Perspective and Perception
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| Many ways to perceive |
The world as we see it is not what we think it is. We have been taught to see a certain way, often limiting our ability to see what is actually happening. We can call this “conditioning,” or “programming.”
Changing the way we think…
…Means changing the way we create our lives…
Our bodies produce feelings and emotions based on what we think and how we think. Then our thoughts often reflect the emotional state or feeling, resulting in a constant dance between reactions. For example, we see a cat catching a bird and think, “how horrible.” Then our body produces a feeling we label as “horrible.” We may feel repulsed or angry, but is this really horrible? Who are we to judge what life is doing?
By judging ourselves and others and life, we create unnecessary tension within ourselves. By looking at the negatives in our lives, like how sick we may feel or how little money we have, we set up a feedback loop of suffering.
We are always creating. We cannot not create. The old healing traditions point to this, and I have seen through my practice that this is so. We create by how we think, what we say, how we say it, and through our actions. With thinking, we also create an emotional reaction, which creates more thoughts, as our mind perceives the feeling of the emotion. It can be a viscous cycle. (this can be either a blissful cycle or a viscous cycle depending on where our attention is fixated).
Try this:
Decide to choose to feel a little better by focusing your attention on the things that are working in your health.
Use this checklist as a guide if need be.
Sleep – find something to look forward to as you wake up. Focus on really feeling how good it will feel to have what you have looked forward to. Something that feels opening, expanding and bright. And as the duller, or more unpleasant sensations arise, the ones we tend to push away, they get to be seen from a new perspective. We start to find ourselves sleeping more soundly, and waking more satisfied. But start with achievable, yet challenging goals. I will often see myself feeling open, enthusiastic, and curious about a person I have a meeting with, or a client. After years of practicing this, I can honestly say that my interactions with others is much more satisfying. Life begins to conspire with us as we allow ourselves to be pulled into it. I like to find and move with a feeling of going downstream. Try it out.
Another effective method is a body scan.
Feel each part of your body, do not try and change anything, just let it be. Send love to each body part in support for how it feels. I like to feel the weight of my body on the floor, or on the chair, and breathe in love and support, and exhale tension. See each part full of life and energy.
Start with your toes on the left foot, go to the foot, then the ankle, then the lower leg, then knee, then upper leg, then do the right leg and foot. Now do the left glut, right glut, pelvis, sex organs, low back, mid-back, upper back, then lower belly, upper belly, diaphragm, chest, sternum. Now do the left arm, starting with each finger, then hand, then wrist, then forearm, then elbow, then upper arm. Now the right arm. Now do the neck and throat, back of head, face with each sensory organ, like mouth, nose, ears, eyes, and forehead. Finish with the scalp.
Movement/exercise/creative expression – try shaking out any tension, shake for the fun of it, see the tension going out of yourself!
Try out this link, do one of these exercises
Scroll down to the bottom and choose Energization, 5 Tibetans, or The Peaceful Warrior Workout
A Shining Example of how perception affects us is just below. (this was taken from an email with no credits given in that email)
Carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see." "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? How is your perspective? Does it feel good inside?
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