Exploring Awareness

It is with a very heavy and grieving heart that I share with you that  Lisa Barry the co-host and co-founder of the Exploring Awareness podcast died unexpectedly on November 30, 2021. In this episode, we grieve together using David Whyte's poem entitled The Well of Grief, and a guided meditation, with emphasis on mindfulness of the emotion of grief using the RAIN acronym of recognize, acknowledge/accept, investigate and nurture. This is tragic, unexpected and challenges everything we discuss in this podcast, while at the same time allows us an opportunity to grieve with grace, and somehow find peace.   

There is a deep place of connection within each of us, that is shared by all. In today's world, distractions, conditions, and inflexible ideas pull us away from the present moment and our connection to each other. In this episode, we focus on the word RETURN as an invitation and intention to connect to a deeper sense of presence, an authentic sense of being -  a return to mindful awareness and a return to a felt sense of the unity of all beings. This is about a realization and being on a path to our own awakening, to a return of our original self while at the same time shared with all in a common consciousness. 

Episode # 61: The Myth of Self Improvement The self-improvement industry thrives on a fundamental myth that there is something wrong with you that needs to be improved. Where does the idea that "I'm not ok" come from in the first place? In this episode, we turn the idea of self-improvement on its head. What if you are already  fine and don't need to be fixed? Although your mind may not allow you to believe this, exploring awareness and discovering the qualities at the core of your being leads to a realization of who you really are.  These realizations render self-improvement projects un-necessary. Instead, you are infused with a loving presence and the Joy of being. You just may start to notice that you move around informed by like wisdom and peace and joy and love and generosity as opposed to being informed by preconceived ideas of defensiveness and ego attachment and competition-the source of the need for self-improvement in the first place. By giving yourself the gift that this is a possibility, return to the self that never needed improvement happens organically.

Episode 60: Exploring Awareness Of Dualistic Thinking And Its Impact Opinions, advice and judgments tend to be experienced as having to be either this way or that way with little room in between, There is your way- which you might feel is the right, usual, customary, comfortable way and then there is the other way – which may seem wrong, not usual and not comfortable. This very common tendency is called dualistic thinking. In this episode, we bring compassionate awareness to this tendency and explore how it brings reactions instead of responses. Being aware of the dynamic of dualistic thinking stops the "autopilot" reaction providing then an opportunity to see what is occurring and realize things may not be that straightforward. Going deeper, through exploring awareness, allows the unconscious to become conscious- getting to the root of unconsciousness and bias. From this place of deep awareness, life doesn't fit into boxes. Now, freedom from duality and an opportunity to act from a place of peace, joy, love and generosity arises. .

Episode 59: Could Your Natural State Be Loving Awareness? A popular Ram Dass quote- "The natural state of the mind is pure love, which is not other than pure awareness"- sums up much of the dialogue in exploring awareness podcast episodes. The conditions in our current moment in history could lead one away from an open hearted loving awareness to a small and aggressive protective stance that can  be amplified by the loudest voices on TV, radio and social media.   It is possible to realize an identity as awareness and experience the state of the true mind as love. In this episode, we include a guided meditation to point the way to HOW you may start or continue a journey towards these realizations.  Listen and ask yourself – Is it time to move on from an adolescent, ego-centric perspective, or from a locked in, negative curmudgeon perspective of closed minded adulthood to a loving awareness perspective that will make the world a better place for you and those around you?