Airtime

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

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


Airtime
Opening Thoughts
There is nothing more influential to your healthfulness and peace of mind than your breathing. Your body and all of its complex processes are dependent on a reliable oxygen and carbon dioxide transport. Your breathing connects your body to your mind and in so doing offers a useful entry point into your consciousness.

Acts of Contemplation
Act 1- Try this breathing exercise:
• Let in the fresh air and sounds of nature
• Relax in a comfortable chair.
• Breathe in slowly to 60% of lung capacity over a count of 5.
• Let the breath out slowly, over a count of 5.
• Repeat this process ten more times.
• As you repeat, begin to notice your heartbeat (probably in the neck).
• Feel your heartbeat radiate out to the rest of your body.
• Now, notice the pleasant feeling in your body (probably in the belly). Let that feeling radiate out to your entire body.
• As you breathe feel the presence of your body and a deep peacefulness.
• Write down anything you feel is important in a journal.

Act 2 - Try this breathing exercise:
• Let in the fresh air and sounds of nature
• Relax in a comfortable chair.
• Breathe in slowly to 60% of lung capacity over a count of 5.
• Let the breath out slowly, over a count of 5.
• Repeat this process ten more times. As you repeat,
o Imagine the breath entering slowly through the toes up the spinal cord into your forehead
o Imagine the breath exiting slowly from your forehead down your spinal cord out your toes.
• Feel the aliveness and presence of your body.
• Write down anything you feel is important in a journal.

Act 3 - Try Act 2 standing with the legs spread shoulders width apart. Imagine drawing the air from the earth below through the soles of your feet, up your spine, through the top of your head into the sky above. As you release your breath, imagine drawing the air from the sky above through the top of your head down your spine and into the earth below.

Act 4 - Try this breathing exercise.
• Let in the fresh air and sounds of nature
• Relax in a comfortable chair.
• Breathe in slowly to 60% of lung capacity over a count of 5.
• Let the breath out slowly, over a count of 5.
• Repeat this process ten more times. As you repeat,
o Imagine the breath entering slowly through every pore in your skin into the center point of your body
o Imagine the breath exiting slowly from the center point of your body out every pore of your skin.
• Feel the aliveness and presence of your body.
• Write down anything you feel is important in a journal.

Act 5 - Try Act 4 standing with the legs spread shoulders width apart.

Act 6 – Review and consolidate your notes for future reference.

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.

Mindtime

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

Monday – Walking In Quiet Stillness
Tuesday – The Blue Skies Shine
Wednesday – Naturetime
Today – Mindtime
Friday - The Universe in Time


Mindtime


Opening Thoughts
We have lived most of our lives in the racing, random thoughts of our egoic mind. How do we find the deep peacefulness of the original mind of our birth? Well, with practice of course!

Acts of Contemplation
Act 1- Poetry Exercise – first attempt - Sit down with a pen and empty sheet of paper. Breathe slowly as you clear your mind of its racing thoughts. Focus in on the next thought that comes into your mind. Patiently sit there, focus and wait for the next thought. You will find that no thoughts will come.

You will be witnessing the interplay between your original mind and egoic mind. You have given control over to your original mind, and the illusory, egoic mind is now sitting on the sidelines

After a while, write down what your original mind has to say. Feel the emotions arise out of the emptiness, then translate into words. If you are successful, it is your original mind driving the thoughts, your egoic mind translating into words.

Act 2 – Poetry Exercise – second attempt - Repeat Act 1, but this time, before you begin, identify a subject for the poetry. Write down the topic on the blank sheet of paper. As you proceed, focus your efforts on this specific subject. Do not force the subject, translate and write down whatever arises from the emptiness.

Act 3 – Poetry Exercise – Additional attempts - Keep a blank pad and pen handy. You may feel a need to translate and write down further poetry. Act quickly as these moments may pass, and you probably will not remember the words for long.

Act 4 – Poetry Exercise – Review and Reflection - Collect the body of work over time, reread and reflect on what you have written. Consider sharing it with loved ones. Consider new topics for further poetry. Consider organizing it for your own further review.

Naturetime

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

Monday – Walking In Quiet Stillness
Tuesday – The Blue Skies Shine
Today – Naturetime
Thursday – Mindtime
Friday - The Universe in Time



Naturetime



Opening Thoughts
Nature is who we were before we became civilized. That is why we appreciate it so much. It reminds us of who we once were. As we separate ourselves further from it, we forget its best lessons.

In closer proximity, nature’s lessons bring us closer to the reality of life. We have the opportunity to do so as a silent witness. I recommend a digital camera to record the memories.

Acts of Contemplation
Act 1 – Place a birdfeeder within the view of a window where you can observe the birds. Identify the birds that visit. Take notes of the timing of the comings and goings. You will find that the birds come in waves, certain birds arriving with other species, some alone. Appreciate their beauty and aliveness. Take pictures for your friends and family.

I put out seed after the first frost and stop after winter comes to an end, usually November 15 until March 15. I mix my own combination of cracked corn, sunflower seeds and wild bird seed mix. Some areas will need to be careful about attracting bears if you feed too early in the fall or too late in the spring. If the squirrels bother you, put the feeder on a pipe covered with something slippery.

Act 2 – Install a bluebird house facing toward the sun and out of the wind in the late winter. Place it where you have a good sightline. If you like you can check it once a week to monitor progress. Keep notes. I only check mine at the end of the year these days. You may want to find the local bluebird club that monitors bluebird activity.

Act 3 – Place a hummingbird feeder outside of one of your windows in the late spring. Appreciate their unique splendor. Keep notes on your observations. The first ones appear in early April and usually migrate south in late September.

I have six feeders near my house. There are as many as twenty flying nearby at any time. Last year they nested in back of the house along the woods edge. The sugar mix is 1 sugar to 4 water to be changed every 3 to 5 days depending on the heat. These are the most magnificent creatures on earth.

Walking In Quiet Stillness

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 – Walking In Quiet Stillness
Tuesday – The Blue Skies Shine
Wednesday – Mindtime
Thursday – Naturetime
Friday - The Universe in Time

Walking in Quiet Stillness



Opening Thoughts
The deepest part of you can be found in the quiet stillness of your inner being. Walking mindfully without purpose, without intent, with an empty mind will lead you to this place. This cannot be achieved by force, only by surrender. Allow your inner self to come forward. Put aside the obstacles of intent, purpose, and the agenda of your racing mind.

Acts of Contemplation
Act 1 – Pick out a safe, quiet route for walking. Put aside the issues of the day. As you walk call on the witness of your inner self to observe the thoughts that come. This is as if there is an observer on your shoulder watching and recording what is happening. When you return from your walk, write down what you experienced.

Act 2 – On this next walk, notice everything that is around, the sounds, the smells, the sights. Look deeply and see beyond the obvious. Breathe, see, and hear to that deeper level beneath the level that is beneath the level that you might typically. Be empty of the racing mind and be mindful of everything around you. Write down what happened.

Act 3 – Now, in the quiet of some special place, sit down and review your notes. Then, wait for the next thought. Patiently wait for the next thought. Be empty of your racing mind. If anything rises up out of this emptiness, try to translate it into words and write it down.

Act 4 – On this next walk, start by empting the mind of any racing thoughts or issues of the day. Then, wait for the next thought. Patiently wait for the next thought. Continue this throughout the walk. If you are successful you will have walked in the quiet stillness of your inner being, free of illusion and false reality. If not successful start back at Act 1 and repeat the steps.