Introduction to Awakening your heart, creativity, & wisdom (AHCW for short maybe?)

Notes:

Introduction to Course

• We question how loving we actually are, even though we long to love well. 
• There is one thing that keeps us from living with an open heart, and it is being cut off from the aliveness of our bodies. 
• Habit of going into trance "thinking" leaves us tired, anxious, and disconnected.  
• Good news : Scientifically validated mindfulness practices to help us reclaim our lives and open our hearts. 
• Two things to help us allow a full and happy life: First, come back to bodies once we have left in thought. Second, when back, open to and come back to vulnerability that is here with compassion and kindness.
•  Here we learn about the strategies we use when we go into trance, and the ways we go into automatic, when we are caught in judgement, and caught in worry.
• Will discover the pathway back using these mindfulness strategies.  
• Pathway back to feeling full aliveness in body and awakening your heart. 

 Introduction to Embodied Awareness

• Our bodies know how to do everything. 
• "Our bodies know that they belong to life. It is our mind that make our lives so homeless"
•  Our minds put us in a trance that cut us off from our bodies, and aliveness and creativity that is part of our being
• We leave regularly. We leave to somewhere other then here where we are embodied
• "Are you aware of the energy in your hands?" "your chest?" "your belly, your feet?"
• When we go into thinking, and are lost in long trains of thought - we are far from inhabiting this aliveness.
• Meditation really shines a lot on this. A lot of people can't feel the sensations.
• The more trauma we have had the harder it is to feel the life of the body. Traumatizing culture makes it harder.
• For some, it is just difficult to feel ourselves in our body at all
• For others, we leave very quickly. It is hard to stay.
• For many, when touching in there is a sense of judging and not likely of what is going on.  
• The more there is unpleasantness or intensity, the more we are inclined to leave.
• The culture has a big impact on how much we leave,  we are a disembodied culture. 
• Children are leaving younger, and younger.
• Statistics show that children are not outside as much as they were generations ago. And spend more time in front of a screen. This disconnects from the rhythms, the intuitive understanding of the living/dying world.
• In a deep way, feeling engaged and feeling our bodies from the inside out and connection with the earth - that sense of belonging helps us take care of ourselves and our "earth body."
• How can this next generation have a loving belonging to show up to this planet? 

My notes:

We really mean well and want to do well. We inherently want to be happy, and be loving to ourselves and those we care about most. When we get stuck and trapped in our minds, this is where the feelings of discomfort, numbness, anger, and fear generate. I don't want to be like this anymore, but it is such a habit and norm to lose ourselves in thought - learning to come back is the practice and "reflex" I'd like to master. It is scientifically proven!! Thank goodness. :) I appreciate the simplicity of what we need to do, recognizing what is going on and coming back and then being kind to ourselves as we walk ourselves through it. Being judgmental and condescending to oneself for healing and insight isn't productive. I look forward to learning more about ways to coming back when going into auto-pilot, and moments of being disconnected. 

I like how the second part of the Intro, Tara talks about how capable we are in our bodies. She lists; dancing, singing, making love.. It reminds me of the incredible things a human body can do (run a marathon, do an iron man, ballet, acrobats, learn multiple languages, etc..). And then the quote about how capable our bodies are to living and doing anything, but how at the same time we feel lost, and homeless. This is so true. That disconnection is real, and can be so strong even though we have so much to be grateful for, and so much capacity to do anything. This disconnection, "trance," is what separates us. We do leave regularly, I know I do. I know I will keep myself busy and productive to avoid facing certain struggles I am facing, hurt from mistakes that I have made that I have to embrace and learn from. Grateful for meditation, and to gain a better understanding of it. Never give up, the perfection won't ever happen.. just keep trying. I am glad she mentions the trauma in our lives, and this traumatizing culture. We go through a lot of crap.  I am also glad that she breaks it down into two habits a lot of us do; not feeling or being in touch with whats going on, and the other, is leaving often and trying to stay in touch. I do both, we all do. I know I am discovering things, but also know a lot of this discovery is rediscovery. This is stuff I've known about myself but have been avoiding dealing with it. Making excuses, looking for reasons not to. Making excuses is something I say often, and that is not a loving and kind way to refer to it. I am barely realizing this now, that is not self-compassion.. the judgment is not helpful in order to get anywhere. Working on ourselves is an endless practice, there are no breaks, we mustn't waste this life and all the opportunities we have to live fully. 

I want to feel engaged, and live fully. I want to be more loving, to myself and those around me. I look forward to this mini online course.