We are currently in the Season for Nonviolence, which goes from January through April.  It is sponsored by the Association for Global New Thought (information may be found on this link:  http://www.sanctuarynyc.org/seasons.html) and offers an opportunity for all of us to become more mindful of the ways in which we move through our world.  Often, these experiments focus on opportunities to become more conscious of how we generate the quality of life we live, and this week we’ll continue our exploration of our relationship with nonviolence and the qualities it brings into our experience.

Last week, I invited you to look at your relationship with things you’re passionate about.  The experiment asked you to explore how pushing against something, fighting it, actually feeds it.  I also asked you to notice that you can feed what you want to see happen in the world, offering your energy to constructive outcomes rather than feeding negative situations.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to become aware of the ways in which you already move through the world nonviolently.  For example, notice the ways kindness characterizes your words and actions, and the ways in which you express optimism and support for others.  Catch yourself using language nonviolently and notice how it feels when you speak words with care and with an awareness that the person across from you has the same vulnerabilities you do, the same wish to be comfortable and safe in this world.  Notice those actions you take because they express care and support, kindness and connection, and notice how it feels in your body when you do so.  Notice how you feel about yourself when you act from kindness and care, the quality of your self-image and daily experience when they are characterized by a sense of connection to the world around you.

Another opportunity this week is to create or reinforce an active intention to live nonviolently and notice how it feels to begin your day with this intention in mind.  Then, several times a day, notice what it’s like to reinforce the intention to live and express yourself nonviolently throughout the day.  Remember, living nonviolently doesn’t mean *not* to express what you care about and what you’d like to see change in your life and in the world.  It doesn’t mean settling for mistreatment, cruelty, or unkindness from others.  What it does mean is being mindful of how you engage in conversations about change, or situations that challenge you with aggression or hate.  What do you choose to feed in your world?

As with all the experiments, please play with this one.  Living nonviolently is a dynamic, active, expressive way of being in the world.  It just doesn’t engage violent language or action as a way of doing so.  Remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion, and to pat judgments on the head and let them move on through when they arise.  Building the muscles of nonviolent living is a process, and becoming increasingly conscious of your personal relationship with kindness and care is, as well.