“Get out of your head and into the game.”
Yes, that was our theme at TCA this year, and it really resonated with everyone.
Easier said than done, though, right? It’s been an issue for us humans since we realized that we didn’t need to have a mastodon in the room to talk about it.
Meditation has been used for eons to get you out of your head. You sit in stillness until the silt in the water settles to the bottom and you are left with a clear stream. Great stuff. And the more you practice it, the deeper the stream runs.
Big problem for most of us, though, is when we leave the zazen pillow and get back to irate bosses, crying babies, and rush hour commutes. Meditation sets a baseline of coherence, but it is a fragile state.
Will there be residual benefit? You better believe it. But for many, it’s not enough. They can’t maintain that clear-mind state while dealing with the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”
We need a bunch of tools that can help us get out of our story and deal with what is going on in the present moment, calmly and effectively.
This one is out of left field and I love it.
Maria and Kiara
Maria introduced one of my favorite tools at the traditional Saturday night healing session at TCA. It’s called Ho’oponopono. (I’ve been using it lately with amazing results.)
It’s an ancient Hawaiian healing system, a way of changing your present circumstances by changing your own consciousness/energy. The essence of the system is taking responsibility for your energies and thoughts and the effect that they have on everyone else. This is summarized beautifully in a prayer/mantra that appears in the book,
Zero Limits by Joe Vitale and Hew Len.
It’s crazy simple. (And if you know me, you know I am fond of simple solutions.)
Let’s imagine that you are stuck in a mental loop that keeps feeding on itself like a deranged ouroboros (see my earlier post The Ouroboros of Worry). The same chain of thoughts keeps popping up. It may be regret for saying the wrong thing to the boss, or anxiety and self-doubt about a new venture.
You know what I’m talking about. We are trying to “solve” an issue by looking for the answer in our mind. But maybe if the answer was in the “mind” we would already know it. It’s not giving up because we are caught up in an energy pattern.
The solution is to change the energy by changing our relationship to the issue.
How?
Try saying the following to yourself, while holding the issue in mind:
“I’m sorry.”
“Please forgive me.”
“Thank you.”
“I love you.”
Repeat as needed.
Repentance. Forgiveness. Gratitude. Love.
It even works to heal physical problems. So many times our health issues are entangled with blame, shame, and regret. Those things stick us in the past and don’t allow for healing NOW.
Give it a whirl. But you can’t just say it rotely. You have to say it with you whole being. You have to meet the problem authentically with repentence, forgiveness, gratitude, and love.
What if you “know you’re right” and “he’s the one who should apologize!” Doesn’t matter. You are doing this for You, not for anyone else. And when you change your attitude, don’t be surprised if all that charge between you disappears too. Well, maybe some of it.
Change your energy, and you change your circumstances.
Then you can get back into the game.
