Blog: Designing Your Life From The Inside Out
The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle gave a talk this weekend at the Beacon Theater in New York City, which I regrettably had to miss due to a commitment to be elsewhere. If there is a single teaching which has affected my life more than any other, it is Eckhart Tolle's message. In this short essay he states that the only thing he ever writes or speaks about is spiritual awakening. Because Tolle's words come out of his own awakened consciousness, they have the power to transform the reader away from ego-based consciousness towards personal happiness, and eventually, to the end of conflict and suffering throughout the world. Though spiritual awakening remains a conceptual idea to this blogger, the practice of increasing awareness has led to a gradual dis-identification from thoughts and emotions and a growing ability to choose joy over suffering.

Huh?

Dis-identification with emotions means treating them like weather . . . they may be turbulent, tempestuous even, but in due time they will pass. If you can gather a little distance from them and bear witness to them rather than being completely immersed in or "identified" with them (think of being caught in a hailstorm vs. watching it from a bay window), then you have a little space inside yourself to choose your reaction. Consider, "I am sad," vs. "I am experiencing sadness." That's the difference between identifying with an emotion and being dis-identified with it, which gives a much greater sense of freedom. And even better than, "I am experiencing sadness," is "hmmm, sadness," because that really takes the punch out of it.

But don't mistake non-identifying with non-feeling. You gotta feel it to heal it. In "The Power of Now", Tolle speaks of the body being a portal into the present moment. So if you can locate where an emotion is residing in the body (chest, shoulders, gut, etc), then that thrusts you right into the moment because you are simply with the sensation and not with the story that is perpetuating the emotion. Once you drop the story, you might notice the emotion start to fizzle out and that's what Tolle means by dis-identification with thoughts. Thoughts, like emotions, rise and subside. No point hanging your identity on something so constantly in flux. If any of this makes any sense to you, and especially if none of it does, check out Eckhart Tolle's upcoming speaking schedule.

posted on: 10/21/2007 12:00:00 PM by Stacey Platt
category: The Mental Side

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Designing Your Life From The Inside Out

by Stacey Platt

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About Stacey:

With an M.B.A. from NYU's Stern School of Business as well as a 12-year daily yoga practice and 6 trips to India, Stacey brings a unique mix of attributes to her profession. As an organization consultant, Stacey is dedicated to helping clients with all aspects of home and office organizing including compassionate clutter reduction and painless paper management. As a coach, Stacey partners with clients to produce positive results, both personally and professionally, in order to create purposeful, fulfilling and extraordinary lives.

Stacey's Website:

www.staceyplatt.com

check out . . .

• Apartment Therapy
• Soul Jerky
• Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute
• Nirodhah
• Flavorpill
• The Lazy Environmentalist
• Green Drinks