inner guidance IV
23 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, personal development category, spiritual development Tags: attitude of gratitude, balance, change, consciousness development, faith, God, healing, inner balance, meditation, mind-body-spirit connection, mindfulness, overcoming poor self esteem, paradigm shifting, return to balance, the way, truth
Hello and Welcome! I love the name of this post because it could be read inner guidance intravenous (IV) and I think that is the whole thing in a nut shell. Infuse yourself with your own inner guidance and your cells will swell with real joy, strength and the necessary resources to create anything you desire.
Remember two things: that mindfulness, compassion, and love are your best tools AND following your inner guidance simultaneously supports you and your community. This is a different notion than scarcity of resources where competition for resources is required – this notion is that inner guidance will increase opportunity for all. The idea of taking from another to fill your pocket keeps you in the duality that results from the concept of scarcity of resources.
Opening to your inner guidance increases trust and faith so that you are able to see how you and your community can prosper and uplevel together, not one over the other.
The more you can see another person’s point of view through mindfulness–> the more increased your understanding –> and the greater your understanding, the greater your capacity to see the other as yourself –> see how you are similar –>which increases your capacity for compassion and love –> and through this: war, conflict, and those activities that spawn from mis-understanding will diminish and an overall upleveling and prosperity for all is increased.
Here are some reminders on how to get back to your inner guidance.
1 always draw your strength from within and source*.
- *source as spirit, god, the spiritual universe as you connect with it as an entity or energy or supportive pattern.
2 to do so feel, listen and see your internal presence and connection to source through your internal sensory guidance system, your 6 senses – surround yourself with love and light and joy.
- Listen to your inner guidance over and above the propaganda around you .
3 remember to focus on a higher spiritual plane and understand changes come on the planet from stepping out of the earthly battle and into the spiritual light –
- so if you are feeling let down by the infighting, in politics or tragedies – Focus your energies in being even more light even more love and forgiveness – smile – and ‘do battle’ by living in that light with spirit.
- think of the battle as not against human forces but against the mistruth or lack of truth.
4 to remain steadfast, surround your self with source and the inner truth.
- This can be like an armor or coat of truth, light, and love – surrounding yourself with that energy so that you can feel more protected as you see through the lens of compassion and love.
5 believing is seeing – so believe, know the truth and you will be shown and will see light, spirit and prosperity –
- ignore and look away from the propaganda of the earthly plane – political and business – focus on spirit for guidance and truth -
- make each choice from an integrated and spiritual connection and then you will feel strength from your feet all the way up your spine to your head or crown – surrounding your waist like a belt and spilling out and around your chest and heart center.
6 walk in the truth of what you know and remember to always be in gratitude and love -
- mercury is seen as wearing wings on his feet and on a helmet on his head consider the power of the swiftness of truth to spread through a community -
- truth spreads more quickly than propaganda because it goes straight into your heart – no glitches or questions.
7 Through everything have faith and be faithful, when you feel fearful acknowledge this and then stand in your faith turning the fear on its head –
- it’s fine to be educated about what is happening around you in the politics but act from your inner truth and inner guidance
8 see the way and follow it like a path -
- Know your truth, live it, say it, feel it, see it, be it!
9 share your knowing with the world in love and light without pressure or hardness -
- Meditate, be mindful, listen from within and share it at every opportunity.
This is the way to inner guidance and it can bring you an infusion of peace, joy and prosperity.
In love and light, many blessings to you, Beth
ego re-balancing – inner guidance II
11 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, personal development category, spiritual development Tags: attitude of gratitude, balance, change, consciousness development, discipline, ego and mind, faith, follow your inner guidance, healing, inner balance, inner guidance, meditation, mindfulness, overcoming poor self esteem, paradigm shifting, return to balance, spiritual development, truth
Hello and Welcome! There is a lot of reference of the negative of the “ego” among alternative healers and spiritual healers. These groups tend to perceive the ego as negative; this is a matter of not understanding the role of ego in self-development, and further of mis-connecting ego and narcissism.
The story of the ego to which I refer is its identification in the development of self, and each person’s interaction with self and other. The ego is that aspect of your personal self that can mediate between your personal wants disconnected from society and your belief systems swallowed whole from society. Ego basically is mediating between individual wants or needs and the needs or wants of the group. So from this perspective ego is a neutral more helpful aspect of your personality. It is the part of you that can be objective and see self and other on the same plane.
Narcissism is a more problematic aspect of personality. Narcissism is a skew in personality away from mindfulness and neutrality and objectivity. Narcissism is problematic in relationship as individuals who are narcissistic have little to no capacity for empathy.
Empathy is the shear act of paradigm shifting – putting yourself in another’s position and understanding that other’s perspective. Mindfulness, lovingkindness attitude and paradigm shifting require empathy. Lack of empathy disconnects you from society and others. Narcissism allows you to take actions without regard for how you may hurt another and focuses your actions on self alone without a connection to society as a whole.
Your cognitive mind has a way of tricking you. It is a thinking aspect – with cognitive firings and logic. It is that aspect that can get caught into a habit of relating, or be guided by indoctrination. You can think of mind as an aspect of the information available to you as part of your inner guidance but when it is disconnected from spirit it can skew perceptions and actions out of balance.
These groups that teach you their language and then have you act by that set of symbols and beliefs are having you work with your mind while simultaneously saying your ego (aka mind) is guiding you away from your true self – which from their specific perspectives is whatever they are teaching. Be aware. Allow yourself to trust yourself first.
Ego allows for the integration of mind and spirit as it allows for empathy and negotiated action that synthesizes individual and groups needs/wants.
The simple rule found in so many spiritual texts to not treat others as you would not desire to be treated incorporates ego, mind, spirit integrated and in balance – it requires empathic lovingkindness guide your action.
Guidance from without must be filtered through your inner guidance to experience its truth.
Truth is not an abstract concept to be discussed and proved through the cognitions of the mind in isolation, but rather it is something that is a trifold experience of knowing, feeling, and understanding.
You can feel when it is not truth. Something doesn’t ring true, look right, feel right. There is a catch in how the information goes on or a blip or bump – if you are paying attention you know it – you fully and completely know it.
The tricky part is the paying attention part.
If you are simply on automatic and going through life as a passive receiver then you may miss the information present in every interaction, in each dream, and story, and connection you make or have. This includes how you respond or react to the story of your politics, your family, your ethnic group, your partner, and your peers. The stereotypes you allow to guide you rather than the personal information you feel, hear, see, know from within.
Paying attention requires attentiveness, awareness, openness, and a willingness to follow the inner thread of inner guidance. To risk discovery of new information, change your opinions, and allow truth to be revealed.
Each person is unique when born. Each life has a unique path. Each being is special. Each of us is a child of source energy, of god or spirit. Each has access to source energy through the source guidance built into her cells, into her internal sensory system – her six senses.
These are always present within you and speaking to you all the time if you would just listen.
You actually are constantly being directed through your inner guidance through these messages; when you feel like something that someone says is off then that is a message from within. Paying attention to these messages through your intuition, your inner hearing, seeing, knowing, feeling. This is the fastest and most effective way to get onto your path and create your life fortune.
The truth will set you free and following your bliss will indeed bring you success.
So here’s an important message – if you are not doing what you want or living at your highest potential – go within reconnect through you internal guidance system with yourself. You can use prayer, meditation, Yoga, running, ice skating, walking, dancing, writing, journaling, dreaming, sound, toning, therapy, or anything that assists you in connecting with your inner truth – but the key is that whatever you use your guide is within, not without, and the answer is personal, empathic, and loving.
When you begin to listen, pay attention to the subtle, gentle messages in the background not the angry, emotional loud messages in the foreground.
Your personal inner guidance will generally not yell at you unless you are about to have a car accident. Otherwise it’s just a quiet, firm yet light message or vibration turn here, let go, trust, believe, and ooh that doesn’t feel, sound, look right.
And give your self/ego a break – your ego is trying to mediate all your inner wants and outer expectations – have a little empathy, love and kindness toward yourself while you begin to acquaint yourself with your inner guidance.
Thanks for your continued interest and support, please pass on this information as you are guided to do so – more joy for everyone, in love and light, Beth
Finding your way through the propaganda
21 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, personal development category, spiritual development Tags: balance, faith, freedom, gestalt figure-ground, God, healing, joy, lovingkindness, meditation, mindfulness, propaganda, truth, virtue
Hello and Welcome I read this quote on Facebookfrom Marianne Williamson – she retells an old story from the bible in a way to encourage spiritual empowerment and healing; integrating spiritual healing and a description of mindful living:
The giant was a terrifying enemy; even the best warriors of Israel trembled at the thought of fighting him. David was merely a young shepherd and a musician, yet he was the one to defeat the giant. How did he do it? He had three smooth stones in his slingshot, and he hit the giant between his eyes. THE GIANT HAS NO DEFENSE WHEN HE IS HIT IN HIS THIRD EYE. He cannot defend himself against these three things: truth, virtue and love. So that’s the message for us: to speak the truth; to work on our own virtue; and to act with love. At this point in history, all three take courage… Marianne Williamson (my italics)
The elements – truth, virtue and love are so powerful – their essence creates a space for you to be impenetrable – solid and strengthened to see your way through the propaganda that is all around you.
From a metaphoric perspective the idea that truth, virtue and love are the powerful forces that work through the third eye is in essence a concept of standing in the light of spirit. I had a powerful discussion recently about standing in one’s heart center. It is a difficult thing and yet happens effortlessly when you open yourself and create space in relationship to truth, virtue, and love.
I receive my best lessons about truth when I am challenged to not speak the truth, not act from the center of my true self (virtue) and when I am not acting out of love for all the parties involved – for me the forgotten love is usually not acting lovingly toward myself – or simply when I am acting out of fear.
I once noticed that evil is live spelled backwards and it dawned on me that not living was evil and living was the opposite of evil. Fear seems to open the door to evil through the concept of not living in your true or full light. Love seems to fill you with faith and trust so that you can go toward your truth and virtue not avoid them from fear.
When I was a student living in Italy. These lessons came to me experientially in my awareness of the difference between my truth and that of my beloved boyfriend with whom I had traveled to Italy, as well as my perceptual awareness of national and political ‘truth” seen from my new lens of outsider in a foreign country. I learned that there were different kinds of truth and that truth had a time-stamp or perspective to it that shifted its relativity. I was already drawn to existential writers by this time in my life, but here I was introduced to the amazing writings of Carlo Levi in his book Christ Stopped at Eboli (1945). This book dealt with many issues of figure and ground when defining truth. It has helped me all these many years to assist others in relationship to discern the difference between what is true from a perspective point of view and what is truth from a universal spiritual point of view.
The first step in finding your way through the propaganda that surrounds you in the media, your cultural and political affiliations and your world is to discover your truth, your personal virtue and what love looks and feels like to you. Love from the compassionate, accepting, non-attached mindful perspective that connects us all as one.
This can be an effortless transformation. Simply notice, accept and feel gratitude for what is working in your life. Open to being rather than doing. Rise above the perspective of right and wrong and into the concept of living and not-living this will assist you seeing, feeling and knowing the truth. This will assist you in developing your virtue.
Though simple acts of lovingkindness and mindfulness you are strengthened. Smile more, laugh more, accept more, feel the pain of others more, love yourself more, forgive more – all these actions increase your capacity for truth, virtue and love.
The first step is through the use and active mindset of compassion.
The best way to get there is through a daily practice of meditation, yoga, and/or prayer.
Namaste ^
See you tomorrow.
Beth
How to develop a practice of internal spirit-self-communication
07 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category, professional development category, spiritual development Tags: attitude of gratitude, balance, God, mind-body-spirit connection, mindfulness, namaste, paradigm shifting, teaching, the way, Yoga
Hello and welcome
I have the great honor of teaching.
I say it is an honor because I see teaching as a powerful responsibility that requires love, compassion, and care. Yes of course I need to also know the material, but more than that I need to be able to present it in a way that touches the hearts and minds of those I teach. This is more difficult than just presenting facts – it’s about presenting truth that can be incorporated into a world view and strengthen those who receive the information.
When you hear truth it has a quality of singing or ringing in key within your body, spirit and mind, all at once. Giving you a feeling of deja vu almost, a feeling of immediate comprehension and knowing.
This is very different then being compelled toward something from propaganda. Propaganda is seductive and alluring but it doesn’t ring true in your heart it has more of an emotional-visceral, reactive quality to it. Propaganda is something that lulls you into a sense of righteousness or patterned behavior. Advertising and politics are masters at using partial information or “spin” to guide you to take action that may not be inline with your heart/spirit connection but feels right. This feeling right is not the kind of truth that rings through to your heart/spirit.
Because of this peculiar experience of feeling right through propaganda it is important to be able to remove emotionality and righteousness from the conversation and work toward understanding, connecting and compassionate lovingkindness.
The art of seeing the world from a compassionate, neutral, and curious perspective encourages connecting with truth. It increases the kind of seeing of truth that is not righteousness but open-minded, strengthening and graceful.
The best way to encourage this is the use of optimism, gratitude, kindness, compassion, and nurturance of ideas and growth; flexible, present moment response creates the space to open to truth in various forms through sound, word, and information.
The more you have a practice of mindfulness and meditation, breathing and prayer, internal spirit-self-communication with a quality of waiting to understand before jumping to conclusions – open-mindedness – the more you will experience truth in all your interactions.
The best form of teaching is through modeling. Our brains are hard-wired to learn through modeling. Living in a way that is consistent with what you value can go far to teach.
Many roles incorporate guidance, direction, teaching and strength building – managers, parents, coaches – all have the foundation of teaching at their base. Highly effective coaches, managers, and parents share the skill of meeting their students where they are, defining their strength and limitations, building their strengths and transforming their limitations into strengths all with compassion and frankness.
To develop these skills try the following steps:
- Practice noticing what works.
- Practice looking for how you agree and connect with another.
- Practice flexibility and paradigm shifting, allow the other person’s meaning to connect with you even if how he says it is different from how you say it. Think here of the issue of recognizing that having different names for god isn’t having different gods. The connecting point is that both parties have a deep belief in god even if the story about how to be connected to god is different. Connecting to the elements that agree is the best starting point for understanding and teaching or relationship.
- Be grateful for what is great about what is happening rather than sorrowful or even sullen about what isn’t. Practice turning things on their head, thinking the opposite, and just saying thank you.
For example if you just lost your job – being grateful is to look for how that loss allows for something new and better to come into your life. Maybe the loss of the job allows you to learn something about yourself that is negative that you have to change so that you can be successful.
The attitude of gratitude is when you have to define what is great about something that feels negative or is a loss – simply looking from the perspective of asking the question how can this be good allows you to open your eyes to see the positive aspects.
Sometimes the attitude of gratitude is using your thinking skills to put the issue in perspective – for example if you are unhappy with a habit of your partner’s – consider what else you love about him so that you can view the frustrating habit within context. You may find it is less bothersome or you may be able to communicate about what you don’t like without making it into a big fight. More on how to develop the attitude of gratitude here, less attitude more gratitude, 9.2.11.
- Reframe the energy of your “student”. If he is willful guide his strength to help him be stronger internally rather than get into trouble. Of if he is rebellious support the innovation rather than reinforce the reactivity.
Relationships don’t require work because there is something wrong with them – relationships require work because we all live in our separate universes that are in constant need of interpretation and definition.
Effective teaching (managing, guiding, parenting, coaching) requires care and willingness and a compassionate practice of viewing, interpreting, connecting, and translating. Knowing yourself, allowing the dynamic process of evolution within yourself and the dynamic process of evolution in the other to be, and to be understood, and to be connected. That is the essence of effective teaching and ultimately the essence of loving, honest relationship.
Embrace your great honor of teaching with all the wonderful beings and “students” in your life. It will bring you immense joy and a real sense of love and connection. Start with yourself. More information about how to increase your internal connection can be found in an earlier article on this site, InstinctiveHealthMedicine, 8.28.10, Guiding ones beliefs and actions.
The divine spark of spirit lives in our truthful capacity to see and love one another. Namaste, is a Sanskrit word that means My soul (spirit light) within me bows to (sees or acknowledges) your soul (spirit light) within you. ( Yoga Journal description of Namaste, Aadil Palkhivala ) It is generally stated with one’s hands in a prayer position at one’s heart and a very slight bow of one’s head toward the other with one’s eyes closed. It has a deeply reverent quality.
It is a statement that is often shared at the end of a Yoga session. Yoga is seen as a medicinal and spiritual practice, not simply an exercise by those who have studied it and maintain it these thousands of years.
- Develop a practice that allows you to acknowledge in all your actions your connection to spirit and to integrate your spirt-mind-self. This will increase your opportunities for health and prosperity.
The practice of Yoga allows you to practice communicating with your self – mind, body, and spirit – through breath.
Any practice that is done with breath, compassion, lovingkindness, open – mindfulness, and meditation or prayer will increase your spirit-human connection so that you can align with your true self and create health and prosperity. Meditation on Lovingkindness
I believe that human beings are spirit-humans. The idea of managing your body and mind integrated with your spirit is what is your most primary work for health and prosperity because it aligns you with your true purpose and true self, not only individually but also as a community of human beings.
- Teach yourself the difference between how something feels right that is false and propaganda and how something feels right that is truth.
Your first step is to develop a practice of integrated internal communication with yourself and spirit – meditation, prayer, neutral observation, open-mindfulness, and breath are your best communication tools. To find out more check out this article En-Joy Now, 12.29.10.
Namaste.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
In the search for security, self-confidence is the first milestone
24 Feb 2012 1 Comment
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category, spiritual development Tags: balance, child development, erik erikson, hopefulness, inner balance, insecurity, overcoming poor self esteem, paradigm shifting, return to balance, safety, security, strength
Hello and Welcome to my new readers!
The idea of security drives much of human action and directed behavior. The search for security can take many paths. There are different forms of security attached to financial, physical, emotional, relational, and personal safety and various personalities are drawn to various hierarchies of security. The path chosen will be focused on the core insecurity for the person.
So if you find that being alone is difficult or you have your strongest feelings of insecurity around relationships then it was in that portion of your life that you have a lack of security and a lack of strength. If you live here then money may not be of much importance but human interaction is a focus of security. Individuals who live here will say, ”the money will come” but if someone doesn’t respond to them quickly they begin to catastrophize about the meaning of the lack of communication, sometimes even after 15 minutes of waiting.
If you focus on making money and creating financial security then not having money creates an inner sense of insecurity. If you live here then relationships have less of a pull on you but wealth creation and savings is of great importance. Individuals who live here easily let go of other people’s needs or requests and in general can survive with few connections but they have difficulty spending the wealth they created. They may be unable to spend their money even on fairly necessary things because the spending causes them to feel paralyzed by insecurity. This is an example of someone who has the funds but never spends it – the money in the bank, or in some cases millions under the mattress, creates no sense of comfort except in the knowing it is there.
How a person develops a sense of insecurity is related to his early circumstances, his place in society, his parent’s perspective of security and his personal temperament and skill set.
So an individual who focuses on financial security will usually have a story or myth behind it that describes a powerful point in his life when he was without money and the lack of money felt dire, dangerous, and life-threatening. The gathering and having of money becomes the object of security.
In a different circumstance an individual who focuses on connection or relationship for security will have a story of being abandoned and the abandonment will feel like a dire, life-threatening situation. Physical neglect and abuse in early childhood can feel like an abandonment and individuals can develop an insecurity in relationship as a result of this. The relationship, being connected to someone, is the object of security.
The issue of insecurity is an equation of the experience plus the attached story or belief system connected to a feeling of life-or-death. So not all individuals that come from poverty or abuse, who have a challenging financial situation or individuals who have dealt with abandonment, will develop this sense of insecurity.
And this sense of insecurity is something that shows up along a continuum, from slight to overwhelming. On the slight end of the continuum, supportive groups and talking oneself through the anxiety can be enough to decrease the internal reaction or imbalance. On the more overwhelming end it can be debilitating, interfering with an individual’s capacity to function.
The word security can conjure up many different connotations: a sense of physical safety, inner balance, laws and rules; the meanings are diverse but the underlying concept seems to refer to a sense of balance and safety.
In order to create a sense of security, the work needs to begin at home. The first step is to build an internal sense of security or self-confidence and inner strength.
Child development theorists talk about this as the first stage of development for children. It develops out of trust or mistrust of your caregiver. From there, following Erik Erikson’s developmental model, each stage builds on the previous stage. A feeling of trust and confidence will lead to self-confidence, competence, success in relationships and career. Creating this pathway for your child is a function of being present and real with her. Creating this for yourself is a function of returning to neutral, returning to balance, through meditation and paradigm shifting with compassion and lovingkindness toward others and yourself.
Mindful meditation is a useful habit to help create this.
A feeling of mistrust can skew the development of these capacities; it can decrease your chance to develop the positive aspects of the stages. It can result in a lack of self-confidence, insecurity, timidity, a lack of internal strength, a sense of incompetence and ultimately if enough aspects are negatively affected then insecurity can create an individual who has difficulty with relationships, is unable to make basic decisions, and breaks down in nominally stressful situations.
This situation can be positively affected with meditation, prayer, breathing, and reality testing through compassionate paradigm shifting.
The first milestone to shifting your relationship with security into balance is through the development of self-confidence.
More about how to development self-confidence and stave off insecurity in upcoming blogs. Also see February 3, 2011, blog instinctive health medicine, self-confidence vs insecurity, and other blogs through the search icon above under insecurity.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
Turning over a new leaf
27 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category, spiritual development
Hello
I have been thinking about change and the idea of turning over a new leaf. It is really quite poetic.
Change happens whether there is focus upon it or not as this is the way of things. But the intentional act of looking at something from a different perspective can have the feeling of transformation and illumination. Turning over a new leaf has a voluntary aspect to it. It is the action connected to changing perspectives or paradigm shifting.
This works equally as well when considering the need to change a belief – turning over a (be)-lief so that you are shifting your perspective allows you to change the lens of your internal vision in the same way you zoom in or out on a subject with a camera, focusing and refocusing.
In Gestalt therapy turning over a belief is also used to see what is under the belief – what is the etiology of the belief.
This idea is a great one for assisting you to determine how to shift your perspective. When you understand what idea or experience is the beginning form of the belief and you understand the function of the belief then you can determine if the belief still fits into your overall core value system or if you need a more functional belief.
Beliefs are the things that guide you. They are based on your core values. Some beliefs are a misconnection of core value and action. These are the beliefs that need to be investigated and understood at a deeper level.
How you know you are acting from a belief that doesn’t serve the purpose you think is through recognition of our feelings. You have to identify what you are getting out of the belief and the action.
To identify which beliefs may be not serving you, look for how you feel in certain circumstances. If you are feeling anxious or a sense of urgency – and the anxiety and urgency seem out of proportion to the situation – then you are probably acting under a belief that is not benefitting you.
Many beliefs keep you tied to others in a way that uses your energy to maintain the connection. And the actions you take to maintain that habit can be automatic and unconscious, or unthinking not mindful.
As an example: A person who believes she is unlovable, (belief) will over-give (action) to another in order to make up for her insecurity and low self-esteem. She is cementing the other’s reliance on her because she feels the relationship is not balanced without this extra action. However, this creates a lack of balance in how the energy flows between herself and others. She may feel taken for granted or not recognized. She may at times feel unhappy about how she is unable to focus her energy onto herself, can’t create success in her own life, or can’t get out of difficult relationships. Yet in attempts to shift her energy she will define it as necessary until she reviews the underlying belief – because she is acting from this underlying belief.
In order for a person to change her actions she must first shift her perceptions of truth or reality.
She must change the world within to change the world outside.
In the example above she must discover her truly lovable self and then from that space interact. This discovery would come less from some deep understanding of why and more from an alignment with what she observes. She would observe that she is connected, and others do care for her, and that it is through her overextension of herself that relationships breakdown. This allows her to simply shift her action to be more in balance and then her relationships would be more in balance.
The only time this equation doesn’t work is when the other person expects the overextension. If a person chooses to overextend but knows that is what she is doing then she is acting from a balanced and mindful state that allows her to be living more healthfully. It is when a person is taking actions unconsciously, in habit, from a misunderstood belief that lack of health occurs.
The action of making a change for the better, of Turning over a new leaf, requires the mindful action of reviewing and turning over the belief underneath the undesirable or difficult action, mindful paradigm shifting.
Your actions and thinkings are linked and together define how you see the world and how you act in the world.
If the world seems bleak or you are in a habit of acting in a way that does not serve you, doesn’t bring you joy, and you want to change, first look to the underlying beliefs that guide your behavior.
A simple technique is to get two pieces of paper and cut these into the shape of two large leaves.
On the top of the first leaf write the feelings that are bothering you, the habits you feel are destructive or not healthy that you want to change. Then turn over that first leaf and write what beliefs drive those habits. These will be deep inner feelings about yourself and your self in relationship. Issues of lovability, survival, fear, and loss are strong motivators for actions.
On top of the second leaf – the new leaf – write down changed actions – how you want to act in the world. Then turn over the second leaf and write down the opposite belief of the information on the first leaf ( so if you had written I am unlovable then here you would write I am lovable). The simple action of righting the belief will give you greater strength to change your behavior.
With this task you have created a path to change, turn over a new leaf and begin to live in a way that is more in-line with your true self. To further solidify this path you can write down a set of actions you are going to take to realign your actions with your true beliefs.
In the example above, she would discuss her feelings of overextension and being taken for granted with her friends and family. She would define different ways to both be helpful and identify what is too much. Then she would have to catch herself when she was acting habitually or automatically, rather than mindfully, to overextend. This would take some adjustment. In time her inner sense of balance and self-confidence would grow and she would feel more connected to the people around her.
Effective change happens when beliefs and actions are in balance. It is an act of mindfulness, with a focus on congruency and balance.
I see a pile of new leaves blowing in the wind. The seeds of change.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
meditation and mindfulness, your mind’s natural anti-anxiety for attentional problems
19 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category, professional development category, spiritual development
Hello
Anxiety can feel like an internal restlessness, an irritability, a desire to avoid something and a need to distract yourself from what is in your senses, emotions, mind, and thoughts. It splits your focus and your energy.
This can be a conscious set of activities or an unconscious one. It can look to another as if you are distracted, bored, inattentive, irritable, disagreeable and sometimes hyperactive. Due to this, anxiety in children can be confused with ADD and when hyperactivity is present treated with a number od different medications. For individuals wanting to keep their children free of medications I encourage you to look at how to decrease your child’s anxiety or stress reactions through structure, compassion development of mindfulness activities and meditation.
Attention is a combination of focus, interest, and energy. There are neural pathways involved in attention that incorporate emotion (interest, focus, and energy) the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the hippocampus. The frontal and parietal lobes assist with memory, attention, and behavior. These pathways can be excited by overuse, overstimulation, and create problems with mediating fearful, anxiety provoking situations. Some of these fearful states can be as simple as test anxiety, anxiety in social situations, and intense worry in young children who are sensitive.
Gestalt looks at this anxious activity as a way to keep yourself out of a present moment state and uses various techniques to get you into the present. For the most part, much of Gestalt therapy is the development and use of mindfulness.
Anxiety defined in Gestalt therapy is having your attention focused in the past or the future, with rumination about what has happened in a circulatory way or what might happen, what if, in a circulatory way. These actions keep a person out of the present where he has actual power to make decisions and take actions. These actions are distracting and in general the person looks unfocused, bored, inattentive, restless, and defiant. Mindfulness and meditation are present moment activities that help to quell anxiety and refocus the person’s attention.
Actions and connections in the brain happen quickly and sometimes an individual may not be aware of feeling anxious - they may feel irritable, restless, or bored but not know the etiology of their feelings. When this happens with children, teachers and parents often respond by being more firm providing consequences for the inattention – if the lack of focus is related to anxiety then this normal response from parents or teachers can exacerbate the problem within the child and increase his anxiety resulting in more negative behavior on the part of the child.
Creating space for downtime, lengthening transition time, attending to the child’s physical stressors of sleep, nourishment (both physical and emotional) and exercise ( lack of or too much), and teaching mindfulness and meditation tools to your child are your best antidotes to anxiety and inattention.
This is true whether the underlying issue is social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity. Structure, connection, mindfulness, and meditation all allow the child to move into the center of his world so that he can increase his internal sense of power and see from a neutral perspective. This moves your child into a present moment so that it is virtually impossible to feel anxiety since anxiety is connected to past- or future-time concerns. It increases the down cycle of your child’s brain so that he can incorporate new learning and integrate old information with new information – the required cycling of the brain is intense focus and down cycling for incorporation.
1. Set up a routine for sleep, rest, exercise, and nourishment that is reasonable for your child and predictable.
2. When transitioning from play to work wakefulness to sleep – (and vice versa), and intense activities make sure you create 20 to 30 minutes of transition time – longer when the next activity is anxiety provoking for your child.
3. Know your child. Educate yourself on the specific symptoms your child has developed to telegraph his anxiety. Educate him on these too.
4. Develop specific strategies for your child to use to manage his anxiety when he notices one of his triggers or symptoms. I.E.: focused breathing, visualization techniques, journaling to release fears and increase opportunities for reality testing (paradigm or perspective shifting), meditation, mindfulness, and changing his environment to shift his energy.
5. Engage other caregivers to assist your child in utilizing these strategies.
6. Maintain clear boundaries with fair and loving, compassionate consequences.
If you have a child who has been diagnosed with ADD and is being treated with medication but still has attentional issues it may be that the medication is assisting your child with his anxiety through the “frontal lobe putting ‘reins’ on the amygdala…” This is only covering the possible underlying etiology of the inattentive behavior and under stressful circumstances your child’s anxiety and negative behavior will recur. According to Srini Pillay a psychiatrist and author of Life Unlocked: 7 Revolutionary Lessons to Overcome Fear (2010). He suggests:
1. Ask yourself: If anxiety were the culprit, what would the reason be?
2. Have you tucked away any fears that you don’t know how to deal with?
3. Do you avoid situations to avoid anxiety?
4. Are you “tolerating” anything in your life, and if so, what?
5. What are your greatest unfulfilled desires and how could your dissatisfaction about this be impacting you?If you write down brief answers to these questions, you will be well on your way to understanding the possible unconscious anxiety in your brain. If you work with a professional, ask them about his, and check to see if treating the anxiety restores your attention. Exploring this possibility in the longer term is usually what helps people find a way to deal with the anxiety. Remember, anxiety is really just “electrical energy” gone haywire in your brain. The best way to deal with random electrical energy is to make sure you are “grounded” and to make sure that there is an appropriate channel through which it can flow.
It may well be that your attention deficit disorder is actually an anxiety excess disorder. Consider this carefully before deciding on your strategy. Taking a little extra time to explore this may be worth the wait. Srini Pillay (2010)
Emotion, memory, attention and experience are all interconnected.
Mindfulness, meditation, and structuring your life to allow for physical and emotional nourishment, and the natural cycle of stimulus and downtime for integration will assist you and your child to deal with the complexities and stressors in life that can cause anxiety and a lack of focus.
These suggestions are helpful for adults and children struggling with inattention, distraction, lack of motivation, and moodiness that may be indicative of internal anxiety.
Practicing mindfulness, meditation, compassionate, neutral paradigm shifting to access an internal centeredness allows you to create balance within so that your response to your environment can be balanced.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
Evolution of consciousness II
20 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category, professional development category
Hello
The concept of evolving ones consciousness in an intentional, distinct, and proactive method is what therapy offers from my perspective.
And doing this process can shift your spiritual consciousness to perceive the balance of spirit, mind, and body brings about the highest degree of health, prosperity and love.
The multi-level shift in consciousness allows for you to align your actions, behaviors and statements to your inner and uncensored values.
As you become aware of your feelings, your paradigms, your values and your actions you may have the opportunity to evolve your consciousness, shift your perceptions and your actions, so that in essence you are living in a completely different world. The issue of awareness is subtle and profound. It is not simply awareness on a sensory level but also cognitively and mindfully.
Our consciousness is our awareness on a physical wakefulness arena as well as our multilevel understanding of time and space the concept of dimensions. Individuals who are able to have a consciousness of information or events in a time prior to them occurring are living in a dimension that includes time on a continuum; 4th, 5th or 6th dimensional awareness is another type of consciousness.
Alignment means acting or speaking in ways that portray your spiritual, moral, and perceptual values. Sometimes called core values.
So when you are developing your mindfulness, and applying this to your actions, thinkings, and perceptions you are actually shifting your consciousness. You are changing your perceptual world both subjectively and objectively, as well as changing how you interact with your environment and the people with whom you relate.
This is an evolution of consciousness that takes the form of a spiral inner and then outer. First you observe a shift, then you internalize this observation, and then instantaneously you feel an internal shift that guides your outer movements and behavior.
Visualization and mindful meditation are effective tools to elucidate your core values. These also are excellent tools to begin to create new patterns in how you relate in the world.
A visualization is a type of meditation that incorporates an inner picture of what you are either trying to shift or to create. You begin the visualization process by going into a light meditative and peaceful state.
Using your breath you can consciously calm and balance your conscious awareness and being. Remember when you begin a meditation you want to make your inhalations shorter than your exhalations. Breathing in for a count of five and then breathing our for a count of seven is a good start. The visualization part is what you see on the inner plane; what you put your attention to in a visual way; like seeing a beach or a special scene of some sort.
To use a visualization to shift your perspective you may use the internal feeling you get from viewing a picture of someone with whom you have a supportive, compassionate, forgiving and loving relationship to shift your experience of another negative, difficult person or situation.
Firs, gaze upon the face of the one with whom you have the positive internal feelings, and sensory awareness. Once, you are firmly experiencing this individual’s love and kindness you can replace the image with the problem person or situation. The loving feeling or sensory experience from the first person can elicit a feeling of compassion, lovingkindness or forgiveness in you so that you can see the other from a different perspective. The will allow you to have a shift in our consciousness of that person so that you can more effectively and less harmfully (personally) deal with that person or situation.
Another nice way to use visualization is to picture the shift in the person or situation; for example if you are feeling unheard by another you can go into a meditative state and picture the other person listening to you. This helps to clear the negative imbalance around the event. If you are feeling lost you can use the visualization to experience finding your way.
This turning the problem upside down offers a paradigm shift and the viewing of the change offers a change within your sensory experience and consciousness.
Visualization and mindful meditation offer effective strategies for shifting your awareness and evolving your consciousness.
These are intentional, distinct, and proactive method self-directed methods for releasing trauma, shifting paradigms, and smoothing out habitual reactions. is what therapy offers from my perspective. These processes can shift your spiritual consciousness and increase sense of oneness and connection to others and our environment in a positive, way.
This shift in consciousness allows for you to align your actions, behaviors and statements to your inner core values; shifting your perceptions and your actions, so that in essence you are living in a completely different world.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
the evolution of consciousness: I
13 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, consciousness development, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category
Hello
So I have been thinking about how consciousness, phenomenology, mindfulness, and paradigm shifting interface.
Through phenomenology, awareness, and mindfulness, paradigms become identified and can shift. This shifting shifts our perspective and awareness as well as how we feel about something. As perspective shifts ones feelings about a situation shifts and as our feelings shift our perspective shifts – so that each can affect the other.
Consciousness then shifts through this process – our consciousness as related to our awareness. This is a multilevel event. So that as we become aware of our feelings, our paradigms, our values and our actions we may have the opportunity to evolve our consciousness – shift our perceptions and our actions. The issue of awareness is subtle and profound. It is not simply awareness on a sensory level but also cognitively and mindfully.
So when you are developing your mindfulness, and applying this to your actions, thinkings, and perceptions you are actually shifting your consciousness. You are changing your perceptual world both subjectively and objectively.
This is an evolution of consciousness that takes the form of a spiral inner and then outer. First you observe a shift, then you internalize this observation, and then instantaneously you feel an internal shift that guides your outer movements and behavior.
So if consciousness is defined this way:
Consciousness a noun, is defined as 1. The state or condition of being conscious. 2. A sense of one’s personal or collective identity, including the attitudes, beliefs, and sensitivities held by or considered characteristic of an individual or group: Love of freedom runs deep in the national consciousness. 3. Special awareness or sensitivity: class consciousness; race consciousness. 4. Alertness to or concern for a particular issue or situation: a movement aimed at raising the general public’s consciousness of social injustice. And 5. In psychoanalysis, the conscious
Or from Wikipedia this way:
Consciousness is a term that refers to the inter-relationship between the mind the world with which it interacts; awareness that is subjective in nature, a sense of selfhood; the ability to feel or experience wakefulness, and the executive control system of the mind. The origin of the modern concept of consciousness is often attributed to John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding – (Locke, 1960). Locke defined consciousness as “the perception of what passes in a man’s own mind.
The literary author William James is usually credited with popularizing the idea that human consciousness flows like a stream, in his Principles of Psychology (1890). According to James, the “stream of thought” is governed by five characteristics: “(1) Every thought tends to be part of a personal consciousness. (2) Within each personal consciousness thought is always changing. (3) Within each personal consciousness thought is sensibly continuous. (4) It always appears to deal with objects independent of itself. (5) It is interested in some parts of these objects to the exclusion of others”.
A similar concept appears in Buddhist philosophy, expressed by the Sanskrit term Citta-saṃtāna, which is usually translated as mindstream or “mental continuum”. In the Buddhist view, though, the “mindstream” is viewed primarily as a source of noise that distracts attention from a changeless underlying reality.
For our purposes the mindtream is anything that is ongoing as in consciousness attention or awareness.
Stream of consciousness writing offers the experience of being within the person’s perception of events – in his mind or thoughts. In psychological counseling this type of journaling allows a person to see or review how he experiences another or a situation and recognize habitual reactions that are not useful. It is a form of writing meditation that allows for a shift in perspective or an internal paradigm shift.
And phenomenology is defined:
Phenomenology is a method of inquiry that attempts to examine the structure of consciousness in its own right, putting aside problems regarding the relationship of consciousness to the physical world. This approach was first proposed by the philosopher Edmund Husserl, and later elaborated by other philosophers and scientists. Husserl’s original concept gave rise to two distinct lines of inquiry, in philosophy and psychology. From a philosophical perspective phenomenology has largely been devoted to fundamental metaphysical questions, such as the nature of intentionality (“aboutness”). From a psychological perspective, phenomenology largely has meant attempting to investigate consciousness using the method of looking inward or introspection; looking into one’s own mind and reporting what one observes. This method fell into disrepute in the early twentieth century because of grave doubts about its reliability.
The methods of phenomenology are simply a type of mindful meditation. Very useful in reviewing one’s behavior and what causes one to act in a specific way.
Introspectively, the world of conscious experience seems to have considerable structure. Immanuel Kant, a phenomenologist, asserted that the world as we perceive it is organized according to a set of fundamental “intuitions”, which include object (we perceive the world as a set of distinct things); shape; quality (color, warmth, etc.); space (distance, direction, and location); and time.
I have written about this as seeing in 4-D.
Then it is through these processes that we develop our sense of self, time, place in the world, goals, and success/failures. The idea of mindfulness then is using these processes to assist you in your own internal development to meet external goals and aspirations which change as you focus your mindfulness, incorporate shifting paradigms, and respond to the world in the present moment.
Despite the large amount of information available, the most important aspects of perception remain mysterious. A great deal is known about low-level signal processing in sensory systems, but the ways by which sensory systems interact with each other, with “executive” systems in the frontal cortex, and with the language system are very incompletely understood. At a deeper level, there are still basic conceptual issues that remain unresolved.
Mindfulness is about working with the energy of your perspective and then shifting that perspective to see anew. It can have this universal quality wherein the individual becomes increasingly interconnected in his or her understanding of others. Through this it can lead to what the Buddhists refer to as the One. That what we do to others we do to ourselves; that other and self are not divisible and so that 2 plus 2 equal not 4 but One.
The evolution of ones own consciousness is about shifting not only your perspective but how you perceive and enact your values.
This is a powerful thing.
If consciousness can evolve, then this evolution can be effected through meditation and mindfulness.
How to do this and what shifts your perception and leads to the evolution of consciousness? More to come in Evolution of Consciousness II.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
Follow your bliss and the universe will open…
25 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Balance of Spirit Mind and Body category, coaching category, Gestalt figure ground, Mindfulness living category, Paradigm shifting, Parent Category, personal development category, professional development category
Hello
I have been considering what it means to be a leader. Leadership is about having the ability to see and know the answer and be able to communicate the solution to a problem.
It is also about power and energy.
There are positive leaders who negotiate power from an interior source and there are negative leaders who negotiate power from an exterior source.
When you can ascertain a solution quickly, you feel an internal sense of ‘rightness”, and can communicate it efficiently – then you have power for others to listen to you, and you will be able to be a positive leader.
It is not the leadership in and of itself that will result in success or well-being. Leading toward something of value is a key component to making a difference in a way that is seen as a positive leader – this is the energetic component of leadership and power. Negative leaders have lost their internal sense of bliss and joy and are focused on the enticing allure of power in and of itself.
We all can remember a leader in our childhood who, had power, quick thinking and a powerful style of motivating the group; but only some of those individuals focused their energy onto a meaningful and successful path. Some got lost in the effervescence of power itself. Their charm and ease in directing the group made it so they lost their way and got caught up in the power – like a swirl of rapid that just circles around and in on a rock rather than moving the water down the river.
This stuck energy can be hypnotizing It circles and feels so strong that one doesn’t notice they aren’t actually going anywhere, just circling in this feeling of power with no result or movement toward a goal. Individual’s caught in this find that others move on and they are stuck in the same position. Much like a leaf caught in a swirl rapid around a great boulder in the river, swirling forever in the same place with great force and energy but getting nowhere.
How to get out of such a situation?
First, it’s important to recognize your circumstance.
Second, you have to focus your energy to not follow the current and truly shift your energy and focus. When you’re stuck the best way out is like jumping the curve. And the most effective way to do that is to discern your inner and undeniable bliss – if that is what you follow rather than that feeling of power then you will shift the current such that you can be guided out of the whirlpool and into the true current of life and life energy.
Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls – Joseph Campbell.
If you have been acting and behaving in ways to gain power but are pulling yourself away from your central sense of joy then you are not following your bliss. You may be caring for others and giving energy to many in a sense of obligation and love but you may have incorrectly identified that your goal was to give away your power in this way to feel powerful. This will ultimately deplete you, tie the other to you as they think they need you to survive, and create a whirlpool of energy that disallows true movement along the river of energy and life.
How can you ascertain this is what is happening?
Are you energized or depleted in your energy? Does your energy fall deeply and do you feel exhausted when you receive disapproval? Do you feel you rarely have time to focus on your own goals and are you often feeling pulled away when you do focus on your goals? Do you feel that you are not the guide of your own path?
The first question is one of the most important questions. This lack of energy, a sense of depletion, exhaustion, depression, and inner sadness or loss can indicate a long-standing focus away from your internal sense of bliss.
How to find you bliss. Seems funny but some people have lost their internal knowing of bliss. They don’t know or remember what brings them joy. They are focused without instead of within. The answer is to go within, to be still, to listen, to observe and pay attention to energy. When your energy wanes you are moving away from your bliss – when your energy swells and grows you are moving toward or with your bliss, allowing it to guide you.
So to get out of the whirlpool of swirling circular energy that simply depletes you – you need to first identify your circumstance. Observe what brings you energy and what depletes you. Identify the activities that increase your internal sense of well-being and inner joy. Then once you notice these patterns begin to adjust your life course so that what guides you is your bliss. This may be identified as a single activity or a more diverse set of connected activities. These will have some value and internal connection within you and they will increase your sense of vitality.
Once you have discerned this then you can begin to redirect your energy and behavior so that you are led by your bliss and in turn lead others in the direction of well-being and their bliss.
For some their response to your changes will be negative and fearful. This is simply a fear based response because they have not yet connected to their bliss. Kindly, gently redirect them away from feeding off your energy. Encourage them to discern their circumstance and find their inner bliss.
Following your bliss opens your world to so many beautiful opportunities, it increases your energy, and brings joy and well-being to yourself and those you love. It is the way of mindful, loving leadership toward fulfillment, success, and peace. It is empowering and powerful in the most enlightening way.
In bliss….love and light…
See you tomorrow.
Beth
