Today I want share why developing a poetry practice can help UP △ your spiritual connection.
Both poetry and spirituality share the common denominator of heightened consciousness.
Now consciousness can be a frightening term for many people. It may feel hard to grasp exactly what the guru or poet means when they talk of consciousness.
Think about it this way … at night when you fall into a deep sleep you go “unconscious.” You lose awareness of your surroundings; emotions; thoughts; physical body; past history; future plans; etc. When you wake up in the morning you regain consciousness again.
In a simple way, consciousness is the state of being awake, alert, and (hopefully) present to your lived experiences.
Now we’ve all had the experience of being wide awake but simultaneously unconscious …
△ Have you ever driven 5 miles down the road daydreaming/ playing out a scenario in your mind, hardly even aware you’re operating a moving automobile?
△ What about when you’re having a conversation with a friend and in the back of your mind you’re secretly going over a checklist of details for an upcoming project!
△Or maybe you’ve been so mesmerized by a TV show you failed to realize you just ate an entire pan of chocolate brownies…ooops!
When we strive to live a mindful, spiritual life we try to live (as much as possible) in a state of heightened consciousness. This is the magic of presence.
Spiritual traditions emphasize the importance of practicing presence because if we are truly present in the moment, more of our consciousness is available to us. In this heightened state we are much more observant, acutely aware of all that is passing through our unique field: thoughts; sensations; emotions; memories; wishes; fears; bodily health; environment, etc.
When we learn to shine the light of awareness on these passing states of being throughout the day, we create many small opportunities to make clear, conscious choices on how we want to give and focus our attention.
ENERGY GOES WHERE ATTENTION FLOWS…
Will you practice non-judgment?
Will you practice gratitude?
Will you surrender?
Perhaps you’ll pick a better feeling thought.
Maybe forgiveness will be needed?
Self-compassion?
Groovy dance moves?
There are unlimited choices on how you can respond and focus your conscious attention. But, in order to do so, you need to be present and aware of the passing elements and energies in the first place. To do this you must become the conscious observer of your consciousness.
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Now. Why poetry helps! I have found that one of the best ways to increase the strength and awareness of my consciousness is by using it! Just like going to the gym is exercise for your body, using language is exercise for your consciousness. I like to compare writing poetry to a high intensity cardio workout; reading poetry to a more moderate fat-burn zone. Both are beneficial.
Right now you’re probably asking yourself: Wait, back up Emily, What? Huh..Why language and consciousness?
One of the main reasons writing/reading and consciousness go hand-in-hand is due to the fact that language is deeply embedded in our consciousness as human beings.
Language and consciousness are so seamlessly tied together because our brain: our higher-ordered consciousness—the thing that sets human beings apart from the animal kingdom—evolved by attaching linguistic tokens (words and symbols) to our states of being. In fact, a lot of the time it’s hard to distinguish between the two: language (thoughts) and being (our conscious state).
I am tired. I feel tired. I think I’m tired.
I feel hungry. I think I’m hungry. I am hungry.
I think I’m lonely. I am lonely. I feel lonely.
You think as you feel.
You feel as you are.
You are as you think.
(vice versa)
Unless you have superb ✨heightened consciousness✨ it’s pretty damn hard to determine why you are the way you are; think the way you think; and feel the way you feel. What makes this even more challenging is your body’s biochemical response and thought patterns become addictive and cyclical.
The way you think, feel, and behave becomes routine and automated— operating like a default setting to your life. If you’re living in a less-than-ideal pattern of being, I highly, highly recommend using spiritual practices and self-development tools to break the pattern!
Today I’m recommending the spiritual practice and tool of poetry!
Art by Ellie Mawby
Just like meditation, writing and reading poetry can set you free!
(Living poetically can too).
✔ Reading poetry can break the current pattern or cycle.
✔ Poetic living can open enough space for you to make a new, conscious choice.
&
✔ Writing poetry can help you master the art of being the conscious observer of your consciousness.
When we read and write poetry, we increase the field of our consciousness, AND simultaneous narrow our focus to the present. This opening and narrowing creates a natural flow of super-conscious, spiritual power.
Think of the shape of a funnel… big and wide at the top, narrow at the bottom. When you read or write you will be consciously making this shape with your consciousness.
First, you are opening and widening your consciousness to merge with a power greater than yours—the poems. Then you are focusing that connection into the present moment using your senses. By doing so, you literally become a consciousness-flowing conduit; a channel; an electric impulse merging with the divine.
In this moment you ARE heightened consciousness. You become it.
Poetry offers you a pathway— allowing knowledge from your higher-self to find its way to your human-self. When Walt Whitman wrote:
Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems.
He was signaling the spiritual nature and quality of poetic wisdom. Poetic wisdom comes from a place that is beyond consciousness— a connected, unified, spiritual field (the top expanse of the funnel). Outside of space and time. Then it is translated into the world of forms and duality (the bottom tip of the funnel). POETRY happens at the site of this intersection between the human and the divine.
Your consciousness merging with the Universe’s consciousness = the most transformational experience of heightened consciousness you can generate.
The more your practice holding your consciousness in a divine-funneling shape, the better you will become at embodying poetic essence in your everyday life. In time, it can be natural to keep your consciousness funneled in such a way that you feel all of the universe flowing to you and through you.
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Love to you #beautyhumans, xx
