“I’m a lucky man, with fire in my hands”

- The Verve

I’ve always been a lucky guy. My mom says I have a horseshoe stuck squarely up my @*$$. We’ve all heard clichés regarding luck like it’s “when preparation meets opportunity”. I guess that’s one way of putting it. I tend to think it’s about being in right relationship with yourself, ridding yourself of any energy that’s holding you back, and then being open (and then accepting) to what the universe presents to you.

But what is “right relationship” with yourself?

How do you clear your energy?

And how can you calm your turbulent mind so that you can hear what the universe is trying to present to you?

Right Relationship

The indigenous Peruvians call Right Relationship being “in Ayni”, meaning “so as I give, so shall I be provided for”.

Right relationship is striving to always to be honest with yourself and to live with no regrets. It’s about being in integrity with your thoughts and actions. It’s bestowing peace upon yourself, with even those parts of you that you might not like so much.

For example, there’s something that I really don’t like about myself. For all of my open-hearted and action-oriented talk, I tend to waste more time than I’d like to admit. I’m rarely satisfied with the amount of action that I’m able to put towards my path and mission in any given day. I see this clearly about myself and I’m working on it. One of the things I’m meant to do more of is simply to write and express myself creatively. (All I know is that it’s happening right now as I write these words. Well, actually what’s happening is that I’m getting out of my way enough to allow the words to flow out of me.)

But in order to allow them to flow, I had to give myself some time. I had to create some space in my own mind to let these words come. But that’s me. What about you? Are you in or out of your own way today?

Turning this concept of “Ayni” inward, how can you give to yourself in a greater way so that you can make sure that you’re always provided for?

Energy Clearing

How are you feeling about what you’re up to?

Our feelings have an energy to them.

I’ve been thinking a lot about energy lately. We all go through experiences in our lives that cause us harm. This can be things from past relationships, job situations, family situations, etc. Even though we may not be thinking of these old wounds anymore, and in spite of our best efforts to try not to let them affect us, we still carry around the energy of them. (Just think how easy it is for us to fly off the handle or overeact when we’re in a situation that mirrors that past experience). We don’t want these things to affect us the way that they do, but when something triggers it, we can’t help but feel that emotion.

We all have buttons that can be pushed. People can spend years talking in therapy about their buttons and what happens when they are pushed. You can understand clearly how you react when your buttons are pushed.

What if I told you there was a way to simply remove the button?

Would you believe me?

I’ve been folding in Energy Clearing work with my life coaching clients for about the last year now. It’s been powerful work. Things that used to take months of trying to shift at the mental level, we’re now able to shift in one or two sessions energetically.

If you’d like to explore how you can release those things that have been pestering you for years, that in spite of all of your best efforts, still seem to persist and weigh you down, then email me back and tell me a little about your situation. If you’d like to see how you can step more freely and fully into your highest existence, then please be in touch. I’d be glad to see how I could be of service to you.

Calming Your Turbulent Mind to Hear What the Universe is Presenting to You

We worry about a lot of crap.

So says Curly from the movie City Slickers. I agree. If you stop for a minute and just pay attention to your thoughts, you’ll come to the conclusion that your mind is mad.

Sometimes the best that can be achieved in meditation is to separate the thought from the thinker, meaning to watch yourself having your thoughts without becoming them. (An example would be – I’m having the thought that I could be disappointed because I can’t seem to quiet my mind vs. I’m annoyed.)

Think of your mind as a still lake. If a wind were to blow, then it would cause ripples in the lake, obscuring your reflection. Your thoughts are like those ripples. You’ll never hear anything as long as your inner lake is turbulent. It’s only by maintaining a sense of stillness that you can hear what the universe is presenting to you.

(Sounds great, John. But how do I maintain a sense of stillness?)

I’ve learned that there are two parts of our minds, the conscious and unconscious. All negativity, fear, and turbulence comes from the unconscious part of our minds. Genie O’Malley, my friend and author of Clear Mind, New Planet, says that you know it’s your unconscious because it asks you a question. Usually, it’s something along the lines of “Who do you think you are that you can achieve that?”

She has a revolutionary breath technique that literally dissolves the unconscious mind, so that you experience more love and light in your life. (See www.BreathInstitute.com if you’d like more info.)

Another way is to sense instead of think. There’s a scene from the Tudors (I love that show!) where a musician is sitting under a tree. Another guy comes by and asks “What are you thinking about?”. He replies, “I’m not thinking, I’m listening”.

We all have the capability to stop thinking so damn much and just sense. Just start hearing, seeing, tasting, and feeling more. In any given moment, there are many things to notice. (Please take a break from the newsletter, pay attention, and see what you can sense in this moment. The universe may even have a message for you.)

How can you cultivate more luck?

Well, first you have to rid yourself of the energy that’s holding you back. Then you have to have a pure intention, one that serves not just yourself, but others in the highest way. One that will require you to put the intention out to the universe with a pure heart.

Next, you have to clear your mind so you can see and hear(sense) what the universe is presenting to you. Then(and this is the crucial, final step), you have to accept the gift. Do you feel that you’re worthy to accept the beautiful gifts that are right in front of you, or right around the corner waiting for you?

You can do some beautiful work in releasing energy, putting out intentions, and calming your mind to hear the heartbeat of the universe, but if you aren’t truly willing to accept the gifts, then you’ll only be floundering around with spiritual concepts. You’ll have a mixmash of experiences that can be cool and heart opening, and maybe even enlightening. But only by accepting the gifts, will you allow yourself to move forward on your path.

And after all, isn’t that what we really want? We want to feel like we’re moving forward. Not backwards, not sideways, not in a zigzag or loopy way, but just forward. There may not be such a thing as a straight line in nature. So what? Our paths probably won’t be linear and straight, but there still has to be a way to move forward.

Be your own lucky man(or woman) and move forward in your life.