24 Nov Practice the Five Strengths
We get energy when we cultivate five strengths:
- Strong determination
- Familiarization
- Yearning
- Coaching
- Sealing the imprint
Strong determination is a kin of exertion. It’s like we take the tiny seed of wanting life to be different, fan it into a flame, letting it grow until its flame is eternal, lighting your heart, illuminating the path from within.
As we practice strong determination we realize what we want to spend time on – and what would waste this precious energy flame. With strong determination we wake into our commitment to practice yet again, to turn our attention toward what nourishes us. Looking for the tiniest morsel of goodness to bring further into our hearts. It also provides a way for us to reflect at the end of the day, releasing what we’re unhappy with, and letting that flame of goodness grow into strong determination to create a better day tomorrow.
When we fall in love this kind of connection happens easily. All day and all night we think about the beloved. We’re immersed in the love. This is what we want to cultivate with strong determination – the longing to be in a state of love. Not the love for the other out there – but immersing ourselves in the goodness that flows out to everyone, everything, everywhere.
Familiarization is another strength that arises out of strong determination. It’s the new normal of our life. We’re used to being immersed in this state of goodness that it becomes easier to return to it.
Yearning comes when we’re aligned with our heart’s longing.
Coaching is a strength that’s very different from self-criticism. It’s a gentle chiding of the heart reminding us of what we really want – we want the connection within and without. We want to be aligned with our purpose. We coach ourselves. Reminding ourselves what we want – and who we want to be. At times it’s easy to gossip, feel jealous, angry, bitter, and resent how long this process of healing and becoming is – and yet, as we have fanned the flame of our longing, the more determined we are, the easier it is to remember what feels better and so we carry on.
Sealing the imprint. One of the great strengths we can cultivate is by taking each tiny fragment of openness we’ve experienced and imprinting it into our experience, savoring it, drinking it in like we’re relishing the most exquisite nectar we’ve ever had. As we savor that, our body receives that new information. The longer we relish that, the more we install a new somatosensory imprint. As we savor it, even in memory, we build neural networks to this new experience, lessening the pathways to the older, less favorable experience.
Practice: as you go through the day, what do you want to become more familiar with? What new normal would you like to build inside? Can you feel your heart’s longing for that – and let it slowly fill you? Will you commit yourself to guiding yourself back to where you want to go, instead of where the old patterns take you? And then enjoy! Let your body be imprinted with what feels good and right.