Over the last few decades many have brought their voices and concerns regarding climate change, yet few have experienced its impact like the Eskimo’s of Greenland. For years, the people at the top of the world have witnessed the melting of the big ice and understood the significant impact that this will have around the world. The old ones say that many will die, others will barely survive, and few will live. Despite this grim perspective, these have also understood that the most important ice to melt is the ice in our hearts. “Without doing so, mankind will not be able to use its knowledge wisely”, said Angaangaq Angakkrrsuaq, Kalaallit Eskimo Shaman.
In July 2017, elders from around the world gathered in Greenland, a land that has never known war, to witness the melting of the big ice and contemplate its spiritual significance. For some, it meant to do more for the environment, for others was to protect wildlife, others felt they needed to fight back, while few understood that the change had to begin deep within.
As an organizer, support staff, and participant of several gatherings in Greenland, I was invited numerous times to sit with the melting ice to contemplate the role I play in this web of life. Despite these opportunities, this time was different. As millions of gallons of water gushed into thousands of roaring rivers, I stood with chills running up my spine as I grasped at the reality that this ice was melting for the first time in 25 million years. Breathless, I stood in stillness knowing that there was no turning back. The ice was melting including that in the heart of humanity, including my own. Buy how?
As technologies continue to emerge faster and faster, choices augmented, and greater social demands imposed, the potential for greater inner disturbances, such as stress, reactivity, and conflict rises. For the most part our reactions creep up unconsciously, resulting in pain and suffering within self and in others and leading to protecting ourselves with a layer of ice. It is only through cultivating inner awareness and mastering the tool that offer us the opportunity to cultivate inner peace that we begin to consciously melt the ice in our hearts. Let’s look how.
5 Daily Practices to Help You Melt the Ice in Your Heart?
Wake up to Gratitude: A series of studies over the last decades have established that those who practice gratitude on a daily basis are healthier physically (stronger immune system, lower blood pressure, sleep better), mentally (feel happier, more alive and alert, more optimist) and socially (more generous, forgiving, and outgoing). In addition, according to Robert Emmons, perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, suggests that gratitude has two components: it offers us the opportunity to look at the good things we receive in the world and we recognize the source of goodness outside ourselves. In turn if allows us to feel more empathy toward the world around us.
Sit in Acceptance: Over the centuries, Buddhism has paid the road in the art of acceptance through meditation and mindfulness. Such practices offer us the opportunity to embrace what is occurring in the present moment without judgement. Our sitting practices give us an opportunity to learn to integrate such concepts into our daily lives. The end result greater happiness and a return to your heart!
Walk in AWE: Another beautiful way to melt our ice is to walk in AWE. By this we mean taking the time to encounter the things around you that are vaster and that transcends our current understanding of the work. Take a moment to be moved by the magic that surrounds you as you walk throughout your day.
Celebrate the Small Stuff: Our days are often packed in ways little attention is brought to cherishing the little gifts that surround us. These may be gifts that we take for granted which enhances our lives. This may be the little things that simplify our lives such as celebrating running water or your computer. Take a moment on a daily basis to create a smnall celebration for something simply yet profoundly impactful. Imagine yourself without it and let your heart open in celebration for having it.
Give a Hug: Ethologists who live in different parts world quickly recognize this. Nonhuman primates spend about 10 to 20 percent of their waking day grooming each other. According to research, safe touch offers the humans an opportunity to relax, feel safe, and elevate chemicals in our brain called oxytocin, responsible to creating bonds in humans.
Overall, the art of melting our ice begins with consciousness – being aware of our inner landscape and understanding how our emotions and thoughts drive our behaviors – may it be towards self, others, or our environment. Taking responsibility for the melting of our ice through the mastery of our inner world is the true stepping stone to lasting world peace. Enjoy the melting of the ice within you.
