How can we maintain awareness throughout our busy days?.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
“Over the past 2-3 years I have made tremendous changes in my life; I have begun meditating, reflecting, growing, and healing… it has been a miraculous journey with spectacular changes.
However, the one thing I continue to struggle with is maintaining awareness throughout my day.
My days most often start with awareness, gratitude, and happiness but as the day progresses I find myself falling back into my old patterns and behaviors – ones that have never served me much in the past (stress, anxiety, feelings of being overwhelmed).
In spite of my best efforts, as the mother of 2 young children and a mound of responsibilities and commitments, I lose myself in my day.
As often as I can I will catch myself and say “Where did I go there?” but not long after that, I’m lost in the fog again.
When I’m home in silence and solitude, it comes easy.
When I step into my day and all of its craziness, it’s much more challenging.
Do you have any suggestions on how I might find more ways to maintain a sense of mindfulness, peace, and serenity throughout my day?
Something you said on Oprah that really stood out for me was when you said “My body is busy but I am not”…I loved that!
How can I get to a place where my body may be busy but I am not?”
Response:
Self-awareness is the silent presence of our true self in the midst of daily life.
We don’t need to try to hold it or maintain it throughout our day.
It is enough to meditate and then go about our regular activity and the growth of silence will incrementally grow stronger and permanent.
In India, the example is given of dyeing a cloth yellow in a vat and then hanging it in the sun to dry and fade.
As it fades the yellow dye starts to become colorfast in the cloth.
Again it is dipped in the vat and again the yellow fades, but now it is the color is stronger and more permanent.
This dipping and fading continues until the sun can no longer fade the cloth.
When we meditate and imbue our awareness with silence, it is like dipping the cloth in the vat, and our daily activity is like putting the cloth in the sunshine because of the way in which our silence and peace from meditation fades away.
But that daily activity is also the means through which that silence becomes a permanent part of our awareness.
In time, no matter how busy our bodies and our minds are, our true self remains still and open.
Love,
Deepak
