Here is a short report on how we continue the Saturday morning meditations that we convened three years ago for creating Islands of Calm.

In a world that was VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), we were inspired by David Spangler’s reminder that if we could find the Island of Calm in ourselves, we had the opportunity to influence up to 1000 other people.

Two years ago Alastair McIntosh recognised that Ecovillage Findhorn is “ Hospitable to the Soul”. [Click here to listen to his talk.] In a world that is not only VUCA but increasingly chaotic we have shifted our meditation practice to co-create Islands of Coherence so that we can discern through deep spiritual practice and intentions how we can catalyse resonance, coherence and emergence and shift our systems from chaos to calm.

“When a complex system is far from equilibrium,
small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos
have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.”
Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Laureate

In contemplating coherence, we offer a new image of birds in murmuration – who follow three simple rules – keep flying, fly as close as possible to the bird beside you, and always aim for the centre. That seems to be a natural metaphor for achieving coherence in our community as we keep imagining an inspiring future, relate care-fully and respectfully to our neighbours and aim to live our community purpose.

We use David Spangler’s “Light Bank,” as a subtle resource where individuals can “deposit” their positive energies, prayers, and blessings. These contributions are then distributed by spiritual allies to those in need, similar to how a food bank operates.

This practice of subtle activism seems to offer a spiritual and energetic resource to create Islands of Coherence that can catalyse the highest good for all. Energetic coherence like the harmonious flow of energy within our meditation, helps the wider community to “fly closely together”. Spiritual coherence during the meditation aligns our thoughts, emotions, and actions with our higher self, and higher community purpose. The interconnectedness of these energetic and spiritual practices of coherence regularly replenishes our community Light Bank “on purpose”.

Achieving coherence brings numerous benefits to individual and collective aspects of our community, including enhanced well-being, increased resilience, improved relationships, greater fulfilment, and spiritual growth. Practical steps to cultivate coherence include deep inner listening, co-creating with the intelligences of nature and working as love in action – (sound familiar?) which can include mindfulness practices, energy balancing techniques, living authentically, connecting with nature, and emotional healing.

I hope this summary captures the new intentions of our Islands of Coherence meditation which is held online. If you would like to join us on Zoom at 9am UK time on Saturdays, get in touch and I will add you to the invitation email list.