"Spiritual practice is not what you are doing, but what you are thinking." ~ Swami Satchidananda
I saw this quote earlier this week during my morning reflection. And I loved it so much that it's been singing in my heart ever since. What I love about it is the lesson I'm reminded of time and time again...that we always have an opportunity to turn anything we do into an act of devotion to what we care about most.
The practice that allows us to turn every breathe into a prayer. Ever flick of a finger into a movement of serving others. Every glance of an eye to an act of love. When I think about it, life feels pretty magic.
I've been playing with this for a long time. And it's one of my favorite lessons to learn time and time again. To experiment with more. And to find ways to infuse a little more devotion in my life.
So maybe you're wondering, what do I mean? Here's what I mean. What if every single mundane, exciting, uninteresting, and interesting moment in your life was devoted to what you cared about most? What if doing the dishes was an act of devotion to Love in your life? To your self care? To serving your loved one? What if vacuuming the floor was an act of devotion to serving a Higher Power? The Infinite? And invitation for It to enter your personal space even more? What if walking down the street and sharing smiles with strangers was an act of devotion to the shared Oneness under all creation? To giving to others? If you're anything like me, you're pretty pumped about this idea. It might sound like a train you want to get on and take a ride. But then you're wondering how.
The secret...thinking. Simple. As. That. Intentions. Mindful decisions about where your attention is during any single act. Any single moment. Becoming absorbed in what you are devoted to as you go on with the "doing" of life.
So I get it. The mind loves to wonder. Mine too. Welcome to the miraculous human mind. This practice is not about getting upset about how often you are not connected to what you are devoted to, but perhaps about celebrating when you do decide to connect with what you are most devoted to. Got me?
What am I devoted to? A lot! But I understand everything I'm devoted to interconnected to the same starting point...The Infinite. The Universe. God. The Divine Mother. The Nothingness. The Self. That Highest Power that seems to keep this place called Earth...called Life...humming. The Secret Hand behind the scenes that always works everything out perfectly in my life. That sends me secret handshakes and messages in my daily encounters to guide me along the way. I'm devoted to Joy. To BIG, BIG, BIG Love. To feeling it. To being it. To sharing it. To serving others. To gratitude. To play. To mind body practices. To compassion. To the Divine Feminine. To connection. And so much more.
Orienting my coaching and teaching entirely around a focus on choosing joy and moving past fear was an act of devotion. It anchored my work into Love...Courage...Choice...Empowerment...Being...Discovery...Dreaming...Possibilities... These joy tips I write each Wednesday are an act of devotion to Joy. Doing my dishes last night was an act of devotion to self care.
Ready to get started? Here we go:
- Identify one thing you are devoted to. Choose the first thing that comes to your heart. Trust it. Go with it. Something that stirs your heart. Maybe it's a feeling. A Higher Power. A person. An essence. Just trust yourself and know this is just the beginning. You can always connect with more later.
- Check out your to do list and choose one "doing" to infuse with devotion. Whether it's an ordinary or extraordinary thing on your "to do" list choose one thing. Hint...this has been most powerful for me with things that I normally do not particularly enjoy, find interesting, or get excited about. (ahem...doing dishes.)
- Make an intention to infuse your "doing" with devotion. This is simply a mental check in. A decision to commit your act to becoming an act of devotion.
- Keep coming back to your center of devotion as you are doing. Use it as an anchor in any way that makes sense. Maybe you connect with one word and keep coming back to that word. An image. A song. A quote. A color. Any little trick that you know might work for your mind to bring your thinking back into alignment with what you are most devoted to.
- Notice how you feel. Do you feel different than you normally would? How does this impact how you feel during your next act of "doing" following your connection with devotion?
- Celebrate a little more devotion in your life. Acknowledge the moments of devotion you created rather than how much your mind wandered. Or if you forgot.
- Think about rinse and repeating...doing it again. :)
You know what might be awesome? If we all did this about 1% more in our life. Imagine...if people walked around during the day just 1% more connected mentally to what they cared about most as they went about their doing? How might the way they show up shift? I, my friends....think it might mean even more Magic. More Love. More Joy. More Play. More Peace. More Happiness. More Exuberance. More, more, more, more possibilities. That sounds pretty awesome. So I'm excited to continue infusing a little bit more devotion in my own doing. Wanna join me?