2020 Year To Be Cool

Hi EveryOne, 

Happy new year. May 2020 see you realise your dreams and your individual highest potential – regardless of what’s happening around you. Let this be the year when you won’t let external situations limit your creative beautiful self. Have the resolve to practice mindfulness and self care to make it a year of generosity, tolerance, self transformation and spiritual healing. Make 2020 your year to be cool. Look to the future – don’t let the past define you and bog you down. Learn from it and let it be the ‘fertiliser’ needed to help you grow.

First some notices…

• Meditation classes – Burrum Heads (The Happy Abode) resumes Wed 29th January (every Wed morning 7.45 – 8.45am) – just come along… Hervey Bay (Library) resumes Fri 7th February (1st and 3rd Fri of each month – bookings necessary, book through library).
• Moving Meditation classes (Qi Gong) – Dundowran (Community Hall) resumes Mon 3rd February 9.30 – 10.30am – just come along.
• To celebrate International Women’s Day I will be offering another 4 Faces of Woman retreat on 9th March from 10 – 4pm (Dundowran Community Hall). Bookings essential – email me now to secure your spot.

2020 Year To Be Cool…

With so many disastrous events happening around our beautiful country and indeed, around our beautiful planet, lets be generous and forgive our own weaknesses to release the past and move on. While nature fights back to restore harmony – confusion, fear and panic (heat) increases. As she tries to balance herself out – swinging wildly from one extreme to the other – the ride becomes increasingly intense (especially if the compulsion is to resist). But we can no longer pretend global warming isn’t happening, nor can we ignore or deny human contribution to it… So how can I as an individual stop being part of the bigger problem and become part of the solution? Firstly, understanding and accepting that I am responsible for my own little patch in the world, shifts me to start moving in the right direction – the healing (cooling) path. To be generous hearted means to remain cool (calm) inside, so I will be able to discern what is actually needed of me. Knowing that my own vibration manifests as constructive or destructive, depending on what type of thoughts I choose to foster, lets me discern my own thought processes first.

The world is in desperate need for coolness and calmness (inner silence) and as the planet continues to heat up, I have a responsibility to keep myself cool – this is the best gift I can share with the world today. With practice, calmness keeps me silent and silence enables me to quieten my own noisy monkey mind and manage my own emotions. So here are some other things I can do to NOT contribute to the escalating ‘fires’ – internally and externally – emotionally and physically. First, let me not sit in sorrow with what I’ve done wrong, or what others have done wrong, for that serves no-one (heating)! Instead let me focus on transforming my own inner world so to not project, criticise, judge or point fingers (cooling). Let me get real and get on with what is right for the higher good of all (not just for me, not just for you, but for ALL). I feel 2020 is the year of clarity – so if you feel you’ve lost your inner compass and the sense of what’s important – this year brings opportunity to get back on track. But what you put into self-change is what you get out of it, so it won’t come without it’s challenges. It’s the year for 20/20 vision – spiritually it’s about getting real with ourselves by looking within for the answers, so time for honest reflection is therefore crucial now!… How did I do last year? Was I in control of my emotions or were my emotions in control of me? Did I try to control others? Did I let others control me? What will I consciously do different and/or better this year?… These are some questions to start the self enquiry process. Do NOT waste time thinking about what others should or shouldn’t be doing. And since everything is in a constant state of vibration, focus only on what type of vibration you want to put out there. Do not concern yourself with the vibe of someone else, just ‘check and change’ your own attitude (cool) and you won’t get entangled in theirs (heat).

Life may at times appear unfair and uncertain nonetheless, we can not wait for others to change. We each have the ability to BE Cool, not because others say so, but by standing in our own power. The only way we can help heal the world and move forward together is to turn inward and heal ourselves. So let me stop ‘trying to save the world’ because maybe I feel helpless. Let me instead accept and strengthen my own power and take responsibility for my own spiritual healing – cooperation means each person raises their own hand of self-care. So let me not get attached to worldly possessions, opinions and validations (heat)… If I thrive on praise from others, I won’t cope so well with defamation – I will swing from positive to negative in a second – difficult to remain balanced and cool. Accepting that change is inevitable, I can choose to embrace change. This way I can flow smoothly with it rather than battle against it. There’s coolness in choice and there’s coolness in acceptance – it’s much easier to find benefit in adversity when one is cool headed. In coolness we see opportunity rather than devastation. In coolness we see possibilities rather than helplessness and hopelessness.

Remaining vigilant on our own thought processes is the most effective way to contribute calmness in any potentially heated situation. ‘Checking and changing’ our own attitude from negative to positive whenever necessary – strengthens silence and therefore coolness – and in coolness, rational decisions can be made. Thought is energy bursting into expression, so check your thoughts – every day, every hour, every minute… What type of thoughts am I creating and contributing to the chaos and heat in the world? Are they wasteful and angry thoughts, or are they thoughts to bring about the cool change that is so desperately needed? Generosity of heart goes a long way because it starts with calmness and coolness in ME! My thoughts. My beliefs. My emotions. My responses and reactions. My habits and compulsions… Through repeated practice of ‘checking and changing’ myself, I  can reach a point where a disturbance may occur, but the negative effects on my mind remain on the surface, like the waves that may ripple on the surface of an ocean but don’t have much effect deep down. This is being cool. The ripple is cool. BE the ripple. Be cool.

Question: When I’m faced with a challenging situation, do I remain generous hearted (cool)? Or do I resist, blame, judge and criticise (heat)?

Contemplation: Why do I let external circumstance weaken my generous heart? How can I take control and not let my emotions control me?

Activity:  Start of the year is always a good time to be reminded of our ability to apply a brake to our thoughts and in time, our actions. Practice really does make perfect. So practice applying a brake regularly throughout your day, no matter what you are doing. Stop for just 60 seconds – check your thoughts, check your attitude – if either needs changing, do so immediately! Do NOT waste time justifying (when we victimise ourselves we will always find a ‘reason’). Be grateful for the ability to recognise the opportunity and the courage and determination to change it. This helps upgrade outdated limiting beliefs and habits and helps you adopt new healthier behaviour. And remember… If you want to be happy then be happy deliberately (on purpose). Don’t just wake up and wait to see what kind of day you will have. No, YOU decide what kind of day you will have – then purposefully and consciously make it happen – create it! Nurture your mind with positive thoughts like kindness, compassion, empathy, peace, love, joy, humility, generosity, etc. Your thoughts create your life experiences. Feed the positive. Starve the negative.

Happy practicing everyone, love Annemarie x