|
One of the misconceptions I may have contributed to about our life at Back to La Tierra is the idea that we live trouble free in never ending bliss & joy. Thankfully life regularly challenges our good will and positivity. Just imagine never again having anything to worry about? it would be a very bad sign.
I recently came across Sam Harris, a neuroscientist and a philosopher (brilliant mix) and apart from being an extremely eloquent, rather controversial speaker he has written a book called Waking Up and made a meditation app with the same name.
His knowledge of neuroscience and philosophy have led him to develop some very interesting insights into our mind and how it dictates how we see and experience everything. It is the basis of every contribution we can make to our own life and the lives of others. Given this fact it is actually surprising how little we train it. You already know what it is like to have an untrained mind, we all do. He says in the introduction of his meditation guide, It is what allows us to be less than happy even when things are about as good as they can get. We spend very little time truly content and focussed in the present. The good news is that, like anything, we can also train our mind. It’s a skill that doesn’t stop unfortunate things happening to us but simply changes how we respond to them.
I have to say that what truly helps to make it easier to adapt this attitude is the fact that we love what we do, we are surrounded by beauty and we can largely plan our own day. What also makes a big difference is accepting that problems, of all sorts, will always come up. Our challenge is to solve them in the best way possible with a mind that is clear and aware of the mind games we play on ourselves.
It makes such a difference to, instead of hoping we will never have a problem again in our entire lives, wake up in the morning and decide to give whatever comes up, the very best of ourselves: Smile and bring it on!
The nature of a vacation and time away from daily responsibilities tend to bring awareness to everything we are missing out on when we are continually running from one activity to the next. It is also a great opportunity to create new habits. During my years as a yoga/meditation trainer I have created a practise that appeals to people who want to intellectually understand things before accepting the possible benefits. Becoming aware of our breath is about as basic as it gets, understanding that our breath is both a response and a conscious tool in training our mind is the first step to freedom.
You may very probably already be breathing differently because of this previous sentence…and thereby changing your body chemistry instantly.
As I am writing this my mind took me to the Amazon, the so called lungs of the earth that have been in flames for weeks. If only those in power would wake up with Sam Harris this world would look so different.
With all the environmental destruction and sadness going on in so many places we feel immensely grateful to be able to share our little paradise with wonderful people visiting from all over the world. Connecting, supporting and inspiring. Every guest literally contributes to every tree that is planted and every swale that we dig.
Come and breathe, connect and swim.
Your mind will thank you.
Hasta la vista!
Paul & Marina
|
