“One truth you must consider. You are only as expansive, successful, joyous, peaceful and free as you truly love and accept yourself.”
~ Joseph
Welcome to 2013. What lies ahead is unknown but one things is for certain - you will be the creators of your experience. Exciting isn’t it?
What matters to you?
What has purpose and passion for you?
What inner messages are waiting to guide you forward?
Who do you want to become over the next 36O plus days?
What are you committed to make happen this year?
No, this is not a mythical story about a guy coming down from a mountaintop. It is more about the basics of what you need to keep in mind to live a vibrant and healthy life. (Thought you might appreciate these ideas for 2013)
These commandments may actually be more useful than the original ten in stone. More useful because they are about the well-being of your mind, your heart, your body and your spirit.
One day in my early 20’s something became very clear to me. I was walking up a long set of stairs and was breathing hard. I made a clear decision in that moment to be healthy and keep fit.
I made that decision because I wanted a long and vibrant life. I knew then that my choices about my well-being would shape the rest of my life.
Since that day my study and exploration of health and fitness has been a key part of my life. I have learned there are a number of universally important ways of being in the world that optimize health.
The following are 10 Commandments For Healthy Living. I offer them as a guideline for you in creating a life of true health and well-being.
Do you ever come to the end of a day and wonder where your day went and why you didn’t get more done? Maybe you were distracted. Consider this: Was your distraction self-induced?
By self-induced I mean you were doing things that spent the minutes of your day unconsciously. Examples could include time spent on: Facebook, Twitter, surfing the Web, playing video games, rehashing past dialogues, watching TV mindlessly, too much time viewing sports/movies/YouTube, stuck in the habit of worrying, and wasting time doing things that don’t matter to you.
December is near and so is the end of the year. All the talk and ideas about this being a great time of change has been interesting because speculation creates expectation and expectations feeds the collective mind to expand.
Can you feel the activation for change in you and around you? A kind of evolutionary call seems to be going across the planet.
Humanity appears to want to rise up and move to a richer more expanded expression.
· Can you feel the joy in your heart as it moves toward expansion?
· Have you sensed that you and many others are collectively tapping into this aptitude for compassion, for consciousness and for awakening?
· What other ways do you sense a call to further express who you are?
There are a number of ways or paths you can explore if you want to feed and grow your expansion.
One day after a very expansive experience, I decided to go looking for people that have had similar experiences. It was my good fortune to find a number of resources including books, interviews, videos and audios and even several live presentations. In these resources a number of people shared their experiences of awakening and self-realization. One of the insights that stood out for me is what I want to share with you today.
You and I live in a dynamic ever-changing world and we are in constant response to our thoughts and the world around us. In those responses there are basically two reactions. One reaction is to open and be receptive to what is present. The other reaction is to contract and close down to what is present. We are either opening or closing, expanding or contracting in all we encounter.
November is National Novel Writing Month. This is my third year participating in this adventure. The goal is to complete a novel of 50,000 words in 30 days. My two previous novels sit here on my computer. One day I will self-publish the first one.
The second novel was a story that was fun to write but very personal. I noticed it stayed with me after I finished it. Traces of the story seem to become part of a greater reality for me.
As I began plans for this novel I decided to approach it in a unique way. I would use it to influence my mind - especially my unconscious mind in ways to heal my past, to invite new possibilities of experiences, to encourage the expansion of my consciousness and to assist me in growing my abilities to be present, be aware and be more self-realized.
Recently something became very clear to me. I have known this idea for many years but it has taken time for me to really understand the impact of this statement: We shape our experience of life moment-by-moment by our thinking.
We all have the opportunity to live a life of joy and happiness. It is a choice we make throughout each day. If joy is not the choice then the results often included suffering. Suffering is a product of our mind running us, not us running our mind.
The following is a summarization of the mental obstacles to living a joyous life:
Today was a very sunny day here at the coast, actually warm if you sat in the sun. I decided to do an experiment in being aware in the moment. I hope this account of awareness might show you what you can notice by being fully present.
The noise of the ocean was present in waves of sound
My stomach talked to me about what I had for lunch
The warmth of the sun on my skin was comforting
I felt the chilled breeze off the Pacific as it surrounded me
There were moments of stillness and then thoughts coming and going
Crows always had something to say
This is not the time to timidly walk the planet in self-doubt. We as humans have spent too much time holding ourselves back.
We don’t question our thoughts and beliefs so they run us. What limits us, is not the outside world but the inside limitations we enforce with our thinking.
The ego has dominated the workings of humanity for most of our time on the planet. This ego force - and farce - has been the source of all human suffering. Yet this ego is but an imaginary mind creation set for self-sabotage, routed in the primal mind of fear and survival. It’s the juice of fight or flight.
Still we turn away from the inner knowing that invites us to be free of the thoughts and beliefs that hold us back. It seems we have become attached to the limits we think are ours. We won’t let go of our fears, the ones we don’t deny. They provide us an excuse, a way to explain our lack of commitment to anything other than just getting by. This is a path of mediocrity and we settle for that.
Have you had enough? Are you ready to set yourself free?
As a seeker, I have been traveling down this endless path that is ever expanding. I keep hoping for something that clarifies beyond doubt the best ways to be “me” in the world. It hasn’t happen. Has it happened for you?
So I am left with this vast expanding awareness that seems to keep breeding more awareness.
Can't it be simple?
Maybe, maybe not
Why not?
Well it goes like this:
Lately what I thought was real has been dissolving and a new more glorious picture of what is possible has been coming into clarity. This has me shook up inside and very excited. I love change towards higher expression and sharing this journey with you.
This deeper exploration is about “who I am” beyond any past limiting concepts. I have been pleasantly surprised by the ease at which old self-definitions are giving away to a much larger understanding.
This exploration is not for the timid. Your personal foundation will be significantly rattled before the dust of self-remodeling settles. Fortunately your inner resources are more than up to the task.
Today I want to share with you five ways of meeting with awareness as you take this journey towards a greater you. These points of contact with awareness each offer you an opportunity to take a giant leap of growth that will change forever the way you view yourself and the world.
Books have always been an important source of insight for me. They have even flown off the shelf demanding I have a look at them. Recently a book (The Awakening West by L.M. Lumiere and J. Lumiere-Wins) quietly drew my attention. Immediately I knew words of wisdom awaited me inside.
The words that caught my attention drew me back to my work with awareness. I have seen many people's lives incredibly transformed in a moment of awareness.
You and I live in critical times that will shape the destiny of humanity and the planet. We were born to be part of this time because of our unique capacities. These capacities can only be realized if our minds and hearts are open.
Recently walking through a parking lot (I know this seems like an odd place but frankly any place is wonderful when the light goes on), I had a moment of great clarity. I welcome these moments of insight. They feel like a gift from a much wiser source of knowing than my ordinary mind.
The clarity was – The time is now for everyone to step forward with a total openness of mind and heart. This openness is essential for all of us to break from the old stuck ways that no longer work. Once liberated, together we can create new more expansive forms of expression.
New forms of expression are needed across our social structures, business models, economic systems, human services, planetary practices, and political and religious organizations. They could all work better for the good of all humanity and the planet.
You and I are here now to be powerful agents for positive change. The challenge is how to do this. How can we bring the endless flexibility and genius of our open minds and the infinite compassionate wisdom of our open hearts to work together for the greater good of all life on the planet? The task is monumental, the challenges never ending, and thankfully our possibilities and potential are awesomely incredible.
You come equipped with incredible inner resources. You are built for success. You have all you need to fully express who you are with passion and purpose.
All you have to do is open to the wise knowing within. This wisdom is available because you have these inner resources onboard:
o Your body is ready to guide you to greater health and well-being.
o Your mind hungers for more exploration and learning.
o Your hearts is full of loving kindness and compassion waiting to be expressed.
o Your intuition is whispering to you right now about how to live more fully.
o Your spirit invites you to expand almost constantly.
Are you open to this deeper knowing? Are you listening to the guidance provided to you whenever you tune in? Do you follow what you know inside is right for you to do?
Life has a way of shaping you. Sometimes the formative experiences of life push you towards what or who you want to be and other times they bend you away from what matters.
Experiences that open you up, make you available for all kinds of meaningful possibilities. Ones that cause you to close, be fearful or unsure can send you down a narrow path of less opportunities.
You can interpret life’s events and situation in ways that close you down. You might close your heart to keep safe, or close your mind to be right. You could even let emotions like fear run your life.
You can also take what comes your way and see it from the perspective of learning and growing. That way all experiences add more to your bank of understanding and awareness. You might actual learn to welcome adversity and challenges.
There are times when our energy gets stuck. You know you’re when your energy is low. This is when you need a big shot of something different. The good news is that you can shift almost instantly from what isn’t working to move into a mind, heart, body and soul states that will change things for the positive.
The other great benefit of changing your state is that you empower your power. You show yourself you can make things happen and that translates into more confidence and builds your positive sense of self.
Take these shifters for a drive around the block and appreciate the energy of feeling more fully alive:
- Deepen and/or slow your breath for a few minutes.
- Go for a walk, sense your body and encounter the beauty around you.
- Put a smile on your face and feel the energy of the smile spreading through you.
- Reach out to someone who is energizing and fun.
Recently I have been sensing in my heart and spirit that the time is ripe with possibilities for a major transformation on the planet. The need for real change is something most of us feel at a deep level of our being. What do you sense/know of the importance of this moment in human history and what part do you see yourself playing?
Keep this in mind. Everything humanity has created began as a thought, an image, or a moment of insight or inspiration inside our minds. There are endless wonderful creations (art, design, music, dance, compassionate acts and much more) and a number of things we messed up on (war, believing our fears, politics, the greed agenda, and many more).
The point here is that we created all this - both the wonderful and the less than wonderful. So we can recreate or create anything that would be beneficial to all of us. There really is no known limit to human creativity.
If you enjoy a good walk, you will enjoy a walking meditation. Walking meditation is a way to be up and moving and yet allows you to enter into a place of stillness and inner peace.
You can walk through a neighborhood, a park, a schoolyard (off hours), on a trail, on a circular path, on the way to and from work, or around your block. Walking in this matter brings you more fully present to the areas you travel through. You may even notice beauty and points of interest you missed before.
Walking meditation quiets your mind, helps release tension in your body and encourages you to tune in and hear the wisdom within. After a meditative walk you are likely to have a more peaceful mind, a relaxed body and an intuitive sense of what is right for you.
Here is my favorite prescription for the ultimate in walking meditation experience:
This is an awesome Friday-the-13th opportunity. I wrote about this on Wednesday and am posting it again so you don't miss this exceptional offer.
NOW + HOW = WOW
This is the formula for an amazing life.
***I have an offer for you ***
If living in the NOW calls you,
Let me show you HOW
Then your life becomes full of WOW
My offer is: You can receive a month’s worth of personal consultations (4 sessions) to assist you in living in the Now so I can show you How. My regular session fee for 4 consultations would be $400 but for this offer the first 10 people get these 4 sessions for half price $200 (these session are going quickly, act Now). Then together we can celebrate the Wow of life.
Email me (joseph@josephbernardphd.com) today to set up your first session.
If you know someone who would really appreciate and benefit from this offer, please forward this email. I will extend the half-off offer to any friend of yours that you feel would value being more present in their lives.
I would enjoy making a positive difference in your life and you can have more wow.
