Your well being and the ancient symbol of the spiral
I have a fabulous picture of a spiral on my wall as a continual reminder that the key to happiness and well being is to consistently draw the awareness and the understanding inside. The thing is everything, and I mean absolutely everything, begins and ends on the insides of our mind. Reality is really what attitude and mindset you choose to deploy regardless of the external circumstances. Happiness is impossible, without first paying attention to our internal worlds - addressing our beliefs, our thoughts and our feelings. It isn’t me saying this - it’s every religion or philosophical teaching out there the real magic happens inside.
The symbol of the spiral is one of our most ancient and enduring symbols, it represents the winding journeys we must take inward if we’re to truly know and love ourselves and other people. If we embark on this journey with honesty, openness and courage we return to the world with way more power and wisdom. We understand ourselves and our internal worlds so well that we no longer react to the World, we learn to identify who we want to be, why we are here and most importantly perhaps that we are all one. Honestly, how can anybody hate anybody else if we all truly realise we are all made from the same energy. One of the most important lessons I’ve taken from 20 years of studying religion, philosophy and most especially the philosophy of yoga is the key to life is learning to take hold of ones inner World to ensure that we live on our terms responding to what we want to respond to rather than reacting to anything or anybody who is trying to take hold of our mind and our well being.
In Yoga we spend hours just sitting on our mat connecting with our mind and the authenticity and the beauty of our real spirits. We work with Yoga Nidra to still the mind, thinking of it like a chariot of wild horses that needs gently but sternly pulling back into line. We learn that we are not our thoughts and that our thought can sometimes pollute the beauty of our own souls and make life way more difficult than it needs to be for us, for our loved ones, for our community, for our world. In meditation, in Yoga Nidra we come back to our perfect selves - just as we are.
This internal stuff is a life long practice, just like physical exercise. My recommendation is that we work on it everyday, continuing to challenge our thoughts and feelings - making sure that they align with who we are and who we want to be. Never react; always respond from a place of deep love and authenticity. Ladies, this really is our super power.
So here’s my challenge to you;
if you don’t meditate start with just one minute a day. Just start by focussing on the breath, let it flow in and out and just watch it. Simple as that. The idea is to get the mind starting to feel what stillness feels like. It is by practice and repetition that you start to access a whole new way of living, of being.
watch everything that you do, say, feel and make sure you are only allowing good things into your mind. Of course we all feel negative emotions like envy, hate, anger - but try to label them, accept them and then let them go. We all have a choice in acknowledging what we feel and then we can choose our own attitude. If we are working from love and compassion to ourselves and to everybody else then the answers to any situation just flow.
take care of what you are allowing into your mind. Keep that mind scrupulously clean and pure. 24/7 news is not good for you. Angry twitter arguments are not good for you; endless social media where you are looking for endorsement/affirmation are not good for you. Feel your self esteem and good feelings soar as you let go of negative habits and take as much care of your mind as you do your body.
……and finally take up yoga, tai chi - or any practice that unifies the body, mind and breath. This is a definite route to happiness and well being and provides lifelong purpose, work and pleasure.
Love to you all 🌷