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Tag: Experience

Posted
March 14, 2018
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Micro Short, Positivity, Short Story, Words of Wisdom
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Connecting

When he grounded himself to our beautiful earth and connected with the healing energies beyond, nothing could shake him from his path. Leaning against a Holm oak, the rough bark massaged his back. A waterfall gushed from his root chakra and thundered through the earth to the core where he felt at one with the planet and happy to be alive.

Breathing in; the rush of earth energy pushed through both feet into his legs and beyond. The out breath opened his crown chakra to receive strength from the limitless supply of healing energy the canopy above the earth freely presented. Breathing in, earth and cosmic energies mingled and washed away the nuggets of difficulty collected on his life path, back down the cascade from his root chakra.

In this moment he is invincible. The old man watched, smiling at his friend until the younger man recognised him.

“How long does it take you to connect with those energies my friend?”

“Oh, you’re not asking a philosophical question for a change!” The young man laughed, completely at ease.

“I suppose it takes less than a minute.” Why do you ask?

“Many could enjoy your instruction.”

“There are many with need. I know that, but people see what I do and call it things it is not.”

“So, tell the world exactly what you do and why. Show them the benefits. It is a gift given to you that you should share.”

The young man faced the tree and looked into its branches.

“They shoot off in so many directions but ultimately every branch seeks the light.”

“Yes, and so it is with people my young friend. They seek the light even though some appear to have forgotten that aspect of their journey.”

“Hardly surprising when they allow their material needs to outweigh those of their spirit.”

The old man leaned against a larger tree. “My tree is bigger than yours.”

“In that case, I will grow one even larger.”

A serious look wiped away the old mans smile. “This is the way for many. The best 3D TV money can buy is the competition they wrap themselves in. Before they know it, there is no substance to their lives; they have no experiences to speak of and one day they become old and weary.”

“So, they need experiences, not things.”

“Indeed, my friend and there is no price tag we can assign to those.”

“And, one experience often leads to another. I can identify with that. Perhaps my instruction will light the way; I will find ways to connect and share what I know.”

Posted
October 20, 2017
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Words of Wisdom
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Insights from the universe

Several years ago a physiotherapist taught me how to breathe through a pain site.

The most significant area of pain was in my left knee. So, “how on earth do you expect me to do that?” Well, as it turned out, it was not quite as weird as it sounded and after some practice, it started helping relieve some of the pain.

The physio taught a simple form of meditation that I’ve since developed into something far deeper. Jon’s method began with sitting in a comfortable place; eyes closed and focussing on breathing. Deep breath in through the nose, hold the breath briefly and, out through the mouth. After a few of those breaths when you feel relaxed, locate the site of uneasiness with your mind. Don’t think about it, just locate it and then imagine the inward breath going through the pain or discomfort. After a little practice, you will sense the breath entering your body through the place you imagined. It works, give it a go.

The first time I meditated, I felt light, positive and relaxed. I experienced freedom from my thoughts in a real way for the very first time. Of course, I had no idea what was in store once I learned how to really meditate. The deeper I went, I started discovering insights that drove me forward.

I started forming questions, ‘how am I going to rebuild my life?’ Insights came relating to the question. Not direct answers but things I knew I could use. They felt absolutely right and, as it turns out, they were.

This may sound strange but I wasn’t at all surprised at the things I received through meditation even though the true state is a completely blank mind. I have explored meditation through books and articles. Everything I’ve been able to read supports what I’m telling you. The entire process is amazing that’s why I’m sharing it here.

Opening a ‘Portal’

The key to achieving a state to receive insights is through a place of stillness and free from your regular thoughts of the day. Just gently blow your thoughts away with your mind until you have finished meditating. I suppose everybody has a different method. As I am relaxing into the meditation, I allow one key thought or question to float through my mind. Eventually the volume of the thought fades as it goes deeper and deeper into the universe.

It doesn’t need to be earth shattering. A simple question with a little substance will do.

I meditate at my desk with guided meditations from YouTube: in the garden, during a mountain bike ride break, any place where nobody will disturb me. As you master the art you become aligned with the present moment. Your mind expands, and a beautiful feeling of peace fills the entire being.

The goal isn’t to control your thoughts;

it’s stopping them from controlling you

The answers to questions begin to form. Sometimes I find myself doing something that didn’t appear to originate from a conscious thought yet I have been moving forward in a positive way. There are other occasions when I sense clear, ‘this is what I need to do,’ messages.

You may wish to argue that a little thinking can produce the same results. I counter that by saying, meditation speeds up the process and brings clarity that ‘on the run’ thinking wouldn’t have presented. Added to that, I feel completely relaxed afterwards.

There are people who teach meditation and most of them are genuine. I couldn’t afford to pay a teacher so I am entirely self-taught. We are all connected to the ‘great all,’ we just have to learn how to tap into it.

Meditation has been life changing, and it is an essential part of my life that I wouldn’t do without. Ten minutes every morning gives me a boost for the day. Sometimes that’s all I do, yet it makes a profound difference.

I hope this has been helpful. Don’t hesitate to message if you would like guidance or have a question or two.

Namasté always,

Steve

Posted
October 19, 2017
Category
Words of Wisdom
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Positive, Dynamic Solutions

I’m not feeling at my best today. A rather negative way to begin an article but really, we all have that feeling at some point or another. I guess you know what I’m talking about.

When I feel this way, I search for escape. The problem is though; I have a nervous system illness that is irritated when the air pressure drops.

Finding my way out . . .

Chronic pain is extremely distracting there is no doubt, and so far I’ve not managed to find a way erase it. That said, there are ways to push it into the background so I can get on with my life.

Adopt a growth mindset. I read and engage with the work of Deepak Chopra and many others. Deepak said research has shown that when adversity strikes, happier people tend to see creative opportunities, while unhappier people see adversity.

“It’s programmed through childhood through a phenomenon called mirror neurons,” he says. “If you saw people complaining all the time when you were a kid, that’s what you do. Your neurons mirror the behavior.”

Going back to 1999 when I had the accident that started this illness, I adopted a mantra and repeated to myself whenever the going got tough.

Positive, Dynamic Solutions

When it went off the1 to 10 scale, I searched for something positive to distract and distance myself from the pain. Sometimes I failed, there were times when I stumbled but I always picked myself up.

The Internet was a shadow of what it is today but there were opportunities and I seized a few and developed an ‘eZine; ‘ I guess you might call it a motivational blog. Writing positive articles was life changing; the positive comments from almost 5000 readers were almost secondary to the learning I experienced through researching and writing the articles.

A visit to the doctor one day slammed my positive attitude so hard that I fell into a deep slumber for several months. He increased the so-called pain relieving opiates to the maximum dose and staying awake during the day was a challenge in itself. He also told me it was “unlikely” I would ever walk again. The diagnosis forced my employer to retire me.

Nevertheless, I changed my drugged mindset, stepped away from the problem and looked for opportunities by increasing my input to KEYZine, my online blog. It wasn’t known as a blog yet, that term hadn’t surfaced.

I also decided to engage the enemy by learning everything I could about the illness. I started to accept it and get on with my life. I engaged what Deepak calls the “unfriendlies.” He talked about them as people; my unfriendlies were an illness causing debilitating pain and a society discriminating against me because I couldn’t participate as expected.

It took a while but with lots of study and incredible support from my partner and our family, I am back on my mountain bike and skiing Pyrenean slopes when the snow falls. I have dozens of books to write and thousands more to read. Medication is necessary at very low levels and like today, following a long journey yesterday evening, the pain occasionally resurfaces only to be forced back again after I engage and challenge.

Deepak Chopra said,

“Adopt a growth mindset

Engage the “unfriendlies

Read”

I do those things every day and they have led to Positive, Dynamic Solutions

 

Posted
October 17, 2017
Category
Words of Wisdom
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Investigating my own experience II

What do you want to be when you grow up? How many times I heard that question from well-meaning relatives I dread to think. For sixteen years I had only vague ideas about my future although I was well aware of my parent’s expectations. Their expectations didn’t match mine, of that I had no doubts.

Thanks to a local youth worker, I did begin to put a couple of plans together. The first was thwarted because they wouldn’t employ people under eighteen and the second similarly so. I would have to wait until at least twenty-one and gain more experience. It doesn’t matter what my goals were although I must say they were nothing outside the ordinary. What did matter was feeling like I had been stuffed into a glass box. I saw well enough but only to look, not to experience.

My family seemed to be getting what they wanted. A son working in local industry, finding a partner, getting married . . . That was their path, not mine and although I had a good time at British Aerospace, I used the opportunity to save toward a few years travelling. The glass box had to go, my path was clear and it was far from traditional or expected. It resulted in estrangement from a family who couldn’t believe that I threw away an amazing job in favour of travelling to ‘who knows where.’

Now here’s where I step right outside the box and I know I am not alone in this. Not that it matters. As a young person I never easily came to terms with the way society ran. Go to school, get a job, find a partner, mortgage, life insurance, family, etc.  I’m not an anarchist and realistic enough to know that at this time, that is the way of the world. Driven by money and controlled by a minority. This used to cause me no end of stress because I saw where I was and it wasn’t where I wanted to be. Change needed to come and I knew I had to be the agent of change, beginning with me. So off I went to unknown shores with an open mind to see what I could discover about people of the world and my place therein.

You can read other instalments of this investigation at Sue Vincent’ Daily Echo and in The Crazy Mind Interview More will follow here . . .

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