Yesterday I was the guest minister at the Spiritual Empowerment Center in Baltimore,Maryland. It was incredible experience to visit with this congregation again and share a lesson on “The 7 Keys to Awakening to Purpose.” Brent played about 4 or 5 songs at different times throughout the service, including a few new ones we have been working on. Just prior to me stepping up to the podium, he played one of our new songs, “Quiet.” I was so moved that I began to cry, which is not something most speakers desire to happen just before they step in front of a podium! It was a beautiful service and a wonderful community of people who are so filled with love that it is incredibly easy to come from the heart and speak one’s truth. Interestingly enough, I am also coming to realize that speaking at churches is one of my absolute favorite venues for sharing my soul in a way that truly moves people! It is incredible when “perfect strangers” tell you they love you and not only do you know they really mean it; you feel the same about them too. That is truly a blessing!
This week, one of our members asked me the following questions: “How do you develop so much content?” and “How do you prepare for a talk or a class?” and “How much time to spend preparing for a talk or a speaking engagement?”
Answers: Meditation, Meditation, Mind-mapping, and not a lot of time…
It’s true. It’s easy. It’s miraculous. Thank God!
Any time I am preparing a talk, getting ready to write an article, develop a workshop, prepare for a client session, or spend time writing my next book, I meditate. Oh yeah, and before bed, if I know I am going to be developing a workshop or have writing time the following morning, I also ask for guidance to come during sleep time. This is how I received the entire outline for “The Power of Our Way,” how I proceeded to write the book, and frankly, it is also how most lyrics and good ideas have come to me. Our upcoming Conscious Dialogue event came to me during a brief meditation.
I did not complicate the guidance with months of planning, worrying, vacillating, or second guessing. I constructed an email requesting the presence of some people I admire and have been watching over the last few years and it was done. Check it out at www.powerofourway.com/consciousdialogues.html
Because I have been meditating for years, it only takes a few minutes to get into that creative space. In fact, now that I have conditioned myself in this way, anytime I meditate, like even in church, I will automatically start writing. Sometimes, I don’t even open my eyes and just start writing (which of course looks silly because I don’t stay on the lines). This conscious practice means that I never worry about experiencing writer’s block. In fact, I probably have the opposite problem, I write too much.
Step One: Select a Focus – it may be a word, a phrase, a question
Step Two: Ask for guidance, open to receive
Step Three: Get quiet (you can do this even in the noisiest of places)
Step Four: Journal or mind-map whatever comes to you, even if it is not related to the topic or question you are pondering.
The important thing here is to not edit out anything at this stage. You may find you receive guidance or open yourself up to a brainstorm of ideas that may not seem connected to the question at hand. Treasures will emerge, trust me!
What’s really interesting to me is that whenever I write in this state of consciousness, I can look back at it and say, “Wow, that’s cool; I don’t even remember writing this!”
I carry a pen and notebook with me wherever I go because I never know when I’ll receive that burst. The lyrics to Power of My Way, which is featured at www.thepowerofmywaymovie.com, were literally written under a minute. Within 2 minutes, I had torn it out of my journal, Brent was singing it, and we knew that we had just stumbled onto something special. For that one, I was actually meditating to the band “LIVE,’ with front man Ed Kowalcyck and playing around with Brent when the floodgates opened.
No real thoughts to process.
No struggle with “what rhymes with way?”
No little editor in my head saying “that doesn’t sound right, are you crazy?”
I just have to get quiet and then get out of the way for the words to come.
One day I will have the opportunity to thank Ed Kowalcyck for his inspiration!
Until next time, Namasté, Anita
The Meditation in Everyday Life course, a sereis of five weekly classes, provides a useful small-group format for practicing sitting and talking about readings and the overall experience of mindfulness, awakened heart, awareness, etc. Having attended the Tuesday dharma gatherings for a few weeks, I felt ready to take the next step by signing up for this class. I now sit for 15-30 minutes several times each week and have already found, in this exceptionally beginner state, that a quality of simultaneous focus, compassion, and detachment has crept into my daily life, whether on the subway, in the office, or navigating new social environments. It's easier to be still, and I'm much more curious about the many tricks my mind uses to pull me out of the present moment.
Posted by: Sherif | July 02, 2012 at 06:50 PM