Make Of Yourself A Light

“Make of yourself as light.” This is one of the last things the Buddha said as he passed according to Jack Kornfield the esteemed meditation teacher in an interview at Sounds True.  See what else he said because I was very inspired and wrote this blog in honor of the light waiting in all of us.

The Buddha was en-light-enment and he saw the light in all of us.   What light in you have you been aware of?  How do you turn your light on?  How do you turn away from your own light?

This seems like an important directive from one of the truly awakened ones to have resided on Earth.  So how do we make ourselves a light? 

By no longer denying your spiritual nature

By allowing your heart to be your guide

By loving yourself

By ceasing all self-judgment and self-condemnation

By shrinking the inner critic

By totally and completely accepting yourself

By opening to your magnificence

By letting the past go

By welcoming all you feel

By recognizing the unlimited nature of who you are

By waking up in every way you can

By seeking to be more conscious

By quieting the mind

By following the guidance of your intuition

By not living in accordance with the ego-mind

By being kind to others

By showing compassion for the suffering

By exploring your Buddha Nature

By living with purpose

By being present to the now

By remembering who you are beyond the personality

By always seeking growth and insight

By opening to more awareness

By discovering that which is indestructible within

By moving toward the light of truth

By not getting caught up in the limiting story in your own mind

By following what brings you bliss

By doing what makes you feel energized and alive

By relaxing into the flow of life

By taking risks and not playing it too safe

By loving endless all who cross your path

By encouraging the best in others

By feeling the fear and doing it anyway

By walking the path of lifetime learning

By turning your light on when you first wake up and letting it shine all day

By caring for others

By no longer worrying because it does no good

By noticing and ending all self-limitations

By remembering your spiritual nature cannot fail

By no longer blaming and complaining

By caring for the well-being of your mind, heart and body

By turning toward difficulties as teachers

By building health relationships

By aligning the energy of the charkas

By breathing with awareness

By no longer thinking negative towards others

By fully expressing your potential

By expanding your capacities

By letting joy be the guiding force for how you live your life

By finding the path to happiness and peace within

By celebrating life as fully as you can each day

The world and all humanity are awaiting your light.



Peace, Born To Run, Fitness, And The Body Potential

Yesterday I wrote the president for the 100^th time to request that the US remove itself from the wars we are in.  Still no positive results to report.  It seems that wars are more important then the needs of the people as far as our government is concerned.   I will continue to write the president but I will not put them on my blog regularly because I have increasingly grown tired of the political process and may minimize my political comments.  That does not mean I have less energy for social change.  Each day whether it is stated directly or not, this blog is about the ultimate in real change and that is the raising of consciousness in us all.  If we expand into the possibilities of who we are peace is a given and so is the well-being of us all and the planet itself.

I just finished the best and most interesting book on running I have every read, Born To Run by Christopher McDougall.  Most of my readers may not realize that I did my dissertation on the psycho-spiritual benefits of running back in the 80’s.  I have been a distance runner since 1975 and this book is a real inspiration and motivation for me.  This is a great story and is full of interesting ideas and information that have me actually looking at running from a fresh perspective.

This week is a vacation for me.  I needed a break from the all the needs and worries of my clients.  When I take time off I often get physical as a way to re-energize my life and blow out the old stale past vibes.   I was so motivated by Born To Run that I ran through the mountains yesterday for one hour and forty minutes and I still had more energy in my tank.  One of the exciting pieces of information I read was that people well into their sixties can continue to increase fitness and actually may be more fit than people much younger.  Since I want to live long and strong this got me focused on how I can put more variety in my workouts because routines have a diminishing effect on fitness.

When you and I think about exploring untapped potential or unrealized capacities we often forget about our bodies.  Yes we can get stronger, we can move more gracefully, we can run farther, we can increase our aerobic fitness, we can expand our flexibility, and more.  

I love the energy of being fit and if you want to get started it is easy to do.  Walking is the best and simplest form of exercise and it takes no special equipment and generally doesn’t cause overuse injuries.  If after a while you want to push yourself, you can go for faster walks or find some hills to go up.  If you want to get stronger there are a number of body weight exercises that will get you fit fast.  If interested, do a search on the web for body weight exercises.  If flexibility is what you are after find a yoga or tai chi class in your community or take up dancing.  You body may complain initially but soon it will enjoy the energy and aliveness it feels.   Yes our bodies have the ability to expand their capacities too.   



Say Goodbye To Fear Within And End All Wars

How many weapons do we need to banish fear?  How many bombs do we need on hand to end our fear?  The answer is there will never be enough.  The US has enough bombs now to destroy everyone on the planet 10 times over and we still spend money to develop new weapons systems.   All of these weapons are about the human ego being afraid of loosing control.  Yes there are people out there we need to defend against but they are a minority that can be handled by other means than more bombs. 

The place to begin real change in this country and on the planet is to go inside and take charge of your thoughts that are the creators of all fear.  Most fear is not real, it is a thought; an emotional response to that thought.  We are all well trained human beings.  We know not to cross a busy street or go into unsafe places.   Most other fears are of the unknown genre amplified by our thinking, the lurking darkness, the forces of self-doubt, the religious suggestions, the haunting memories, the worries of living, of losing self in the intimacy of another etc. 

If we were to take a few minutes to become mindful and spacious these fears would shrink.  Mindful means simply noticing and acknowledging what thoughts are present.  Being spacious means to be present to what emotions are arising and surround them with acceptance and compassion.  Shrinking our fears through being present to them means they not longer are running us but more observed and accepted.  When fear is seen for what it is, we no longer have to let it dictate our response to the world.

Global change comes from inner work, from the expansion of consciousness.  With consciousness fear is more a wave in the ocean of life that we simply ride through until we get to our destination.  Right now it could be an oily wave if we find ourselves in the BP mess in the Gulf.  That oil spill is clear example of the lack of higher consciousness and our nation’s response seems run by the fear of angering corporate influences.  When will we all wake up enough to see that both fear and its partner greed are not higher values and should not be running this nation at any level?

Back to fear and what we can do about it.  First stop being run be the fear inside our own head.  Next when fear arises use it as window for awakening.  Fear means we have contracted our mind and body to deal with something we have created as an enemy to our safety or well-being.  Soften that reactivity by bringing light into the equation and see it from a place of higher knowing within.  Impartiality is very helpful here.  Seeing what is without judging self or others.   Witnessing what forces are driving us inside allows us to make other choices.

One last thought, human ego is the creator of fear, all wars, and the endless barrage of useless opinion on the airways.  Shrinking the ego’s influence would transform the planet in ways many of us are beginning to imagine.  Imagine a world where higher consciousness and compassion are the guiding forces.

Peace Letter #100

Dear President Obama,

Can we step back for a moment and impartially view what has been going on lately.  BP is doing a very poor job at stopping the leak and cleaning up its mess.  Maybe the Navy or some other competent government force needs to intervene? 

There are programs being cut from daycare and schools, while we spend billons in Afghanistan and Iraq.  What is wrong with this?  Our nation is run fear and this paradigm is no longer working.  How about bringing a dose of higher consciousness into the mix and instead resolve problems from compassionate action and what is best for the greater good?

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Extension of the Dimension – 10 Ways To Explore

Since my post on Friday I have been thinking about: How we can more fully realize our oneness with the Divine?  When it comes down to it there is nothing more important than exploring our spiritual nature.  Every person I know who has some degree of consciousness realizes that our inner work is to be the spirit we are because we know little else matters or is as meaningful.

Yes exploring and expressing love is also important and in fact may be the same thing.   As we open our hearts we know our higher nature and as we seek to realize the Divine within us we open our hearts.   Yes to be a realized spiritual being means to be able to love and have compassion for all.

The full realization of our Divine Nature is possible to us in several ways starting immediately.  These ways include:

1. Slow down and be fully present to the moment
2. Dropping all self-judgment and condemnation and instead adopting the place of total self-acceptance
3. Listening to the flow of wisdom, the intuitive knowing within in the silence of the now
4. Stepping out of the reality of the physical world and expanding into the realm of spirit
5. Opening the heart to the infinite love of the unity of all being, there is no separation
6. Drop the barriers of thought and past and notice what exists in the deeper stillness
7. Lift out of the body and explore life without boundaries
8. Be at peace, with quiet mind and joyous anticipation and watch what presents itself
9. Kindly drop all limitation with appreciation for how they have helped the journey and stand their naked of defenseness and old self-talk
10. Live as if the full realization of spirit is the reality of life until it is.

Thanks for journeying with me.



Expanding Capacities Part 11 – Extension Of The Dimension

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First notice the new ads over on the right.  This blog now has an affiliate arrangement with Sounds True and I am very excited about that because Sounds True is a fabulous resource with great products and lots of free stuff.  If you purchase one of their many programs through this add I will get paid 10%.  That is a sweet deal because you are going to love what they have to offer.  I am usually not a commercial but this company is the best I can imagine as a partner.

So on my way home I was again listening to one of the free podcasts over at Sounds True and this idea of you and I being an Extension of the Dimension came to inspire me.  This Dimension can be called, God, Divine Mother, Great Spirit, Source Energy, Allah, Perfect Love, Buddha Nature or whatever works for you.   We are an extension of what is holy and divine, that which is the creative force of the universe.

This idea of you and I being an extension of this universal source means we have certain qualities within that we may not yet have realized.   As an extension we have these following unlimited capacities:

         We can manifest whatever we can imagine from the place of our divine nature

         We have the capacity to understand and have compassion for all beings

         We have the capacity to love without any limits

         We have the capacity to be full conscious and aware beings

         We can heal others and ourselves if that is what we desire

         We can enter into oneness with the Divine in us at any time we choose to do so

         We can live a life full of abundance and prosperity

         We can alter the direction of humanity if we awaken to what is possible within us

         We can live in joy, love and peace forever if we so choose

Let’s all quit arguing for our limitations and instead step into expanded reality of the highest and holiest dimension of who we are in truth.  This is my personal work to more fully realize my true spiritual nature.  Would you join me in this and open to how you are the extension of the dimension of your spiritual nature?

Peace Letter #99

Dear President Obama,

The mess in the Gulf needs to be more closely managed Mr. President by you.  Whoever you have assigned the task, they are letting BP run the show and frankly they cannot be trusted.  You represent the needs of the people and the need for the truth and so far neither are being tended to in this mess.  BP does not determine the extent of the damage, the United States of America does.

The CEO of BP said the damage or impact will be minimal. He greatly underestimates the intelligence of the people of this nation.

The war in Afghanistan is proving incredibly expensive and a bigger mess than the Gulf spill.  So please put your priorities into cleaning up both messes. 

Thank you.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Graduation and Open Minds

Yesterday my niece graduated from high school actually it was my wife's niece since I came late to this family.  We got together with her family for dinner and celebration and there were the typical surface conversations and politics and religion were avoided.  My wife and I are dreaded liberals from their point of view except they never ask what we think about things as if they are afraid of our ideas.  They are of course right that our political point of view is quite different but how can they be so sure our ideas are wrong?  

Closed minds are such a disaster for building healthy relationships.  It would be nice to connect at a deeper level with my wife's family but they don't even let her share her ideas.  It seems when people are defensive about their points of view they are unsure of themselves.   I feel a sense of loss because having meaningful conversations is difficult with her family who we could be much closer with.  Real depth, which we all want at some level, comes from people who are open minded, with receptive hearts and willing to explore a whole range of ideas.

Back to the reason we got together.  I remember graduating from High School was a big event the many years ago that it happened for me.  It was like the first real step toward adulthood and a very exciting day. Soon I was gone from my family and out to make sense of my own life. 

This is a good time for the graduates to find out who they are and to start to figure out what they want to do with their life.  I wish the best for everyone who graduates this spring.  The adventures of life out there waiting for these young people are great ones that each of them will shape in whatever makes the most sense to them. 

My few words of advice are: follow what makes you feel alive; explore love and your higher nature with a passion and compassion; and make it your goal to be happy in your own way.  You deserve what you want and that is the only way to live that will truly benefit all of us.  You being you is the best for you and the rest of us.



The Listening, The Flow

Lately my writing has felt like I have been on a mission.  It feels inside like I am charged up and focused and the inspiration has been an effortless flow.  I am deeply grateful for this flow. 

Next week I begin a ten-day vacation and I am really looking forward to taking time to slow down and smell the lilacs that are blooming all over.  This has been a long, cold winter and spring. Last night there was a thunderstorm and hail so the cold is still lingering.  I am a mild weather person who has adapted to living here but my adaptation is leaking.  I find myself longing for warm breezes along the Santa Barbara coastline.

What inside of you has adapted, that longs for a different life?  Maybe your adapting has to do with: work you don’t feel passionate about; a relationship that is not a good fit; a career that is disappointing; good wages that still don’t make your feel satisfied; a desire to experience more of what is out there; a longing to activate the brain with new ideas; a deeper calling that you have been ignoring; a sense of spirit you now know you need to explore; a feeling of urgency that you need to make more of a difference; and a call to find more ways to live in compassion with yourself and others.  

All of these urges and desires inside are there for one reason.  That reason is to expand your expression of who you are. 

If you take some time over the next few months to pay attention more closely to your inner wisdom; before long you will see your life transform into something greater.  It is time to set aside your own past expectations and those of others and listen; listen as if your life depended on the quality of how well you hear what is going on inside.  It does.  You can settle for what is and change the outside but it will only hold off the inevitable.  What is inevitable is your longing to be more fully who you are.  You would not be reading this blog if you didn’t sense there was something greater in you and in the human potential.

In quiet stillness find: what is true purpose, what is real love, what is total freedom, what is genuine happiness, what healing is needed, what is going with the flow, and what is the life you want to live.  Now go live it and leave your self-restraints behind.  

Happiness and Healing to You

Peace Letter #98

Dear President Obama,



It seems that every reform in finance, healthcare, employment, environment etc. proposed in Congress that would be better for the average person is opposed by the Republican Party?  They seem so void of compassion, so driven by the need to be in power, and so run by the greed of those who finance them?  How come anyone would vote Republican in any election?  The answer is that the Democrats are often under the same influence of those who help pay for their elections.  Greed is winning out and we are losing out.

How about putting war on hold because that benefits only the greedy and instead institute a program of peace and compassionate action where we all volunteer some hours each week to make a difference in our communities?

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Recharging Life Force

Another early meeting tomorrow so my post is before I go to bed.  Have a great day.  Recently I was involved in a series of interviews and I found myself curious about why people came to interviews and had so little energy or enthusiasm.  Their lack of energy makes for a not impressive interview.  This got thinking about how do we build up energy/life force in us when it gets low?   We all have times when we are tired or burned out and to re-energize is essential so that we can back out there playing the game of life.  

Rebuilding or recharging our life force is important and here are a number of ways we can go about making that happen:

Mind – The mind is a powerful energizer.  There are many known practices of thought and mind that can positively affect the energy and aliveness we feel.   Most forms of meditation and mindfulness will balance our mind and realign our energy so that we feel ready to do life fully charged.  Exploring new ideas, studying a new language, and keeping an active mind can also make us feel energized.  There is also lots of energetic charge in living with purpose and having a clear intention to live some aspect of life as fully as we can. 

Body – The body is the energy container so it needs high-octane fuel, lots of rest, ways to build strength and endurance and good flexibility.  Practices like weight lifting, running, biking, dancing, and other aerobic exercises can be very beneficial.  So too can more inner focused disciplines like yoga, tai chi, chi kung, and martial arts.  Maybe one of the best ways to keep the body feeling vibrant is to remember to play often. 

Heart – The heart is our emotional center and emotions could be translated into energy-in-motion.  If we want to feel charge up, our emotions are up to the task.  Emotional awareness and expression tell us that we are alive and full of possibilities.  The heart, which actually contains a great many neurons, is really a feeling brain.  If you want to activate the heart’s energy try giving, volunteering, doing acts of kindness, taking compassionate action, and trusting the intelligence of the heart.  Love is obviously a great builder of life force. 

Social – We are social being and interacting with others is necessary to feel alive.  Relationships are powerful energizers that comes is the form of partners, family, friendship, supportive church and other meaningful communities.  We do need to get out and relate to others, and enjoy the company and fun that comes with being with those that matter to us.

Spiritual - Remember we are spiritual beings having a human experience not human beings having a spiritual experience.  Tapping into our spiritual nature is always energizing.  Meditation, prayer, chanting, exploring spiritual texts and practices will all be uplifting.  The spirit part of us is essentially our life force that comes fully charged with unlimited energy.  Tapping into out higher nature takes us higher. 

There is really no need to be low energy if we keep the above ideas in mind.   



Expanding Capacities Part 10 - Learning To Love

Each of us is here to learn to love.  This is my perspective working closely with my fellow humans for the last 35 years.  Yes the capacity of loving is something we all come equipped with.  However in the span of a lifetime many things affect our ability to love.

Life can teach us to open our hearts as we go or to protect ourselves.  Hurt can cause us to closed down but sometimes the rebound is a more open heart.  Our thoughts shape our experience of love also.  If we are open to others and see life as lessons we can grow from the experiences of living then love expands in us.  If we take the scars of life and hold on to what was not ok then our heart will become less available. 

Expanding the hearts capacity to love is more opening to what we have inside than trying to grow something new.   Let’s say that we come into this life as an infant with an open heart that has no limits to how much love it can share.  Then as life progresses we acquire some baggage of experiences that we decide at some level to protect ourselves against.  This protecting of our heart is often done unconsciously.  So with a pile of hurt or disappointment sitting there we may withdraw and put up a shield to feel safe.  Protecting the heart makes us feel cold and distant from others and even ourselves. 

What opens our heart?

• Taking a chance and opening our heart to another
• Showing up in life and being present to our heart offers us opportunities to love living
• The love of another opens us to the possibility of finding our heart
• Being aware of the suffering of others and feeling compassion for their journey
• When we take care of others we end up caring
• Acts of kindness makes us feel more in touch with our heart
• Patience allows us to discover who another person is and in the discovery love is possible
• Having a pet sometimes is a great beginning step for opening our hearts.
• Meditation practices like Loving Kindness will open us up in a focus way
• Find what we can love about another person opens us to loving them more fully
• Friendships begin with exploring how well we get along and after a while love shows up
• Family we love without question and that love grows with time
• Divine love comes from being in touch with a Higher Source, which opens us to love in all of our life
• Entering the state of unity consciousness teaches us that we are all brothers and sisters
• Eventually love is so present that we find ourselves open in our hearts to everyone, even those so much different than us

What in life has opened your heart?  Is your heart as open as you want it to be?  Are you willing to be more vulnerable and let people get close to you? 

Peace Letter #97

Dear President Obama,

Maybe it is time to sort out some priorities?  We have the war, the economy, the oil spill, jobs needed, terrorist, the Court appointment battle, angry citizens, corporate irresponsibility and greed, election finance reforms, immigration issues, international financial problems and an opposition party that will lie and do whatever it takes to get back into power even if it means ruining the country.  That is a lot to juggle.

How about simplifying things and bring our troops home.  Move toward peace so our resources can be focuses on what is needed for the good of us all.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Expanding Capacities Part 9 – Freedom To Be

This morning in my meditation I requested guidance as to what to write about today.  I have been reading and taking in so much lately that I was seeking a deeper sense as to what ideas to share.  The topic seemed clear when it was intuitively presented to me and is aligned with my Expanding Capacities series.  I will write about creating more freedom within by releasing, letting go and forgiving. 

Freedom is a very important aspect of living life to its fullest, yet we often inhibit are freedom more than anyone else.   What holds us back or keeps us limited is often the past.  This past baggage includes our thoughts, our body tensions and holding patterns and our closed down heart.  The following are a few ways to release the self-containment of mind, body and emotions and to open to expressing more fully what is possible within:

Release – let’s start with release because it is about our body stuck in holding patterns of the past.  When we don’t express how we feel about something we tend to stuff it.  Those unexpressed feelings become tension in the body.  After a lifetime of holding stuff in we get stiff and rigid.  This rigidity means the flow of life force through us is disrupted and that can have a number of negative affects on our well-being. 

Release can happen in a number of ways.  It can be a body scanning process of noticing where we are holding and breathing into and releasing the restrictions/tension.  It can also be through movement like dance, tai chi, yoga, and other forms of active expression that tend to release and enliven the body.  Release can come from body-oriented therapies like craniosacral, massage, acupuncture, reiki, therapeutic touch and more.  The important thing is to be aware of our body and keep loose and relaxed.

Letting go – this is different than the release because it focuses more on the level of thinking.  We are imprisoned by our thoughts more than any other way.  If our self-talk is stuck on replay, we often beat ourselves up or obsess about past events and continually feel lousy.  What happened, even the last moment, is over unless we bring it up again by our thinking.  Everything that hurt us, angered us, disappointed us etc. is over and we need to let it go.

Letting go happens best by becoming mindful or our thoughts and self-talk.  In mindfulness we don’t judge our thinking, we just change it if it isn’t working for us.  Stop all rewinds of the negative past.  Stop beating ourselves up by out own inner dialogue.  Letting go means releasing the past events and the thoughts about them so that we are free to expand in the possibilities of the now.

Forgiving – forgiveness is a healing for ourselves.  We heal when we release ourselves from the past.  This healing takes place by opening the heart.  Old past wounds often cause us to close down and constrict the heart.  If the past has closed our heart down then we are unavailable to giving and receiving love and compassion.  Forgiveness is often needed towards ourselves as well as others.

Forgiving allows us to become fully present as we leave the past baggage behind.  Forgiveness can be done by doing a inventory of past resentments and old hurts and then taking action to forgive either directly those who have “wronged” us or through a indirect process like letter writing (most likely we don’t send the letters), journaling, maybe a note we burn in the fireplace, a prayful release or some other ritual of forgiveness.  The important part is that we free ourselves from the past so our heart can be fully open again. 

I hope you find this helpful.  Most of us have stuff inside we need to release and doing so opens us up to living in more expanded ways. 

Peace Letter #96

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for giving the oil industry a piece of you mind about their lame and blame game.  This is a huge disaster and unfortunately like many heartless corporations they are unwilling to act like responsible citizens.  Many of us are very tired of these corporations bathing in barrels of money yet not caring in the least about the damage they leave nor about future generations.  Heartlessness in the name of greed is causing this nation to be destroyed and it seems little is being done except and occasional slap on a hand.  I am deeply saddened by so little accountability of these heartless and morally bankrupt corporations.  Isn’t it time from some real progressives on the Court and in places of important leadership?

I am also saddened by the need of this nation to be in war and to be caught in the total delusion that they are necessary.  Please do your best to wake up to the reality of the insanity of war and that no one wins and we all lose.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Nine Ways Mindfulness Expands You

Lately I have been exploring the writings and ideas of Dan Siegel M.D. and listening to a set of CD’s about his work that has been very interesting.  He is as much a researcher as he is a psychiatrist and his studies of mindfulness and brain function are on the leading edge of what is known today.  

If you are interested in expanding your capacities to successfully navigate and actually thrive in life then you will very much want to gain the following benefits Dan Siegel links to mindfulness practice:

1. Mindfulness allows you too more consciously and successful regulate the body.  This means through mindfulness you are able to more consciously direct the inner working of both energy and the relaxation response in your body.
2. In mindfulness you become attuned to yourself and to others therefore allowing you to have more tuned in conversations.  This means you are able to communicate deeply with others.
3. Emotional balance is achieved through mindful practice.  You can monitor and regulate your emotional states because you are tuned in and aware of what is going on inside.
4. Mindfulness will give you response flexibility, which means you will be able to pause before you act.  With this ability you are freed up to be less reactive and more proactive in shaping your world.
5. Mindfulness brings you insight.  Insight is knowing what you think, what you feel, what you sense, what you need, and what will make a difference for you and those around you.
6. Mindfulness equips you with a great gift for yourself and for others; if provides you with empathy.  Empathy means your heart is open and you are able to understand and be there for self and others.
7. Mindfulness gives you the ability to modulate fear.  When fear is present being mindful will allow you to watch what is going on and be able to choose to not be overrun by fear and instead find a place of calmness inside. 
8. Intuition is a great benefit of mindfulness.  Intuition can be defined as the wisdom of the body trying to guide you.  Mindfulness allows you to tune into this inner knowing in ways that truly benefit your life. 
9. Your sense of morality as it relates to you as social being is clarified and enriched by mindfulness.  Through mindfulness you know what is right for you and right action in the world. 

It is the end of a busy workweek with lots of early meetings and late night posts here at my blog.  I need to go be mindful for a while.  Thanks for stopping by and exploring with me the ways you and I can expand and express our human capacities. 

Peace Letter #95

Dear President Obama,

It seems your outspoken commander in Afghanistan sees the inevitable of wars that take place in that country, which is that no one wins there.  That truth happens to be universal about all wars.  No one wins wars, they just eventually kill so many people, cause so much damage, and cost so much that they finally come to an end.

Please move immediately to end the war now before we go further in debt and kill more innocent civilians and our soldiers.  

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Economics Tells Us We Need To Expand

Recently I came upon some interesting statistic about the economics of our times.  Economic is about numbers and numbers often cause my eyes to fog over but these numbers do not because they paint a picture about a real need for change and we are the ones that will make it happen.  

Please have a look at these stats and see if the social change agent in you can blossom into joining others to make a real difference.

World Daily News: Information Clearing House

This stirred up a number of questions I wanted to ask. Here are a few:

How come some many of us live pay check to pay check and find it difficult to get ahead?

Have you had a significant raise in income over the last 5 years?

How come the profits are soaring for executives in corporations but most workers stay at or near the same low wages?  Some have even lost pensions and benefits.

Are you better off financially than 10 years ago?

Are you a member of a union and is that union working well to advocate for your needs?

So how do we expand financial abundance for everyone?   It certainly seems there is plenty to go around but most people are struggling to pay for the essentials. 

It seem there are two things we need to do. 

First we need to join together and let our elected officials know that the rich are getting richer and we are not and that must change. We need to do put together a plan that fairly taxes the wealthy and distributes the resources for the good of all.

Secondly it is time to exhance our own capacities for abundance by expanding our sense of self.  We must believe we deserve to be prosperous.  We must also feel inside that we are enough just as we are to have the life we desire.  Time to leave the old limits behind.  Self-love and prosperity go together very well.  Remember each day we are expanding into our highest expression.

Peace Letter #94

Dear President Obama,

Thank You for telling Rush Limbaugh that he can go play with himself when he asked through representatives to play golf with you.  He spreads hate and misinformation as if he has no sense of higher values.  Many people actually have their mental health messed up because they live in the fear and hate he spreads.

Time also to remove our forces from Afghanistan.  We do not belong there.  This war is causing our nation great hardship.  Please focus on building peace.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



Expanding Capacities: Part 8 - Mindfulness For A Busy Day

Mindfulness is such a joy and light that I wanted to share with you some practical ways to integrate mindfulness into the activities of a full day.  Here are 8 ways to mindfully expand within the activities of daily living:

1. Each time you pick up your cell phone take a moment to become aware of what your intention is and what you can notice about yourself.  Are you expanding or contracting, distracting or deepening?
2. Cooking a meal gives you an opportunity to be creative and put some love in what you make.  Allow yourself to relax into what you are making and infuse some creative flair into your meal while being aware of what makes you feel alive and opens your heart.
3. Working out can become routine and less effective so push yourself out of the ordinary, notice what comes up in your mind when you go harder or do something that stretches you and your comfort zone.  Be in your body with full awareness.
4. When you go to the supermarket this time start at the other end, wander about to investigate, pick up and explore new foods.  Let your imagination guide you and be aware of the self-talk and the urges to return to the familiar.  Can you allow yourself to have fun?
5. How long has it been since you last visited to the library or bookstore?  Libraries and bookstores are like giant brains of information.  See if you can tune into the guidance the store or library wants so share with you.  Walk along the shelves and let books present you with what to read.  Are you receptive to guidance from around you?  What inside of you wants to be inspired? 
6. The Web is like a library or bookstore but a million times more charged in energy and information.  How do you interface with such a force?  Are you willing to be shown what you need to know from the airways of the unknown?  Now feel your heart, notice your thoughts and be alive in the body as you dance with the mystery of synchronicity.
7. Sometime today go outside, smell the air, feel the breeze, hear the birds, sense the energy, see the colors and notice the rhythms.  Nature is you extended in every direction.  How does it feel to be at one with all that you can see and experience?  Are you expanded enough to let all of this in?
8. Now in the silence of the night or early morning, just be in appreciation for life, for those you love, for the opportunities of the day already or soon to come, and can you be in appreciation of you just as you are?  Self-love is a wonderful moment of pure enlightenment.

Hope you had some fun and woke up a little further to the magnificence of who you are.

Checkout Sounds True for many wonderful resources about mindfulness and meditation. 

Peace Letter #93

Dear President Obama,

The choosing of the Supreme Court Nominee is a challenge with such a politically driven atmosphere in Congress.  Please help bring balance back to the Court because politics is not its job.  The Supreme Court is to protect our nation but it seems more bent on protecting the rights of corporations. That is not working for the vast majority of us.

While moving the court to balance lets bring sanity to our foreign policy by ridding us of war in the favor of peace.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



The Golden Path To Expanded Capacities is Mindfulness

Mindfulness is simply being present to your unending thoughts, your ongoing self-talk, your peaks and valleys of emotions, your quietly available intuitions, your expansive and caring heart, your vibrant body and your timeless higher nature.  Mindfulness is not religious but it can be deeply spiritual.  Mindfulness is loving yourself without judgment or expectation.  If you are interested in expanding your capacities for consciousness, awareness, self-respect, compassion, peace of mind, abundance, career success, loving relationships, or whatever seems important then what is most called for is to be mindful.

In a wonderful book, Peace Is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hahn writes about mindfulness in everyday life.  If you want to be inspired this book is special gem, which can teach you much about how to live in the world mindfully.  Every page is ripe with the opportunity for a bright light of insight to shine within you.

Mindfulness can be sitting in a shopping center, on the bus or anywhere, eating junk or healthy foods, walking to work, under a blooming tree or as the sun leaves the day behind.   Mindfulness is an invitation to be present to all that is in the now; so present that neither good nor bad is assigned but appreciation is felt deeply.  Mindfulness has no agenda except to watch what is going on within. 

Today make a commitment to yourself to explore the gentle practice of mindfulness.  This practice can be for a few minutes off and on throughout the day or when you first wake up, at your lunch break as you eat tuned in, as you walk from the bus to your home, waiting in line at the market or train station, or as you wind down your day.  This time of being present to yourself and all that goes on inside will open you to who you are a what you are capable of becoming.  You will be pleasantly surprised when you get a glimpse of what is possible within you.

When I figure out how to do a podcast with my new computer I will guide you through a mindfulness session.  You can also go looking in your community because there is a good change you can find a teacher of mindfulness you could connect with.  Until then let you intuitive nature show you the way to living mindfully.      

The Bashing Of Self By The Ego-Mind

Yesterday on my run up in the foothills on a warm day I was trying to be mindful of my thoughts.  What I was reminded was how meditative running is because whether running trails or busy streets you have to pay attention to what is going on in front of you.  In cities there are pedestrians, signals, cars, busses, and so much more.  On trails the main barriers are rocks and trees that can trip you up or knock you in the head if your mind wanders for even a moment.  Yet even in the midst of paying attention the mind wanders and often in no particular direction.

This got me curious about the content of the mind and how come things come up out of the blue.  Sometimes this random content includes reruns of embarrassing moments or actions/behaviors I regret from my past.   These random occurrences rarely are fond memories so I began to think these old flashbacks might be the trick of the ego-mind.  Let me explain this idea.

The ego mind as I have mentioned before is not bad but sometimes it likes to make you and I feel not ok.  The ego thrives when I am stumbling through life filled with self-doubt because then it is in charge.  The more doubt and fear I have the more the ego-mind runs my life.  These less functioning states are because I have lost touch with the present moment and with my higher nature, which puts the ego on the sidelines.  

So now let me get more specific about my theory of ego and why it likes to trash my moment.  I can be running along a beautiful stretch of trail and all of a sudden a memory will pop up and take me out of the moment.  These memories as I stated earlier are often ones I would just as soon forget.  The reason the ego tosses them into my thoughts is because it can derail the beauty of the moment and get be back under its control.  The ego has no control if I am fully present to what I am doing.  It is as if the ego throws gas on the fire of my contentment to keep me from feeling too good or positive.

Why would that be, is the question that comes to mind and my answer is because if I get too content, or in too much of a positive state than the ego’s role is greatly diminished as I am guided by my higher nature.  Low self-esteem, self-doubt, and feeling undeserving are the workings of the ego mind in some mixed up view that I am better off when my ego is playing the role of my guardian/jailer.

This seems like a lot of words to explain that these ideas pop up out of the blue to keep me down in some misguided ego strategy.  I suspect this it true because like myself, most of us are shadowed by self-doubt or feeling less than we should be, or not ok enough, or deserving enough etc which is all learned/conditioned suggestions.  Feeling too good means you and I are slipping out of the norm of our thought patterns and the ego likes to keep things as they are.  

Does this theory make sense to you?  Have you noticed in time of joy or times of being present that old images appear and try to take you out of the moment?  Maybe it is just my ego that is trying to sabotage my movement toward a more expansive and positive sense of self?  But I doubt that because my work with others tells me we are often the hardest on ourselves.  

If you find that the ego has slipped a negative mickey into moment of bliss, the best bet is to say thanks for keeping your eye out for me and then return to the joy of the now.  The now is where everything is possible.  The past or the future does not exist except in the ego-mind’s need to take us elsewhere.   Have a good day by being present. 

Peace Letter #92

Dear President Obama,

It appears to be time to see what is going on over at the Interior Department because it seems to be still run by the oil men of the Bush years.  If government is not regulating to protect the nation then what is its purpose.  Secretary Salazar is from my state but he seems more in the hands of Big Oil.  If he doesn’t want to protect this country from the corporate interests he could go become a banker or lobbyist which would at least be more honest than shirking his duties as steward of our land. 

The exterior department of war-making also needs to be tended too.  Most of us cannot figure out why we are in a war in Afghanistan when there are many more things we could do to better our country.  Maybe it is time for us to stop playing the Sheriff of the world?  Please work for peace Mr. President.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Ten Best Ideas For Living a Good Life

Lately I was thinking about what I wanted to share with my clients about how to get the best out of life. Many have been traumatized and victimized by their childhood and this continued as an adult through their own self-abusive ways of drugs and alcohols.  I then thought well the basic are the basic for all of us.  So I decided to come up with the 10 basics for living a good life.  Here they are:

1.         Have a positive way of looking at life.  Positive isn't necessarily any more right than negative but it works 100% better at making your life more enjoyable.

2.         Take full responsibility for your life.  Give up all desires to blame and complain because they make you feel worse.  You are the creator of your experience of life and it is empowering to remember this.

3.         Become mindful or your thoughts and self-talk because your internal dialogue shapes how you feel about everything.  Eliminate all thoughts and self-talk that is critical and not supportive of you.

4.         Acknowledge and be respectful of all your feelings.  There are no good or bad feelings.  Feelings are just your responses to your way of thinking.  Feeling provide clear guidance - when you are feeling happy, open and alive, you are heading in the right direction.

5.         Make it part of each day to connect with your spirit.  This connection with your higher nature will allow yourself to be guided to your fullest expression as a human being.

6.         Keep on opening your heart.  You are here in this life to learn to love, to develop compassion for others and yourself, and to be a kind and giving person.  Kindness and giving always come back to enrich our lives.

7.         Care for your body and it will be a helpful partner on the journey of life. Caring for body means eating healthy, exercise, eliminate unhealthy habits, take time to relax and rest, and big doses of laughter on a regular basis.

8.         Seek inspiration in your life to uplift your thoughts, energize you actions, and bring your closer to the realization of your potential.  Keep your mind open to new ideas.  Read more, take classes and explore your interests.

9.         Tune in to your intuitive wisdom and you will always be guided to what is best for you.  Ignoring your intuition causes suffering.  Listening inward will provide you with the highest of human knowing.

10.         Live to be happy and joyous, to follow your bliss, to have purpose and to learn to flow effortless in the abundance of the universe.  

If you follow these 10 ways, your life will turn out to be a joyous journey.  



Lessons From A Beaver - 21 Categories for Expansion in You

This is a fun story about some creatures who have greatly expanding their capacities.  This group of beaver has built such a large dam that it can be seen from a satellite.  The determination and focus of these beavers exists in you and I.  What major project does your life have waiting for you?   In thinking about expanding your capacities what areas would you like to focus on? Here are 21 categories that may fit for what you want to work on and some you may not have thought of:  

1. Growing your sense of self, enhancing your self-esteem, finding self-love
2. Exploring your creativity, expressing yourself in unique and creative ways
3. Being the best parent you can be, breaking from old family patterns of parenting towards expanding capacities
4. Exploring your career, doing work that feels good and meets your needs
5. Living with a purpose, exploring what give your life meaning
6. Opening to the abundant flow of the universe, welcoming more money, prosperity and wealth into your life
7. Learning to love, expanding your capacities for love, compassion, kindness and caring
8. Finding more joy in your life and what you do, making happiness a goal of living
9. Following your bliss, being guided by what makes you feel alive, purposeful and joyous
10. Seeking to know your spirit, finding your soul and expressing it
11. Building healthy relationships, making the people around you important enough to know
12. Getting more healthy, exploring diet, exercise, and what makes your body feel positive
13. Learning to relax and be less stressed, finding the more effortless path
14. Going with the flow of life downstream, leaving the struggle behind 
15. Finding ways to forgive, let go, and release the past, searching for peace of mind
16. Allowing yourself to play, let the inner child out and be more spontaneous
17. Traveling and seeing more of the life and the world and other ways and cultures
18. Tuning in more to your intuition, exploring your silence and your higher knowing
19. Being more of an agent for change, getting active in making a difference
20. Pursuing inspiration, taking risks, and living on the edge
21. Expanding consciousness and awareness, awakening, and expressing the possibilities

These are all worth lifetimes of explorations.  Which ones call to you?  Yes some of these can easily be combined.  Next time let’s talk about where to start a path and about some practices worth exploring.

Peace Letter #91

Dear President Obama,

The Senate backed down from real reform in the corporate world.  This is no surprise but it is unacceptable because if no significant action is taken by our government then this fading democracy will become a plutocracy.  Mr. Rove already has a plan for that.  With the recent decision of the Supreme Court of unregulated funding by corporations, our elections will be bought and our elected officials will be owned by corporate interests.  This is where your leadership and influence must look after the needs of the people and future generations.

While you are upsetting all the big interests it is a perfect time to bring an end to war and start the nation toward permanent peace and energy independence.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Come On Now - Duped Again By The Brain Freeze Of Blind Beliefs

It is rant time and as you will see this is about those who have not been interested in expanding their capacities.   I am always provided with lots to talk about when it comes to my fellow human beings acting as if they disconnected from their clear thinking mind, lost touch with their higher values, and forgot to consult their heart.  Blindness to the truth is often caused by unexplored beliefs, hatred, fear, and calcified thinking.  As always the news is full of the actions of the bizarre and absurd located in the human brain.

The following news is headlining and if the mind is working as it is capable of then questions should be flying and people should be examining what the heck is going on:

Arizona has an odd belief that immigrants are causing terrible problems to their way of life.  I wonder what it would be like if all the immigrants walked off their jobs in Arizona.  I suspect commerce would come grinding to a halt.  If the truth was to be explored we might discover that some big trouble lies with the people who hire the illegal workers and take advantage of them.  The NBA Phoenix Suns are choosing to protest the state’s actions by having Los Suns on their uniforms.  Hate is never acceptable in any form and those that spread hate need to be ignored every time they speak.  Maybe it is time we boycott Arizona?

The oil spill is a disaster compliments of British Petroleum.  This heartless corporation will do its best to dance out of as much responsibility as it can.  They rationalize this behavior because they have one goal and that is profit making at any cost and environment, people, and future generations be damned.  This is the way of the oil industry and many other profit driven corporations.  Isn’t it time we say no to corporations and take back our country from the powers of unchecked greed? 

Just saw this - Rush L. thinks the oil mess was caused by our government to support the environmentalist and he said oil in the ocean is natural and it will clean up on its own.  Another example of idiocy that people believe.

Another very disturbed person tries to set off a bomb in New York City.  These people are run by narrow uninformed beliefs and the anger and hatred that goes along with closed minds and hearts.  They are our responsibility because we allow closed-minded ideas to be taught as if it is an inalienable right.  Then I saw two GOP US Senators were arguing that people on terrorist watch list have the inalienable right to purchase guns.  So purchasing guns and having closed minded hate are rights just as important as people being safe and receiving a true education?  Come on now isn’t it time we question those that are locked down in their thinking and despise everyone who thinks differently than they do?  Gun rights needs to be questioned and so do people who act like having a narrow mind is a religious experience.  

Then there is George Rekers a very prominent anti-guy activist and close friend of James Dobson.  He was caught traveling with male from an escort service who he claimed to be helping by having the young man carry his bags.  Mr. “I Bash Gays As A Good Christian” raises large sums of money by asking other people who hate gays to give to his organization, which most likely is tax exempt.  All anti-gay activists are hate driven and often suppressing their own desires.  Isn’t it time people grow up enough to have thoughtful points of view?  Maybe the closed mind is the easiest to dupe?  Come on people wake up and use you capacities instead of settling for ignorance. 

Sorry if this burns your eyelids a little.  But if you know someone, and we all do, who is asleep at the wheel invite them to have a conversation and kindly ask them questions and plan the seeds of discontent in their minds. 

Peace is only possible if we wake up.   

Expanding Capacities Part 7 - Conversation At Our Own Edge

Recently I was listening to a podcast interview of David Whyte at Sounds True and was inspired by the wisdom of this poet/teacher/mystic.  He was talking about the essential conversation waiting in us to happen.  What conversation do you need to have with yourself?  What have you been negligent to explore inside?  What have you been avoiding looking at?  This conversation sits right at the edge of your growth and expansion, a crossroads of sorts.  If you choose to not go exploring you will remain blocked or held up in some way; if you choose to explore the essential questions you will open up a vast amount of energy and potential. 

Here are some indicators that there is conversation you need to have with yourself:

• You have old patterns that happen over and over again
• You get feedback from a variety of others that is familiar
• You have an intuitive knowing that you have been ignoring
• You can feel fear inside that indicates something scary needs to be explored
• You sense contraction going on in your body, which lets you know you have closed down to something
• You notice that your relationships all have the same barriers that hinder progress
• You have self-talk that is negative, judgmental and very limiting
• You find that your thinking sounds like a broken record full of the same old ideas
• You notice that your immune system seems compromised and you often don't feel well
• You experience you heart as feeling closed, numb and/or protected
• You avoid taking responsibility for your own life and would rather blame others
• You tend to isolate, avoid people, and find it difficult to connect deeply with others
• You feel frustrated or angry often about life

Most likely with some self-searching you can add to this list. The important priority here is not adding to the list but to turn the light of insight on so you can expand your life and open yourself to all that is possible when you do so.

The way to find out what the conversation(s) on hold in you is, is to take some time to listen, to sense, to feel what needs to be looked at.  Be aware that there may be some false questions that will show up just to avoid the deeper conversation.  Be gentle and sense the nature of what comes up.  There will be a clear feeling of this is important or this is not.  Sometimes it may take dealing with the presenting questions and then probing deeper where the dark anchor on the soul is lingering. 

(There is in me a deep longing to explore any anchors that are holding me back from what I want no matter how hard I paddle.  I know that I have to give more time to this edge conversation and yet a part of me resists mostly through distraction and busyness.   I will let you know where my conversation takes me. ) 

Peace Letter #90

Dear President Obama,

The oil is a mess at so many levels and you seem to be handling the situation well but there are many who are going to be hurt because their way of making a living will be significantly damaged.  Please make sure the working people will be assisted as well as the banks, financial institutions and the insurance and mortgage companies were taken care of.  No one will look after the needs of the people when they battle BP if you don’t.

Please consider bringing out troops home to help with the clean up and end the war effort. 

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

There Is No Separating Us From Them In Our Awakening Of Possibilities

Awareness can also be spoken of as insight, awakening, becoming conscious, or gaining a deeper understanding of something about ourselves or the world around us.  With awareness we have the ability to make informed choices about how we are, how we want to change, or what aspects of self we want to grow or shrink.  Awareness brings us freedom to be who we truly are.  It all gets more complicated however when we include our interactions with others.

The most powerful question for gaining awareness about relationships is to notice when we are reacting to others and ask this question:

How is that like me?

This question allows us to take responsibility for our own emotional reactivity to others.   However that can be difficult to do because we tend to shy away from awareness that points out flaws in us.  Here are some of possibilities for awareness we may not want to fully accept: 

If we get angry or upset at others then most often it is something within us. 

Almost all issues with others are really our own issues.

If someone is really bugging us it is probably that they are holding up a mirror and causing us to see something we don’t want to see.

Most anger toward another is projection; it is us projecting onto others what is more true to us than them. 

Blaming and complaining about others is more about our reaction to feeling powerless over their behaviors and feeling unable to control them.

Even those who harm us in some way can be seen as providing us with lessons (opportunities for awareness) we have sought at a deeper level.  An example might be: if someone hurts us by leaving us it becomes an opportunity to notice a pattern we have been stuck in for too long.  

Notice what came into our awareness as we read these challenging opportunities for awakening to our true nature.

As you read through these ideas it seems that most awareness is again about our inner process with others as well as ourselves.  Yes there are people who are difficult and frustrating on their own without us tossing in our own stuff.  Those people are hurting in their own way and it is best keep our boundaries clear so we are not treaded on by their lack of self-boundaries. 

With awareness of self and self in relationship to others we can know where we want to grow our capacities to bring out the best in ourselves and in those we interact with throughout our day.  Life is never boring in the state of awareness.

Peace Letter #89

Dear President Obama,

The corporate personhood granted by a misinformed court system must be changed.  Corporations do not have the rights of citizens and must be held accountable for their behaviors.  BP is ruining our waters in the Gulf.  Monsanto is poisoning our land.  Mega corporations are ruining our farming.  Blackwater is murdering on our dime.  Banks were bailed out and now shaft the people.  Insurance companies look for reason to deny claims.  Corporations drown our Legislative branch with influence money and on and on. 

I know Mr. President, you did not create this mess but it falls on you to do as much as you can to fix it.  The war effort is also only benefiting those who profit from it.  Many people in this nation know the truth about these problems and can be called on to help.

Joseph Bernard, Ph.D.

Join me and send President Obama emails of support and encourage the end of war and the other dysfunctional ways of government at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact