Centering, Circles and Spirals
When we can connect with our inner selves and quiet our minds, this enables us to connect with the loved ones and community members around us. Peace (and conflict) begin internally. Peace is a practice that requires patience, slowing down, deep listening and compassion. When we feel peaceful, happy and content, we are the richest people in the world.I feel blessed to have encountered the formal practices of hatha yoga, meditation and mindfulness relatively early in life and to have had the time, energy and motivation to implement them into my daily life, as both formal and informal practices. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that yoga, meditation and mindfulness have literally saved my life by enabling me to connect with my inner silence, my voice, my breath and body and my Spirit-ed soul.Last summer, I read Self Design: Unfolding Our Infinite Wisdom Within by Brett Cameron. Major paradigm shift. It is the story of a new way of learning, one prompted by the learner. It has much to do with mandalas and spirals of development. Its core message is common sense yet revolutionary.This summer, I am rereading it and thinking practically about how I'm going to implement many Self-Design inspired ideas and concepts in my non-classroom in our new non-school starting in less than two weeks. I like to think of it as a learning experiment. As we embark on this new adventure, I hold space for wonder, openness and curiosity and continually ask the question, what is an enlightening education?
I wonder what is going to happen this year? I wonder what we are going to learn? Of course, there is nothing that we 'have to' learn, nothing we 'have to' do. I wonder what we are going to create this year on our journey of lifelong discovery. ~Brett Cameron
Currently, I am also reading another amazing book called Sacred Ego: Making Peace with Ourselves and Our World which quite magically and perfectly landed in my lap recently, thank to the author reaching out and offering me a free copy! Her name is Jalaja Bonheim and I have a feeling we are destined to meet someday. I'm feeling the subtle process of another significant paradigm shift even as I read. Stay tuned for a complete review of her wonderful book in the next month or two.Who is in your inner circle? How do you get centered and connect to a sense of inner peace and silence within? What do you wonder about? What are you passionate about? What would you like to be learning?