NASH FLASH

THE DAILY MANDALA by Henry Reed

BELIEVE

Be —> Lieve

You are living (being) the sum total of your beliefs.

We must be equal (in thought, word and deed) to any desire before we will live with it.

TRUE POWER

Power is magnetism.  It is obtained by empowering others. Trusting, inspiring, respecting, challenging, delegating, appreciating, informing, listening, etc. elevates the recipient, who naturally reciprocates.  The exponential effect on the individual with this wisdom is obvious.  They are loved and respected. They don’t need to watch their back. They are mostly lighthearted, energetic and healthy.

Controlling, manipulative people have agency power.  As soon as their title or leverage is gone, their ability to influence is gone. They suck the energy out of everyone they impact. Instead of adroitly using Power, they think they are the power.  This type of exertion/force creates likely candidates for heart disease, anxiety issues, etc.

The brain constricts under duress inhibiting inspiration and creativity.  Pressuring people provides instant cause/effect gratification, but does much more harm than good over time. While the ignorant gain satisfaction from measuring the result of massive effort, the enlightened lament the unrealized potential and out-of-the-box, genius ideas that were suppressed in the process.

Week 1: TOOLS – What You Need To Know

The second point: THE BRAIN CANNOT DISCERN FACT FROM FANTASY.

This is why we have emotional and physical reactions to stories being played out on a movie screen – and to situations throughout our day that actually have nothing to do with us. Exhaustive scientific research has failed to locate the consciousness (aka awareness, presence, thinker, observer, conscience, etc.) that appears from time to time throughout the movie – and throughout our day – to remind the brain of the truth.

FEAR = Fantasized Evil Appearing Real

Most people have not been trained to cultivate and keep up a disciplined connection with this presence or “present moment awareness.” As a result they have very little power to control the behavior of their conditioned mind.  Events from the past leave an imprint on the brain.  Later when seemingly similar circumstances present themselves, the brain will issue warning signals.  If we are not paying attention (present/aware) we will believe the brain’s interpretation of  imminent danger and react accordingly.  We are re-acting the plot from a situation that may have happened years ago and have no relevance to the current situation whatsoever!  If we are in the moment, we open ourselves to the possibility of a different interpretation.  We can choose to respond differently and experience an entirely different outcome.  When we respond we pause to respire and ponder.

Present moment awareness frees me from being held hostage by my past.

Lesson from Job(s)

It is our great fortune to have witnessed the personification of so many Truths in the life and achievements or Steve Jobs.  His iconic legacy will be available for all to draw upon when illustrating Natural Law, the governing principles of Creation.  His larger-than-life demonstration of The Power of Pure Potential (aka the Power within), The Power of Intention (focus), The Power of Self-Referral (not accepting conventional wisdom), The Power of  Visualization (imagination), The Powers of Simplicity and  Boldness (‘just do it’), The Power of Detachment (from fear, from the outcome, from the known) brought us closer to understanding that while human, we are also super-human.  If we allow ourselves to seize these Powers, move out of the illusion of safety of our comfort zone and venture forth into the realization of our seemingly miraculous potential, we can, like Steve Jobs, achieve anything we can conceive and believe.

Jobs, sadly, also demonstrated the results of violating these Laws.  Stories of his impertenance are sprinkled throughout accounts of his creative prowess.  In addition to his micro-managing (controlling? autocratic?) leadership style, he was known to belittle people, seek revenge, and harbor grudges.  Whether he was ignorant, defiant or disdainful of such fundamental Laws as The Power of Love, The Power of Attraction, The Power of Compassion, and The Power of Forgiveness, Steve Jobs has left us a few poignant examples of  what happens when we believe we are the Power or that immutable Natural Laws don’t pertain to us.  It is impossible to fool Mother Nature.  We will always reap what we sow.  Pumpkin seeds will never bring forth cherries.  Imagine if he was able to weave the Power of Potential & The Power of Intention with The Powers of Love & Compassion and the Powers of Attraction & Purpose.  He may have inspired the realize-ation of boundless Potential within those he employed.  Empowering others motivated by an absolute trust in the Power of Love without any attachment to the outcome (e.g. not fearing that Knowledge or information is dangerous or belief that your investment in another  may not pay returns) must buoy the leader/teacher exponentially.  It is Law.

Additionally, had he chosen to empower and inspire rather than intimidate, the inescapable Law of Attraction is likely to have drawn far less toxicity to his life experience and perhaps the potential for disease encoded in his DNA could have remained un-real-ized, dormant.  Nature does not compartmentalize; neither do we.  It is impossible!  We cannot have one kind of thought and a different kind of body.  Your body will reflect, measurably, whether you are stressed, angry, grateful or loving, etc.  Make sure that that you employ the Power of Love in all of your intentions, interactions and creations.  The Law of Attraction says we receive back the energy we emit multiplied on all levels – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  Do you want back what you are giving out?  How would you like it on steroids?

Free Introduction to Meditation

Sunday, October 30, 2011  

The Center for Relaxation & Healing  Chatham,NJ

Alternatively, you may join us live via teleconference.

You choose!  Simply make your selection on the registration page. The details of the teleconference can be found when you register.  Please feel free to invite as many friends as you like and forward this announcement to anyone yoiu know that may benefit from this information.

Stressed?  Anxious?

Over-thinking?  Angry?  Pressured?

• Learn why meditation is so important for well-being and peace of mind.
• Decide whether level one or leveltwo is the most appropriate choice for you:
  1. Simply and effectively change the way you feel employing various medataive relaxation techniques.
  2. Discover the seemingly miraculous, life-changing benefits of a formal meditation practice.

• 30 minutes will be devoted to Q&A and/or guided meditation as time allows.

Register Now!

NASH FLASH

The unknown is our playground. 

The known is our graveyard.

THE DAILY MANDALA by Henry Reed

APRIL MEDITATION SEMINAR BEGINS SUNDAY 4.3.2011

meditation

Stress is the root of all dysfunction in our lives, physically, emotionally or socially. Proper meditation is one of the most powerful antidotes to stress, along with a sense of purpose and meaningful relationships (with ourselves as well as others). With Laura’s guidance, you will learn to effortlessly meditate your way to:

• gain mastery over your inner dialogue

• acquire peace of mind

• sharpen your focus and mental clarity

• improve relationships on all levels (intimate, familial, social and business)

• maintain balance and calm through adversity

• choose your circumstances instead of reacting to them

• experience a profound sense of satisfaction and fullment day to day

• live a life of meaning and purpose

For more information or to register, click the link below:

 

Click here for details.

 

 

 

No Fool for Love

Ironically, following the path of Love is the only route to true, sustainable power.  Seeking power through control and/or domination over people, places and things usually works…temporarily. This behavior can, and usually does, provide instant gratification and a [false] sense of security. The thrill of “success” releases endorphins and the association between domination and pleasure gets wired in our nervous system! The problem with this type of power is that it in not sustainable.  In addition, exacting power by deflating and depleting others comes with a very steep price.  Requiring constant vigilance, it is exhausting and inefficient. Neither the jailer nor the prisoner is free. Furthermore, what seems on the surface like a win, is in fact, another step closer to utter failure. The animus released every time someone loses in order that another prospers builds like an untreated disease. The power-grabber ultimately gets taken down one way or another, mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc.   Addicted to instant gratification and demonstrable, measurable cause and effect, the power addict usually slips into a comfortable denial, utterly incapable of recognizing direct responsibility for their dis-ease.   The person who is motivated by empowering and inspiring others has true Power. Individuals with this expansive perspective stand out in sharp contrast to the constriction felt around takers.  These individuals have magnetism – the power of attraction.  They listen to their inner guide (aka conscience)- which will ALWAYS make the loving, empowering choice.  The resulting goodwill from others as well as their own self-respect multiplies.  The subtle impact of their generosity pays dividends all the days of their lives.  It is the fool that doesn’t engage the power o Love in all human interaction.

NASH FLASH

The burden of the discipline

remains constant or lessens with consistency;

the burden of avoiding it increases 

exponentially over time.

“The fastest, surest way to self-love is self-discipline.”

– Alphie

THE DAILY MANDALA by Henry Reed

You May Say I’m A Dreamer, But I’m Not the Only One…

Is there something you’ve always wanted to do, but something has held you back? Every time you want to break out of your self-imposed mould, that tiny yet powerful voice in the back of your head known as “doubt” seeps into your consciousness and starts providing dozens of reasons why it’s impossible. “Dreams sound nice, but reality doesn’t work that way,” we tell ourselves, and put that incredible world-changing idea we had on the shelf because it wasn’t “practical”.

But what is reality…in reality? Who determines what reality is?

When you break your current life down into its essential components, the truth is our perception impacts our reality, which in turn reflects our perception. Buddhism describes this concept as “esho funi”, which means “the oneness of life and environment”. Basically, the environment and our lives are inseparable. Our environment is our life, a reflection of everything we believe about ourselves and the world around us. Even the people we associate with reflect our inner thoughts and feelings.

In other words, too often we’re wrapped up in the idea that we have no control over our circumstances, when we’re actually the ones who created those circumstances in the first place.

Why don’t we believe we can affect our reality? Because we only see the world as our five senses process it, causing us to be attached to the way things have always been done. We only understand the “known”–that which has been seen before. And we know the mind wants to protect us from getting hurt, so it does not want to wander into uncharted territory! Therefore, we fall prey to our protective conditioned mind’s old beliefs and thoughts that repeatedly churn out ideas to keep us from moving into the unknown Do these phrases sound familiar?

“You don’t have enough time.”

“You’re the wrong gender.”

“You could never succeed.”

“You’re too old.”

“It’s too late to start.”

“Money does not come easily.”

“That industry doesn’t pay well.”

Buying into these excuses limits us from our full potential, and thwarts any valid chance to affect our reality in a profound way. It is much more effective to first believe it because then you will see it. Once we learn to understand the value in ourselves and our dreams, and begin to take steps towards fulfilling those dreams, we will see “esho funi” at work as our environment becomes a brighter place to live—a seemingly inexplicable change to those who knew us before when we felt helpless and overwhelmed!

The Hidden Power of Imagination

Imagination is a powerful tool. The most creative inventions, most inspiring music and art, and greatest social advances in humanity have all occurred because someone simply thought “What if…?” It can be a positive influence in your life if you allow it to, or it can be warped by doubts and negativity to wreak havoc.

In order to effectively create the reality you really want, you must achieve a certain “vibrational harmony” with what you desire, and the easiest way is to imagine it. Imagine having it, pretend that it is already in your experience. Flow your thoughts to it. See it as done.

After you’ve done this, at that very moment, think about how you feel. You can easily tell if your attention is focused on the desire because your emotions will range from contentment to expectation to eagerness to joy. If you are focusing on the absence or lack of your desire, you will only feel constricted and anxious.

Quantum field theory (a widely accepted scientific theory that explains the behavior of atoms and molecules that make up all of matter) proves that what is happening within us will not only guide us to appropriate choices for ourselves, but it will also play a pivotal role in creating what happens outside of us. We are actually co-creating our existence and personal life stories with this Source of life.

We affect the reality of our world by the beliefs and thoughts we hold. Yet, ironically, most people don’t believe they can affect their reality. For example, they write an intention or desire and then virtually erase it because they don’t really believe it can happen–they will believe it only when they see it! They’ve grown up being taught that disappointments are the only reality in life, and by that belief they perpetuate this bleak “reality” for themselves.

Try the following exercise to prove the power of imagination and its connection to your desires. This exercise focuses on raising your vibrational point of attraction:

1. Worry about getting your desire. Take note of your emotions during this time.

2. Allow yourself to hope that you can attain your desire. Again, notice how you feel emotionally and physically.

3. Finally, expect to get your desire and know it is coming. Take note of any changes in your emotions.

Do you feel the difference? When you are worried you feel lousy and low, maybe even depressed. Your body also feels the same way! However, when you expect your desire to come, you feel completely different emotionally and physically! You feel good and your body responds favorably. Energetically, you are attracting your desired result. A simple shift in perspective has a profound impact on the outcome.

The next time you find yourself slipping into despair that you haven’t attained your goal yet, remember this exercise. In time you will learn to focus your energy on expecting your desire to manifest instead of simply hoping or worrying about it.

Affirming the Reality of Your Life

The lotus flower is a powerful symbol in Buddhism. It both seeds and blossoms at the same time, indicating how the scientific laws of cause and effect are inseparable. In other words, the choices and determinations about our life that we set forth into the universe–for better or worse–will inevitably be exactly what the universe returns to us in abundance.

Are you allowing yourself to flow freely in the energetic exchange of life? It is extremely important to understand exactly what we are giving and receiving in our lives.

The following questions are designed to get you thinking about your openness to this. They are also intended to alert you to where you may be resisting change out of fear of the unknown. Following each series of questions below are affirmations–positive statements and declarations–to assist you in opening up to all that is possible in life. It’s important that they are written with a pen or pencil as well as spoken out loud, with conviction. Be sure to focus while using affirmations and keep your energy level up to match the intention. If they are rote phrases they will become meaningless
and useless.

Remember to choose only one or two questions to work with at a time. If we overload ourselves, we are setting ourselves up for failure.

Affirmations should be credible and very clear, and it is important that they are written in the present tense as if it has already happened. This exercise is not about kidding yourself. For example, if I don’t have a dollar in the bank, and I affirm, “I am affluent and abundant,” this statement is true. The truth is we are all affluent and abundant and wealthy beyond our wildest dreams.

HEALTH
1. What practices or actions do you take, or will you begin to take, to ensure that there is the proper flow of energy through your body on a daily basis?

2. Give examples of things you do to bring your body to a restful state. Can you allow yourself to receive physical help and assistance that you may not have allowed in the past?

3. Are you aware of any areas of your body where there is tightness and tension as a result of holding on to negative emotional feelings?

Affirmations:
1. My body is in rhythm with the universe.
2. I am open to receiving perfect health.
3. I expend and receive energy freely.

RELATIONSHIPS
Do you find yourself unable to accept compliments or affection?

Are there certain individuals that you find it difficult to open up to? Hint: whatever it is about them that makes you uncomfortable about opening up is a reflection of something about you that will cause others not to trust you! What prevents you from full and free intimacy with those that share freely with you? This could be the memory of an old wound that you no longer need to bear.

Do you give affection and love only when you receive it? Do you need to receive before you can give?

Do you freely give and receive sexually? Are you demanding or denying?

Are there any stipulations, criteria or agendas you have in order for your love to flow?

Are there some non-serving relationships in your life where you have been willing to receive negativity or even degradation? Are you giving this tolerance because you are hoping to get something out of it such as money or security?

Affirmations:
1. All of my relationships are mutually nurturing.
2. I trust that we are here to serve each other.
3. My partner and I share a mutually nourishing and respectful intimacy.

MONEY
What are your current beliefs about the flow of money into your life and how money comes to you? Can money only come to you through your job?

What do you believe money is an exchange for?

Do you think people who have anxiety about money are capable of allowing money to flow easily into their lives? Does money cause you to get anxious or tense?

Affirmations:
1. Money flows to me easily, consistently and in great abundance.
2. Thank you for the abundance I see reflected all about me.
3. Thank you for the river of money which flows to me and through me.

SPIRITUALITY
Where does everything come from? How does potential manifest into reality?

When in your life have you decided to create something and it happened?

In light of what you now know, what are your thoughts about how you successfully created something in the past?

How have you contributed to others? How have you been rewarded?

Affirmations:
1) Through my thoughts, actions and desires I create my life.
2) Thank you for the wondrous possibilities and the wondrous probabilities all around me.
3) Thank you for the privilege of serving, and sharing the gift that I am.

When something of value is given in life, it comes back in multiples. This is why we need to be mindful of what we give mentally, energetically and physically.

If you give and feel you have lost something, you really haven’t given. If you give grudgingly, the gift will not grow. It’s the motive behind your giving that will dictate the return. When you give from your heart unconditionally, the result is expansive. If you want love, give people your time and attention. If you want financial success, help others to become financially successful. If you want to be blessed with all good things, silently bless all others with all the good things in life!

You Can’t Take It With You

Have you ever noticed that when you smile at people, they smile right back? If someone gives you hostility and you do not receive it, it will not affect you. If you instead give that person compassion and understanding (which is what they are really looking for and don’t know how to ask for it), what you receive from them will be entirely different.

On the other hand, keeping everything to yourself and closing your energy off from your environment tells the universe you want nothing from it—even if it isn’t true—and nothing is exactly what you’ll get. Others will perceive you as cold and unfriendly, and in return will be repelled.

To relieve themselves of this isolating feeling, people turn to hoarding the things around them in a vain attempt to counter their solitude; to regain, in a way, that connection to humanity that’s been lost. They don’t realize it was the act of hoarding their energy to themselves that caused the problem in the first place.

Money is a common and easy target for hoarding, but is far from the only method. People collect broken relationships, old self-defeating behaviors, neuroses…anything that distracts them from reality, no matter how temporarily, until it creeps up and overwhelms them again.

A common area where hoarding causes destruction is in information sharing. As the saying goes, information is power. Sometimes people like to keep information a secret so that no one else will get and benefit from it. If we come up with a great product or spot an industry trend or gain any other valuable information, the tendency is to keep it a secret as long as possible so we can get the lion’s share of the profit from the knowledge.

In corporations, this hoarding causes terrible communication problems. In relationships, it breeds mistrust. In vital industries such as pharmaceuticals, it prevents people from healing and benefiting from medical advances. When senior level management doesn’t trust employees with information, efficiency is compromised and opportunities are missed because each person could have taken that piece of information and expanded upon it. In each of these cases, this lack of trust and resentment permeates—and pollutes—the environment.

As we’ve established in previous blog posts, the fabric of the entire universe is made up of energetic exchange. When we hoard, we effectively shut off the exchange between ourselves and our environment. Agents of our own destruction, we end up causing the very isolation we fear. Without participating in the natural process of exchange, dysfunction begins to appear in our lives. Just as giving too much can be detrimental, hoarding tells the universe you no longer trust it to provide what you need to be happy. When that happens, the universe has no choice but to respond in kind.

Tuning Into The Frequency of Your Life

We are not separate from the Source of everything that was, is, and will be. Rather, we are an extension of that Source. We, as human beings, have evolved to the point of being aware of the Source that gives rise to our being as well as possessing the ability to use that Source to manifest our own dreams.

Resistance to this personal power is caused by our own ego buying into a fear-based belief produced by our well-meaning–but misguided–rational mind, which has forgotten the fact the Source lies within us and not from an external, fabricated concept such as money.

We can experience more of the magic of this Source by meditating frequently. When we meditate, we bypass the rational mind and tap into the energy of this Source. When we start to expand our consciousness we allow this energy to flow more freely into our being, and we start to experience more joy and goodness in our lives—which is our natural state! We forget this state as we experience the trials and tribulations of growing into adulthood.

Imagine a newborn baby. She is like a brilliant diamond: clear, pure and beautiful, with many facets. She coos, laughs, she is energetic and joyous, in a constant state of wonderment at her surroundings. She has no pre-conceived conception of what life will be like in her new home.

Then one day she is taken to her grandparents’ home and is scolded for picking up Grandma’s china bowl and marking up the tables with her fudge-covered fingers. When they go to dinner she is told to use her “restaurant voice” so she won’t disturb the others and is reprimanded for laughing too loud.

Her blissful, expanded state begins to constrict as social conditioning begins, and her ego creeps in to protect her from the words and actions of others. Yet underneath the conditioning and protective coverings she will build over the years is still her original blissful, laughing, energetic and joyous self—her true self, that extension of Source energy encapsulated in a physical body, having a material experience.

To paraphrase Abraham-Hicks, “Source Energy” is always available to us, and with it comes joy, goodness, love, abundance, laughter, and the sense of well-being we all instinctively crave and know we possess. We can feel whether or not we are allowing our full connection to that energy. Simply put, the better we feel, the more we are allowing this connection to occur. The worse we feel, the less we are allowing it. Our body uses discomfort and disease to force us to slow down and pay attention to our “mis-creation” (unconsciously driven self-defeating activity) or our disconnection from the Source.

Every thought we have vibrates, radiating a signal into the universe and attracting a similar vibration back. When you tune your radio to 95.5 FM, you don’t expect to hear music from 101.1 FM. Radio frequencies must match in order to be picked up and interpreted clearly.

The same is true for human beings. Imagine we are a human radio antenna, emitting a certain frequency. You attract and receive the same frequency you emit into the universe. If you send a negative signal or feeling, you attract more negativity—misery loves company. Conversely, when you emit a joyous and happy signal, you will attract more joy and happiness in your life. This is the Law of Attraction, a widely accepted principle which highlights the energetic exchange of the universe. It states: “That which is like unto itself is drawn.”

The Source cannot judge right and wrong, it only responds to vibration. Whatever you concentrate on in life, you send out a vibration associated with it. In other words, what you pay attention to is exactly what you’re creating in your own life—for better or for worse. The response from the Source will equal the vibration.

By paying attention to the signals of your feelings, you can understand—with greater precision—the concept that everything you are now experiencing or have ever lived in the past is because you attracted it to yourself. If we go back to the issue of our abusive parents, or the illness, we can take it on face value that we somehow attracted it this to our lives and, if we want to be free, we need to begin to intentionally attract something more positive. We have to boldly break through the pain of our past or present circumstances by focusing on what we do want to experience, here and now.

It’s All About Give And Take

Life is a process of constant transformation where matter becomes energy, and energy becomes matter. Nature is the perfect example of this process: think about a tree whose leaves provide oxygen for us to breathe, and in return takes the carbon dioxide we exhale. That is one exchange. Its leaves die and fall to the ground, where they decompose and become energy that sustains the tree. The tree consumes energy and creates new matter in the form of new leaves, which begins the process all over again.

When we breathe, we give carbon dioxide to the tree. Without this act of giving, the tree could not receive anything. If the tree did not give the earth its leaves for nutrients, it would starve. There is a constant on-going flow that creates our world as we know it.

Other examples in nature exist of this give-and-take process. If you watch a gaggle of geese flying overhead in a V-formation you’ll notice the leaders actually alternate; as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an updraft making it easier for the birds behind them to fly. When the leader tires of giving maximum effort, it falls back into formation and receives the updraft from the birds ahead of it.

Another example of nature’s constant exchange is the river. It’s been said that you can never step n the same river twice. This is because the water that constitutes the part of the river where you are stepping is continuously flowing out and being replaced by new water. If there was no place for the water to flow, the river would stagnate and become toxic like the Dead Sea.

The Source of our being (the silent intelligence mentioned in earlier blog posts, which gives rise to everything that ever was and will be) receives our intention by reading the vibrations we give. In other words, our thoughts and emotions give the Source its delivery orders. The physical level is created and manifested from a subtle level via our thoughts, beliefs and emotions. As a result of this intention, we experience things on the physical level with our 5 senses.

Everything we experience comes from the field of pure potential. This beautiful symbiotic flow is within all we experience in the world. Life itself is giving and receiving in action. The Source just gives and receives back everything you give it, only to give again. Things come into existence; they have a beginning, they give of themselves, and they have an end. The universe receives the energy and information back into the field of pure potential.

Actually, this process is happening every millisecond at the speed of light. Since our lives are constantly vibrating with energy, the Source is giving, receiving, and giving information again. The information contained in the universe is constantly in flux; with every pulse of information, there is birth, and there is death. Understanding your role in this energetic exchange, from giving someone a smile to taking your next breath, will give you a new tool to open yourself to greater energy flow, more affluence, better health, and more fulfilling relationships. You will truly understand that what you get out of life is directly proportional to what you put into it.

Taking Your Life Back From Yourself

Have you heard people say “It’s not my fault I’m unhappy, I had a bad childhood/spouse/employer”? Or maybe “I can’t ever be happy unless <insert name> changes their attitude.” Well, it’s time to put your life–and happiness–back in the hands of the only person who really understands you.

Yourself.

When you know the true source of everything in life and are able to access and use it, you are empowered. You are no longer at the mercy of chance and fortune. You are not a victim of circumstances; instead, you are the creator of your own life, responsible for everything you experience.

This notion of responsibility for your circumstances can be difficult for anyone to accept. You can imagine people will argue that they’re not responsible for their illness, or for the abuse they suffered from their parents. They might say “I didn’t choose this. I did nothing to deserve it, nor did I ask for it.” But this way of thinking doesn’t serve you in any positive way. Why? If you continue to act as a hapless victim of some arbitrary intelligence, you remain powerless over your own life.

Furthermore, look around you. There is far too much evidence of order in the universe for the events in your life to be random. Intelligence is present in all arenas of life. This means that everything we experience, good and bad, is a result of natural law. What happens to us makes sense based on what has come before in our lives, or the lives of people affecting us.

The good news is, once you remove the cover of ignorance and helplessness and accept that you alone are responsible for your circumstances, you can change them. It is absolutely imperative that you be open to receive the information about your responsibility for all the circumstances of your life, in order to empower yourself to change it.

When you become open-minded and willing to accept the fact you are creating your reality, you can easily learn how to create it intentionally. In order to create this reality, you need to know how. That’s H-O-W (Honest, Open-minded, and Willing.) In the next article we’ll look at nature’s role in the constant transformation of matter, and how the Source can work either for or against us depending on our own thoughts.

Meditation For Beginners

Meditating on a consistent, daily basis shouldn’t be viewed as “taking time away” from your schedule. Rather, it’s an opportunity to honor your life by devoting the time needed to center yourself every day so you can face the obstacles around you with a vivacious, courageous spirit. It’s just as important in your life as eating and sleeping. Let’s look at what meditation can accomplish for you, and how you can start meditation today.

Benefits of Meditating on a Consistent Basis

Experience peace of mind (reduce mental chatter)

Increase your ability to focus and concentrate

Improve efficiency while reducing anxiety

Measurably decrease stress levels

Lower your blood pressure naturally

Reverse the aging process

Increase your energy level

Enhance your intuition

Basic Instructions for Meditating

1. Make a decision to schedule your meditation on a regular basis, allowing 20-30 minutes in the morning and afternoon or early evening.
2. Try to sit in the same place as often as possible, even if the morning and afternoon locations are different.
3. Eliminate as many disturbances as possible: shut off phones, give your children an activity to do, put pets in a place they will not disturb you, and let people know when you expect to be finished.
4. Set a timer and muffle it if the alarm is a jarring noise. Sit up straight with your eyes closed, your feet on the floor and your hands unfolded resting palms down on your lap. If you’re more comfortable on the floor, sit cross-legged on a comfortable pillow or zabuton.
   
5. Gently and calmly focus your attention on your breath.
6. Every time your attention drifts away from your breath to a thought, feeling, sensation in the body, disturbance in your environment or a vision, gently return to focusing on your breath.
7. At some point, you will have no thoughts and the awareness of your own breathing will fade. This is magical! You are wide awake, totally alert, conscious and aware, but not of anything in particular. You have experienced what it is like to simply BE. Remember, we are human beings, not human doings!

What to Expect During Your Practice

You might become restless and bored; this is all the more reason to sit and concentrate.

You might fall asleep, in which case you should search for the reason behind this reaction.

You will arrive at the time where you have no thoughts or awareness of breath, although you won’t realize you are in this place until after you have your first conscious thought.

Once you’ve begun practicing meditation consistently, you’ll be amazed at how your day-to-day life runs more smoothly than before. Taking the time to honor the life and energy inside you will have a profound impact on both your own existence and your surroundings.

Do Your Emotions Rule Your Life?

We all go through times of emotional suffering. Some of us run from our emotions, while others cling to them for an unhealthy period of time. But for many of us the thought never occurs that we have the tools to overcome this suffering, or we simply don’t know how to use those tools. Let’s look at some ways in which we can take back control of our emotional state.

First, remember rule #1: You are not your emotion. You are not one with them, and although you experience that emotion, it does not mean you and that emotion are the same being.

With this understanding firmly in place, you can now observe your emotion when it occurs. Note its presence, step back from the situation and distance yourself from the instinct to lose yourself in that emotion. This step alone has already given you the power to take back control of your life.

Emotions themselves are not a bad thing, so running away from them isn’t the answer. Instead, experience your emotion as a wave coming and going. Don’t block or suppress it, and don’t try to get rid of it. At the same time, don’t hold onto it longer than necessary, amplify it, or act impulsively because of it. It’s a delicate balancing act, but once you’ve learned how to use these tools it becomes easier each time after that.

Also practice loving your emotion, without judgment. Accept it for what it is and move on. Emotions are a natural part of life, and will always play a part of yours; looking at your emotions negatively will, in turn, cause you to take a negative view of your own life. By accepting them as part of a process to move beyond them, you empower yourself in a positive manner.

To understand your emotions more clearly, start recording your strongest emotions from day to day in a diary along with the event that was occurring when you felt it. This will allow you to be mindful of what emotions show up in your life and what triggers them. If the emotion is negative, you’re attracting negativity to your life.

Next to your list of emotions and event triggers, write down what you think about your own reaction to your environment. After allowing yourself to feel the emotion thoroughly without judgment, you’ll find you are better able to separate yourself from it and view it from a clearer, more controlled perspective.

Do you remember the Life Focus Wheel you filled out? Go back and read through your Emotion Diary to find the situations or circumstances you indicated are preventing you from realizing your own potential. Until now you’ve been focusing on the impossible in your life rather than what is possible. By deciding you don’t have enough time or money, that you’re the wrong gender or age, or whatever excuse you’ve come up with, you’ve been very successful in manifesting these intentions.

Every one of these obstacles in your life is an area where you have relinquished your own power. In a sense you’re treating these obstacles like they’re a source of fulfillment for you. You can now see this is only an illusion—the real source is within you, no matter what it looks like. Seeing is not believing; believing is seeing.

When you decide that you can do all of these things and that the so-called roadblocks are only imaginary, you will be just as successful at manifesting them as you were at manifesting their polar opposites.

How To Get What You Want

We can tap into the source of everything by overcoming the constant internal monologue of our rational mind through meditation. We can utilize this connection once we’ve established it in our lives by focusing our attention and energy. We can and do influence the source whether we have established a conscious connection or not. This connection strengthens our ability to remain grounded and self-empowered—relying on the real source inside ourselves. By maintaining this connection to the source, our desires are realized with diminishing effort on our part. The time that lapses between our desire and its fulfillment also decreases.

There are multi-dimensional aspects to our lives. First, we are physical beings, bound by the laws of physics and the illusory world made up of atoms that appear, according to our senses, to be solid. The physical world is everything we can see, hear, and experience with our five senses.

But we are also subtle beings. At this level of existence the atoms aren’t quite as densely grouped as they first appeared to be. Therefore, our experience at this level comes in the form of less tangible thoughts and emotions.

On a third, separate level, we are completely intangible beings. This aspect of our being is infinite, something that can’t be defined by space or time. It’s the intelligence that holds us together, the source of all the particles seen in the other aspects of our being. It is that field of power and potential energy known by the field of quantum physics as “waves” of potentiality.

So how do these waves of potentiality turn into particles of information? In other words, how is that potential actualized? How does anything come from nothingness to become something? How do we get what we want?

The answer is simple. As Einstein said, if the answer is simple it’s divine, but complicated answers are constructed by the human mind.

First, our own thoughts transform a “wave” of potentiality into a particle of information. All of our memories and future thoughts are stored as pieces of information, or potentiality, in a virtual filing cabinet. Turning our attention to a certain memory or thought activates that piece of information; with prolonged attention, the energy surrounding it will begin to attract similar particles—or repel them, depending on the positive or negative nature of your attention. The more intense your focus, the greater the likelihood these pieces of information will become solid enough to form as a physical reality in your life.

You are the creator of all your experiences. If you focus on negative events in your past and continually relive the emotional and physical pain associated with it, you begin to attract negative particles into your present experience. This is precisely why bad things happen to good people. If you have a good heart but are held back by fear from past experience, you’re setting yourself up for suffering.

The Source of all thought and emotion is absolute. It has no preferences; it just is. It only knows how to give or create. It gives exactly what we ask it to give based on what we focus on and pour our energy into. This is why fear is so dangerous—it leads us to focus on things we don’t really want, such as illness or failure. If we are fearful of falling ill, the Source only picks up on the subject of our attention and gives it back to us. Law is law, and gravity will not suspend itself because Johnny fell out of the window and never did anything to deserve this.

To start creating a successful life, it’s crucial we are aware and present with ourselves so we know exactly what we are focusing our attention and energy on. Mindfulness is key. We need to be clear with our intentions—if we don’t know where we’re going, we may end up anywhere. Finally, we need to be a witness and observer of our own lives; acting as a third-person observer shifts our awareness to the perspective of the real source, the higher self. This action begins the process of freeing you from the reactive, conditioned mind, as long as you observe without judgment. As you become fully aware of your thoughts and emotions, they will not have as much power over you. You will be able to respond to life more consciously rather than react and regret.

Do You Think Too Much? Part 2

As mentioned in part 1, the rational mind we rely on so much to protect us is our main obstacle preventing us from reaching the potential we know we’re capable of. If we want to access this maximum potential inside us, we need to go beyond the rational thought process.

Because we spend so much time inside the rational mind, we act as though the silent, intangible “gut feeling” inside us doesn’t exist. The problem with this is that, by choosing a tool with limited power (the rational mind), we never realize there’s a more powerful resource at our fingertips.

You are more than simply a brain and a body. Even the body you possess now is different than the one you were born with; every cell has changed completely even from a few years ago. Likewise, your emotions and thought patterns change over time. Thought itself is energy transmitted to your brain via a chemical and electrical process.

So if we’re not just a brain and a body, why do we spend so much of our life focusing on the rational mind? The one key factor missing from this equation is you—not your brain, not your body, but your own existence that’s powering every thought and cell. This part of the equation never changes. While every other aspect of you evolves and changes, that silent, innate intelligence that’s uniquely You remains constant.

It’s little wonder we feel something is missing, when things are put into perspective. Ancient wisdom describes this discovery as “awakening the Observer”. By giving more priority to this awareness, you’re inviting the Observer into your life. You yourself become the process through which the Observer sees.

Einstein further expounds on this principle: he explains that nothing in the universe is solid—energy is the fundamental driving force of all matter, just as we are the driving force of our life. Beneath the layers of skin, muscles and bones, our bodies are made up of the basic building blocks of life: atoms. Atoms form the cells that, in turn, form all matter we see around us.

An atom, in essence, is information that vibrates with energy at the speed of light. Everything we see vibrates with this energy, including our bodies. Quantum physics calls it “blinking”—that is, the atom blinks on and off. When the atom is “on”, we operate on the physical level and rely on our rational mind to solve our problems. When the atom is “off”, that silent intelligence hidden within us emerges. These atoms vibrate so intensely that we often mistakenly believe they are always “on”, and never visibly see when they’re “off”.

Remember the zone mentioned in the last post, that state we enter when our innate intelligence overrides the conscious mind? This is the source of those atoms. You’ve probably heard of going directly to the source to obtain something you desire; by transcending the state of always being “on”, we can tap into this source inside of us, where the atoms are “off”.

If we only focus on our rational mind, emotions and physical body, we begin to seek power over our lives from external sources, such as status, titles, and our spheres of influence. These are circumstantial, and fleeting, forms of power, gone as soon as the circumstances change. But by tapping into the source of power within us, we gain a firm foothold of control in our lives that will not easily shift or fade with time.

Do You Think Too Much?

You’ve probably had moments where it suddenly hits you that you’re capable of far more than what you’re currently doing. You have no proof of this, yet you instinctively feel you could be “doing more” with your life.

Where does this knowing come from? The brain can process our thoughts, but intuition reaches us on a deeper level. We have an “inner knowing” that transcends the rational process of our minds, something that motivates us to finally realize our own potential. It’s an evolutionary call to advance and expand our consciousness. Responding to this yearning by boldly stepping into the unknown is often thwarted by our own rational mind, which convinces why we shouldn’t change—or even that change is dangerous.

In reality, the mind was never supposed to be our only source of guidance. It is true that the brain uses its rational capabilities to protect us, and will often guide us away from anything it associates with pain. But if we allow the brain’s instinct-driven reactions to guide us, it will prevent us from moving forward in our own life to undertake great endeavors.

Because our minds are so used to processing daily activities and familiar sensations, it automatically puts up defenses at anything that is unknown. This promotes fear that can stem from countless sources: it could be that inner voice that wants to do something different, but hasn’t seen anyone succeed at it before; it could be the relationship you give up because, despite your happiness, your family disapproves.

Following this irrational fear that, at the time, seems rational, we prevent ourselves from realizing our true potential in life. We’re left with a void that needs fulfillment. If this yearning isn’t realized, we often transform it into self-destructive tendencies that hurt us and those around us.

Clearly there is an intelligence in us that runs deeper than our rational minds. This is the same inner intelligence that allows animals to sense a coming storm and escape without harm. We sometimes refer to it as our “gut feeling”, something silent inside of us that can’t be pinpointed to any specific organ in our bodies. Sometimes we enter a mental “zone” and bypass the rational mind while doing mundane things such as driving, ending up at our destination with no memory of getting there. Artists and athletes often speak of entering this “zone” where they’re able to perform tasks beyond their normal capabilities.

By spending so much time inside our rational mind, we have no awareness of this silent but powerful intelligence inside of us. Because of this oversight we rely on the brain to provide 100% of our thought power, creating undue stress on ourselves and cutting short our desire and potential to become more than what we think we are.

In the next article we’ll discuss more about this problem, and what we can do to overcome it.