Awareness

We have countless aspects of ourselves as well as the people and world around us into which we constantly choose whether or not to bring our awareness. Imagine that awareness is a flashlight which you carry with you at all times. Wherever your mind takes you is where you shine that light. It's that simple. So if your mind constantly gets stuck on a challenging aspect of your life, that's where your light of awareness shines. If your mind instead focuses on aspects of you and the world that are filled with positive vibrations, that's where your light of awareness shines. The point is we are powerful beings and can choose to direct and redirect our minds, with the goal being to shine our light of awareness in the optimal place in each moment. 

So how do we know the optimal place to shine our light of awareness in each moment? That's where our different meditation or "balancing" practices come into play. What is it for you? Walking in the woods? Painting? Yoga? Taking a bath? Sitting in stillness? Playing with your kids and pets? Spending time with your soul mates? Probably it's a combination of those sorts of things that we know reset us. When we reset ourselves through balancing practices, we bring ourselves into a state of steadiness, where we are not wavering between the highs and lows so much. This is a place where through the practices of self tending, we feel calm and cared for; we feel able to meet the outer world with greater stability. From this place, we are at our best at navigating where to let our minds light up with awareness. We can bring our awareness to one place and maintain a sense of interconnectedness with the whole. With this intelligent awareness, we innately know the best place for our light of awareness to shine in each moment for the good of ourselves and for the good of all. 

When we see ourselves going down that path of focusing on the negative too much too often, we can use the power of intention within our mind to redirect our focus to shine our flashlights of awareness on vibes of positivity, changing our perspective on the world.

Exercise: find a special stone that easily fits in the palm of your hand. Hold it while closing your eyes. Sit for a bit and let your mind wander through the great joys and positive aspects of your life. When you feel complete with this, place the stone in a prominent and special place in your home or office. For one week whenever you're feeling bogged down with negative thoughts, go to the stone and hold it, bringing your awareness to joy and positivity. See if this changes your week for the better. I'd love to hear from you about how you felt trying this!