Could the connection be that straightforward? Is it possible that our handling, or lack thereof, of emotions can impact our body? Despite overwhelming scientific evidence linking the mind and body, the conventional medical system still often overlooks this. It operates as if the body functions independently, with little consideration for the mind's impact. Gabor Maté, in his book When The Body Says No, challenges this perspective, emphasizing the inseparable nature of the body and mind – a single unified entity called the body-mind.

Medical science commonly views the mind as a byproduct of the brain, neglecting the possibility that the mind may be a higher order of causality, actively influencing the body. Yet, fields like psychoneuroimmunology consistently affirm a significant bidirectional relationship between mind and body. Additionally, in the realm of epigenetics, the impact of the mind and emotions must be included as a significant part of the environmental factors shaping our biology.

Still skeptical about the mind's effect on the body? Recall the last time you simply thought a police car was following you – what did you feel? Where did you feel it? Case closed.

The suppression or harboring of unresolved wounds, trauma, resentments, and emotions, especially fear, generates mental distress or dis-ease. This, in turn, manifests in the biology of the body. Reading works like When The Body Says No or The Body Keeps The Score, by Bessel van der Kolk delves deeper into these connections.

As we embark on the journey of healing, a healed mind positively influences the body. Calling in and integrating disowned parts of ourselves, particularly feelings we tried to avoid, alters the mind's quality and pattern as expressed through the body. 🕉

We are not people, we are exquisite energy systems designed to exist in a perpetual state of flow and expression. This especially includes all feelings and emotions. When we allow ourselves to experience these, without trying to block or suppress their flow, we experience inner tranquility, even when difficult feelings arise.

Our upbringing, however, taught us that certain feelings can harm or even endanger us. Consequently, we're conditioned to block or suppress these emotions as a means of self-protection—a response rooted in fear.

The attempt to halt the flow of feelings erects fear-based barriers, forming a primary resistance. These self-imposed obstacles disrupt our most innate energy, resulting in a fragmentation of the self and a subsequent experience of suffering. This dis-ease of the mind can also be reflected in the physical body as some form of dis-ease.

Instead of resisting, the key lies in welcoming any emotion that arises into our experience. Allowing it to drift through our awareness without attempting to alter its course, we can then drop into our body and simply feel. Let the emotion come, let it be, and let it go. It will then naturally move through us, undergoing a transformation that aligns it more harmoniously with the entirety of our being.

Through this process, we gradually reintegrate these seemingly dissociated aspects, facilitating a profound connection with our true wholeness. In embracing the flow of feelings, we unlock a path to a more authentic and integrated self, and suffering naturally diminishes. 🕉

We have feelings and yet we are not the feelings. Thinking we are is a mistaken identity that creates and perpetuates suffering. It causes us to cling to pleasant feelings and push away unpleasant ones. This blocks our natural state of flow. And holding back our flow is painful.

We are that which is aware of the feelings. And that place is also at peace, always here, always stable.

No other words are necessary. 🕉

Watch nature. Nature never argues with reality. It’s not trying to tell the nature gods “Hey! That tree doesn’t belong over there” or “I don’t like the way that fern looks.” Nature just is and unfolds. Nature is reality, but for some reason us humans think we know better. We think we know the way something should be and “this” isn’t it. We fabricate stories about how things need to be in order for us to feel okay. This habit keeps us in fear because we know we really can’t control reality, and so we resist it. This resistance to the simple acceptance of what is in this moment causes fear and suffering. Believe it or not, reality actually knows what it is doing. The way out of this trap is to open up to your deeper self and deepen your trust in the unfoldment of your life. 🕉

Whatever happens, happens to you by you, through you; you are the creator, enjoyer and destroyer of all you perceive.

― Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

There’s a saying that goes “pain is of the body, suffering is of the mind.” The ego truly believes it is a victim. Believing that belief causes us to give away our creation power to circumstance. This creates fear and suffering.

A primary ego defense is to conflate responsibility with blame. This conveniently keeps us from taking responsibility for our inner life. But it also means we chronically give our power away to outside circumstances. This pattern reifies the false perception that events are totally random and that we can be a victim.

“What do you mean I am the source of my suffering?? That [🤬 fill in the blank] is to blame!!” Suffering is not caused by any outside happening. It is caused by the story we make up about the happening. Our mind fabricates meaning that isn’t actually there and then suffers for it. Stories are actually not as solid as we believe.. If a story is causing suffering, drop it and the suffering stops. I’ll repeat: Drop the story and the suffering stops. You are then free to create a new context, a new framing, a new story.

Once I accept that I cause my own suffering and I interrupt and drop that thought process, I need do nothing to return to my natural underlying state — which is peace, joy, and happiness — it effortlessly arises in my experience because this is what is constantly present behind it all. 🕉

In the intricate dance of life, there exists a fundamental truth: Whatever you appreciate appreciates. It's more than just a catchy phrase; it's a principle that shapes the very fabric of our existence.

Consider this: Energy flows where attention goes. Our moment to moment choice of where to place our attention literally causes real-time neurological and epigenetic reprogramming. In computer terms, our brain is self-modifying wetware based, in large part, on our internal and external attention choices.

In the practical realm, what we choose to focus on expands within our perceptions and experiences. This focus influences the electromagnetic field we radiate, playing a pivotal role in what we attract and repel. Gratitude is a potent positive force that acts as a magnetic pull for goodness.

Authentic gratitude emerges from the depths of our Being and so it carries a lot of power. Therefore gratitude is not a feeling as much as a natural state of our Being. When we consciously center our attention on gratitude, we align with our natural state and a cascade of positive manifestations unfolds in our lives. The suggestion here is simple yet transformative: focus on gratitude for the seemingly insignificant moments—your next breath, the way a piece of music brings up a good feeling in the body, a blooming flower, a nourishing meal, good health, the company of loved ones, the feeling of safety and well-being; and also notice and appreciate what you do not have in your life, like illness, danger, poverty, and toxic relationships

These are often taken for granted, yet they form the backdrop of our well-being. As you practice with these seemingly trivial elements, watch how your gratitude momentum grows. Size or significance matters less than using these aspects as gateways to build momentum of experiencing our natural state of gratitude. Conversely, dwelling on what's lacking or failing to appreciate what is good in your life creates barriers to the flow of goodness. Lack of appreciation is not passive. Focusing on what is wrong or on what is missing, in a very practical sense, will grow more lack in your life! It is also programming your brain to look for more of the same.

Whatever you appreciate appreciates. As creators we have choice. The choice to appreciate or not always lies within us.

Dr. Larry Dorsey, in his exploration of prayer in the book Healing Words, underscores the potency of gratitude, especially when directed toward things not yet seen. The idea is rooted in our ability to generate feelings irrespective of external circumstances. Deep gratitude, he suggests, feels far more enriching and produces better results than the lack-oriented thoughts that the mind often fixates on.

A practical and straightforward method to infuse gratitude into your daily life is to maintain a gratitude journal. Ending or starting each day by jotting down a few things you're thankful for entrains the brain to focus on goodness and what is right. You then create more of the same.

In essence, whatever you appreciate truly appreciates. Don't just take my word for it—put it to the test and witness the transformative power of gratitude in your own life. Let me know how it goes. 🕉

The ego sees everything backwards from the truth of Reality. It just does. The sooner we see through its distortions, the sooner we get to cut ourselves free from the effects of perceiving through those distortions.

One such distortion is a belief that when we give something away, we now have less. This fear-based belief is disconnected from the truth and can cause us to close down our receiving channel. And when we do, we see our abundance diminish as if that is proof that we are alone in the Universe and not taken care of. An insidious cycle.

The truth is that Life expands by giving of Itself. We receive that which we give - in that order. At the fundamental level of causality, in the act of giving, we simultaneously draw into ourselves the very quality we give, creating an expanding vacuum that attracts even more of that which we give. Perhaps this is why “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Of course both are required. Just try to keep exhaling without inhaling.

No matter how much one gives, the Universe has an inexhaustible capacity and willingness to reciprocate and provide blessings in return. This generosity and giving are not only virtuous but also aligned with the natural flow of abundance in the universe.

Just try to out-give the Universe and watch your entire life be joyfully swept up in this virtuous cycle.

Be Here Now — Ram Dass was right. So simple and so profoundly true. There is much power in such simplicity. Be present with what is here and now. This is the doorway to everything you’ve been searching for.

Life happens as us here now — period. Nowhere else exists. Not the past. Not the future. We miss so much life by living in our mind imaginations of the past and future. I hear of many people who, at the end of their life, say “Where did it all go?” For most people, life went by fast because they were not present for so much of it!

Ram Dass rightly said “the mind is a wonderful servant and a terrible master.” Taking ownership of your mind is imperative so that no longer continue to operate under the assumption that it owns you. And by “you” I mean your attention, your awareness.

We are not these thoughts that the mind habitually generates. We are the silent Presence that is aware of it all.

How do we get ‘there?’ The journey to 'there' is a misnomer; much like the illusions of past and future, there is no ‘there.’ We do not travel, we instead relax and realize we are already immersed in the infinite 'here'. So, you don’t go ‘there’ to be Presence. How can you go ‘there’ to be what you already are? How can you leave yourself? It is in the seeking that we leave ourselves. ‘We’ is already here and we are It - we are This! There truly is no separation.

Being present acts as a magnifying lens, focusing our attention squarely in the 'here and now', and in this focused state, we become intimately aware of Presence itself. This Presence is Awareness. This Presence is Love. This Presence is Us. This is where we are One. As you dwell in It, It expands to become the basis for your experience. In practicing, it helps to give the mind a pacifier, or mantra, to recite over and over. Any mantra that feels good for you is the right one. The one Ram Dass settled into for his latter years was “I am loving presence.”

Live as Presence. It has been waiting for your invitation. 🖖 🕉

Fear tends to show up in us as this big, powerful thing. But have you ever considered that fear itself is afraid? It is. Because if you were to look at it directly, you would see through it, stop empowering it by trying to avoid it, and it would dissipate. As such, to protect itself, fear creates another layer of fear around itself that says “be afraid to look at the fear.” 

Before I go on, let’s differentiate between two kinds of fear: physical and emotional. Physical fear plays an important role—to keep the body safe. Outside of that, most emotional fears are maladaptive leftovers from childhood and contracting to our lives. Much of spiritual growth is about confronting fears and overcoming them, which allows us to expand. So we are talking about seeing through emotional fear.

Fear says, “be afraid of X,” which gets us to focus on X instead of the fear itself. This acts as a cloak for fear. Running from fear is exactly how we give our power over to it, keeping it energized. Stop believing what fear tells you and instead bring the light of your consciousness to look directly at it.

How might we best look at fear? I bring four powerful aspects of higher Self to it: awareness, curiosity, willingness, and unconditional love. 

Awareness is always the starting point to everything because without it you have no choice or power. Without awareness, fear operates unconsciously, driving behavior and thought patterns without our knowledge. Awareness is corrective. Being in awareness allows the infinite intelligence within us to correct our misperceptions. 

Next, I bring curiosity. Curiosity encourages us to explore our fears rather than avoid them. It transforms fear from a threat into an opportunity for understanding and growth. I’ve realized that curiosity is of the soul, hence carries a lot of power. It puts us in a non-judgmental state of openness with a high potential for discovery. With curiosity, fear becomes a portal of empowerment. This changes the power dynamic.

Next, add a good dose of willingness to simply be with the feeling of fear without a need to do anything about it. Willingness is the readiness to face and engage with fear. It involves a commitment to move through any discomfort and uncertainty that may present. This too changes the power balance from fear to you.

And, ultimately, all things in us seek unconditional love. This especially goes for the parts of us that experience fear—so holding these parts in love is the ultimate healing power.

This isn’t about eliminating fear. It is about empowering yourself in the face of fear. It is about being the master of yourself so the fear isn’t the master of you. It is about owning the fear so the fear doesn’t own you (to paraphrase Peter Gabriel).

Fun extra credit: Peter Gabriel has a great piece called Darkness where he talks about how much emotional fear has controlled his life and what happens by confronting it. The piece evokes both the intensity of fear and the gentleness and peace that comes from seeing it for what it is, a little scared being that is looking for love. I recommend listening to it while looking at the lyrics. 

Awareness + curiosity + willingness + love = freedom from fear = more peace = taking responsibility for your life = true power.

🕉

Desire is a funny thing. For a long time the idea confused me. Eastern teachings suggest that desires are undesirable 😊. Given how many desires I dealt with on a given day, that was not very helpful. Then, some life experiences opened the door for a deeper understanding. It is important to be able to notice the difference between ego-based and soul-based desires. 

We think we know what would make us happy. So we listen to that voice, invest a lot of time and energy to acquire the object of that desire, only to find out that any derived happiness is fleeting. And so on to the next desire we go. Such is the insanity of the ego. The ego thinks it knows what is best for us. It doesn’t. It can’t. Because we, in truth, are the Infinite with true Knowledge of and access to All There is, while the ego is a limited thought construct that cuts itself off from the Whole. How then could we possibly trust and turn to the ego for guidance?

If we are fortunate, we get to a point where our consciousness learns that guidance from predominantly outside of ourselves is inherently untrustable. This is the essential turn-around point of our consciousness where we are now open to hearing and receiving inner guidance. From here, a different quality of desires arises — soul-level desires.

The ego’s agenda is a constant stream of disconnected demands and desires that come from what it believes will make it happy and secure. Being disconnected from the whole, it feels as if it is empty, as if something is missing, and it then feels compelled to put its energy into pursuing external things in a futile attempt at filling that hole. So ego-based desire always comes from a place of emptiness.

Our shared Being, the Self, our true nature, our soul, generates desires as well. But since the Self is Whole, its desires come from this place of wholeness and joyful expression. When we hear and follow these desires, the work we put in to manifest these desires — every step, even when challenging — is filled with joyful and flowing energy.

Pursuing ego-based desires is draining, while pursuing soul-level desires is energizing. 

One important understanding to gain is that soul-level desires are not in conflict with material pursuits. It is not a matter of that. It is a matter of what is most aligned with our deep wisdom and what is best for us. It may be in our soul’s best interest for us to generate a million dollars but not 50 million. The issue is not the pursuit but whether that pursuit is motivated by the soul or the ego.

Inside ourselves, there are always two fundamental channels of information available — the voice of the ego (the self) and the voice of our infinite Being (the Self). They operate on two different frequencies and have different characteristics. The one common trait of the ego voice is that it always speaks first and it always speaks the loudest. The Self, on the other hand, is heard and felt in the quiet space within — the still, small voice within. This voice shows up in the feeling space, in the intuitive heart. 

We have a choice on which of these two channels we tune ourselves to. Whichever voice we spend more time listening to, the more we attune to that channel.  

Because the Self’s natural state is to radiate the best for us, and because the ego has no idea what is best for us nor how to get us there, it is in our best interest to surrender our personal (ego-based) agenda and open to receive from the Infinite Flow. As you open to this, it is not simply an information flow. It is a flow that washes through your entire being, aligning it with the deepest wisdom, and then moving you through your life as an expression of this.

From an energy viewpoint, soul-level desire is the leading energy of the emergence of that manifestation, much like a bud is the leading edge of the emergence of a flower.

What desires are guiding you today, and where might they be leading you? By bringing conscious awareness to your desires through this framing, you will learn for yourself the difference in quality between the two types of desires. It then becomes easy to choose those soul-level desires that bring fulfillment and ignore those ego-based desires that drain you. Next time you feel a desire arise, pause and ask yourself: Is this coming from a place of emptiness or wholeness?

When we bring forth these deeper, soul-level desires, we are also given all we need to bring them into manifestation. We can trust the conscious, living, infinitely intelligent Universe of which we are. By following soul-level desires, we align ourselves with a deeper flow that brings true fulfillment. 🕉