Living Energy Blog

Is there a link between compassion and crime? As I listened to an NPR story about the drop in violent crime for the fourth consecutive year, I wondered if this is a reflection of society becoming more community-oriented, compassionate, caring and kind. I see more and more evidence of this every day every day. Yes, there are still those who don’t have a clue and continue to operate under old paradigms. Although such voices are loud, domineering and at times unbelievable, I am convinced that this is a dwindling population. As we withdraw our focus from what feels wrong and place our energy on what feels right, each of us will experience more of the inevitable shift in consciousness. It is a sign of our times.

Look around. “Doing good” is a growing movement. You will find ample evidence that people DO care about others. In my town a Fire Fighter grows fresh produce for our local food pantry and encourages others with gardens to drop off their extra produce so that those in need can eat fresh, seasonal vegetables. Our Helping Hands organization of volunteers provides those in need with things such as support for basic necessities, back to school clothes and school supplies, holiday food baskets, items that are ready to pass along (such as bikes) and more. Some people contribute money, some contribute items, some contribute time. Some people do all three. What’s going on in your family, community, or social network that is “doing good” for others?

Daily inspiration is readily available. The Good News Network is in its 15^th year of providing good news to its internet readers. They provide inspiring stories of people doing the right thing world-wide. The Daily Good, another online resource, has been providing inspiration to its subscribers since 1998, almost as long. The mainstream media is also hopping on the bandwagon. Compared to prior years, more and more time and space is dedicated to human interest stories that encourage, stimulate interest, and inspire our spirit. These are just a few examples. I know that there are many more.

As we “do good” for others, I believe that each of us becomes more compassionate, caring and kind. Being part of the same human family, deep down we have similar needs and wants. What’s “out there” in the big, wide world is a reflection of what’s “inside,” closer to home, as reflected in our community, family, and individual consciousness. As we continue to shift and change for the better, the world around us will too.

One of the most effective ways to make a difference is to do “the work” on yourself. Consciously release your resistance to what “is”, accept things as they are, and change what you can. As you work with your own energy, the energy around you will shift as well. If you don’t believe it, just play with this concept. You will soon see evidence of your thoughts, feelings and beliefs playing out in front of you. Sometimes we are blind to this. As you tune in and observe what really shows up in your world each day, you may be delighted to realize how you, the observer, can change what is being observed. The world is one big mirror of our collective consciousness. We are all responsible for what is going on. You can begin by being more compassionate, caring and kind with yourself. Just do a little bit more every day. When you have a setback, accept it and begin again. Living your life this way can be a lot of fun and make a big difference in the world at large.

Our violent crime rate has dropped for four consecutive years. This is a good thing and each of us has contributed to it in one way or another. Maybe in 2012 we’ll see an even bigger jump. Let’s each BE the change we want to see in the world.

Related articles

• COSMIC Convergence – by Carl Calleman [topics include Elenin, pole shifts, consciousness shifts, and more]] (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• World Peacemakers Call for 3-DAY Moratorium on All News 9/22-24 (news.yahoo.com)
• Clow’s 2011 Fall Equinox Report (deniselefay.wordpress.com)

Cover via Amazon

“My message is always the same: to cultivate and practice love, kindness, compassion and tolerance.” Dalai Lama

This timely quote from the Dalai Lama came to me this morning through HeartMath.

Have you heard the phrase “thoughts create things?” I am a firm believer that words create things too. Tune into the words all around you … your words, others’ words, the words you see and hear.  Notice the messages being conveyed. More importantly, observe how the words both reflect and amplify what is happening. Do the words give power to what we want or are they strengthening the circumstances we wish to change?

Expressing oneself authentically can be a tricky process. How do we consciously choose words that reflect good feelings when our experience is so different?  This is where the cultivation and practice of love, kindness, compassion and tolerance can make a difference. And it begins deep within oneself. One way to begin is to omit the “no’s.” One friend recently lamented: “No job, no prospects, no income.” Well this will probably continue to be the case until this person consciously shifts her energy. A way to express this with more self compassion might be: I’m ready for a job, job prospects and income! Instead of saying “I’m not …,” began to say “I AM …”

Like anything new, there’s a learning curve. Observe everyone and imitate people who communicate effectively in a loving and compassionate manner. Each day provides ample opportunities to learn from others … your family and friends, your workplace, the supermarket and retail centers, public events, community gatherings, the media. Listen with open ears and an open heart. What feels genuine? How can you empathize with others without joining them in a spiral-down conversation? What new ways can you communicate without complaining? There are lots of ways to go about this and there are some wonderful role models. Look for them and I guarantee you will find them. Learn some new approaches and become a role model for others. Two people I admire are Oprah Winfrey and Diane Sawyer. Both have a way of being truly present with people, feeling their pain and conveying their experience with kindness, love and compassion.

Like everything, words carry energy and are quite powerful. Choose your words consciously to cultivate and practice love, kindness, compassion and tolerance. Each day brings an opportunity to develop your skill and get a little better at it. Before long it will be a habit. As your habit strengthens it will become a belief. Once it is a belief, it will become imprinted in your cells and be automatically reflected in your words and actions.

Language is an amazing tool that can change the world and we can all participate. BE the change you wish to see in the world and eventually it will be reflected in your life.

Related articles

• Positive Psychology News Daily ” Wired for Empathy (positivepsychologynews.com)
• The Four Immeasurables (jasontsukahara.wordpress.com)
• The Dalai Lama (marinalovemovement.wordpress.com)

Do you use energy techniques to help you in any area of your life? If so, what are the effects or benefits  that you notice? Would love to hear your experiences!

Here are some of the benefits that I have noticed as a result of having an energetic perspective on the world and manging my personal energy:

1. Accelerated change: Working energetically goes to the roots of problems, roots them out at the source as well as providing positive, more effective and rapid solutions, truly a way to change from the inside out.

2. Diminished resistance: Energy work can aid in eliminating the struggle that often blocks our attempts at change, in effect impeding the flow of change. Using energy can generate an inner sense of ease and a feeling of grace that replace those of force & will power.

3. Discipline of the mind: Proper focus of the mind helps to build energy to bring to our desires and improves our ability to direct that energy more precisely toward our goals.

4. Enhanced Clarity: Eliminating emotional turmoil, negative mind sets and exhausting thought patterns via energetic techniques results in a centering effect that provides clearer perception of oneself, others and Truth itself.

5. Improved Intuition, creativity and spiritual experience: As the overall energy system is strengthened and less burdened with old memories, beliefs and maladaptive patterns the entire system can function better and more energy is available to expand higher level function.

6. Clearing energy blocks from our systems opens us up and allows us to build in a positive direction. We create more of what we do want in life rather than getting caught in repetitive cycles filled with what we don’t want. Relaxation of the mind and body helps us to let go of restrictions to increased flow, assists in quieting the ego and opens us to recognition of subtler energies.

My experience has been that being aware of, developing and using my subtle energy systems enables me to cross the bridge between spirit and matter, to integrate the two and live in both worlds. It seems that one of our current challenges as we evolve as a species  is to bring the full force of all our energy into the present moment for creation….to fully embody spiritual energy in human form and integrate the two so we can live as everyday mystics’… spiritually oriented, inspired,  grounded, effective and successful in the world of matter.

“Mindfulness is the miracle by which we can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.” Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness

FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real

Here is a link to an excellent piece by Daniel Pinchbeck on the oil spill, our transitional times, opportunities and challenges, as well as some great comments on our power and collective transformation. 

It is long but very thought provoking, eye opening, scary and hopeful if you read all the way to the last two paragraphs! Lots of food for thought in the comment section as well. What do YOU think?

http://www.realitysandwich.com/gulf_oil_spill_unfolding_prophecy

Guru Tim Reports On Stress From Across the Globe

Guru Tim has been traveling the globe with Tony Pace and observing the cultural climate in various places in the world regarding stress.

 Listen to hear:

 What are people saying?

How is stress experienced in different cultures?

What are the ways people in other countries cope with ”world stress”?

 MOST IMPORTANTLY, we will be discussing healthy ways that you can move beyond coping, away from suffering and into flourishing despite the external triggers.

Join us live or on the web at 10 A.M., Monday, June 28, 2010 or listen to the download at your leisure.

“Venerating the past in itself will not solve the world’s problems. We need to find the link between our traditions and our present experience of life.

Nowness or the magic of the present moment, is what joins the wisdom of the past with the present.

When human beings lose their connection to nature, to heaven, to earth, then they do not know how to nurture their environment. Human beings destroy their ecology at the same time as they destroy one another.

From that perspective, healing our society goes hand in hand with healing our personal, elemental connection with the world.”

– Chogyam Trungpa, “The sacred Path of the Warrior”

How are you doing developing your state of “nowness?”

It takes energy to move beyond fear.  We must go to a level other than the cognitive to alleviate fear and anxiety.  A preventative approach is very helpful. By reconditioning our nervous systems through daily meditation or deep relaxation training we develop stronger systems that do not knee jerk into a fear response as easily. This also makes us more keenly aware of when a feeling is beginning and we can release it earlier rather than later when it has had time to build into something too difficult to manage.

 Introspection that helps identify old unprocessed material that may be causing your system to be overly sensitive is also useful. In addition, if there are long standing issues in regard to chronic anxiety and fear then a nutritional status check is warranted. Our systems need certain nutrients to function properly. The ability to maintain proper inner balance is made more difficult if the proper nutrients are not available.

 Learning skills that work to ‘erase’ the effects of old input and unconscious automatic reactions are also useful. These methods can work ‘on the spot’ to reduce fear and anxiety as well as erasing lifelong patterns. The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is one such approach.  Emotional Freedom and Healing is another.

Meditation techniques that help you learn how to remain present and open to difficult feelings with no resistance, simply observing them without your normal responses can be very powerful ways of releasing embedded patterns of fear.

 Breathwork is another technique that functions well as an on the spot remedy as well as a preventative one. Most people who experience a great deal of fear or anxiety have breathing patterns that are a contributing factor.  Sit quiet for a moment and listen to your pattern.  After you get a sense for it, breathe consciously.  Breathe slowly and deeply.  Pull your breath as deep into your abdomen as you can.  Hold it for a few seconds and then slowly let it go.  Repeating this process for five or ten minutes at a time is an excellent way to bring yourself into the present moment.

 Ultimately, developing higher consciousness, an ability to live from a higher level of awareness or the authentic self, is perhaps the best solution to alleviating fear and anxiety. However, it is important to remember that this is a process and not an event. It requires a deep fundamental shift within, a commitment and participation in order to be cultivated and become a way of BEING. 

 Shift to being present at all times.  You will then live in the space where fear does not exist.

Both our recorded programs, 12 Keys for Life and Self Mastery and Feng Shui and Chakras: Inner and Outer Balance, include helpful information about releasing fear, as well as guided exercises to help you learn methods to permanently release fear’s grasp.

Although fear may seem to have many causes, it is said that the primary underlying cause is fear of death.  Fear of death is a fear of bringing something to an end. That “something” comes in many disguises.  Some of the disguises you may be familiar with are fear of being wrong, fear of not being good enough, fear of not measuring up to someone else’s expectations, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, fear of the unknown.  Fear of change can be due to the sadness of saying goodbye and leaving someone or something behind, as well as fear of the unknown future looming ahead after the loss.

 There are certainly situations in life that justify a fear response. In those cases it is a good thing that our adrenaline pumps and we are given the energy to fight or flee. In those cases we are prepared to do what is needed to get out of harm’s way and return to safety. Once safety returns our natural balancing mechanism brings us back to a neutral state.

 The problem comes when this same fear response is activated by things that are not life threatening. In our present culture it is not unusual for this natural self-protective mechanism to be overly sensitized and active. This can result in a sense of chronic anxiety and tension or a hair trigger response to the smallest stimuli. All that fascinating fight/ flight/freeze physiology has been activated and has nowhere to go as it is not used up in the effort to regain safety.  As a result our fear deepens and limits our daily lives.

 When this occurs there tends to be an emotional paralysis or overload that happens which is accompanied by an inability to think clearly and make good decisions and choices. When our systems are thus set in motion we can feel as if we are under a threat to our lives; it all feels that important as our neurology and biochemistry rocks and rolls within causing us to feel out of control. We have all had that feeling that our minds know that our reactions are over the top but that knowing seems useless to calm our emotions.

 It takes energy to move beyond fear.  We must go to a level other than the cognitive to alleviate fear and anxiety.  

Tomorrow—moving beyond fear.