Wake-up Time

This week’s blog will focus on some of my favorite exercises from the second section of my book “The Songbird In My Heart.” These exercises are called “Acts of Contemplation, Freedom for a Glad Heart” and are designed to put you in touch with your deeper self. Each day a corresponding prayer from the book will also be posted to Facebook.

The inspiration for these exercises came from two unlikely sources. The first are the beautiful books from Thomas Merton and his editors A Book of Hours, Seeds of Contemplation, and New Seeds of Contemplation. The second is the red Fieldbook by Peter Senge to his best selling business book The Fifth Discipline. While this part of the book bears little resemblance to these great books, they did serve as inspiration.

Please take some time and try them out! If you like, let me know how it goes. Best of luck. Mark

Acts of Contemplation, Freedom for a Glad Heart

Today – Wake-up Time
Tuesday – Airtime
Wednesday – Mealtime
Thursday – Moontime
Friday - A Moment in Time



Wake-up time
Opening Thoughts
Waking up from a good nights sleep is a special time of each day. My two dogs and I wake up every morning when the sun comes up to a routine of yawning, tousled hair and gentle head rubs. I usually get a few cheek licks as a final wakeup before we go out to do our business.

The experts say that there are few things more important than a good nights sleep. Finishing that off with a good wake up is delicious chocolate dessert after a great meal.

Acts of Contemplation
Act 1 – Option 1 – Keep a pad of paper and pen close to the bedside. Pick a morning that you can waken on your own without an alarm clock. As you wake try to remember any dreams you might have had. Write them down. This may take a while but eventually one will come and you will remember. Keep this for further review.

Act 1 – Option 2 – Keep a pad of paper and pen close to the bedside. Pick a morning that you can waken on your own without an alarm clock. As you wake, stay in quiet stillness. Be aware of your surroundings but don’t sit up yet. Let your mind wander. Just let it go, and run with it. After your mind settles, write down what happened. Keep this for further review.

Act 2 – Repeat Act 1, but pick a subject for your dream before you go to sleep. Write it down ahead of sleeping. When you wake, after your mind settles, write down what happened. Compare this to the subject you selected. Keep this for further review.

Act 3 – Review your notes from Act 1 and 2. Consider future topics for your dreams or daydreams. Consider making this a regular part of your routine, to consciously dream.