Challenges, Opportunities, La La La

Growth is painful. And scary. And uncertain. And uncomfortable. Staying stuck is worse, even if supposedly less uncomfortable. Staying stuck is actually more painful in the long run, it's just that we have a tendency to deny our discomfort, and fix against it so that we don't have to feel it, and maintain our pretense of comfort. The discomfort, the pain, the hurts do not go away. They just get buried underneath our denial. And it is scary to lift the lid, the manhole cover, remove the steel gates and iron fences we have set in place trying to keep those unpleasant feelings buried, or at a distance.

When we choose for growth, then the hurts which want to be healed will be revealed, so that they can be transformed and released. That's the challenge. For me, my hurts get revealed when I am challenged by my partner to be witness to any behavior that is getting in the way of our being totally present and genuine and responsible with each other.

When my ego / monkey mind feels threatened, and my mind has me to believe [falsely of course] I need to defend myself, my body language projects that constriction, and I can move to feeling hurt or angry if I am not being a conscious witness to my reactivity.

My soul is begging me to be heard, knowing my hurts are being revealed so that they can be healed, and my partner is reflecting that divine truth back to me. That is the opportunity. There is a spiritual law that says your most growth will happen in your most intimate relationships. So, your spouse, your significant other, your family will all definitely be the people with whom you will experience the most "friction." Which, after all, is actually a good thing. What? Yes, a good thing: the apparent conflict is actually always a gift, even if it does not always feel like a gift. My partner and I keep pushing the envelope with each other, and it is not always comfortable. We both understand that the intention is compassionate, as long as we stay free of any reactive cycle of defensiveness. We both understand that that purity of intention is coming from the soul. This is a new world-view for the West. It may take a while to seep into our collective consciousness.

There are three steps to freedom from that cycle of defensiveness. One, notice, that is, witness my behavior, and my feeling state. That is, disengage from the subtle but real grip my mind has on my emotions and on my awareness. That step usually takes a moment, or two, or three. In those first moments of shifting the attention of my focus away from the dictates of my mind, there is a stopping of the momentum of my thoughts. Once I have put the brakes on that focus of my attention, there is a moment of total "not knowing." It becomes a moment of total being. There can be no doing in that moment. For me, that is usually uncomfortable. It does not feel like freedom at first, but in reality it is much more free, as I have detached from the stories my mind was working very hard to convince me to believe in, and redirected my focus to my heart and to my soul.

That noticing and disengaging is a learned behavior, as a result of years of meditations, processes and experiences of profound peace and deep stillness and in contrast to the tension and stress of behaving from the grip of the dictates of my mind. The ego, a function of the mind, works very hard to try and maintain its grip.

I use very specific tools to reinforce the behavior of letting go, tools which create and maintain a direct connection to my

soul, which then informs my mind and my heart. That really is the second step: detaching from the focus my mind wants to maintain.

Here is where having a context for the relationships between the mind, the heart, and the soul becomes important. This context is not a belief system. It is a mechanical, practical set of tools which all work with your consciousness. It is based in ancient knowledge, thousands of years old, still being practiced today, because it works. This ancient knowledge has been migrating to the West for decades now. We see that migration reflected in the yoga studios in every city. We see it in the movement of mindfulness and meditation making its way into corporate wellness programs. We see it in the music we are offered on internet radio sites. Ancient knowledge is finding a new status in the modern world.

In the knowledge system I use, there is a great deal of unique specificity. The context is a model which describes the relationships between your heart, your mind and your soul, uses detailed mechanisms and formulae which give you more access to and discrimination of your soul and its capacity. Compassion is fostered, because the heart is the most important key to your success.

Love truly is all there is. But, your mind, my mind will resist that love whenever it perceives any kind of threat. So much of how I have behaved so much of my life, both consciously and more importantly, unconsciously, has been based in my fears. So, I use the tools I have been given, and I share those tools with you to help you become more conscious and able to achieve freedom from your fears.

That is the third step: creating intention and having the right tools for the job. The power of prayer can make miracles, if only we would have eyes to see. I use very specific prayers called mantras. The vibrations of the

words that I use are designed to unlock channels of consciousness. Mantra teaches the soul to hold awareness and direct its consciousness. Mantra distracts the mind from the self and self-consciousness, and retrains the attention towards the soul and soul-consciousness, raising soul intelligence and true wisdom.

With wisdom, you can create intention for healing for yourself and for others. We are not supposed to do this by ourselves. We are all connected. I have been blessed with teachers who embody the characteristics of compassion and divine loving grace. I am here to help you achieve more of that compassion and more of that grace in your life, starting today.

I am committed to you learning a practical and powerful way to address your own personal stress and the suffering in the world. The solution has to come from redirecting the focus of your consciousness.

Your soul is begging you to open to your own miraculous Divine Truth.

You will find a new definition of Wellness Education on this website. True Wellness can include motivators that take your needs for Stability, Community, Accomplishment and Fulfillment to the next level, the extraordinary, in Abraham Maslow's words, "that which transcends self." And, start where you are: if stability is your priority, begin with that.

Restore balance to your stressful world. Call today, if only to check in or to arrange to sit over a cuppa tea or coffee.