Month: September 2020

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Presence 24: I am holding steady on behalf of others

“Lucky me; lucky thee” – what a beautiful mantra to remain in the ‘light-hearted state’. Our beautiful walk, our delicious lunch, our stroll around town… All was settled and well. And I realise that the ‘light-hearted state’ is resonant with ‘light within the heart’… which can only be a good thing. I can certainly feel the difference – in many ways thanks to the Inner Balance biofeedback, though I haven’t used actual device for a while.

You might want to have it at your desk… Keep dropping in to that HeartMath aligned state. It’s good for your work. 

Ty. I will. I want to note that yesterday we walked past my former BP, who I had not seen since… 2015, I guess – before the house move to KV in Aug15. Somehow, we hadn’t even bumped into each other, our paths had simply refused to cross for 5 years. I am blessed to have recovered from that episode in my life. I am blessed to have arrived with my polar being. My PB. Amen. #LuckyMe. Anything you think I should be aware of on this topic?

To arrive at a state of release is aligned to the bounty of pure-thinking thought. This means: you dropped hate, horror and hope, and allowed your thought to be less time-bound. Now your present is softer and you can exist in a more peaceful way. 

Ok. That sounds good. What would be the learning I might take forward today and in to the new week ahead? I am aware that this weekend was one of learning… How can I incorporate the prayerful.. lightcasting… work into my week ahead?

Ask yourself that. 

Ok… I heard:

Use and hold the pebbles. [I know what is meant] Your energetic power is transferred. Really work with them. In an active way. 

I hear you. I am conscious that we are meant to seek permission and consent to connect with people on the ?etheric level.

When someone comes to work with you, they are asking for your help. Take that request seriously and sacredly – more so than they are likely to do, because they are in an ‘upset’ state [as Michael Brown would say – ie triggered to become aware of suppressed charged emotions]. You do not need to be ‘upset’. They are coming to you so you can hold their ladder steady as they reach up to a higher level of being. 

Today, I read in the PP:

‘To recognize the reflections of surfacing unconscious memories in the world around us, we are required to remember two insights: Whenever anything happens that upsets us emotionally, whether it appears as an event or as another person’s behavior, we are experiencing a reflection of our past. Whenever we react physically, mentally, and emotionally to such an experience, we are projecting as a consequence of this reflection. Unfortunately there is no exception to this rule. Emotional upset = memory recall. When we are emotionally upset by anything, we are actively remembering something unconsciously hidden from us until this moment. We are energetically attached to this upsetting event, and therefore reactive to it, because it reflects unintegrated emotional circumstances from our past. We are haunted by it. This is why we react to it by projecting – by behaving as a victim or victor.’ The Presence Process, Michael Brown, p141.

And so it is to you to ‘hold steady’ as someone heals from the activating memory, and shifts from reacting/projecting, to feeling/healing. 

Man…

There is really no complexity in this, other than the work at hand for you to hold steady. This is why you are studying qi gong, and why you have bought an earthing mat. It is why you are learning to work with and master your appetites. It is why you are simplifying ‘matters’ in your life. 

So ‘holding steady on behalf of others’ is the Work?

Let’s play with that today. 

Ok. I really like and appreciate that.

Understand that ‘memory recall’ is the trigger for the upsettedness, more than the present moment difficulty. None of this is anyone’s fault. If you can see the faultlessness of all about you, you are holding steady on their behalf. In this way you will learn more of the faultlessness of your own self, and of those in your ‘world’. For today just work with ‘holding steady on behalf of others’. 

Super. Ok. Thank you.

I am holding steady on behalf of others

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Presence 23: I am in the light-hearted state #LuckyMe

Embracing the Other led to some wondrous occurrences. I threw myself more whole-heartedly in to my cases. And my word, people responded. On the day of the last dialogue, I had a client phone me in a whirlwind of anger, powerless, distress and righteous indignation about the way his case was developing. Our ensuing conversation arising from his 100% openness and directness with me, eventually made it clear that he and his ‘opponent’ were actually, astonishingly, on the same page.

Then yesterday, a Saturday, I went for a 2.5 hour walk on my own, and could only spent the time pondering a really heart-breaking case of familial estrangement. Earlier in the week, the older relative had sent me two confused and impassioned emails, which only gave the heart-breaking impression of their living in another reality, in which all was pain, fear, danger and blame. I didn’t know how to respond, let alone what ‘message’ to convey to the patiently-waiting younger party. In the end, I threw myself into healing prayer as I walked through woods and fields, bringing all the ACIM insights of ‘complete perfection of each of us’, and claiming complete healing and forgiveness across all directions of space and time, in every line of the family. Eventually, feeling some of the weight lifting, I contacted the younger party to let them know that things weren’t quite moving forward and that I recognised the poor mental health involved – which seemed to be a consolation in itself. They were happy to wait for me to have a phone call with their older relative, to see if I could discern a ‘message’ to convey. I sat down in a field to write to write to the senior party, to ask for a phone call – though I feared such a call might just cause the person to spin further, their state of mind having seemed so fragile in their last emails. I had nearly written my email when a dog appeared seemingly from no where (ahead of its owners out for a walk) and barked at me keenly. I had no choice but to get up, and walk briskly on. I would send my email when I got home. I got home, and was about to finish and send the email when I remembered washing needed hanging on the line, so I took it out. As I was finishing hanging the washing, ping! I received an email – from the senior party, the subject of those ardent prayers of earlier. With ringing clarity, it said, “I have a message for you to convey…”. Not only was it a clear message for the younger party, but it was ringing, redolent, interwoven with love, clarity, forgiveness, self-awareness, optimism. The fear and blame had just ebbed away entirely. I nearly fainted! I have been working on this case for six months or so with no progress… The turning of the tanker this afternoon astonished me. Was it…due to the prayers?

When you saw that sticker in India that said, ‘The power of prayer’, something awoke in you. You have played to a certain degree with this ‘power’, but only now are you clear enough of charged emotions,  and steady enough in your world, and loved/loving enough, and receptive enough, to begin to work effectively with this immense and unfathomable power. 

‘Week 2′ in the Presence Process talks about the ’cause and effect’ of our thinking, depending on whether it is IN TIME (=> victim / victor mentality; reflections and projections; reactivity or ‘shaking the jar’) or IN PRESENCE (ie. outside of time => response). 

Your work yesterday – ‘LightCasting’ as we call it, as opposed to ‘prayer’ as such – involved your working outside of time. When you work outside of time, at the timeless soul level, many new opportunities arise. You know this. You carried out this work with your own family lines. Are you starting to see how, when you truly embrace the Other as a sibling to yourself, with a desire to bring about interpersonal forgivenesses as part of the emerging unification of souls, you are carried forward by the ‘tools’ of this work? 

Yes. Also, I sensed how this intense qigong training is awakening my energy skills. The prayers felt very physical. in that the healing was through my hands as much as through my words or heart-state.

That is why it is called LightCasting. The hands are the active ‘orbits’ in this work. 

Can you speak to me about keeping myself in balance in this work?

Complete humility. Understand that it is an honour to be a channel for this work; a privilege to be held with utmost respect and reverence. Take it gently. Learn your craft. Seek teachers, but do so with quietude and humble enquiry. 

I have longed for ‘connection’ with the unseen.

It was always available to you. Through the Presence Process and qigong, you are learning to be still enough to ‘chime’ with the magnificent, and yes magical, world unseen. Keep pure of thought, and high of energy, and remember that your qigong is part of your ‘psychic hygiene’ routine. This is how you remain in shape for this work. 

And today? It’s a sunshiny Sunday, and we’re off for lunch and a walk. (I’m so lucky.)

There you have it. To bear witness to your own good fortune is to surf the high frequency waves of Good Thinking. 

Let’s play, {I’m so lucky because…} It’s fun, it’s light, it’s for gentle mulling around. Crucially, remember the HeartMath Inner Balance device goes to good HRV when you feel positive in your heart? Be in that ‘light-hearted’ state? Ok? 

Yes! Got it. Lucky me.

I am in the light-hearted state #LuckyMe

 

PS. New order of ceremonies for DoDs:

  • Read book (now: ThePP)
  • Meditate
  • Read previous post
  • Write next post.

Why? To get fully in the right state of mind before I come here.

 

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Presence 22: I am embracing the Other

Important realisation. When we talk about mastery, we really are not talking about ‘being an expert’ or ‘guru’. We are simply talking about someone who is managing at this time to be able to master their own mental body’s antics (or maybe what some would call ‘monkey mind’ ). I’ve avoided aiming for ‘mastery’ because I thought it was some route towards being better than the next person. It’s very different to that…

Mastery is actually SELF-mastery. When you have mastered the mental body’s antics, you have access to a whole playground of blissful Presence. So yes a ‘guru’ might look like they’ve ‘mastered bliss’, but actually they’ve mastered their mental body, and THAT is what gives them access to bliss as a secondary outcome. It’s a very different framework.

Now, tenderly, I want to add that my autistic sensitivity to stimulus makes my mental body a veritable Argentine tango dancer in the ballroom of ‘antics’. It speaks to me of danger via the medium of vivid interpretative dance 24/7. Or at least it used to because I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to working with it, training it, meeting it, rewiring it, working with its best and highest gifts to find inner peace. And so often it is less Argentine tango and more Swan Lake ballerina. Awesome.

No reading this morning. Let’s meditate.

***15mMed- insight timer – cc breathing***

My mind wandered a fair bit then…

But your Heart was constant, right?

Was it?

It was. Your Heart holds your highest intentions. Unlike your Mind, your Heart doesn’t harangue you with its agenda. Instead it offers forth its intentions humbly as offerings you may wish to accept. As you become more Present you become more able to hear and see and accept the Heart’s offerings.

What are my Heart’s intentions today? Or rather, Heart, what are your intentions today?

Heart: We wish for you inner peace derived from outer connection.

I like that. Yes! And it speaks to the ambivert in me.

Heart: There is the possibility for you to connect deeply with souls, every day. In that deep connection you feel the peace of God.

Amen! That’s why I’m a mediator, to help people reconnect – because active and aggravated interpersonal disconnect (aka non-forgiveness) feels so uncomfortable.

Today, put self-concern to one side, and bask in interpersonal connection, forged through authentic (for you) communication. Where yesterday was about self-mastery, today is about welcoming the so-called Other, who is your very Sibling in disguise. Embrace the Other!

I love it. Unexpected. Interesting. Thank you! It’s Friday today and I have some client calls, and my beautiful Lucia and Mike coming over this evening. I shall embrace them all… in a socially-distanced hug of my Heart.

 

I am embracing the Other

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Presence 21: I am playing with the notion of mastery

Thank you. Focussing on ‘enhancing my systems of service’ helped me navigate past some really difficult feelings of loss and sadness. I appreciated your pragmatic approach yesterday.

It is always a pleasure to speak to you of techniques for increasing ‘effortless ease’ in your life. You are a hard worker, and actually, a ‘soft worker’ can accomplish just as much… if not more… by the very fact of their reducing ‘resistance to what is’ in their life. Soft and smooth is the order of the Day. 

You’ll have known that yesterday or so, our government announced new, ramped up pandemic-response restrictions, flagging that they are likely to be in place for the next six months. Almost exactly sic not sure Dter the initial lockdown began. These are days of extraordinary uniqueness.

And in the initial six months of this pandemic, your turning around your life from one of hustle and bustle, to one of peace and tranquillity, has been a remarkable outcome of these days. 

I’m very grateful.

Shall we..?

Let’s. 

***ThePPpage131***

EXPERIENCING PRESENCE

The simple breathing practice of The Presence Process facilitates an experiential awareness of Presence through activation of present moment awareness. However, the mental body is immune to such an experience, seeing no value in it. If it’s allowed to have its way, it distracts us from making progress. By keeping the following in the forefront of our awareness while we attend to our practice, we train ourselves to bypass the antics of the mental body:

1. WE BREATHE WITHOUT PAUSING, NO MATTER WHAT. This point cannot be emphasized too strongly. Our personal experience of Presence during a breathing session is cumulative based on the length of time we breathe without pausing. We therefore keep our breathing rhythmically connected throughout our breathing practice, no matter what. Our experience of Presence builds exponentially with each moment our breathing remains connected.

2. WE REMAIN AS PHYSICALLY STILL AS POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE SESSION. 

***ConsciousConnectedBreathing10mins***

Interesting. ‘Submitting’ to the work of conscious breathing, which in qi gong is a ‘tonifying practice,’ was invigorating, and left me with a sense of … mastery. As if I’d swum in cold water. I didn’t cease breathing, and I didn’t wriggle… and to a certain extent I put thought to one side.

You were training yourself ‘to bypass the antics of the mental body’.

I guess I was. These mental body antics… What are they?

The mental body adores the ‘there and then’. It sees no value in the ‘here and now’. As you ditch its ‘antics’ and come into alignment with the here and now you find the very state which the mental body fears: peace in presence. 

And the mental body fears it because..?

It believes that it is fear, alertness and concern about the ‘there and then’ that is key to your survival. If you rest in the ‘here and now’, it says, you might be eaten by a lion… to put it at its simplest. 

Got it. That mastery I felt just now. I liked it…

Yes, your ego was afraid you might find mastery. Your ego would keep you small, ashamed and hustling. Why? ‘To keep you alive.’

How do I convince my ego or mental body to let me rest in peace in presence?

Practice. Practice. Practice. The proof must be in the practice. By practising you demonstrate to the mental body two things: 

  1. You can sit in peace in presence without being eaten by a lion
  2. You will not respond to the mental body’s alert signals, so it might as well lessen them. 

For all its doggedness, the mental body does at least have the faculty of learning. If you teach your mental body that you are its master, not vice versa, it will ‘submit’. Play with the notion of mastery. It’s such a subtle unique state. It sits right next to sovereignty (your birth right) and diametrically opposed to narcissism which is the outmanifestation of that egoic mental body – aka ‘fear of extinction’. 

Thank you. I am training today, and practising qigong, and mediating. I will play with the notion of mastery. I am grateful for this practice. May I approach it with due humility and wisdom.

I am playing with the notion of mastery

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Presence 20: I am enhancing my systems of service

Yesterday, I sat next to Ana on the bare mattress of her new bed in her final year uni house, heaving with sad tears at the prospect of the end of our shared six month lockdown period. Through the weeping,  a perspicacious insight surfaced: This Moment Matters. And in that second of realisation, I was able to embrace my sadness, and simultaneously bask in the perfection of Ana’s presence, and the blessing of being a mother. I wasn’t swallowed up by my emotions, and I didn’t chew up those final moments of togetherness resisting the bittersweet perfection of what was. Thank you, Perspicacity.

***The Presence Process by Michael Brown p122ff***

“For the duration of this process, we make the entire experience gentler for ourselves when we choose to start and complete each day with our breathing practice. While remaining practical and sensible, we intend to let it be the opening and the closing song of our waking moments. By elevating our relationship with our breathing session to this status in our daily routine, we lay the foundation for a rebirth of personal willpower. This personal willpower, when authentic, isn’t based on anything or anyone else. It arises from within us, and within it is the capacity to transform and elevate the quality of our current life experience – and so much more.”

[BREAK – Next Day…]

“By entering into present moment awareness, we also discover that Presence also appears to know everything that is to occur. As we develop a conscious relationship with Presence, we realize the following:

  • Presence knows no order of difficulty. This means Presence has the capacity to bring into our experience the precise circumstances required to trigger in us an awareness of suppressed charged emotions that require conscious integration. Through responding to and integrating whatever Presence reveals, we accumulate present moment awareness.
  • Presence has our best interest at heart. Because Presence knows itself, it knows us better than we presently know ourselves. It knows exactly what experience we require to restore present moment awareness. By surrendering to it, we are surrendering to our experience as it unfolds throughout this process. Because our experience is overseen by Presence, it’s not only valid but also required.
  • The Presence within each of us is the same as the Presence within all living creatures. Because Presence is a unified field of awareness that embraces all, our authentic identity is shared with all life. Presence is our shared connection with all life.
  • The Presence within us doesn’t interfere. Presence willingly attends to those aspects of our experience we consciously surrender to it. Learning to surrender is our ultimate challenge and one of the significant lessons offered through this process. Asking Presence for its assistance in any particular avenue of our experience, then simultaneously trying to figure out how to “get it done ourselves,” is counterproductive. “

This confirms for me that DoDs are encounters with Presence. Thank you!

***15minMed with HoldenQigong*** also using the phrase ‘I am here now in this’ across 3 inhales and 3 exhales

Lee (Holden) reminded me in this meditation that Taoism is about ‘effortlessness’. We felt ‘gratitude’ on the in breath and ‘non-attachment’ on the out breath. We let ‘past conditioning’ and ‘future projection’ drift away. This is good. Yesterday I was adjusting to Ana not being here. Tears would bubble up, and I felt the sense of loss sob through me. G took me out for lunch at the local farm shop to find cheer, bless his beautiful heart. It’s not so much that I am ‘attached’ to Ana or her presence – and the same for darling Lucia – it’s just that my heart reaches out for them so, especially when I have been in their presence…

How can I best work on and with myself today?

Precious one, your beautiful ‘systems’ help you to be present to the moment. Do you see that? 

I think I do. Tell me more.

You asked how best to work on yourself. We know you want to be ‘useful’ to the world, and to bring value from your learning and your mind and your spirit. We also see how, dear soul, you have been wobbled by seeing your girl go. So cherish yourself today, by working on your ‘systems’. This is about using the very best of your beautiful Aspie love of routine, ritual and procedure, to a) harness your will to serve and b) bring you inner peace and reassurance. As you work through the familiarity of your routines, your mind can remain in 5th gear (or even neutral, cruising). You don’t have to ‘think about it’ or ‘make decisions’. This is a powerful way of being present to the moment. 

So thinking about things and making decisions takes me out of the moment?

Remember how Michael Brown said that animals have connected breath because they are in the moment? When you are, as Lee said earlier, functioning through ‘past conditioning’ or ‘future projection’, your breathing becomes halted and you are effectively somewhere between first and third gear. 

Your beautiful routines, which you have refined so wonderfully in the last six months, are a leaping point into the present moment. You don’t have to sweat the small stuff because it’s already programmed into your day. So today, love yourself gently, by playing with new, enhanced systems for your working day. This will ground and reassure you, and make you more effective in your work, and moreover, allow you to spend more of the day in the present moment. Your systems make the necessary actions ‘automatic’. The tasks are done in time without taking any battery energy for ‘Sudden Decisions’. Sudden decisions burn energy. Preserve that energy by enhancing your wonderful systems. 

Thank you. This is the loveliest response to my heart’s state. So practical, so compassionate, so very apt for me.

Your children long for your happiness. Embrace your happy place by enhancing your systems of service. 

I am enhancing my systems of service. 

 

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Presence 19: I am learning that this moment matters

It’s such a cherishing practice to spot ‘shadow side thoughts’ and, instead of banishing them, welcoming them for loving compassion. Very healthy.

Integration. Excellent. 

Let’s read… It’s time to start The Presence Process: Week 1.

***The Presence Process by Michael Brown Week One***

WEEK 1 Our Conscious Response for the Next Seven Days is:

“THIS MOMENT MATTERS”

Note on Conscious Connected Breathing:  ‘Throughout the duration of The Presence Process, we synchronize our breathing with the following conscious response: I AM HERE NOW IN THIS. We synchronize our breathing and mental activity in this manner: “I” on the in-breath, “AM” on the out-breath, “HERE” on the in-breath, “NOW” on the out-breath, “IN on the inbreath, and “THIS” on the out-breath, using the same words for each cycle of in-breaths and out-breaths. This conscious response is for our breathing practice only.’ The PP, pg120. 

***15minsConscious Connected Breathing***

I did the CCBreathing. It might take some getting used to. I drifted quite vividly a couple of times. It’s curious because my qigong training this week has been all about breathing. Breathing is associated with the lungs (of course) which are associated with the metal element – and lungs can house depression or sadness… So, good to BREATHE! I’ve been doing a lot of breathing it seems! 

What about ‘This Moment Matters’? Your thoughts on this phrase, this ‘conscious response’?

Do not under-estimate the value of learning the exquisite ‘crucialness’ of each moment in these particular times. You asked, in past years, to be part of the shift. Well, the shift happens deep inside the Now moment. So if you can find ways to align with Presence, or the Now, you will be better placed to partake of the Shift of which you spoke. 

What is the Shift?

An aligning with the upgraded frequencies available to this planet. 

Meaning..?

Meaning that multidimensionality is now more readily available as a conscious experience to humans, but only… within the Now. 

And what is multidimensionality in your/our view?

The ability to Be across timelines, across geographies and across realities, simultaneously. 

And what advantage does that ability give us or the planet?

The advantage is one of perspicacity. 

Aha. Let me remind myself…

Perspicacity (also called perspicaciousness) is a penetrating discernment (from the Latin perspicācitās, meaning throughsightedness, discrimination)—a clarity of vision or intellect which provides a deep understanding and insight.[1] It takes the concept of wisdom deeper in the sense that it denotes a keenness of sense and intelligence applied to insight.

Another definition refers to it as the “ability to recognize subtle differences between similar objects or ideas”.[2] It has also been described as a deeper level of internalization.[3] Perspicacity is different from acuity, which also describes a keen insight, since it does not include physical abilities such as sight or hearing.[2]

‘A penetrating discernment’. Excellent. ‘A clarity of vision or intellect which provides a deeper understanding or insight.’ Yes! So help me understand this multidimensionality more…

First absorb your learning for the day: ‘this moment matters’ in more way than one. On embarking on the PP you are making a solemn commitment to developing skills of multidimensionality. 

I am?

And in making that commitment you are invited to slow right down and absorb the meaning of your intentions. ‘Wait a moment’. Stop. Cease. Arrete. Hasten not. Jump no hoops. Cut no corners. Be prepared to learn this truth: This Moment Matters. 

Ok, got it. I am learning that this moment matters.

Welcome to Week One of the PP. 

I am learning that this moment matters

 

 

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Presence 18: I am cutting myself some SLACK <3

Let’s go Emotion Surfing.

***10minMed – Insight Timer***

Fascinating. A new dimension added today…

The Shadow Side of your emotions. 

Emotions and Scenarios arising today + Shadow Side:

Emotion arising Scenario arising Shadow Side arising
Elation My riding in a fast car with the roof off “What if I were careless..?!”
Rock-Solid Self-Confidence My work with SoD Vivid neck-related automatons. Past life??
Calm wonder Developing 6th sense Doreen Virtue repenting hers..!

Help me here…

This is good work. Stay with it. Michael Brown and the Presence Process will be inviting you to ‘integrate’ charged emotions. They are the dark side of your bright moon, so welcome them for integration. If you resist the dark side of your moon, your shadow side, you can not access fully your bright side. 

I did a great deal of shadow work a decade or so ago (thank you, dear Debbie Ford) and treasured that work. It’s tiring though…!

You needn’t zone in on the shadow side at this stage. Just surf the bright side of your wave, and when the ‘flip side’ comes up for integration, use your self-compassion to welcome it, to accept it, to transcend its ‘charge’ by meeting it face on. Does that sound like something you can work with? 

It does. It makes me think of the Doyle book, Untamed. Welcoming the wild, the unruly, the untidy, the true aspects of ourselves.

It’s vivid work. You are now opening up to all aspects of yourself, with this perfect welcoming self-acceptance. 

Yesterday I came up with this phrase: “Cut yourself some SLACK”

  • Self-Love is
  • Acceptance
  • Compassion
  • Kindness

(Noom gave the definition of self-love as a, c and k, I turned it into the phrase and acronym.)

These states and practices are subtle frequencies – unlike for example, ‘self-care’ which can be practically demonstrated. But it is via subtle frequencies that integration is achieved. They are ‘attitudes’ which truly require Presence to achieve. You can not actually hold the attitude of acceptance while you are charging through your day. So slowing down, settling into your self, and being able to catch your self breathing… are all helpful pre-requisites to being able to ‘cut yourself some SLACK’. It is excellent work. 

Ok, so today I will play with ‘cutting myself some SLACK’, safe in the knowledge that embodying these attitudes of self-love, acceptance, compassion and kindness will require me to settle into Presence (a good thing) and aid me to work via subtler frequencies. All this will help me embrace the full spectrum of my experiences – the dark side of the moon as well as the bright.

The yin and the yang. How Taoist. <3 And as you truly embrace SLACK, you will hold a frequency which others will be able to sense and permit themselves to embody too. You will be holding frequencies that others will catch. In fact that is what happens all the time… so consciously holding gentle SLACK is the beginning of kindness to the All. 

Yesterday, I bounced like a yo-yo. I was high and jolly one moment, then I burnt supper, and was aghast with stress and panic. My darling ASV was calming me… She held a frequency of Calm Confidence, and I ‘caught’ it from her. So, yes, I see what you mean. If I can cut myself some SLACK, I will enable a few people to ‘catch it’ from me. Interesting, the metaphor of contagion. Imagine a global pandemic of self-love, self-acceptance, self-compassion and self-kindness!!

I am cutting myself some SLACK <3

 

 

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Presence 17: I am emotion surfing

Future Visioning truly is the ideal default pastime. Really, what better use of our brain, imagination and time? And it carries you in to good emotional states, so you get the feel-good factor of that future experience in the present moment. What a bargain!

If we could all train ourselves to flip our ‘free time’ thinking from ruminating (on the past or future) to visioning our happiest, most blissful, or even just ‘satisfying’ futures, we would a) all be in better mental health and b) collectively manifest this world into the heaven on Earth it’s meant to be.

Let’s meditate…

***10minMedwithInsightTimer***

Wow…..! What was that?!

Emotion Surfing!

It was awesome!

Emotion Surfing is the best form of future visioning available to you. Exactly as you did, you slip into the meditative state – calm, relaxed, receptive. Then you allow a good-feeling emotion to arise or name itself… You allow yourself to really feel that feeling, to embody it, to bask in it… And only then do you start to open to envisaging future scenarios that you might associate with that feeling. And it’s surprising what arises, isn’t it? 

Yes! The first feeling that came to me was MIRTH! Oh it was fun to feel it in my body! And I could picture myself laughing within my work… Lovely! Then it was AWE: I really felt the AWE, it reminded me of being in New York, and then I could see myself beholding some wonder of the world or other, on my travels, awe-struck. Likewise… flying above the ground in a paraglider… Then BLISS arose. …And my beloved came to mind. Then DEEP SATISFACTION… and I could see work accomplishments… It was so fun and free.

To summarise the steps of Emotion Surfing: 

  1. Get into the meditative state
  2. Let a good-feeling emotion come to mind – sensed and/or ‘named’ 
  3. Bask in the embodied feeling of it
  4. Let future scenarios come to mind in which you are feeling this way
  5. Bask some more until it fades… and the next emotion comes to mind

Tell me more.

You have worked hard to get to this point. You have already integrated a great deal of ‘charged emotion’ and brought compassion and forgiveness – of self and other – to the fore in your life. This has opened up the passage for Emotion Surfing to become an ‘accessible tool’ to you. For others, the vividness of present concerns will still block the ability to Emotion Surf with ease, but you are learning Qigong which is an excellent technique for integrating charged emotion and getting into the receptive state. 

Remember, emotion is ‘energy in motion’ as Michael Brown says. Qigong translates as ‘energy play’ or ‘energy cultivation’. Your work with qigong is not incidental or trivial. It is part of your offering to the world. Cherish it and honour your learning. You will discover its essence in time. And that awe you described? Imagine practising qigong with Taoist monks in China… All things are possible when you follow the flow of your emotion surfing. 

I am deeply moved by today’s practice and learning. May it blossom and bear fruit for the good of all. Amen.

I am emotion surfing

 

 

 

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Presence 16: I am future visioning

Flipping to the Positive Vision is powerful. It channels my mental energy into generating for the Good, not ruminating or chuntering and thus adding manifestational manna to the Unwanted.

This morning I’ve read the Navigational Guidance for the Presence Process. So much wisdom.

This is the invitation: to embrace the art of living life consciously. This is the journey: to awaken from time and become present now, in this world. This is the promise: to become available and useful. This is the gift: experiential awareness of Presence through present moment awareness. The Presence Process by Michael Brown p94

And I stumbled on this description by Michael Brown of ‘navigating our experiences’ which I will use in today’s case.

Let’s meditate.

***Lee Holden Qi med – 9 mins***

With my new Qigong training, the Presence Process starting, and my current mediation cases which are stretching me to rely on deeper knowing, I really feel as though I’m stepping into a new level of activity. It feels like a beautiful outcome of the lockdown period. Also, I’ve almost lost 1.5 stone since March, so I’m feeling better and more energised too.

I set the intention of my Presence process to be ‘receptive to Presence’. This is explicitly suggested (p113) and it seems more open than intending to ‘integrate emotional charge’… though I intend that too. I like the principle of The PP of ‘no drama’. Receptive to Presence seems simple enough. Any thoughts?

It is fair to say that you are shifting into a new learning paradigm, which also connotes a new teaching paradigm. In your work you are becoming better able to teach people the skills of conflict resolution for themselves. You are better at modelling them consciously, as opposed to unconsciously or as ‘masking’. 

I am keen to learn learning while my mind remains fresh and receptive. Please dear Lord help me attain wisdom that may last so I might be a good, helpful, kind, joyful presence in my later years.

This is a good intention to set. 

What is your advice for me today, as I travel to my first in-person mediation case since JANUARY!

Relax. As Michael Brown says equip yourself with the emotional intention, the mental preparation and the physical necessities, and step back as much as you can in the conversation. Let the parties find their own way, led by the process you set. Constantly seek permission. Do not force or steam roller. Invite, suggest, create and hold space. Be sincere. Do not oblige anyone to enter your activities if they are not keen. Hold consummate respect for each individual, and trust that they know their way through. You can help them to equip themselves with an emotional intention. Ask them to dwell upon how they want to feel at the end of the meeting (as per Brown). That will be of value. Coach them on navigating, sensing, observing uncomfortable emotions. Allow everyone the opportunity to sense their emotions and be with them, recognising that emotions are ‘energy in motion’ arising for integration, appreciation and acknowledgment. Teach your clients that our emotions must be acknowledged and accepted  and honoured by us before we can ask anyone else to respond to them. 

Teach them to ask, ‘What is this emotion trying to teach me about me?’ Know that the answer will always be a loving one. And if the answer is about A.N.Other, then it is coming from the mental body, not the emotional body. Return and ask again. 

As you flipped to the positive vision yesterday, today, flip to the positive emotion. Name the emotional state you are navigating towards. 

Today, it’s relief, delight, satisfaction, accomplishment, euphoria… as the parties embrace (actually or metaphorically).

Mm, lovely. Relish that perfect palate of emotions. This future visioning is your gift to your parties. Take it seriously, take it lightly, take it playfully. 

I am future visioning

 

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Presence 15: I am flipping to the Positive Vision

The Flow has been good. However…. I’ve been really struggling with tiredness and kidney difficulties, and I think it comes down to simple FEAR. Anxiety, concern, pressure, stress… all arise out of Fear. It’s time to address that, for the sake of my dear kidneys and adrenal glands. I have a mediation tomorrow. I… really want it to go well. (Ah… that’s the opposite of ‘It’s going to be tough and I’m afraid it won’t go well.’ Good!)

I really want it to go well! = Positive vision

I really want the parties to find peace, forgiveness and love for eachother. I really want the parties to grow in self-awareness. I really want the parties to gather around the person they are caring for, and start afresh. I really can see how the parties could create a clean slate. I know I have the tools. I know they have the tools too!

So the positive vision is your door opener. It takes all concerns… and it flips them! Your dreamiest best hopes come out of contrast – the knowing what you don’t want creates the vision of what you do want. Hold on to that. 

So I can help them paint a positive vision, and then we can work out how to get there.

Yes, the positive vision is 70% of the work. You’ve got this. 

Thank you.

Let’s read and meditate.

The Presence Process by Michael Brown

AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH (p81ff)

“For the purpose of The Presence Process, we prefer to use the word “integrate” instead of “heal.” This is because these two words have a different intent. Healing makes an assumption that something is wrong and in need of fixing. Healing often attempts to get rid of whatever it attempts to heal. Healing is therefore more often than not a reaction to “what is.” Traditionally, healing focuses primarily on symptomatic expressions of discomfort and believes nothing is accomplished until the symptomatic expression is removed. Healers therefore are individuals who, looking outward and seeing a broken world in need of fixing, believe themselves in some way chosen to fix others. More often than not, those who enter healing as a profession are individuals who project their unresolved conditions onto the world, then try to fix the reflection they perceive. Integration begins from the standpoint that if something is happening, the fact that it’s happening makes it valid and therefore required. Nothing is viewed as “wrong” and “needing to be fixed.” Rather, if something appears to be out of balance, it needs to be embraced back into the whole. When responded to accordingly, it contains insight for further growth. Integration is therefore a response to “what is.” 

This fits with my upcoming case. These individuals are all loving beings. They are not wrong, though their behaviour may have been ‘unbalanced’. Reading this gave me a breakthrough – I’m going to use David Rock’s SCARF as a tool to talk about difficulties/preferences in the mediation tomorrow. [NB. Take a speaker and put music on.]

***Mediation.. with Lee Holden***

It’s about flipping to see the Positive Vision.

‘Flipping to the Positive Vision’ is the most powerful tool in your mental toolbox right now. As Abraham says, this is world of contrast. If you know what you don’t want, then you know what you DO want. Just look at the other end of the stick. 

Play with this today. 

Will do.

I am flipping to the Positive Vision