Part of my spiritual practice each morning, when I can make the time, is to climb to the top of the mountain that we look at from our front windows. The mountain is part of a nature preserve and is thus full of magically beautiful birds and wildlife. This morning, as I trudged up the steepest part of the trail, I was surprised and delighted to see a pileated woodpecker fly to a dead tree near me. The pileated woodpeckers are the large, crow-sized, black and white birds with the bright red crested heads.
Having this beautiful bird come so close to my space reminded me that it is very easy to be caught up in the lower aspects of who we are - the black and white of what we need to get done in the physical realm, our overwhelming emotions both new and old as well as the thoughts in our heads that zoom along without ceasing like an eight lane super-highway. The beautiful parts of us, like the woodpeckers bright red head, live in the higher aspects of who we are - our soul and spirit. But how do we connect to those higher aspects? How do we rise above the busy doing, the strong emotions and the never-ceasing thoughts to find our higher essence?
Soon after I became a serious student of spirituality, I was taught the concept of the empty interval. It is exactly what the name implies - an interval of time set aside to be completely empty of doing, feeling and/or thinking. At first, this was extremely difficult for me because I have lived in a culture that emphasizes doing and is somehow very uncomfortable with just being; but with persistence and practice I learned to relax into it and really love it. And the beauty of what I discovered is that as I was able to disconnect from my to-do list, my pesky emotions and my non-stop thoughts, I was able to rise above those parts of me and to connect more fully with the higher aspects of my own being - my essence. Our higher aspects connect naturally to the Divine so the empty interval helps strengthen our Divine connection as well!
I invite you to create an empty interval - ten to fifteen minutes to begin with - and fill it with the intention to rise above the black and white mundane doings, feelings and thinkings and just "be" and you will be surprised by some awesome Sacred Heartsong Moments!
Having this beautiful bird come so close to my space reminded me that it is very easy to be caught up in the lower aspects of who we are - the black and white of what we need to get done in the physical realm, our overwhelming emotions both new and old as well as the thoughts in our heads that zoom along without ceasing like an eight lane super-highway. The beautiful parts of us, like the woodpeckers bright red head, live in the higher aspects of who we are - our soul and spirit. But how do we connect to those higher aspects? How do we rise above the busy doing, the strong emotions and the never-ceasing thoughts to find our higher essence?
Soon after I became a serious student of spirituality, I was taught the concept of the empty interval. It is exactly what the name implies - an interval of time set aside to be completely empty of doing, feeling and/or thinking. At first, this was extremely difficult for me because I have lived in a culture that emphasizes doing and is somehow very uncomfortable with just being; but with persistence and practice I learned to relax into it and really love it. And the beauty of what I discovered is that as I was able to disconnect from my to-do list, my pesky emotions and my non-stop thoughts, I was able to rise above those parts of me and to connect more fully with the higher aspects of my own being - my essence. Our higher aspects connect naturally to the Divine so the empty interval helps strengthen our Divine connection as well!
I invite you to create an empty interval - ten to fifteen minutes to begin with - and fill it with the intention to rise above the black and white mundane doings, feelings and thinkings and just "be" and you will be surprised by some awesome Sacred Heartsong Moments!
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