Sitting in Central Park, in the presence of the majestic and beautiful trees that surround me, my awareness again drifts to our current world condition, to the immense suffering in Afghanistan and in so many other places around the world, including all those who are suffering here in the United States. One of my primary practices is to check in with myself many times a day to notice what qualities/frequencies I’m emanating and radiating not only into myself but also into the world around me. And, importantly, whatever radiates from me—from any and all of us—immediately becomes part of the human collective consciousness that we all share.
For most of us, we don’t pay much conscious attention to the quality of collective consciousness that affects us in every moment and we may not fully realize how powerfully we are affected by it. It’s this lack of recognition that prompts me often to say something about it because whatever we may be feeling personally, the frequencies with which we resonate in any given moment is amplified, magnified by that same feeling and the frequencies it represents that exist in our collective.
For this week’s practice in conscious living, I invite you, as I have so many times, to pay particular attention to where you resonate during this time of so much suffering. And, below is a practice to play with to support your offering to the collective qualities of consciousness that offer support rather than feed activation.
Two of the qualities that I often turn to in times of collective and personal distress are steadiness and love. Both resonate with frequencies that strengthen us and they are a gift not only to ourselves but to our collective, as well.
- To begin, find that place inside you that is your natural landing place, the place of your “core presence”.
- Sometimes, it’s easier to find that place when you follow your next out-breath down inside yourself to the bottom of the breath and settle there.
- Once you’ve settled into your core presence, notice that there is a fundamental steadiness that is always there. This is an aspect of your being that is never disturbed, no matter what. It is always just what it is—steady.
- Take a few moments to resonate with this steadiness, noticing how it feels in your body, in your emotions, in your mental activity. As you resonate with it, you will automatically begin to radiate it not only into your own body-mind being but also into your surrounding environment. You will also automatically contribute it to our human collective consciousness, adding it to the steadiness that countless others currently offer—and that so many others desperately need.
- When you feel ready, shift your awareness to your heart space, touching into what you can think of as your “heart brain”. The heart’s perception and intelligence generally have a different take on things than the head brain does, so notice how your heart automatically resonates with what we can call “universal love”, a love that is more than personal in nature.
- If it helps, bring into your awareness an image, color, sound, or word that represents universal love for you and begin to resonate with the feeling and sensations that arise as you focus on whatever representation of love appeals to you this time.
- As you resonate with the qualities and presence of universal love, notice that you radiate it throughout your body-mind being and, as you do, it emanates from you into the environment around you. It also automatically becomes part of our collective human consciousness.
- Take some time now radiating, emanating both steadiness and universal love not only as a gift to yourself and your immediate environment, but as a gift to us all. You can think of this as a subtle activism practice that is sorely needed right now, recognizing that while you can’t remove the terrible suffering that is so prevalent in our world at this time, you can at least offer the frequencies of steadiness and love to everyone.
- When you are ready to conclude, return for a moment to your sense of embodied core presence and continue to resonate with your inherent steadiness. Imagine that this steadiness and the love you have touched continue to resonate within you, emanating from you, throughout whatever next activities or moments await.
As with all these practices, there’s no right or wrong way to do this one. There is only your way, offering you an opportunity to discover 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. Remember, as well, to allow them to simply move on through without your having to do any about them.
And, most importantly, offer yourself moments of steadiness and love often. When we are able to honor, appreciate, and love ourselves, we give a gift not only to ourselves, but also to everything within our immediate environment and to our human collective, as well.