As a meditator and mindfulness meditation teacher, I’ve learned that practicing mindfulness is not only about paying attention to what is happening here and now. It’s also about discernment, about choosing what to focus on.
These days, I often find myself dwelling on the upheavals taking place all over the world, the injustice, the violence, the lack of tolerance and understanding of our common humanity, the pollution of our mother earth.
However, amid this sea of troubles, I know I can’t let my mind become polluted. I—and all of us—need to purify our thoughts, clarify our intentions, and focus on the contributions we can make to positive change in our lives and those around us.
We need a positive focal point, an image, an experience, a memory, and a vision that can sustain us.
In my book, Follow Your Creative Spirit: Bring Your Art to Life, I describe a meditation on beauty I learned from Dorothy Maclean (January 7, 1920-March 12, 2020), one of the founders of the Findhorn Foundation, when I visited the Scottish eco-village in 2009.
Findhorn began when a small group arrived at a barren plot of land. Maclean discovered she could intuitively contact a type of plant intelligence called ‘devas’ and received instructions on cultivating the land.
Through her vision, that of co-founders Eileen and Peter Caddy, and their subsequent work, what was once a wasteland eventually became a thriving garden of vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
We may not all be able to accomplish such an incredible feat, but we can all choose what we will focus on and, in that way, contribute to a more positive future.
Even when we feel downcast and find it challenging to be inspired, we can use our imagination to return to the memory of a beautiful place in nature where we have been, a time with a dear friend or pet, an occasion when we felt at ease.
Recall the experience in a relaxed way. Allow the warm feelings to return. This method can dissipate a dark mood or sense of frustration.
Then, you can use the same power to envision something you want to accomplish in your life, whether a creative project, a business venture, or a new habit.
“There is no doubt that the planet is going through a transformation where all of us are learning to recognize our wholeness. The soul is being grounded in a new way. As we bring love into all things we transform the planet into a higher vibration.”
—Dorothy Maclean
