Photo by Catriona
"Everything is on fire, but everyone I love is doing beautiful things and trying to make life worth living, and I know I don't have to believe in everything, but I believe in that." ~Nikita Gill
Within today's atmosphere of economic anxiety, planetary degradation, and political volatility, many of us are coming to terms with the truth that we are all deeply connected — and that we had better get our act together soon.
In certain circles, it's understood (at least intellectually) that all the dimensions of our humanness — spirit, body, community, heart, and mind — are parts of the whole. Having outgrown the confines of practicing strictly as a psychotherapist, and being a Community College teacher, I think a lot about the emergence of a new consciousness.
Below are some of the threads I'm striving to follow in hopes of forming a coherent picture.
Presence in Disquieting Times
If I am to be of any use in these turbulent times, I feel obliged to amplify my capacity for being present. I am trying to listen more deliberately with my heart and to pay attention to more than what my intellect alone can grasp.
Over 30 years ago, Dr Edwin Friedman said that if we want to hold a non-anxious presence for our clients, students, mentees, or children, we should follow our intuition. Data, he explained, tends to endlessly multiply. The relentless pursuit of facts can heighten anxiety and eventually lead to exhaustion. Since his death in 1996, the pace of life has only accelerated — and it is increasingly overwhelming to process all the information (much of it traumatic in it's content) we're accessing on a daily basis.
A Shift in Awareness
I envisage teachers, therapists, leaders, and coaches being called upon to align with their purpose and to grow from a more stable position — both developmentally and through our individual energy systems.
We're shifting from linear, three-dimensional thinking to fourth (and even fifth) dimensional thinking. This means moving our awareness upward from the third chakra (solar plexus) to the fourth chakra (heart).
Deepak Chopra once wrote in The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success:
"The heart is intuitive; it's holistic, it's contextual, it's relational. It doesn't have a win-lose orientation. It taps into the cosmic computer — the field of pure potentiality, pure knowledge, and infinite organising power — and takes everything into account. At times it may not even seem rational, but the heart has a computing ability that is far more accurate and precise than anything within the limits of rational thought."
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We are learning to pay more attention to what I once heard called "below the waterline" — vibrations, the subtle energy that often communicates more than words.
As The Little Prince reminds us:
"What is essential is invisible to the eye." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Feminine Consciousness & Collaboration
There has been talk now for years, of an emerging Feminine Consciousness. It's not just Girl Power time – but it's time to soften and ground our strength, and our compassion, as well as our ability to connect, no matter what gender we belong to! Many of us have spent years developing relational abilities often associated with the feminine aspects of our psyches. As we lead from our hearts, we also move into more collaborative ways of being with one another.
Traditionally, humans are thought to respond to danger with fight or flight. Research, however, shows that we can have a third response: To tend and befriend.
History is filled with examples of courageous, heart-centred people who backed civil rights movements, supporting marginalised groups in their pursuit of equality. A horizontal, heart-to-heart connection negates the need for hierarchy. Hierarchical leadership, in fact, has endangered us all — and is proving unsustainable.
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Embracing the Web of Life
The concept of the web of life is gaining traction in our emerging world culture. Integrity, diversity, multiculturalism, holistic health — all are terms pointing to the need for a vision of humanity that includes all aspects of ourselves, individually and collectively.
We have seen how rigid, right/wrong, either/or thinking in religion and politics can be destructive. We're being called to expand our view of the world we live in. Today, we are called to weave together and integrate multiple truths, creatively assembling all parts of a wholistic lens.
Martin Luther King once said:
"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."
As a rebel and free spirit myself, I find comfort here. In order to be free, it's time to tend to our responsibilities differently. I have a suggestion for a sustainable way how to think about ourselves, our capacity for growth, and out ability to serve humanity in whatever way we are called to:
The Hara: Our Energetic Skeleton
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Deeper even than the physical body, where life itself is pulsating, beneath even the energy structures known as the aura with its' chakra system, lies the Hara — our energetic skeleton. The Hara provides the foundational structure for everything that is alive in us to hang on. It holds our individual purpose and is aligned with universal purpose. Connecting to and acting from this dimension entails only harmony. No competition, no boundary violations.
At a vibrational level, the Hara is our unique musical note. When 'played', it is in perfect harmony with the universe. Though life's struggles may distort it, once we tune into this place of alignment, we encounter our home. From this solid base, we can more naturally do the teaching, healing, and leading we are called to do.
The Hara is actually a whole dimensional system that includes the Soul Seat — the seat of our deepest longing. When I work with people to access this longing, it is a key with which they can access and name their dreams, because when we allow our longing to be felt, there emerges a gravitational pull towards them.
Towards a Re-Awakening
Much of what I learned at the Leadership Institute of Seattle, and from thinkers such as Edwin Friedman, Parker Palmer, Carl Whittaker, and Deepak Chopra, continues to hold wisdom and value. In the 30 years since, like many of us, I've worked to embody more of that wisdom.
Some years ago, I wrote these words while working with the Hara system of therapists and facilitators seeking deeper alignment with their purpose:
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"In order for us each to awaken to our individual purpose, we have to let down our defences. When we do, we become more present to our thoughts, emotions and bodies. To be aware in this way is to be empowered, to be grounded in the earth's life force, and to be more naturally connected to one another. Once aware of the emotional and energetic realms, learning becomes embodied knowing. Moreover, an expansion takes place in our minds and hearts, enabling us to feel the connection we have always had, to what eco-psychologists call the 'web of life'. One's true purpose is aligned with this universal support system." — Catriona O'Curry
So today we are called to this re-awakening of a feminine way of knowing…. Which is much needed medicine for our times… Our times require a re-balancing of the masculine and feminine ways of being, and a re-integration of ways of being that many Indigenous cultures held for eons… Their ancient wisdom, along with a comprehensive, modern understanding of living systems, and a genuinely wholistic way of being… are what we need now to create a new way forward for humanity.
Catriona O'Curry, M.A., A.B.S. is based in Cataluña.
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About the Author: Catriona O'Curry
