Enhance Connection Now

Stop. Right now. I want to ask you to check in with yourself about something crucial.

At what point today have you felt deep, genuine connection and a sense of belonging?

Let me explain what I am asking, as “connection” means numerous things.

You can feel deeply connected to yourself - tuned in, aware, mindful. This is a very therapeutic state of being well supported to be so by decades of research.

You can connect with others: family, partner, friends, neighbors, and even pets, through eye contact, physical touch, conversation that revealed how you are truly feeling, enduring contact that lasts for at very least a few minutes. Feeling authentically connected to and belonging with other people (and animals!) has been identified as a very important factor in emotional health.  

You can connect in a more universal way, such as with nature, with god/spirit/divinity, with the vast universe. This type of connection tends to require time and attention, such as ongoing meditation practice, giving yourself generous time for sitting quietly outside and allowing yourself to be receptive to whatever you feel, see, hear, smell, and even taste, or engaging in ceremony and religious devotional practices. When you foster this type of spiritual connection it has been known for centuries, ever since humans have been able to express through language, song, and art, that it is healing, fostering peace in our often troubled souls.

(art cred: "Love" Art installation at Burning Man 2015 by ALexandr Milov)

So, right now, I am asking you to consider, have you experienced connection with true depth today? Rushing around the kitchen to grab breakfast and bumping into your kids, busting out the door with a peck on the cheek to your lover does not count. Surfing Facebook and reading status updates and clicking like… nope. Five minutes of quiet in a hot shower is nice, but does not generally give you the true experience of connection.

Have you looked in anyone’s eyes today for more than 30-seconds? Have you touched and been touched someone you trust and care for?

Have you engaged in conversation about what your immediate needs or feelings are? About your true concerns? To celebrate together a positive outcome?

Have you allowed yourself slow, sustained introspection? Quieting or your thoughts? Letting your feet rest on the Earth?

No?

I know. The pace of our lives, the constant noise of social media feeds, the demands of work, the stress and overwhelm of the political climate - these make it difficult to get connected. It’s ironic, right? We are more connected than ever before with the tremendous speed and access afforded us by our technology, yet we are the least CONNECTED population of humans in all of history. The speed of interaction, our distracted attention spans, the sheer amount of energy we must expend to take care of ourselves and serve our communities all lead to DISCONNECTION.

This is not good for us. Not at all.

Right now, I am asking you, how can you connect? Who can you connect with? What can you do to sincerely and generously open yourself up to them? How can you give yourself the space, time, process to connect with yourself or make spiritual connection (if you cannot or choose not to connect with another person or being at this time)?

You will feel stronger and more peaceful by enhancing your feeling of connectedness. You will be healthier and more productive by tapping into the truth that you genuinely BELONG to community or something greater than yourself. You deserve this. You thoroughly need this.

Make it happen. Right now, make a call and plan a date with a loved one and commit to keeping your phones turned off. Review your to do list - what can you postpone until tomorrow to make time to enhance connection today (remembering that you will actually be more productive once you turn up this self-care action)? Go outside. Yes, right now! Take deep breaths, still your mind, stay out there for 30-minutes with no agenda. Yes, seriously!

I am very serious about wanting to keep you well. We all need each other to be our most secure selves as we are living in insecure times with constant, chaotic change. We need each other’s patience, truth, insights, strength. We have to start by cultivating it within ourselves so we have it to offer to others.

The brilliance of enhancing your connection? When you connect with others, you are providing them with the same soul food for them feeling connected and belonging, as well! Connections grows, it networks.

Want to connect with me? I am all for it. Email me at justina@cloverheartconcepts. Let’s schedule a time. We got this. <3