The Circle of Genuine Meaning - Nearly finished my first draft and getting excited.- Mairead Ashcroft 23/7/16

For those who don't know yet, I am in the process and writing and illustrating an interactive self reflective book to promote personal well being, interpersonal connection and mind, body and spiritual involvement to our environment and the benefits of these connections to one's well being. environmental . The foundation of the book are bases on the teachings of the cultural significance of sacred circles in many forms and within many cultures, for example the Tibetan Mandala, Native American Medicine Wheel, Celtic Cross and The flower of Life to name a few. I also encourage individual appreciation for the seemingly universal archetypal values of the teachings of cultural sacred circles. throught the practices of Mindfulness, Focusing and reflection.

Celtic Cross

Tibetan Mandala 

Medicine Wheel

Flower of Life

A small offering of what is to come in my book The Circle of Genuine Meaning

First Draft - nb; These illustrations are not my property but taken from google

 Center

Have you ever tried to grasp the body and mind experience that can occur when you don’t feel that you are centred? You may say that you are off balance, sense a heaviness or an awareness of floating sensation. You may describe that something within is off kilter or you may just say that you feel a bit off. A sensitivity to unbalance can make you physically queasy, light headed and/or, feel as if you are not attached to the rest of the planet. This strange sensation may often be accompanied by the experience of ungroundedness. Sacred geometry and in particular, the Flower of life, has offered solid understandings of the mathematical makeup of human kind from as far back as the Egyptians Six-thousand years ago. Sacred geometry encompasses sacred universal patterns used to map out the design of everything in our experience of reality and is most often demonstrated in architecture, art, music, light, cosmology and nature. It is believed that mathematical ratios create harmony and proportion within and around all things and that life’s balance will not exist, creating chaos within the universe. The symmetry of the Flower of Life has been utilised in meditative practice for generations and within many cultures and religions, for example; stained glass windows in Christian churches and within the Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandalas. Connecting to center by rebalancing internal and external life factors, thoughts and emotions, can create the experience of inner sacred geometry, resulting in the sensation of life centeredness, as if your feet are firmly placed on the ground. This is not to say that the feelings of being unbalanced are not beneficial to the human psyche. Hurtling down a roller-coaster, taking a leap into the unknown and facing fears can be an exhilarating and healthy challenge but would be impossible to maintain on a perpetual cycle. Re-centring and maintaining balance are key to enabling the thrilling experience of unbalance. Knowing that you have the capacity of returning from chaos enable a sense of adventure and safe risk taking. Understanding your Locus of control can provide the positive psychological protection required to live a full life with a sense of wellbeing and centeredness. 

(NB: Locus of Control is explained in a previous chapter)