I Dare You, I Curiously Dare You

Dawne Gee of WAVE3 Country asked me in a recent interview, “do you believe that people really wake up with the intent to be compassionate?”  That was a question I was not expecting.  During the following week, I reflected upon her query and asked that question to others.  What did I discover?  Most believed that we aren’t aware enough to focus our intent each morning.

Well, maybe I am an optimist, but I don’t believe that people wake up pondering what harm they can perpetrate either.  While it may be true that few set their intent to be compassionate, most wake up in neutral.  In this place there is no setting of intent to alleviate suffering or to cause harm.  They are simply on autopilot.  Moving out of autopilot and into awareness provides opportunities for compassionate respond.

So, perhaps the key to living in a more compassionate world is to ask one simple question each morning.  That question is “What do I want for my day?”  Then sit with the energy of the answer.  Allow it to permeate your being and become an integral part of who you are.  This intent will point the direction that your path takes on that day.

Perhaps you will put the answer on a Post-it Note and stick it somewhere you will easily see it.  Or, maybe you will create a simple mantra you can repeat throughout the day.  You might discover yet another way you can embed your intent into your awareness.  This isn’t about a compassion formula; it is about discovering what words best for you.

The how and why of your intent isn’t as important as bringing your intent into your awareness.  And, maybe, just maybe, with your intent firmly in the forefront of your awareness, you will make choices that radically change your world.

Forming intent, like other aspects of compassion, isn’t easy.  But, it can and does move you into an incredible way of being.  My challenge to you is that for 21 mornings you set your intent.  Notice what happens on those 21 days.  See how you more in to a more compassionate self and into a more compassionate life.

I dare you, I curiously dare you, to form the bridge of your intent and action

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com 

Engaging the Kua; Being in the Moment

Most of us live with one foot firmly set in the past, mired in the mud of old worries and regrets, while the toes on the other foot are stretching tentatively toward the future. So, the weight of our life rests on the tips of our fear- filled toes! Then both of our arms and hands are stretched out to snatch our elusive dreams. Seldom do we recognize that we are out of balance when we expend our energy on past regrets and future concerns. Little energy is left for us to engage our awareness in the present moment. Because we are unaligned, we miss opportunities to use our daring curiosity to capture life’s real possibilities.

Engaging Our Kua: The first pillar, Being Present, invites us to place both our feet in the present moment – literally and figuratively.  With the correct posture, we can relax in balanced alignment.  This alignment is what some know as the kua, the resting pose of Tai Chi. When we
are in the kua stance, both feet are firmly placed on the ground and our knees are slightly bent and our butt tucked in.  Pressure is taken off the small of our back, and our weight is evenly distributed.  We connect with our center of balance located just below our belly button and midway between our hips.  As we practice the physical stance
of the kua, we experience better alignment between our body, mind, heart, and spirit.

This posture physically supports our first pillar, Being Present.  The kua posture, and the mind-body connection it supports, fosters self-awareness and being present in the moment.  It therefore helps us to share compassion.  We are always poised for action!

Being Present.  Choosing to remain balanced in the now, while acknowledging illusions that upset our balance, alleviates much of the stress in our lives.  Practicing the kua reminds us of the balance we must maintain to be present.  With this balance, our intent is compassion-focused and our resulting actions are compassionate.

Staying balanced in the present moment requires patience and practice.  As our thoughts shift from the past or the future and we begin to focus only on the present, we may feel some strain, pain, or anxiety percolating within us.  If we maintain our present focus and balance, we may become aware of what is bothering us, whether it is a feeling related to a past situation or our hope for the future.  Only with practice can we remain poised in the here and now.  When we are present, we discover more easily how to respond to our internal feelings in loving, gentle ways. Instead of wallowing in angst producing emotions, we are able to acknowledge and release them compassionately.  Being mindful allows us to engage in practices that alleviate the angst, fears, and regrets swirling in our being.  With practice the kua becomes second nature, and we respond from this place of balance.

Here’s to being in the kua!

Vanessa

Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action, p 50-51

For more on being in the moment or information on purchasing the book: www.intentandaction.com

Intuition as a Guide for Transformation

Intuition…what exactly is it?  For me, intuition is an inexplicable knowing; a nudge that won’t let go until I act upon it.  At other times it wafts in and out of my conscious teasing me to respond.  When I unconditionally embrace my intuition, I more easily navigate my challenges and discover creative possibilities.

An intuitive conversation is simply a dialogue between two people in which intuition serves as a guide.

Before beginning a conversation, I spend a few moments in silence connecting with my quiet mind.  My intent is to be open to the wisdom sparked by my intuition.  This time of gaining clarity begins in one of two ways: with questions from my client or with intuitive cues gained by resting in my quiet mind (the place of intuition).

During the dialogue, I engage in full body listening.  This is a way of being attentive using my entire being.  I enter a state of hyperawareness in which all of my senses are actively engaged as I listen with my eyes and ears.  I am mindful of how my body is responding to the other as well as noticing with my other senses.  While I respond to what is verbally said, I also acknowledge unspoken impressions my intuition is surfacing.

What I will do:

• listen to my intuition to help you gain clarity
• scan your energy body looking for strengths, congestions, or other areas of interest
• share my perceptions of symbols in your life
• suggest ways to reframe your life and move into a new way of being
• talk with you to ensure you understand what my intuition has revealed

What I will not do:

• integrate cards or other external tools in my readings
• diagnose medical conditions

Why schedule an intuitive conversation? It is a means of bringing clarity and greater understanding to your life.  A conversation may reveal new insights, help you resolve a life challenge, or reframe a current life event.  During the conversation together we peel back the ordinary and mundane in your life, so you may stand fully in an extraordinary way of being.  The intuitive conversation is a guide to transformation. 

Questions?  Sessions are available in person or over the phone. Ready to schedule a session?  Let me know!

Peace & All Good, Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

The Tough Love of Compassion

Sharing compassion becomes trickier when we attempt to alleviate suffering while not enabling bad behavior or becoming codependent.  It takes skill to navigate an obstacle filled path in ways that move beyond the surface to deeply eradicate suffering at the root.  It is possible through awareness and courage.

While a compassionate action is often spontaneous, at times we must formulate our response through reflection and introspection.  We choose to be aware of the situation and need our courage to act in ways incorporate the tough love of compassion.   Recognizing that our actions may not have immediate results, we realize that, over a period of time, the other will move through the dark tunnel into the light of compassion. 

At a recent talk, one of the audience members recounted a story of a woman who was hired in an upper management position.  Instead of confronting her about her substance abuse issues, they practiced what they felt was compassion toward her when her job performance suffering.  Several months into her employment, the woman, intoxicated while driving, struck a cyclist.  He asked me to comment on this way of being compassionate.

The tough love of compassion requires that we don’t ignore another person’s bad behavior.  Instead, in the most loving, gentle ways we alleviate suffering.  Sometimes this means broaching difficult situations that may trigger anger and fear in another.  Compassion asks us to be a companion as the other purges his/her demons.  This compassionate action requires a heart felt, honest, methodical approach.

Compassion isn’t easy, but it is necessary.  We plunge deeply into the well of our being to gather our compassion resources.  Buoyed by our compassion reserves our intent flows into the stream of our action.  We alleviate suffering in ways that bring balance. 

Always with Compassion, Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

Seven Guides for a Compassionate Life

In my book, Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action, I share the importance I place on the Seven Gifts of the Spirit:

Once we learn about the gifts and our actions begin to reflect them, we are better able to discern whether our intent is sincere and actions are compassionate.  Not all of our intent is pure or our actions helpful. Through the seven gifts, we gain a contemplative perspective, which may be different than our current one.  When the two perspectives and the resulting actions differ, we have a choice: we can continue the hurtful behavior or we can trust the Spirit to guide us to a place of compassionate response.  As we make this choice, we may be guided by one gift in particular or several gifts at the same time.  It is through contemplation that we intuitively know which gifts we are called to use and how we can optimally incorporate the gifts into our lives.  (p. 78)

The Gifts of the Spirit are knowledge, understanding, wisdom, courage, right judgment, reverence, and wonder & awe.  Throughout the day I may question if I am missing a key piece of knowledge that will bring me to greater understanding.  Perhaps I need the courage to manifest my wisdom into right judgment.  When I see beyond the veil of the mundane and peer deeply into the extraordinary, my response is reverent and filled with wonder and awe.  Only when I live in awareness do these gifts invite me to take small steps across of the bridge of my compassionate being.

How are you being invited to cross that bridge?

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com

The Alchemy of Intuition

Image courtesy of Suvro Datta/freedigitalphotos.net

Magic is the art of changing consciousness at will.  This quote by Starhawk is an apt description of listening to our intuition.  When we accept an intuitive nudge, we change our consciousness and our world view.  We become intuitive alchemists committed to finding the extraordinary in the mundane.

When we see beyond the surface, the world becomes more than just routine.  Intuition manifests as we willingly suspend judgments and assumptions.  All of our senses come vibrantly alive.  We further nudge the door of the alchemical intuitive open.  Create an environment that is more conducive to intuition by:

• Setting a timer for 90 second
• Closing your eyes and focusing on your breathing
• Attending to your breathing…don’t try to shift it
• Resting in the quiet while being aware of the many sensations bombarding you while not reacting to them
• Noticing what you are called to notice 
• After 90 seconds, opening your eyes without expectation
• Allowing your attention to be drawn. What do you notice? What do your eyes light upon? What do you hear? Smell? Taste? Feel? 
• Noticing the message that is no longer hidden by life’s distractions

In this intuitive space you may

• Be reminded to call a friend
• Take a different route to your destination
• Feel compelled to engage in a certain activity
• Receive a message that manifests in many ways

How do you know if you have followed your intuition? Well, many times you do not. Intuition is a funny thing.  Often when we respond, we have no way of knowing why.  But, when we do not respond to intuition, we often realize why.  Many years ago I investigated child abuse and neglect.  One morning when I was out making home visits, a voice told me it was time to go home and work on reports.  I told myself I had one more visit to make and then I would go home.  I ignored the voice of intuition and was involved in a three-car accident.  When I think about intuition, I return to that moment when I didn’t listen.  And, now many years later, I find it easier to respond to the nudges instead of denying or ignoring them. 

May you listen to those nudges in every moment! 

Vanessa

www.intentandaction.com