Hello and Welcome! When I was in graduate school I discovered a book by Sheldon Kopp, although it had already been around for a while, for me it was transformative. The preface of the book is what is most relevant here: No meaning that comes from outside of ourselves is real. The Buddhahood of each of us has already been obtained. We need only recognize it – Thus the Zen Master warns his disciple: – If you meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill him! (Kopp, 1976).
The most effective and personal guidance is within.
Over the years I have noticed a number of programs “pop up” designed to assist you in becoming more successful and happy. Even a burgeoning interest in Yoga and meditation has developed as a means for spirituality and stress reduction.
The focus for what is your true path remains within. The promise of becoming more successful and happy is hollow when the center of the program is without a direct connection to your personal, spiritual center. Any program that assists you in becoming more in touch with source connection and energy is a profound gift. Many paths can provide guidance and direction along this path but the resultant information best serves the seeker when it is found within his own heart-center.
Some of these programs have a quality of indoctrination – indoctrination is actually the opposite of reaching a deeper connection within. If you use your inner sensory system and listen to your internal responses then you will know if you are being led away from or into your center. Indoctrination leads you away from your center and creates a layer between you and yourself.
Truth doesn’t belong to the guide or the giver of it – truth is. It is available to anyone who seeks it. If you have to learn someone else’s language to speak to yourself – you may be creating a connection that is not direct and there can be a skewing in the information you receive.
There is already a clear and direct communication available to you within. Truth is present within.
Your internal guidance system that is part of you – within the integration of your spirit, mind, and body, your 6 senses (sight, touch, sound, taste, smell – and intuition) – these are personal and wholly connect you and source energy. No need to learn someone else’s language. By paying attention to your subtle responses within yourself you can be effectively and perfectly guided. Just listen to what you hear, feel, know within yourself.
Your connection to source is direct.
Your truth is within you not outside of you and finding the truth of your path is found from going within and reacquainting yourself with your heart, your spirit-self communication.
You may use prayer, meditation, Yoga, personal journaling, dreaming, therapy, or any other method to acquaint yourself with your truth – but the language is personal, idiosyncratic, unique and the way in is available to you through any and all of these methods.
Your internal sensory guidance system is always showing you the way.
Just listen and respond with love and neutrality.
You may discover that you have some habits that cover over your personal truth. Some belief systems, or interpretations of truth that you may need to break through but the truth is already right there, within you waiting to be understood by you.
How you perceive the information presented to you through your internal guidance system is your path. Yes you may have to go under the habit reaction patterns you developed from your life experiences and the “should” and “should not” introjects swallowed whole by you from your primary socialization groups – these are elements of indoctrination. These may feel right on the surface but at a deeper level you may feel a quirk or dissonance within you. That is what you pay attention to – that aspect of knowing deep within.
Truth is something that rings clear through all your internal senses and your intuition when it touches one or all of them.
Just listen as you move through your life and all is revealed in your own heart-centered language.
thanks for your interest, pass it on as you are guided to do so, Beth
Kopp, Sheldon, If you meet the Buddha on the Road,Kill Him. Bantam Books: New york, New York: 1976.
Hello and Welcome! Mindfulness helps to discern how things are similar, relate, and where things agree. Currently there is a high degree of conflict in the world environment. Much of the discussion in politics and in the media is focused on how many ways to disconnect from each other – pitting groups against each other. Mindfulness is the best response to conflict because it shifts your perspective
Focus on disconnection reinforces separation and dissonance, and this leads to hostility. It is the wedge that allows for groups to dehumanize other groups due to their differences resulting in opportunities for increased strife and conflict. This behavior is the basis of bullying and victimization under the guise of power issues in children and adolescence; it is modeled in the way in which our political “leaders” and our various leadership communities relate to one another.
This is not the way for humans to increase their understanding of how we are all one; if your goal is harmony and collaboration, inclusion and acceptance, the way through to that is by seeking understanding, seeking common connections, and seeing the other as yourself. Our best political examples of change through non-violence and non-in-group out-group behavior are M. Gandhi and M. L. King.
In listening to politicians you can get a sense of righteousness and superiority. These lead to increased separation and a lack of unification. In order for us to treat each other as one we each must work within ourselves to eradicate this tendency for in-group out-group behavior.
This is the way through to an evolution of consciousness. It isn’t going to happen through force or superiority or though legislation of fairness. Unification happens when we see we are one and act from that inner knowing. Thus the concept of being the change we wish to see in the world. Creating differences begets differences and competition, looking for similarities begets collaboration.
What I have found is that many spiritual traditions stand on interestingly similar pillars. Using the connections or similarities as passageways or doorways can assist you to increase your understanding of groups that at first appear very different from you.
There is a thread of similarity present that is visible to those who are ready to see it.
You can see a figure-ground image once someone shows you the boundaries and perspectives of each picture like the two profile faces that face each other which create the interior picture of a vase.
I did a search in google for the three pillars of several world religions and this is what I got.
In viewing these general foundational concepts you can see the similarities among some of the world’s religions.
The three pillars of Judaism:
The Ethics of the Fathers, chapter one in the second Mishna, Simeon the righteous says that the world rests on three things: On Torah, on avodah (“service”, worship), and g’meelut chasadim–acts of loving kindness. Torah is the Jewish bible, Avodah is the concept of service and or worship, and g’meelut chasadim – represents acts of lovingkindness.
The Torah sets up what is moral – of note are the ten commandments handed down from God to Moses – so this is the basis of acting in a moral way; Avodah has to do with studying the Torah and then also practicing, acting within these moral ways – studying here includes the concept of thinking about, meditation on, and prayer for insightful understanding of the Torah; and acts of lovingkindness has to do with compassion, mindfulness and the silver rule – do not do unto others what you would not have done onto you .
Now view the concept of the Three Jewels of Buddhism:
The core of Buddhism is made up of the three pillars of the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings) and the Sangha (monks and nuns). Simply explained, one could say that without the historical Buddha Shakyamuni there would have been no Buddhist Dharma, nor Sangha. Without his teachings, the Buddha would not have made much of a difference, and also the spiritual community would not have existed. Without the Sangha, the tradition would never have been transmitted through the ages. The Buddha would have been ‘just’ a historical figure and his teachings would have been ‘just’ books. general_symbols_buddhism.html#3j
The Buddha’s teachings are composed of three segments, Sila (morality),
Samadhi (mental concentration) and Panna (intuitive wisdom). Sila is the
foundation for Samadhi and Panna to build upon. Without the foundation of
morality the world would be in chaos and misery. The second pillar is Samadhi,
a mental state with no diffusion or dispersion. Panna is the third and final pillar of
the Buddha’s teachings. Understanding physical and mental phenomenon
correctly in its true nature is wisdom. The Buddhist’s goal is to attain intuitive
wisdom, also called awakened mind or enlightenment. ( Sattipatthana article, page 2)
The five precepts for the lay Buddhist are: refraining from killing,
stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and taking intoxicants. The Buddha does not
lay down these precepts as strict commandments, but as a framework to follow
for the welfare of oneself and others. Immorality will bring a chaotic, miserable
and disharmonious life. The choice is yours. Sila protects from all gross speech
and deeds that can takes one to the four woeful states (states of intense and
continuous misery). ( Sattipatthana article, page 2)
a decent person would not normally even think of hurting or harming another person, but under anger,
rage and wicked greed they can act out of character. People who observe Sila
need to be aware of whenever anger and wicked greed take control over you. At
that moment put yourself in the other person’s shoes. If you were that person
would you want to be hurt or harmed? The obvious answer is “no”. In the same
manner the other person would not like to be hurt or harmed. Such simple
reflection will stop you from doing hurtful and harmful deeds. You are embracing
others as if they are yourself, thereby becoming one with others.(Sattipatthana article, page2)
Samadhi (mental concentration, practice mindful meditation) Why do we meditate? We meditate to contribute happiness and peace to the world, but not to be admired, respected or to appear holy. When one first meditates collectiveness and concentration of mind is achieved, then clarity arises and purity and happiness follow. Purity of mind is the cause and happiness is the effect. With increased degree in purity of mind peace (calm, serene and quiet experience) arises. (Sattipatthana article, page 5)
Panna (intuitive wisdom) Intuitive wisdom can only be achieved through the practice of Insight (Vippassana) meditation. It is about knowing experientially that all physical and mental phenomenons are nothing but transient, dissatisfactory and insubstantial. (Sattipatthana article, page 6)
These two religions are talking about very similar concepts of morality or correct action for healthful interactions, practicing living in this way delineated by the specific text identified, and putting yourself in the position of the other to increase your understanding of him.
The three pillars of Christianity: miracles, prophecy, and moral precepts – golden rule, love and kind treatment of enemies. These precepts share in common with Judaism and Buddhism similar concepts of morality, service, and acts of lovingkindness – the golden rule being do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The moral precepts are based in the ten commandments as well as love the other as thy self.
The five pillars of Islam: profession of faith, ritual prayer, alms giving, fasting during Ramadan, pilgrimage to mecca – in researching these there is a connection to the moral precepts of the ten commandments as well as the importance of living a life that is undefiled as you see in the five precepts of Buddhism.
The pillars of Hinduism include the 4 pillars of righteous living, a code of ethics, ten virtues and the Vedas and scriptures.
These 4 pillars form the foundation of values that can be considered as “commandments”, if you will, for the Hindu way of righteous living: austerity, purity, compassion, truthfulness. ( sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism article page 4)
Ten virtues should be practiced by all men. The first five can be considered as
principles of self-restraint (yama): non-violence (ahimsā), truthfulness
(satya), celibacy in thought, word and deed (brahmacharya), non-stealing
(asteya), and non-covetousness (aparigṛaha). The other five virtues are religious observances (niyama): internal and external purity (shaucha), contentment (santosha), austerity (tapas), study of scriptures (svādhyāya)and surrender to the Lord (Īshvara-praṇidhāna). ( sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism article page 4)
1. Hindus believe in the existence of a supreme all-pervasive Being, who is
both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.
2. Hindus accept the Vedas as the absolute scriptural authority.
3. Hindus believe in a code of ethics based on 4 pillars of righteous living as
defined in Shrīmad Bhāgavatam: austerity (tapaḥ), purity (shaucham),
compassion (dayā), and truthfulness (satyam).
4. Hindus believe in a prescribed method of living, with regard to its
objectives, stages and milestones of life.
5. Hindus believe in specific tenets such as the law of cause and effect
(karma), the theory of reincarnation (punarjanma), and the incarnation of the
supreme Lord into the world (avatāra).
6. Hindus have prescribed methods of offering worship to the Lord. ( sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism article page 2)
These concepts are similar to those seen in the other religions described here.
Concepts of caring, living through a path of harmony with spirit and nature as well as information about morality and moral behavior to not treat others as you would not want to be treated and see in the other your divine self – these are all represented in each of these religions some of the hows to do it are different, but not by too much.
Allowing yourself to see in the other how similar he is to you creates an opportunity to uplevel your consciousness; to act in a way that is compassionate and balanced. This will create opportunities for our world to uplevel as a whole to a higher degree of vibration.
Love is the way.
Mindfulness, intuitive meditation, detached observation and virtuous action allow for love to be your guide in all your endeavors.
Namaste.
Beth
Important NOTE: This article was first published online by beth gineris on March 22, 2012, at OM magazine, community.omtimes.com under the title, Using Mindfulness offers Threads of Agreement to Build a Tapestry of Spiritual Harmony and Collaboration.
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.
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.
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.
There has been a lot of research regarding the effects of disciplining children with physical punishment and spanking. These studies have been conducted since 1990 and have consistently indicated negative results for this style of discipline especially an increase in aggressive and antisocial behavior on the part of the spanked child, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012).
Proponents of spanking as a form of discipline argue against this relationship indicating that the children who need to be spanked or physically punished are already more aggressive and so this explains the connection between increased aggression in children who are spanked.
This recent study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal spanning over twenty years controlled for this issue precisely and addressed the issue of causality. The study followed children who were physically punished as a form of discipline and children who were not.
The study shows that children who are physically punished get more aggressive over time and those that are not physically punished get less aggressive over time. Furthermore, it looked at studies where parents that were taught to change their methods from physical punishment to non-violent methods of discipline saw a decline in aggressive behavior in their children, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p2).
What is also good about this study is it looks at “everyday” acts of aggression so it is addressing the kind of physical punishment that is most common and it links these with increased aggression over time.
It also showed that those children that are spanked or hit are more likely to be aggressive toward family members or peers and exhibit other antisocial behavior.
The study’s analysis shows that there are short-term benefits to spanking, as it stops the unwanted behavior for the immediate situation; But these short-term benefits are at the cost of some very negative long-term effects. It is linked to an increase in aggressive behavior in the long-term.
One of the Key Points of the study shows that NO study has found that physical punishment enhances developmental health (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p1); there is no link between positive behavior and corporeal punishment in the long-run.
The authors reported on a meta-analysis of studies since 1990 published in 2002 and conducted their own analysis to date and discovered no study – regardless of the sample size, or age of child – has been able to establish positive associations with physical discipline, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p2).
This is telling because from an anecdotal perspective spanking and hitting as a disciplinary tool are very common. Writing from my observations in my practice and the parents I know socially, I would estimate that over 75 percent use physical punishment and spanking to discipline their children; other polls have quoted 80 percent (Time, 2.6.2012, online).
In my experience, when talking with parents about this subject, individuals who were physically punished offer information about how they feel it was good for them; identifying specific skills they learned as a result.
However, upon examination what becomes more clear is that their learning was a result of them applying their own mindfulness to the situation to make sense out of the hitting, NOT as a result of some direct teaching or correlation connected to the physical punishment. Most of these individuals express that although they will use physical punishment they will not do it to the extent their parents did; and those that use it state they feel their child understands why they are being punished.
One of the researchers and lead author of the report, Joan Durrant a Child Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Family Studies at the University of Manitoba, cited the issue in the U.S. of physical punishment being an integral part of the culture, a rare instance when an individual was raised without it, which makes it second nature to use physical punishment and feels out of the norm to raise a child without it, Fox News Health, 2.7.2012.
She also discerned that a big component of this style of parenting is that parents may be unaware of basic child development and may then inaccurately assess their child as being defiant or intentionally bad rather than simply acting in various ways that are consistent with normal child development, (Fox News Health, 2.7.2012).
According to an article in (Time, 2.6.2012) about this specific study Durrant reports the most effective way to assist your children is through educating them about what they are doing that isn’t acceptable or appropriate she used the following example:
A young toddler who upends her cereal bowl on her head probably isn’t being ornery; she’s just curious to see what will happen. Durrant likes to use her son as an example. When he was 3, he dropped his dad’s toothbrush into the toilet. Another parent might have yelled, but Durrant’s academic background helped her realize that he was just experimenting: he dropped objects into water floating in sinks and bathtubs with nary a scolding; why not toilets too? “I explained what goes into toilets and then said, Do you think Daddy is going to want to put that toothbrush in his mouth now?” Message transmitted with no yelling. (or spanking – my addition).
She is talking about Mindfulness. Mindfulness incorporates an understanding about your child’s temperament and child development. Recognizing the basic nature of children is curiosity and exploring their environment, that children are dealing with power issues and trying to understand how things work in relationship and in their environment, and they go through a spiraling developmental system where they have skills that then get reworked and lost as they develop their gross motor activities, fine motor activities and their inner cognitive systems, learning through modeling from the world around them, (Gesell Institute of Child Development, Ames and Ilg, 1979; Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society, 1960)
This study is good news for those of us who have been disciplining through mindfulness and dovetails very closely with the information presented in my book, Turning NO to ON: The Art of Parenting with Mindfulness (8.14.2011).
It supports the instinctive sense that discipline is a function of knowing, understanding and teaching your child. Durrant states in the article ” Effective discipline rests on clear and appropriate expectations, effectively communicated within a trusting relationship and a safe environment”, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p4).
Discipline is an equation of knowing and understanding your child’s temperament and developmental stage + knowing and understanding his emotional and intellectual capacity + knowing and understanding your own temperament and emotional capacity + guiding toward a recognized set of goals + and knowing what you are trying to teach, when. It is most effective when mindfulness is applied to this multi-faceted equation to get the most effective long-term results.
Reactivity can create problems with this equation in parenting and if your history is that you were spanked or hit as a child then you will have a reactivity to do just that.
In reality if you hit or spank a child to stop their behavior you will stop it for that immediate moment, but you are probably not teaching them what you think you are.
You may think you are teaching them to control themselves, think things through or have good manners but you are modeling something completely different.
You are modeling the opposite – not thinking things through not controlling yourself.
In fact you are modeling that hitting is a solution. That hitting is a way to get control over another person. That people in power can make others do things. I know for many parents that sounds reasonable but if you just look at the long-term effects you can see how this is creating an environment for aggressive behavior, bullying and in some instances domestic violence among adults, low-self esteem and a lack of an internal locus of control – knowing what is right from an inner understanding cognitively with an ability to direct ones own course in life.
The article clarified information that children who are spanked may feel depressed and devalued, and their sense of self-worth can suffer… and physical punishment is a risk factor for child aggression and antisocial behavior, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p2). It also identified studies which show researchers have found that physical punishment is linked to slower cognitive development and adversely affects academic achievement, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p2). Through their analysis of previous studies, other links identified show up later in life: mental – health problems including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, these may be mediated by disruptions of the parent-child attachment resulted from pain inflicted by the caregiver, by increased levels of cortisol, or by chemical disruption of the brain’s mechanism for regulating stress, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p2).
To avoid some of these devastating side-effects to spanking it seems wiser to utilize more effective ways to discipline that don’t promote the development of aggressive behavior, wreak self-esteem, and encourage antisocial behavior.
The most effective way to discipline is to utilize positive techniques of teaching and guiding. The use of time-outs as a way of teaching your child to think through situations and communicate his needs and to help diffuse a negative situation, loss of privileges as a way of teaching connections, and increasing your communication with your child so that you can understand and guide him are all ways to discipline in a positive and educational way.
Mindfulness is a tool that you can use to structure your parenting to assist you and your child. Remember to focus on how to be responsive rather than reactive and to identify the whole of what is going on to assist your child in developing self-control, thinking skills, and proper acceptable behavior.
Durant and Ensom identify as a Key Point in the article “A professional consensus is emerging that parents should be supported in learning non-violent, effective approaches to discipline”, (Durrant & Ensom, 2012, p1).
You can check out the information presented here through the sites identified in the article or the references below.
See you tomorrow.
Beth
References:
Ames, Louise Bates & Ilg, Francis L.; Your Five-Year Old, Sunny ans Serene. New York City, New York: Dell Publishing Group: 1979.
Durrant, Joan and Ensom, Ron; Physical punishment of children: lessons from 20 years of research, CMAJ; cmaj .101314 v1; published ahead of print February 6, 2012, doi:10.1503/cmaj.101314 v1.
Erikson, Erik H.; Childhood and Society, Second Edition. New York City, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, inc: 1963.
Gineris, Beth; Turning NO to ON: The Art of Parenting with Mindfulness. Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace Printing: 2011.
It is a special kind of listening not the listening of a friend, or a mother who just wants to soothe. Although I deeply care for those with whom I work, from a broader perspective listening has many facets.
It is a listening that requires rapid responses, redirection, and guidance offering a sense of calm.
The listening is active but not strained. I’m present in the foreground in a neutral open way, while in the background my mind, heart, intuition, and senses are evaluating the information on some kind of inner grid; the person’s tonal quality, choice of words, and speech as well as the content of what was said and not said used to develop a multi-level understanding of the person and the problem at hand, in context.
I have developed a special kind of quiet speech, and stillness that becomes even more quiet and still in response to increased danger or lack of balance. When working my voice has a soothing, relaxing quality that allows others to easily allow a trance state.
While in my personal interactions I may become agitated, in my therapeutic setting I seem to have the ability to drop my blood pressure and pulse in more dangerous circumstances, telegraphing a sense of calm composure. In the same way an animal can smell fear I transmit a sense of security and peace to assist the person to return to a sense of calm balanced harmony.
This is something that I developed instinctively over a period of time when working in stressful, dangerous environments. The calmer my demeanor the more likely the danger could be averted.
This tactic is directly related to the concept of energy and breath.
A fascinating phenomenon of activity and passivity in unison, which I believe is a the mechanism that allows others to feel better after being in my presence and encourages them to return.
It is the sense of being seen and heard that allows the person to move forward to receive the necessary information and support from me. This sense of visibility in a safe way is soothing and strengthening.
She experiences things already known by her as well as things unknown to her that have the quality of truth or accuracy or deep familiarity. In combination this increases a sense of security and strength. And allows for a letting go of structures that no longer serve her and development of structures which do.
I have developed a way to transmit calm in stressful situations. Practicing this skill will create an environment for harmony and I think it is what allows for the shifts in the people I see in my practice.
So it’s about paying attention and responding to the situation with a sense of calm neutral interest. A serious and gentle way of guiding and supporting.
These are precisely the terms used to describe mindful mediation or mindfulness. And it is through these actions that a person can reduce her anxiety or anxious behavior and feelings of obsessive compulsions.
So it is no wonder that the experience in therapy is soothing and strengthening.
But how to get that when you are not with your therapist.
It turns out the best thing to do is to imitate her in your response to yourself.
Smile, sit quietly, listen to yourself, your words, your tone, your word choice, what you say and what you hold back.
Listen and pay attention with a sense of calm neutral interest.
Appreciating the situation with a gentle seriousness.
To get to this kind of state the first thing to do is to focus your energy inward in a gentle, calm and interested way.
A gentle questioning: what is going on here, what do I feel, when did it begin, what relationships are present?
Then listening to the answer that presents itself with a neutral interest; no need to prove the rightness or wrongness of what is noticed.
Then Breathe. Breathe again deeply and fully with a smile in between your exhalation and inhalation. Allowing for your heart to open and listen too.
A feeling of Love and a connection to spirit help.
Feeling a warm caring and sense of spiritual connection allows me to move into my heart even when I have lost my way, by simply breathing, focusing my energy, smiling and being open to the perfect answer to the situation presenting itself.
Allowing things to flow seems to be the most difficult.
If you have created success through your mind’s ability to discover the answer and prove it, you will find this allowing part difficult. Remembering that pushing the river takes more energy and doesn’t get very far – go with the flow.
In general the best answers come to us, they appear or present themselves. Yes perhaps as a result of study, and work on the problem but is usually after the problem is set to the back burner that the whole picture is revealed along with the solution.
So focusing your energy on the problem, setting a desire or intention, and then releasing it unto breath – breathing through the need to make it happen especially when it’s out of your control, that is the place of real strength and power.
Focus your energy and breathe, you will feel that inner sense of calm and a sense of inner balance. From this place you will see solutions present themselves if you are paying attention to the information in the universe.
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.
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.
When there is an upheaval in your environment you get an opportunity to re-evaluate your perspective, your beliefs, and the values on what you base your life and actions.
You get an opportunity to re-set your core values – your inner guidance system. Just as your senses are your internal emotional guidance system to know when a boundary is being crossed, so are your core values your internal spiritual guidance system to set your course through your life.
When your life is bombarded by a set of upheavals or changes you are given an opportunity to reset your life course, your choices in how you move through, and act in your own life.
Upheaval and change can be a profoundly freeing and joyous time. In every element it is like a new birth and new commitment to yourself and your goals.
Spiritual connection is paramount. This does not have to be a specific belief in God or a religion. Although, having the structure, ritual and connection of a set-belief is useful for some, for others it can be a barrier. Opening your heart to a source connection without getting hung up on a name, or structure that is limiting, is best. It may simply be knowing that there is a fabric, an underlining, underpinning thread that connects all beings, one to another, and that your life is guided by some abiding principle of love and light and joy.
Intense and shocking upheaval can be debilitating if the fear of change is too strong. This is especially true when the upheaval is in the area of health or relationship, or in some way in which you feel your capacity for survival is challenged.
If you are being challenged by a loss of how you usually deal with things
or if you are receiving sensory feedback that you must change your style of being in the world
you can feel very vulnerable and alone.
An example of the latter is if you have been struck by a debilitating illness that can only be treated with a complete change in how you handle stress.
Many auto-immune disorders are like this.
They are exacerbated by stress, and imbalance of spirit, mind, and body.
Continued physical and emotional stress to your body and attempts to control that which is out of your control will result in further injury to your body.
You can become physically debilitated.
To heal, you would have to relearn how to be in the world. This is frightening, shocking and resistance is often the first response. Stress and lack of balance cause dis-ease in emotions and thoughts, and disease in the body. So, although the precursor event was long, enduring, and insidious the appearance of the disease feels like a shock.
Another example that manifests as a shock is a change within yourself about how you want to relate to those around you.
Perhaps you have discovered that you give away your energy in order to facilitate a sense of intimacy and survival, but in reality you feel alone and disconnected.
You may have discovered a system of behavior wherein you are a caregiver for many others, but have little exchange, so that all your energy is going out. This is another example of a longstanding insidious belief system misconnected to a core value of giving and compassion that has left you with an internal emptiness and illness.
The sense of emptiness and illness are the shocking, arousing experience.
In order to assist your spiritual development and manifestation of balance you can use mindfulness and meditation to review earlier events and current events from a neutral perspective. This allows for a renewed perspective that allows you to reset your core values to your current behavior, actions, and thoughts to create Joy and Health.
In fact, mindfulness, meditation, and neutrality are essential in order to resist the sinking into the abyss of fear or despair under these circumstances and to rebuild your inner core strength.
The I Ching, a profoundly spiritual, Confucian-Taoist text describes the underlining component of upheaval in hexagram 51, Chen, The Arousing, (shock,thunder) as a time when one is enlightened and sustained by his knowledge of God. And this sustains him and leads him to success.
The shock that comes from the manifestation of God within the depths of the earth makes man afraid, but this fear of God is good, for joy and merriment can follow upon it.
When a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean, he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificed rite is not interrupted. This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men – a profound inner seriousness from which all outer terrors glance off harmlessly.
The shock of continuing thunder brings fear and trembling. The superior man is always filled with reverence at the manifestation of God; he sets his life in order and searches his heart,lest it harbor any secret opposition to the will of God. Thus reverence is the foundation of true culture.
It is a profoundly compassionate and reverent passage and brings to the fore the importance of spirit in the life of a successful person. Success here is a sense of joyful, balanced, purposeful action that creates wellness in action and experience. The text is meant to be used by leaders and individuals in powerful positions so that they may deal with the complexities of life and leadership in a profoundly compassionate, directed, focused, balanced way to protect guide and create prosperity for the community.
The concept of God is not commonly discussed in this treatise. In Confucian beliefs, there is a predominance of communication about energy following a course of increase and decrease and that is the way of the universe. Yet, here it is a central theme and identified as the preeminent focus for internal strength in times of crisis and strategy. This indicates to me that source energy is personal and private, and of great importance in our internal guidance system.
The methods of mindfulness, prayer, and meditation are the best avenues for discovering and maintaining a connection to source.
Practicing these methods will assist you in developing a strong positive connection to source so that when you are faced with an upheaval that is shocking you can utilize these techniques to redirect your life and create Joy and Health., in love and light, bg
InstinctiveHealthParenting4U 