Invictus

Last night I saw an incredible movie that I recommend without reservation. It is Invictus. It captures the essence of what makes Nelson Mandela so remarkable as a leader and offers insight into the key elements of transformation and reform.

You might wonder why I am writing about that on a blog for self-care. The answer can be summed up through another quote that I have always loved, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." (I’ve seen it attributed to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes).

As individuals, our health and sense of well being are directly linked to our emotions and our emotions are linked to how loved and empowered we perceive ourselves to be. Mandela’s most powerful tool was forgiveness and rather than seeking to right a wrong through disenfranchising those who had oppressed him, he honored what they cherished most and used it as a focal point for creating unity. Mandela realized that for all the immense problems the country faced, none would be resolved successfully until the hearts of people were transformed and joined.

As you consider your own health and how to facilitate body-mind-spirit healing, consider what weighs heavy in your heart that pulls down your energy and contributes to imbalances. Ask yourself what you have identified as disempowering you, whether it is a person, a corporation, a political system, or something else. Then consider how to work with, rather than against those energies for a truly new reality.

I have inserted the poem Invictus below, which was a source of inspiration for Mandela during his 30 years of imprisonment. I am also following this with another blog that was something I had written previously that seemed related. It is called The Dream of Righteousness.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

~ William Ernest Henley

The Dream of Righteousness

I am drawn to people who are good-hearted, kind people who exemplify a wholesomeness that feels right at its core. I have been involved with many causes spearheaded by people who stand for righteousness and the greater good, but as I get older the lines blur and the veil of illusion around a particular filter being inviolate weakens. This small "I" has been humbled many times by the shattering of conviction to absolutes that cannot contain the wholeness of spirit, however it may choose to appear. The only thing I know to be true now is that things are not always what they appear to be and love calls me to be present to the moment and what it offers.

I also see that at the core of this draw to live a righteous life is the desire to be loved—if I am good enough then I will be admired, respected, loved. Fair enough, after all the desire to be kind and to do no harm makes for better human relations and benefits all of life. Nevertheless, if my ultimate goal is to awaken fully, then even this beautiful dream must be surrendered. I must be willing to go unrecognized as anyone special. Resisting being ordinary, and equally as human in all that is contained within me, has perhaps been my biggest stumbling block. It has caused me to judge and create separation.

The spiritual teacher Gangaji once spoke of her days as an activist before "awakening" and the realization that she came to that those fighting against the "wrong doers," whoever they were, didn’t really want those people to "get it" because then they would all be the same. The activists would no longer be seen as more virtuous and on some level that was disturbing, because this was the basis of their identity.

If it is all a dream, then the dream of righteousness has a lot of appeal. At the same time it is a hard one to want to wake up from, just like when I have dreams with a very high pleasure content that I want to linger in longer. What comes with awakening is unknown, and I do believe there is nothing that "I" can do to make myself more worthy. In the meantime, to be present to love, whatever that looks like, seems a worthwhile endeavor.

Acknowledging Home

No matter what kind of abode I create or what town I choose, it seems important to remember that home is really the Earth. At present I spend too much time in offices, both for an environmental organization and for my biofeedback practice. What my soul really wants is to connect with home--to plunge my hands into the soil and to stand barefoot on fertile land. This time of year can be a bit cold for being barefoot, but when it is possible there is great benefit because the more I can get "in touch" with the healing frequencies of the Earth, the more at ease I am in my own skin.

Since the inherent frequency of the earth, known as the Schumann Resonance, is 7.8Hz (7-13 Hz) a person's brain waves resonate with that frequency and it has been shown in scientific studies to be an essential requirement for physical and psychological health. Since there are so many extraneous ELF frequencies in the earth's atmosphere at this time, these frequencies can cause a drowning out of the natural Schumann Resonance. Being where this resonance is strongest helps to recover autonomic nerve balance, remove stress, and intensify concentration.

So, if we really want to heal ourselves and the Earth let's create gardens--reverently and with the same attention we would afford our most beloved. The Earth is our home, our mother, our bodies--literally. She feeds and clothes us and we are made up of the same proportion of salt water and minerals. We have paid too little attention to this type of bonded relationship and are feeling the pain of disconnection and isolation.

The separation has altered our thinking in ways that are confused. For example, breastfeeding went out of fashion in the 50s and was deemed to be beneath the modern woman. Not only did this undermine the immune systems of the infants deprived of this perfect food, but it also created a generation of people who have trouble bonding because they didn't get enough Oxytocin, the hormone and neurotransmitter known as the cuddle hormone, which is transfered through breastfeeding. Thank goodness there is a return trend to valuing the inherent benefit of using the gifts, such as this, that nature has given us.

Also, providing children with all of the "stuff" that seems essential these days, i.e., cell phones, iPods, X-boxes, cars, you name it, will never give them what they really need. In my opinion, that is a sense that they are an integral part of something profound and holy; and that their families and communities will be there when all the rest falls away.

I love the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Following is a quote that speaks to the need to connect to what we know in our bones as an essential for evolution:

"In the world, nothing could ever burst forth as final across the different thresholds successively traversed by evolution which has not already existed in an obscure and primordial way."

Can an Internet Community Meet Deeper Needs?

A friend recently invited me to be a part of a social networking site he is redeveloping. There is a lot of interaction between people on the site to evolve it in very creative ways.

He posed the question: Do social websites feel cozy, safe, or sacred?, to which I responded:

While I appreciate the opportunity to network with awesome people I may not connect with otherwise, virtual connections are for me not "cozy or sacred" --they are second-best attempts at real human connection. Often times the most powerful way for me to be with someone else is in silence . . . sharing an experience. I love being with the Earth, hugs, gazing into someones eyes, feeling their energy. These things aren't possible on the web.

Everything has its perfect place. I appreciate the possibility to share ideas here, particularly with people in places around the world that I have no real perspective on.

What I find interesting about this site (http://dev.avanoo.com) is how I can wander around the "places" to go or "things" to do and have fun sharing random thoughts that are stimulated by the theme areas. And, hey, people respond. I will have to say that if anyone can make the internet feel "cozy," I think my friend can. I will be interested to see where he takes this.

Balance

Just as it has been said that you can’t bring an end to war through war, neither can you create balance through unbalanced approaches. Humans are as much “natural systems” as the Earth is as a whole. Having been involved in activism most of my adult life I know the tendency to sacrifice myself to a cause—to go beyond where I can maintain a healthy balance in order to avert an anticipated outcome. Granted sometimes it is essential to throw my weight to one side of the boat, so to speak, to prevent it from capsizing, but then the weight must be redistributed again. I also know from personal experiences that were potentially fatal that my survival ensued because I got still inside and was fully present to a greater awareness that guided me through the situation. The solution was often unexpected and not one I could pluck from the “rule book.”

At one point I had an intense sense of responsibility that unless I did everything I could to “save the planet” that we were doomed and that it would be my fault. (I’m grateful that the universe is not beholden to my perceptions.) The result was that I pushed myself so hard (mostly mentally) that I got burned out. Trying to guilt other people into helping me, no matter how subtly, never worked either. Fortunately the universe laid me off from that job and sent me for retraining with my dolphin family. Their approach to helping us shift the mess we are in is joy, play, community and love. It’s not about what you can’t have or shouldn’t want. It’s about creating such joy that there is no thought of need.

My sense is that the bulk of the planetary crisis we now find ourselves in has to do with disconnection from source, self and each other and lack of awareness in general. To reestablish all of this requires an internal slowing down and a return to the stillness from which balance moves back and forth and comes to rest. Anyone who has ever tried to get an object to rest on a balance point so that it doesn’t fall off knows that if you have to move it to redistribute the weight you do it gently and with a certain stillness and focus.

I’m including a link here to information on creating a “gifting” economy that really resonates with me. The presenter, Charles Eisenstein, talks about the universe operating on the principle of gifting—our lives are a gift, the air, the water, and all of the abundance of the Earth are gifts. We have established ideas around money that go against this gifting principle. Here is another wonderful opportunity for rebalancing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB23ms4rqjY


I don't do great things. I do small things with great love.

~ Mother Teresa

When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong.

~Buckminster Fuller

What Does It Take to Make Home?

It seems that as much as I enjoy creating beautiful places to live and work, I also find a great deal of pleasure in lightening my load and being unencumbered. I am in the process of moving out of the home I created only a few months ago with an as yet to be determined "final" destination. In this type of move it is very freeing to have little to take with me. Today as I was packing and passing things on to new homes I was almost giddy. Finding out how little I really need to create a peaceful, beautiful space is almost like a game. I'm sure I must have been a Zen monk at some point, because it is so easy to slip into that mindset. I also notice there is a certain clarity that comes with simplifying on the external level.

I know someone who can carry everything she owns with her and she has no "home." She is the head of an international organization addressing human dignity and considers herself to be a global citizen. She is always traveling as a part of her work and stays with colleagues that are a part of their network. She is very involved in the world and is sort of a professional "Peace Pilgrim." I've gotten pretty light at times in my life, but the level of detachment to place and stuff just described is something that is still a bit of a stretch for me, and it fascinates me. Maybe I will get to that point someday, but then if too many people end up that detached it could present an interesting dilemma--where will all "Peace Pilgrims" stay? Ha! Ha!

When I relocate people are always asking me, "Is this permanent?" All I can say is that nothing in life is permanent and, for better or worse, I seem to have been the water in the river that has moved through quickly whereas others are the boulders that are washed away slowly over time. It's all good! I will say that it is my intention to root myself somewhere as a part of larger community. Perhaps when I am fully at home inside the external search will end and I may discover that there is really nowhere to go.

Thought vs. Awareness

As humans we seem to take "new ideas" to extremes and try to fit everything into a particular box. If we are willing to be wrong then it's likely we will end up admitting that there are things that just don't fit into the neat little systems we've developed. However, no matter how much we want the mind to be in control there is just more to the picture than can be explained or even grasped by the mind. The new age version of this mind-as-all-powerful viewpoint is that our thoughts create our reality. I'm a big proponent of how important thought is in shaping our experience; and I recognize there is something beyond thought, which for lack of a better term I will call the unnameable. Since the mind can't fully conceptualize that force, how else can it be known? I will call that which understands without knowing how it understands--awareness.

I had a client in my office today who is struggling with figuring out what is wrong in his body. He is a proponent of intentional creation, i.e., our thoughts create our reality, and he is an artist. At the beginning of the session I asked him about his art and he described an intuitive process that begins with no intention other than to be present to what wants to unfold. He said he never knows where the process is going to take him.

He has been stressing himself out trying to resolve his physical predicament and has tried a myriad of both traditional and alternative modalities. At this point his frustration level is very high from attempting to figure out what product to try next, or what other treatment method to seek out. I suggested that he approach his body in the same way he does his art—be present, still, available and aware of how the energy is flowing and follow it. I said, “Let your body tell you what it needs.”

At some point the body stops communicating when we haven’t paid attention. It goes into an adaptation mode where it is focused on handling everything for us. The body is wired for vitality, as is all of life, and the system will do everything it can to deal with the stressors that come its way until it is so overloaded it just can’t do it anymore. Unfortunately, we’ve been cut off from a direct communication with the body because we were convinced that what we intuited wasn’t valid and that we required an expert to tell us what was wrong with us and what to do. I think medical practitioners play a wonderful role. I would just like to hear more real dialogue that validates what someone knows about their own body, because this could prevent a lot of things from progressing to a disease state. Similarly, many believe they can’t have a direct relationship with God and that a religious authority is required as an intermediary. Or, we’re told that we are having an irrational emotional reaction when we feel something is wrong with having our food genetically modified and full of toxins. If science determines it is okay then we are supposed to just relax and accept it. I would say that our obsession with the mind and putting it in control, at the expense of awareness, has created havoc on the planet.

Trying to figure out the body is like attempting to understand the mind of God. The millions of interactions happening each moment are more than my mind will ever fully grasp. Still, it is a wonderful use of the mind to make observations and to enjoy learning more each day. I like putting pieces of a puzzle together and being in awe of the bigger picture as it reveals itself. I also enjoy being actively involved in co-creating balance in my body. My part in the process is to be present to what my body is communicating, to respond in a supportive way, and to imagine or vision the outcome I desire.

Thought requires a context in which to create. Awareness arises from emptiness and requires nothing. It just is—a reality not owned or claimed by anyone because it is beyond separate identity. As with my client, we may be at a point collectively where we have exhausted the options presented by the mind and it might benefit us to tune in more to awareness.

A closing note: If each of us are responsible for creating this reality, then I want to know which one of you is in charge of the magnificent color of the sunsets, delicate flowers in the extreme cold and pressure on the ocean floor that humans rarely see, or things like the Polar Bear and Husky interaction that turned out to be play, when the first human interpretation of the exchange was that they were fighting. Whoever you are, you're doing a great job and I'm wondering if you could intentionally clone yourself, since most of us aren’t that good with the little touches :)