Be Your Vision.
On the journey of transformation, from where you are now to where you want to be may only be a slight gap, but the mind may make it seem
like a mighty chasm.
Why?
A safety mechanism to keep you in the warm comfort zone, to keep the familiarity and predictability of the known.
Where you are headed requires a new version of you, the next level of your evolution requires the next level of you.
This current identity held onto dearly by the mind won’t be needed where you are going, actually eventually it will cease to exist
as you grow into this vision you have.
Of course this aspect of you is all you’ve ever known, all the ideas and beliefs and attachments - everything that’s got you this far - all the trials and tribulations and highs and lows - the things
that may define you (call this the ego)…
…will inevitably hang on for dear life.
It will say you can’t achieve that. You can’t be the artist or the business owner or teacher, or live that country or have that partner,
or earn that much money.
So what to do?
In my experience it comes down to these 3 steps (of course there is plenty that can be added here, but as a framework):
1: A clearly defined and detailed vision of the ideal that you want to become.
How would this person walk and talk? What do they eat? How would they spend their time? What is their morning and evening routine? How do they treat other people? How do they serve? How much do they earn? Where do they live? What is their self-talk and quality of mind? etc.
Take 5mins daily to immerse in the feeling and emotions of the vision as it were already here. The mind will challenge this in it’s subtle and sneaky ways, still, feel the energy of your vision.
2: Absolutely letting go of controlling the outcome
We do not have control over outcomes, but over process.
Overused phrase yes, but it’s true.
Continuous renewal of the present moment can be practiced.
The mind will say “so far to go, what’s the point”, all the obstacles, all the complexities, how will this come to fruition, all the reasons that this will not work etc. - these are old stories, you are writing a new one,
but this takes time.
Meditation shows it’s possible to shift relation to thoughts - not emptying the mind or control so you only have “positive” thoughts, but cultivating a new relationship to mental activity so you have authority
as to which ones you engage in.
Full energy is required in your application of this moment.
Be. Here. Now.
3: Action
Consistent steps, no matter how small, thae align with your vision. It’s the mundane and ordinary actions that compound, it’s only after an extended period of time can you look back and see the affects.
The point is actually be your vision.
To think and act as if you were already this ideal - not fake it, but engage in the small daily actions which are confirmation and
validation that you are that.
What I noticed in this process is that yeh, it’s not easy - going up against years of deeply embedded thought-pathways takes a lot of patience and persistence. But the repetition pays off and works in the same way that you have created what you see and experience now.
Over time, your energy begins to shift, you begin vibrating at a new frequency, you take more aligned actions towards your vision, you say no to things that take you away from it.
There’s now confidence in yourself, a new eneregetic expression emerges that is motivated by the process of becoming.
A complete renewal and fresh mindset begins
to take the place of what was before.
And things may not look exactly like your vision but
they will absolutely feel like it.
Shift your inner state by shifting what you believe you are
and the universe will correspond.
This is Law.
For more on these laws, check out works of Neville Goddard, 7 Laws of Hermetics (the Kybalion) and 7 Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra.
With love, always.x
Just don’t call it Meditation.
If you’ve followed me for a bit, you may be aware of my relationship to meditation.
Or maybe not.
One thing I’d say, it’s always shifting and changing.
As I become more aware of my mind and it’s tendancies, and come into greater contact with the ever present reality underneath this mental flow, there’s less attachment to the ideas I had about meditation.
I required strict formalities - certain time I would sit daily, posture and technique. There was a sense of enforced discipline that I felt was required to ‘acheive these higher states’.
The implication here is that I am doing a lot of things. But what I am noticing now is that there is far more simplicty here than what my mind wants to see or believe.
The mind wants complexities - it wants to solve problems and work things out. And so, to be with the simple act of breathing is difficult to stay with, it gets boring quickly.
Meditation is always happening.
You don’t have to do it.
It’s always here and now. There is a presence and awareness that permeates the fabric of existence.
And so when I sit to force some experience and call it ‘meditation’ I am creating the vey resistance to being with what’s already here.
Silent sitting seems more appropriate. Just being. Not doing anything. Not trying to acheive some special state.
In this recognition, there is more flow, an effortless awareness of breath, sensation, thought, feeling and sound.
And in the awareness of these things moving and shifting and changing, and in the practicing of letting them go when I get pulled in - I notice that there is an inner stability and foundation.
I am not the movement. But that foundation from which these things are noticed.
This felt sense of inner stillness, not trying to get still - which is like a manufactured stillness coming from the mind - this in my experience is easily lost at the slightest distraction.
But to feel the stillness that’s already here.
So, you may ask next time you sit for your practice:
”Is stillness here already?”
And see what arises.
This very act of asking brings awareness to the stability and stillness that’s already here, underneath the movement of the mind.
And just imagine how you’d move through your day connected to this inner stability…
Meditation is powerful in the proecss of transformation and vital in behaviour change. For you folks that need some hard data on this, there’s some cool science demonstrating this.
If you’re struggling maintaining a consistant practice or need help getting started, set up a free call to explore how 1:1 meditation sessions can support your practice.
Less Accumulation. More Subtraction.
It’s fair to say we live in an era that promotes accumulation and consumption - whether material things such as gadgets and clothes to information, entertainment and content.
What are we seeking? Is it the additional X, or the feeling it brings? Do we really need Y or are we using it to fill a void or some pain? Is acquiring more knowledge going to do the job of telling you the truth of who you are?
Why do I share this?
My experience is showing me that instead of this constant accumulation, it’s more about letting go of what actually gets in the way of me being who I already am, and expressing myself on a deeper level.
What if everything I ever want or need is already here, and it’s just about letting go of these things I hold onto so tightly?
What if we’re born with this seed that wants to blossom and work through each individual as a unique expression of the universal / God-source?
And this seed has just been covered over by the attachments I have to my personality, my role or identitiy or strongly held-beliefs?
I’m coming to see we are vessels, whereby when the mind is still and empty, something beyond emerges.
However, our vessels have become full through now fault of our own. Let’s say we come in as empty vessels with direct communion with the source of which we were made and the ability to transmit this. Like a radio receiver.
From this moment, we are accumulating and filling the vessel. Parental energy and behaviour, cultural and social norms, generational trauma, news & media etc. And on this goes through our life.
There is less and less space now for this source, God, inspiration - whatever you call it - to shine through. The radio cannot receive the neccessary frequency for the music to play.
The constant ruminating in the mind feels like so much energy is being drained.
The more I quieten the mind, the more I feel a sense of being aligned.
There are downloads, ideas and inspiration come through effortlessly. I am more able to hear the quiet whisper of intuition, usually drowned out by the loud chatter in the mind.
My poetry and content especially seem to most true when coming thru me, rather than me trying to force it (I started writing this 3.50am as I was woken naturally and I felt to write).
How to begin emptying the vessel?
- My meditation practice helps me to see what I hold onto, what are the most dominant thought patterns - mostly about I, me or mine, how I hold onto these ideas. The more I see them, the more I recognise where they come from and the more chance I have to let them go.
- Actively walking for the sake of walking and paying attention to the walking. Many people talk about the benefits of going for a walk to clear the mind, and suddenly things arise - solutions to problems or ideas. Cal Newport, author of Deep Work talks about this here.
- Bringing mindfulness to daily activities - to engage the senses completely is a way of getting out of the head and into the body. And as we do so, paying attention to the sensual experience, the mind chatter can rest and intuition can be heard.
Notic what happens when fully engaging in these.
They are not a quick fix but can certainly provide a quick glimpse into what is already here deep down, waiting to be discovered in the gaps between thought.
Don’t ignore these moments, they are evidence that we can wake up to our moment to experience and when we do, the potential for something else to arise is here too.
Peace.x
Still the Mind. Move The Body.
It feels good to move the body, there’s a real sense of feeling alive -
I’m aware of the energy that moves through me.
Having solely been (or at least it felt that way) locked into a mental existence, only relating to things cognatively - judgement, analysis, evaluation - all based on the thoughts that come and go;
I’m a bit more aware of my physical experience now.
Over the years my movement practice has changed, I’ve experimented with different ways of moving and that has helped me establish
the connection between my mind and body.
Only lifting to weights to try get bigger, where my mind is everywhere else but on the action. To 3 years on ashtanga yoga practice in 36 degree heat for the euphoric sensation upon completion.
I’ve had months bouldering interacting with “puzzles” and a year practicing mobilty with an expert who loved climibing trees as a way learning about the body. I also practiced jiu-jitsu for 8 months in NYC to face some fears.
I’m slowing down and allowing for a more intuitive practice of late. To do what feels right for my body in any moment, less forcing. I still love lifting weights, now with more awareness and for the stability it gives to my posture.
Nietzsche said “there is more wisdom in your body than
in your deepest philosophy.”
It’s a storehouse for so much beyond what the
mind thinks that it knows, the body always does.
As the book says “the body keeps the score” - it remembers what the mind forgets. All the stressful interactions and emotional charge secreated as chemicals in the body, that is not regulated and released, becomes stagnant in the body, affecting us many ways - check the book out it’s great.
The mind thrives to be still. The body wants to move. Maybe, in moden society, we’ve got that the wrong way round.
Movement creates physical sensation and so there is more to be aware of - making it easier to bring the attention here when you choose to.
In terms of meditation practice, I love to move & stretch
before sitting still for this reason.
It’s easier to notice the breath too. Another thing we may have lost touch with because of it’s automacity. Movement activates the breath, another anchor to this moment.
It seems this added awareness for me is helpful when subtle signs of stress arise, with more knowledge of what is happening in the body I can interrupt the build up and take action.
Roll the shoulders, ease the neck or take a breath etc.
And now if I don’t actively move my body for a day or so, it affects my…I feel less mentally sharp and lethargic.
In these states, I’m prone to letting other areas slip…what I eat suffers and I might smoke a cig or 2 more.
The mind affects the body and vice versa.
In a spiritual sense, it feels like now the gateway to higher states is through the body - the subtle yet powerful life force that permeates is always present but requires activation to be really felt.
I’m learning that mostly it’s about reconnecting to what’s already here, but over the years has been forgetten.
To get out of the head and into the body, at least once a day.x