Judgment, Jealousy and Gratitude ~ The Beacon for May 31, 2011

This past week I had the opportunity of living out an uncomfortable life lesson.  On Wednesday I experienced myself harshly judging the behavior of another person.  I had grown frustrated and tired of what I was seeing and had reached the last straw, so to speak.  Inside I let myself know it, and ran with my story for the rest of the day.  I was right and I knew it. 

Of course with judgment there is a downside.  My focus and attention was off of myself, I was entrenched in what the other person had done (or not done in this instance).  By the end of the day I was exhausted, grumpy and off track.   The next day I witnessed something even more surprising, I enacted the exact same behavior that I had judged the day before.  Wow!  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  How could I be doing that which yesterday I had so quickly judged?   I am reminded that in relationship there really is only one of us, the other is just a mirror reflecting myself back to me.   I am also reminded how everything is energy, when I judge something I am stopping that flow and this blockage is going to create dis-ease somewhere.  Energy can neither be created nor destroyed – it simply shifts, gets transferred or winds up stuck.  This dis-ease or lack of ease manifested as my disharmonious behavior.

Jealously has other similar effects.  When we are jealous of another we are actually repelling that which we are jealous of.  If we are jealous of their beauty we repel our own beauty, if we are jealous of another’s wealth we repel our own abundance, and when we are jealous of another’s popularity we bring ourselves further into isolation. 

The contrast to this is love, admiration and gratitude.  Notice what you admire in others.  You see this in others because it is a strength in you as well.  Find love for others and their actions (love is acceptance it doesn’t mean you necessarily need to agree with it) and the energy of the behavior is free to flow.  Be grateful for all you have and you will open the wellsprings to allow and receive more.  

I am reminded of Dr. John Demartini’s wise words “Love the person for who they are and they will become the person you love.”

Life is such a trip.  Take the high road.  

In gratitude,

Dr. Norm    
                                           

Walk the Talk ~ The Beacon for May 24, 2011

This past Thursday I had the good fortune of listening to Jane Moxam’s presentation “Walk the Talk” as our third evening of the Innate Intensive.  What a heralding story it was.  Jane opened her heart and shared her personal story of how she reshaped her body and her life one step at a time.  Jane you certainly are walking the talk and at the same time inspiring so many people to do the same.

So what does it take to walk the talk?  Well the first thing is that you need to know what you stand for.  What is your talk?  Get clear on what it is that rings true to your heart, what you are all about and what drives you to get out of bed in the morning.  This reminds me of the age old adage “You have to stand for something or you will fall for anything”.   It is much easier to float through life bouncing from idea to idea, new fad to new fad, like a ship lost at sea.  As you get clear on what you stand for distill it down to 3-5 main ideas or core principles that you can stand on.   These core principles will act as a rudder giving you direction and purpose to your life.

Once you are clear on what your talk is than you can start living your life from this place - living one moment at a time, one step at a time, aligning your walk with your talk.  For me nothing is more inspirational than meeting someone who is in integrity mind, body and spirit.  To see firsthand someone whose insides match their outsides and who is truly walking their talk.

As you are learning to walk your talk, just as any child who is learning to walk, you may slip and fall from time to time.  Imagine that same child who is learning to walk, it would seem bizarre to have them throw their arms up in the air in defeat and say, “I am a failure I give up I am going to crawl for the rest of my life or do something else, this is not what I want to do.”  No, they simply dust their knees off and get up and try again.  They learn from their mistakes helping them become competent walkers that they really want to be.   Falling is part of the learning process.  It doesn’t mean that you need to talk a different talk, or walk a different walk; it just means that you have fallen.  Get back up, dust off your knees and try it again.  What counts is the number of times you get back up, not the bumps along the way.  Remember to be gentle with your own rhythm and celebrate each success… (as small as they seem in the moment) for they all build on one another towards realizing your goal.

If you would like to contact Jane to learn more about her programs you can contact her at 250-585-3728 or visit www.walk-thetalk.com

Until next time may you clarify your talk and then place one foot in front of the other as you learn to walk your talk!

All the best,

Dr. Norm

“What Are You Committed To?” ~ The Beacon for May, 17 2011

Recently I spent some downtime at a good friend’s house exploring her property and was drawn to a section of water front.  It was here I discovered a number of beached starfish clinging to rocks and driftwood.  The same week I had heard the following story (twice):

Adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley
(1907 – 1977)

There was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"

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Returning to my adventure ~ There are no coincidences in life – so I knew this was a nudge from the Universe.  Was I paying attention?  It was fascinating to observe my thought processes and the transition from one idea to the next.  Initially it seemed a simple enough opportunity.  So I looked for a stick or something to help gently lift each starfish and return it to the water.  Once I found something appropriate to use I started softly speaking to the starfish to let it know I was there to support and help it.  I needed to move a number of rocks and leverage pieces of driftwood to even gain access to have room to move this bright purple creature.  Starfish have amazing flexibility and this one was quite contorted into such small spaces of what was available to it.

After a number of failed attempts… with some frustration I started to question “How could I, a prairie girl, even take on this task?”  I had quite a bit of reservation of touching the starfish directly… it felt invasive and I had a number of “stories” running through my head of what might happen.  So I took a deep breath, planted my feet and squared my shoulders…  Then I softened and returned to building a rapport and connection with my starry friend, speaking of my desire to assist it with a pure motive for its own benefit.  Then I went for it, took action and stuck out my hand to pick up the starfish.  I was surprised by its texture, weight and the strength.  I blessed the starfish and gently tossed it into the water.  I really thought after the first two starfish rescues it would get easier and go more smoothly.

It didn’t, the next one I came across was desperate to cling to “their space”, the familiar and “safety of the known”.  Then a flash of an “A-Ha” moment for me!
Where do I sabotage myself from growth and thrival to stay in the known, false-safe place of the “comfortable”? 
What does “comfortable” even mean in the long-run? 
How does it serve me? 
When physical symptoms only show up a minimal percentage in life – what am I missing in my own health and well-being because I’m “comfortable”?  
When and where do I settle not to play bigger, to be brighter, because I let fear get the better of me?


These questions were followed by a second “A-Ha!”  I saw how committed the starfish was to “being right”, wanting its own way by not “letting go” or moving forward.  It saddened me to see how boxed in and committed the starfish was to its own demise.  Hmmm? 
“Where am I committed to thoughts, behaviours and actions that don’t serve me anymore?”  “Where do I let my emotions self-destruct my life?”

I invite you to pause for a moment and reflect on the above questions. You may be surprised by your answers and responses, just as I was.

In health and cheering you on to let go and re-emerge to a new space to thrive.  Reminding you that we each have opportunities to "make a difference" - both in our own lives and those of others by the choices we make.

Heather
(& the Lifehouse Team)


ps - I'm so proud of the Innate Intensive participants for their own commitment to tune in and listen to their inner wisdom.  Way to go guys!  Keep up the excellent intention you have of connecting with body-mind-spirit-alignment!

Meditation evening as part of the Innate Intensive... We're really looking forward to David's presence and guidance.

Stay tuned for any tips and suggestions following tonight's event.

Listening to Innate ~ The Beacon for May 9, 2011

It is becoming increasingly evident to me when most people talk about listening to Innate, what they really mean is that they are listening to pain.   Listening to pain and listening to Innate are actually two very different things.  Pain is the most obvious signal from our bodies.  Yes pain is instructive and is valuable for us to listen to.  Most often pain is a message from within that we are out of balance, out of alignment, that we need to make a change.  In these instances pain is a message that we are disconnected or disconnecting from Innate.  Sometimes pain is a result of change, of healing, of growth and is actually a good sign, as an example, as our bodies realign or we work out at the gym for extended periods.  Pain often accompanies growth, a very important fact to realize because if our whole goal is to avoid pain our lives would become increasingly small. 

Messages of pain most often are indicators that something is wrong.

Messages from Innate are guiding you to what is right.

Messages from Innate always bring with them a feeling of peace, of ease and of openness.  They tend to put a smile on our face.  There is often a sense of coming home, of everything falling into place when we hear them.   Messages from Innate tend to be quiet in nature, different from the messages from Ego which are demanding and loud.  Learning to listen to Innate is a refined art.  We must learn to quiet our minds and go within.  As we do our lives will blossom to be the grand masterpieces that they are intended to be.  Learning to listen to innate takes practice and discipline as much of the outside world is trying to take us away from Innate.  These are only hooks and distractions trying to pull you away from source.  As you do go inward and listen you will cultivate your inner guru a friend like no other who is there as chief steward of your life.

Remember you will go within or you will go without.

Innately yours,

Dr. Norm

The Process ~ The Beacon for May 3, 2011

This week marks the start to our Innate Intensive with a kick off workshop this Wednesday evening at the studio.   Thank you to all of you who have eagerly signed up for the intensive.  Many of you have expressed interest and for one reason or another are unable to attend the whole program.  My goal is that we can serve as many of you as possible so I thought I would give you a sneak peak to one of the powerful pieces that I will be sharing with the group on Wednesday night and encouraging people to use on a regular basis during the intensive and beyond.  The tool is simply titled “The Process” and was created by Robert Scheinfeld (Busting Loose from the Money Game) .  I love using “The Process” because it is easy to use and causes profound shifts as well.  I trust that you too can find use out of this powerful tool.  Enjoy.

 The truth, as I see it, is that we are all perfect and profoundly powerful beings who create our own reality.    We have through time convinced ourselves that we are otherwise.  It is less of a miracle that we are the magnificent beings and more of a miracle that we have convinced ourselves otherwise.  The first part of our lives we have spent gathering evidence to prove the illusion that we are weak, broken, and wrong.  The next part of our lives we begin remembering who we really are.  Any area in our life, thought in our mind, or pain in our body that creates discomfort is an opportunity to regain our rightful perception of ourselves and of life itself.  See the places of discomfort as opportunities to regain your wholeness.   Using “The Process” can radically help you illuminate these areas of illusion returning you to your full light.

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Overview of the Process:

1)    Notice an area of yourself or your life that is causing you discomfort.

2)    Dive right smack into the middle of it – fully immerse yourself within the discomfort energy.  You may feel it as pain or vibration – be still and get right in the middle of it.

3)    Feel the discomfort energy fully.  Open up, breathe it in and feel it as fully as you possibly can.   No thinking, no logic, no intellect, no judgment, no labeling.  Just feel it, the intensity, the waves, and the raw power in it, whatever it feels like for you.

4)    Let it reach peak intensity; trust yourself that you will know when the peak intensity is.  And once it reaches the peak call it what it really is, tell the truth about it.  Affirm who you really are, how powerful you really are, that you created it, it’s not real, it is just a creation of your consciousness.  Come up with a phrase to describe the real you that resonates with you and supports you in feeling as powerful and infinite as you possibly can. Here are some possibilities:
“I am the Power and Presence of God”
“I am the Power of Infinite Intelligence”
“I am the Power of Pure Consciousness”                                                                                                                                                  

Once you choose a phrase add your affirmation of The Truth after it and expand the phrase.  For example “I am the Power and Presence of God creating this.  It’s not real.  It’s completely made up.  It’s a creation of my Consciousness.”

5)    After telling the truth it is important to reclaim your power from it.  Declare “I reclaim my power from this NOW!”  “As I reclaim my power, I feel it coming back to me; I feel it surging back to me.”  And really feel the energy coming back to you.

6)    Open up more and more to who you really are.  Feel what it is like to actually be infinitely powerful, infinitely wise, and infinitely abundant.  To cultivate the feelings repeat the following (or your own variation)….
“I am the Power and Presence of God creating everything I experience, everything.”
“There’s no power out there, not in anyone, not in anything.”

7)    Express appreciation for how amazing your are to be to create this and convince yourself it was real, how amazing the creation was, and how beautifully it served you up until now.

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As with anything it is only when you practice your practice that you will really reap the bountiful rewards that are waiting for you.

Until next time may you remember who you truly are, be grateful for the illusions and find joy in "The Process".

Cheers
Dr. Norm