Grieving the Unexpected and Sudden Death of Lisa Barry
Exploring Awareness
It is with a very heavy and grieving heart that I share with you that Lisa Barry the co-host of the Exploring Awareness podcast died unexpectedly on November 30, 2021. We grieve together using David Whyte's poem entitled The Well of Grief, and a guided meditation, with emphasis on mindfulness of the emotion of grief using the RAIN acronym of recognize, acknowledge/accept, investigate and nurture. This is tragic, unexpected allows us an opportunity to grieve with grace, and somehow find peace.
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Episode 62: Return To Unity And Common Consciousness
Exploring Awareness
There is a deep place of connection within each of us, that is shared by all. In today’s world, distractions, conditions, and inflexible ideas pull us away from the our connection to each other. We focus on the word RETURN as an invitation to connect to a deeper sense of presence, an authentic sense of being - a return to mindful awareness and a return to a felt sense of the unity of all beings. This is about a realization and a return of our original self shared with all in a common consciousness.
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Episode 61: The Myth Of Self Improvement
Exploring Awareness
The self-improvement industry thrives on a myth that there is something wrong with you that needs to be improved. What if you are already fine and don’t need to fixed? Although your mind may not allow you to believe this, exploring awareness and discovering the qualities at the core of your being leads to a realization of who you really are. These realizations render self-improvement projects un-necessary. Instead, you are infused with a loving presence and the Joy of being happens organically.
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Episode 60: Exploring Awareness Of Dualistic Thinking And Its Impact
Exploring Awareness
Opinions, advice and judgments tend to be experienced as having to be either this way and that way with little room in between. This very common tendency is called dualistic thinking. In this episode, we bring compassionate awareness to this tendency and explore how it brings reactions instead of responses. From this place of deep awareness, life doesn’t fit into boxes. Now, freedom from duality and an opportunity to act from a place of peace, joy, love and generosity arises.
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Episode 59: Could Your Natural State Be Loving Awareness?
Exploring Awareness
A popular Ram Dass quote- “The natural state of the mind is pure love, which is not other than pure awareness”- sums up much of the dialogue in exploring awareness podcast episodes.
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Episode 58: Are Judgements Blocking You from Peace and Happiness?
Exploring Awareness
We look at the roots of judgement by becoming aware that we are judging, then exploring the awareness of the thoughts that lead to judgment. Although we can't force ourselves to stop judging by just using our mind, we can use mindfulness techniques to explore awareness, watching judgments arise, dissolve and fall away. The freedom that comes from this practice will then give you an opportunity to respond rather than react, you will be happier and so will the people around you
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Episode 57: How the Awareness of Change Can Lead to Peace and Ease
Exploring Awareness
Change is part of the human experience. Welcome change can be fun and challenging, unwelcome change can lead to resistance and stagnation. In this episode, we discuss a perspective that emerges from exploring awareness that transforms the effects of change into present moment awareness, where everything is stable, peaceful and calm. It may seem counterintuitive, but a realization of the impermanence of all things provides a stability and groundedness that allow us to respond instead of react,
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Episode #56: Finding Acceptance and Grace in Present Moment Awareness
Exploring Awareness
Forcing oneself to "accept things as they are" or asking others to, sets up conflict, invokes defensiveness and leads to stuck, judgmental feelings. Exploring awareness leads to a spaciousness where the present moment event is allowed to be what it is- good or bad. If an event has occurred, becoming aware opens a compassionate channel. Practicing awareness though regular mindfulness meditation opens compassionate awareness so that both wonderful and adverse events can be experienced with grace.
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Episode 55: Open Mindedness Comes from Exploring Awareness of the Mind
Exploring Awareness
By Becoming aware of the brain as an amazing resource similar to computer hardware and software, the part of us that is aware becomes activated and realized. With the realization of awareness comes a freedom experienced as spaciousness, open heartedness, open mindedness. When you’re no longer locked into the neurological habits of your brain and woken up to identity as awareness then there’s love, peace, joy, generosity and the ability for a sense of awe and wisdom and response instead of reaction.
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Episode 54: An opportunity for peace and love in this very precious human life through exploring awareness
Exploring Awareness
When you’re aware you’re aware that is another level of existence that has an opportunity for some real peace and love and a real authentic experience with this very precious human life. It’s so precious and rare and it doesn’t last that long and there are so many ways that you can use it, so why not use it for good?
info_outlineEpisode #40: Are you a Human Doing or a Human Being?
We “do” lots of things- that’s what life seems to be all about. Many of the things we do are fun, some are not, and some just need to get done. The never ending list of things to do is always there, even if they are not written down. Meditation is probably somewhere on that list -may be near the bottom -making it seem unlikely, time consuming, and difficult to fit in the schedule. However, the essence of meditation is not a “doing” but is “being”- and “being” never goes anywhere. Sure, it can be clouded over by “doing” but “being” is a natural state. Meditation then becomes a way to become familiar with that sense of “being”. Exploring the awareness of “being” clears the clouds of obstruction and allows the present moment to be what it is, even during all of doing of the things that need to get done. There is an opportunity here to wake up to the truth of being. No matter what the conditions are in the world, opening to a shift in perspective away from identifying with all of those conditions to an identification of pure presence and of pure being may provide the answer. This creates a feeling of “don’t know” which could be the source of all wisdom- as Socrates famously observed, “I know one thing, that I know nothing.”