Hey Ya! (Shake It Shake It Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture)

Alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright Alright

I didn’t anticipate posting on this recent event however, when I reflect on the Light Behind everyone one of these Oyates (people), their insides beaming out, they’re willingness to do what it takes to not just say Namaste but actually exude it, I’m inspired to share. The reason we’re clearly feelin’ this Way is because of The Way - The Way of The Contrary Workshop we all circled up for at Yoga Life studio in St. Joseph, Michigan on Friday night. Here’s how it works: we formed a mini-power community, we called on The Powers That Be, we engaged with a very effective mindfulness technique, and we experienced a taste of purification. That had us going heading home a couple hours later a little lighter, a little happier, and a little more empowered to face the next thing life throws our way. Folks can speak of Oneness all day long, but until you have a direct experience of the peace that passes understanding, it’s all talk. Self-talk. Maya, illusion, hungry ghosting, attachment, neurosis, anxiety, depression, etc. Every single Spiritual Path on our planet has a word for it: what the Christians call The Prayer of Quiet or Recollection, the Taoist’s call Showee, the Buddhists Samadhi, Islam Dhikr, Judaism Kavanah (“intention, sincere feeling, direction of the heart”), and those good old red-blooded Native warriors from the Badlands USA - Wicozani – The Inner Life, the Good Life. 

Editing this picture, I found it funny that it kinda says it all:  Auto? Pretty Much. Brilliance? Clearly. Highlights? There were. Shadows? Eh, some as there always are. Brightness? Vibrance? Warmth? Sharpness and Noise Reduction? Check. This Workshop is going on the road in 2020, as I believe I’ll be back at Yoga Life in March for an Equinox Event we’re working up — and when I say we I mean Yoga Life’s Queen Bee Brooke Margherone, friend, founder and leader of a standout yoga community and fellow force of nature. And then the hope is to expand the Spring Tour with dates in Chicago, Detroit, South Bend and St. Louis. If you’re a studio, company, or any organization that has members, clients, or employees — basically human beings — who would like to learn how to take possession of their lives in a new way, all in order to achieve a deeper sense of health, happiness and fulfillment, by all means, please be in touch. From there the broad highway circles back around to The Higher Haven for all of those wishing for an even richer, deeper Taste. Until then, Peace (Shalom, Salam, Hòa Bìhn).

Our Ongoing Spiritual Development Classes and Upcoming Retreats

The Higher Haven’s Dynamic Duo - John Ashbrook to the Left, PaulTootalian to the Right.

We enjoyed my teacher John Ashbrook’s quarterly Spiritual Development class in the Detroit area this past weekend. “Class 1259 is a Spiritual Event” reads the invitation, “a gathering designed for those who are dedicated to furthering their personal growth and life fulfillment.” A few of the top discussion topics were Emotions and Health, Possibilities of Balance, Distortions Preventing Love, and Power – Easy or Hard? John being the Master Numerologist he is, this Holiday gathering always devotes a portion of class time and engages our collective intellects as to the ramifications of the coming new year.

Regarding 2020, the number 2 is the number of direction, holding divine and difficult possibilities for all of humanity this coming year, including you and me. John being a pretty creative cat and very fond of pointing out the greater spiritual significance of everything we see in life, he referenced the symbolism of the great Detroit Lions’ former star running back Barry Sanders, #20. “He wasn’t the most skilled player, but he slithered through the backfield, as no one could change direction faster”. The zeros harken to the “all or nothing nature – the extremes” of these numbers. And 2 + 0 + 2 +0 = 4, an indicator with a negative pull of potentially keeping something the same forever as well as the positive influence of building a new foundation for a higher level of development. 

 Our love for the Motor City and ever-hopeful regard for the Lions considered, John offers incredible insight into current earthly events along with the simplicity of spiritual solutions. As the vibrational energy of our world continues to rise, the chaos, fear-driven, former fractured approach will give way to a more positive, faith-filled trust in the benevolent, natural and right causes that govern life. And depending on your own relationship with those forces, will always lead you to a more positive place. Regarding radiant health and deep healing, we discussed how medicine’s ability to alleviate outward indicators and simply move energy around always falls short of getting down to the generator and root causes of physical symptoms.

 We discussed the implications of being Woke, the discretionary nature of when to apply force and when to employ patience, and the mark of authentic greatness, taking one beyond their deepest fears in order to be transformed into the most beautiful, wise and loving force. If any of the aforementioned sounds of interest, look for a monthly excerpt of John’s writings and teachings in this space, consider attending our next class in March of 2020, or make plans to meet John for an extended weekend of learning and practice here at The Higher Haven’s next Comprehensive Spiritual Development Retreat weekends of May 29th-31st and June 26th-28th with more information and registration available by year-end. 

On Mindfulness The Path And The Practices

Mindfulness offers practical ways to find focus, calm and joy in everyday living, and, when practiced with regularity, can be utterly life-changing. Like a super power that allows you to deliberately direct the beam of your attention instead of being tossed around by racing thoughts and turbulent emotions, mindfulness enables one to choose their own mindset and shift how to relate to experience so that stress is lessened and happiness increased. Many people think of mindfulness as something to add to an already full schedule. Or a special skill that only a few people can learn. Or something that only works for people with a baseline personality for being calm. Instead, practicing mindfulness is about learning, bit by bit, how to train your attention to stay in the present instead of ruminating over the past or lurching into the future. Mindfulness is the awareness that arises when we direct our attention on purpose toward our inner experience, toward others, and toward the relationship we have with the environment around us. But more than just focusing the mind, it’s about one’s mindset — how you view and hold the world. A mindful mindset is open, receptive, accepting and compassionate. Beginning starts with noticing your natural tendency to judge, assume you already know something, resist what life brings or worry about what is out of your own control — behaviors that everyone grapples with.

There’s ample scientific evidence about the power of mindfulness. Since the first steps in mindfulness research in the early 1990’s, the number of studies have increased exponentially. Research proves that you can change your default mental patterns through repeated practice, a concept called neuroplasticity. The repetition of mental training in effect rewires your brain with new neural pathways that incline you to respond to situations in more skillful ways than automatically reacting out of habit. The amazing piece to all this is that you end up in the driver’s seat of shaping your brain and your life through deliberate practice — conscious creating — instead of unwittingly wiring your brain through the influence of cultural norms, one’s family of origin, or old habits.

Specifically, research on the benefits of meditation — an integral part of the practice of mindfulness— has exploded in recent years. Researchers have found that mindful meditation — maintaining a moment by moment receptive awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surrounding environment, using a set object of focus — increases attentional control, emotional regulation and self-awareness. Yet for all the research showing the benefits of mindfulness in treating such conditions as anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, researchers still don’t know exactly how consciousness woks. “That’s been the frontier for us, understanding the nuances of the mechanism and then developing targeted treatment,” says Judson Brewer, director of research for the Center of Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. When traversing this territory, I always like to go to my teacher Shinzen’s take. “After nearly half a century of practice, teaching and research in the field,” says Shinzen, “when I hear the word Mindfulness… I don’t think of one thing. I think of eight things. Mindfulness the word, the awareness, the practices, the path, the translation, the fad, the shadow, and the possible revolution.”

For the not-so-quick-and-dirty, go here. For our purposes now, we’ll close with Shinny’s take on the practice as well as the path, the mindful take referring to the systematic exercises that elevate a person’s base level of awareness. In Shinzen’s careful, calculated usage, we refer to these as mindful practices, or more fully, mindful awareness practices (MAPS). Two of the most common MAPS are Noting and Body Scanning, both techniques developed in Burma in the early 20th century and forming the base of Shinzen’s Body-Image-Talk and See-Hear-Feel techniques. These being the practices themselves, the Path refers to the ability to dramatically elevate one’s base level of mindful awareness through a well-organized regimen of mindful awareness practices, similar to the way one’s physical strength can be elevated through exercise. This ever-sharpening arrow in one’s quiver is a tool of immense power and general application that can be utilized to improve just about every aspect of human happiness. Consider joining our Winter Meditation Retreat Weekend February 21st -23rd or monthly meditation class in the upcoming new year to boost your power and practice.