Just love! Sounds easy, right?
But it's not always so. At least not for me. We have a lifetime of emotional habits to erode away to be able to be present in love all throughout the day.
Nevertheless, take heart! We can change our habits. Practice does make perfect!
So it helps to have a simple practice in our bag of tricks to help us be love now whatever arises around us. If you feel like love is lacking in your life, this is the perfect practice for you.
Sunday Reflection: I Am Loving Awareness
For this week's reflection, I've chosen a quote from Be Love Now, The Path of the Heart by Ram Dass, which explains the simple practice of "I am loving awareness." I appreciate this practice in particular because it marries the recognition of our pure awareness with its natural manifestation of love and compassion.
Instead of identifying with our transitory thoughts and emotions, in this practice you are softly cognizant of our pure awareness and love. You identify with the awareness of the thoughts instead of the thoughts. You just let the thoughts and emotions glide by like clouds passing in the sky and rest in loving awareness.
"I have a practice in which I say to myself, I am loving awareness. To begin with I focus my attention in the middle of my chest, on the heart-mind. I may take a few deep breaths into my diaphragm to help me identify with it. I breathe in love and breathe out love. I watch all the thoughts that create the stuff of my mind, and I love everything, love everything I can be aware of. I just love, just love, just love."
"It's simple. I start with the fact that I'm aware, and then I love everything. But that's all in the mind, that's a thought, and loving awareness is not a thought. Or if it's a thought, it's pointing to a place that's not a thought. It's pointing at a state of being the way the concept of emptiness is pointing at emptiness, which is really fullness." - Be Love Now, The Path of the Heart by Ram Dass
You can practice in a brief session at home each day to establish the practice. If time is a challenge for you, just begin with 5 minutes a day and slowly expand your practice.
Then you can carry the practice with you wherever we go and simply call it to mind throughout the day. Whenever untoward situations and difficult emotions arise - like impatience, anger, frustration, intolerance, judgment - you can counter them with this simple practice of loving awareness.
Isn't it funny that we spend so much time on exercising to strengthen muscles, but we sometimes forget the most important muscle of all - our heart! With this simple practice, we can make our heart our strongest suit.
Do you have any thoughts to share about reflecting upon and practicing, "I am loving awareness?"
Thank you for your presence, I know your time is precious! Don’t forget to sign up for Wild Arisings, my twice-monthly letters from the heart filled with insights, inspiration, and ideas to help you connect with and live from your truest self.
You might also like to check out my Self-Care Shop. May you be happy, well, and safe – always. With love, Sandra