How to Sync Up Your Mind, Body and Heart
Wake Up and…Stop?
The alarm goes off, our eyes open, and our brain starts going. What’s on my agenda for today, we wonder. With stress mounting, we reach for our smartphone. The notification light is flashing: text messages, emails, reminders… There’s so much to do! We power up and hop out of bed, hit the shower, drink our coffee, and get busy. In just twelve “short” hours, we’ll be able to wind down on the couch with some piece of our technology.
Plugging In, But Not With Ourselves
Already our heart is racing, our senses are on full alert, and we are prepared to seize the day by the collar. We’ve checked our messages, the weather, the news reports, the day’s to-do-list, and the gas tank, and although we may feel a little anxious, we seem satisfied that we’ve got it all covered.
But actually, deep inside we know we don’t. We have forgotten to check in on the most important aspect of our day: ourselves. We have connected our phone to the car charger, but we have forgotten to connect ourselves to our inner source of patience, gratitude, confidence, and peace. We’ve synced up all our Bluetooth devices, but we haven’t synced up our mind, body, and heart.
So how do we make this crucial connection to better prepare ourselves to greet the day with the confidence that we can handle anything that comes our way and with the inner knowledge that nothing can shake us off our higher ground? It truly is a simple, doable process: Instead of “wake up and go,” we wake up and stop. Literally . .
Wake Up and Stop
The alarm goes off, our eyes open, and we feel gratitude for the new day. The worries of the world can wait a bit, as we rise from our bed with an intention to meditate—to sit with ourselves—before engaging the outside world. We take care of the few things, like brushing our teeth or walking the dog, and then we go to our quiet space and close our eyes. For those few precious minutes we sit with ourselves to be with our breath without any judgments or expectations.
A Guide for Opening & Connecting
Learn the art of mindfulness and loving kindness — the foundations for living with an open heart — in The Yogi’s Heart, a guide for opening and connecting. For it is only when you approach life from a place of openness can you embody connectedness with all things.
Do This Every Morning
In our quiet space, a room, a corner, on a cushion or on the floor, we sit with the intention of “spending time with ourselves,” away from the external world. We choose a meditation practice. We may begin to say our mantra, pay attention to our breath, repeat inspirational passages. Any of these can become the object of our meditation that we can bring our mind back to when it wanders or becomes engaged in thought. We let our thoughts come and go, but when the mind starts to engage a thought we gently bring our focus back to the object we have chosen. This is our practice of being with ourselves, of calming the mind, as we go within to access our inner wisdom, our inner voice, of guidance, strength and love.
In doing this every morning we bring our mind, body, and heart into alignment—so that all parts of us are on the same page when we go about our day. We get a deep sense of how we are feeling that particular day which allows us to make adjustments where necessary. Through this process of checking in with ourselves, we are better able to recognize the many opportunities we will have in the day ahead to be the most magnificent version of ourselves that we can be.
When our meditation is over, we then move on to our “to-do” list from a calmer, less impatient, and more peaceful place—simply because we have taken a few moments to stop, even before we begin.
About the Author
Experiencing Consciousness Through Mindfulness
Have you ever had a moment where you felt a heightened sense of awareness in which you could tune into your environment and people around you; allowing you to perceive things you wouldn’t normally? Or have you ever experienced becoming aware in a dream in which you were then able to start making decisions within the dream world (lucid dreaming)? What about a moment of love and compassion where you could actually feel what another person or animal was going through almost as if you were them?
These kinds of experiences offer us a glimpse into a profound way of being and perceiving reality that we each carry within, and that we can learn to use to bring about a more conscious, connected, and spiritual way of living that is literally just waiting for us to shift into whenever we choose.
Coming into the present moment
You may have noticed that a heightened sense of awareness is always accompanied by our perception coming fully into the present moment. It can feel a bit like switching on a light in a darkened room or focusing the lens of a camera—all of a sudden it’s like the world around us comes into view and clarity.
By coming into the awareness of the moment in whatever we’re doing, we perceive from our consciousness rather than the subconscious; which manifests as dreams and daydreams in which we lose perception of what’s happening around us and are drawn into the self-created images of our own thoughts and emotions. And because consciousness is the eternal, spiritual part of us, not only can we see physical stuff more clearly, but we can also perceive things that are non-physical too.
“…end the sleep which weighs heavily upon you. Depart from the forgetfulness which fills you with darkness… O soul, persistent one, be sober and shake off your drunkenness… Light the light within you.”
The Teachings of Silvanus from the ancient Gnostic Nag Hammadi Library, translated by Malcolm L. Peel and Jan Zandee
Taking control of the wheel
Although consciousness tends to get neglected—usually remaining submerged in a continuous stream of thoughts and daydreams, and forgotten amidst the concerns of everyday life—like a muscle, when we exercise it, it gets stronger and we can feel clearer, more “present,” and “truer” to who we are.
Coming into the present moment can feel like something we have to put down whatever we’re doing to experience, but being more conscious doesn’t mean we stop acting, thinking or feeling. Instead, like a driver taking control of the wheel, it means we are able to be more conscious of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and therefore more discerning with those we choose to have.
Expanded Consciousness is the point we ultimately develop spiritually from, as it’s the eternal part of us—deeper than our intellect, knowledge of facts, or personal talents, it’s the part of us that journeys through eternity and that’s why in many spiritual traditions it is the focus of their disciplines and exercises.
“Intellectual knowledge exists in and of the brain. Because the brain is part of the body, which must one day expire, this collection of facts, however large and impressive, will expire as well. Insight, however, is a function of the spirit. Because your spirit follows you through cycle after cycle of life, death, and rebirth, you have the opportunity of cultivating insight in an ongoing fashion. Refined over time, insight becomes pure, constant, and unwavering. This is the beginning of immortality.”
Lao-Tzu in the Hua Hu Ching, translated by Brian Walker
Activating consciousness
Consciousness is something we can experience anywhere anytime. Here’s a little exercise that anyone can try, no matter what they are doing.
For example, if you’re reading as you are now, you can begin by just becoming aware of reading these words. Start then to become aware of your own breathing, and of your body sitting in the chair. Next, become aware of the various sounds you can hear around you. Look around and perceive the light and colours of the things you can see, any people, animals and interactions, the objects and sense of space. Just consciously perceive what’s around you without labeling. See if you can spend a few moments doing this.
Notice how thoughts start to appear. They could be about this article, or about what someone said. Just become aware of them. Observe the state you feel—perhaps a slight tension in your stomach, or a feeling of agitation. Notice how these feelings can cause you to move in a certain way, like jiggling your legs or clenching your muscles. Don’t become distracted by them, just perceive them.
Consciousness is that which is doing the perceiving—and can be directed both inwardly and outwardly. Notice that you can perceive without thinking—that you can perceive just by seeing.
Consciousness – beyond body and mind
Simply by trying this one exercise we can experience consciousness and observe how there is something within us that is beyond thoughts and feelings, and even beyond the mind. Going further, consciousness can even be experienced as being beyond the body in near-death and out-of-body experiences.
If you try this exercise a few more times, you will begin notice that there’s a permanent observer—one that is essentially always there, and always the same, whilst the different thoughts and feelings change from one moment to the next. If you recall a memory of when you were a child for example, you’ll feel that what was fundamentally having that experience then, is what is experiencing this moment now.
The potential to develop consciousness
Many different peoples throughout time discovered the inherent potential each of us has to develop our consciousness. They termed the outcome of this development enlightenment, awakening, self-realization, etc. Using their developed consciousness, they built sacred sites, created masterpieces of art and music, and explored the mysteries of life and the universe, all of which remain a timeless testament to human spiritual potential. We too have this potential, which is why spiritual truths remain timeless and just as relevant now as they were thousands of years ago.
Consciousness is what connects us all to the spiritual source, to each other, to all forms of life, to other planes of existence, and throughout time into eternity. Therefore by experiencing and developing it we can perceive, connect with, and partake in the greater spiritual reality and majesty of all that is—something truly wonderful to be alive for and to experience.
