I came across the lovely reminder recently that ‘allowing is a dimension of kindness’.
Allowing takes a great deal of courage and practice. It also goes against the grain of conditioning to block out or rid ourselves of difficult emotions. It can very feel hard to allow what’s here to be here – particularly if it’s fear, frustration, doubt, sadness – but gently keep going and it becomes more possible to give all feelings space and compassion. They are all valid and all necessary. We also come to see that no feeling is final. Allowing is not the same as passive resignation. It doesn’t mean you like what’s here or that you are not going to take appropriate steps to change something. But allowing is a precursor to wise choices and action – opening to what’s here without judgement helps you see it more clearly and to bring understanding and kindness to your situation. Allowing is one of the foundational attitudes we practice when we practice mindfulness. Allowing is a dimension of kindness.
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Your Soft Heart
You are still the child who gently places fallen baby birds back in their nests. You are still the soft soul that gets your heart broken over cruel words and awful acts when you watch the news. You are still the gentle heart who once tried to heal a flower by trying to stick it's petals back when ignorant feet trampled it. That is why you are important. That is why you will always be needed. Kindness is the greatest endangered thing. And here you are, existing, with your heart so full with it. ~ Nikita Gill Photo of poppy by Sergei Shmigelskii from Pexels “Our state of mind and the state of the world are intimately related” – Alex Evans
This was a fascinating session from Compassion in Politics last week – wide ranging and hopeful – and available as a podcast. Alex Evans of the Collective Psychology Project shared thoughts on why we are where we are, how we can heal from polarisation fuelled by today's politics and social media and rebuild a sense of the 'larger us' . Alex spoke of three important themes including conscious self-awareness, which he described as the unlocking ‘X factor’. “The rise of the modern self-help movement – full of rich learning and innovation – has made people’s lives much better but is not always anchored in saving the world as well as saving ourselves. At the same time, activism set off in a different direction, furious about all sorts of injustices, but not routed in inner practice. So activists are prone to burnout, and to chronically othering their political opponents. What’s fascinating about this moment is that these two rivers that flowed apart in the late 60s may now be coming back together. This gives me much hope” https://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/show/compinpolitics/id/16597463?fbclid=IwAR34NspgHPAlNjia8vAyenVafFviNKquGuaQKqC0KrgYSdVIwIZ3krLyQ9A |
AuthorI'm Claire - and I (re)learn something every day from practising and teaching mindfulness... Archives
March 2022
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