I've been thinking about how one small moment can change the course of our entire day.
It might be a stranger's smile when we're having a difficult morning, or a friend sending a message at exactly the right time. These moments might seem insignificant, but they can create a ripple. We feel a little better, so we respond differently to the next person. They feel that, and carry a lighter feeling into their next interaction. Suddenly, something that began as a very small act has travelled much further than we could ever imagine.
What feels even more powerful is when we come together as a group with the same intention.
In this circle, we're going to explore an idea called the Emotional Frequency Scale, and what might happen when we intentionally come together from a place of joy, compassion and love. The intention is to explore how these states can contribute to the healing of ourselves, each other, and the wider world.
I'm going to get a little more detailed here, so hang in there — it might feel like Psychology 101 for a moment!
David Hawkins was a psychiatrist who developed a model of consciousness based on what he described as different levels of human awareness and emotional states. It's a little bit like the idea that you attract what you believe where our beliefs can influence our perspective, our behaviour, and ultimately the way we experience our lives.
Hawkins placed emotions on a spectrum, from lower states such as shame, fear and anger, through courage and acceptance, and towards higher states such as love, joy and peace.
One of the shifts that happens around the level of courage is moving away from blaming others and towards taking responsibility for our own actions, choices and feelings. (The picture below may help to visualise this concept)
This is Joy from the movie Inside Out (anyone with school aged children will recognise her after the past month!)
Then there's love. At this level, Hawkins describes the ability to exercise unconditional kindness and forgiveness — without exception. Those last two words really spoke to me. We can all feel love and come from a place of love, but to remain there without exception is a whole other level!
One of the more fascinating ideas within this model is that the scale is logarithmic - that higher states of consciousness have a disproportionately greater influence than lower ones. For example, he suggested that one person operating from a state of willingness could counterbalance thousands of people below courage, and that even higher states could have an exponentially greater influence. To put the numbers in perspective, four people operating at the level of reason would counterbalance a population the size of Adelaide!
Of course, it's nearly impossible to remain in a state of love or joy continuously. You'd probably have to be a Buddhist monk or similar, devoting every waking moment to your intentions!
However, we can consciously create moments of love, joy, compassion and connection and have an impact far beyond what we can see.
And that's really what this circle is about. I want us to come together with the intention of raising our vibration — not by forcing ourselves to feel a certain way, but by creating an environment where those lighter, more expansive states can naturally arise.
Being with the right people, having a good laugh and a heartfelt conversation, or simply feeling safe enough to be completely yourself can be enough to lift you after a tiring week.
You can, of course, speak about anything that's on your mind, but the meditation and prompts will reflect this intention.
We might all arrive carrying completely different emotions but as we connect, share, laugh and listen to each other, something shifts. We create a space that feels a little more peaceful, a little more loving, and a little more expansive.
And hopefully, that feeling ripples out to everyone else we encounter