We love this beautiful explanation of Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF) by Amba Love, which featured in the Short and Sweet section of our Spring 2023 issue. To learn more about this healing process, keep reading below…
We are excited to share this sneak peek from our Winter 2018/19 issue, exploring the incredible healing journey of Dr. Alweena Awan, who now leads Ho’oponopono Harmonising Circles (HHC) all over the world, giving people an understanding of the theory and philosophy behind Ho’oponopono – an ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness. Read on to learn all about it.
A Present of Presence
Sarah McLean is the author of bestseller ‘Soul-Centred: Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks with Meditation’ and the director of the McLean Meditation Institute.
“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now.” That was what American author and transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson suggested. Sounds good, living in the now. But how can we keep our focus on the here and now when it’s the mind’s habit to wander?
Here are three present moment awareness practices to create a more mindful life.
1. While washing your hands, give your attention to all of your senses. Notice the way you stand, listen to the sound of the water, feel the sensations of the water on your hands, smell the scent of the soap, and notice the way your hands move with the texture of the soap on your hands.
2. While walking up or down a flight of stairs, pay attention to each movement of each step, feel how your body balances and moves, notice your breath, and listen to the sounds your body makes. Be totally present with the activity.
3. Going for a drive? Get into your car and close the door, and before you turn the car on, give yourself a minute to sit in silence. You can close your eyes. Feel your body, feel the flow of your breath. Notice the temperature of the seat, and the air around you. Turn your attention to the one who is having the experience and become aware of your own presence.. Transitions like this are a good time to stop and become more present with yourself and the moment in which you live.
Making the most of every day should be a priority on everybody’s to-do list. As singer Willie Nelson once put it, “I have a wonderful future behind me”. This is not a pessimistic way to live – far from it, it’s a valuable reminder not to waste life on unimportant issues.
Of course, life is unpredictable, and people face challenges emotionally, spiritually and mentally, but even in the face of adversity we should not think ourselves into a new way of living, but rather live yourself into a new way of thinking. William Blake captured it beautifully when he said, “The mind altering alters all.” This is a practical and pragmatic way to live life – to know that as humans, we can alter our life by altering our thinking.
The late mystic and poet, John O’ Donohue, had a compelling philosophy on ways of altering your life. He encouraged humans to delve into the cloud of unknowing and to search the soul for the seven thoughts that govern, shape and determine your life. Such an exercise would force the imagination to go places it has never gone before, but in order to have a meaning in your life you yourself must give life meaning.
There is no future in the past and no safety in the future, but when you live life moment by moment, you realise that is all you really have. Life is not a problem to be solved but rather an experience to be had. By cherishing and living in the moment – it is the ticket to freedom and peace of mind. We can’t take anything with us in life, not even our pains and struggles. We all leave with an empty suitcase. Each day is a gift, do not send it back unopened.
This is taken from our summer issue of Positive Life. Get a year’s subscription to the print magazine for €15 >