Living Energy Blog

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Developing our inner selves, learning to open and connect with our authentic nature, moves us into a personal energy flow that affects our entire life in a strong and positive way.

Our energy system is the means through which we contact and receive information regarding people, places and things. Our inner self or higher nature communicates through the energy system. We call it intuition. We are in constant contact with this information but tend to not understand it, discount it or ignore it. Emotional reactions to people and events, half formed or unexplained feelings and hunches are all ways that our psyche is trying to inform us of the true nature of our interactions. Our thoughts, wishes, desires and attitudes are also a part of this mix. This can make it tricky to sort out what message is coming from which source. It is much more effective to have an open, clear and flowing system in order to be informed in the best possible way regarding our lives.

Our five senses draw our attention to the outer physical world. When we have an outer directed focus we look for our inner needs to be filled through material sources. This is usually a short lived and unsatisfying solution. This orientation leads to blame, criticism, judgments, and compulsivity (repetitive behaviors expecting a different outcome).

Being outwardly directed tends to produce reliance on a spiritual being external to ourselves. We beseech this Greater Being to bestow favors upon us –and we continue to define ourselves through the physical, roles and material possessions. This way of being is one of limited consciousness. Paradoxically, it is a mind set that both begins and ends in fear. An outer focus leaves us up one day down the next with no center to hold on to. Life is about change. Consciousness that is attached to the outer world does not help us to move with the cycles of change. This does not help us to increase our capacity to function in the world in a meaningful way that leads to peace, joy & happiness. Our sixth sense draws our attention inward and assists us to truly find the means to resolve issues, release struggle and longing and receive the true fulfillment of our deepest desires.

This inner path allows us to examine thoughts, feelings and beliefs that lead to problems. It opens the way to creative problem solving. Expanding our consciousness beyond the physical and material world awakens us to who we truly are. From there we can transcend limitations, expand creative ability, and step into true power, tolerance, understanding and vitality.

Understanding our energetic nature and its relationship to our wounds, strengths, lower and higher nature brings us beyond the world of concepts to the world of true co-creation and realizing our highest aspiration.

Recently I have been writing about spring, renewal, change and creativity. An important aspect of creative change is to honor and respect the various levels of mind. Our lower mind is that of conscious everyday activity and thought. But we have access to a much larger mind…one that can help us create, change and generally be healthier, happier and more at peace. We could call that mind The Creative. So how can you begin to dance with this larger energy/consciousness?

You can make room for The Creative to develop within you by letting go of inferior habits and thoughts … anything that doesn’t serve you or benefit your highest good.  Such habits would include judgments about other people, careless words and thoughts, lack of compassion, intolerance, frantic actions and more.  Cultivate integrity, goodness, patience and humbleness.  Open yourself to help from others.  Allow your High Powers to guide your actions.  Change what you can about yourself and accept what “is.”

Making Room
How do you make room for The Creative to accomplish this acceptance, or the letting go of that which no longer serves you whether it be old patterns of behavior, difficult emotions or repetitive thoughts?

Research has demonstrated that our physiology actually changes when we develop acceptance, shift focus and embrace positive qualities. Scientists have studied the process that successful people use in this regard and as a result have discovered that we can learn to set the stage for letting go through some fairly simple steps.
The steps are simple however the changes that occur in the brain and throughout the body involve complex biochemistry. These changes not only involve a letting go and arrival at acceptance, they also improve health, enhance mood, open the door to creativity, increased learning, ‘out of the box’ thinking and boost productivity.

Begin with Stress
The beginning of this process involves stress! The stress may be imposed from outside or it may come about as you seek to solve a problem or resolve a situation. The stress may be useful in the beginning in some ways, but if left unaddressed it typically builds as resolution of your dilemma is not forthcoming. If this continues your physical and psychological well-being are impaired.

You can intervene in the stress cycle in a healthy way by taking a break and engaging in an activity that will trigger more beneficial and helpful biochemistry that will lead to the solution to your problem as well as the aforementioned other positive changes.

Calgon Take Me Away
What types of activities are helpful now? Something that takes you completely away from your habitual and familiar thoughts, feelings and ways of reacting is essential. It can be helpful to consciously be aware of all the information and facts etc. regarding your stress but it is also helpful to engage another level of wisdom to enter and help you. This is done by shifting your state of mind and not continuing to actively resist or fight with the cause of your stress.

Repetitive activities that help to quiet the mind and body are the key. You may choose meditation, yoga, prayer, knitting, singing, housework, gardening, contemplating nature, conscious breathing, walking, biking or hiking. The important component is that these are changes that break the pattern you were in and focus your attention elsewhere.

What happens then is a series of intricate shifts within your biochemistry and neurology that sets the stage for an ‘AHA Experience’…. the resolution of your problem. The next step is a return to normal life with a heightened sense of well-being.

The first time you practice this approach may not feel exactly like an enlightenment experience! Be assured however that with practice you will be strengthening pathways and laying the groundwork for new abilities to grow within you.  Spiritual energy and great creative forces surround us at all times but we must do our part to become worthy partners in the co-creative dance.

Deep relaxation of mind and body such as that on Relaxation 101 is really helpful to opening space for the higher mind to come online.   Emotional Freedom Technique is a great tool for removing old emotional patterns of feeling and belief from your system making way for even greater intuition and resolution to enter your awareness. In addition, imagery or inner child work focused on releasing past core issues are enormously helpful to open and release the fundamental roots of stress so that your inner space can be free and clear to allow more creative flow within you.

 The fundamental creative power of the universe is unrestricted and available to all.  A process that allows for letting go of the old and welcoming a new creative flow, moves you gracefully beyond stress into a whole new way of being that is enlivening, affirming and life enhancing.

Some of our recordings that are helpful with this process:

Relaxation 101

Letting Go the Heart of Healing

Balancing Your Chakras

To learn more:  http://bit.ly/13MPPDB

Photo:www.soniasview.com

Our energy system has a direct influence on our mind, body and spirit.  It impacts our health, our moods, our outlook on life and much more. Without learning a whole system of healing there are many things we can do on a daily basis to improve the flow, coherence and functioning of our energy system.

Simply taking time to pay attention to how you feel and noticing what triggers positive energy and what depletes you is a good first step. What lifts your energy making you feel lighter and brighter? Are there things you could do with your daily routines or surroundings to bring more opportunities for enhancing your energy?

How about what drags you down?  Notice your mood as you go about common activities. Traffic, communication, relationships, work situations…we all have ample opportunity in a day to have our energy negatively impacted.  The important thing is not that they happened and were troubling; the important thing is that we notice and take corrective action. But first there needs to be a conscious effort to tune in and notice the triggers, events and reactions. Then we can be better informed about how to intervene.

An approach that can help you reboot your energy as well as to gain greater clarity is a simple choice to take time for a breath break several times a day. A realization that hit me several years ago is that we do not expect our cars to run without gas or oil changes but that is essentially what we do to ourselves. Another part of that equation is that we need several different approaches…to address all aspects of ourselves, mind body and spirit. There is no one answer for all of our stress management or energy needs. We need a full and flexible tool kit…what this blog and Living Energy Works are all about!

Acceptance is one of those feelings that is grossly misunderstood. Many think that adopting an attitude of acceptance means passivity or the condoning of violent or malicious acts. This need not be the case. Acceptance merely means to acknowledge a given situation ‘as is’. Typically we tend to cause ourselves stress by resisting what it. This may be a response that is habitual and not very well realized until we open our minds and become more observant and insightful about our own process.

If we can truly open to a sense of acceptance we can remain engaged in life without uselessly forcing our own agenda. Instead of using precious energy to resist or fight in vain, we remain open to many more possible and potent outcomes. It is truly amazing to watch what happens when you truly embrace acceptance… perhaps the most amazing thing is that so many problems simply fall away!

Since acceptance permits you to remain neutral, you can see more clearly where the best efforts are to be made in a given situation. The calmness that accompanies acceptance can open you to wider perception and it helps you to move from a position of blaming to one of resolving problems. And the best part of all…you dump a significant source of self created stress! As with anything, acceptance is not something you simply decide to have. It is more like a journey you embark on stopping at many roadside attractions before reaching your destination.

The process of learning to accept can begin by learning to be more comfortable with silence; it may grow faster within you if you learn to release tension and stress in general; developing you silent witness or observer self are great additions to your travel kit.

Our recording, Applying Alchemy: Turning Concepts into Reality (session #8 in our 12 Keys for Life and Self Mastery series) has more information, suggestions and guided techniques for you to use to help with the development of this very valuable skill. You can find out more here http://www.livingenergyworks.com

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Esoteric traditions see the heart as the space where we can expand into our Observer Self. Some have called this aspect the voice of the Soul. The Observer Self is the part of ourselves that has access to truth with a capital T. It also is that facet of consciousness that allows for creative solutions to situations that stymie our ego self.

To develop your Observer Self, begin by paying attention to your reaction to everything around you and your interactions with others.  From the level of “average or normal” consciousness you filter your view of the world and shape your beliefs through your thoughts and feelings.  Experience them all just as they are right now.  They exist as they are because it is what you were taught and have given them energy– they become embedded and form automatic reactions.  The more people you associate with that have similar thoughts and beliefs, the stronger your beliefs may be.  They are reinforced through family, friends, social networks, news and world events. Just becoming aware in this way begins to create a space for the Observer self to begin to develop.

You can develop your Observer Self further by tuning into everything around you but this time consciously release judgments or analysis.  Simply observe what is happening around you. Accept things as they are from a state of neutrality.  Especially at the start you will find that you need to very deliberately and repeatedly release your judgments and move willingly into a state of neutrality. This is normal. We need to exercise this inner muscle of consciousness just as we do our muscles when we work out.

Allow yourself to simply let your attention flow and observe what happens as one event or interaction leads to the next.  Watch the various possibilities and probabilities play out on the stage before you …within your family and then extending to your community, state, country and throughout the globe.  Develop your Observer Self by becoming aware of all that is around you.  This development is not just a change in ideas about things…it is a shift in the level of consciousness from which we experience the world, people, events, places and things.

Another helpful step is to practice a heart based meditation, get in touch with compassion, gratitude or appreciation and soak your heart space in those feelings. After you engage in such a practice, take a look at those same things you were observing before and see if your experience is different.

As you develop your Observer Self, you can “try on” different perspectives.  Begin with something simple.  If you are feeling upset, recollect a time when you were truly at peace.  Feel what this felt like and try to recapture that feeling, if only for a minute or two.  If it’s a gray and dreary day, remember a sunny day and feel the sun streaming down on you. Feel it on your face and hands.  See the smile it brings to your face.  If your energy is low, recall an instance when you were full of vigor.  By “trying on” a different feeling, you change your energy and open yourself to new possibilities.  You begin to shift your filters and thus your world view.  This change, as does all change, begins deep within your self.   It is essentially a change to living from the inside out instead of the outside in.

Living more from the Observer brings with it a greater state of coherence of our energy, more inner peace, and greater stillness of mind that allows for more conscious creation in our lives.   Living from the Observer develops your inner strength and resilience.  You are able to move through various situations with grace and ease, observing and noticing what is happening, but always returning to your deep (or developing) wellspring of inner peace.  This shift is not an event but a process that takes place over time.   This process proceeds more rapidly as you clear your non-beneficial issues in the lower chakras and practice bringing in the frequencies of higher awareness.

 Our recorded program Relaxation 101 helps you to relax the mind and body so you can more easily move into the neutral state of the Observer mind.

The program Letting Go: The Heart of Healing helps to release old programming that clutters your energy field and keeps you from finding the clear and open space of the Observer Self.

You can learn more about these and other helpful guided meditations here:http://bit.ly/WaTB48

Anahata chakra symbolizes the consciousness of love, empathy, selflessness and devotion. On the psychic level, this center of force inspires the human being to love, be compassionate, altruistic, devoted and to accept the things that happen in a divine way. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Imbalances or distortions in our chakras and energy field lead to problems with our thoughts, feelings and actions. How we experience ourselves, life and others is mediated through our energy field first then travels to the nervous system and the rest of our body and mind.

Unbalanced heart energies as experienced in relationships may be best known as codependency. Codependency is a term used to describe a relationship between people where there is an expectation that the other will “make them whole” or provide what was “lost” at an earlier stage of life.  It seems that this could describe our modern day understanding/approach to relationships, but the term co-dependency helps to describe it and begin to develop the awareness necessary to move to a place where our relationships can become life enhancing and nourishing for all.

Instead of looking within at a wounded part of oneself and healing it, codependents search externally for the answer to their pain and healing. This circumvents development of a whole, healthy sense of self and a real ability to function freely in the world. The reasons for codependency vary widely, are typically unconscious, and rooted in deep beliefs and family legacies.  Until recently codependency was a typical pattern of how relationships evolved and unfolded in our western world.

Below our heart chakra are three chakras associated with the lower self or mind. These three chakras are: the root located at the base of the spine; the sacral located above that and below the navel; the solar plexus located between the navel and the tip of the breastbone. Unbalanced energies in these energy centers manifest generally as preoccupations anchored in fear, misdirected passion, power struggles and identity problems. These areas obviously cause us their own concerns but they also can add to the difficulty of having healthy heart energy.

The Heart Chakra
It is in the heart that we have the ability to move beyond the judgment and analysis of the intellect into acceptance, compassion and wisdom.  As we ground our energy and center within our hearts, we transcend or move beyond the ego where our thoughts feed emotions such as fear, anxiety, guilt, shame … all emotions that don’t feel good and deplete our energy system.

When you are in your heart you develop a sense of inner peace, presence and a capacity for deep, unconditional love.  You effortlessly surrender to the vast and expansive inner silence. Judgment is absent.  You might find yourself expressing deep compassion, empathy, care, kindness and forgiveness for yourself and others, without judgment or critique.  Judgment is an attribute of the ego and your mind. It is not of the heart.

 Having a loving heart is a state of being that we develop through awareness, consciousness, focused learning, honest self- evaluation and commitment.

The rewards/benefits of being willing to commit to such growth are:
Emotional peace and freedom
Forgiveness of self and others (unconditionally, all transgressions, are of the mind or ego)
Dissolution of negativity dissolves
Creation of space for nurture of self and others
Openness to extending honest, true love to others 

When addressing any level of growth and development, it helps me to remember that we are always becoming and not arriving…progress not perfection! Persistent kindness with ourselves is always a good idea!

English: "Visualization of the Heart Chakra" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I find it fascinating to see what science is learning and how it correlates with what we have been taught by other disciplines over the ages.

Poets, Mystics and Philosophers speak of our hearts as a place of mystery and understanding beyond what our rational logical mind understands. It is a place where we can enter into the wholeness of our selves. Ancient traditions that have energy as a foundational part of their medicine, developmental awareness and spirituality point to the heart chakra as the center where our consciousness shifts and we can develop the capacity for balance between inner and outer worlds.

The word “chakra” is from Sanskrit and translates to “wheel of light.”  There are seven major chakras in the midline of your body, running from the base of your spine to the top of your head.  They are centers of electromagnetic energy.  Each of the major chakras is associated with a particular function physically, psychologically and spiritually.  They are connected to each other and to your body’s organs through an extensive network of fluid-like energies, referred to as nadis or meridians. These channels run parallel to your central nervous system. Each chakra looks like a swirling vortex.  Energy moves through it like a cyclone or water moving down through a funnel.  By alternately spinning clockwise and counterclockwise, our chakras maintain a dynamic balance between receiving and building energy (clockwise motion) and releasing excess energy (counterclockwise motion).

The heart is identified as the place where we:

• Develop the ability to attune to self and other
• Access deeper awareness of and capacity for spirituality
• Contact the aspect of self beyond enslavement of thought and emotion
• Connect with our deepest nature
• Experience the present moment

Deepak Chopra speaks about the heart as “The Place of openness” where our sense of touch and emotional consciousness are located and where we contain the ability to give and receive unconditional love. He goes further in stating that it is where we can release feelings of isolation, pain, suffering and unworthiness

Spiritual traditions reflect that it is part of our life journey to use our heart’s energy to engage in self-reflection, connect with our Soul, move toward balance and develop healthy self-love and acceptance. When we do so, we bring a healthy flow of heart energy to our lives and are able to share that with others.

The heart chakra provides the possibility of opening into inner space where we can connect with wholeness, learn self-love and acceptance, and embrace the duality of life rather than be caught in the separatism of the ego with its judgments of good and bad, black and white. Positive, balanced qualities of the heart chakra bring us into resonance with love, acceptance, harmony, peace, compassion and devotion. Laughter can flow freely. We can cultivate balance, real intimacy and let go of resentment and jealousy if our heart energies are strong and coherent.

(For a technique that can help strengthen your heart energy see the guided meditation at the end of the previous post.)

Illustration of coherence: blue wave is coherent while red is not. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Science and the Heart

Neurocardiology, Psychoimmunology (Mind-Body) and Energy Psychology have all made significant contributions to what we now know about the heart and how we can “work” with it. TheInstituteofHeartMath, a research institute inBoulder Creek,CA, has been a major contributor to this research and has helped to provide a much clearer picture of the heart’s role in emotions, heart-brain communication, and stress physiology than ever before.

The Institute of HeartMath (IHM) is a non profit research and educational foundation that was founded in 1991 by stress researcher Doc Lew Childre and a multidisciplinary team of professionals.

IHM furthered research into heart physiology by looking at the HOW of heart logic and more specifically how it influenced behavior. They determined that through cultivating ‘heart intelligence’ …that is by using a method that creates coherent heart rhythms… the primitive emotional centers of the brain no longer dominated and a clearer perspective emerged that enabled greater intelligence to be brought to the management of emotion.

 I have seen this approach work very effectively in my personal life as well as with my clients. As we learn how to focus on our energetic heart in an open spacious way we can bring calmness to emotional turmoil, and often spontaneously have realizations that lead to greater understanding, meaning, resolution or healing of the particular dilemma underlying our distress. These realizations come easily, effortlessly and often lead the in a whole new direction that is much more beneficial than if we solely relied on the lower mind to problem solve and try to plan or mentally bully  our way out of problems.

 The Intuitive Heart

Another area that has been studied extensively at IHM is intuition. It has been found that not only is emotional intelligence enhanced by engaging the heart but it is also possible to develop greater wisdom and intuition as the heart is “used” in positive and health enhancing ways.

IHM has developed a simple straightforward approach to developing the strength, intelligence and influence of the heart on overall level of well being. It involves focusing on the heart, breath and feelings of gratitude or appreciation for a period of time as in meditation or using it on the spot in stressful situations. This helps to lead people out of knee jerk reactivity based on negatives emotions and helps to restore inner harmony. In addition to the psychological benefits, this method also has been found to have a highly beneficial effect on physical health.

 Some of the benefits are:
Balanced heart rhythms and hormone levels
Enhanced immunity
Increased DHEA (Helps slow changes associated with aging)

DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) is a natural hormone produced by your adrenal glands that helps to regulate the overall balance of hormones in your body.  DHEA fuels your body.  Your body produces the highest levels during your twenties and then naturally declines with age.  Insufficient DHEA contributes to problems with your immune system, fatigue, depression, bone and muscle mass and much more.  Getting adequate rest, regular exercise and some exposure to sunlight contribute to healthy DHEA levels.

Studies have also shown beneficial effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, ADD and a myriad of psychological conditions. The magic of heart based approaches seems to be a result of the creation of coherent heart rhythms which result in more healthy and effective signals to the brain that encourage it to send healthier signals back down through the whole body.

Over the past few decades it has been learned that the heart actually has a brain of its own and that IT sends more messages to the brain than the other way around. This means that the heart with proper management can be a source of emotional intelligence that can help to calm the more primitive impulsive reactivity of the brain in addition to helping to develop intuition and insight.

 Key Information You Can Capitalize on for Health, Wealth and Happiness!

1. Even though the brain does send signals to the heart, the heart has a system to selectively decide whether to obey them or not.  In other words it has an intelligence of its own.

2. On the other hand when the heart sends signals to the brain, they are obeyed!

3. Messages from, or conditions in, the heart influence behavior. We are all aware of people who seem to have an angry heart and their behavior matches their internal state!  With training in how to produce coherent heart rhythms, emotions will shift and then behavioral change follows.

4. The pulsations of our hearts are an intelligent language that influences how we perceive and react to the world. When we focus in the heart and produce coherent rhythms we see more clearly, are less influenced by the primitive brain and are more open to receiving input from our higher centers. This input has wisdom and creativity that our lower brain centers are not capable of.

5. The electromagnetic power of the heart is five thousand times stronger than that of the brain. This amazing fact points to the centrality of the heart in all areas of our lives.

6. The electronic signature of a person’s heartbeat can be found in the ECG of a person they are physically in proximity to.  Once again we have new science showing why we feel some of the things that we do—such as feeling in or out of phase with another. This also holds clues as to why we feel certain ways with certain people.

7. The energy field of the heart can project out 10-12 feet from the body. With this kind of projection it follows that we are sensing and feeling a great deal of our environment but perhaps not registering or understanding the ramifications of that sensing.

8. Coherent heart rhythms have been shown to positively combine with intention and attention to create biological change.

9. Coherence internally has been demonstrated to affect external  structures such as DNA in test tubes. Coherence is quite likely an important factor in the creation of our life experience.

If you are interested in more specifics regarding the research at IHM:

www.heartmath.org

 Your heart holds a key to maintaining balance, releasing stress and living a more engaged, happy, healthy life. 

In the past week and a half I have had an unbelievable number of people close to me going through some of the toughest of human experiences. Trauma, serious health crises, deep loss, incredible stress…all things that are always present in life but there seems to have been a turning up of the heat, an increase in the number of people facing great challenges, at least in my world.

When this kind of pressure and profound pain visits me or those around me, many thoughts and feelings arise. The first very human ones are those of resistance in all its tricky disguises. As time has gone by thankfully I recognize those for what they are and get to the business of engaging reality and navigating the choppy waters in more informed and wise ways. The ways I am speaking of are not those that allow for total immunity from pain, but those that lead to more inner ease, grace and balance of soul, heart and mind.

We do have a lot more control over our lives than we might think and can change a lot of our experience for the better.  We can eliminate the unnecessary, release self -created troubles and turn away from that which wastes our time and engages us in useless frittering away of time, energy and inner resources. But we do live in a world where no matter how adept we become at “creating our own reality”, we will at some point have to fully embrace all that it means to be human and that means dealing with loss, unexpected challenges and times of great pressure and stress.

For me learning how to use the energy of mind, body and spirit has been the gift that keeps on giving as it helps us to embrace all of life from a deeper and more balanced perspective…especially when we do not feel large enough, strong enough or wise enough to contain or respond to it all.

 Attending to all our energies is important but our hearts may hold the real secret strength to engage the world and all its complexity.

 Minding the Heart

Even though in our culture we tend to live very much in our heads, our hearts are never really far from our awareness. What other bodily organ has as many poems and songs written about it? Think about it. When was the last time you heard a song about your liver or an ode to your spleen?   There is no part of us more often spoken about, celebrated, or worried about than the human heart! Listen to our language: My heart isn’t into it; I gave him all my heart; My heart feels heavy; My heart felt such compassion for them; She has a courageous heart; My heart sang, soared, sank. How about our descriptors of people: She is cold hearted; He is openhearted; She has an angry heart; My heart is sad?  In spite of our fixation with our gray matter, there is obviously a lot of life that goes on a mere foot below our busy brains!

Our hearts whether we are aware of it or not are actually in the front lines of our lives. It is through our hearts that we connect to the world, experience others, and have relationships for good or ill with people, places and things.

Our hearts do not exist in a vacuum away from the rest of us. We cannot separate our emotional life and its effects on our well being. If a person is habitually angry, sad, stressed, frustrated or depressed have no doubt that there are unhappy neuropeptides, disturbed nerve transmissions and other effects taking place in their heart. The good news is that the opposite is also true. Our positive mental and emotional states have a profound and healing effect on our heart.

Here is a brief meditation to begin to connect to your heart and develop the ability to calm turmoil, feel love from the inside out and develop inner peace and strength.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This is a wonderful documentary that reflects on Joseph Campbell and his life’s work– distilling out the core story of all myths/stories–the Hero’s Journey. The documentary interviews several contemporary teachers like Deepak Chopra and Alan Cohen, who speak about Campbell and his work in a way that “updates” the material so that it is relevant and applicable to today’s life challenges.
This movie is not just about Campbell and his amazing work–it is ultimately about each one of us and the path we walk through life. Inspiring, uplifting, provocative!

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