Since 1992
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By Karen Vasil-Busch
Each day is a new day and the best day of my life; as I change my thoughts, the world around me changes. I am in the process of positive changes, and I experience miracles each and every day. I am living the best decade of my life, and you can, too. Perhaps there are days when optimism runs rampart in our lives and other times when it doesn’t. Thankfully, there is hope for all of us.
Modern neuroscience shows our brain is pliable. Donald J. Hebb, the founding father of modern neuropsychology, says “Neurons that fire together wire together.” This is very good news, because it allows us to proceed with the business of “undoing” habits that no longer serve us, replacing them with new, life-affirming activities.
New ways to exercise for health and fitness ask us to participate in relearning the body’s natural state, which is one of relaxation, ease and joy. Practices such as pranayama (breath awareness), Feldenkrais (sensory motor learning) and meditation assist us in replacing negative beliefs about exercise and fitness. This is accomplished by going beneath the surface to polish the mirror of our consciousness. Replacing the word “try” and “should” with “willing to” (as in leading forth) and “could,” we eagerly look forward to each new day by noticing the ordinary small miracles each day brings; the glorious sunrise, natural cycles of the season, spring turning into summer and the miracle of our own body becoming healthier and stronger are all examples of awakening into a world filled with new possibilities.
Daily routines for waking up each morning — routines from ancient traditions such as Ayurveda, the science of life — plant seeds of health and longevity, because these rhythms follow the cycles of nature. Replacing old, worn out ideas and habits with those that support living a life with ease and with joy, we replenish and awaken the joy of living in our body. Mind/body lifestyle habits embedded with the natural grace of postural awareness, that Feldenkrais engenders, and breath awareness (pranayama) that bring new energy into our body through our breath, awaken a capacity for improved health and well being. So it is with each succeeding year we look forward to a life of greater joy and ease. Meditation improves the mind, and if you can think, you can meditate! Every day we apply positive lifestyle habits from Ayurveda, including meditation and yoga, we demonstrate to ourselves and to the world we are living the best decade of our lives.
The human body is much more that a collection of mechanical parts; in fact it, is not mechanical at all, rather a living, breathing life-affirming matrix mirroring the cosmos. The relationship between body and mind is subtle and reflective. Whatever we think upon, whatever the mind rests upon, we become. It is just that simple. The expanded field of neuropsychology implies the power of our thoughts have a positive effect upon our health if we use our minds to create good thoughts about our health. Our consciousness is a mirror; that which we see, we choose to believe.
The mind is the software running the computer. The thoughts you think create your life experiences. Did you know recalled experiences, particularly strong ones, light up the same area in the brain that current experiences do? Top athletes know this; their trainers run them through the course successfully in their mind before they compete. Meditation is the art of skillful awareness. One way of meditating is to observe our thoughts. This enables us to become aware of our thoughts as they arise into the field of our consciousness, like a picture playing on a movie screen we observe without judgment. One thought arises, then another and another; soon we see this stream of thought is only just that. Deeper reflection reveals thoughts are fleeting and impermanent; thoughts rise and fall like the ebb and flow of the ocean.
Give yourself permission to meditate each day, if only for five minutes, and you will be training the powerful software of your mind. We begin to “wake up” to our full potential as a human being when we slow down to practice meditation every day because we learn the art of discernment. Awakening is an art, like a journey through a labyrinth. It occurs as a gradual unfolding, and with it comes discernment — a choice state — very different from discrimination.
When we perform the act of discernment, we practice discrimination at a higher level. We are not judging “this” or “that” as “good” or “bad.” We become selective sifters whose vibrational frequencies contain within it integration at its base level. That fundamental base has a value, and that value is our coming to know deep within the center of our being that every sentient being wants the same thing in life — to be happy. Our spirit gravitates, like the moon around the sun, attracting happiness for our selves, others and the world at large.
In his book, “The Art of Happiness,” the Dalai Lama writes that in Buddhism there are four noble truths. The first contains within it the seeds of our “suffering” — the nature of impermanence. Illness, old age and death, as inevitable as they are, do not cause suffering. In the immortal words of a friend, admonishing the so-called “emergencies” of life, “If nobody died, then there is no problem!” Skillful use of discernment concerning threat assessment is key to maintaining inner calm and equilibrium giving rise to happiness.
Receiving therapies structured around a “conscious vibrational awareness,” such as Ayurveda, are very powerful, because there is a deliberate intent to follow a path containing a focus of healing from within. Through conscious observation of the natural world, the Sadhus (saints) and Rishis (wise men) of India deliberately created a health plan for the people of their community. More than 5,000 years old, this plan is called Ayurveda — “Ayur,” to see, and “Veda,” laws of life. This conscious medicine creates resilience in your mind/body complex, reflecting back powerful awakenings to you in the mirror of your consciousness. The refinement of “conscious connection” during sessions of yoga, meditation or bodywork makes us better human beings. Receiving this work, you influence your world in a highly positive way, and the people around you feel this effect. This returns into your immediate world, making you happier, which spreads and grows like a groundswell, filling the world with healthy, happy and whole people. May there be awakenings for all sentient beings.
Karen Vasil-Busch, LMT, registered Ayurvedic practictitoner and certified Yin Restorative yoga teacher, is the owner of “BodyWise Therapy Massage and Ayurveda.” She can be reached at 207-336-2065 or www.karenvasilbusch.com._
