|
Serving a community of private individuals and professionals
who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
and creativity. We warmly welcome our new subscribers. Thanks
for joining! Your feedback is encouraged. Please feel free to contact us.
|
Workshop Announcement
The discipline of Seishindo offers you the best of
both Eastern and Western models of health and well-being.
A remarkable system that merges Oriental philosophy
with Western science.
Join our supportive learning community and awaken to
and acknowledge the profound changes you can foster
in your life by paying closer attention to the way you
use words to describe your personal reality.
Click on this link to find out about the details:
The
Power of the Spoken Word
Washington, DC, October 29-30-31, 2004
|
1. Simple Story
I decided to finally clean out the shed in our back yard recently.
My wife left the house early on a Saturday morning to run some
errands and I knew that my cleaning the shed would please her
greatly.
On the way out the door to fulfill my noble task, I take a
quick look at the morning mail and notice a past due bill so
I run upstairs to write a check.
Upon reaching for the checkbook, I see there is only one check
left, so I call my mom in Georgia and ask her to send me more.
My mom tells me my uncle Fred is not doing well, and she makes
me promise to give him a call, so I ring him as soon as I get
off the phone with her.
He's happy to hear my voice, and reminds me that I still haven't
sent any recent family pictures. When I get off the phone, I
run downstairs, get the pictures, run back upstairs, and put
them in an envelope.
I wake my computer up to get my uncle's address, and the phone
rings. My neighbor's on the line asking me if I can move our
bicycles so he can get a delivery. As I move our bikes I see
another neighbor taking out their garbage, and realize I need
to quickly do the same.
I run in for the garbage and the phone rings again. This time
it's my daughter's piano teacher explaining the upcoming monthly
teaching schedule.
Needless to say, by the time I get off the phone, I wind up
just missing the garbage truck, and I slink back to the house
knowing my wife won't be pleased having to keep the garbage
for another two days.
At this point in time I realize that I need to establish my
priorities and stick to them, or the day is really going to
spin out of control.
I sit down to sort myself out, and after a bit of time spent
thinking, my wife comes back home and cheerfully asks me what
I have accomplished so far today.
Upon hearing her question I suddenly feel the beginning of
a panic attack coming on. I missed getting the garbage out in
time, I still haven't written the check for the overdue bill,
I haven't yet addressed the envelope with the pictures for my
uncle, and of course I have yet to begin cleaning the shed.
Soon the day will be half over, and not only am I not making
headway, but I am losing ground!
Recognizing the emotional pain, I am in my daughter pulls me
over to sit on the couch and climbs up on my lap.
"Daddy," she says, "Why don't you do what you
told me to do the other day when I was upset? "
"Take three deep breaths..."
"Look around you and notice that indeed the world is NOT
falling apart..."
"And give thanks for all that you have, and all of the
people who love you!"
Better advice has never been given.
When you find your life spinning out of control, take the time
to breathe and feel into the emotional experience you are creating.
Regardless of the task at hand, if you maintain a clear concept
of who you are and what you are wanting to accomplish, you can
stay on track and feel OK with all that transpires.
2. Further Thoughts
No matter where I go and what I do, in the end I always find
it's important to maintain what I call "the continuity
of self."
Whether I am at work, or planning my activities for a Saturday
morning - There is one part of me that holds the experience
of my whole life as my identity. There is one part of me that
starts out with a short term goal in mind. There is another
part of me that performs the actions necessary to accomplish
my short-term goal. There is a fourth part of me that becomes
totally engrossed in whatever occurs in the moment.
When these four different aspects of my self act independently
of each other without a sense of continuity and cooperation,
I find myself entering into emotionally challenging waters,
and chaos soon reigns.
I often talk about how important it is to stay present in the
moment in order to remain calm and perform with excellence.
It is just now in writing today's newsletter that I realize:
When I find myself struggling, it is largely because I jump
from moment to moment, without maintaining a continuity between
moments in time, and a continuity between the different parts
of myself. In doing so, I lose my sense of purpose, and disconnect
from an embodied sense of calmness.
For me there is always one important mantra to keep in my heart.
Breathe....slow down....notice my surroundings....and maintain
a thread of continuity in all that I do and all that I am.
Perhaps just such a mantra will prove to be important for you
as well.
3. Practice
Today's Practice can give you a meaningful experience of what
I have been discussing above. By engaging in "The
River of Life", you will be able to feel the calmness
and life force that emanates when we feel into the continuity
that moves through us.
4. Resources
Today we offer you two links for the price of one!
The first link is
Self
Promotion and Small Business Marketing Resource.
This is the site of my friend and colleague, a specialist in
niche
marketing Molly Gordon. If you are an independent professional
wanting to learn how to authentically promote your business,
then Molly is the one to study with. She has an excellent twice
monthly complimentary newsletter that I subscribe to. In her
last issue she introduced her readers to a link that is so great
that I wanted to share it with our readers as well.
For those of you who subscribe to both of our newsletters,
now you have a second chance to check out this great link!
Photo
Stamps
I love this idea: A Web site where you can order US postage
stamps bearing your own photos or graphic designs. At $16.69
for 20 37-cent stamps, photo stamps are a pricey replacement
for regular postage, but they may have a role in special mailings,
as a gift, or to commemorate a special occasion. I'm not affiliated
with the site in any way; I just think it is too fun to keep
to myself.
5. Suggested Books by Cindy Franklin
"Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn
On one level, this book is a fictional story of what
a gorilla teaches a young man who answers an ad asking for
a student who wants to save the world. But this book is
also a fascinating philosophical treatise. Quinn asks provocative
questions about what myths we live by in our modern industrialized
culture, and what nature and human history can teach us
about how to live in greater harmony with the biosphere.
His goal is nothing short of offering a blueprint to avoid
the course of ecological destruction he believes we are
currently embarked upon.
6. Suggested Music
"Dreamings - Healing Aboriginal
Didjeridu" by Will Seachnasaigh
Didjeridu music, mixed with gongs, flutes, a bass,
and other instruments. This is a wonderful CD for meditating,
as background music for bodywork and other healing practices,
or simply as a way of setting a relaxing "background".
The vibrations in this music are quite palpable. You can feel
the sound enter your body and move through you.
7. Subscriber Recommendations and Introductions
We thank Nancy Hendrickson and Diana Daffner
for their kind words about our newsletter and the resources
they recommend.
Nancy Hendrickson writes:
I invite the Seishindo community members to discover a great
tool for personal journaling. Journal
Genie is the only web site that analyzes your journal writing
and immediately responds with insightful comments about your
emotions - insights that can lead to self-discovery. We encourage
you to use your journal to gain a better understanding of who
you are and who you want to be.
Diana Daffner writes:
What I would like others in the Seishindo community to know
is that my husband, Richard, and I have blended the principles
of Aikido into a relationship practice called "Tantra Tai
Chi." The Tantra Tai Chi movements are designed to help
couples easily align their energies in a way that enhances intimacy
in body, heart and soul. We teach this program at "Intimacy
Retreats," romantic vacation workshops in Florida, Mexico
and Costa Rica. Please visit IntimacyRetreats.com
for more information or call 1-877-282-4244 for a brochure.
* * *
If you have a business, hobby, group, or organization that
you would like other members of the Seishindo community to know
about, then please send us a short write-up (two or three
sentences) here.
You don't have a website? Then let us know how other members
might contact you by phone, fax, in person, or in writing.
We also invite you to send in:
A) Questions and comments relating
to what you read here.
B) Experiences that relate to
the "Practices" presented.
C) The names of books/music/services/products,
etc. you feel might be of interest to the Seishindo community.
Please include a short write-up (two or three sentences)
about your selections and send all input here.
8. Copyright
Unless otherwise attributed, all material for the newsletter
"Pure Heart, Simple Mind"(tm) is written and edited by Charlie
Badenhop ©. All rights reserved.
You are encouraged to send our newsletter in its entirety
to anyone you think might like it.
If you would like to reprint our newsletter for other than
your personal use, you are invited to do so, provided you:
a. Receive our written permission (which is likely) b. Attach
the above copyright notice to our material. c. Do not sell
our material to others. d. Keep the content of our material
intact without any editing whatsoever.
9. Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Delivery
Please
subscribe or unsubscribe here.
Is our newsletter only arriving sporadically? Our "Pure
Heart, Simple Mind" newsletter is meant to come to you
twice a month, on or about the 1st and 15th of each month.
If you aren't receiving every issue it could be because of
the filtering systems your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
uses to keep unwanted messages out of your inbox. In attempting
to block unwanted mail, your provider will sometimes wind
up blocking email like this newsletter, that you DO want to
receive. If you are having delivery problems, send a blank
e-mail to delivery@seishindo.org
and we will send you a list of tips that can help ensure delivery.
You can use these tips for other email as well.
|
