and brain via the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. HeartMath studies have found that the practice of conscious breathing, along with mindful attention to feelings of appreciation and gratitude, establishes an internal coherence of alignment and harmony between the heart and brain, and has the potential to extend beyond the personal to affect relational and even global harmony. 

The Center of Appreciative Inquiry is another organization that has been studying the effect of gratitude and appreciation. Their work has especially focused on organizational development, and how placing attention on the positive aspects to build on rather than the negative problems to solve, has shown to significantly increase the potential of desired outcomes. Rather than fixing problems, focusing attention to build on what we appreciate provides a solution oriented approach. 

A daily practice of gratitude provides essential ingredients for personal, relational, and cultural transformation.

Resources:

Quick Coherence

Heart Intelligence

What is Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Living and/or companion workbook                        The Joy of Appreciative Living

Too often, most of us live somewhere other than the only place and time we have – Here and Now. We live driven by the incessant chatter in our mind; in the memories, longings, and regrets from our past; or in the plans, hopes, and fears of the future. An authentic, connected, and purpose-full life demands pausing the chatter, gifting ourselves with attention in the here and now. 

We live in a culture that is filled with distraction, a gazillion things that keep our attention on the external and superficial. We are shaped by our conditioning and the deficit of subconscious needs. Most of us struggle with the demands of internal voices, have difficulty identifying feelings and needs, vacillate between blame and shame.. We are too often trapped in drama, the longing of unmet need, and the demands of the surrounding culture.

Self awareness is the foundation for a healthy psychology and authentic spirituality. The study of Emotional Intelligence places awareness as the key factor in healthy management of emotion and relationships.To be aware of our surroundings, our internal condition, and our relationships, without judgment, is essential to a heart directed life. It is the path to deepening authenticity, connection, and purpose. 

The study of neuroscience has shown that what we pay attention to shapes the  pathways of communication in our brain. What we pay attention to creates the patterns in our thinking, which then shapes our resulting behavior. Without adequate attention, our brain can be shaped  by emotional triggers and reactionary behavior. 

A growing self awareness requires a pause from endless demands and distractions of life, from the endless chatter of our minds, from the story and judgments that fill our days. Self awareness requires the space for observation without judgment, to notice “what is” without evaluation. The pursuit of awareness requires the gift of attention..

Don Miquel Ruiz Jr, in his book the Mastery of Awareness, identifies four areas for the focus of awareness as the foundational step on the path for  healing our wounds and transforming our story. 

1. Physical Sensation
2. Thoughts & Emotion
3. Reaction & Story – triggers, judgments, defences
4. Unique Perspective (Worldview)

Daniel J. Siegel MD, in his book Aware and accompanying workbook Becoming Aware, presents a Mindfulness practice using his Wheel of Awareness to pay attention to four primary areas for shifting our consciousness

1. FIve Senses – hearing, sight, taste, smell, touch
2. Body Sensation 
3. Mental Activity – feelings, thoughts, memory
4. Relational Connection

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Resources

Wheel of Awareness

Aware by Daniel Siegel. MD and/or companion workbook Becoming Aware