Reaching a Fork in the Road

Reaching a fork in the road is an invitation to reflect on where we have been as well as on where we are headed.  It is about recognizing we have the power to make different choices.  Making more conscious choices enriches and strengthens us from the inside out due to acting from a state of deeper awareness about ourselves. Feel the urge to change focus and/or priorities?

Now is the moment to recognize and act more based on things that really matter: the power of vulnerability, courage, innate worthiness.  Part of the journey involves bravely exploring our shadows, the characteristics and behaviours we adopt that echo we are less than we actually are.  More specifically, this is about making the unconscious,  conscious, growing aware of self-defeating and self-sabotaging choices that point to patterns. Our overt and covert behaviours are linked to our sense of belonging and fear of rejection. 

As we reflect on how we are taught to live, what we are taught to achieve and the persona/ role we project, underneath words like "success" and "fulfillment" is that compass that gauges our sense of belonging.  This points to our unspoken desire to be seen, heard and validated. Beyond that is a yearning to “be part of something bigger than ourselves, to experience genuine connection with others. Beig true to ourselves is what makes us aware of the nature of authenticity, true freedom and innate power.

Breathe more mindfully

Today, during a breathwork workshop, we explored a variety of situations. It dawns that we have the choice to function unconsciously, which implies allowing emotion to take control, or, we can be present, grow more aware, choose to respond consciously to whatever unfolds. We explored what it feels like to breathe as we experience different emotions, where the rhythm of the breath changes as well as the signs and signals of the body. Go ahead, reflect on what is happening within you right now. Scan the body. Focus on the breath as energy flow. What stands out? Could it be that something invites closer attention? What are you willing to see?

If you wish to breathe more mindfully, are curious about the nature of the ideal breath and are ready to explore breathing techniques that empower you to live a fuller life, contact us for details about our next breathwork event to be this Tuesday, October 6, 2020 on the Sunshine Coast.

Moving beyond addiction

The subject of addiction is a popular topic for mediation. Ponder the the following:

"You look very insecure, sitting up there in your tree", said one highly-ranked Chinese official to a Ch'an master who enjoyed his life perched in the treetops. "Oh ho, good sir, YOU look very insecure to ME, down there on the ground!" replied the delighted master.

This often referenced Chan story contains a message which, we are told, the official was wise enough to understand. It was the official, whose life and fortune depended upon external favour and considerations, who was insecure. These were his unconscious addictions, the foundation upon which his life was built, on "shifting sands". It was his attachment to these external conditions that created his insecurity, his instability and restlessness.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One day, the Buddha and his monks were walking down a road and were confronted by a frantic and miserable farmer racing down the road. He stopped them, saying "Good monks, I have lost my oxen, they were travelling this way. Did you see them?" The Buddha sadly replied, "No, we have not seen them. Perhaps they took the fork in the road back there." At this, the farmer wailed and continued his complaint. "Only this summer, locusts ate all my crops? What will I do?" and he ran crying down the road. The Buddha watched him go, and turned to his friends, saying "Dear monks, do you know how lucky you are? You never have to worry about your oxen or crops."

Thought and memory are the same. Until we know the difference between thought and awareness, no clarity arises. We are taught to take for granted our memories constitute who we are. Yet, 'who I am' in this moment, is not a thought. It is unrelated to what we think we have ot not. Rather, it is felt. As we are fully present, all that exists is awareness. Who is being aware? The monks know Being and no-One are the same, that is, everything. No-One is everybody. We cannot allow awareness to arise if we keep reverting to memory. The moment we feel a lack within, we feel separate, incomplete, like something is wrong or missing. This leads to addiction, the perceived need to fill a void. We do everything in our power to fill it, talk about it, do something to enable us to feel good about ourselves.

Alcoholism or other addictions allow people to experience what it is to feel uninhibited freedom. Becoming addicted to dark thoughts keeps one focused on and perpetuating the focus on the pain body. Until we realize the very nature of being is infinite. It cannot be destroyed. We forget we are whole, awareness. This starts the sense of lack, which brings separation, and the need to fill a voice from which emerges addiction and fear.  We are not afraid of something. We are simply fear. This fear exists because we are convinced something is lacking. We have lost trust not only in others but also ourselves.  The thought arises how could I be free of addiction? There is the amnesia of what is universal. You cannot prove it, you can only live it.

Similarly, when a person wants to know about love, he may read books, watch movies and hear about other people's experiences Yet, One does not know what love is until one begins to feel love, feel the love inside the self. Until he tastes love, feels it inside himself, he cannot know it.  Truth is not something we can prove. It is self-evident. We exist. When we wish to prove, we revert to memory and get lost in the quagmire.  As long as we live grounded in memory, we will fear death, old age, sickness , of so many things, everything.

The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results", says Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Jesus too said that the Kingdom of Heaven is ever-present. Of course, the problem is, everyone is not always fully present. We are in the future, we are in the past, we are in our memories, we are in our anxieties, we are in our fantasies! Why? Because we are attached to our story; our personal narrative. We play it inside our head constantly. As we cook, we daydream. As we drive, we fantasize. As we work, we consider what better job there is for us out there. And as we love, we all too often do the same thing. So rarely are we simply aware of what we do, simply mindful.

Get More out of Life

To get more out of life, its useful to get in touch with our thoughts, emotions and feelings and also be aware of what is happening in the body.

By practising breathwork, we may grow acutely aware of grief, fears, loss, anger, physical pain, emotional pain and energetic imbalances. Many people have heard of the unconscious mind but you may not be aware of the difference between conscious and unconscious breathing and how unconscious breathing plays out in your body.  What if growing aware can improve your health and be a turning point for positive change?

There are periods or situations in our lives when we feel unsafe or unloved. We may hold onto emotional pain for many years, if not lifetimes, until we are ready to address those feelings.  By growing aware of the emotional body and allowing it space to communicate, we gain insight into ourselves and opportunity to heal past or ongoing wounding.  Being present to painful or uncomfortable emotions does not mean acting them out in harmful ways.  Rather, breathwork and related meditation practices allow us to be present with and feel these emotions. To get the most out of life, we are invited to love, accept and integrate all of ourselves. 

If this post resonates, invite you to search relevant key words for related articles like:

Breathwork shifts habits

12 Ways breathwork empowers me

Interview with Dan Brule 

Interview with Steven Farmer

Interview with Jaan Sanaam (Jerabek)

9 Benefits of Tuning into light language

When open and receptive, we all have access to a universal healing modality called light language. This multidimensional, energetic language is understood by all on a soul level. It is channelled Dynamic Frequency Encodings of Sound and Light. We are constantly receiving, decoding and transmitting energy on various frequencies. For some, this can feel like a heavy load. From the moment this possibility of light language enters our scope, the intention is for it to serve our highest good. If this involves gaining insight into ourselves and new realities, then this is what light language allows.  We have a responsibility to live in integrity, recognize and get comfortable with light and dark, to create balance among polarities within us.

Light language flowing through us adjusts to the resonance of each of our vibrational needs in the moment. With perfect timing, this emerges in a spontaneous urge to utter words, sing tones or write script that seems mysteriously familliar.  This may happen out of the blue, intermittently, at night or, more regularly as we grow more conscious and accepting of ourselves. Light language can take shape in our mind's eye as sacred geometry, symbols, or other images, be expressed as we conduct energy of the air in physical gestures, drawing, painting, and enage in other creative forms of expression.  We may or may not recognize visible shifts in our lives but its happening and continuing even after light language is uttered.  As the impulse arises to allow more sound and  light energy to flow through, feel the way into these 9 benefits;

1. clearing energy 

2. balancing chakras

3. activating dormant systems

4. aligning with vibrations of Well-being

5. expanding perception 

6. activating spiritual or psychic gifts

7. deepening awareness

8. grounding confidence, truth, clarity of purpose

9. harmonizing polarities within and beyond ourselves