Living Energy Blog

As some of you are aware, over the past decade Tony, Peg and I have all been immersed in the experience of being caregivers for aging parents and relatives. These experiences have challenged us,  stretched us to grow in unexpected ways and moved us deeply in terms of what it means to be a spiritual being  living a very human life. We found that the Living Energy approach that we were teaching and writing about helped us navigate the difficult passages with more ease, grace and sanity than otherwise may have been the case. Hence we have turned our focus to bringing the tools and techniques embodied in the Living Energy work to the world of caregiving.

My own personal experience through this life stage (caring for elderly parents) has been long and strange. As a nurse and psychotherapist I had dealt with people facing illness and end of life issues many times. Without consciously thinking about it I had “learned” that there was a pattern–or a few patterns–that the experience tended to follow. But when it came my turn to deal with such an experience personally nothing followed the norm that I had unconsciously come to expect. I wish I had known a lot of things that I did not. I wish there had been guidance and support that would have helped me not get caught in unimportant places. I wish there had been help to point me to the growing edges of consciousness that would have smoothed out the bumps.

All those things were available in some ways but I had to search. Fortunately it is one of my coping mechanism to search! So it has actually turned into a  deeply expansive time for my entire being. I suspect this process could have been more graceful with fewer bumps if there had been a different kind of preparation and expectation, if there had been a different kind of guidance available when it got weird, surprising and unpredictable! But ultimately that is okay because it led me to a commitment to helping others learn as much as they could about this time of life –practically, emotionally and spiritually—to help them learn to dive deep to find the inner resources to strengthen and support them so that it could become a life enhancing (although often painful) experience rather than a soul deadening one.

So with all that in  mind…here is an excellent article on conversations that it is important to have when aging, serious illness and death edge more fully into your life. There are so many more details and nuances to these conversations than the ultimate one of whether someone wants to be kept alive by mechanical means. These things are difficult to address upfront but in the long run they smooth out the bumps so you can manage this journey a bit more easily.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande

For those of you who know Tony Pace via Living energy, you may not know that he is a multifaceted performer, singer, song writer, comedian—the list goes on! Tony has a new music video/recording—take a look at this poignant message for our time! Tony would love to hear what you think and please feel free to share ! Thanks!

Researchers are reporting that it seems that the heart has a mind of its own and is a major factor in how we perceive and respond to the world. The heart has been found to be a very complex processing center that doesn’t just receive information from the brain…it is often the originator of information with the brain being the second responder! In any case it is clear that these two are in a very intricate two way conversation and we can benefit from knowing how to participate!

 Everyone knows that when they are in love their basic immunity is enhanced and they seem to be able to handle life with more grace and self-confidence. Research is documenting the why and how of this which is fascinating but there is even better news…we do not have to wait for these experiences to hit us out of the blue. We can create the feelings from within with the choice to let go of negativity and replace it with the feelings that we do want. We have within us the power to create profound change from deep within ourselves with some very simple techniques.

 Emotional Self Mastery

Our emotions are very real energies that move through us. If we do not manage them, they will manage us. They do not disappear if we ignore them…they merely go underground to erode our systems and wreak havoc with our health at a later time. Time only heals if we engage in a process that helps heal within that time. We are human and so hardwired to feel. The point is to have methods that allow us to be in charge and able to transform our emotions so we do not become helpless victims of them.

A very helpful process is to notice when you are focused on a negative feeling. Stop the action in whatever way you can…imagine a huge red stop sign in your head, imagine hitting the pause button on your remote control, say ‘stop’ to yourself. Then use a memory or your imagination to get in touch with feelings of appreciation, gratitude or unconditional love. Feel as though you can breathe those feelings in and out through your heart. Keep doing this until you have shifted your emotional focus. Then see if you can adopt a feeling of ease in maintaining it. Remember this is a skill, so practice is the key.

 Conscious ‘control’ of your breath can help no matter what tools you are using to transform emotional states. Conscious breathing can help you to create new patterns and healthier ways of thinking and feeling.  Breathing deeply and fully begins to put you in touch with deeper levels, your core, your “self,” your inner being.  It strengthens your center of personal power.  It helps to slow you down and makes you aware of what is occurring both within and around you.  It tunes you in to your environment and your internal processes and places you in a position to make conscious choices … choices that support your efforts in life.

 All of these suggestions will help to boost your vitality, help you create more inner ease, feel less stress, and positively affect your energy field by bringing it into a more coherent state. A coherent energy field is associated with greater ability to create, improved health, reduced stress, enhanced ability to concentrate, and greater access to intuitive and spiritual experiences.

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.

Current world events make us aware of how compelling it can be to feel overwhelmed, angry, or in conflict.  It becomes easy to blame others.  Allowing these mental or emotional states to take hold really does nothing for us. At best they can propel us toward some action that may be helpful but for most people it perpetuates an energy state that creates inner turmoil, stress and mental, emotional and physical weakness.

 At first glance it can seem uncaring to focus on shifting to a higher state of consciousness when so many are suffering so much. But we may ask, ‘how does it serve another to feel as downtrodden, sad, or grief stricken as they do’? We can only help others if we work at keeping ourselves strong and healthy. It is then we can help to raise them in whatever way is appropriate or possible.

 So we need to do what we can in terms of donations of time, money or service to those in need, but we also need to be aware of our mental and emotional states. It is easy to become caught in emotional loops and fool yourself into thinking it is the same as or part of participating, caring or helping.

 We can practice living more in the present moment through becoming aware of our troublesome thoughts and emotions, clearing them, achieving more neutrality and thus being freer to cultivate higher level states of BE-ing. Centering within yourself helps to build strong energy that fosters clear thinking and honest emotion. In is only from your “nowness” you can truly be of help to others.

“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?”

What does energy have to do with perception?

How can we feel more free emotionally by working with our perception?

How does perception influence our relationships, communication, choices and even success in the world?

How can we use this innate capacity to shape our lives and world to be more satisfying, fulfilling, peaceful, or loving? 

Join us on our radio show at 10 A.M., Monday, June 14, 2010 for answers to these questions and more.

Peg and I had a fun adventure this past weekend as we joined 60+ “spiritual seekers” for a weekend of learning, laughing, healing and growing at Sandy Island Camp on Lake Winnipesaukee….all courtesy of Kim Grace and Kate Lemay at Elements of Enlightenment.

 Join us tomorrow on the radio show as we discuss what we learned, what we remembered, who we met and how we were affected by the unique experience of this retreat weekend—a hint, you may want to save the date for next year—6-3-11!

Our thanks to Kim and Kate for all their tireless efforts to make sure that all went well and that all were deeply and carefully cared for and about!

As usual, you can join us at show time on the web or phone and of course the download will be available for listening to at your leisure  once the show has ended.

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.