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Find inner peace

I am passing this on because it has definitely worked…. By following the simple advice I read in an article, I have finally found inner peace. The article read: “The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you’ve started” So I looked around the house to see all the things I started and hadn’t finished….and before leaving the house this morning I finished off a bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine, the Bailey’s, Kahlua and WildTurkey, the Prozac, some valium, some cheesecake and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how freakin’ good I feel….

[author unknown]

How to put on your pants

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Doing things differently is a good way to train your brain. Do you always hold your tooth brush in your right hand? Next time use your left hand. It could feel weird, but the brain has to train other connections to do the brushing properly. Your mind is namely being feeded with new information.

Another example? Do you always use your right leg first by putting on your pants. Change it, left leg first. Wanna start your day completely different? Here some put-on-your-pants-moves. Don’t try this at home. Or should you?

The Horse Boy

A couple of days ago I saw a documentary called “The Horse Boy”. It’s the heartwarming tale of 6-year old Rowan, who has autism, and his parents’ quest to find healing, relief and improve the quality of their son’s life.

Having tried all sorts of therapies, diets, textbook advice to get a hold of his stressful tantrums, Rowan finds a real sense of relaxation and enjoyment sitting and lying on the back of a horse. And it inspires his dad, and after some back-and-forth also his mum, to go on an epic journey to and through Mongolia – known for its horse riding nomads and its shaman traditions.

What follows is a story of doubt – taking Rowan out of his trusted environment: are we good parents, will the stress not traumatize their little boy. A story of adjusted expectations. And a story of love, hope and joy.

Watching The Horse Boy left me with a sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the sensibility of the animals – in this documentary ranging from horses to goats and reindeer – and the patience and care they showed towards Rowan, helping him to relax and open up. And gratitude for the mysticism of nature and beyond, and the people most connected to it. You almost want to pack your bags and spend the rest of your life in a yurt… Almost…

Go watch it, here is the trailer.

The beat goes on

I had an epiphany…sort of. I lie in bed, about to go to sleep, playing around with the emWave, this biofeedback device which measures your heart coherence. It indicates your heart rate with a blinking led light. As I lie there in the dark, the room lights up a little with every heart beat: dark – dimly lit – dark – dimly lit… And then it dawned on me: even when I go to sleep in a bit and enter the realm of unicorns and La-la-land… my heart will keep on going…This is Consciousness with a capital C, which runs the whole show; Consciousness that is always on. That, even when I’m sound asleep, is fully awake and does not depend on any awareness or effort on my part. Marvelous.

I pictured myself sleeping while the soft blinking continued, trying to figure and feel how I’m extended beyond the physical me, or at least connected to a larger whole. A drop of water, the wave and the ocean: where does me (no, definitely no capital M) fit into this picture? I’ve had many rational musings on and an intellectual grasp of this stuff, but I really liked this visual image of a blinking frequency.

And I wondered…who or what is beating my heart, or is this an illusionary duality? Who or what constantly lights me up throughout my nights, days, weeks and months? Will it ever retire, throw in the towel? Or will the beat go on forever?

Me and my heart

Finally there it was: the parcel with my HeartMath emWave (see post December 9). I had to postpone my excitement for another 2 hours: the battery needed charging. But eventually the whole show could get started. I held my thumb on the button to check my heartbeat and awaited the ‘verdict’ of the machine. RED! I felt relaxed, but the Machine came up with some contrary inside information. Talking about a reality check…….

I started to adapt my breathing to the pacer, indicated by some led lights. At first I felt a little light-headedness and some tingling. I guess I was focussing too much on my breathing. It’s also a little mind-game. (‘Red? Why doesn’t the light turn green? I am breathing thoroughly, I am at ease. Hello body, green light please. Ah, there it is……’)

And there is some competitive element involved. At least to me there is. When I am in sync for 5 seconds, or coherent as they say, I ‘earn’ 1 led light. And every 5 seconds another light lights up (but when I am out of coherence I loose 1 light). And after 15 lights in a row a whole session is completed. And yes, a big smile on my face after getting to that first finish line.

I already tested several things with the included heart rate sensor attached to my ear: reading, sitting, driving and so on. And in the evening I listened to a trance session by Paul McKenna. After 30 minutes I checked the emWave: totally green and I earned a bunch of lights. A juicy high score for day #1!

The great thing about this device is that I can check in with my body and mind: am I truly at ease? And how does it feel being at ease? It’s really good stuff. I might get addicted to my heart. Give me more……