How Much Do You Notice?

Often we go through our day not seeing what is around us.  It is there, but we just don't see and notice it.  We're too busy in our minds to stop and observe.

I see it every day with people.  The birds chirping outside.  The trees swaying from the breeze.  The sun shining down and giving us warmth.  The clouds forming different shapes in the sky.  All of these things are around us, but we're too busy to notice.

We get on our phones and we're walking down the street texting away, but oblivious to anything else going on.  Our thumbs and neck muscles work harder than our minds.

We get on social media and we comment, share, and like everything about the latest "news storm" of the day, yet we don't fully engage.  We don't notice the bigger picture of what is around us.  We are so microscopically focused on only the rants and raves of the day.

So darn disconnected from it all...

We get in our cars and we turn on the radio, but we never stop to truly notice things around us.  There may be someone that needs some help, or a homeless person that has lost their way.  There may be other things going on around us, but we're just so darn disconnected from it all.  We don't notice.

There is so much going on and if we don't take time to stop and observe it, we are really robbing ourselves of the human experience.  We're not meant to stare at our phones constantly or go from one busy task to another.

Meant to find balance...

We are meant to find balance in our lives as humans.  One of the ways to do this is by stopping and observing what is going on in the world around us.

Most of the latest news rants and political firestorms are nothing but ego, fear, and greed competing for dominance.  They are not as critical to life's sustenance as we think they are.

An experiment...

Try and experiment if you will.  Time yourself if it helps for you to do this little experiment.  Take one minute when you step out the door of your house to notice one thing.  Maybe what you will notice is a bird, a flower or a tree.  Maybe it is the blue sky or the clouds.  Maybe it is a sound.  Whatever it is, just take one minute to notice it.

 

Then on the way home from work, stop and take one minute to notice one thing before getting into your car.  See how it makes you feel.  See if you can breathe into it.

Just stop and ask, listen, and connect.

I've got a feeling one minute will go by very quickly.  More than likely it will change your view and perspective for the day.  More than likely, you'll let go of some of the stress of the day and refocus and center yourself.

You'll most likely find the balance that human body so badly needs, especially in these days of nonstop destruction of our time and attention.

So, go ahead.. try the experiment.  Comment below with what you found.  I'm anxious to hear it.

---

Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

---

Your Issues Don't Belong To Me

I’m an extremely sensitive. I pick up so much in others and people all around me including plants, buildings, the collective consciousness and energy of the world, etc. I pick it up and I do it in a very intense way. It doesn’t shut off unless I put up walls and hide myself from the world.

So what I’m learning is to identify what issues are my stuff and what issues don’t belong to me. If I feel triggered by them, I’m starting to look at them and see what it is that I need to learn in my life or what opportunity is being presented to me. Triggers aren't fun, but if we allow them the opportunity, they can teach us great things about our life.

I’m just trying not to take all these things that I pick up on and hold them in my mind, body, and spirit or in my energy field. I’m recognizing them for who owns them and giving them back to whoever they belong to. I'm learning to release and let them go, rather than holding them as tight and endearing as a teddy bear. It isn’t always easy but as a wise healer told me recently – if you can do it 51% of the time – you’re on the right path and if you can do it 100% of the time – write the book to teach everyone else.

Connect With Joy And Gratitude

I find it is so easy to want a more fulfilling life, than despair about all the problems I face.  It is like I want to connect with joy and gratitude in life, but I forget how to do this.  Maybe I sabotage myself into the thought patterns of the past, believing I cannot do this, but who am I fooling?

Once again I remind myself that I can strengthen my life just by connecting with joy and gratitude in my heart.  As I remind myself of all that there is, I only need to stop and feel how these things replicate in my heart.  It is through the connection that we experience them in some very powerful ways.

All I need to do, is just stop and feel my heart.  As I take my hand and place it over my heart, I begin to think about things in my life that make me feel full of gratitude and joy.  When I do this, I begin to feel a warmth inside my heart.  I feel the smile that connects to it, and the sense of peace that covers me in this moment.

It is easy to forget to connect with joy and gratitude.  The busy seconds of our day or the difficult moments we experience, can often knock us off from realizing we have forgotten this.  It is in those moments that we really need to sync up with the gratitude and joy in our heart.  As we do this, we will find a power and a strength much greater than ourselves, that will push us forward.

Consciously Connect With My Body

Recently I received a question from a reader of my blog.  That question was essentially,  "How Do I Consciously Connect With My Body".  Although I would never share what I receive in email, I felt that the response I wrote to the person was ideal for this blog.  I do honor and respect any email that is sent to me, but the information in the response is meaningful to anyone reading this blog.

The blog post in reference for this question was "Tense Muscles - Symptoms Of Stress, Part 1" that was published on April 28, 2010.  While there is more to the email than what I am referencing out of respect for the privacy of this person, the basic premise of "how do I consciously connect with my body" is the most important point of this blog post.  The following words are my response and I hope you find them helpful as well. 

 My Response:

A couple of great books I have read on this subject include Peter Levine’s “Waking The Tiger” and Dr Joe Dispenza’s “Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself”.

While there is a lot we can do on our own, sometimes it requires that we seek out the healing hands of someone who is grounded and understands the conscious connection of our mind and body.  All too often, we try to connect through our conscious mind and when we do that (as Dr. Joe Dispenza writes in his book), we are still running the programs of fear and other emotions in our mind.  You might compare it to trying to change the oil in a car while driving down the interstate.  Of course, we might see that as silly, but in many ways, we do that with our body.

Consciously Connecting With Our Authentic Self

Consciously Connecting
With Others In This World

Do you ever go through your day thinking about how we treat others? Do you ever stop and consider just how you come across to all those you meet? If everyone stopped to consider that in a day, I'm betting we could change the world very quickly. Yet, we as a collective society tend to act as if nothing else matters and we are the only ones that exist in the world.

Our days of course are filled with demands upon our time, more stress than we should endure and all kind of challenges we face in our bodies. We have schedules that dictate we run at top speed from an early hour of the morning while we shuttle our children from one place to the next. We rush into work hoping to not be late so we can accomplish that report the boss needs by 9 am.

By the time, we're at the end of our day, all too often we are anything but kind and conscious to our fellow humans. Sometimes we can manage to put on a good demeanor and a happy face, but that is about it and it isn't authentic. We're just looking forward to some time sitting in front of the TV, resting our weary body and brain.

Our Body Is Numb To Life And Pain

To often in life, we don't truly feel the pain.  Yes, we have back pain, neck pain, shoulder or leg pain, but we don't truly feel the connection to our body. This may sound confusing and like it is contradicting.  Our body is numb to life and to pain. We often go through life stuffing our feelings and pain within us, rather than connecting with all of it.

It isn't easy to feel the pain.  It can be a challenge, but I will guarantee you that the more you stuff it down, the more it will harm you in physical ways you cannot even see in this moment.  You might think you can get away with it and you might think you've won over it, but in all reality, it is hiding and lurking below the surface.

Pain, trauma, stress and difficult moments of our life have an energy.  If this energy is allowed to find a residence within our body, it will create a crippling effect in our tissues.  Our cells and tissues are not meant to be storage places for the pain.  They are meant to release the pain and difficult moments.  It is biologically built into our body.

Breathe, Connect And Find Peace

Breathe, Connect And Find Peace
In This Moment

Just today in this moment, I will stop and focus my life. I will rise above all that I deal with in my life. I will let go of the stress and worry in my life, the uncertainty, the anger and despair. I will just breathe, connect and find peace for this moment.

Today in this moment, I will stop and take time out of my busy schedule to appreciate all that is around me. I will watch the birds play and fly from high wire to high wire, tree to tree. I will watch a squirrel run up a tree and a duck swim like there is no tomorrow. As I take in all that is around me, I will just breathe, connect, and find peace in this moment.

Conscious Of Shaping Your Body

You Are The Answer
Michael Tamura

One of the quotes that I love from the book, You Are The Answer by Michael Tamura, is on page 42.  It is a quote that says so much about our consciousness and awareness of our role within our body.  It wasn't until a few years ago when I began my intense healing work with Dr. Paul Canali, that I began to understand what this means.

To many of us humans or maybe a majority, go through life with no or very little connection to the body.  The mind body connection is a buzzword that is thrown around without very little understanding.  Many in the modern day new age movement give lip service to this concept while hiding from their true and authentic selves in the fears of the mind and body.

On page 42, Michael Tamura (You Are The Answer) writes:
As you become more conscious of shaping your immortal body, you will come to know that every part, every organ, indeed every cell of your physical body reflects a divine ideal, experience and meaning.  It is the dynamic aspect of God - what Christians call the Holy Spirit - that incarnates as each cell and forms the template for our immortal body.

Our Journey Is Part Of Our Path

No matter what happens, there is a resilient spirit in people that if allowed to shine, will show through. Humans have the capacity to overcome all odds, all fears and really evolve and blossom into all that is meant to be.

Many people have been through some very difficult extraordinary events in their life that could quite easily take them under. In fact, for many, it has taken them under. But also for many, they have triumphed. It was never easy for them nor did it happen over night, but they found a way through the darkest of moments to travel their path forward.

In the end, everyone realizes that these events, no matter how horrible they might have been, are part of their path. It is a path that allows us to unfold, evolve and find our place in this life as we allow our life to touch the life of others.

Our existence here on this planet called earth, is how we connect with each other and the role we play. Each one of us has a different role, a different path. We must live our own life and our own path, never ceasing to uncover and discover all the pebbles along the way. May we all rise to the occasion and may we all encourage those around us to do the same, through love and understanding.



Blog Post & Images (c) 3/11/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Listening To The Universe

How much do we miss in our day? It is most likely much more than any one of us want to admit. The messages are there but in our culture and society, we've been well trained to just go on in our daily life and sort of ignore them. It is like getting a cell phone call, and then dropping the call. The universe is then saying to us, can you hear me now?

While there may be some very gifted people that are meant to connect with the universe in a special way, I believe that anyone can do this. I believe we all can get messages if we are open to them and allow them to come in. All too often, we close our lives off through fear and shutting down that stream of information we so long for.

Isn't it amazing that there is no shortage of people in this world asking questions of what they should do in life. The questions include finances, abundance, relationships, jobs, careers and purpose in their lives. They often seek out others to tell them what they should be doing in life. While others may help them discover some of their truths, they often give their power up to those people. At the same time, they fail to connect with their own internal message stream.

Things like not trusting one's self, fear and past experience can muffle the message or block it out all together. Staying so busy in our lives or chasing the wrong rainbow gives us little opportunity to connect. Having low self confidence, leaves us doubting all that we experience, wondering if we are trusting a thief in the night or a good Samaritan. Past trauma and even current day stress can distort all that we view and pick up in our days even with the best of intentions.

This information is so valuable to us. It shows up through heart tugs, feelings of ease or difficulty, abundance or lack, body pain and illness and many other ways. How we feel in our lives is the prompt to evaluate our direction. If we attempt to hide from the things we need to face, can we expect a good outcome for our daily lives?

Yes, often we are not sure what the next step is. I have been at the point of being physically paralyzed from a conversion disorder and quite literally did not know how to take the next step. I had to trust that the physical therapist and doctors knew how to help me. I had to have the courage and determination to keep trying no matter how tough it got, to function once again. I had to allow myself to focus in the moment, and on my body, so that I could recover. Sometimes we do not know what to do, but inaction or doing nothing will get us no further than we are in the moment.

It all starts with quieting our minds, connecting to our bodies and allowing ourselves to open up and listen. Acknowledge the fears so that you are able to let them go. Let the energy of the fears and pain, help motivate the change instead of allowing it to pull you under. Spend time regularly allowing yourself to stop, rest and be open. Allow yourself the opportunity to listen. Give yourself the permission.

Then, just observe what thoughts, patterns or yearnings you notice. See what thoughts pop into your mind and prompt you to take action. See how different events make you feel and move towards the ones you are passionate about. Let yourself be in the moment, giving yourself the permission to just open up and listen and connect with all that you are.


*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog