You are a miraculous intersection of time and space, being gloriously alive here, now, unlike any other moment before or after, unlike any other living creation.

Your unique, exquisitely made body is sensing through a myriad of perceptual lenses the distinct signature of this moment in time, in place. Birds are chirping in the distance, a soft breeze ruffles the tiny hairs on your arm, a cloud passing between you and the sun casts a sudden shadow, the brilliant and subtle colors of a multitude of shapes and textures clamor for your eye’s attention, you take a step and feel the pressure of the earth rising up to intersect the soles of your feet and simultaneously the faint smell of cut grass arrives aloft a sudden gust of wind…Stopping – you notice, really notice, what is here, this massive amount of information the body is collecting in this moment – can you surrender to this unique experience of overflowing sensuality that is present? Can you give yourself over to the exhilaration that arises when you listen deeply to the manifold existence that surrounds you? Realizing you are unique among the riot of color, shapes, textures and sounds that flood your awareness. You are contributing your inimitable melodic phrase among this symphony, participating fully in the wild peace that is existence expressing itself as you in this miraculous moment! Truly, something like this is occurring right now – whether you are aware of it or not!

Most of the time we are caught up in fascinations – abstract imaginings of time future or ruminations of time passed. Why do we choose to pass up the miraculous in favor of the simulacra? Perhaps such an avalanche of sensory experience is too much reality all at once, an assault on our mind’s limited capacity to interpret and file away for future advantage or protection. Most of the time, if we tell the truth, there is no real threat that isn’t imagined, there is nothing additive required to actually experience this moment fully. So why do we not give ourselves over to this invitation of life?

How long will you squander this miraculous gift of being alive in a human body? Why do you think its called the present?

…‘The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation’ TS Eliot.

This is mindful awareness. It is an evolutionary, and perhaps a truly revolutionary, act. As we choose, we actually change our brains, this is the physical evidence that scientific research reports. Further, through our conscious choice we are contributing to the collective consciousness we all share. What do I mean by this? We are all broadcasters and receivers of thoughts and emotions. Some thoughts and emotions we pick up from others and other thoughts and emotions arise from within. As a result the thoughts and emotions we choose to follow in our moment to moment awareness are in turn being broadcast out to others. In this way, through our conscious (or unconscious) choice, we impact the collective consciousness and the evolutionary process of our species.

It is evident in the contagion of a simple smile from a stranger – notice how you feel. Remember a time when you smiled at a stranger and how their response made you feel. The choice you make impacts not only your own experience but also the experience of others. As you make conscious choices you overcome the inertia of habitual thought and emotional patterns.

You have the power in every moment to create any feeling. Like the Butterfly Effect [The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in another location.] each of us has the capacity to generate an impact right here, right now, choosing the next thought. Becoming conscious of this mind body conversation and making a choice about how you want to experience this, and the next, moment is an act of conscious creation. Be curious. The choice is yours.

We are human beings with a physical body. If we look closely we recognize we are more than bones and tissue and blood. There is that which enlivens this substance we call consciousness or awareness. We can use this capacity of awareness to direct our attention within and become curious about what is here, what is arising in this awareness from moment to moment. Without needing to know anything, just notice. This is the beginning.

We may feel hopeless or overwhelmed from time to time. It is usually because we are focused on things external to ourselves competing for our attention. When flooded by all the stimulation, it is easy to become overwhelmed or even paralyzed by it all. The truth is we have a choice. Each of us has the capacity to choose where we rest our attention from moment to moment – and that will make all the difference.

This capacity to become aware of what we are focusing on is like developing a muscle, the muscle of awareness. When not exercised then any old thing that comes along can trap your attention (you are caught unaware) and before you know it you are plunged into an emotional state. This could be a happy thing when you are surprised by a loved one with an unexpected gift or it could be a distressing thing when you are blindsided by a physical, emotional or mental attack that plunges you into a state of pain and suffering.

We can’t control whether we experience pain but we can control whether we suffer.

In the beginning, as we practice becoming aware of what arises in our attention, we realize that what we identify with we become. So if we identify with pain then we become immersed in it. Suffering occurs because we can’t distinguish between our awareness and the pain that arises in our awareness. There seems to be no separation. But if you stop to notice you can recognize there is a difference. There were other moments that were not full of pain. There have been moments of laughter, joy and happiness, too. All of these feelings arise in your awareness. With practice, you can choose what to follow, what to identify with, what to allow to dominate your attention. More importantly you become aware of the source of all of these feeling, thoughts and emotions. You become aware of awareness itself. In that moment a (r)evolution has begun.

Patty

Regardless if you were aware of Ken Kesey, Woodstock or the Grateful Dead you were influenced, in the same way we were influenced by the assassinations of JFK, Bobby Kennedy and MLK, Vietnam, the women’s and the civil rights movements. Regardless of your economic, political, philosophical or sexual persuasion simply being part of this culture, our collective consciousness was influenced and irrevocably changed.

I believe that we are all at a similar, if not more powerful, intersection in the evolution of ourselves as individuals and of our entire species. There is an evolutionary consciousness emerging that must be enlivened by our individual recognition. This evolutionary process is occurring not only in the collective consciousness but also, and essentially, within all of us individually. Neuroscientific research has validated what the ancients always knew about the nature of the power of the mind body ‘conversation’. Each of us can participate, in our moment to moment awareness, by discovering our capacity to choose thoughts and emotions that support our well being over embedded habitual thoughts and emotions that dominate our attention through unconscious choice.

The thoughts and emotions we allow into our field of awareness, give rise to our reality. With each moment of choice we impact the collective choice, giving rise to the reality we all share on this planet. With so much external stimuli bombarding us most of us don’t realize there is a choice. Media and advertising exploit our body’s powerful response to threat. Our body cannot distinguish between a real threat, the memory of threat or the anticipation of threat – it all shows up the same – as a biochemical response that releases hormones into our system that generate stress. So when we are subjected daily to images and stories about violence, disease and poverty or idealized images that remind us of what we lack – our bodies respond biochemically. We often feel overwhelmed by our helplessness in the face of suffering or lack, even if it isn’t true in our present moment experience, our body’s respond as if it were happening now. By allowing ourselves to be swept up by all of this external stimulation, we suffer, and in turn contribute to the suffering that is occurring.

It is essential to recognize there is something each of us can do. It is so simple and direct that it is usually overlooked or even when it is pointed out it is dismissed. We can choose how to feel. We can choose what thoughts dominate our attention. We can choose what we focus on.

What you focus on you become.

Alpha-i meditation is a simple yet powerful practice that strengthens our muscle of awareness so that we can make conscious choices that are in alignment with what is healthy for us individually. As we create these new habits of attention we are contributing to the overall health and evolution of the collective consciousness of all humanity. Your choice really does make a difference.

I believe our individual interior landscape is as important to establishing sustainability on this planet. That is the landscape of the mind, thoughts and emotions that arise in our awareness from moment to moment. The stress most people are experiencing is a result of not understanding how the mechanisms of the mind-body work. There is no choice exercised over their internal landscape, the moment to moment arising of thoughts and feelings actually flood our awareness. The external landscape reflects that back and the feeling of being overwhelmed ensue. Being conscious means being aware of the choices we are making. Seeing with a different lens. Being curious about how our thoughts arise and give meaning to our lives. The real choice is in the moment to moment awareness of the thoughts and emotions that are creating the fabric of our perception. This is the source of all activities that are played out in the external landscape of our world.

Our mission at Alpha-i is to enable you to experience directly how to access the mechanisms that govern your internal landscape so you are aware of the choices you make as you paint the external landscape of your life. We do this by explaining the process of how we create our reality through thought and emotion, by pointing to the space between the thoughts and emotions where creativity, inspiration and insight arise and by helping you to gain access to it. Conscious or sustainable business is as conscious or as sustainable as each of us is individually within our own minds. The choices we make internally from moment to moment give rise to the ongoing creation of our lives our relationships, our work and our planet.

Be Curious. In that moment when thought arises, choose to follow it, or choose to rest in the space between…and that will make all the difference.

I am curious about curiosity and how little curiosity there seems to be anymore. Perhaps because we feel vulnerable when we don’t know. We may feel weak or uncertain if we are curious when we are in a world that spends so much time delivering information in more and more innovative ways. My profession as an information architect certainly contributes to the rapidly increased movement of information in a speedier and more comprehensive way. So I am curious, just like Tom, about how my life has contributed to the illusion. Perhaps all us have a version of ‘I Am’ to tell? The real story, tearing back the false assumptions and finding out what is really valuable, is at the heart of it all. Be Curious about yourself. I am.