Being in the Moment for that Moment

Close your eyes. Breath. Feel the flow move into  your lungs and through your body. Each gust of breath moves you deeper into your self. Maybe you feel a letting go, a relaxation. Perhaps you are energized. Or, maybe you are nonattached to the breath’s flow. However you experience your breath, when you are aware of it, you are in the moment for that moment. 

Being in the moment for that moment is our life quest. Sometimes we do it better than other times. We’ve all had those days when we set our intent to be our best authentic self. Instead of showing up that way, we get triggered by the littlest and biggest things. Cast out of the moment, we despair that we will ever find our way home.

Then there are the other days when being nonattached to the world around us is effortless. We are in the flow of our breath and connect to the world with our compassionate response. We can hear our inner wisdom as it wafts up on the exhale and dives deeply with each inhale. We see the hooks that reach out to snag us and deftly avoid their piercing. 

How can we live the latter instead of the former? By developing a contemplative practice. When we spend even 90 seconds in a mindful activity, we retrain our body, mind, emotions, and spirit to crave a connection to our inner wisdom. And, in strengthening this connection, we not only become more intuitive, but we live in ways that transform more than our self — we plant seeds of change in others and the world. 

How can you develop a contemplative practice? Start where you are! Even if you feel you cannot devote 30 minutes at one time, perhaps you can schedule 30 total minutes over the course of the day. Suggestions:

• 5-15 minutes in the morning powers your intent for the day and calms your spirit for the day
• 5-10 minutes midday reconnects you to the calm
• 5-15 minutes in the evening quiets the tumult of the day and prepares you for relaxed sleep. 

What does a contemplative practice look like? My practice includes:

• In the morning I lay quietly and breathe into the day as I wait for my alarm to sound. As an alternative, I might also journal to begin the day.
• Midday I may go for a brief walk, focus on my breathing, or do some simple Tai Chi or Qi Gong.
• In the evening, I may journal, walk, sit quietly as I decompress.

There are no rules as to what you do during this time. What matters is connecting to your core and seeding peace. In time, even in the most tumultuous circumstances, you will find your way back home.   

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Intuitive Coach, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa  (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, keynotes, programs, and intuitive consultations.

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Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2019

Compassion Speaks: The Practical Contemplative

Contemplative and practical are two  words that don’t quite seem to fit together. A contemplative spends time in solitude praying, right? Well, not always. The contemplative brings that quiet reflection into whatever she* is doing. so, you may be in the presence of a contemplative and not even realize it. 

A practical contemplative reflects her relationship with the sacred in her thoughts, words, and actions. While her contemplative spirit may not always be reflected in her words and actions, she is aware of how thoughts, emotions, and patterns trip her up. Instead of being mired in deep despair when she falls into traps of reaction, she retreats into reflection and introspection determined to learn; and, in doing so, shifts from reactionary into response. 

Compassion speaks through the practical contemplative. For although she has cultivated a reflective/introspective way of being; like all of us, she sometimes flips out of the moment into the real where anything can happen and usually does. The practical contemplative knows that this falling out of the moment is inevitable. She is pragmatic about her less than stellar, reactive moments. To her, they signs to stop and regroup. They are learning moments.

In those falling from moments, and when she returns to mindful moments, she submerses herself in self compassion. This balm not so much heals her imperfections but gives her the courage to blow upon the embers of her being relighting the spark of her authenticity.

There are two compassionate aspects to being a practical contemplative. One stems from he compassionate realization that she is imperfect. She perceives her imperfections not as failures but as vehicles for transformation. The second aspect reflects in her ability to share compassion in its many forms with others. The practical contemplative is strong enough to hear the wisdom voice of compassion and act upon it. 

Practical. Contemplative. Two words that when combined invite us to be our best self as we sail through the world of uncertainties on our boat of imperfections. Join me on the sea!

*Please note: practical contemplatives can be any gender — I am just using feminine pronouns! 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Intuitive Coach, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa  (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, keynotes, programs, and intuitive consultations.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / 

Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2019

Compassion: Power to Truth

Sometimes truth beats so strongly deep in our soul that, even if it defies logic, we believe it. This truth is so compelling that we cannot ignore it; we must compassionately act upon it.

Have you ever felt a truth so fierce that you knew it was accurate but had no way to prove it? What did you do?

It takes courage to act upon a truth so fierce that it dares us to navigate the waters of uncertainty and curiously hold strong to the power of truth regardless of what others would say. Power to truth requires that we stay the course while not harming or hurting others. Power to truth asks that our responses resonate from our authentic self. 

Have you ever wondered why truth is so difficult for some to accept? Why some, maybe even you and me at times, fight against it? Perhaps you remember a time when you, or someone else, loudly proclaimed that the truth was a lie and a lie was the truth. A google search turns up many articles of why we are more likely to believe a lie over the truth. 

Have you ever wondered why someone is vilified for speaking a truth that exposes a lie? If you ask me, I’d say that it is about herd mentality. This following along with the crowd is based upon the fear of being ostracized. We would no longer belong if we saw through the illusion of the lie and acted upon the truth hidden within.

There are lies so powerful that the collective is unwilling to disturb the status quo by confronting them. We can point to the big lies — those at a national or international level where leaders twist their words into whatever is the alternative version of the truth in that moment but, in reality, is a lie no matter what moment. I suggest that we go deeper into our every day lives to discover the lies embedded within our lived experience. We uncover those lies by practicing compassion as we live power to our truth. 

We have all experience those little lies. Here are two examples:

• A situation at work that everyone sees, but no one in management is willing to acknowledge or address. When it is brought to attention of leadership and a resolution is requested, the issue’s existence is denied or the truth sayer is gaslighted.
• Problems in a relationship that speak to incompatibility are recognized. When attempting to speak truth to the concerns, barriers to resolution are erected. Again, lies prevail and the truth sayer is gaslighted. 

When either of these situation occur, or something else, we have two choices. We can deny what we know is true or we can live in the power of our truth. While ignoring the lie is in the short term easier, it allows the lie to fester. Unchecked, it grows into an unmanageable monster. The latter choice is a much more difficult one. With that choice, we respond from our authentic core not only believing the truth but also having trust and confidence in our self. The energy behind the lie dissipates.

Within each truth is the voice of our intuition. When we accept the power of truth, we open our self to the many ways that intuition serves as our life navigator. As the intuitive messages we receive are verified — because they will be — we know clearly, that we are not mad in an uncertain world. No, we fully feel the power of truth and know that when we believe it, truth’s power manifests in ways that matter. We act upon truth, and our authentic self manifests in ways that matter. 

Wishing you the power of your truth! 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Intuitive Coach, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa  (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, keynotes, programs, and intuitive consultations.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / 

Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2019

Nurturing Our Compassionate Heart

Our compassionate heart is nurtured by our intent  and our action. Both are equally important to our compassionate spirit. Of course, life interferes; we get busy. The connection between our intent and action becomes blurred. In life’s whirlwind, we miss or ignore opportunities to share compassion. While our heart may be willing, our actions do not mirror our compassionate intent. What can we do? 

Through conscious awareness, we lay a foundation on which the connection between our intent and action strengthens. We start by practicing awareness and letting our compassionate heart expand into the world. We envision a bridge between our intent and action. 

The image of a bridge is sometimes used as a metaphor for the spiritual life. Bridges are built across great spans; we may not even be able to see one side from the other. We trust that the bridge we cross is secure although we seldom think about the bridge’s structure. Of course, each of its parts serves a specific purpose and contributes to the safety and integrity of the bridge. The bridge’s substructure includes a foundation and pilings or pillars. On that sturdy base, a deck is laid and cables are strung. All of the bridge’s parts, when built with integrity, ensure a safe journey. 

Similarly, our compassionate nature is strengthened within the foundation of consciousness where we form our intentions. By adopting a foundational consciousness built upon certain principles, our life begins to reflect our authentic being. These principles are to cause no harm, to alleviate suffering, and to take life as it is. The foundational consciousness we create is a sturdy base resting upon several pillars. As we nurture our consciousness, the pillars grow deep roots into this awareness. Our conscious intent triggers action through the pillars. 

Through ever deepening awareness, we engage our role as a sharer of compassion with our self, our families, co-workers, and members of our local, national, and global communities. This foundational consciousness, supported by the life pillars, forms the base of our bridge of compassion. As we cross the bridge, we live intentionally and begin to transform not only our self but also the world around us. 

Excerpt from Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action by Vanessa F. Hurst. Available at www.wildefyrpress.com. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Intuitive Coach, who uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for transformation. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Contact Vanessa  (vanessa@intentandaction.com) for life coaching, keynotes, programs, and intuitive consultations.

Website / LinkedIn Profile / Facebook / Twitter: @fyrserpent / ©2019