Posts Tagged ‘Listening’
Another Growing Edge and Sacred Journey to Peru
Thursday, May 24th, 2012
On May 24 I fly to Peru to take part in a sacred journey. I will travel to the sacred sites of Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, Lake Titicaca, and the Crystal City of Machu Picchu. The journey is an opportunity to deepen my practices as a teacher and student of the Andean Master Path of the Inkan Cosmology. I have wanted to go for years.
My growing edge is calling me to South America. And my mind is turning up the voice of doubt. I hear my doubt voice as a constant question: “Are you sure you want to travel for 11 days on a trip that you don’t know anyone and in a country you don’t speak the native language?” Then, there is the travel within Peru itself. I will be traveling by plane, bus, and train with at least 15 strangers and staying in at least five hotels.
Maybe our growing edges are the places that call us to do more and be more. Maybe our growing edge is ready for us to reach out our arms and stretch father than we have before. Maybe our growing edge is beyond our limited mind (thinking) and calls us to listen to our unlimited heart (being).
Maybe our growing edge wakes us up to who we really are in the world. My growing edge is inviting me to be adventurous, curious, and courageous. Machu Picchu here I come!
What is your growing edge saying to you?
Mary Anne
Lessons Learned from Uncertainty
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
I have been listening to the message of uncertainty lately. There is some uncertainty about some of my projects ending and where to grow in the next phase of my business. I have noticed that when I am in my head, I want immediate answers. And when I am in my heart, I allow the universe to show me where to go next. Blazing the next trail requires me to align my head and heart in both the knowing and unknowing parts of life.
And as always happens when I am open and willing to listen (without solving), the universe provides more clarity and a message. This time it came through my friend’s, Joe Monkman, blog post. He wrote this week:
“Are you open to believing that the next step awaits? Are you open to knowing that the path you have chosen is absolutely in line with your highest good? Are you open to continuing to forge what may seem to you and others to be an unusual path?
The unusual is calling. The extraordinary is beckoning. The road less traveled awaits.”
Yes, the unusual is calling me. I am certain of my uncertainty and open to seeing the next step that awaits. The road of more joy, growing edges, and bliss awaits me – for that I am certain!
Mary Anne
Befriending Ourselves – Again
Tuesday, March 27th, 2012
As we enter a new season here on the East Coast, I am reminded of all the new growth that is (always) possible. It’s a season of renewal and new life emerging from the earth. I catch myself in awe of the beauty of Spring and its bursting of colors. Perhaps because it seems earlier than usual, the trees and flowers look brighter. I find myself asking, “Was that magnolia always that pink?” And I have found myself befriending Spring. What or who else is there to befriend?
I want to emerge from the earth the way the flowers do – slowly, effortlessly, and with joy. To emerge, I must befriend myself. But how? In her book, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, Dawna Markova speaks about personal renewal and living with purpose. She writes about entering the abyss and entering life with wholeheartedness. One of Markova’s paragraphs spoke powerfully to me:
So many of us are afraid of meeting ourselves, alone, without distraction. We have been taught to fashion an image of who we think we are supposed to be and show that to the world. Through the fear of knowing who we really are we sidestep our own destiny, which leaves us hungry in a famine of our own making. Each of us is here to give something that only we can offer, and when we avoid knowing ourselves, we end up living numb, passionless lives, disconnected from our soul’s true purpose. But when you have the courage to shape your life from the essence of who you are, you ignite, becoming truly alive. This requires letting go of everything that is inauthentic. But how can you know your truth unless you slow down, in your own quiet company?
How can I befriend myself like I am this Spring season?
Yours in friendship, Mary Anne
Life Is Speaking, Are You Listening?
Thursday, November 4th, 2010
“You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time.” –M. Scott Peck
As I stood in the subway car, a lady started talking to me and I realized after a few moments I had stopped listening. She was complaining about the delays and it seemed like she would never stop talking. By the time I reached my office, I realized I heard what she was saying, but not really listening to what she was saying.
There are days when listening seems more difficult – due to the noises outside and all the chatter going on inside. Some of my best listening happens when I am using my whole body – when I can let go of any response of what I need to say and just listen.
As Peter Senge says, “To listen fully means to pay close attention to what is being said beneath the words. You listen not only to the ‘music,’ but to the essence of the person speaking. You listen not only for what someone knows, but for what he or she is. Ears operate at the speed of sound, which is far slower than the speed of light the eyes take in. Generative listening is the art of developing deeper silences in yourself, so you can slow our mind’s hearing to your ears’ natural speed, and hear beneath the words to their meaning.”
When we are truly listening, we become present to all that is around us. Noise can transform into sounds. Listening requires us to pay attention and gives us the ability to have greater focus. Are you willing to listen below the noises?
Practice: Close your eyes and listen to the sounds surrounding you. Can you hear the leaves, the birds, or a sunrise? What is your heart saying?
And remember the advice of Native American seers: speak only half as much as you listen.
Life is speaking, are you listening?
Mary Anne
Are You Taking Up a Seat?
Monday, May 17th, 2010
I have noticed more and more people sitting and taking up two seats on the subway. Most seem oblivious to the fact that they are stretched out while others are crammed into a subway car. I, like many others, have approached these folks to politely ask to sit down. There are folks who take up only one seat and are just as oblivious. While sitting at baseball games I have seen a lot of folks in very expensive seats who are busy texting, emailing, and some even leaving for two innings or more.
These experiences led me to start thinking about all the times we take up a seat in life. What we do while in our seat, how we offer others our seat, and what we contribute while in that seat is what really matters. What will you do with your chance to sit in that seat? What value do you want to offer others – even when it is difficult – even when your voice is the opposite one of what is being said? How many meetings, conventions, or events do you want to attend and not offer anything to the conversation?
How many times have I taken up a seat and have not been present to the conversation or what is happening around me? Next time I take up a seat, what will my contribution be?
Is that seat taken?
Mary Anne
The Power of Silence
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
George Prochnik wrote an editorial in the New York Times entitled Now Don’t Hear This. The editorial shared that last Wednesday was International Noise Awareness Day and that in New York a grass roots organization has been educating people about the harmful effects of noise for more than 15 years. The author said that perhaps it’s not noise awareness we need, but silence awareness. We already know the consequences of constant noise to our health – physically, emotionally and psychologically.
Rather than just talk about the negative effects of noise, we can spend time educating people on the positive effects of silence. Many meditation practitioners have shared that silent meditation increases their ability to concentrate. The editorial reveals that teachers who introduce silence into their classrooms said it fosters learning. And even hospitals that have “quiet zones” received validation in recent studies linking silence and healing.
What would happen if we would take time out in our day to be quiet? Perhaps we would discover more quiet within. We might even discover some powerful listening techniques we never had before. In a society filled with loud sounds of cars, sirens, planes or even the constant hum and buzz of computers, we could think about how to experience more silence. As Prochnik says, “Even a little bit of silence can create a sense of connection with our environment that diminishes alienation, and prompts a desire to discover more quiet.”
How do you want to create more silence in your life?
Here is to connecting through silence,
Mary Anne
My MTA Mystical Moment
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
- NYC subway
Just when you think you have experienced everything on the NYC subway system, you wake up and realize that new experiences are there waiting for you. Last week, I took the G train to Brooklyn and realized in my almost 20 years in NYC, I had never taken the G train before. I felt like a little kid taking a ride and felt excitement come over me as I discovered new parts of the city.
I wasn’t always open to new subway moments. As a matter of fact, I have had my share (like most New Yorkers) of MTA frustrations, announcements, delays, and cancelled services. Throughout my years taking the MTA subway into Manhattan from the Bronx, I have been delayed by hours due to sick passengers, kicked off the train for unknown reasons, asked to exit through all the cars because of a fire, and left stranded at East 180th Street.
For many years, I had subway anxiety. I worried about getting to work late and panicked when the train was delayed for “traffic ahead.” Having to stand for an hour on the subway also caused a lot of distress. I decided to travel with a good book and iPod to help get me through my ride with more ease. I would tune out the announcements and concentrate on reading and listening to my favorite music or podcasts.
This past week, I had an amazing MTA mystical moment. I was listening to the Oprah-Spirit Channel Podcast – that alone is a mystical moment. I had downloaded a few podcasts that expand my thinking and spark my creativity. On this particular morning, I was listening to an interview with Oprah and Daniel Pink (his book A Whole New Mind is amazing). In the background, the conductor was making announcements about delays. At first I ignored them, but then our train stopped for at least 5 minutes, and the announcement came again, “We are sorry for the delay. There is a police investigation up ahead. As soon as we receive clearance, we will proceed.” Passengers started mumbling, cursing, and rolling their eyes at the announcement.
I thought, ‘I can handle a small delay.’ Then, there was another announcement about the delay. I made my iPod louder to block it. Finally, after the third announcement, the words “police investigation ahead” echoed in the background. I took a breath, closed my eyes, and became still in the midst of a crowded subway car. In that quiet space, I could hear a soft voice inside repeating the words, investigation, investigation, investigation. And the moment came when my mind allowed the questions to come in and I could hear myself ask, “What needs investigation in your life right now? In what areas do you need to investigate?”
I let the questions float without answering them. I began to see a screen of areas in my life that need further exploration. I started my morning by experiencing the delay as an opportunity to investigate parts of my work, relationships, and dreams.
The delay taught me the lesson of slowing down and not rushing from thing to thing. Am I in a rush or is my mind in a rush? Looking for the bigger picture in the smaller moments can be some of the greatest gifts – even with a half hour delay due to a police investigation. I am grateful to the MTA for giving me the mystical moment to slow down and investigate my life. What a beautiful way to start the day! Perfect!
Doing Our Work – One Thought at a Time
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Recently, I read that we have as many as 65, 000 thoughts a day. Imagine if you caught just one thought and held on to it for a moment. What would the thought say? Whatever it is, it is just a thought. No more and no less – until we give it meaning.
I realized how neutral thoughts are after spending a weekend doing The Work with Byron Katie in New York City with over 3oo hundred people. We had the opportunity to inquire deeper about our thoughts after asking four simple and profound questions.
“Is it True?” (Answer with a yes or no only)
“Can you absolutely know that it is true?” (Answer yes or no only)
“How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?”
“Who would you be without the thought?”
Following the four questions is the Turn Around Statement. “Each turnaround is an opportunity to experience the opposite of your original statement and see what you and the person you’ve judged have in common.” (http://www.thework.com)
Throughout the weekend with Katie, I often sat at the edge of my seat, smiling, laughing, crying, sighing, and at moments holding my breath as people told their personal story. Everyone’s story became my story because there was a lesson about a thought I believed about myself that holds me back. As Katie says, “Listen for what we believe along the way that prevents us from living now.” Katie walked participants through The Work – one thought at a time.
We talked about what happens when we react to our thoughts about infidelity, lies, guilt, and even global torture. Katie challenged us to go beyond what others do to us and ask what we do to ourselves with our thoughts. When are we unfaithful to ourselves? What lies have we told ourselves? Where do we wrong others and torture others in our life? Once I believe something terrible about somebody else and it hurts me, and the hurt makes it true – that is my work. As Katie says, “Once I believe the thought, I become responsible.”
During lunch, Katie sat at a table to sign her books. (I love book signings!) As I stood on line waiting, I wondered what I could possibly say to this amazing teacher. When it was my turn, I opened up her book on the table, and in a soft whisper said, “Thank you.” In Katie style, she looked up, held my hand, and said, “Oh, honey, thank you.” Her beautiful crystal blue eyes stared into mine. I leaned in and said, “I am free.” Her eyes and mine both filled with tears as we stood for a moment in silence. Katie, holding my hand tighter, said, “I love you. I love that you are free.” A soft still moment followed by a big deep breath.
Exhale. I am free – one thought at a time.