Xin; the Chinese word meaning Head-Heart.
This philosophy is that we each have a rational mind in which we make decisions and our hearts full of emotion and instinctual knowing.
In certain situations you may lead with either your head or your heart however it is imperative that we utilise both heart and mind to make a good decision. One balances the other.
When we make decisions with our heart, emotions can taint the truth. They are reactive and unpracticed responses which don’t always deliver our desired outcome. Likewise, to make a decision solely with our heads is to mute those emotions that can provide a more accurate answer.
Chinese philosophers suggest seeing both feelings and emotions intimately connected with our rational mind. We are of one. Training our head and heart to work as one takes practice, so we can think and act clearly. Like anything we wish to make stronger, it requires repetition and consistency.
Practicing this mindfully at every opportunity will allow the communication between the two to become stronger, and make you feel more connected to the world around you inevitably creating a sense of balance.
The following is a framework for Mindful Living.
A= Activating events in our lives that trigger an emotional response.
B= Beliefs (how we are processing information before jumping to a conclusion)
C= Consequential outcome (behaviour, emotional response,
action)
There are two distinct approaches that we can take when evaluating and assessing a given situation in our lives to arrive at an outcome.
A =C Thinking (Reactive)
This is a reactive approach to life. You’ll notice there’s no B. It’s a cause and effect equation.
Reactive thinking doesn’t account for the processing of information inside our minds. This is where mindful awareness comes in.
When we understand how we are processing information, we can take full responsibility for how we choose to respond to that information.
Empowerment comes through taking responsibility and that’s what happens when we take a proactive, mindful approach.
When we account for our B (beliefs), we consider how we’re processing this information before jumping to a conclusion.
A + B = C (Proactive)
By approaching a circumstance with mindful awareness, we understand how we are processing information and we can take responsibility for how we react to that information.
In doing so, can lead to a very different outcome.
Subscribers this week will be emailed an exercise based on this framework to implement at home.
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Hope you have epic adventures this weekend and get outdoors!
Amanda xx
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