Still Point Breathing Session

Last night the Mindshifters group held a special meeting and did a Still Point breathing session. I just want thank the participants who invested their time and energy to make this a most wonderful experience. I have been doing different trainings and experiential workshops for a number of years and I must say that last night was one of the most relaxed, loving, smooth-running, and productive sessions I have ever been privileged to attend. The hosting facility, Relax 4 Life in Barrington, IL, is a wondrous place with a beautiful view and tremendous energy. (www.relax4life.com)

The participants were mostly regular attendees to our Mindshifters group, which means that they are loving individuals who are diligently working to improve their experience of life and the quality of their relationships. This resulted in a very gentle, loving and supportive atmosphere which held us all in Love as we went through the exercise. The Still Point breathing exercise itself is a very gentle breathing exercise which facilitates the process of moving, releasing, and increasing the flow of energy through the body's system in whatever way the innate wisdom of the individual's body sees fit.

I wish to thank Dr. Michael Ryce for his work and for introducing me to this technique and the Mindshifter process which produces such wonderful results for me each time I use it.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

The Power Of Forgiveness

The core tool of Dr. Michael Ryce's work is The Reality Management Worksheet, and the process he refers to as Forgiveness. The definition of Forgiveness in this work is very different from the definition I grew up with. I was raised to believe that to forgive someone meant that I knew they had done something wrong, or bad, to me or someone I loved. I was taught that this action caused me pain, sadness, anger, fear or some other discomfort, or problem. As a result, when I "forgive them" I agree to be the bigger person and "let them off the hook" for what they have done to me. I agree to no longer "punish" them by blaming them for what they caused in me.

The work Dr. Michael Ryce promotes is based on the idea that no one has ever caused me to feel any negative emotion, pain, sadness, fear, guilt, or shame. Since I am a creator of my own reality, there is nothing to forgive anyone else for doing or saying. If I create anger in my reality in response to something someone else does, there is nothing to forgive them for. In this work the term Forgiveness refers to a process by which I dismantle and cancel any false realities in my mind which have given rise to my negative emotions and discomfort.

The primary tool for this, as mentioned, is The Reality Management Worksheet, by which we are reminded the we create our own reality, and we are guided step-by-step through the process of dismantling the false reality which is creating our discomfort. I have encountered only a very few approaches to this process which maintain the same level of strict adherence to the observations that, "My thoughts create my internal reality and the emotions I feel.". One such book is The Way of Mastery, ( www.shantichristo.com ), which states with excellent clarity, and gentle appreciation, the process by which I deny and suppress the negative thoughts, energies, emotions, and judgments in my mind. Once I have done this, I inevitably project them onto my image of others around me. I come to believe that they are the cause of my pain and discomfort, and that they are bad, negative, or wrong.

The process is described by which I can not even identify jealousy, anger, judgment, insult, or any other negative in another person's actions or thoughts, unless I have experienced that very thing. It is because I have experienced that very thing, and passed judgment upon myself for having experienced it, that I have suppressed it and denied it in myself. Once I have suppressed and denied that thought, feeling, or experience in myself it must be projected onto other people and things as a way of rationalizing my experience. So it is that everything I judge another for doing, I have done myself. Every negative thought or action that I take offense from in another is something that I have experienced in myself and judged myself negatively for having experienced it. It is because of this that I need to "forgive" others, because in reality it will be canceling and dismantling the negative judgment of myself in the process.

The goal of this work is to teach only Love. The process of this work is to become perpetually vigilant to anything I create which distracts me from the realization that I am inexorably connected to the Source which created me, Love. It is suggested that when we see that we have judged someone, instead of getting upset with oneself for having judged, we can say:

"Oh, I see that I am judging someone. That is an interesting cloud passing through the sky of my awareness. I wonder if I might be able to make another choice."

It is suggested in The Way of Mastery that we understand that each of us is a conduit of energy, and the degree to which the conduit is clear and open determines the ability for us to radiate the light of Love. When one makes a judgment it is as though one contracts and closes down the conduit, and the flow of energy becomes less and less. As one forgives judgments it is as though one is opening the conduit and thinning the walls so that the conduit which is carrying the liquid of God's Love is expanding and becoming transparent.

"Judgment is contraction."
"Forgiveness is relaxation, peace, trust, and faith."

"Should you then judge yourself if you have noticed you have been in judgment? No. That is a judgment in itself. Only Love can heal. Therefore, when you know you have judged, simply say:

"Ah, yes! That is that energy.
I recognize that cloud that has just passed through the field of my awareness.
But I can choose again."

The goal of this work is to Teach Only Love.
The process of this work is to become aware of everything we create which distracts us from the realization that;

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love! Everything else is false.

To Become a Great Teacher

Last year I heard myself tell someone that "To become a great teacher, one must learn to become a perpetually avid student." Then recently I was reading a wonderful book and read, "The difference between a master and a student is that the master knows, one must always be a student."

I have been ending each of my posts with the statement that came to me when I began this blog, "We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false."

It keeps coming to me in all of the books, and lectures, that speak to my soul, that this is the actuality we need to accept if we are to live to our full potential. To me this means staying "a perpetually avid student" about how I block myself from staying aware of this Truth. This means studying my own thought to discover any blockage to accepting my source as Love. This means that all I really have to do is watch to see how I create false realities of things that are less than Love in my mind. When I stop creating my realities from fear, there will be nothing to block my awareness that we are all connected, we are all the same, and that we are all created from Love.

The book I am currently reading which sings to my soul is The Way of Mastery, available through www.shantichristo.com

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

The Circle of Life and How to Play It!

This week the mindshifter group watched the first half of the lecture titled The Circle of Life and How to Play It, by Dr. Michael Ryce. In this lecture Dr. Ryce talks about two different approaches one can take to the events in one's life. The high road, or the low road. Whenever an event occurs in one's life one chooses to take one path or the other. The low road may be summarized as denial, suppression and blame, while the high road may be summarized as responsibility and openness to learning.

When an event happens the choice is always there to take the high road or the low road.

The low road is the path of denial and suppression.

The high road is responsibility.

The low road is loss of information because of denial, and belief that the source of experience is external.

The high road is to accept input and gain information, and know that source of the experience is internal.

The low road takes the role of either victim or hero, and often flips between the two.

The high road gains information and sees things as neutral and lives knowing we create our own realities.

The low road strives for more and more self-esteem no matter the cost.

The high road values source-esteem and wants to maintain awareness of their connection to one's source.

The low road is full of confusion and doubt.

The high road realizes that if I am in pain, I am in error.

The low road focuses on right vs. wrong thinking and is constantly judging self and others.

The high road focuses on right and not right (for me) thinking and thus avoids judging self and others.

The low road experiences the Truth of things as causing stress or them and tries to get rid of the source of the truth, and feels others need to change for them to be comfortable.

The high road sees Truth as desirable, and the source of valuable information, and engages in self-correction to become comfortable.

The low road tries to block stress by using drugs of all types to help deny and suppress feelings, even holding the breath.

The high road stays open to feelings of stress and breathes and engages in self-correction like "forgiveness" to remove false realities from their energy system.

The low road says "If I am in pain, "you/they" are in error." They feel dis-empowered!

The high road says "If I am in pain, I am in error." They feel empowered to make self-corrective change.

The low road feels "destructive-dissatisfaction". They feel that being right is most important and they engage in tantrums and depression.

The high road feels "Constructive-dissatisfaction". Being connected to Love and Truth/Actuality is most important.

The low road craves control and wants total freedom.

The high road exercises their liberty while functioning within the Natural Laws.

The low road feels they know it all - making learning from feedback impossible.

The high road acknowledges their error and welcomes feedback to help make self-correction.

The low road feels things are most important.

The high road feels relationships are most important beginning with awareness of connection to source.

The low road only has fleeting moments of satisfaction and lives to pursue satiation.

The high road feels satisfaction by learning to accept what is.

The low road feels anger and clings to it, and feels that discipline means punishment.

The high road feels love and realizes that is its source, and knows discipline means "properly taught".

The low road engages in all the trappings of pettiness and worrying about everyone Else's business.

The high road provides the strength to mind one's own business.

The low road does not acknowledge self as creator - They are takers and become thieves living in poverty.

The high road acknowledges their role in creating their reality, and knows that giving and receiving are the same, therefore they live in abundance!

The low road always wants something for nothing and they suppress their creativity.

The high road celebrates their creativity and creates from their connection to their source - Love.

So we see that every time an event occurs, we have a choice about how we interpret and respond to that event. Whether we choose the high road or the low road will determine the quality of our lives.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Just Do The Worksheet

This week the Mindshifters group watched the first half of the lecture titled, "Purpose, Personal Power, and Commitment", by Dr. Michael Ryce www.whyagain.com. The thing that struck me most about the lecture this time around was the statement that we need to make a choice between playing the world's game or choosing to build a strong spiritual self. Dr. Ryce makes the point that we have been conditioned for centuries to be good commercial consumers and obedient citizens, by people who want to collect all the material goods for themselves.

Dr. Ryce proposes a way to get clear about what your purpose is, and then use that purpose to focus your energy so that you are much more powerful and productive. He states that each of us has a purpose for being here, and specific talents that will allow us to fulfill that purpose. He also states that each of us has access to the same personal power as everyone else! This means that each of us is potentially more powerful than we can even imagine. This is why we each need to tap into our own internal intelligence, and not try to follow anyone else.

When we were finished discussing the lecture we turned our attention to the work people had done during the week and in last week's group. After some discussion I asked if anyone wanted to do a Reality Management worksheet to demonstrate the process for some of our new members. Since no one else wanted to volunteer, I decided to do a worksheet to demonstrate. I chose what I thought was a very minor topic related to something I had done over the weekend. As I stepped through the process I identified that I had felt sadness, and worry during the events described in the worksheet. As I thought and wrote about the events, I was able to get in touch with the sadness, and the worry, and the specific thoughts that gave rise to each of them but I was not feeling particularly upset. This was, as I had expected, a fairly simple issue which had very little emotional intensity for me, and was only mildly uncomfortable.

As I worked through the worksheet, I reached the step where I created a positive goal for the person whom I identified as the trigger for the emotions I was feeling. Then comes the process of cancelling the goal I hold for the other person, so that I can see the hidden and projected parts of myself.

Much to my surprise when I did this, about this "safe", "little" interaction I had over the weekend, I was moved to tears. I realized that the sadness and worry I felt about the situation were really easy to experience compared to the intense feeling of helplessness that came flooding through when I cancelled my goal for the other person. I shed tears and discussed feelings I had no idea were hiding behind my thoughts, emotions, and punishment thoughts - as outlined in the first few steps of the worksheet process. Feeling helpless is not fun! I had hidden this very effectively, and rationalized feeling sad and worried. Don't worry I feel much better now.

The point of my telling this story is that, once again, I was surprised by the power and effectiveness of the worksheet process, even when I thought the issue was simple and trivial. So, no matter how small the upset, or how trivial the interaction that sparked it, JUST DO THE WORKSHEET! You will often be surprised at what you find. It is seldom what you thought it was upon first review.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.