Today I find myself pondering the following question:
What if an innocent heart is the key to health and thriving in life?
Let me tell you how I got here. It's been a confluence of insights from different readings, in addition to experiencing what's currently present in my life.
I'd like to share with you two thoughts that inspired me this week and my reflections about them. I hope you find them helpful.
Inspiring thought #1:
"When you visualize for the joy of visualizing rather than with the intention of correcting some deficiency, your thoughts are more pure and, therefore, more powerful.
When you visualize to overcome something that is wrong, your thoughts are diluted with the “lackful” side of the equation. In time, your physical condition will acquiesce to your dominant thoughts." ~ Abraham Hicks
For the scientifically-minded, this is what Einstein meant when he said,
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." ~Albert Einstein
My reflection:
When we allow our thoughts to focus on how things are wrong; or how they need fixing, resolving or healing, we give strength to the problem, not the solution.
This applies to all areas of life.
The more we think thoughts along the lines of: "ugh... I'm so heavy;" "when will I be free of this ___________ ?" "[panic] I don't have the money for this."... the more we intensify our aversion towards those things.
Amplifying our aversion makes it harder to overcome the problem we're perceiving.
If instead, we cultivate thoughts along the lines of: "I appreciate all that my body is capable of doing," "I love how strong my body can become," "I am grateful for all that I have," ...we activate the state of mind that allows us to access and receive the solutions we need.
Amplifying our gratitude and appreciation increases our allowing of goodness, creativity, inspiration and the arrival of the outcomes we want.
Inspiring thought #2:
"To support this process of healing..., you must seek to continually bring your attention to the present moment and not return to thinking about your past. You need to learn how to stop thinking abut your problems (past and future) - how to mentally let go of them.
...But because most of us have inherited negative and self-depleting ways of thinking -we're conditioned to focus on the negative- we don't realize we habitually choose to align with the dark.
...Practicing mindfulness helps us change our energy and align with the light."
~ Belinda Davidson, from her recently-released book From Dark to Light
My reflection:
Yes! What Belinda adds here is perfection! Mindfulness is the transition from one way of thinking to the other.
Belinda mentions Eckhart Tolle's book, The Power of Now a number of times. It's one of my favorite books of the past 13 years. Eckhart Tolle teaches us how the practice of mindfulness -bringing our attention to the present moment, to our body and our thoughts- helps us develop the muscle to get off our negative-thinking-hamster-wheel.
We are conditioned to believe that we must think about our problems in order to solve them. But in reality, only through focusing on the present moment -not on the problem- can our desired outcomes unfold.
In the state of presence, inspiration arises. Creativity follows. Ideas emerge. Action unfolds with ease.
So back to the innocent heart...
When you look at babies and tune to their energy, something happens in your heart. You start to resonate with the joy and innocence that is their true essence... and YOUR true essence.
I believe that through practicing mindfulness and tuning to our naturally innocent and joyful state, we being to open a doorway to magic. Innocence opens you up to previously unseen possibilities, whereas "knowing" shuts down creativity. You can only see the possibilities when you're present.
I have this premise that I am increasingly testing:
The more we build the muscle of mindfulness, looking at life with innocence and practicing joyful appreciation, the quicker we will heal and thrive.
It sure feels more appealing and more fun than trying to find logical solutions to our adult problems. And I for one, get tired of trying.
With presence, joy and appreciation, we are more likely to find inspired paths that will naturally lift our spirits and lead us where we want.
In two weeks, I'll be leading a retreat precisely aimed at cultivating presence and playfulness, and help all of us, serious adults reconnect to the simple joys of being.
If you're up for that, come join us!
The Joyful Heart Retreat is November 17th through the 19th.
In the meantime, or if you can't come to the retreat, here are some things you can do:
- Get Belinda's book: From Dark to Light
- Get Eckhart Tolle's book: The Power of Now
- Observe babies and tune to their joyful innocence. Allow their energy to rekindle your own innocence and joy.