Melanie Philippides

<h4>MELANIE PHILIPPIDES inspires us to listen to our hearts and follow the body’s innate wisdom about what foods it needs and what it doesn’t need.</h4>There is so much information available at our fingertips to guide us towards healing, but there are also so many diets out there that it is often hard to discern which one is right for you. So here are some tips:<h5>ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR BODY</h5>Your body has its own innate wisdom about what foods you should, and shouldn’t eat right now. No one – no doctor, no physician, no therapist – knows you better than you know yourself. You have an infinite source of knowledge within you that is easily accessible. Practicing meditation and being mindful is key: when we quiet our minds, we can listen to what our instincts are telling us about the food we are putting in our mouths. Take a moment to be still and ask yourself what foods are right for you, right now. Being mindful also helps us to realize what our true cravings are, whether they are helping us or whether these cravings just fulfill an ego-driven desire for comfort.<h5>LET LABELS GUIDE YOU BUT NOT DEFINE YOU</h5>Try not to fall into the trap of letting your diet define who you are. The cells in our body are always dying and regenerating. Our bodies are always changing. So it makes sense that at different times in our lives we may need different foods. If you are guided to a certain way of eating, whether it is vegetarian, vegan, paleo, raw food etc., be mindful of how you feel with this new lifestyle and also be mindful of when it is time to change.<h5>THE BIGGEST RISKS HAVE THE BIGGEST PAY OFFS</h5>It is easy to just add certain foods to your diet in the hope that it will make all the difference, but the optimal diet for you may require you to let go of things that are stopping you from being well. Your health will only go so far if you keep adding things, without removing what is causing the problem in the first place. So listen not only to what your body needs to eat, but also what you need to let go of. Trust that the biggest risks have the biggest pay offs. Seeing change as hard will make it hard. Learn to view change as easy and exciting and it will be. Change your thoughts; change your world.<h5>EAT WITH LOVE FOR YOURSELF. EXERCISE WITH LOVE FOR YOURSELF</h5>The energy of love is so powerful that it can overcome the fear of change. When you truly learn to love yourself, you will naturally be guided towards eating for longevity and for optimal health, and your outward appearance will reflect this. You will be at the weight that is best for you. You will look your best. That is because your body will be nourished, and it will show. You know what’s best.Disclaimer: This is the opinion of the author, and is not a substitute for medical guidance when required.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by MELANIE PHILIPPIDES</h4><hr>

Which foods are right for you?

Melissa is a well-known entrepreneur and author based in the US, popularly known as co-founder of the toy company, Melissa&Doug. Melissa is also the author of Life Lines, an inspirational journey from darkness to light, a story she hopes will help others find a path to meaning and inner peace.

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Melissa Bernstein

Melissa Connelly is publishing her first novel, What Was Lost, on October 8, 2024, after a long career working with children in a variety of roles in schools, hospitals, psychiatric clinics, and day cares. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and spends time in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Her website is melissaconnelly.com.

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Melissa Connelly

<h4 style="text-align:justify;">MELISSA CONNELLY is an author and therapist. Her recent novel, What Was Lost, explores trauma and redemption, risk taking and self-care, shame and acceptance. Here she shares her experience as a new writer and the importance of sharing story.</h4>&nbsp;My novel, What Was Lost, concerns two traumatic events in the main protagonist's life: Marti is disfigured by an accident when she’s seven years old, and at age fourteen her art teacher grooms and sexually abuses her, leading to a pregnancy. It’s a dark, disturbing journey for Marti as she confronts her history.I’ve worked as a child therapist, but I’m no expert on trauma, any more than anyone else is. As Marti says, “Everyone has their own trauma.” No one gets through life unscarred. Of course, there are degrees; some people suffer and survive inconceivable tragedies and heartbreaks repeatedly throughout their lives. Others seem beaten down by the smallest of occurrences. We sometimes call these people complainers. But there’s no reason to judge someone’s inability to get back up. Even if what’s upsetting them seems minor to us, it’s their reality; they feel what they feel. Some crumble whereas others rise. It could be because of a history of neglect, abuse, or early childhood trauma. Or it could be their chemical makeup. People can be blessed with resiliency, and others not so much. Feel lucky if you have grit; it's a kind of hell without it.One thing my own experiences have taught me is that just like we’re doomed to repeat history if we don’t learn from it, we’re doomed to live in trauma if we don’t confront it. It can be too much to deal with initially, and sometimes we’re given the grace of shock for a while. But eventually it needs to be faced or it will linger in some deep, musty corner of your core and come out and smack you when you least expect it.Marti tries to lessen her trauma’s impact by replicating the experience through dangerous choices she makes. This is common among sexual abuse victims: “It’s okay. Didn’t affect me. See? I did it again!” She also tries to stay with her abuser. She does this because her shame is so great that she feels safe only with him. As contrary as this seems, it’s common among victims. It’s why sexual and physical abusers are often let off the hook. She stayed with him, so it couldn't be that bad.I’ve lived through traumatic events in my life and one of the ways I coped was to talk about the experience. The more I shared every single, perhaps hard-to-hear, little detail, the more my hurt dissipated. But Marti doesn’t have that luxury. She feels complicit in her abuse. Shame births the secret, and that secret shame is how perpetrators get away with their actions.Someone said to me, “Your memoir is coming out?” I corrected them, “No it's a novel.” They responded, “It’s autobiographical though, right? Aren’t all first novels?” I've received many comments like that, and have felt a strong urge to correct them. There are some parallels in my life to Marti’s—I left home and high school very young, just as Marti does. But her story isn’t mine; I wasn’t sexually abused by a teacher at fourteen.I wanted to correct this impression because I felt Marti’s shame. This realization made me sad and a little disappointed in myself. After all, I wrote the story to show there’s no shame in it. My discomfort gives me a small taste of what it’s like to walk in her shoes and now I feel a greater need to defend Marti.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Writing is cathartic even when it isn’t your story,&nbsp; because in some ways it always is.&nbsp; It's the human story.</h4><hr>My defense is both arrogant and unnecessary; Marti defends herself just fine. After burying her experiences for thirty long years, she faces them. She grows from victim to survivor. And now that Marti is launched in the world, I need to go on my own journey of acceptance, by allowing people to assume it’s my story. I wrote it and so I own it.&nbsp;I’m growing alongside Marti into a new understanding of the issues I wrote about—and of myself—as I advocate for the troubling, unsettling book I’ve written. Writing is cathartic even when it isn’t your story, because in some ways it always is. It's the human story.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:25%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/writer_transference2_51e2a259a4.jpg" alt="writer-transference2.jpg" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_writer_transference2_51e2a259a4.jpg 101w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_writer_transference2_51e2a259a4.jpg 323w," sizes="100vw"></figure>

A writer’s transference

Meredith Klein

<h4>MEREDITH KLEIN gives us an Ayurvedic perspective on how to balance both the
 mind and body through the foods we eat. In particular, she focuses on the nature of vata, which is
 particularly susceptible to imbalance during the autumn months, currently experienced in the Northern Hemisphere.
</h4>
Could the food on your plate stand between you and a peaceful mind?
The ancient science of Ayurveda says absolutely! In understanding our bodies and minds
 to be subject to the same energetic patterns as everything else in the universe, when we feel scattered, erratic,
 and particularly busy in the mind, we are suffering from an excess of vata energy. Vata is ruled
 by the elements of air and space; the creative, generative energy of life. Physically it manifests in conditions
 characterized by dryness, irregularity and lightness, including insomnia, constipation and chapped skin. In the
 mind, vata is experienced as quick-moving thoughts, inability to focus, and excessive anxiety.
During the fall or autumn, we are particularly susceptible to vata imbalance,
 but given the pace of modern life and its many competing demands, I find that just about everyone I encounter has
 some amount of work to do to pacify vata.
<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">Vata is ruled by the elements of air and space; 
 the creative, generative energy of life.</h5>
<hr>
At its heart, Ayurveda is fundamentally a science of balance. Any time we detect an
 excess of a particular energetic quality, we treat it by inviting in the opposite qualities. One of the best ways to
 overcome imbalance is through diet, since we eat several times a day. Every meal becomes an opportunity to make wise
 choices that help restore us to a place of optimal balance and wellness.
<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">Preparing your own food you can take responsibility
 
 for tailoring it in ways you will most enjoy, 
 and that will provide the maximum healing effects.
</h5>
<hr>
<img alt="fall-eating" 
 class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Fall_Eating4_4bee8128ea.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:06:39.251Z">

When you find yourself experiencing the overwhelm of a racing mind, or subject to
 physical conditions that reflect the qualities mentioned, consider these guidelines when choosing what to consume:

Choose foods that are warm and moist. Stews, dahls and
 soups are optimal choices, as is anything else that requires a bowl rather than a plate. Raw salads, smoothies and
 dry foods like cookies, crackers and toast can throw us further out of balance. If you do eat these things, consider
 using warming spices like ginger, cinnamon or cloves in dressings or spreads that can accompany your meals.
Favor foods that are sweet or slightly sour. The sweet and sour
 tastes are recognized in Ayurveda to be vata-balancing. Avoid sweetness in the form of refined sugars and
 choose foods that are naturally sweet. Consider introducing these flavors via condiments to accompany your meals,
 like chutneys. Fruit is most balancing when cooked (see the recipe below).
Eat near the earth. Foods that grow in the soil – potatoes, beets,
 parsnips and other root vegetables – are inherently grounding, as are the numerous winter squash varieties that grow
 on ground-level vines.
Eat meals you prepare yourself. The simple act of cooking can be a
 very grounding exercise, and in preparing your own food you can take responsibility for tailoring it in ways you
 will most enjoy, and that will provide the maximum healing effects.
This easy vata-balancing recipe makes for a healthy dessert or a tasty topping
 for warm breakfast cereals.

<hr class="vertical-space1"><img alt="fall-eating" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Fall_Eating2_4e36359616.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:07:52.443Z">

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Warm Fruit Compote</h3>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Ingredients:</h4>
2 large green apples, peeled and diced into ¾ inch pieces 
 2 pears, peeled and diced into ¾ inch pieces 
 1/3 cup dried prunes (or other dried fruit of your choice) 
 1/8 cup golden raisins 
 Half a vanilla bean pod (optional)
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Preparation:</h4>
Place all ingredients in a saucepan and add 1/2 cup of water. 
 Bring water to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer. 
 Cover the pot and let fruit cook 15 to 20 minutes, until soft but not mushy. 
 Serve immediately. 
 Leftovers can be refrigerated and reheated.

<hr class="vertical-space1">

<div>
 <img alt="fall-eating" class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Fall_Eating3_0329858bb4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:08:51.853Z">
</div>
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by MEREDITH KLEIN</h4>
<hr>

Fall eating

<hr class="vertical-space1">
<h4>MEREDITH KLEIN shares her thoughts and experience on self-generosity, and
 especially how to avoid the Buddha’s concept of the second arrow.</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
A teacher of mine offers each cohort of students she works with an exercise where she
 asks them to make a list of all the people they care for in their lives. At the end of five minutes, students put down
 their pens, and then she asks how many people included their own names on their lists. People rarely, if ever, list
 themselves.
Similarly, if I asked you now to make a list of the people for whom you practiced
 generosity, would your name make the list? Most likely not. For most of us, when we are asked how we practice
 generosity, we bring to mind transactional acts of giving between ourselves and something or someone external to us –
 whether another person, institution or organization. Perhaps something tangible is involved, or perhaps what we give
 is intangible (like our time or presence). But almost always, generosity is thought of as an act that binds two
 parties via the act of giving.
Beyond the ways we have been socially conditioned to think about generosity, we may not
 bring ourselves to mind when thinking about our generosity practice, simply because many of us have not built a habit
 of practicing self-generosity. I witness this all the time with my clients, who tell me how they will go to great
 lengths to find time to prepare healthy, nourishing meals when they have guests coming for dinner, but who will
 fiercely resist making the effort to cook for themselves, and may even skip meals altogether. For most people,
 generosity is easier to cultivate for people and things outside themselves, and far harder to conjure up for
 ourselves.
<hr class="vertical-space1">


<img class="lazyload has-img-center"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/second_arrow2_b691125d6d.jpg">
<hr class="vertical-space1">
There are many ways to practice self-generosity, and while many are active practices of
 dedicating time and resources towards our own betterment, there are also practices of restraint – abstaining from a
 particular behavior can present a path for self-generosity.
One of the most fruitful ways in which I’ve found to apply this form of self-generosity
 is the practice of avoiding the second arrow. This comes from a parable in which the Buddha taught that while we
 cannot avoid the first arrow (inevitable acts of suffering), we can avoid the second arrow that we inflict upon
 ourselves in the form of our reaction to the first arrow.
<hr class="vertical-space1">


<hr>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">For most of us, our default second arrow 
 is to travel down a thought spiral of 
 self-criticism because of our mistake. 
 By avoiding the second arrow, 
 we practice generosity towards ourselves 
 by actively choosing to keep our mental space 
 clear of self-criticism.
</h5>


<hr>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
This practice is especially potent in situations where we have made any type of mistake.
 For most of us, our default second arrow is to travel down a thought spiral of self-criticism because of our mistake.
 By avoiding the second arrow, we practice generosity towards ourselves by actively choosing to keep our mental space
 clear of self-criticism. For example, if I break a glass and cut myself, an act of self-generosity would be to simply
 witness what happened, bandage my hand, and pick up the broken glass. The less generous path would be to pile on
 stories about how I am clumsy or have failed to be mindful.
When we practice in this way, we allow ourselves to tap into a deeper form of generosity
 – the recognition that as human beings, we will never adhere to any model of perfection. Freed from the shackles of
 the unrealistic expectations we hold for ourselves, we can extend this remembrance to others. In this way,
 self-generosity can be the fuel for the extension of greater generosity of spirit to everyone we encounter.
<hr class="vertical-space1">


<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article by MEREDITH KLEIN 
 Illustrations by OLGA TASHLIKOVICH</h4>


<hr>

The second arrow

Merete has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of voice and performance training. Her company, Living Voice, works with leaders and communicators helping them become better speakers, to strengthen their voice, and achieve authentic leadership. Learn more at www.livingvoice.dk.&nbsp;

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Merete Nørgaard

Living voice

Mia is a freelance writer and researcher who specializes in mental health, well-being and self-care. She is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the online health publication, <a href="http://www.bodymind.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Body+Mind magazine</a>.&nbsp;

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Mia Barnes

<h4>MIA BARNES shares some tips on intention setting to create positive affirmations for mental health and well-being.</h4>How do you use affirmations in your life? Are they sayings you turn to for comfort in troubled times? You can also use them to steer your life’s course by speaking them as intentions.Think about it – every existing built thing began as a simple idea. What makes the magic happen is aligning your actions with your vision. Speaking positive affirmations gives power to your truth, consciously and subconsciously aligning your behaviors with your goals.<h4>Why and how to set positive intentions</h4>Is there a difference between an intention and an affirmation? According to the Nth Degree Collective folks, intentions <a href="https://nthdegreecollective.com/manifestation-affirmations-and-intentions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">refer to your wanted outcome</a> or goal, while affirmations direct your focus. Intentions are the “what,” while affirmations provide the “how.”Look at this principle in action. What if you want to ease depression? You might use an affirmation as your intention, for example, “I am a positive person who makes the best out of any situation.” How can such a statement affect lasting change?Every time you recite that intention, you remind yourself, “So what if I’m looking at a pile of lemons? How can I make lemonade?” You become <a href="https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/addiction-blog/improve-mood-living-with-depression/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more mindful of your current behaviors</a> and how they influence your mood.For instance, you probably know lying on your couch and surfing social media can make you feel worse when you have depression. Reciting your intention may prompt you to get up, step outside, go for a brisk walk, or make cloud animals until your mood lifts.Use positive affirmations for intention setting as an alignment check for your body, mind, and spirit. When everything works together to manifest a goal, progress becomes easier. Reciting your saying is how you rotate your mental tires in order to keep everything rolling smoothly toward your desired outcome.<h4>When to use positive affirmations for intention setting</h4>You can recite your affirmations as often as you wish, or when you feel is necessary to be more grounded. Write your intentions on paper, put them in your planner, sew them into fun cross-stitch patterns, make them visible to ground them in your consciousness.That said, reciting your intentions at certain times helps make the practice an integral part of your lifestyle. Set a reminder on your phone to meditate briefly on your affirmations at the following times:First thing in the morning: The hypnopompic twilight hours make your brain more open to suggestions. Meditating on your affirmation when you first open your eyes sets the tone for your day.Before big events: Take a moment to center yourself and recite your affirmation to induce calm.To begin an important ritual: Many yoga classes begin by reciting an affirmation or intention. You can also use one to open a formal meditation practice.When you feel unsettled: Your affirmation can help ground you when panic threatens.At night before sleep: The hypnogogic period also makes your mind suggestible. Some people think reciting an affirmation before bed will help you find answers to your problems in your dreams.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Use positive affirmations for intention setting as&nbsp;&nbsp; an alignment check for your body, mind and spirit.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When everything works together&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;to manifest a goal, progress becomes easier.</h4><hr><h4>Sample positive affirmations that double as intentions&nbsp;</h4>What should a positive affirmation that doubles as an intention look like? It’s very <a href="https://omyogaworks.co.uk/sankalpa-your-seed-of-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">similar to setting a sankalpa</a> in Yoga Nidra. You’ll notice this is also an active “this is what is” statement, not a wish – for example, “Peace is my true nature” versus “I want more peace in my life.”&nbsp;&nbsp; Why is the phrasing of your affirmation-intention important? There’s a considerable mental difference between “this is” and “this will be.” When something simply is, it dictates your behavior in the present moment, not an elusive future time when the stars align and you have less stress.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations2_600fcc1ab5.webp" alt="positive-affirmations2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations2_600fcc1ab5.webp 119w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/small_positive_affirmations2_600fcc1ab5.webp 382w," sizes="100vw"></figure>Here are six sample positive affirmations that double as intentions:I choose healthy practices for my body and mind&nbsp;This affirmation helps if you’re trying to overcome a bad habit or embrace a healthy new one. For example, use it when starting a new exercise program. You know the reality – inevitably life happens and prevents you from getting to the gym.&nbsp;&nbsp; Reciting it reminds you that one slip doesn’t have to justify 20 other bad choices. Maybe you didn’t make it to spin class, but it’s not a foregone conclusion that you’ll eat poorly while binging Netflix after arriving home. You can still do 15 minutes of calisthenics and stretching in front of the TV, and choose a salad over a pint of ice cream for dinner.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations3_664022fc66.webp" alt="positive-affirmations3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations3_664022fc66.webp 164w," sizes="100vw"></figure> I have ultimate control over how I handle my energy&nbsp;The reality of life is much of it lies beyond your control. Good people develop devastating illnesses, get laid off from their jobs, have their homes ransacked by thieves, hearts broken, and lives upended by dishonest or abusive partners.The one thing you can always control is how you respond to things. You have 100% jurisdiction over how you handle your energy – this affirmation reminds you to direct it wisely. What can you do, given the reality you face? What is the best course of action?&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations4_73b7427d6f.webp" alt="positive-affirmations4.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations4_73b7427d6f.webp 164w," sizes="100vw"></figure>I am responsive and not reactive&nbsp;Many people live a considerable percentage of their lives in default mode, reacting to situations the same way they always have and wondering why little ever improves. The problem is learned experiences and reactions aren’t always the wisest and most beneficial.This affirmation is fabulous when you’re working on improving your emotional regulation. It’s also beneficial for overcoming negative habits. For example, does a stressful day always leave you saying, “I need a drink"? What’s a healthier way to ease the tension?&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations5_abb6b194a5.webp" alt="positive-affirmations5.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations5_abb6b194a5.webp 164w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;In the darkest winter lives within me an indomitable summer&nbsp;Even if you are deeply depressed, you can probably recall one time when you genuinely felt happy. Experienced yogis and meditators can manifest this emotion in their bodies, calling upon it whenever necessary.Spend time in meditation, reliving the experience of joy. Feel it in every cell. Explore what parts of your body become activated. Then, use this affirmation to remind yourself you can evoke this emotion amid life’s storms. Remember – everything is temporary and this darkness will eventually pass.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations6_ab9e20a5c1.webp" alt="positive-affirmations6.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations6_ab9e20a5c1.webp 164w," sizes="100vw"></figure><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Positive affirmations are perfect to&nbsp;&nbsp; use for intention setting. They take the “I will”&nbsp;&nbsp; out of the equation, transforming it into “I am.”&nbsp;</h4><hr>I am mindful of how my energy affects others&nbsp;Other people can’t see the emotional turmoil inside you. All they see are your behaviors, which they interpret through their lens. You know you’re short-tempered because of stress at work, but the cashier only sees an impossible-to-please customer.This affirmation reminds you to exercise your empathy muscle. Before you act, consider how your behavior will impact others and choose accordingly.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations7_3f0575b55d.webp" alt="positive-affirmations7.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations7_3f0575b55d.webp 164w," sizes="100vw"></figure>I actively create the world I want to see&nbsp;A lack of agency – the belief your actions can make a positive difference – lies behind many mental health disorders like depression. It’s true you might not be able to change the world single-handedly, but you might be surprised by how much power you have to affect your daily life.This affirmation reminds you to become mindful of what you can change and inspires you to take action.&nbsp;For example, has litter taken over your favorite campsite? You could complain about people who don’t care all day – or you could grab some empty bags and boxes, and get the place spic and span in an hour or two.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/positive_affirmations8_26ef198717.webp" alt="positive-affirmations8.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_positive_affirmations8_26ef198717.webp 164w," sizes="100vw"></figure><h4> Using positive affirmations to create your intentions&nbsp;</h4>Positive affirmations are perfect to use for intention setting. They take the “I will” out of the equation, transforming it into “I am.” The process takes the changes you want to see out of the elusive future and brings them into the present moment.Follow the above tips to use positive affirmations for intention setting. Post yours where you see them often, get in the habit of reciting them throughout the day and watch your life transform.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by LAKSHMI GADDAM&nbsp;</h4><hr>

Positive affirmations

Michael is the author of The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment, which have been published worldwide. He had a deep inner awakening in 1971 after which he focused on yoga and meditation for some time. In 1975, he founded Temple of the Universe, a yoga and meditation center where people of any religion or belief come to experience inner peace. He is also the creator of a leading-edge software package for medical practice management, and is the founding CEO of a public company.

MichaelSinger.jpg

Michael A. Singer

<hr><h4>Author of The Untethered Soul – The Journey Beyond Yourself, MICHAEL SINGER, shares his thoughts on the nature of the mind and the heart. He also describes how we let impressions from the past and our thoughts affect our worldview and our potential, and how to handle the human heart – how to be at peace with the tremendous range of the heart.</h4><hr>What is the nature of mind? The truth is, it is easier to understand the nature of the entire universe than to grasp the nature of mind. But this is not because the nature of mind is so complicated; it is because you can’t see the forest for the trees. You can’t see the mind because you are lost in your thoughts. You are so involved in your thoughts that you can’t step back far enough to see what is creating them. You have to be able to get behind the mind enough to see what is not mind; then you’ll be able to see what is mind. Meditation gives you this perspective. In deep meditation you see the mind from a distance, like you see a star in the sky. But if you got up really close to a burning star, you would not recognize it as one of those things that dot the sky at night – you’d see it as a giant ball of burning fire. In order to see ‘star’, you must be able to see ‘not star’. The same is true with the mind. If you step back deep enough within your Self, you will see the mind talking at a distance – yackety-yak. But around the edges it’s not doing this, and beyond the edges there is perfect stillness. In other words, in deep meditation there is absolute peace, quiet, serenity, and total calm all around you. But if you gaze in the direction of the personal mind, there is noise. You are now able to see the thought-generating mind because you can see the still mind.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/nature_of_your_being2_3774eb9ab8.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T04:50:48.179Z" alt="how-to-know-the-nature-of-your-being-2"><hr>We don’t maintain this perspective for long, however. We quickly get lost in the thoughts of the mind. That is why we can’t see the nature of mind. In the purest sense, the mind’s nature is a field of unmanifest energy that has the ability to manifest in the form of thoughts. You should see mind as an ocean of energy in which thoughts form like waves. Just as waves in the ocean come up and go back down, so thoughts in the mind come and go. Each thought is different, just as each wave is different, but they are all manifestations of the same ocean.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">You have to be able to get behind the mind enough to see what is not mind; then you’ll be able to see what is mind. Meditation gives you this perspective. In deep meditation you see the mind from a distance, like you see a star in the sky.</h5>&nbsp;<hr><hr>The mind is a field of energy that exists between you (the indwelling Being) and the world that you see. In this field of energy that is mind, there are laws that cause the wavelets of thoughts to manifest as they do. Just as scientists can study waves and understand why they behave as they do, so you can study your thoughts. You’ll see that there are underlying laws that determine how the mind creates thoughts. If I knew every single thing that ever happened to you during your entire existence, I would know all the data that programmed your mind. If I put it all together in the right balance, I could predict what your thoughts would be when you see something in this world. There are patterns or impressions that the mind has learned, and this underlying learning causes your thoughts to manifest in a particular way.&nbsp;Your mind is the sum of your learned experiences. All the different experiences that have come in through your senses have left impressions upon the field of energy that exists as mind. Based upon these impressions, the mind generates different thoughts at different times. This is where thoughts come from. When the world of sense flows into your mind, thoughts will be created in accordance to these stored patterns. Once you see this, you’ll realize that it’s been happening your entire life. Wherever the spotlight of your senses happened to be aiming, your mind was being programmed. There was no planning involved; your mind was simply programmed by the events that happened to be unfolding in the direction you happened to be looking. If one or more of those events had not taken place, or if you had been looking in a different direction, your mind would be programmed differently, and your thought patterns would be different. If you understand nothing else, please take the time to understand this.<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/nature_of_your_being3_2f5e986578.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T04:50:48.103Z" alt="nature-of-your-being3"><hr>Every single second you are experiencing such a minute amount of the world, yet these events are being stitched together in your mind and presented back to you as absolute truth. But they are not the truth, and understanding this dynamic of how the world programs your mind is essential for knowing the truth. There is nothing holy about any of your thoughts, and they really have nothing to do with you. They are just the result of the impressions that got made upon your mind. Just as you can watch the waves of an ocean come and go, so you can watch the thoughts in the mind come and go.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">There is something even more powerful than the mind that affects how you interact with the world – and that is your heart. Your heart is quite distinct from the field of energy that creates thoughts.</h5>&nbsp;<hr><hr>But that is not what you do. You actually believe in them. A thought pops up, and it becomes your whole world. You make every single decision based upon your thoughts. You practically worship your thoughts. In fact, you do more than worship your thoughts – you think you are your thoughts. If right now your thoughts suddenly start saying, “I don’t like this article. I don’t even agree with what it’s saying” – what is that? It is just thoughts forming in the essence of mind. There is not a single thought that is not the result of your learned experiences.&nbsp;The sum of all these impressions determines what you think. Then you actually say outside what your thoughts are saying inside. Your mind literally tells you what to say, and you say it. That’s scary stuff, isn’t it? People don’t talk about this, and almost nobody explains it. There was not a single class you ever took in school, no matter how far you went in your education, that told you what was going on in your mind. Instead of teaching you about the nature of the mind, they are busy programming your mind. How are you supposed to get free?&nbsp;The mind reacts based upon the impressions with which it is programmed, and the ripples caused by that reaction are what you experience as thoughts. You think you are making your own decisions, but you are not. For example, you look at somebody and suddenly your mind says, “I don’t like him.” That could have happened because the shirt he’s wearing was somehow associated with a bad childhood experience. Your likes, dislikes, and views about everything are affected by the impressions that got made upon your mind. So how can you call them your choices? You are just following the programming of your mind.&nbsp;But there is something even more powerful than the mind that affects how you interact with the world – and that is your heart. Your heart is quite distinct from the field of energy that creates thoughts. Like everything else in creation, the heart has its own nature. The heart is best seen as an energy field with currents of different strengths flowing in various directions. These currents are like vectors of energy that can flow towards something or away from it, and they can certainly cause quite a disturbance when their flow is blocked. You experience these vector flows on a regular basis. If you see something in the world and the heart gets attracted to it, a vector of energy is formed in the heart and starts going in that direction. The next thing you know, you are drawn there. Your mind may be saying, “No, I don’t want to do this; it could cause real problems.” But the pull of the heart can be very strong in spite of what the mind is saying. This shows how distinct the heart is from the mind.&nbsp;<hr><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/nature_of_your_being4_81262ca66c.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-12T04:50:48.339Z" alt="nature-of-your-being4"><hr>If you want to know why your heart is attracted to some things and repulsed by others, it’s pretty simple. For the most part, your heart is programmed by your past experiences – just like your mind. In yogic philosophy this programming is called samskaras. Samskaras are past impressions that have created habitual energy patterns in your heart. When stimulated by an object, the heart will tend to flow in these learned directions. Note that it is not just objects in the outside world that stimulate the heart; thoughts can also stimulate the heart. The heart affects the mind and the mind affects the heart. But you already know this. When your heart gets attracted to something, your mind wants to think about it all the time. Your thoughts didn’t used to fixate on that person, place or thing, but now they do. Likewise, when you get really scared by something, suddenly that’s all you can think about.Now I want to discuss your heart in a way that you may not like. Your heart is a very active field of energy with underlying vector flows, and none of it has anything to do with you. It is just one of the things you are aware of. One moment you notice you are attracted to something and five minutes later you’re repulsed by it. It happens all the time. You can feel completely attracted to someone until they say or do something you don’t like; then suddenly you’re turned off by them. This is what we call the personal heart because its energy flows are formed by an individual’s personal experiences. At any given moment, almost everybody is following either the personal heart or the personal mind. And in most cases the mind wins. The mind simply applies its logic based on its past experiences and then tells you, “I know how to make you happy.”&nbsp;But the mind cannot make you happy. It will never make you happy. The mind only knows about thinking. In the end, real happiness must come from the heart. The very fact that you are in your mind thinking about how to be happy means you cannot be happy. All the mind can do is try to calculate what will make you happy based on your past experiences. One minute it likes something, and the next minute it doesn’t. You’ve had billions of experiences, and your thoughts about a current experience simply depend upon which of these past experiences is being stimulated the most. Eventually you come to realize that you’re so busy dealing with your mind’s likes and dislikes that you can’t feel the true happiness that springs spontaneously from your heart.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">You will not be able to truly explore the nature of your being until you come to peace with the world, the mind, and the heart. This is your spiritual work.</h5>&nbsp;<hr><hr>So are you better off following your heart than your mind? Truth is, neither will take you where you want to go. This is because neither is who you are. You are the one who experiences the heart, and you are the one who experiences the mind. If you can objectively watch something, then it is not who you are – you are the one who is watching. What do you see when you watch your heart? One thing you see is that it can open and close. You experience this as attractions and repulsions, loves and fears. You feel great inner strength when the heart is open to an experience, then if something closes your heart, all that energy drops out or becomes turbulent. That’s how you know you’re not your heart: you were there when the inspiration started, and you were there when it stopped. You’re the one who’s in there watching all these changes take place inside.Over time you will come to realize that there is only one you in there. You who sees the world, you who witnesses the mind, and you who experiences the heart is the same you. There is only one conscious being in there aware of all these experiences. And none of what you see has anything to do with you. Only you, the awareness of being, has anything to do with you. When you reach this state of awareness, you are awake. But you will not be able to truly explore the nature of your being until you come to peace with the world, the mind, and the heart. This is your spiritual work.By honoring the nature of the world, you can come to peace with it. Your work with the world becomes to appreciate it, honor it, kiss it hello when it comes and kiss it goodbye when it leaves. Because in truth, that is all it’s ever doing – coming and going. God is trying to teach you something: every day a new day comes and every night it goes, never to return again. Now you see it, now you don’t – like a magic trick. It has nothing to do with you; you are just experiencing it as it flows by. But the incessant activity of the mind will not allow you to honor the world. Based on its past experiences, the mind has its own idea of what should be going on, and it believes it’s right. A truly wise person understands this as part of the mind’s nature and does not struggle with it. The wise one simply looks at the personal mind with compassion, realizing that all it is doing is trying to solve the problems of the heart. Therefore, the best way to come to peace with the mind is to come to peace with the heart. …<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">The highest spiritual practice every single moment of every single day is to set the world free, set the mind free, and set the heart free. When those three are free to be true to their nature, then you will be free to be true to your nature – your true Self. This is the journey back to the nature of your being.</h5>&nbsp;<hr><hr>Your most important work as a spiritual being is to learn to come to peace with the tremendous range of your heart. You have to wake up every morning and say: my heart is very interesting, and I’m going to handle wherever it goes today. You may feel tremendous love, or you may feel tremendous pain. You may go to the heights of your being and think this is the meaning of your life, or you may visit the pit of your being and think that your life has no meaning. But neither is true. These are just places your heart can go. From the seat of witness consciousness, just marvel at the tremendous range of the human heart. Love, disdain, joy, sorrow, pride, and shame are all simply places the heart can go depending upon whether it is open or closed to what’s coming in through the senses or passing through the mind.&nbsp;… People misunderstand the path of unconditional happiness. It doesn’t mean that your heart is always feeling happiness; it means that you are always at peace with whatever your heart is feeling. Do you see the difference? There is a deep joy in your awareness of being for the honor of experiencing what you are experiencing. Tears are pouring from your eyes, but they are not tears of sorrow, and they are not tears of joy. They are tears caused by the sheer depth of experiencing what that heart has to say.The heart is a great gift that the Universe has given you. It adds tremendous richness to your life. But because you can’t handle your heart, you are not free to explore the true nature of your being. If you want that freedom, you must learn to honor the world, observe the transient nature of the personal mind, and be able to handle the human heart. Only then can you sit comfortably in the Self; only then are you free to naturally merge into the true nature of your being.&nbsp;What is the nature of your being? Christ said: “My father and I are one.” Genesis says: “God created man in his own image.” That is the true nature of Self, and you are capable of experiencing this directly. Just remember every time the heart goes someplace you think you can’t handle, you can choose to just breathe and relax back into the seat of Self, instead of getting involved in the heart or the mind. This is the highest yoga. The highest spiritual practice every single moment of every single day is to set the world free, set the mind free, and set the heart free. When those three are free to be true to their nature, then you will be free to be true to your nature – your true Self. This is the journey back to the nature of your being.<hr>© 2012 by Michael A. Singer. This article contains excerpts from an edited transcript, excerpted from the audio The Clarity of Witness Consciousness Lecture Series: The World, the Mind, the Heart, and You, published by Shanti Publications © 2009 Michael A. Singer,<a href="http://www.store.untetheredsoul.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> www.store.untetheredsoul.com</a> or <a href="http://www.untetheredsoul.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.untetheredsoul.com</a>.<hr>&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by MICHAEL SINGER Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4>&nbsp;<hr>

How to know the nature of your being

Unfinished energy pattern

Michael grew up the younger of two brothers in a small town in Vermont, where his parents ran a wooden jigsaw puzzle business. After studying fine arts at Wesleyan University, he made fine furniture, then worked as a bookbinder and graphic designer. At some point, he got an MfA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Today&nbsp;he lives in Boise, Idaho, and runs a nonprofit that brings arts programming to residents&nbsp;of Idaho prisons.

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Michael H. Richardson

<h4>MICHAEL RICHARDSON celebrates the miraculous nature of our everyday existence and explores the reasons why we are not attuned to the miracles all around us in every moment. He encourages us to open our eyes to the miracle-nature of all things.</h4>Einstein framed it with his characteristic elegant logic: “There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.” If indeed Einstein actually said this, his use of “as though” was a careful hedge for a scientist – he didn’t come across as being too far out. To flesh out the two options:&nbsp;The universe is unfolding deterministically and mechanically, highly limited in its possibilities and meanings. What we see is pretty much what there is, everywhere. We’ve discovered nearly all there is to discover. There’s no divinity. This is the official belief system of institutional science and business.&nbsp;Despite mechanistic appearances, the fabric of reality is organic, inexplicably saturated with love and many other multi-dimensional qualities, unlimited in possibility and meaning. There is serendipity and synchronicity. Things are mysteriously interconnected, and there’s a sweet, divine presence at the heart of it all – something we often detect in our own hearts.&nbsp;The “everything option” is exciting because it means the miracle-ness is constant, ubiquitous, always at hand. It’s not about believing that “a miracle” might happen once in a while; it’s the whole shooting match! A miraculous aspect to all things sits in plain sight and yet it’s strangely overlooked – as a matter of faulty perception, or a sort of fatigue, or a lack of hope.&nbsp;Integral in Einstein’s thought is the idea of living your life as if the wonder and amazement need to be honored, followed through. Either you see that all things are actually miraculous and it affects you deeply – and you change – or you don’t. We should be floored and flabbergasted at amazing things like our eyes, Jupiter, the beauty of a piece of music.&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">Either you see that all things are actually miraculous and it affects you deeply – and you change – or you don’t. We should be floored and flabbergasted at amazing things like our eyes, Jupiter, the beauty of a piece of music.&nbsp;</h5><hr>Yes, but then we should also be agitated, moved, inspired to act or change.&nbsp;What are we supposed to do with this endless roll of miracles? We’d like to believe big, but we don’t want to worry our family with constant exuberance and cosmic theories. Then we tend to lose the feeling when we’re wresting food out of the garbage disposal or doing taxes. Besides, many educated people, including many prominent scientists, seem to agree with option 1. Can they really all be wrong? Perhaps the reason we don’t feel it is because we don’t feel we can live it.&nbsp;The religions have their fingerprints all over this mix-up. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam all have presented miracles as special, rare moments. Supernatural power – involving human will – is supposed to be accessible only to the anointed and enlightened. From Krishna lifting mountains, to Jesus raising the dead, to the Prophet Mohammed quenching the thirst of armies, tales of healing and death-defying, told over and over, seem almost like advertising. Set into the concrete of scripture, they seem like photographs from which a very important context has been cropped out. Religions often present themselves as exclusive gateways to divine power, but then we are all bereft of God until maybe a miracle comes. It’s worth noting, too, that teachers like Jesus and Gautama were incredibly powerful and extraordinarily gifted, but the vibrational character of these teachers could not be written down.&nbsp;In the religion of modern secularism, the Big Bang and the first cellular life shine as great moments of awesome origin and wonder, but most people today believe that (after some possible divine huffing and puffing) matter and life have merely played out in fascinating, but nevertheless mechanical and predictable ways, ways, according to evolution. Just as in the other religions, something profoundly sacred and awe-inspiring became flattened as it was institutionalized, as theories and equations were put in textbooks, this new, even more inscrutable scripture.We’ve been led to believe that things like the gorgeous cycle of romantic love and sex and reproduction and birth – clearly miraculous and inherently sacred – are either sinful or trite, or just mechanisms owing themselves to evolutionary processes. If there is potential for a consciousness of the sacred, of the precious beauty of each moment, for most people it is drained or discharged. Just keep slogging along through this vast desert. Some miracle will come! Pray!<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/everything_option2_img_fd548e530a.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T05:45:10.421Z" alt="everything-option2">But look at your hands praying. Miracles. Your lips and your tongue as you speak. Your ears. Miracles. Devote your attention to any three year old playing for a few minutes. The universe is banging away as big as ever, pumping out endless gigatons of babies, birds, butterflies, flowers and sweet nectar, but we blithely opine that the moment is outside of creation, just being played like a recording.&nbsp;If there’s a height from which to experience the unity of things, a place where the self coincidentally dissolves, where a light of love enters us, most of our tools and partners and methods (Ayahuasca, holotropic breathing, heart attacks etc.) act like helicopters, taking us part way up, or even very close to the top. But even as we may be elevated, without an intelligible perception of the why of this fantastic unity, without a way to become anchored there, based in reason, we will tend to gravitate – slide, roll, crash, and stumble – back down, back to the humdrum ground state of the classic self.&nbsp;The crazy thing about the miracle-nature of all things is how tragically obvious it is; but we are incredulous to the obviousness. It can’t be, we say. That would be too easy. We should have to pay for it or read many books. It should be exclusive. Maybe it’s not.&nbsp;<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by MICHAEL RICHARDSON</h4><hr>

The everything option

<h4>MICHAEL H. RICHARDSON explores the idea of caring—both caring “about” and caring “for” people and things. He challenges us to look to the heart for the solutions to both our own personal issues and also the big questions facing humanity today.</h4>The word “care” is fascinatingly faceted. We can care about someone or something, and we can care for others and ourselves. One involves an internal world related to feeling, while the other is external and happens according to how we act. The internal system of care seems to be about letting something in us resonate freely. It’s a vulnerability. We might feel compelled to care about others because we intuit a vulnerability in them. But the outward act of caring-for requires work and, at times, risk. The body is a bridge between these two aspects of caring. This human caring body is like a key piece of infrastructure in our society that is under strain and needs repair.For a few years, in the early 2000s, I embarked on an effort to address climate change where I lived in Idaho. I started a small organization to educate the public about carbon, fire, electric vehicles, and such, and to pass legislation for incremental progress. We had wins, and a bit of progress was made, but certain assumptions I had made became like a shoal on which the project foundered, so I had to rethink the entire situation. I had assumed that people would or could care.We held an event at which five local scientists, all familiar with climate issues, addressed an audience of business leaders and legislators. Each of the experts (two fire scientists, two hydrologists, and a river and fish expert) had conveyed grave concerns to me about the future when we met privately, and cared deeply about the planet. The idea was that these scientists might have an impact on local policies and approaches, so I asked them to each prepare a 10-minute talk for lay people, to convey the urgency they had shared with me. The audience was made up of fifty policy makers, clergy, business leaders, and other thought leaders in Idaho. It wasn’t open to the public, and there were no media personnel present, so everyone could speak with complete candor.As the talks unfolded, I was flabbergasted. Four of the five presenters said little about climate change, and failed to share their concerns. One of them mainly promoted his laboratory. Amazingly, in a setting where their opinions might make a difference, they lost their sense of imperative. Just one of the five voiced her honest opinion about snowfall in the mountains, hence the viability of our ski industry, with some emotion in her voice. I felt like a cartoon animal who had stepped off a cliff edge, hovering in mid-air. These folks cared about the climate, but when it came to “caring for” in this setting, they confronted a block in themselves.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/heart_can_do_amazing2_852c785308.webp" alt="heart-can-do-amazing2.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_heart_can_do_amazing2_852c785308.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_heart_can_do_amazing2_852c785308.webp 472w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/heart_can_do_amazing2_852c785308.webp 472w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;In private, we can easily share the way we care “about,” but in public (and in Idaho if you’re a scientist discussing climate change),&nbsp;which is where we often care “for,” there is an entirely different dynamic. Caring “for” in the open depends on a kind of integration of inner and outer worlds and a freedom from fear. After this event, it struck me that problems like climate change need to be addressed at an entirely different level than we might presume.It can seem that the massive problems we face—climate, racism, human rights, disease, economic equality, etc.—are chiefly technical, political, and ecological. Apparently, if we can install enough solar and wind, get enough people vaccinated, restore enough rainforest, or educate people, it will solve things. If we can put the right people in office, it will lead to progress in other respects. Technologies and policies based on science feel approachable and rational.But material forms of progress are deceptive. While non-polluting technologies are critical, good policies are essential, and having thoughtful people in office is awesome, human problems have never persisted for lack of knowledge or technology. For decades we have known that gasses like CO2 and methane would damage the planet, but certain forces in society have scuttled collective action. For decades, we have had the resources and ability to feed every human, and to provide every child on the planet with a decent education. Yet, today we have over a billion children living in dire poverty.What we’re facing is not a technical crisis. To the degree that we have seen progress, it is because people have found a way to care. It has always been the openness of the human heart that limited and defined how policies and technologies were adopted.&nbsp; When it comes to the survival of our species, I’ve come to believe that our most critical long-term project and strategy must be the opening and healing of the human heart.What we call the “heart” can’t be addressed with policies and technologies. The heart is strengthened and clarified in relationships, and our relationship with nature—with other living things in ways that are nearly impossible to express.&nbsp;And there is another component to the heart that is less obvious: solitude and quiet. Wherever you go in our society today, there is music playing. As if no one can stand to be alone. Fewer and fewer places exist in darkness. We offer children no rite-of-passage involving solitude, as a chance to confront the natural universe free of pressures and norms. It’s only in solitude that we have the chance to locate the heart. Solitude leads to the integrity that lets us say things and do things that might be unpopular. But it is built on a foundation of love and support, too. Someone anchored in both love and solitude has the ability to care outwardly, to be vulnerable in the open.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">The heart is strengthened and clarified in relationships, and our relationship with nature—with other living things in ways that are nearly &nbsp;impossible to express.&nbsp;</h4><hr><figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/heart_can_do_amazing3_57e999a6e9.webp" alt="heart-can-do-amazing3.webp" srcset="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/thumbnail_heart_can_do_amazing3_57e999a6e9.webp 145w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/large_heart_can_do_amazing3_57e999a6e9.webp 800w,https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/heart_can_do_amazing3_57e999a6e9.webp 800w," sizes="100vw"></figure>&nbsp;As the heart is illuminated by an independent source, based on no conditions, life becomes profoundly pleasant, simple,&nbsp;and materially light. We require few things, and there is ample luxury in the presence of trees and birds, and other simple things like water and light.The energy of a free, open-hearted person—someone who is deeply acquainted with themselves—can be felt in their presence, but it does not convey itself well over video. What they have is intangible, invisible, and difficult to express. To someone raised in the standing wave of overwhelm that is our current society, the idea of such a state of being—free of desire yet caring deeply—feels either pointless or pie-in-the-sky.Our finest spiritual traditions understand the imperative&nbsp;to heal and purify heart, but religions have become operations involving what is written and tangible. And science operates only according to what can be proven. How comfortable are we speaking not from texts, and not from the results of repeated experiments, but from insight and wisdom we’ve gleaned in self-discovery, drawing from a resource that is inherent in nature, in simply being?It’s a fragile project. Perhaps it’s helpful to imagine an arc that lasts a thousand years. Certainly, healing ecosystems like the oceans and the Amazon will require that kind of timeframe. It is slow-going to change the world through direct acts of love. Progress plays out quietly and away from electronic media, and plays out in acts where no attention or reward is sought. When we talk about persevering in a challenging world, there is the physical necessity of survival, but true perseverance involves a heart that remains clear and compassionate toward all beings despite threat, injury, exhaustion, humiliation, disaster, failure, and violence, such that we have a way to resist violence in ourselves.The impacts of heart-centered thoughts, words, and actions—acts of caring rooted in caring—ripple far and quickly. Just as ecosystems recover quickly when given key support (I picture the re-introduction of beavers into river ecologies, restoring so many other creatures and systems), the effects of the heart have the potential to achieve amazing things with delightful swiftness.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL</h4><hr>

The heart can do amazing things

Michael has been involved in a number of Buddhist organizations over the years, has served as a Trustee of the Buddhist Hospice Trust been a Committee Member of the Lifestyle Movement, which is dedicated to simple, green living and was a Member of the Gandhi Foundation. A few years ago he spent two years living in a Franciscan Friary, engaging his time with meditation, walking, yoga and deepening his writing practice. He has spent the last 25 years teaching and supporting a variety of different groups, e.g. young offenders, young unemployed people, children at risk, children with special needs, adults with learning difficulties and adults with mental health needs.

Michael-Lewin.jpg

Michael Lewin

<h4>MICHAEL LEWIN shares his experience and idea on how to bring simplicity into daily life, through lifestyle changes and practices.</h4>My hut lies in the middle of a dense forest;&nbsp; Every year the green ivy grows longer.&nbsp; No news of the affairs of men,&nbsp; Only the occasional song of a woodcutter.&nbsp; The sun shines and I mend my robe;&nbsp; When the moon comes out I read Buddhist poems.&nbsp; I have nothing to report, my friends&nbsp; If you want to find the meaning, stop chasing after so&nbsp; many things.—Ryokan (1758 – 1831)Before you started reading this, what were you doing? Where was your mind attending? Were you concentrating on one particular task, fully focused, giving your best effort? Or were you mentally elsewhere, distracted by a stream of fragmented thoughts, totally unaware of your lack of mindfulness?If you are anything like me you are probably in the latter category, over-reaching and dissipating your energy, chasing after so many things.Our preoccupation with doing and achieving is an anxiety that largely accumulates from our exposure to fiercely competitive, economic environments, financially driven market cultures (now increased to global proportions) that constantly strive to maximize material production, performance and consumption at all costs. In the process of busying ourselves with all these activities we can be lost, away from looking deeper into life and from asking those questions that can lead us into enriched understanding, deeper awakening and true liberation.<h4>THE PATH CAN BEGIN THIS VERY MOMENT</h4>Life gets difficult when we try to meet so many expectations, often imposed on us by us. We overburden ourselves with multiple tasks and end up feeling guilty when we do not accomplish the desired results. Leading a better life, a simplified, saner life, means letting go of so much that preoccupies us unnecessarily. Letting go of that, which we know deep within us, is not essential to our true being.A new and spiritually enriched life that will take us off to deeper appreciation is only a choice away. So do we continue to cling to our acquisitive, materialistic values and allow ourselves to become over-stressed in a situation that is unsustainable for us, and for the planet, in the long term? Or do we follow the lead of Ryokan and try to simplify our existence to manageable proportions?<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/path_of_simlicity2_e861e01897.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T05:45:11.585Z"><h4>THE PATH CAN START HERE</h4>Once, a self-confessed over-worked, over-stressed friend of mine was late for an important meeting. He dashed to his car and headed towards his destination only to find heavy traffic congestion all along the route. He tried to take alternative shortcuts, but to no avail. There seemed to be traffic jams everywhere. At a crawling pace, getting very agitated, he suddenly and for no apparent reason made the decision that he was going to be late.I like that. He reframed his normal response of anxiety and denial and accepted the reality of a situation he couldn’t change. This marked his entry point into a whole new way of thinking, a whole new way of being in the world. His busy lifestyle of trying to juggle so many different things was in sharp focus like never before, and he knew he that he had to trim down his commitments in order to achieve more peace, contentment and easiness in his life. Soon thereafter he started to attend retreats and engage with the pragmatic teachings of Buddhism (Dharma).To reduce our burden of over-achieving, over-reaching and over-stretching we must start somewhere, like my friend. We need to simplify whatever we are doing. This decision then becomes our starting point, our entry into a new life. Instead of making adjustments to keep up with the runaway schedules, timetables, performance targets of a fierce economic culture, the latter may be scaled down and humanized to meet our real needs and desires.Our lives are precious, our time is precious – greater than the value of the Stock Market’s trading or the value of the FT Index.<h4>THE PATH CAN BE MY LIFE, MY LIFE CAN BE THE PATH</h4>We can travel a long way and do many different things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. It is born from letting go of what is unnecessary and knowing ourselves to always be at home.—Sharon Salzberg‘Being at home’ is what we should aim for. A space that allows us to rest mindfully in non-attachment. A space where contentment and deep happiness abide. A space that allows healing and restoration to take place.It seems that everything we touch today has now, now, now wired into it, and unless we challenge our mindsets we may just go on repeating the same old patterns of behavior. We do not have to be driven by turbulent thoughts, which tell us that we must be constantly doing; that rest is lazy and unproductive. On the contrary, rest can quite often be uniquely productive.Take nature for instance. During the dormant winter months an apple orchard is at rest, but within every tree, right down to its deepest roots, there is a promise of what is to come: the full fruits of its creative cycle. Without that rest there would be no apples to harvest. The latter is simply a product of the former, all expressed in the natural cycle of seasons.Rest nourishes growth.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/path_of_simlicity3_fa5fbb6fc0.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T05:46:21.747Z">he more we can quiet our mind of its restless and neurotic thoughts, the more we open up for a listening to take place. A listening so deep, so still, that we may never be the same again. In Buddhism this is known as yoniso manasikara, which means ‘wise attention’.Letting go creates space for letting in. Ryokan was very much aware of this. That’s why he dedicated his life to the pursuit of simplicity, in order to be able to somehow touch the truth of his existence. How else can we start to touch our truth in a world that provides so many materialistic distractions?Simplicity means living lightly, and this involves not only watching our consumption levels but also following Earth-friendly strategies for a more sustainable future. Then we can rest knowing that we have done all we can to make this world a better place. Living in harmony with the natural world, paying due respect to its universal gifts, is an imperative that we cannot afford to ignore anymore. And whilst we may not be able to influence global environmental policies, we can at least make certain that we are engaged and committed to doing what we can.The deeper we venture into simplicity, the deeper we experience a knowing that transcends the rationalistic surface thought that we readily accept as normal. Simplicity helps to focus clarity of vision and insightfulness, bringing us the realization that less is often more. And within this knowledge lies sacca, or truth.The mystery does not get clearer by repeating the question,&nbsp; Nor is it bought with going to amazing places.Until you’ve kept your eyes&nbsp; And your wanting still for fifty years,&nbsp; You don’t begin to cross over from confusion.—RumiJourney well. Journey into simplicity.Reprinted with permission from http://www.michaellewin.org/articles/simplicity/path-of-simplicity/<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by MICHAEL LEWIN</h4><hr>

The path of simplicity

<h4>MICHAEL LEWIN explores the expression of patience in Nature, and how easy it is to learn lessons from the natural world around us.</h4>Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of Zorba the Greek and The Last Temptation of Christ, once wrote about a chrysalis that he came across nestled in an olive tree. The infant butterfly, within its cocoon, was just starting to break through to greet a new life when Kazantzakis, anxious to shorten the natural process, breathed intensely on it. The butterfly eventually emerged, but because it was prematurely induced, its wings were insufficiently formed. Unable to take flight, the butterfly soon died. This intervention, in nature’s slow unfolding of a life, gave Kazantzakis a stirring lesson to reflect upon. If he had let nature take its own course, if he had been more mindful and patient, the small butterfly would have felt the expression of life through its wings, but because Kazantzakis impatiently intervened in a process that he did not fully understand, he had unintentionally denied this butterfly a life.Impatience seems to enter into all our lives. Sometimes it surfaces in a small act of unconscious intervention, such as Kazantzakis’; at other times it changes form into an explosive, blind rage, where people get physically and emotionally hurt. But in whatever way it finds expression, in whatever way it manifests itself, it’s all <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/life-lessons-from-a-dog-and-her-ball" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impatience</a>, it’s all about letting our frustration get the better of us.<hr>Responding to situations in a considered, reflective manner brings out the best in us, and reacting to situations in a hasty “let’s get it over with” approach invariably brings out the worst in us.<hr><h4>WHY HURRY?</h4>Impatience seems to be a growing modern malaise that we all have to contend with in our lives, either as perpetrators or recipients. I have often felt in myself, and seen in others, the welling up of irritation, annoyance and frustration that can change people’s personalities in an instant. The feeling of exasperation that keeps us away from being present in the moment, calm and attentive to the unfolding of life as it is, and not as we want it to be.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/patience2_7575a4a363.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T09:53:36.753Z" alt="">Responding to situations in a considered, reflective manner brings out the best in us, and reacting to situations in a hasty “let’s get it over with” approach invariably brings out the worst in us. Impatience rarely gets us the results we want. It just forces its way forward with an “I know best” attitude that tangles us up in irritation and disappointment.My impatience is something that I constantly work with in order to cultivate a more relaxed state of mind, a more relaxed state of being, where I’m fully attending, fully accepting of the present, fully engaged with the now. But it isn’t easy. Whether I’m waiting for the kettle to boil on the gas ring, or delayed in traffic congestion, if I’m preoccupied with the thought that I’m far too busy to be wasting time, that I should be elsewhere, then my <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/art-of-pausing-mindfulness-meditation-benefits" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impatience</a> is winning.Even when I’m writing, I can sometimes feel the company of impatience gnawing away in the background, pressurizing me to quickly form appropriate sentences and paragraphs, to move the writing along, to reach out for closure. But this rather forceful way of operating only stifles creative flow, which has its own rhythm to effectively deliver what is needed. My only obligation is to listen attentively to this rhythm, place myself within its presence, and patiently work along side it. I have to constantly remind myself that the writing is in charge, not me. All I really have to do is attend, with a concentrated but relaxed mind, and wait.Impatience can be a sign of something much deeper, not just a distracting mind that keeps us away from the present, but an anxious and sometimes neurotic one as well. Impatience cannot change anything for the better; it only makes us feel worse. It tries to rush us swiftly into the next moment without due regard for experiencing the present one.Giving up our sense of urgency and frustration – “I want it now” – is the road to relaxed awareness that can offer us so much in terms of appreciating what life, in all its infinite richness, can offer. On the contrary, quick fix, quick solutions, quick results, with no intervening incubation period for reflection, are increasingly gaining a strong foothold in our culture and closing down our potential for deeper, fuller possibilities.The Greek origin of the word <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/the-qualities-of-a-leader" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">patience</a> is pathos – suffering.<h4>THE SEASONALITY OF LIFE</h4><h4><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/patience3_43bc349fb9.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T09:55:11.020Z" alt=""></h4>I vividly recall, at the age of nine or ten, my class taking hyacinth bulbs to school on the instruction of our teacher. The bulbs were placed on the tops of narrow-necked glass jars, full of water, and then placed on a shelf. The class was told to wait until shoots started to appear. Days came and went, but there were no signs of any shoots. Boredom quickly set in as we waited and waited. Finally, when we all had started to really lose interest in this process of “looking and not seeing,” we suddenly started seeing.Slowly at first, but very much visible, were small, white tendrils growing out of the base of the bulbs, stretching out in order to reach the water. In time the tendrils grew so long that they curled around the base of the jars in loops. Top growth also came, giving birth to full, scented blossoms that make me heady even today as I continue to grow hyacinth bulbs.Through my experience at school I learnt a valuable lesson about patience and letting nature unfold in its own time. Much later I realized that the blooms of the hyacinths were in the bulbs all the time, just waiting to find expression.Spring comes and the grass grows by itself. —The ZenrinIn our technological, postmodernist world, where we even get agitated over the response time of the fastest computers, we run the risk of missing out on a valuable lesson about waiting. In the natural world there is no rushing. The sun never tells the moon to hurry up to complete its cycle, because it’s busy and needs extra time to do so many things. It just follows its natural path of slow awakening into the new morning according to the set laws of nature.Are we any different? It is in nature that we must look for guidance, not in technology. Aren’t we all sentient beings, flesh of nature, instead of printed circuit boards?<h4>PATIENCE FOR PEOPLE</h4>People may irritate and aggravate us, but how do we respond to those self-generated feelings? By allowing a sense of bitterness and anger to develop, we are the ones who really suffer. If we could accept with an attitude of equanimity, where we are prepared to offer a tolerant space for others (as we seem to make available for ourselves), we may avoid slipping into an entrapment of corrosive feelings that cause us untold damage, psychologically speaking.Perhaps we do not have such an all embracing, clear, informed perspective on things as we may think we do. Perhaps we are prone to misinterpreting situations and individuals. Perhaps we are, at times, too insensitive to other people’s feelings, too judgmental. Perhaps we need to relax more around certain issues.Opening up, and expanding an inner landscape on which we can accommodate the faults of others and our own faults, is important for our <a href="https://heartfulness.org/magazine/from-ego-to-soul" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spiritual growth</a>. But we do need to recognize where there are serious problems to overcome. Patience, per se, cannot heal them. It just provides the necessary space in which compassion and forgiveness can hopefully surface, so that the healing can take place.<hr>Opening up, and expanding an inner landscape on which we can accommodate the faults of others and our own faults, is important for our spiritual growth. But we do need to recognize where there are serious problems to overcome.<hr><h4>LISTENING</h4>On the road to developing patience for others, as well as ourselves, we automatically begin to awaken a listening within us that can uncover and reveal deeper truths. A listening that pays attention to not only what is said but also what is not said. A listening that absorbs verbal communication as well as non-verbal communication, into a deeper understanding. People then start feeling comfortable and relaxed with us, may be for the first time, because a ground has been prepared for them to be themselves. Too often we keep other individuals at a distance from ourselves, on the periphery of our lives, and consequently we deny ourselves the opportunity to know them better. And without fully engaging with others, without fully listening to them, how can we claim to be fully alive?Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to affect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen we offer sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. That which has been denied, unloved, devalued by themselves and others. That which is hidden. When you listen generously to people, they can hear the truth in themselves often for the first time. —Rachel Naomi Remen<h4>NO ACTION</h4>The pace of modern life can push us all over the place, insisting that agendas are prepared, decisions are made, actions are taken, and we may get lost amongst it all. We may get confused and frustrated about our responses.In these moments, never be afraid to pull back and wait a while, allowing an acceptance to form around the process of letting go. Good, well-understood decisions can never really flow from pressurized feelings, self-imposed or otherwise. It can only flourish when we are relaxed and reflective, drawing on our inner wisdom to arrive at the best judgments.Pavlovian, knee-jerk responses (which we all tend to make at times) run the risk of working against us, of bypassing our deeper thought processing, and throwing us into anxiety and regret. Waiting does not mean doing nothing. It means reflecting, relaxing and seeing what develops. Perhaps things can work out fine without our interference, without our intervention, if we make the decision not to make a decision!Do you have the patience to wait until the mud settles and the water is clear?Can you remain un-moving until the right action arises by itself? —Lao TzuPerhaps we should be patient and leave things alone. Learn from the lessons of nature, of which we are all an integral part, and let everything unfold as it should. Nature has its own time, but it’s not the time of ticking clocks and flashing digital readouts. It’s not the time of busy schedules and set agendas. It’s the time of seasonality, where everything has its own internal breath of life, which we have no right to influence or change because we haven’t the patience to stay present and wait.<hr>Perhaps we should be patient and leave things alone. Learn from the lessons of nature, of which we are all an integral part, and let everything unfold as it should. Nature has its own time, but it’s not the time of ticking clocks and flashing digital readouts.<hr>Patience is deeply embedded in nature, and we do need to honor this. If Kazantzakis had shown more patience, and not interfered with the natural cycle of life, there might have been 10,000 more butterflies flourishing in this world of ours. So next time that you feel called to respond in a given situation, think deeply about the possible outcomes that might develop, and act mindfully, act patiently, for all our sakes.Journey long. Journey well.Republished with permission from the author, whose blog is at <a href="http://www.michaellewin.org/articles/personalgrowth/patience-the-spiritual-path-to-personal-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.michaellewin.org/articles/personalgrowth/patience-the-spiritual-path-to-personal-growth/</a><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Article by MICHAEL LEWIN</h4><hr>

Patience: the spiritual path to personal growth

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<h4>
 MICHAEL LEWIN shares his own experience
 of the value of writing a journal, including embracing imagination, feeling,
 expansive thinking, creativity, spiritual growth, self-development and much
 more.
</h4>
<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Similar to other art forms, journal writing can only be perfected in actual
 practice and nowhere else. Through this process of sustained commitment to
 self-exploration and discovery, a process of discrimination and refinement
 slowly surfaces to aid our learning and take us forward into new territories
 of language development and expression – an adventure into the heart of our
 existence. This has certainly been my personal experience, making me leave
 behind a rather cold, fixed, rationalist, analytical shell to embrace an
 imaginative, expansive, psycho-spiritual mode of feeling and expression,
 which has brought my life so much richness.


 At times I have been so engaged with my writing, trekking into a wilderness
 of a previously unknown psychological life. It has involved learning,
 clarifying, refining, growing, and has allowed a self-forgetfulness to
 quietly and without warning descend upon me, dissolving momentarily all
 traces of the normal functioning of the ego-driven self to reveal an
 underlying spiritual presence. And in these moments of self-forgetfulness I
 realize that I’m in meditation.

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 <img
 alt="art-of-journal-writing2"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/art_of_journal_writing2_img_488f732564.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-10T06:26:09.805Z"
 />

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<h4>Suggestions for Journal Writing</h4>

 In order to access some of the depths within us for our journal writing to
 be authentic, real and true, we need to cultivate prolonged periods of
 stillness and silence. Avoid the busy-ness of normal, everyday routines that
 contribute to a deadening of creative energies. This is not always easy to
 manage, but it is essential.
 


 Rise earlier than normal in the mornings and, after meditation, go quietly
 to your place of writing and write. Do not edit at this stage or engage in
 any critical, judgmental attitudes towards your work. Record the previous
 day’s events, thoughts, feelings etc. without literary embellishments,
 unless the latter is what you are seeking and they come easily and naturally
 and are not too labored. Remember that later corrections are always
 possible. Avoid being too critical too soon, because time itself is the best
 editor.


 Pay attention to the minutiae of the life that surrounds you. What are they
 saying to you? How do they impact you? Try to understand them, describe
 them, search for the underlying values and truths, but never ignore them or
 you could be missing out on a vital dimension, a crucial lesson. Everything
 in your life is your life and is therefore worthy of your full
 attention.


 I am part of all 
 that I have met.


 —Alfred Lord Tennyson


 Our mind never stops; it is constantly enmeshed in a continuous process of
 thought creation. Therefore, should we not try and utilize this vast
 reservoir of power to expand our understanding of what constitutes
 significance, meaning and reality in our lived experiences, through the
 creative medium of exploratory writing? Try to absorb and assimilate, in a
 mindful way, everything you see, feel and touch for a future meeting at the
 keyboard. All our thoughts are possible future prose that could reveal
 hidden, imaginative, life affirming insight to sustain us.


 Although inevitably there is a chronological structure to journal writing,
 there is always scope to make detours, to follow interesting ideas and
 thoughts to see where they may lead, in case they can throw up some form of
 fresh view unrealized before. Journal writing is not a straightforward
 recording function, but a full and open canvas where many possibilities for
 looking, exploring and change exist. After sufficient engagement with this
 process the world may never seem the same again.


 The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of
 grass, 
 it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in
 itself.


 —Henry Miller


 Sometimes the writing goes well, and it seems to reach out to touch a
 hidden chord within us that resonates with such clarity. At other times, a
 possible moment of self-deepening is abandoned in the face of agitation,
 lack of concentration, impatience, doubt … But this is the very time to
 persevere, and in working this through we may come to realize another
 important facet of journal writing, namely, its therapeutic dimension.
 Writing can uncover what we are really doing within our lives and thus pave
 the way for our self-curative potential to develop.


 
 I am both changed and developed by writing, 
 and am changing and developing myself 
 and others in the process. 
 My emotional, intellectual and spiritual landscape is always on the
 move.


 —Nicki Jackowska


 Journal writing, the chronicling of events, appears to be a universal
 phenomenon in all world cultures. Whether we filter the story of our lives
 through the modern Word Processor or use the time-honored oral tradition of
 telling stories over a night’s campfire, it makes no real difference. They
 are both equally valid. Both fulfil a deep-seated need for human expression
 and validation.

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 <img
 alt="art-of-journal-writing3"
 class="w-100 lazyload"
 src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/art_of_journal_writing3_img_be7a598110.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-15T18:00:39.987Z"
 />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Working mindfully with words, crafting their potential fine beauty into
 shape, seeing if they dovetail together to give a coherent imaginative,
 accurate expression, a life, to your thought processes, is a fine and noble
 activity indeed.


 … And every phrase 
 And sentence that is right (where every word is at home, 
 Taking its place to support the others, 
 The word neither diffident nor ostentatious, 
 An easy commerce of the old and
 new, 
 The common word exact without vulgarity, 
 The formal word precise but not pedantic, 
 The complete consort dancing together) 
 Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning, 
 Every poem an epitaph …


 —T.S. Eliot


 Pursued over time, with commitment, the style, range and depth of journal
 writing may expand beyond all recognition, sparking off even more fresh
 thoughts and ideas for us to follow up in a self-reinforcing, creative act.
 Thus the journal becomes one vast repository of written material to be
 revisited, and sections can be independently reworked into more structured
 and coherent forms at later stages if required.


 Finally, as the journal develops and opens up, we may find that it also
 helps highlight, in a fundamental way, our literary, emotional and
 psycho-spiritual progress as we move through life, recording its experiences
 and our growing and changing responses to them. And the more we give to this
 process the greater will be its rewards, until in the fullness of engagement
 it brings deep understanding and clarity to our life hitherto
 unrealized.

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

 Excerpt edited and reprinted with permission from the author. 
 Read the full article at:
 <a
 href="http://www.michaellewin.org/articles/creative-writing/journal-writing-as-a-spiritual-practice/"
 >http://www.michaellewin.org/articles/creative-writing/journal-writing-as-a-spiritual-practice/</a
 >

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<h4 style="text-align: center">
 Article by MICHAEL LEWIN Illustrations by GAYATRI PACHPANDE
</h4>
<hr />

The art of journal writing

Doing nothing

Michael has been working internationally with sustainability in the business world for more than 20 years. He founded Sprout World in 2013, and was included in Worth Media’s Worthy 100 list in 2021 as one of 100 entrepreneurs who use their business for good.

Michael-Stausholm.jpg

Michael Stausholm

Michel De Montaigne

Nature's business

Michel is a French businessman, who is the founder and 40% owner of the DECATHLON Group, the world’s largest sporting goods retailer. He is married with four children, and lives in Lille, France. His wife, Marie-Claude Leclercq, is a psychotherapist, and represents the family on the council of the DECATHLON Foundation, which was founded in 2005.

Michel-Leclercq.jpg

Michel Leclercq

<h4>In this exclusive interview, MICHEL LECLERCQ, the founder of DECATHLON, speaks with CHRISTINE MOLLE. DECATHLON is the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, and has over 1,400 sports shops in 47 countries. Michel’s motto for DECATHLON is, “The pleasures and the benefits of sport for the greatest number.”</h4>Q: Bonjour Michel. What would you like to speak about today?ML:&nbsp;I am more a man of action than reflection. Sometimes I compare myself to Lucky Luke, because I tend to think after I act. But I also like the fact that the company has a vision. Vision feeds on past actions. I can recognize the meaning of my life by looking in the rear view mirror. So, what I see in the mirror of the past I project forward into new projects; I project myself. If a new project makes sense to me, it becomes an additional freedom. If it does not make sense to me, it becomes a constraint. I like to be a free man, so I like it when projects make sense to me. I also like it when the people with whom I am associated in these projects can be free; it is important that the majority of the people who are associated with any project share the meaning of the project. If they share the vision, then they share the “why” and they will be free to invent the “how.” I really like to reflect on how to support as many people as possible to find meaning in their life in their professional activities.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decathlon2_39667020fc.jpg" alt="">&nbsp;<hr><h5 style="text-align:center;">It is important that the majority of the people who are associated with any project share the meaning of the project. If they share the vision, then they share the “why” and they will be free to invent the “how.” I really like to reflect on how to support as many people as possible to find meaning in their life in their professional activities.</h5><hr>Q: What values have been important to you in your professional life?ML:&nbsp;For me sharing is important. The company must bring happiness to people, and for this it is important to share with my collaborators the meaning embodied in the products and in the organizations. The company must be empowering, liberating, as a result of sharing the meaning. And in this I assume the consequences of the decisions I make, and the collaborators too.A standing man is better than a lying man.My current conviction is management by meaning, by “why.” Before there was the leader, the referent now is the meaning. It is the embodied sense. If it is embodied by parents, teachers, or bosses, that’s fine, but management by managers is out of date. We have to manage by meaning, by why, not by how (how = money).<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decathlon1_694bc65756.jpg" alt="spreading-happiness">Q: You say that business must bring meaning and happiness to people. What do you mean by that? What is happiness for you?ML:&nbsp;Shared happiness is greatly amplified. Do not confuse pleasure with happiness. Pleasure is fleeting, more superficial. Happiness is a state that lasts.My definition of happiness is that I live better, and I act in line with the meaning of my life. At that moment I feel happy. While eating chocolate and drinking red wine I have fun, whereas feeling useful to others gives me a lot of happiness. It is what many people have told me in the workshops I have run on meaning in companies, with workers and students: 80 to 90% of the people I meet say they feel happy when they are useful to other people.If money and shareholder enrichment are the goals of the business, then the business will be built, it will be run, and it will be made up of mercenaries who will obey orders when they have an interest. If the company has a humanistic, generous sense, then the collaborators will have a mission, and then the business will be much more dynamic, creative, and empowering. It will deserve the trust of its users and its customers. And the results will be much better. So the capitalists will find themselves there.I am wary of saying this, because I risk attracting those cheats who use the search for the common good, ethics, ecology, etc. only to make more money for themselves. That would not be ideal, but it would still be better than using amoral methods like polluting the planet etc., even if the motivation is money.So I try to testify to this in the workshops that I run, within a framework known as “Happier People” that I created three years ago after retiring. This is the last business I have developed.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decathlon3_7be746822f.jpg" alt="">Q: In 1961, when you were 22 years old, you worked at Auchan as a butcher. You had stopped studying engineering. What was your motivation?ML:&nbsp;40 years ago, large-scale distribution started with the motivation of low prices to give purchasing power to the greatest number of people. It was the need of the time.I was recruited to Auchan in 1961. The meaning of the company was “to improve the quality of life of the working classes of workers in the factories of Roubaix.”My uncle Gérard was the President of Auchan, and his son Gérard was the general manager. They both visited very regularly and reminded us of the meaning of what we were doing: “Allow workers and the lower classes in the city of Roubaix to improve their quality of life.” My friends with whom I worked and I were very mobilized by this sentiment. I had a lot of autonomy and responsibilities because the meaning was very clear and I shared it.Q: In 1976 you opened your first Decathlon store. What led you to do that?ML:&nbsp;I had been fired! I was made redundant and I succeeded in transforming a difficulty into an opportunity. Suddenly, the second company in which I worked was DECATHLON. At first the meaning was not very explicit, and it had to unfold gradually as the business developed, to as to be able to bring it to life from a distance. And now the meaning is expressed in the phrase “Sport for everyone.” In French, we said: “The pleasures and the benefits of sport for the greatest number.”The success of DECATHLON is due to this shared sense which allows freedom and autonomy of direction. I do give direction, but from a distance to very autonomous people who know their profession, without micromanaging them: “To allow the pleasures and the benefits of sport for the greatest number,” without applying precise instructions. It gives our people a lot of autonomy and a lot of energy.When we have a strong sense of the company’s purpose, the rebound is much less difficult because we are not only focused on the “doing” but also on the “why.” If we have difficulties, if we get stuck in the “how,” we find energy through the “why,” which is much more permanent than the how: Why? For whom?The process of asking why is sometimes difficult, while it is easy to answer, “For whom?” For example, people in internships answer, “So that my children, my wife, and my friends are happy.” This makes it easier to answer this question “why?”<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decathlon4_5fa6985fc0.jpg" alt="">Q: In 1986 you started to design and produce DECATHLON sporting goods. What was your motivation?ML:&nbsp;It was a strategy, a “how,” but it was still important. I didn’t conceptualize it until afterwards. I’m thinking about it even more right now, because there are struggling companies that are performing worse than before – companies that have lost their soul a little in my opinion. I think money has become far too important in these businesses.DECATHLON is revived by the “why” conveyed by the products – the meaning is conveyed by the products. Products that are our own brand, designed by us, under responsible subcontracting, convey a why which is specific to the company; they convey a sense of the company.And it irrigates the whole business like blood. The hormones in my blood irrigate my whole body – my heart, my brain, my energy. The blood of the company are our products. It travels throughout, from the reception docks to the shipping docks to the checkout counters in our stores.Employees who handle cigarettes will not have the same mindset as employees who put soccer balls on shelves, because cigarettes are harmful whereas soccer balls are beneficial products. As a result, our employees have more sustainable energy, to manufacture, to transport, to present on the shelves, and to dispatch to the warehouse, because they are working with soccer balls and not cigarettes. This is what I try to testify about in the workshops about “Happier people.”Q: What do you think is most important in today’s world?ML:&nbsp;I don’t want to talk about the world today, as my responsibility is these companies and those who work in the companies. I have ideas about the world today, but I don’t have the expertise to talk about it.I hope that, by my action, DECATHLON has a beneficial influence on those who work there and on the environment, its customers, and shareholders.If the collaborators, the customers, the users of the products, the environment, the citizens who are around the sites of establishment are winners, the company will have excellent results and the shareholders in turn will be winners. My belief is that shareholders should come last, not first, otherwise it’s called a financialized company and, in the long run, it doesn’t interest employees to work there.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decathlon5_6b9a506fba.jpg" alt="">Q: What have been your inner resources? How have you kept your balance?ML:&nbsp;The etymology of motivation comes from same root as motor, or action. I’m someone in action – not for myself, but for others. I like to help others. For example, I am a heterodidact – I learn from others rather than being self-taught.Q: What vision do you have for the future of companies facing the challenges of global warming?ML:&nbsp;At DECATHLON, sustainability and global warming have a huge influence on the employees I meet. For example, spraying of cotton causes pollution, uses a lot of water etc. There is a collective consciousness that is being created. Global warming will also have positive consequences, depending on the country. We look at what is happening, and the opportunities for rebound. We look to difficulty as a source of progress. We are working on it intensively.Q: What place does family have in your life?ML:&nbsp;100%, everything. These various aspects of a person’s life are not added, they have a multiplying effect. A person who is happy in their personal life will also be happy in their professional life and vice versa. There’s no opposition. You shouldn’t sacrifice one for the other.<img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decathlon6_2eeaa00ca8.jpg" alt="">Q: You are 80 years old and you have started a new business, a training center. Can you tell us your motivation?ML:&nbsp;It is a training center so that more people can be happier.It’s a direction, not a target, not a goal. Happiness is not quantifiable. How to find the meaning of life in our professional activities? Shared happiness is amplified. Pleasure is different from happiness. Pleasure is more fleeting, more superficial. Happiness lasts. I invented a definition that suits me: “I live better, I act in line with the meaning of my life, so I feel happy.”Q: What would you say to young people today?ML:&nbsp;To try to make your environment and their friends happier. May all the people around you be happy.Q: What words of wisdom would you like to share?ML:&nbsp;I’m not a sage, that’s not my thing. I can just say that money should not be the goal of any business. What seems important to me is love – love for the other. It’s always been the way of the world. What’s important does not change. It is acting for the good of the other, not just wishing for it.Q: Thank you for your openness and for this moment of sharing.<hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Interviewed by CHRISTINE MOLLE</h4><hr>

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