841st Week: Revisiting Kindness

ByNancy Napier

I wrote last week about drawing on steadiness as a form of subtle activism. Another quality that is sorely needed within our human family is the expression of kindness. Here in the United States, we’ve had an unfortunate shift toward a lack of civility toward one another, and it seems that there is a lessening of kindness in many places on the planet. This lack of kindness, and an accompanying lack of care, extends to our other-than-human earth-kin and to the planet in general.

Kindness and care are expressions of the heart more than the head. They are heart-centered responses and it’s possible to strengthen the tendency to express kindness and care when we offer ourselves practices that orient to heart perception and intelligence. I’ve written about this a lot and continue to return to it because of its central role in helping us to be with one another in more compassionate ways.

Drawing on a combination of information from HeartMath (www.heartmath.org) and other sources, I’ve spent a good bit of time orienting to my “heart brain” and to checking in with what my heart thinks about various issues. How often the heart perceives things differently from how the head brain understands them and how helpful it can be to have both perspectives available!

For this week’s practice, following is a brief meditation for you to play with. It’s focused on generating kindness, remembering that the qualities we generate in ourselves—the frequencies with which we resonate—affect not only our personal life but also have an impact on the information field that is our collective human consciousness.

  • Begin by settling into that place in you that is your natural internal landing place. Notice the steadiness that is always there—it is the part of you that is never disturbed.
  • Notice how your body settles into the support under you and how you may settle even a bit more into yourself.
  • Take a moment to feel the quality of support you receive from the environment around you. You are in an ongoing reciprocal relationship with the energies all around you, where the qualities you emanate from inside your experience touch the environment and the qualities in the environment touch you.
  • Now, notice what you experience as you take a few moments to breathe in and out through your heart, bringing your awareness to your heart’s awareness, too your “heart brain”. Simply notice the quality of your experience as you orient to your heart.
  • Next, bring to mind the frequency, tone, and quality of kindness. If it helps you to connect with the living presence of kindness, allow an image or symbol to arise, or hear a sound that embodies kindness for you, or perhaps a sensation in your body. In whatever way you connect with kindness, allow it to become more alive for you and in you right now.
  • Now, focusing in your heart space, begin to more consciously resonate with the frequency of kindness, the living presence of kindness, experiencing the heart-based qualities that arise as you connect more deeply with it.
  • Allow this quality to fill your whole body and notice the sensations you experience as you resonate with kindness. Also allow your thoughts and emotions to fill with the quality of kindness. Spend a bit of time resonating with the qualities of kindness and offer it to yourself with your whole heart.
  • Next, imagine that the frequency kindness you have generated flows out of your heart into the environment around you and, from there, into our field of collective human consciousness. The kindness you offer touches people you will never know and supports expressions of kindness in ways you will never hear about.
  • Remember that this is a form of subtle activism, above and beyond the benefits you personally receive from resonating with the frequency of kindness. The few moments you may spend doing this practice offers a powerful and meaningful gift to all of us.
  • When you’re ready, reorient yourself and move into whatever is next for you, and hold the intention that you will continue to resonate with kindness throughout your day and/or night.

As with all these practices, there’s no right or wrong way to do this one. There’s only your experience and discoveries of what works best for you. Please remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion and to pat gently on the head any judgments that may arise, allowing them to move on through without your having to do anything with or about them.

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818th Week: The Prevalence of Compassionate Action

818th Week: The Prevalence of Compassionate Action

ByNancy Napier

So many of us have been taught that the nature of nature is “survival of the fittest”, suggesting that competition is the underlying principle of evolution. Elisabet Sahtouris, an evolutionary biologist, points out that the early stages of a species development involves competition, and that the mature stage is characterized by cooperation and collaboration within and between species. Agustín Fuentes, a biological and evolutionary anthropologist also points out the many moments of collaboration and cooperation in our human species, moments that arise spontaneously and seemingly without thought countless times each day.

There’s no question that we humans can be cruel and injurious to one another, and to other species, and I don’t in any way mean for us to ignore those realities. As I listened to Elisabet recently in an interview, though, I thought about how important it is to support the movement toward maturity in our species, and also pay attention to the natural expressions of compassionate collaboration among our kind, not only to each other but to other species, as well.

I’ve mentioned many times that I start the day watching or listening to something that inspires me. That’s where I again encountered Elisabet and her wonderful wisdom. Because of this commitment to finding inspiring resources, I’m more able to live with my heart open and free of hatred and fear—well, not overwhelmed by fear or carried away by outrage, anyway—and to allow my heart to be a major source of information and understanding. I’ve written any number of times about the importance of orienting to heart intelligence, which has a different take on things than does our brain intelligence. In fact, I’ve posted as a past practice a process of shifting into heart intelligence when pondering a problem or exploring a situation, then comparing what your heart says to what your head said. It’s a very useful practice!

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745th Week: Expanding Our Sense of “Kin”

745th Week: Expanding Our Sense of “Kin”

ByNancy Napier

One of the primary practices I follow on a daily basis is to move through the world reminding myself that everyone and everything I encounter along the way is, in some way, “kin”.  All are part of this planet’s life and nothing I see or engage with in the course of my daily activities is outside this planet’s origins.  One of the things I’ve noticed, as a result of this practice of remembering that I am related to everyone and everything around me is that it has nurtured a deepened sense of connection.  It doesn’t really matter what I may feel connected to in any given moment.  The underlying and overall experience is one of never really being alone.

Indigenous peoples have understood and lived this perspective naturally, and there are other non-indigenous teachers who also hold this perspective.  Among them is David Spangler, a mystic and spiritual teacher who was part of the early years of Findhorn, in Scotland.  Through an organization, Lorian, David has published a number of books that speak to these kinds of experiences.  There is also Daniel Foor, a psychotherapist who specializes in working with ancestors but now also focuses on the theme of animism, an approach to life that says all are kin.  The perspective we share is that nothing is outside the collective life of this planet, nothing is without its own inherent value and right to be acknowledged and respected.  

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2022 August Meditation
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2022 August Meditation

ByNancy Napier

We continue this month with our exploration of frequencies. Our focus is on pleasure and delight–the qualities and energies inherent in these frequencies and states of being.

Here’s the audio of this month’s meditation:


If you’d rather have images with the meditation, here’s our YouTube version:

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August 2009 Audio Meditation

ByNancy Napier

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August 2015 Audio Meditation

ByNancy Napier

2022 July Audio Meditation
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2022 July Audio Meditation

ByNancy Napier

This month, in our exploration of frequencies, we’re focused on the quality and experience of steadiness. As you move through this meditation, allow yourself to explore the presence of steadiness and how your body-mind being receives and experiences it.

If you’d rather watch a video of nature photos as you listen, here’s our YouTube version:

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