Ben's Weekly Spark 4.1.18: A Dancing Baby, Field Catalysts and My Morning Practice

...A Weekly Digest of

Community-Generated Tools, Tips & Experiences for Accessing JOY, HOPE, PEACE & LOVE...

(Click here to join our Facebook group where these tools are shared. THANK YOU to the BC Tribe members who contributed to this week's Spark!)

***THIS WEEK'S SPARKS***

🔥JOY: How can you not be happy watching this baby react to its father singing!?!? (Thanks Buddha for the share!)

A gratitude list posted by my mom, Michelle Caron (thanks Mom!)

PLUS! Here are two of my favorite Spotify playlists I use for when I want to lift my mood, dance around and generally have a jolly time.

HAVE A GREAT DAY (NOSTALGIC FUN SONGS)

FEELIN' GOOD (UPTEMPO SOUL/MOTOWN SONGS)

🔥HOPE: My friend Adele Thurston shared an article with me about how, sometimes, giant social changes happen very quickly because organizations, in this article called “Field Catalysts,” connect multiple groups together to unite for a common cause. From the article: “...no single organization or strategy, regardless of how large or successful it may be, can solve a complex social challenge at scale. Instead, organizations need to work collaboratively to tackle pressing social problems.” This makes me feel hopeful that even seemingly insurmountable challenges can be overcome rapidly with intelligent organization.

🔥PEACE: MY MORNING PRACTICE...sets the tone for my day moving forward. It has become a *must* for me. It’s a series of practical steps I take to ensure that I’m less reactive, more open, kind, available, and in my body and heart throughout the day. I start by brushing my teeth, putting in my contacts and drinking some water. Then I make my bed and lay out my yoga mat.

Next I light a candle on my altar to visually signify for myself that my practice has started and light some sage or palo santo to olfactorily signify my start.

I put on a playlist of conscious music that invokes the tone I want for my morning, and begin. I use a lot of different tools, depending on the day, almost always some form of hatha yoga, sometimes chanting, sometimes the Tibetan bowl, sometimes I will invoke the elements, visualize, meditate on crystals or another item on my altar like the picture of my childhood self. Sometimes I’ll use my meditation apps depending on time or even practice while Oprah and Chopra talk about the daily lesson. I usually close by chanting my intention and (“Atha yoganasanam, unify, coelevate, om.”)

Then I will make some coffee and journal. All of this gets shortened or lengthened based on time and necessity. Sometimes I do 10 minutes, sometimes an hour.

🔥LOVE: 2 of my favorite teachers on approaching activism lovingly:

***UPCOMING EVENTS***

April 14th at 7PM PST- tune in via Facebook live on my Facebook Page for our monthly lovestreaming dinner party with explorations of love through music, food and conversations. This month's theme is love and its relationship to enlightenment, spirituality, faith and religion. Featuring performances by Ray Davis, Caitlyn Cope, and Sleep Machine (listen to all three of them on Spotify below!)