Thoughts are so often with us but, like a letter in the mail, we do not have to receive them: they do not belong to us.
It can be hard to detach ourselves from these results of the mental process, particularly those which create a negative emotional reaction as so many thoughts do. It feels so personal as the what-ifs and perhapses run through the mind like an out-of-control child, absorbing the attention and triggering feelings of fear, stress and anxiety.
It is interesting that thoughts that are from the Higher Mind are quite different - not random or chaotic but reasoned, clear and helpful, and often decisive. They are an inner knowing, the certainty we have occasionally when we wake up about what to do or where to go. We could call them messages from Spirit.
Higher Mind thoughts are letters we are pleased to receive. Lower Mind thoughts are junk mail, communication you have not asked for and do not want: if you can't stop it coming through your mental door, then when it arrives you observe it for what it is and dispose of it calmly without getting attached to it.
I find it helps, if I get caught up in some mental spam, to take a few deep breaths when I am able to see what is occurring, to break the thought pattern and bring myself back to the present and myself, in the knowledge that the thought is not who I am. It is one of the hardest parts of being human to do this and after years of trying I do not always succeed. I will persevere, however, for I know it is worth it.
Nature provides us with the perfect example of how to do this. While birds and animals like to have structure and routine in their lives, largely driven by the rhythms and pulses of the Planet and beyond, they have the capacity nonetheless to change what no longer serves them effortlessly and move on.
If a nest of fledglings is predated, the parents will, season permitting, create a new brood; if the local climate becomes colder or hotter, species affected will move north or south; if the lion king in a pride dies, another is found to replace him. There is no sentiment in the world of nature, rather there is pragmatism and intuition based on the immediate need in order to survive and enjoy life. It is not cold-blooded, for there is much caring and tenderness and a shared sense of community responsibility based on the present moment.
Living as I do surrounded by wildlife, I am blessed to have many opportunities to observe how nature works, and to learn constantly from it. I see that a deer, say, has a wonderful capacity to accept, adapt, and let go. It carries no burdens, is (unless ill or under threat) physically and emotionally relaxed, and is fully connected with its environment. Apart from the need to subsist and beget new life it has no cares.
As I reflect on animals' capacity to let go and just be, I see how often I and perhaps you are not. Sometimes I find my back is tense, shoulders are raised, my mind is chattering and I am on auto-pilot, somewhere else than in my present. More and more I try and pause periodically in my day and check in to see where the tensions are and where my mind has gone, to try and bring myself into a constant state of "let go" at every level of my being. Just like the birds, the more I do this and am able just to be, the greater my sense of oneness with all that is above, all that is below, and all that is around me.
The more I do this, the more I watch my nature teachers, the more I realise, with gratitude, how much I have to learn - and that is fine.
Claire Montanaro is a skilled and sought after spiritual teacher, speaker, lecturer and author, with a reputation for inspiring and empowering her clients, students and audience. Based in Wales, her heartfelt desire is to assist people to actualise their total connectedness to all that is. Additionally, she offers a global philosophy for living and being in the new age for all seekers of truth. Seven simple yet intensely profound Principles form the core of her teaching, the practice of which embodies the New Consciousness and is a catalyst for One-ness. Her book "Spiritual Wisdom" is published by Piatkus Books. Her website can be found at http://www.inluminoglobal.co.uk where you can read more articles like this in her regularly updated Thoughts for the Day (blog).
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