Making a Difference by Beginning Differently

Hitting the snooze button once, twice — oh my!  Will I ever manage to get out of bed?  Just how late will I be?  Usually when I start my day like this, I spend the rest of my time playing catch up. And, I don’t want to even think about how I handle those blips in the day.

What if the day began differently?  Instead of hitting the snooze button or during those precious minutes between alarms, I began to intentionally breathe into the day.  What if each breath I took was filled with the light and grace of compassion?

Try beginning you day with a simple practice: Lie in bed, sit, or stand…the posture isn’t as important as the experience.  Focus on the in and out of your breathing.  As you inhale, visualize that you are filling your personal bubble with air.  It inflates a bit more with each inhale.

Visualize compassion rushing into the bubble with each breath.  This compassion-filled energy gently blows on the ember of your compassionate essence.  Feel the warmth permeate and energize your permeable bubble.  Become an invitation to share and receive compassion. Intend that any hurt or harm or suffering that comes your way during the day is transmuted into love and compassionately returned to the other.
Now stand.  Allow your body to loosen, arms at your sides, palms facing back.  Inhale as you bring your arms level to your shoulders.  As your arms move upward, affirm, “I draw from the earth.”  When your arms have reached shoulder level, lock your elbows into a 90 degree angle.
Begin the exhale: palms facing outward, gently push your arms to straighten while affirming: “I give to all of creation.”  Arms will be straight, palm facing down.

On the inhale: allow your hands to move gentle upward over your head, finger tips pointing up, palms facing each other. Affirm, “I receive my inspiration from above.”

As you exhale: allow your hands to glide back into the resting position at your sides.
This is a simple way of setting your intent that takes less than five minutes each morning but can make all the difference to your day.

Making a difference one compassionate act at a time,

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

The Convoluted Road to Compassion

My book Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action is based upon the premise that suffering exists and we as humans feel compelled to alleviate that suffering.  We get busy and miss opportunities to be compassionate.  Right?  Well, in part.

Over the past seven months I have facilitated Compassion Conversations and discovered a more convoluted road to Compassion.  While it is true that we are busy and miss opportunities to share, a multitude of other reasons exist as to why we aren’t compassionate.  Some people don’t set their intent to be compassionate.  Others honestly told me that, at times, they are too selfish to be compassionate to others.  According to another group of people, there exists a group of people who just don’t deserve compassion.

Initially the barriers that prevent us from being compassionate surprised me.  Then abashedly upon reflection, I discovered some of those same reasons in me.  Returning to my original thought — we get busy and life gets in the way, I realize that that pesky thing called “life getting in the way” is in reality “us getting in the way of Compassion’s Spirit.”  We get in the way our authentic self — our connection to Compassion.

How do we get out of the way of Compassion’s Spirit?  It is an ongoing struggle.  I mentally list the many reasons I don’t need to be compassionate when someone has hurt me or when I am judging another for their actions.  I am mired in my own suffering until I stop, take a breath, and ask myself one simple question, “What part of this is compassionate?”

Sometimes that question is enough to push me out of my own hurt and frustration.  If not, I ask myself another question, “How would you want someone to respond to you?”  That question usually opens the floodgate and compassion rushes out. 

Regardless of the reasons that hinder Compassion’s Spirit in each of us, I still believe that at the core of our being is a bright spark of compassion.  But, life has a way of packing dirt around it and obscuring the twinkle.  The light doesn’t go out; it is still there masked by all that grunge.  

Only when we finally power through the illusion that compassion is a reward, do we find that no matter how much grunge, our spark of compassion is not diminished.  Rather, it is waiting patiently for the moment that we wake up and realize that compassion is bigger and bolder than our smaller self.

Showering Sparkley’s of Compassion’s Spirit,

Vanessa Hurst

www.intentandaction.com

An Anonymous Sharing of Compassion

Look deeply the eyes of another or deeply into a mirror image of your eyes.  What do you see?  Compassion, love, laughter, joy — the eyes sparkle with these feelings. The eyes are the windows to our souls, they reflect of what lies in the very core of our being. Through our eyes flows the light of the Sacred. This iridescent shimmer of grace reaches out to mingle and weave with the divine shining from the souls of others.

Over time I have become aware of the light flowing from the eyes of others.  The joy, love, and compassion reaches out to gently caressed my wounded soul.  On more than one occasion, I saw the other shift perceptibly as s/he met my gaze.  A voice whispered, “they see the same in you — the joy, the love, the compassion.”  Those were moments of profound connection; we acknowledged each another as sojourners in this earthly life.

These exchanges remind me of beaming, an energy technique. The intent of beaming is to share healing grace with another.

To beam, allow your eyes to soften and relax you body.  With each breath release tension and envision your being filling with joy, compassion, and love — the components of healing grace.  Envision your gaze being like the gentle touch of a mother as she lovingly hugs her child. When you are feeling warm and full of love and light and joy, train your gaze on another.  Surround the other in a delicate energy embrace.  Allow your love and compassion to flow through and out of your eyes.  You don’t need to say a word.  After several moments or when you feel the time is right to release your visual hug, look away and release your energetic connection.

Beaming is a means of sharing grace with the others; a way of showing respect; an avenue to providing loving support.  Beaming invites the other, friend or stranger, into your circle if but for a brief moment in time. Beaming is a silent Namaste in which you honor the other.

Wishing you the pleasure of anonymous compassion!

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

An Open Ear + An Embracing Heart =

A Compassionate Presence

When I was in my mid-twenties I had a “aha moment” during a phone conversation.  What began as a rambling dialogue with pressured, staccato speech evened out.  The person with whom I was speaking calmed down.  It wasn’t that I had said anything in particular.  Just by listening I provided a quiet space for the angst behind her words to calm.

It was so simple.  She spoke, we rested in moments of silence, and I responded.  Reflecting upon this conversation, I am not sure I gave her much more than connection — but what a connection!  The flare of my divine spark ignited and lit up her darkness.  How could she, or I, be alone in a place filled with the sparkleys of connected compassion?  Maybe I couldn’t change her circumstances, but I could share with her in a moment that threatened to overwhelm her.  I could help create a space of unconditional love, hope, and compassion.

Fast forward two decades plus.  I often joke that I have this invisible tattoo on my forehead. It says “TMI is never enough.”  It doesn’t matter where I am — sitting in a coffee shop, standing in line at the grocery, attending an informal gathering — people want to share.  They want to be heard.  Tattoo aside; my ears open, my heart expands, and I respond compassion.

A not-so-little thing is this listening to another.  It is, perhaps, the greatest act of compassion you may share in any moment.  We may never know the impact that a listening ear, an expanded heart, a compassionate response has on another, but we can rest in the knowledge that it has a profound impact on our self. 

Just for today, in this moment, be aware of opportunities to open your self to another.  Listen with the ears of your heart.  Be mindful of how this shifts your response to the world around you and how the responses of the world shift toward you.

Opening, Embracing, and Responding,

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

Gifts and Tools for the Way of Compassion

The Seven Gifts of the Spirit (found in Isaiah 11:2) create a powerful pathway that leads us to the Way of Compassion.  These gifts are beyond religious tradition. 

Intent & Action: Meditating on the Seven Gifts

By gaining knowledge and intending to learn from it, I grow in understanding

By seeking to understand before being understood, I gain wisdom

By accepting the challenge of wisdom, I formulate right judgment

By making right judgment,

I embrace the courage to be authentic

By acting with courage,

I show reverence to myself and all the world

By intending reverence, compassion shines through all am I am filled with the wonder and awe of the Sacred.

The wonder and awe of the Sacred continually inspires me.

How do you incorporate these gifts/skills/tools into your path so that you are more firmly rooted in the Way of Compassion?

Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action, pg. 92

Peace & All Good,

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com