When we go about our day, we are impacted by a variety of things. The most important being the quality of the air we breathe ... and how we are breathing in each moment. Another important element involves everything we put into our body: food, drink and the more subtle effects of things we can absorb through our skin etc. The final, and often least considered by some, are the various and continuous impressions we receive.
This last category of impressions involves the following: the impressions we receive from our own thoughts, words and actions; the thoughts words and actions of all people we encounter; the things we place our attention on all day long and the invisible (generally speaking), impressions in and around us at all times.
All of the above equates, ultimately and on the simplest of terms, to the energy we will either gain or lose through the interaction of us and the impression. We can learn to efficiently gather and conserve (store) energy vs. leaking and losing it. We will experience this as a result of the various practices we do, and in life every day.
Observe when you have an emotional high or low. Track your energy level regularly .... inside and around you. Ask yourself: How have I been breathing and what quality of air? How have I been eating and drinking and what has been the quality of that? What sort of impressions have I been around and/or entertained inside and around me for the last little while? So many things can be listed here; for example, the music you listen to, images you look at, things you watch on TV or otherwise, books you read ... interactions with others ... and on and on.
An extreme example, here, is the fact that people who simply witness a violent or traumatic event can experience severe symptoms of stress .... physically, emotionally and mentally - even to the point of requiring treatment even though they were not directly involved. In most cases, we do not experience this dramatic example; however, our energy is impacted continuously and we can develop the sensitivity to feeling this in even the simplest of daily impressions.
Learn to tell the difference between hysterical, driven, hyper, imbalanced highs and the highs which are the result of an energetic gain within the system as a result of Work. The artificial high, which often indicates addiction or artificial stimulation, will be followed by a predictable crash .... somewhat similar to what people will notice who observe themselves on sugar, certain foods, alcohol, caffeine or an emotional high. These artificial boosts of energy impact the organs and create imbalances - depending on the amount taken and the degree of the emotion. The low will usually come shortly after the high.
Learning to tell the difference can be tricky until you learn this yourself and experience it ... then when you know yourself well enough you can observe/feel this difference in others. One has to be cautious of judging others who have a high level of energy - to the untrained eye it may appear they are hyper etc, but they are simply full of vitality and energy ... outwardly it may look the same in some circumstances. They have the ability to be quite still inside and out for long periods and also the ability to move about dynamically due to their high level of energy.
One point to remember: As a result of doing some practices - especially when you push yourself and are growing, you may encounter periods of low ... this is not the same as the artificial low which comes after the artificial high. Emotional issues may surface, or you may feel tired for a while. All of this is to be expected at times. Emotionally, things surface in order to come to the light to be transformed; avoid distracting yourself from this ... go into it, see it for what it is without reacting ... bring light to it and know it ... see it ... accept it and let it go. If necessary, and you require assistance at this time, take a counsel session(s) for additional insight and guidance ... work through it and transformation will occur. As for the feelings of being tired, we develop wisdom and communication with the body through practice and time .... we learn when to push forward anyway and when to lighten up but keep moving. We come to see that this is a part of the later energy gain.
We learn, as we Work, to conserve and store energy in order to use it for our Work. It becomes like a feedback loop.... Work, gain and store energy ... use it to do more Work ... to gain and store more energy. Getting to higher levels of the Work is not possible without having higher levels of energy and health to work with!!! If we are losing energy on many of the other ways I have mentioned, we have very little left for the real Work. We will only be able to Work with what we have available.
This is why we study ourselves and our uses of energy. We eventually learn to master ourselves ... first by knowing ourselves well enough to determine WHAT IS THIS ENERGY HIGH OR LOW REALLY ABOUT in our daily life. Then with eventual mastery of ourselves, the choices we make and the lifestyle we lead reflects that we truly know how energy works. In this way, we learn to track our energy and manage it very quickly without spiralling down into significant loss of energy and eventual illness. We are so fortunate to be given so many wonderful tools which can assist us in being ... living our potential ... ultimately it is about being able to realize this for the truth it is ... and then to do it.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Awaken more deeply in every day
Some students find it challenging to remain present during movements in a formal session. Thoughts about dinner, the neighbor, family or other challenges we face in our day come rushing forward as we are working to remain present with our movement, energies flowing inside, breath and the moment. So how are we once we leave the dojo/sacred space? Most people, when they honestly observe themselves, come to realize quite quickly that remaining present and aware inside and out in the moment is not as easy as they thought. Observing ourselves in this way is very revealing.
We can come to know our thought patterns, speech patterns and ways of moving and acting in the world and inside of ourselves. All these things contribute to our perception of reality and creation of our world - inner and outer. All these keep us from seeing, feeling, and hearing more of God's (Great Spirit, Tao, Universal Energy) Energy inside and all around us. Once this door is open, we realize that we really saw, smelled, felt and heard very little before.
Observing our movements in a formal class can assist us in finding areas in our form where energies are not flowing, where our awareness is lacking, where tensions and stresses are stored and so on. So many of us are quite disconnected from the wisdom of the body which is always wanting to whisper its secrets to us ... it will tell us immediately all sorts of things about our present reality and experience in the moment. The body will tell us about the energies we encounter and how we are handling the experience of these energies. The body will even tell us where it is safe and where it is not. Working formally with the body in specific ways, we can release the past energies which are stuck and then become solidified ... utilizing all the tools we learn, we free our selves over time, with work. Working to awaken ourselves and unite all aspects of our being in turn awakens abilities we consider extraordinary.
How much work and for how long? ... students will ask about their healing process ... and the road to enlightenment .... once again, we are not, in reality, a boxed in organism like some organizations treat us with their rigid systems ... we are truly unique and so this answer depends on the path you currently walk ... and mostly on you. All of us require the freedom to grow and utilize tools according to our level of being.
Awaken more deeply in every day. Application, consistently, over time, of the tools we learn will assist us in this. Keep these pitfalls listed below in mind, and rather than quickly say that you do not do these things, simply be interested in observing yourself the way you are ...when you catch a moment where one of these arises within you, simply be aware of it without labelling or judging yourself ... breathe, and consciously shift your attention to something in the moment worth your energy.
Pitfalls: gossip, judgment (of all these things, it applies to yourself too ... judging your self, gossip of self etc.), comparison, labelling, criticism, unconscious daydreaming, rehearsing negative scenarios and experiences which happened and which you find unpleasant and unresolved, outward expressions of sarcasm (sarcastic humour is tricky ... is often used as a way to take stabs unconsciously at people and then we laugh and write it off as humour)etc. These are some traps which keep us in a negative focus.
Another key is to observe yourself without judgment around others ... notice your energies inside, your thoughts, your emotions rising ... your body movements .. these observations will tell you much about yourself and the way you deal with the energies of others. It is a rich ground for soul development. The key here is to develop enough awareness to be able to reflect on these things. As a teacher and counsellor for many years, I have observed the ways in which we hold the truth back from ourselves, and it is sad, really, because it traps us from seeing reality, moving forward and freeing up more of the Universal Energy to flow within us ... providing greater levels of health and ability. This work, is once again very individual and so we are where we are and will only see what we are willing and able to see now.
We will encounter moments when unknown (unconscious to us) aspects of our selves come forward as a result of doing our work ... we may then be confronted with a mirror ... depending on the level we are at when we receive such a clear instance of our unconscious and perhaps unhealthy patterns, this can be very challenging. It is our ability to face these moments and see something .... no matter how hard it may be .... which determines our ability to then transform it. This is one meaning of the light coming into the darkness within ... the space remains dark as long as we do not see and transform it. Then, on a literal level, when we are freer inside and all around our form, it translates into the quality of light which we are.
Awaken more deeply in every day. Find out, through honest self-reflection the tricky ways you have learned to keep the inner truth from yourself. Learn to love your Work. Love and accept yourself exactly as you are without justifying why or how you must remain as you are. Allow yourself to expand and grow spiritually. Learn to love truth and to see yourself the way you really are. Be happy when you uncover another layer to work on ... no matter how difficult you may imagine it to be. Know that this frees you and that you are divine - you can transform anything.
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