Working the Cure: A powerful tool for creating change
By Lisa Templeton, Ph.D.
We all want more love and acknowledgment in the divisive and chaotic world we live in today. If we are to find a way through and connect with ourselves and each other, we must lean into ourselves and cultivate practices that help us evolve and open our hearts to love.
Working the CURE is an acronym to help us remember and stay attuned to what we have control over in our perception. It is a tool that can uplift us all. This starts when we listen more deeply to what is within ourselves. It can’t hurt to explore our inner world a bit – to breathe in and set our intention to eavesdrop on our mind and body – take a break from the outside world for just a few brief moments.
Be courageous and be the change you are looking for – try this practice and work the CURE:
C – Stay compassionately curious with care to what you hear internally. Be kind and gentle. This takes strength and focus. Mindfulness is about being present without judgment. Take on an attitude of wonderment with your inner world. There is nothing to fear. It may not feel comfortable to be consciously kind to yourself, so a good starting point is just being neutral with whatever comes up.
U – Give unconditional love and care to yourself as often as you can. This won’t always be natural, but ask yourself how you feel when you say mean comments to yourself and/or criticize aspects of your body, performance, etc. Love is so much lighter than hate or judgment and you can overtime create much more ease and calm in your mind and body with love.
R – Realign or reset your perspective and expand/broaden what is really happening within, especially in response to your external world. Consider what you don’t know. Take the time to counter your own beliefs. Why do you believe them? What experiences led you there? As you reset your perception, you can the confirmation bias that lives within us all (i.e., we look for information in our environment to confirm our beliefs, not counter them). Take time to consider other possible perceptions and/or experiences.
E – Offer empathy to yourself first and then to others. We often hear about empathy, defined as stepping into someone else’s perspective or walking in their shoes. In this practice, begin first by walking in your own shoes and considering the context and experience of your life. Many seem to have more empathy for others than for themselves. This practice always starts with yourself. Put your own life into context and consider the circumstances going on around you with an empathic perspective, as you would someone you love. With practice, you can get better at shifting your perspective into someone else’s.
The more we practice working the cure, the better we get at opening our perspective and listening to what is going on around and within us. This tool automatically creates change within, and we become more conscious of what we can and cannot control. Additionally, there is a love that functions as curative and caring that radiates from all practicing. As we take back our own power, we inspire and empower others to do the same. Together, we can all build on the light that is within each of our hearts.