Sabbath for Energy

Sunday is my day to be quiet (at least for a while), with the spirit, in contemplation and prayer, and in community with nature and other bipeds.

Today I have a good deal of community interaction, so I'll bolster my soul with time in the garden this morning. The sabbath is a celebration, a holiday - I will keep it holy with my attitude: no complaining, or worrying.

We are in the yin time of the waning gibbous moon - a time to receive the fruits of our labors.

Agenda:

1. Read "Your Heart Was Made for This"

2. Discern my receptivity

3. Love meditation

4. Expressing Needs in the World

1. Read "Your Heart Was Made for This":

I'm reading this book by Oren Jay Sofer (2023), with the subtitle, "Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love". It has 26 short chapters on innate qualities we each have, that we can cultivate and develop as inner and external expression, meant to be read and practiced in order, one each every 1-2 weeks.

Part One explores six core qualities, and the third is Energy, the vital force that powers our bodies and minds. We must apply effort with balance - daily, patient, steady work. Sustainable energy. "To become wise stewards ... we must ... move to using more renewable resources." He's talking both about the earth and our selves. "The effects of colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy have disconnected us profoundly from the land and the natural cycles of our lives. ... Becoming aware of the structured nature of these conditions help us see that taking care of ourselves can be a radical act. This kind of self-care subverts the exploitive approach to energy, reclaiming our rights to a more renewable, life-giving energy within."

Reflection: Consider how I use my energy, and notice when it is present and absent. Consider what the needs are that I am meeting when expending energy - being aware of my purpose might shift my available energy. Consider also how I renew  and sustain my energy.

2. Discern my receptivity:

This yin time after the full moon is the best time to open myself to accept the gifts of the universe. But this is also time of discernment - what gifts do I want and need at this time? Look again at my intentions to remember what I've asked for, and record any small gifts I've received.

Journal: I've received a great deal of calmness just from the practice of noticing my feelings of impatience and annoyance. Also, I've received some sense of synergy and excitement for painting again!

Next, discern what it is I want to continue to receive, and how I b can best open to it. Things I want to receive this month:

• Equanimity and calm - work with anger management book;
• Energy and motivation to finish house painting - set out supplies each morning;
• Camp preparedness - block out time each pm;
• Steady writing - keep my writing time sacred.
• Meaningful Earthcare involvement - open to a new daily Earthcare action time.
• Continued enjoyment of watercolors - plan simple, meaningful projects

 

3. Love Meditation:

Every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon, I practice a love meditation that progresses from receptivity, to gratitude, to generosity. 

Day 1: Practice a love meditation, and open to receive blessings - send a prayer to the universe asking to be showered with love, kindness, health, and happiness.

1. 1 minute - Relax your body, and focus on the tender emotion of generous love. Allow a smile to settle on your face and in your heart.
2. 1 minute - Visualize love as soft, tingly, warm, pink light, and see it move from your heart to every part of your body so that every cell is glowing and vibrating.
3. 1 minute - Now see the pink light of love radiating to fill the whole room, then the whole city, and the whole planet earth.
4. 1 minute - See that all people, plants, and animals feel warm and happy.
5. 1 minute - Send an extra dose of love light to those people you want to have a better connection to.

3. Expressing Needs in the World:

On Sundays I often go through this Ongo practice to define the Needs I want to express: 

1. Sit for a couple minutes and then invite in three questions, and write the answers in my journal:

• "If I knew this was the last week of my life, what is one Need or quality of life I'd like to be or express more fully?" 
• "What's one quality of life I'd like to contribute more to one of my relationships?"
• "Whats one quality of life I'd like to contribute more to my community?" 

2. Consider each of these Needs, one at a time, and feel the surge of this energy in my body. 

3. Invite myself to take one action each day this week to express the energy of one of these Needs, or bring it alive in my relationships. Be sure it's done in the spirit of invitation, not demand, and that it is specific and doable.

4. After doing the action, be sure to take a minute to visualize the happiness or fulfillment I experience, and extend it out to all beings.

The Needs that come to me today are self-expression, reassurance, and aspiration. After sitting with the energy of these, I've listed some ideas for action:

• Calmness: Continue to record anger and calmness; continue to work at anger management.  
• Communication: Listen and share in an intentional way.
• Aspiration: Set clear intentions and act on them with steady energy.