Integrating Our Spirit and Humanness
Who are we? According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, we are dual beings, both human (Prakriti) and spiritual (Parusha). Our thoughts, feelings, quirks, habits, and limits are all part of the human experience. Equally true is that, at our core, we are spiritual expressions of the Divine. And everyday the challenge is to integrate the two and live aligned with our higher self. But before integrating our Spirit and humanness, we must first look at the parts.
Let’s start with our thoughts. Whether they are positive and motivating, anxious and worried, fearful regarding the future, or painful regarding the past, our thoughts can make a positive or negative impact on us physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The Sanskrit word for the chattering of the mind is chitta vritti. Patanjali explains it as the lower mind that operates at the whim of the ego, and whose purpose is usually survival. Our perception and judgements are based on our experiences. This is why many people can be present for the same event and report totally different stories on what they observed. Or why siblings, who grow up in the same household, view their childhood differently. And why people with opposing political views believe their side is right. We perceive the world through the blurred glass of our experiences. It’s OUR truth, not necessarily THE truth.
Next, we’ll look at our feelings. This may be shocking to you, but our feelings follow our thoughts. They are the alarms that let us know all is right in our world or something is up and needs to be handled. When we aren’t aware of the connection between our thoughts and our feelings, we may place the responsibility for our emotions on someone or something. And when we do practice mindfulness, we first check in with ourselves to find the root of our emotions.
It is critical to our well-being that we don’t dwell in or ignore our thoughts and emotions. When we identify with either or both, they become the verbalizations or stories we tell ourselves about who we are and how life is. And so follows the pattern of our behavior.
This information is for educational and informational purposes only and solely as a self-help tool for your own use. I am not providing medical, psychological, or nutrition therapy advice. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting your own medical practitioner. Always seek the advice of your own medical practitioner and/or mental health provider about your specific health situation.
Being in the present moment brings us back to the truth of who we really are and to what is right now. Our Practice helps us access the deep place within us that knows, has answers, and is connected to Spirit/God/Universe. When we operate from our higher self, we can learn to respond to both happy moments and challenges, instead of giving into the familiar cycle of thinking, feeling, then reacting. It’s so easy to recognize when you’re reacting instead of responding in a challenging situation. Someone does something you don’t like and you choose to react by confronting them with harsh words, violence, or no response at all. You’re operating from your sympathetic nervous system - fight, flight or freeze. When we are responding, we are operating from our parasympathetic/ventral nervous system - rest and digest. From this space we offer ourselves support BEFORE responding.
Let me introduce you to the I.A.M.M.E. Practice:
Identify: pause and notice your thoughts and feelings
Accept: without judgment, accept what IS right at this moment (not that you agree with what is happening, but that you can say yes, this is truly happening right now.)
Mindfully Meditate: take some deep breaths, feel into your body. Allow yourself to move from the seat of the one who experiences (human) to the one who is witnessing (spiritual). From there, take an honest inventory of what the offense brings up for you.
AND/OR
Mindfully Move: if the emotion is too intense, movement linked to your breath will move that energy through your body
Experience presence: continue to bring your attention to your breath and do no- thing
This process can be carried out in 3 minutes or 3 hours.
Whatever you need!
Then you can move forward with clarity and decide how you can best support yourself in this situation, including:
having a conversation with the other person
Eating or sleeping before responding
Extending yourself and that other person some compassion
We can apply this same process when responding to a happy experience.
Identify: pause and notice your thoughts and feelings
Accept: accept what IS right at this moment
Mindfully Meditate: Take some deep breaths and feel deeply into that the joy and then take inventory of what this feeling does for your life
AND/OR Mindfully Move: if the emotion is intense, move in celebration…. DANCE!!
Experience presence: express gratitude to Spirit/God/Universe, continue to dance, give yourself a big hug, stand in some grass and catch a breeze through your hair
As you move forward, decide on how you will relish this moment
Celebrate yourself or the event
Add it to your gratitude journal
Offer a gift or expression of love to yourself or the other person
Practicing the present moment in times of happiness reinforces how content and joyful we are, makes us receptive to more and gives us hope in the midst of difficult experiences. Merely reacting to happy situations may cause us to continually strive for something or someone outside of ourselves to make us feel happy, satisfied, valued and loved.
Here’s a journal prompt I used recently that I’d like to share with you:
List 3 or more thoughts that repeat in your mind day after day, drain your energy, and pull you away from enjoying life or being your best.
Then write down what you want to create each day that would inspire and motivate you to give your day, week, month, year, life your all!
Consider all areas of your life: thoughts, feelings, energy, health, mental capacity, spirituality, relationship with self, your relationship with family and friends, work, purpose, etc.
Create a visual of what you’d like to create and put it somewhere you could see it as a reminder (i.e. your phone wallpaper, refrigerator, desk, mirror, computer screensaver, etc.)
I’d LOVE to see your visuals. Please feel free to share yours in an email or the I Am Choosing Me Fb group. You can view my visual there as well!
As always, extend yourself some compassion. Our minds are going to be chatty and veer towards what they’re used to. It’s inevitable.