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The most radical thing you can do in this world is to be mindfully present in the moment. There are always two choices to make at any moment - the choice to join with the endlessly complex drama of the apparent world... or the choice to stop and breathe.
Did you just stop and take a deep breath? We always have this choice, and if your mind is half as unruly as mine, you need to make this choice often and repeatedly if you want to create more peace in your life. Most of us are habituated to complicating our lives, acting out of avoidance and fear, or impulsive pleasure seeking (also a way of avoiding pain and fear). The ego - that part of us that is the "I" - the source of all misery, bad habits, searching for happiness in all the wrong places... that ego will do anything it can to stay in control and keep you running from your real Self. Being present in the moment moves you a giant step closer to your real Self, and diminishes the ego. The ego does not like that - as it is a threat to its existence... and of course "it" being you (the false you), it will create new fears, new desires, new distractions and projections onto the world and other people, in order to keep you confused, lost, and outwardly focused. So remember to take a good deep breath. Remember there is no emergency, the house is not on fire and you are actually, at this very instant, completely safe and perfectly okay. In fact at this very instant, you most likely do not really need anything at all that you don't already have. Fear lives in future and past concerns, and we worry to give ourselves a sense of control. In the present moment, there is nothing to do, nothing needed but to BE. Fear begins to evaporate the moment we welcome it, and stop fighting and resisting it. I have often said that if you don't have a spiritual practice - a way of staying centered in your own consciousness, that the world will devour you. Having just returned from a 10-day meditation retreat, I am reminded of how much we have to numb ourselves on a daily basis just to live in the everyday world. In prolonged silence and in nature we begin to vibrate differently, we begin to sense the world around us, and the more subtle world inside and everywhere, the energy of life fills our awareness. In contrast, the noise, the mindless pace, the anger, stress, and materialism of the modern "civilized world" looks more insane then it ever did when returning to it from the top of the mountain.
The only real truth is what lies within, and the only way to get there is through dedication to inner truth. For me, meditation is and has always been the deepest path to the core of my existence. I read a great quote today that was very simple, practical and reassuring. It basically was this: When you receive a technique for meditation, the greatest obstacle to your progress is to get discouraged because you are not getting "results" and then to quit your daily practice. It is a requirement, and a sign of your commitment to your greater self, to have the discipline and perseverance to meditate daily. It is practice, just as with anything we learn to do well. The rewards are infinitely greater than anything we can conjure up with our own minds, so dive deep, be consistent and choose to stay on the path. As we move through the darkest time of the year, let us be guided by our deep faith in the wisdom of our inner heart. Om Mane Padme Hum - May We Know the Self as the Clear Light within the Heart. Coaching or Psychotherapy can be used as a catalyst for creating your intention to seek the truth within. We all need reminders, support, encouragement and inspiration to keep on when life's obstacles make us forget who we are. "The remnants of pain left behind by every strong negative emotion that is not fully faced, accepted, and then let go of join together to form an energy field that lives in the very cells of your body. It consists not just of childhood pain, but also painful emotions that were added to it later... It is the emotional pain that is your unavoidable companion when a false sense of self is the basis of your life." -- Eckhart Tolle
Any negative emotions that we bury, suppress, deny, avoid, or hate within ourselves can be seeds that grow gremlins - nasty little creatures within us - often seeming to have an intelligence of their own, and intent on making us thoroughly miserable. They try to make us sick, guilty, ashamed, fearful, enraged. As long as we ignore them, or battle with them, they dig their teeth in even more. The idea or notion of fighting your inner demons is as old as humanity. Regardless of your beliefs or how you choose to understand the idea of "demons," one thing is for certain: what we bury in ourselves will eventually come back to bite us and can attack with a vengeance. There is a wonderful little self-help book by Rick Carson called Taming Your Gremlin. One thing I like about it is that it contains lots of ugly little cartoon drawings of people's various "gremlins." They usually look like little gargoyles or goblins. There is some humor in seeing them as these super ugly little critters that are the embodiment of the parts of ourselves we reject and deny in ourselves. They are exaggerations of our negative self-images. Sometimes they seem to be quite alive as separate entities within us, even on a physical level. My clients often describe this in very graphic terms. Sometimes the gremlin can seem like the exact opposite of every good quality that you feel is your real self. Rather than get freaked out by this and run away from it, or taking pills or drugs to numb ourselves to the pain and fear caused by this little gremlin, Rick Carson encourages a more introspective approach. Like any negative thought or feeling, the only way to let go is to first accept and acknowledge. A gremlin is like a problem child, having a raging tantrum. Trying to get our attention, either by inducing us to act out it's negative emotions (basically possessing us)... or by making us physically sick, weak or lethargic. The bottom line is - it wants our attention. If we try to ignore it, it screams louder. If we fight with it, it gets that negative attention and feeds off it, growing larger. Tapping, meditation, journaling, and art can all be powerful methods of making peace with our gremlins. First we identify it. Then we let it speak and give it some acceptance and attention. And then we let it transform naturally into an ally - or at least a weird little friend that stops causing us harm. Learn how to free yourself from these inner demons with EFT Tapping and Meditation. Tapping is a powerful mind-body technique that engages the energy system in order to assist the brain in letting go of habitual and automatic negative patterns of thought and emotion. Remember, tapping normally begins by tapping out the negative stuff - voicing the painful thoughts and feelings as you tap. That is what loosens it's grip on the mind and body. After that, you proceed to tap the positive statements. Do as many positive rounds as you want. If it feels good, do more of it. Always end on a positive note. Stay tuned for more tapping tips and ideas to lighten up! As we become more and more aware of how we are the artists of our own reality, we have to take more responsibility for what shows up. Some people spend a lot of time visualizing, writing down goals, writing narratives of the life story they desire to live... and yet when those things actually begin to show up, it can be scary, even terrifying. It's easy to slam the door shut when opportunity knocks. But when we get in touch with our heart's desire and hold our mental and emotional focus on that, it does begin to move towards us, whether we know it or not. The life of your dreams is probably not going to just descend on you like an LSD trip. It's more likely to begin with a phone call, or a text, or a knock at the door. It might be a chance encounter with an old friend, or an email from a coworker. It could be an invitation to an event. If you're not paying attention, or if you don't really believe that all your visualizing and praying might actually work, you are likely to overlook these little windows of opportunity. So practice saying yes.
It's not that we shouldn't use discernment. It's OK to say no when something really doesn't feel right, but be careful not to respond out of fear. Over-indulging in fear will shut you and your life down. Accepting an invitation can be the turning point in your life. Learn to listen to your intuition. It comes from down deep. It's not head talk, but heart talk that speaks the deepest truth. EFT Tapping is a great way to work with your subconscious fears and resistance to getting and having what you want. It can be used to your benefit in 3 main ways: 1. To remove the fear or resistance to positive change. 2. To program your mind to focus on and orchestrate the life you are seeking. 3. To manage your fear and self-doubt when good things begin to actually show up. In short, I recommend using EFT Tapping to remove your self-sabotaging beliefs and fears that block your success.... and then to clarify your real goals and desires... and then to keep you from freaking out when life begins to show up. Just remember, you're just an architect - an artist - you're not the the manufacturer of reality. Your little ego is not Master of the Universe! You are just directing the flow, not creating the river. Don't take yourself so seriously. Play and have fun any chance you get, and know that all things change - both pleasure and pain - so don't cling to any of it. Your only real and lasting bliss resides inside you. Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;  The darkest prison known to humankind is the mind in a state of fear. The world out there is not some solid and definite thing with it's own truth. Ask 100 people what they see and feel and you will get 100 different answers. We each live in a bubble of our own reality and while we at times may cluster together with other people's bubbles, we still have our own separate perspectives, beliefs, assumptions and expectations.
Reality as you know it is a world of your own making. The biggest obstacle to true freedom is ignorance of the true self. What most people don't yet understand, is that the mind - your mental image of yourself, your thoughts about yourself, your title, your job, your identity with which you present yourself to the world - is simply an illusion. ' The final frontier is the mind. Within the mind lies our greatest enemy, and also our liberation. The world has so many books, so much philosophy and so many pathways to personal growth, yet in the final hour, all that remains to do is to let go. We are holding on due to fear. We are resisting the truth, avoiding our true essence, hiding our authentic being from others, hiding, hiding always. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a simple tool, an easy technique, that you could use for yourself anytime you decided you wanted to let go of a thought or negative feeling, or dysfunctional old belief or behavior pattern that was causing you unnecessary pain and suffering? Well there is, and it's called EFT (Tapping). |
Author, Ben Schwarcz
Transformational Coach, Psychotherapist, EFT Tapping Practitioner, Teacher and Author. Archives
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© 2024 Benjamin Schwarcz, MA, ACAP-EFT Tapping Coach | 509 7th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401 | 707.326.5566 | [email protected]