Plastic Free July Day 14

I was cleaning out my shed yesterday getting it ready to convert to a hen house.  During the process I removed enough tape and labels from cardboard boxes to fill a grocery bag.  I also found two small to medium size boxes with polystyrene foam peanuts (which I can now recycle).  Then I found a box containing plastic bags of all sizes and a plastic picnic plate.  The plate was a remnant of a Christmas gift someone had given me--goodies wrapped in cellophane on a blue plastic plate, and tied with plastic ribbon.

So much plastic tucked away--in storage, no less.  You might wonder why I would do that, but I have been recycling since the 1980s and it's become some kind of weird obsession to hang on to something until I find a way to recycle it.  Because I have seen recycling evolve (I remember when they didn't take batteries; and when they first started taking plastic bottles, but wouldn't take yogurt containers.)

If someone gives me a gift on a plastic plate, my gratitude comes into conflict with my heart sinking at the prospect of dealing with yet another piece of plastic.  And if I get overwhelmed and chuck it into the garbage, my guilt deals harshly with me as if I've committed mortal sin against Planet Earth, which truly I have - because I know better.  So I will find things tucked away every now and then.

This is a living example of the plastic problem in miniature.  Around the globe, the way to deal with trash is to "put it into storage" by burying it in the ground or dumping it in the ocean.  But it's still always there.  And it's growing.

Am I singing The Plastic Blues?  Well, maybe a little.

There really is only one solution.  And the answer isn't so much in the recycling of it, as it is in simply not creating it any more.

There is no need to create disposable items out of non degradable materials.  

That doesn't even make sense.

My solution is to stop allowing it in my life, while at the same time, trying to find an ethical, responsible way to get rid of the useless plastic items I still have.

Reduce Reuse Recycle was my mantra.  Now Plastic Free heads that list.

Stress Reduction

Here is a little exercise I use for stress reduction.  If it seems familiar to you, it's from a post I wrote earlier entitled Neutralizing Stress.

Take a deep breath and bring your awareness into you body.  And just notice for a moment being present with your body.  What are you feeling within? What are you noticing? Notice the contact with the surface you're sitting or standing on.  Notice your clothes against  your skin.  Notice the air temperature, etc. But also notice your inner sensations, like any aches or subtle sensations, and how you're feeling emotionally.

You can take as long as you like with this.  And when you're ready, shift your focus to your heart field, which is the electromagnetic field generated by your heart. 

Just spend a little time focusing your awareness on your heart field.  Don't think about it, but feel it, if you can.  Just noticing it, is enough. 

I picture it as warm soft golden light radiating out from my heart.  I allow my focus to be as soft and diffused as the golden light I am seeing.  Just a soft awareness mingling with my heart field.  Just allowing myself to be present with that energy.

I invite you to practice doing this at least twice a day.  It only takes a few minutes.  You can do it as often as you think of it.

The reason this is important is because when you have trained your awareness to go automatically and easily into your heart field, you have amazing medicine at your disposal, you have an amazing tool for changing your experience and you have powerful protection from negative influence which you may feel are threatening your well being.

Neutralizing Stress

We live in a very high stress environment, and most people feel the affects of that.  There is so much going on in the world to divide attention and to distract.  A divided attention adds mental and emotional stress.

Add to that the physical stress caused to the body either from trauma or environmental factors as your immune system is taxed and your digestion is asked to compensate for processed foods and toxins.

And to top it off, there is the stress caused by trying to figure it all out.

This is the prescription I try always to remember to use.  When I feel overwhelmed, I have learned to remind myself  to stay in my heart field.  To stay present with my heart.

But how to do this?  I admit it takes practice and focus, but like any discipline it becomes automatic the more this practice is engaged in.

This is the exercise I use:

1.  Take a deep breath and bring full awareness into your body.  Just notice for a moment being present with your body.  What are you feeling within? What are you noticing? Notice the contact with the surface you're sitting or standing on.  Notice your clothes against  your skin.  Notice the air temperature, etc. But also notice your inner sensations, like any aches or subtle sensations, and how you're feeling emotionally.

2.  You can take as long as you like with this.  And when you're ready, shift your focus to your heart field, which is the electromagnetic field generated by your heart. 

Just spend a little time focusing your awareness on your heart field.  Don't think about it, but feel it, if you can.  Just noticing it, is enough. 

I picture it as warm soft golden light radiating out from my heart.  I  allow my focus to be as soft and diffused as the golden light I am seeing.  Just a soft awareness mingling with my heart field.  Just allowing myself to be present with that energy.

I invite you to practice doing this at least twice a day.  It only takes a few minutes.  You can do it as often as you think of it.

The reason this is important is because when you have trained your awareness to go automatically and easily into your heart field, you have amazing medicine at your disposal.   You have an amazing tool for changing your experience.  You have powerful protection from negative influences which you may feel are threatening your well being.  Because this excericise changes your perception of your experience.

Here are some variations on this exercise which may benefit and serve you.

1.     The next time you are reading an article, or you are watching or listening to a program which causes you to become agitated or angry or sad or overwhelmed or any emotion which does not feel good to you, take a moment to notice how it is making you feel.  Then allow your awareness to shift to your heart field.  Keep your attention there.  Now how are you feeling?  Which would you rather experience?  Which do you think is doing more harm to you?  And which is healing you?

For people who want to stay informed, without experiencing the negative effects of doing so…(remember the information we get is not coming to us first hand, but being reported through the perspective of the person writing or speaking the information)…being present in your heart field will keep you from dwelling in the perspective which would have a negative impact on your body, mind and spirit.

2.     The next time you are having an angry interaction with another person, rather than letting it escalate into a barrage of hostility with toxic words and feelings, go immediately to your heart field.  Stay there and watch the encounter change miraculously before your eyes.

This exercise takes a lot of practice and the ability to remain calm and focused when faced with hostile emotions. It also requires a willingness to surrender your investment in needing to be "right" or "win" an argument.

Anger is a natural emotion, and expressed in a healthy, non toxic way, can move you forward.  Interacting with people while being present in your heart field allows you to maintain your emotional equilibrium, keeping emotions non toxic.

3.     Being fearful, can also keep us in a state of overwhelm and keep us frozen and stuck.  In that state we are not fully living.  We are not realizing our potential.  We are instead, using up our precious internal energy resources dealing with distractions not worthy of us.

So what are some of the things that cause you fear or cause you worry?  Sit with one of your worst fears for a moment and tune into what that does to your body.  How does it feel --in your body?

Now put your awareness on your heart field.  How does that change your perception of that thing you fear?  Are you getting any insights about it?  Is that fear maybe softening it's hold on you a little bit?

Try using these exercises to engage your heart field awareness with your daily life.  Allow yourself to find ways to stay present in your heart field as much as you can.

When ever you are noticing anything which doesn’t make you feel good, go to your heart field.  See if it makes a difference for you.