Mindful Receptivity
"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together."
- Desmond Tutu
Dear Head & Heart Community,
I am sending you well wishes and love this Spring. I hope you are finding peace and ease amidst the chaos of our world. Some of my coping includes soaking up sunshine and dusting off soccer skills with our two little boys.
It feels to me like we are in the midst of awakening our authenticity. Gone are the days of mindless “how are you’s” and facades of "having it all together". What's left? The potential for connection. To see and allow your humanity, and that of others, to weave together. Archbishop Desmond Tutu beautifully embodies and spreads the ancient African teaching of Ubuntu. Ubuntu teaches the truth of our interconnectedness with each other, the earth, and the divine. Archbishop Tutu reminds us, “You cannot be human on your own. You are human through relationship.” With this in mind, I find myself passing people and when our eyes meet I feel this deep knowing that, "My humanity is bound up in yours." This simple, yet existential understanding, supports my connection to others and with earth. To awaken to our interconnection and collective support brings a sigh of relief and a sense of responsibility. Our very existence relies on reciprocity.
I want to share a practice of mine: Mindful receptivity. To open up and accept the infinite support of the earth under your feet, community beside you, and sunlight above. Bring to mind gratitude for the love that surrounds you and intentionally receive. It is in this receiving you will have energy to give.
Mindful Receptivity practices:
1. Walk barefoot in the grass
2. Lay down outside and look up at the sky with wonder
3. Before a meal express gratitude for the efforts it took to get to your plate (water, soil, farmer, store)
4. Let a friend support/nourish you.
Through this, we will build a collective resilience of authenticity and connection. As we receive support we will lift each other up - spreading a solid, nourishing root system in and around each other. Whatever season of being human you are in, you are not alone. All of us have been in the canyons, climbed our way out, and continue to learn there are more canyons ahead. This is natural. Yet, when we connect authentically with loved ones, our canyons are filled with lights and ladders. Laughter and tears. And when we reach the sunlight, together, we can bask in the rays that warm our skin.
Try this guided audio practice to enhance your understanding and felt experience of mindful receptivity.
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