The Daily Lightwave

I've been playing around with the distinction mentioned in today's #dailylightwave and bringing awareness to the state I tend to gravitate towards in any given moment. This is especially interesting in the asana practice, as a student and teacher, where so many of the poses bring us face to face with our primal fears. I notice in cueing a class that when I guide focus away from survival towards expansion, the bodies in the room respond in a very positive way. This is done of course at the right moment when alignment and safety have been established. This doesn't mean we're going to walk out in front of a speeding bus. It's just an invitation loosen the mental grip on survival and to walk through the doorway of soul~consciousness and to begin exploring the realm which ultimately connects us ultimately to infinity.

The carnal mind's primary concern is survival;  whereas the soul's ideal is expansion. These two dynamics dance side by side in human consciousness and it's an individual choice as to which one is magnified.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#survivalmind #carnalmind #soulsense #consciousness #asanaforexpansion #yoga #asana #humanconsciousness

The Daily Lightwave

Today's #dailylightwave speaks to something I've realized over the last couple of years. Understanding that it's not about me personally has given me courage to be more expressive and to openly share what's flowing to me and through me. Un-selfing my life in this way, lending it to Life Itself,  continues to be very freeing. What I share isn't about self promotion;  it's about offering service in the unique way that Life calls me to give. I think each individual presences good in a specific way. Unself. Your song is needed. Sing it and put the spotlight on GOOD.

As far as I can see at this point, life isn't about being in the spotlight, it's about using my life to put goodness in the spotlight.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#lifeofservice #spotlightongood #lifepurpose #unself #egorelease #eraseego #beofservice #shareyourself #shareyourgifts #singyoursong

The Daily Lightwave

I had something altogether different in mind for this morning's Daily Lightwave. But as I sat on my floor cushion looking out at the trees and watching our Samantha dog having her post-breakfast Nylabone chew, this replaced it. Inspiration always makes itself heard in the most ordinary moments. The voice beyond sound is always talking.

Humanity's most powerful scientific instrument isn't a microscope; it is the heart-lens. Because the most real part of anything is and always will be, imperceptible to the 5 physical senses. It can only be discerned with heart-sense, soul-sense, or spiritual sense. Looking out from this perspective, literally a whole new world opens up. Some might even say this perspective itself is Heaven.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave #heartlens #soulsense #fivesenseperception #magnifyspirit #reality #spiritualsense #heavennow #spiritscience

The Daily Lightwave

In light of recent events, I think the message in today's #dailylightwave is especially important. Rather than putting all the responsibility on a political group or other organization, I find it helpful to ask how I can make a difference on a daily basis. If everyone feels loved and appreciated and a sense of mental and physical non-violence is cultivated from the inside out, then all the guns in the world couldn't cause a person to pull the trigger on him or herself or another.  I don't mean to trivialize or say no reform is needed, but while we work for that, I think we as individuals need to be alert to how we can be the nucleus of transformation within our own circle of influence. If you saw my post earlier this week regarding Nicholas Winton who saved 669 children from likely death at a Nazi concentration camp, then you know one person CAN make a difference. From those 669 children,  over 6000 people are here today thanks to Nicholas Winton. Stay alert. Stay hopeful. Be the change.

Won't you join me in paying close attention to the people and animals who cross your path today ~ especially those outside your normal social circle. You might be just the person to give someone the sense of connection and belonging they're longing for, in a way that changes the course of their entire life for the better.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#bethechange #stayhopeful #non-violence #connection #belonging #insideoutchange #reachout #lookbeyondyourclique #downwithcliques

The Daily Lightwave

The Daily Lightwave ♡

I've experienced the kind of healing described in today's #dailylightwave, both as healer and the healed. The imprint is there for this purely spiritual healing and I ultimately see it as the greatest gift and highest calling in how Life is and will use me to free myself and others from suffering.

What if the true art of healing isn't in fixing broken things, but in holding a space or vibration in thought that is so attuned to wholeness (the word health comes from the word whole), that whatever enters that field of awareness is restored ~ even that which appears to be broken.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#healing #whole #wholeness #healthiswholeness #spiritualhealing #restore #restoration

The Daily Lightwave

Today's Daily Lightwave is an invitation to expand our view of being. While honoring those who passed from human experience fighting for the highest values of America, we can also begin to entertain the Bagavhad Gita's offering that "being never passes into non-being." The biblical narration of Jesus's experience in interacting with Moses and Elijah who had left the human realm 1000 plus years earlier also supports this idea. Identity is eternal and ultimately FREEDOM is everyone's home.

The human mind, trapped in five-sense perception, memorializes moments and people, but pure consciousness understands that Life and being are never frozen in physicality nor do they disappear into non-being simply because the physical senses no longer perceive them.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave, #memorialize, #memorial, #humanmind, #fivesenses, #beingandnonbeing, #visibleandinvisible, #pureconsciousness, #lifeandbeing, #physicalandnonphysical, #freedom, #memorialday, #home

The Daily Lightwave

The Daily Lightwave

Thoughts don't need your consent to knock on the door of your mind but they absolutely need your consent to enter. You really do get to powerfully choose the types of mental visitors you welcome in. Be as alert about who you let into your invisible mental home as you are about who you let into your visible physical home.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave #doorofthought #protectyourmind #bealert #powerfullychoose #mindisyourhome

The Daily Lightwave

I always see this in retrospect...

The Daily Lightwave

Maybe what I experience as a door closing is really a carefully orchestrated maneuver by an Intelligence greater than my own to redirect my focus.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave #doorsclosing #stayopen #intelligentredirection #dontresist #beflexible #trust

Rethink Your Running Shoes

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/05/rethink-your-running-shoes-alison-wilburn/

The Daily Lightwave ~ Pure vs. Mass Consciousness

The Daily Lightwave

Mass consciousness - when so many people believe something that everyone begins to experience and feel it as if it were the truth - is one of the most subtle and least understood forms of hypnotism. The point of practice is in discerning pure consciousness from mass consciousness.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga.

#massconsciousness #hypnotism #pureconsciousness #spiritualpractice #practice #wisdom #discern #dailylightwave

The Daily Lightwave

The Daily Lightwave
The eyes see what the mind believes. Seeing isn't as much believing as believing is seeing. Remembering this, I become a co-creator rather than a victim.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#believingisseeing #co-creator #notavictim eyesseebelief

The Daily Lightwave

The Daily Lightwave

Consciousness in tune with pure intelligence (spiritual sense or the sixth sense) finds mastery over the 5 physical senses; whereas a mentality overly identified with the survival or carnal mind - tends to be ruled by the physical senses.
Engage in practices that keep consciousness attuned to
pure intelligence.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave #spiritualsense #fivesenses #physicalsenses  #pureintelligence #survivalmind #carnalmind #practice #mastery

The Daily Lightwave

The Daily Lightwave

Trust and courage are mental heros! When properly nourished, they dissolve the pesky gnat-like naysayer called doubt. Don't even be concerned about doubt. Simply nourish your heros.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave #mentalheros #trust #courage #don'tdoubt #nourishyourheros

The Daily Lightwave

The Daily Lightwave ~ Dharma & Orange Trees

Today's Daily Lightwave is along the lines of something I spontaneously said to a friend who was feeling discouraged a couple of weeks ago. Nature is such a great teacher. There's a simplicity there because things like orange trees don't grapple with attachment to a mind that instills layers of doubt, fear, and confusion. Depending on the support or lack of support we receive as kids when our vision is crystal clear, connection to our gift, dharma, or YOU fruit can become murky. At some point if we want to lead a truly fulfilled life, we have to take a strong stand that our GIFT is there and we have to do whatever it takes to bring it to fruition. Taking the first step in this direction opens up a world of possibility and support. The Universe works with us and for us to bring out the blueprint it designed. We might even say, the Gift inside is the God within, spoken of by all the great sages of the ages. Connecting, living, and giving, our Gift is the surest way to feel connected to God, Source, Spirit, Love ~ whatever name works for you. Imagine a world where everyone knows and lives their dharma. I'll bet illness, depression, overindulgence, underindulgence, war, violence, crime, gossip, criticism, procrastination, etc. would shrink and eventually dissolve into a beautiful, strong, balanced web of Life with each strand flourishing in it's unique contribution.

The Daily Lightwave ~ Freedom through enlightenment

 What we often accept as being true is encouraged by education, social or religious customs, unconscious acceptance of genetics, and overidentification with human history (to name only a few). But what if these are lenses that actually obscure the truth? What if what's true lies outside of all these layers of belief? What if the common practice of our planet was to assess the truth of something according to whether or not it set us free? What if suffering was seen as something to turn us back to truth not to cause us harm or destroy us? And what if the discovery of that truth, was also the antidote to the suffering we found ourselves in? In this way truth becomes real medicine - not only for the mind but for the physical body.

Seen in this light, one of the most poignant statements attributed to Christ Jesus in the gospel of John, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," when looked at without the lens of dogma, has a universality that applies to everyone. In my experience, prolonged suffering can be averted by understanding it from the outset as a means back to what's true. This perspective lifts me out of a woe is me, defeatist attitude. It also takes me away from the notion that there's a god out there who's looking down and inflicting suffering. Instead it helps me realize that we're all part of the same thing - Love (another word for Truth really). And it could never be the intent of Love to punish or destroy any aspect of Itself. Any gap between what I'm holding in thought and Love is experienced as suffering. The end of suffering isn't about my personal comfort then. It's about restoring alignment for the good of the whole. This larger, less self-focused awareness gives me courage and resolve like nothing else. I see that the overcoming of my so-called personal suffering is lifting a huge burden off human consciousness at large. 

As Shakespeare so eloquently wrote:

"Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;"

The often "ugly and venomous" experience of suffering is never about holding us down or destroying us.  So let's not prop up our suffering with fancy names and causes. Let's use it in the way it was designed and let it guide us to the jewel ~ alignment with our true nature, love and only Love, and to the truth that sets us FREE.

As we begin to awaken more and more, suffering will no longer be needed because progress will come only through enlightenment.

The Daily Lightwave

I'm listening this morning for what inspiration to share. Usually I have several things to choose from but today, nada. When the phone rings and it's my sister, my first reaction is "Oh darn, I don't have time for this." But of course I answer the phone. I'm so proud of my sis who's running her first Warrior Dash tomorrow! She was sharing some fears that were trying to creep in the day before the race and I could hear that little tug-o-war between fearless soul and fearful ego. I remembered an idea that came to me while I was driving yesterday. I had forgotten to write it down, but the need to help her, brought it back to my mind and became today's Daily Lightwave. Everything fell into place in a way I couldn't have outlined. What I thought was a distraction turned out to be part of the flow. This idea of soul superseding ego is a constant point of practice, an alertness to each choice moment by moment to notice where the impetus is coming from. I don't think it happens in one fell swoop - at least not for me. But there's hope because I answered the phone when my inclination was not to, helping another helped me and will hopefully help those who read this, and I know my sister is going to embody all the courage and freedom that are rightfully her's tomorrow as she tromps through the mud with joy!

The Daily Lightwave ~ Body and Belief

At this stage of human consciousness we need the body to help us grow and develop. It makes thoughts visible that might otherwise go undetected. It shows us the beliefs we know about and those we don't -- the beliefs of mass consciousness that we blindly accept without questioning. Even in suffering, the body is trying to help us wake up. The body is an instrument of Love and Love provides all we need to awaken if we will. So the next time the body presents suffering to you, consider looking within instead of without for the quickest fix. Don't be afraid. Remember right away that this is your body's way of helping you, not hurting you. If you can remain calm and reach out for what you need to know, you'll be guided to the path of healing that's right for you. And if you see it as an opportunity to awaken, it will be a full-being healing that embraces your entire life, rather than just some symptoms in the body. In my experience, it's important not to be intimidated by the appearance and to immediately replace fear with a deep conviction of Love. Your mind and nervous system will respond to that and you'll be able to hear what you need to hear. Rest assured, what you hear will be good.

Something I heard Wayne Dyer say on a PBS broadcast ties in nicely here: "every illness is the beginning of a healing." If you're interested, do a Google search and read about his very non-traditional healing of leukemia.

#lightwave, #dailylightwave

The Daily Lightwave

 

A trip down Idle Lane yesterday to see a friend's tower garden not only sparked today's Daily Lightwave but also gave me a pretty clear indication that there's a tower garden in our future! I drive past Idle Drive all the time but yesterday I noticed it for the first time and voila a Lightwave is born.

Many of the dreams killed at the intersection of Idle Lane and Apathy Avenue have been resurrected at the corner of Courage Road and Take Action Place.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave

Lightwave Healing & Yoga

#dailylightwave #towergarden #inspiration #courage #followyourdreams #donotbeidle #apathykillsdreams #takeaction

The Daily Lightwave ~ Freedom

As with all spiritual growth, there's an exchange that has to happen: we give up one thing for another. It's almost always easier to stay with what's familiar, but it's way less fulfilling and ultimately less fun. The growing pains that accompany transformation are temporary and take us to a blissful state of expansion from which we can never return. Awareness is the first step and some never take it. Many of us, at different times in our lives, hold onto our ignorance like a warm fuzzy blanket. It feels safe. The mind's label for expansion is often "danger." But that's a trick, and you are not that mind, so don't buy it. There are so many avenues available to each one of us today designed to dissolve ignorance and cultivate awakening. If you truly desire it, you will find the one that's right for you. Or maybe you already know that path, but need to practice it more fully. Life is a series of awakenings, and when we learn to give up resistance, these awakenings become pain free. They're born out of enlightenment rather than suffering. Freedom and awakening go hand-in-hand. In the words of Frank Sinatra, "you can't have one without the other." And while freedom is a noun and often feels like something out there that we're trying to get; awakening is a verb and implies what we ourselves must do. It puts the power back in our own hands. Awakening is a potent energetic agent that dissolves ignorance. Remember those Dawn dish soap commercials that show the soap dissolving all the grease? What I'm talking about happens unseen in thought, yet it's the same tangible process. So take courage with me today and dare to awaken. As more of us allow the energy of awakening to occupy consciousness, the less space there will be for ignorance. The instant a blind spot is seen, it's no longer a blind spot. Awaken.

#lightwave, #dailylightwave

The Daily Lightwave ~ Life vs. Human Experience

An experience I had in college made a deep impression on me and how I see life and my place in it. Many describe a similar experience, but it's hard to get until you've had it yourself; and it's hard to capture with words, but I'll do my best. I was alone, it was night, and I was reaching out for what my life was all about. The answer didn't come in words, but with a feeling, a very powerful feeling and deep knowing of myself as something beyond all the outer stuff. I felt strengthened by the awareness of my connection to this "something" that was greater than me or anything I could see or touch. I didn't stay in this awareness, but it's one I return to time and again. Looking back I see that college for me was a time of growth born out of feeling very different from the people around me and unsure of my place. This was often extremely uncomfortable. This disconnect from the my surrounding culture precipitated my willingness to receive a different sense of myself. For a lot of people college is a time of fun and exploration. For me, it was a time of turning inward because I didn't fit with a lot on the outside. Being a late bloomer has it's perks because the imprint of those brief moments created a knowing within me that's beyond intellect. I long for everyone to FEEL what I felt. That's why I often cringe when I hear someone say "life is short." I think words are powerful and distinctions are important. That's why I love the term "human experience." Because it gives me a context for conversation about where I think I am right now ~ in what many refer to as the "waking dream" ~ within the broader scope of Life Itself. So the next time you're about to say: "life is short," maybe reconsider and remember there's a vast field of existence beyond the space/time continuum we often call "life."

#lightwave, #dailylightwave

The Daily Lightwave ~ Calling over Culture

The Daily Lightwave #dailylightwave

Follow your calling; not your culture.

Modes of culture will come and go,  but your calling is with you forever. Your calling didn't originate with any culture. It originates from the voice of Truth within, and may or may not be aligned with the culture you currently find yourself in. A calling beckons the individual towards their unique service to humanity as a whole.  It takes self-knowledge and courage to choose your calling even when it doesn't match aspects of your culture, but this must be done to live an authentic and truly fulfilled life. And ultimately even a culture that resists you doing that will be blessed and/or transformed because you did.

Alison Wilburn ~ #lightwave
Lightwave Healing & Yoga

The Daily Lightwave ~ Rethinking Science

Studying Walter Isaacson's biography on Albert Einstein (which by the way is taking forever because I'm reading like 5 books at a time!), has me thinking about what real science is. I'm coming to admire scientists like Socrates, Galileo, Einstein, Max Planck, Gregg Braden, Bruce Lipton, and Deepak Chopra - to name a few. These individuals were and are, it seems to me, genuinely interested in discovering universal truth even at the risk of their own professional reputations and preconceived notions. Much of what we call science today is funded by large companies that want to amass research that supports selling a particular product. I think it's important to be aware of what kind of science we rely on in our choices and even to expand our awareness of what science really is. It's unfortunate that western thought is quick to put anything outside the intellectual realm in a category of "hokus pokus." There are so many examples of things that happen outside the limited model of science predominately adopted by the west that invite us to reconsider our concept of science. As human consciousness continues to evolve, I suspect that this exploration will become ever more important.

#Einstein #realscience #lookfortruth #evolutionofconsciousness #lightwave #dailylightwave

The Daily Lightwave

Lately instead of thinking of our government as an entity in and of itself, I've been reminding myself that it's made up of individuals just like me. These individuals have experienced love, loss, joy, sadness. They deal with aches and pains, difficulties and good times in their relationships, and they, like me, ultimately just want to feel happy and safe. This morning a vision came to me. In it I get to stand before each and every member of every branch of government from city, state, to the White House, Senators, Representatives, Supreme Court Justices, mayors, etc. We face each other and I hold my hands in prayer, bow my head and say "Namaste" just like I do at the end of each yoga class I teach. "Namaste" - the Light within me sees and honors the Light within you. In doing that, I acknowledge that there is light, however covered it may be or however far removed that individual might feel from the Light within them, in that one word, I acknowledge with conviction that it is there. I doubt that I will actually be able to physically carry out this vision, but I can carry it out to some degree in my own mind. When I'm tempted to let the evidence of corruption bring me into a state of sadness, anger, resentment, hopelessness, despair, I can remember that those states of consciousness have rarely if ever solved any problem. I can remember that corruption is the culprit, not people. Yes people, who have lost connection with the Light within them do unwittingly lend themselves as tools for corruption, but ultimately corruption itself is what has to be eradicated. Ultimately the one acting as a channel for corruption will suffer greatly. That's an object for compassion. Because I understand the power of invisible thought, I believe that as more of us sit still and see within our consciousness, each member of government (even if we don't know all their names) feeling the Light within them, that they will begin to feel that too. In this way we withdraw from physical and mental violence. From this place, bold, but non-violent, action can be taken with the conviction that we're uncovering Light, not fighting darkness. We can also look for shining individual examples that are already in positions of power. Many of us may not be called to lobby or take a visible stand against things that greatly need reform in our country and our world. But each of us can take an invisible stand FOR the Light within all things and specifically support that Light unfolding in the individuals that comprise our government. It's much harder to hate an individual when you're looking them in the eye than it is to direct hate at a generic entity called "government". Let's be wise, courageous, and PEACEFUL warriors. Let's say "Namaste" and know that this has power beyond measure. And let's extend this beyond our nation into the world.

The Daily Lightwave

Today's Daily Lightwave is inspired by a conversation with my husband a couple of days ago. We were sitting across from each other at the table eating when he stopped and looked into my eyes. He said something like, "Do you think we spend enough time just looking at each other?" And for about a minute or so we gazed into each others' eyes. During that minute I got this expanded sense of who he was and who I am. This might sound weird but I really felt that we were these forces of energy, totally in motion even as we appeared to be sitting at a table. I got a glimpse of our vastness, a feeling of the journey we're on, and it was so beautiful. This made an imprint, a deep impression on my psyche that I know will never leave, and it applies to everyone and everything. As I write this I'm reminded of something I read in Walter Isaacson's biography on Einstein ~ that a man sitting at rest in am arm chair is actually traveling around the sun at 67,000 mph. Wow! It turns out that the veil of the senses is see-through. Keep looking.

#dailylightwave #lightwave

Spiritual Service and the Lost Sheep

There's a story related in the gospels of Luke and Matthew as well as in the Gospel of Thomas (not included in the canonical bible) that's known as the Parable of the Lost Sheep. It's a story Jesus told in response to the hierarchy of his day who were questioning his dealings with what they called "sinners". He used something people where familiar with as an analogy and spoke of a shepherd who had 100 sheep. He reasoned that if one sheep got away, the shepherd would leave the 99 that were doing great and go to seek and find the lost one. Jesus didn't say the shepherd threw up his hands and said "Oh screw it. There's no hope for that one! Any way I'm busy here with the goodie goodie sheep." Nor was he suggesting that being "found" meant converting the lost one to a particular religion because he didn't have one. It seems to me the deeper meaning is helping another to feel their direct connection to Love, God, Spirit, Itself. If we can't do that then what is any religion or spiritual path good for?  I know in my own experience, I've been most transformed by those who helped me do that. The specific body of teachings or rituals are just the gateway to that connection. This doesn't mean in any way that it's wrong to be an integral part of a denomination or spiritual path. I just think that those who do identify with one way need to stay alert to what it's really about ~ the transformation of one individual at a time until everyone on the planet feels the divinity within ~ that satisfying connection to the "nobler nature" (a term Steven Pressfield uses). If we accomplished that, I suspect there'd be no more war, greed, violence, etc. etc. etc. Imagine that.

And the cool thing is, we each play the role of shepherd and lost sheep at different times in our lives. As Ram Dass so simply puts it, "We're all just walking each other home."

Running Out of Limits

Picture taken about 6 months ago on Palo Comado trail - same route I write about here.

Yesterday was my hottest run of the year so far. I went out at about 2pm probably the hottest part of the day and ran my usual 6 miles. I was challenged and definitely drew upon strength not my own.

On my final stretch I passed my 86 year old neighbor who probably noticed my bright red face and simultaneously drenched and dehydrated demeanor and said in his European accent (which I haven't identified yet) "You're going to lose more weight." My spontaneous response was to say, "Hopefully I'm losing more hate." He seemed delighted with that comeback and I was too. As I ran the rest of the way to my front door my muse continued...

Lose hate, not weight
Gain Love, not pounds

In the balance of Soul

pure bliss is found.

That's inside-out fitness!

Earlier in my run, in the midst of some doubtful thoughts...

"maybe I should've waited til the sun went down"

"maybe I should've take a route with less hills today"

"maybe I should've only run 4 miles"

"maybe I should've built myself up to running in these high temps"

bla bla bla...

...I was given this to sustain me:

Sometimes it's not about changing the route

or shortening the distance.

It's about drawing from a deeper well.

I felt immediately lifted. Point well taken. Thank you!

One of the reasons I love running is that it brings me to my edge over and over again and invites me to draw from that deeper well. I don't think there's any such thing as an "easy" run - at least not for me. Running has always had a way of exalting me beyond the physical into an experience of my innate freedom, strength, grace, and endurance. It teaches me not to be intimidated by procrastination, bodily sensations, steep hills, rocky terrain, rattle snakes, and coyotes. It teaches me to return to my center time and again to find what I need to overcome obstacles. I've never returned empty handed or failed to find what I need there. What a powerful metaphor for all of life and training for day to day experience!

I'm still in training, so I'm still running.

The Daily Lightwave ~ Solitude versus Isolation

The Daily Lightwave (#dailylightwave)

Solitude and isolation are not the same thing.

Solitude brings balance to a life of connection.

Isolation reinforces a sense of disconnection.

In our culture, we need less isolation (i.e. more real connection) and more solitude.

A healthy life is a life of connection and voluntary solitude; not of unwanted or forced isolation born of disconnection.

The Roseto research I wrote of earlier this week has given me so much to contemplate. Studies around this Italian-American community in Pennsylvania showed that their sense of community and connection was the primary factor in living a long, healthy life. They took care of their elders, multi-generations lived with or in close proximity to each other, and everyone looked out for one another so no one felt alone or isolated. The bottom line ~ connection is good for us in every way.

In our culture, we've gotten away from these practices for the most part. In the urban environments most of us inhabit, it's possible to be among thousands of people in a day and not really connect with anyone. Saying "hello" to strangers seems to be an art of the past. Why this distrust of each other? I'm striving to remember as I go about my day that everyone needs connection. Even though it takes courage and the risk of being rejected, let me be the one to break the ice and at least say hello or make eye contact and smile. In our consumer-based economy so many opportunities to connect surround buying things so let me be the one to start a conversation with the person bagging my groceries, serving me tea, washing my car, or handing me the dry cleaning. If another isn't open to conversation, I quietly feel and acknowledge their value without saying a word. That kind of silent recognition is felt by the other person.

Of course connecting and outreach always need to be balanced with solitude. Yet within in the scope of an integrated life, solitude reinforces connection not separation. Isn't it ironic that moments spent voluntarily alone actually help us feel more connected to each other.