Freeing Your Spirit with Loving Discipline

Day 12: Structuring your life and your days can free your heart and soul

As I took my morning walk early this morning as the sun was peeking out from the clouds, I felt a lightness in my step. As I set my foot on the ground to go forward a little bit each day on this 100 day journey exploring the spiritual guidebook The Infinite Self by Stuart Wilde I find joy in every moment.

Today’s small step is discovering how a daily practice, discipline and structure in your day can bring freedom to your spirit, heart and soul. It is fascinating because you often think that structuring your days brings you less freedom, but the opposite rings true.

True power, true knowledge — the ability to embrace the Infinite Self and transcend this physical plane and peer into other worlds, other pereceptions — comes only from discipline. Why? …..Discipline is important because without it you can’t control the mind. If you can’t control yourself, you are always a victim of the brat within; instead of becoming a spiritual grown-up, you remain, in the spiritual sense, an adolescent. -Stuart Wilde

I view discipline as building a bridge between our inner and outer worlds. In order to experience more freedom and peace of mind in our inner world, we must structure a bridge that is sturdy is solid. The bridge is made of our daily practices, our ways of being that keep our mind and our ego in check. The bridge is built board by board, layering day by day. By keeping our bridge solid, we have the freedom to enter into the beautiful realms of the edges of life, just like the ethereal moss growing on the sides of the bridge in the photo above. The boards of our bridge are built out of our daily disciplines.

My daily discipline is one that forms a solid foundation for me so that I can experience more freedom in my mind and my spirit. Each step in my day builds solid ground so that I can explore with freedom in my spirit.

Grounding & Silence:

I begin by doing a grounding meditation. This practice grounds me in my body first thing in the morning so that I am able to be aware of the subtle nature of the world around me. I can feel that I am a spirit in a body on the planet earth. I can notice my breath, I can focus on the life force within me. This grounding forms the first board on my bridge. This practice has become essential to each and every morning.

…At least try to manage ten or fifteen minutes each day (of silence). Stillness and quiet are the way you pray to the inner self. -Stuart Wilde

Walking:

Walking outdoors is a beautiful discipline because it gifts you with so many benefits. I used to exercise on our elliptical machine every morning after meditation. However, this type of exercise did not give me the silent contemplation that the practice of walking in my garden each morning does. Yes, it is summer right now, so the weather outside is usually very pleasant for walking in nature. However, I am dedicated to this practice and I have the beautiful example of Stuart Wilde walking in the forest every day, no matter what the weather to guide me on this journey. I find that I can meditate silently on the abundance and generosity of nature while I am walking each morning in my garden. I can see the infinity of the earth right beyond my doorstep. It never ceases to amaze me!

I walked the forest every night for three years. I learned to become friends with the rain and the snow, and discovered how to keep warm just using my mind. I went beyond my fears of the dark. -Stuart Wilde

Preparing:

After my walk and getting myself ready for the day, I prepare our home for the day. My daily cleaning and tidying rounds are another activity that keeps me grounded. I love to make sure the dishes are done, rooms are tidy, beds are made and the laundry for the day is underway. This practice keeps my mind from creeping in about cleaning while I am in my daily practice of writing.

Getting our environment ready for the day calms and centers my mind so that my spirit can be free to create! My son takes care of the family room each day, keeping it neat and tidy. I am teaching him daily practices of cleaning and tidying. After the first lesson he took on the tidying on his own. This morning he even took on making breakfast for us! What a delightful surprise! I love that he is learning to care for his environment and sees the impact on others.

I also find that doing tidying first thing in the day can be another form of meditation if we allow ourselves the luxury of silence. This morning as I was sorting out the recycling and some things to donate, I was able to focus on our abundance. I thought about how wonderful it was that I was flattening the boxes that our vegetables and fruit came in and how fortunate we are to have healthy food to eat. If you allow it, tidying can be a beautiful, serene practice in your day.

Make your life as immaculate as possible and keep things zen and neat. Order helps you feel confident. Life becomes a prayer rather than the chaotic manifesto of the immature mind. The effort it takes to establish order is recouped in several ways. As an affirmation of control, it helps you feel more secure. It allows for a better flow of ideas and, most importantly, you don’t waste energy hunting for things…-Stuart Wilde

Creating:

After I am fully ready for the day, I sit down to create. Every day I write an article, create a page for my book and create materials for my students and clients. This creation time is one of the most beautiful times in my day. It’s my opportunity to share and connect with others through sharing my story, my joy and my life.

This creation discipline is a foundation from which I can create the reality that I am seeking. The beauty of this is that it not only creates a beautiful world for me, I pass this joy on to others which has a lovely ripple effect. I can only imagine how far my words may reach. You never know how important your words, your encouragement and your joy are. When you create with giving in mind, you are limitless. You are creating abundance for everyone to enjoy each and every day. That giving will lead to more and more opportunities and dreams will appear right before your eyes. You just need to make it part of your daily practice. Create something you love every day, then let it go and share it. It’s a very simple practice, but it is so very impactful.

It’s important to become self-disciplined, inventing ways to challenge or control one’s personality. It puts you in the driver’s seat, assisting you to detach from negative emotion. -Stuart Wilde

Freedom:

After I have finished my creation discipline, the rest of the day is mine to be free. By preparing my mind, my body and my home to receive the gifts of freedom and abundance, I set myself up to feel joy every single day. There may be a few small things to do later in the day, but I can take the afternoon to just be. To connect with my son and with myself and enjoy some time to relax. Freedom is created by building that solid bridge, one practice at a time. It took me many years and many methods to get to this point. Each day is not perfect, and I need to make adjustments when life surprises me with something. However having these practices in place help me to navigate life’s ever changing flow.

The Infinite Self is there to guide and teach you, to lead you on to more and more energy. But discipline is vital, because you cannot begin to wrestle the ego into submission without discipline -Stuart Wilde

My prayer and intention for you today is to look at your daily practices. Which ones truly feel good to you? Which ones can you let go of? Would adopting a different daily practice help you create more joy and freedom in your days? I wish you infinite abundance and joy today and always!

What daily practice will you adopt as your own?

I am tagging my fellow writers here who are following along on this journey so that I may share this path with them: Michele Thill, Gurpreet Dhariwal, Sumera Rizwan, Chowa Sekai, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Rasheed Hooda, Henery X (long), Taha Abbas, Typewriter, Dr John Rose, Terry Mansfield, Amy Marley, Aurora Eliam, CMP and many more! Thank you Illumination Family!

Trista Signe Ainsworth is a professional organizer with Joyful Minimalism. She helps working women clear the clutter, overwhelm, and shame from their homes and lives so that they can truly live in joy.

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