Friday, May 22, 2015

Coping with Stress ... Changes ... Fear: How Engaging with Personal and Spiritual Work can Help

This blog topic is a response to a few questions from several people.   Yes, I am still completing my book writing project, but I have placed it on hold temporarily.

You can visit our new website ... it is still under construction ...  www.souhlcenter.com
 
 
I may not post for a while ... so as I have said before ... go over the existing entries... see if you can learn new things....





Are there ripples in your life ... feeling chaos and stress?
  How can you experience peace and calm amidst this?


 
If one thing is constant, it is the fact that things are always shifting and changing.  We have likely all heard this at one time or another.


Even in nature things are never exactly the same - every moment there is newness and subtle shifts in everything we can experience ...  light and dark ... rest and motion ... growth and decay.   How does that apply to you and me?



If we experience things as shifts and changes in energy then we can apply this to ourselves: our physical bodies, our mind and its fluctuations, our emotions in motion and various other inner and outer states we can be aware of.  Here, at Souhl Center, this is a key for you to work with ... but first, let's look at stress and change a bit more.


I view the inevitable stresses we experience along our journey in life, in its many arenas, as shifts in energy which - depending on how we respond - corresponds to subsequent changes in the physical manifestations all around us in our world and within our own lives.  Energy first ... then shifts in the denser manifestations; our bodies for example.



Things around us change all the time and often many of us are not able to manage these changes and shifts in our lives with balance, harmony or grace - neither can we influence these changes if they are the result of things outside our control or influence.   Many times, our lifestyles change  dramatically due to external forces we have no control over on an individual level: war, natural disasters, closing of companies we work for, spouses leaving, family dramas, people around us or close to us dying or very ill and so on.   We experience change as a stressor sometimes. 




Other times we are the ones engaging with hectic work schedules, social 'obligations' and other external demands that we allow to exert pressures on ourselves - unnecessarily; people often fail to understand how they are personally responsible for creating their own unmanageable stressful life situations ... imagining that things are happening to them instead of seeing the direct connection between their own choices and the results of these choices.




One of the things we need to clarify is whether our stressors are completely out of our control (in this case we can work with our own inner reactions, attachments, identifications and coping tools), or whether our stressors are of our own making (in which case we can work to make new choices over time).



Many of us attempt to exert more force or effort into changing things around us ... we do this because we view things externally and feel safer when we think we are in control of things around us.   We can see, however, that this illusion or addiction of control over external things often leads to disaster ... think of this in the environmental sense ... or ponder the political, religious and economic disasters over history.   In our attempts to control things we have often had to deal with our own unintended consequences: poisoning of our water and air; brutal dictatorships leading to death and chaos; wars over natural resources and religious beliefs; inequity of the sexes in our societies; unnecessary health risks due to bad practices in the food and health industries and so on.   We also attempt to exert control over our own personal lives via trying to control other people in our lives ... how they behave or respond to us ... what they do, how they think, what they wear, what they believe and the choices they make.   This too, leads to unintended consequences!



How can you learn to cope effectively with the inevitable stresses in life ... the changes in your lifestyle that you are finding difficult to move through and the various stresses and fears you may experience as a result of changes in your life cycles: moving through adolescence with its various pressures and stresses ... the shift into adulthood with various changes in responsibilities, growing older and many things in between.  



The biggest step to take is to look within first ... most of us look out and try to control or make changes on the outside.


When the inside truly alters ... much will appear to alter ... and will also indeed alter on the outside.


     Embrace the opportunity to discover your True Essence ... to do so, you must go inwards ... this also involves some work  ... both personally and spiritually.
 
 




So how can we find a peacefulness amidst the various chaotic energies surrounding us at different times in our lives?   Engage with personal work.   Doing your personal work and personal growth will assist you with finding peacefulness amidst chaos and stresses in your life.
 


Things we can learn to do and apply:
 

Personally ... when you get started:


-- As simple as this sounds, it is often challenging for most people to apply these basic balancing points:  Proper exercise on a regular basis (the Moving Arts we teach are whole-body movements which take care of exercise while offering other benefits as well) ... proper breathing ... a diet right for you ... enough pure clean water ... clean air (many people do not air out their homes effectively and even work in environments where the air flow is poor and not fresh) ...


-- Find and apply a natural rhythm to your life ... listen to your body and mind when you need rest or play or proper nutrition ... or support and personal connection with others.


 
-- Seek out counselling and guidance ... as needed.  Address any traumas you may have experienced ... look at recurrent dysfunctional patterns in your life.  Use counselling to assist you when you feel stuck or find something difficult to work through.  Learn more about yourself.  Over time, this Work can assist you with becoming more integrated and transformed as a person ... more aligned with your Self ... more functional in the world ... more satisfied with your relationships ... more balanced in your mind and emotions ... more in touch with who you really are in essence and so on.



-- Learn how to effectively cope with your inner reactions to people, places and things.  Learn how to respond to various people, places, and things with more balance, control and harmony.  This can also be addressed in counselling.



-- Engage with and experience various body therapies and energy work ... examine your lifestyle habits ... diet ... relationships ... etc.   Looking at all the aspects of your life and experiencing various body work and energy therapies can be a door opener to moving in deeper with your personal work.   You can learn things like how deeply connected the body is to mental and emotional processes ... and so on.


--  learn relaxation and meditation ... then do it regularly


--  Learn more about your body, mind and emotions ... your patterns ... your specific breathing patterns and holding patterns in your musculature (the ways you hold tension) ... then engage with methods and tools which can assist you with creating more balance in these areas.  APPLY ... APPLY .... APPLY ... many people know all these things intellectually but their bodies, minds and emotions demonstrate they are not engaging with their own work nor APPLYING what they seem to know... I always stress this as it is a great illusion I have come across ... most people know far more than they actually apply ... then they act as though they are doing something or are growing personally or spiritually ... knowing is not doing... your own level of being will clearly show exactly where you are at ... be willing to look at yourself honestly.





If you desire something deeper, you may feel also feel called to engage with a deeper Spiritual Path or Work.




Personal work comes first:
Here we begin by examining our rippled reflections
 in the realm of our mental/emotional patterns, stresses and dramas.
Like the butterfly, we can experience real transformation... growth
into something new ... our true Essence reflected clearly.



Spiritually ... when you desire to work and are ready to move deeper ...



--  Working to evolve Spiritually is different from personal work ... though personal work is vital to begin with.













--  Engaging with personal work is different from fully immersing yourself in a School, as engaging fully in a School is a deeper commitment ... will involve more consistent work ... and will offer you more tools ... When you want to take things to a deeper level, seek out a School.




-- Study at a Spiritual School ... learn its tools ... apply them with enthusiasm, persistence and consistency.  A true Spiritual School offers you the tools you can apply to walk in life ... you have an opportunity to learn how not to get caught up in things around you to the point where you experience high levels of stress, imbalance, illness etc.. It also works with you in a deeper way ... can assist you with aligning and Knowing your own True Essence...










-- Working to Know One's Self and developing or evolving Spiritually... A Spiritual School can assist you with this ... this will be individual as it depends on many things you need to also bring to the Work:  the right attitude;  diligence in doing the practical tools presented;  your own level of being ... you can learn to understand many things on a deeper level and evolve from where you are at.








--  Spiritual Work, at Souhl Center, also involves things that some people might call mystical teachings ... and includes things that people may call spiritual or peak experiences ... enlightenment ... or connecting with the Divine ... there are so many words and phrases.... I view many things people consider para-normal abilities or psychic abilities or mystical or peak experiences etc. as nothing more than the unlocking of normal human potential ... we can and do have the opportunity to evolve.  I do not place my focus on these things - nor do I discount them... I find they naturally unfold when engaging with a true Spiritual Path ... in ones own unique time and way.




Energy

Earlier in this blog I said that I view stresses and changes inside and around us as various forms of and shifts in energies. 

You experience stress around a certain person ... what is the energy they are engaged with .. what energies are you engaged with ...

There is a particular form of energy within the minds and bodies and emotions of the people who start wars ... who do not care about the environment etc. etc.  ... and then there is the energy of your particular responses to these things...

Energies are shifting and changing within you when you are an adolescent ... an adult ... a senior ... you can learn how to manage these energies from within

There is a lot we can learn from the approach of understanding and working with energy ... but first we must begin with ourselves... energy first ... then the impact of this energy on manifestations.  

  


A last note on Fear..


I have often said that at the root of many things is fear.  Many of us have heard this over and over.  People judge, condemn, ridicule, hate, destroy and so on ... things which they fear ... out of a lack of understanding.   So fear is also related to things like misunderstanding... and to stress - how can we not be experiencing the negative effects of chronic stress in our bodies, minds and emotional states when fear runs rampant within us...



We fear change ... the changes in our lives during the many various cycles in life.  Fear freezes our movement .. our energies ... restricts us in Life ... in truly living.


Come to know fear and how it relates to you personally ... what are you afraid of ... how does it operate in your life ... step up to it and look at it directly ... and take the necessary steps to alter its hold on your life and your energies ... do your personal work ...






















Thursday, May 21, 2015

Arrogance or Confidence? ... Obsession or Passion?

Today's blog topic covers a few ideas and misconceptions that arise when working on a Path of this nature...   It is an answer to several different questions I have had over the last few weeks...


Let the Light of your Spirit guide you and shine out into the World ...

Full of spirit, energy, vitality, and aligned with your passion, step out into the world with genuine self-confidence.

Work to cultivate these things within yourself and make a difference!




Arrogance or Confidence?


Self-confidence and 'spirit'...

Many movement arts ... such as Kung fu speak about cultivating a sense of self-confidence in students.   Many come into an Art like Kung fu (or other Arts called `Martial Arts'), looking to develop self-confidence ... among other things.

Here at Souhl Center, cultivating the inner 'spirit' of the person is vital and self-confidence arises out of this inner 'spirit'.   Here, the word 'spirit' is used to mean "full of energy... enthusiasm... determination" (this is not to be confused with the word 'Spirit' which relates to something else we study and work to align with in our Work).  The way I am using the word 'spirit', here today, is directly linked to the word 'spirited'.   When one is 'spirited', one can also more easily align with a natural sense of inner self-confidence.  When one 'lacks spirit', one will find that one's self-confidence diminishes as well.   This inner feeling and outward manifestation of `spirit' is not the false sense of confidence and energy that appears in someone who is arrogant. 

Though on the outside arrogance can look like self-confidence, and can appear much the same in various behaviours, arrogance is something different and is quite pretentious.   Self-confidence is genuine.  Why, then, is it often confused with arrogance?  First of all, the two are often misunderstood in basic meaning.  Secondly, many people are not self-confident themselves; most individuals operate from a false personality and do not really know who or how they really are and some of these people have false ideas about what 'humility' means and how it manifests in outward behaviours.  Walking around feeling very 'humble', they judge and criticize anyone who seems to have a natural sense of vitality, energy, spirit and self-confidence.  Arrogance is not self-confidence, and we clarify that word below.

When we observe someone who is not self-confident, we may sense, observe or feel that they are lacking or low in energy, enthusiasm ... perhaps even vitality ...  A person without self-confidence may appear deflated or perhaps we get a feeling that the person is somehow repressed or subdued ... not really "comfortable in their own skin" ... as the saying goes.   When one is not confident, it may be very difficult to express one's unique talents and gifts with the world to one's true potential.

If someone does not feel confident ... and lacks energy and vitality, developing these things and a 'spirited' feeling and attitude requires Work along certain lines for some period of time ... until it is something integrated within one's psyche ... or soul ...  and therefore more easily accessed and expressed naturally from within.  

For many people, developing self-confidence comes in the form of attempting to alter one's behaviour by reading a book or attending a seminar.   These things can help if there are very practical things one can apply to one's daily life on a regular basis.  We do not change by information or concepts alone.   We must be able to apply very practical things into our everyday life in order to develop real lasting inner changes ... like developing 'spirit' or self-confidence. 



Arrogance....

Arrogance is not confidence ... although sometimes the two are confused - especially within the individual expressing arrogance... or the individual who is not aware of the difference between arrogance and self-confidence. 

Well then, what is arrogance?   ... some people call this 'ego', but the word 'ego' also holds many other deeper layers of meaning, so this would not really be a good word to use.  A person is arrogant when he/she expresses an exaggerated sense of their perceived importance or abilities.   The word 'exaggerated' is key here.  If one expresses a genuine ability one has with the intention for instruction or to motivate or to be an example to others of one may attain, how can this be arrogance?  In the definition, arrogance is an exaggeration.   Having said this, one can, perhaps, more clearly realize how easily one can mistake self-confidence with arrogance ... or vice versa.   When we lack true understanding ... awareness ... consciousness... we mistake one thing for another quite easily.  Arrogance might learn something from humility - self-confidence does not need to.

Some people imagine that Arts like Kung fu teach a student to become arrogant (or angry... aggressive etc. etc.).  This is a myth.  Teachers are different and students are different.  Some teachers are arrogant - others are self-confident and full of spirit.  Some students are arrogant - others are self-confident ... how can this be otherwise?  It is the same in the world around us!

Some students become arrogant due to a lack of their understanding or inner development along a spiritual path (some people call this having or developing an 'inflated ego').  Sometimes it is a phase they go through ... some may never come out of it.     Other students lack self-confidence and feel plagued by inner doubts and rather than expressing arrogance; they slip into self-pity or diminished inner views of themselves.  This has nothing to do with the teacher or the path ... it is an individual thing ... personal 'inner demons' one must face and transform.  It is a person's own inner work.

It is true that a 'path' ought to have and teach principles and tools which students can learn and get real results with.    Along with this, we also must consider that the proper mindset and attitude towards Work ... 'true understanding' of things taught (we are so plagued with distortions at times) ... consistent diligent use of tools over time .... many things, really, are dependent upon the student.  This is why many teachers who possess keys of a genuine spiritual path lament over not being able to find a 'worthy student'.  This is not an arrogant thing for them to say ... it is simply a sad reality.  One must be of a certain mindset or level to be able to be teachable.

If you are self-confident and full of energy and spirit, it will naturally shine through in the way you are at various times; some people will judge you or label you or misunderstand you ... be your natural self and ignore negative responses coming towards you.

Arrogance? ... or Confidence?   Make sure you understand this difference prior to making assumptions or judgements... of yourself or others...

Humility is another word that we misunderstand and misuse ... but we are not discussing that one today.




Obsession or Passion?
 
 

What is an obsession?

This word comes from the word 'obsess' and so we need to look at that word.  To obsess over something or someone is to have that thing, thought, idea, picture, person etc. to fill up so much of your thought patterns that it becomes troubling to you in your life in some way.

The root of the word 'obsess' comes from the late Middle English... and can point to another meaning: haunt or possess... as in what some refer to as an 'evil spirit'.  Possession comes in many forms... we can 'become possessed' by people, places or things.  So, in this way one can see how something like being obsessed with money can mean that one is haunted or possessed by the 'spirit of greed' for example and how an obsession with money could 'possess' someone to do things which are not healthy, legal, balanced, loving and so on.

Example:  Someone is obsessed with money.  Perhaps this person becomes a workaholic and eventually develops a chronic illness due to the long hours he/she works and a lack of self-care and balance in his/her life.  In this case, observing from the outside only, one would think work was the obsession ... but underlying this particular person's motivation, the obsession is money.  In another example with money, the underlying obsession could be work related: obsession with status, power, control or perceived social recognition and so on.

People can become obsessed with power, status, recognition, applause, sex, a particular person, a political cause, a religion, a cult... we could go on and on.   Sort of sounds like an addiction, huh?  They are often deeply related.   Work on ourselves from the inside out is the way out of these things ...

People often confuse passion with obsession... or the other way around.

Obsessions may initially look like passions, but inevitably obsessions create chaos, havoc and suffering later on when they become chronic.



What is passion?

The word 'passion' is either used in its older meaning or in its more modern context.    People understand this word differently depending on how they have learned of its meaning.   Many words are like this; in order for us to understand one another ... and knowing that we have, indeed, altered the meaning of many words over time, it is crucial that we understand what we really mean when we use a word.

Some people have told me that they have heard that some religious beliefs use the word 'passion' in a way that means 'suffering'.   I was raised Catholic, and know of  'The Passion of Christ', but never used the word in that way outside of church.  I never understood the word in that way, because I have always used it in my everyday language in its more modern development of meaning which points more towards 'arousing great enthusiasm'... which has a more positive slant.   I do not equate the word 'passion' directly to suffering or to any sort of emotional or 'ego' imbalance - though I am also aware that some Buddhist teachings use this older meaning of the word as well.   Because we have accepted the more modern definition of this word into our English language, while maintaining the older usage of its earlier meanings, we then need to be careful that we are talking about the same thing!!!  Isn't this so ... of many things?!

Looking at the root of the word 'passion', we can understand, perhaps, where this came from.   Origin: Middle English: from Old French: from Late Latin: 'passio'(n-) ...(chiefly a term in Christian theology) .... from Latin pati: 'suffer' ... We find that the phrase... 'The Passion' ... is the suffering and death of Jesus.

We can then imagine that for a long time the word 'passion' meant suffering, and that some people still use this word in this way.    Today, however, many people have come to use the word 'passion' to describe something we feel when we are very enthusiastic about something... like: " He has a passion for gardening, so he became a gardener and is very happy in his work these days."   This use of the word has led to many people talking about looking for ... discovering ... or expressing their passion in their work in order to align themselves with something they feel deeply they are 'called to do in the world'.  Sometimes we suffer on our way to discovering who we really are or what our 'passion' in life is ... or we sometimes suffer as we work at aligning ourselves with who and what we are and how that is expressed in the world.   Just because we are 'passionate' about something or someone does not mean there will not be hard work involved or suffering of some sort along the way in Life.  Having said this, though, I still do not equate 'passion' with suffering ... directly.


Obsession?  ... Or Passion? ....   Once again, we need to be careful about what we are saying and that we really understand what we ... or someone else is saying....   there are so many layers to understanding ... as we evolve, we understand things on deeper levels... we only understand up to wherever we are at.