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Thoughts By Janine
By: Janine Johnson
Becoming
Green From the Inside Out (Part 1)
I think one of the most important
elements people need to realize with the
whole green movement is that it is a
movement created out of awareness and
compassion for the world. You have to care
to be green.
For most of you reading this blog, you
already do care. Others …maybe you have
finally come to a point in your life where
you are willing to go down this path.
I think for most people on this path … we
get to points of frustration when we feel we
care but the rest of the world (meaning
other people) does not.
Let me encourage you for a second … the
green world is big and it is growing. There
are all sorts of companies springing up with
a new sense of purpose. There are networking
groups especially in big metropolitan
cities. Find the greenies and you will feel
inspired, connected, and not alone in this
battle.
You may still wonder though as you do
connect with others who want to change the
world, how do we get other people to care?
Well caring starts from the inside out –this
is where I get all yogi on you. Caring comes
from caring about yourself first.
This may sound selfish. It is but not in a
negative way. You must have love for
yourself before you can give love to the
world. That's what caring is after all, it's
love –agape love vs. the eros love we so
customarily think of first when we are
attracted to someone. So you must care about
yourself, respect yourself or you (or other
people) will not be able to care about the
world until you have an overflow of love and
respect for yourself. And it fits with
green-world as this concept meets the
sustainability factor. We can do more for
others, if we are self-aware, healthy, and
self-sufficient first.
I think the first step is to become
self-aware. In order to become self-aware
you must reconnect with yourself.
What the hell does that mean? Ok, let me
explain.
Many of us are out of touch with ourselves.
We live in an abstract society. We do not
grow the food we eat. We did not build the
house we live in. Everything seems
contracted out in some capacity. On top of
that, we have not only allowed but have
quickly become accustomed to a disposable
society marketed to us as convenience. Many
people don't question the state of
existence, fabric, or constructs of society.
We may be self-absorbed but many of us are
not self-aware. Self-absorbed usually has to
do with our heads being up in the clouds,
consumed by our thoughts and our worries. We
lack a connection with our bodies. We must
also realize that Western society has for
hundreds of years now exhalted the
separation of mind and body, placing more of
an emphasis on fostering mind intelligence.
This has served us well on one hand and not
so good on the other. Focusing on the mind
we lose sight of ourselves, our mind-body
connection which fosters an understanding of
our surroundings and our environment. If we
are out of touch with ourselves, caught up
in thoughts …it is easy to dismiss what is
going on around us.
From the business sector, we have been
trained not to think to a certain extent.
Sure think about packaging or why this
product may be better than the next but not
so much of where and how was this made? And
definitely not, do I need this?
So joining the green movement demands
everyone to think, reexamine and question
nearly everything. For some people, "think
about all you do for the sake of the world"
may seem overwhelming or burdensome. Some
people simply don't want to and others feel
so bogged down in the drama of their lives
they feel they don't have time to care about
everyone else when they don't have time to
care for themselves. So for such people, the
emphasis should be put on them with a
message more aligned to: "do these things
because they are better for you". Marketing
research companies are showing we get some
converts with that approach. I have faith
those people, once excited that change can
benefit them may more easily adopt more
changes in the future and not completely
stagnate again. These people may or may not
decide to formally jump in and join the
revolution gun-ho though.
Other people may be on board to join the
revolution and save the world but may
unconsciously still partake in many
behaviors that should be modified. They want
to help, they will do what they are aware
of. Little things add up, and if you read a
book such as The Green Book, you will
realize, how much and how quickly they do.
Marketing efforts will help as constant
exposure over time is effective. People will
gain certain understandings or realizations
if they choose to expose themselves to
information by reading books. However, what
will make efforts much more effective is if
people first choose to take some time to
become self-aware and not out of touch.
What I mean by out of touch, being unaware
of behaviors or mannerisms. For instance,
some people are completely unaware they move
their hands when they speak.
Photo by:
Strange Days
How do you
expect people that are unaware of their own
manner of being to know they are leaving
lights on or letting water run while they
brush their teeth? We are out of touch with
the Earth because we are out of touch with
our bodies. We are out of touch with our
bodies because our minds have run rampant
and many of us are consumed with
trivialities, drama, the past, the future,
and other abstract thoughts. We forget to
come back into the present moment and ask
ourselves "where am I and what am I doing in
this moment?" –If you do this, often you
will find you were not only in your head but
completely engrossed in some thought world
of past, or future.
I am not innocent in this, however, I do
make concerted efforts daily to reprogram or
rewire myself because what I've realized is
by just taking a moment to "stop", taking a
moment to cease letting the mind rule, there
is an opportunity for me to come back into
my body or a body awareness. This is a real
but subtle shift you can feel. It's like a
different kind of intelligence that needs to
be fostered, seriously, for the salvation of
our species
So people will care when they come back into
touch with themselves. The first step is to
learn how to breathe. Yup, that's right. We
have been taught that breathing is natural
and therefore it has been pretty much
dismissed unless you are part of some sort
of athletic training. We need to monitor and
come back to our breath several times a day.
So the first step in being green is taking a
moment out of the day to pay attention to
how you are breathing to create
self-awareness which will enlighten you on
more of your habits you can fix to be a top
greenie!
Before the breath though, we need proper
alignment. Proper alignment is important so
that the breath can move most efficiently in
your body, so there are no obstructions or
blocks. A more proper alignment can be
obtained basically through a few quick
steps: Forward, Straight, and Up. Remember
Stop, Drop, and Roll from elementary school?
This is Forward, Straight, and Up.
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Photo By:
macspite |
1) Forward means, tuck your pelvis bone and
pull your pubic bone forward (don't' arch
your back while you sit or stand).
2) Straight means basically to engage your
abs and feel as if you are trying to make
your abs fold into each. Imagine your
abdomen as an open book and you want to
close the book –you would push the two sides
in and the book would start to hinge and
close at the middle. Imagine how that would
feel and that is what I mean by engage your
abs. This is different than just engaging
them. Play with this concept and feel the
subtle differences. If you bring your abs in
you will feel your spine naturally
straighten.
3) Up means to tuck your chin slightly and
feel as if you are being lifted through the
crown of your head. Tucking the chin is
important because it elongates the back of
the neck and aligns with the spine. |
I wouldn't call these steps but remember
when you have properly aligned yourself to
RELAX and take a breath. Relax because this
posture should be comfortable. Relax means
drop your shoulders and inhale! You may find
that in this new posture you are holding
your breath. So take a breath. Take a moment
to figure this posture out. Make sure you
are still in it as it is easy to fall back
into your normal posture, then take a few
seconds to concentrate at your center of
concentration (the point between your
eyebrows and slightly above) and take a few
of your normal breaths here for muscle
memory. I would also encourage you play
around with this new posture… make slight
shifts to experience the difference between
what you were doing and this new posture.
Being aligned in this way should make you
feel light.
So now, from your more properly aligned
posture, let's re-learn how to breathe.
Breathing should be steady and slow to
create a peaceful state of mind. If the
breathing is shallow or fast in your chest …
you may be feeling stressed or anxious. I
find, I often hold my breath when I am
working hard on something. Nice, moderate,
steady breaths are what we want to strive
for. How do we do this?Well, throughout the
day, "check in" with yourself and monitor
how you are breathing and then regulate the
breath. A good breath per minute range is 8
to 10.
To achieve this you need to reprogram
yourself during your daily check ins to
start the breath down in your belly and move
the breath up the diaphragm and into the
chest. When you move the breath into your
chest, let your chest expand. Feel your
chest expand. Make the breathing intentional
and conscious. If you can take 5 minute
check-ins throughout the day, that would be
great. Otherwise, take many 1 minute
check-ins during the day and practice on
this conscious breathing. Overtime you will
find you will find your mind becomes more
steady and you will feel you are in a more
peaceful and clear state from which you can
concentrate better and be more productive.
A more peaceful state of mind you will find
means that you are able to stop the constant
bombardment of thoughts even if just for a
nano-second –it's a pause wherein you may
feel slightly more connected to reality
which is the awareness of your surroundings
and the interconnection of us with our
surroundings. This is different than the
life we typically live that is so wrapped up
with only ourselves, and our perceived
reality.
It is a firm belief I have that if we take
care of ourselves first, if we are in good
health, we will be in a better place of mind
or a state of peace of mind. It is when we
are feeling good that we can help the world. |
