Jim was working at a retreat center whose mission was recording the teachings of the world’s elders. They wanted to get videos of these elders while they were still able to pass on their knowledge and wisdom. When the elders came to the center, workshops and opportunities to meet with them were also offered.

Jim did much of the work at the center and was the principle builder of a stone chamber which was used for ceremonies and sacred work. To build this chamber he was involved in moving hundreds of stones, so he had a lot of experience with moving and lifting rocks.

One day Grandmother Kitty, a Native American elder, was at the center to lead a sweat lodge. Having the group she was working with build the sweat lodge together was part of the process. Grandmother Kitty spotted a large flat rock and decided it would make a good doorstep for the sweat lodge.

As the group dug out the rock, they discovered that it was much bigger than they had thought. It was about the size of a coffee table and went down deep; it was much too heavy for them to move. They certainly tried their best, and Jim had a lot of experience moving rocks, but try as they might, they could not lift it.

An Aborigine elder was also at the center that day and the idea came to Jim to ask if he could help. It turned out he was not too far away and was talking with Grandmother Kitty. Jim asked him if he had any advice about how they might move the rock.

Jim told me that the Aborigine elder was actually enjoying “chatting up” Grandmother Kitty and did not want to be bothered, but he came over and said quickly, “You go there, you there, you there, you there,” (arranging four of the rock diggers in the four directions). Then he indicated they were each to put one hand under the rock. He started a little humming “Ooommm,” and they easily lifted the rock up and out.

As they were lifting, the girl across from Jim (one of the four people lifting) started saying, “I can’t believe we’re doing this, I can’t believe…”

To which Jim said, “Just do it!”

Think of the potential this story illustrates! Instead of laboring over tasks and challenges that come to us, there may be far easier ways to get things done, more graceful methods, better solutions. The rocks and boulders that crop up in our lives would not be so daunting if we were able to move them in an easy and harmonious way. No need to strain, to feel overwhelmed or overburdened.

When we do feel like that, maybe there is another option that is outside of our normal way of operating. Maybe the power of the universe can be utilized in an easy and helpful way if we can just align ourselves with that potential. A good possibility to be open to!
_____________________ 

FOLLOW UP:
Writing the above blog post was a good way to make it clear that I wanted to find ways that I could do things in much easier ways by accessing the wider potential. Browsing on the internet that evening, I came across a video of an interview with Jean Slatter, the author of Hiring the Heavens. Here was one method to do just that!

It certainly pays to get clear on our desires. I have already started hiring!!

Jean Slatter video intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuLGZ_03F3U

Book on Amazon: Hiring the Heavens: A Practical Guide to Developing Working Relationships with the Spirits of Creation

 When we are emotionally mired in a situation ourselves it can be hard to get any nice, clear guidance about how to handle it. Our emotions can plug up the pathways through which good guidance would normally come to us. 

 Friends can be a big help with this because from their uninvolved place they can tune in and get suggestions for us. I listened within as we talked to see if something might come through for my friend.

 The only thing that popped up was the familiar concept that the most effective way to solve a problem is not at the level at which it was created or is presently operating, but rather from a greater perspective. The teaching story about the spiritual teacher who tells his student to put salt in a glass of water and taste it, and then to put the same amount of salt into a lake and taste it, is an example of this idea of putting things in a larger context where we are not so overwhelmed by the immediate negative effects of the difficulty.

 I passed this concept and story on to her, but I also agreed to let her know if any more specific guidance, or an idea that might help with the situation, came to me later.

 Voila! The next morning something presented itself, and it seems like something that could be used in a number of situations, so here it is for all of you as well.

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 Process:

 1) Think of what the person’s “cosmic address” is, usually their full name. For this process, you are dealing with their cosmic self, not the everyday mundane self.

 2) Make the statement, “_____(name)______ , you are safe.”

 3) Repeat this statement 10 times (using your fingers is a good way to keep track) and repeat that cycle 10 times a day. This will equal 100 repetitions a day. Note that the message is being sent to their cosmic or etheric self – without focusing on the everyday person that you are having the difficulty with.

 4) Do this for 10 consecutive days. This will yield 1,000 repetitions.

 5) Nothing else is needed. The process will do the work. Just accept the changes that result as they emerge. (Of course some gratitude and appreciation is always a good thing, too!)

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 The process just came without explanation, but the following is why it also makes sense to me that it is a good one.

 The statement, “____, you are safe,” addressed the core reason for the woman’s aggressive behavior. Probably beginning at an early age, when she felt unsafe she developed the defense of manipulating people around her as a way to protect her own well being. When she was not able to overpower someone through manipulation, the only way to feel safe was to ostracize them (which was the present situation with my friend). So the “you are safe” statement addressed this head on.

 The number of repetitions given by the guidance made sense in that there is a certain magic in 1,000 repetitions. In teaching musical instruments and other skills, we have learned that 1,000 repetitions is the number at which a skill is fully internalized. 100 times a day for 10 consecutive days is a good way to do this. So I am guessing that is why the guidance was for that number.

 I hope you have lots of success with this process. I would be happy to hear about it, if you give it a try. Email: theflow@all1world.com. To life!

But what about when our minds feel overloaded or our emotions are all tangled up or we’re just plain stressed out? Wouldn’t it be nice to do a reset or refresh? The following is a suggestion of how to do just that.

1) Notice your breathing.
Just notice how the air goes in and out without any need to control it. If you find you want to take a deeper breath and begin to relax, go ahead.

2) Blowing gently.
Begin blowing a little on the out-breath, like when we say, “Whew!” or blowing out a candle. If your mind seems very active, count 10 out-breaths. Otherwise, just enjoy how your body begins to easily relax.

3) Skin balloon.
If all of your skin was a big balloon, exactly what shape would it be? Check your fingers, arms, legs and feet. See the shape that your “skin-balloon” makes. How much space is inside your skin?

4) The air goes in and out of your “body balloon.”
Feel how the air goes in and out of your body. Expanding, releasing. Expanding, releasing…

5) Sense the room.
Shift your attention to the room and make an inventory of where the walls are, how high the ceiling is and where the floor is. Notice the air in the room. Get an idea of how much air is in the room and how large the space of the room is.

6) Outside the building.
Now move your focus out through the walls and into the out-of-doors. Notice the air outside. What  impressions come to you – hot, cold, windy, clear, damp… ?

7) The aliveness outdoors.
There are things that are alive outside — grass, trees, birds, animals… maybe even flowers and butterflies. Notice the life force energy in all the living things. The grass is growing; the trees are, too – even in the winter the roots of the trees are growing underground. Notice how much LIFE there is. See and feel all the vibrant growth and aliveness.

8) The whole picture.
Now become aware of the whole picture – the air and vibrant life force outside, the air inside the building, and the air and aliveness in your own body.

9) Enjoy it, then open your eyes.
Take a few more breaths and enjoy this wider awareness before opening your eyes.

10) You have now been RESET.

Of course, you can modify the process so that it will suit you perfectly. I hope you enjoy using it!

We discussed it for a while. When the conversation switched to what I was doing, I told him about the questions I had been working with (see March 28 post – “The Power of Inquiry”). The questions are for dealing with things that are bothering us – things we find upsetting, that bug us, etc.

To better explain what I was doing, I asked if he would like to try the process. He agreed and we chose something he had seen the day before which he thought was just awful. “How could someone do something like that!”

We started with The Work questions and Turnarounds and then moved into the “That’s Better” process. It went quite well and the event which had been a source of anger became instead, something which brought him an empowering gift.

As we rejoiced in this new perspective I saw a chance to get some extra benefit from his being-in-the-flow state. I suggested he listen to whatever popped up in his mind when I asked a question.

“What would be the best thing to do about retiring?”

He immediately got a clear answer which felt right, and was sensible, too. Hurray!

When we are in the flow of well being the clarity of what to do comes so much more easily.

2 Sets of Questions to help us see the truth more clearly 

The “That’s Better!” Process
Dealing with something upsetting that keeps coming up in our minds.

1) “If ____ sticks in my mind there is something valuable in it for me.”
If it were NOT something worthwhile, it would drift by and not be considered.

A reminder of this is good at the beginning. It sets the stage for the rest of the process.

2) “_____ is now in my life, so it is part of my life story.”
Whether I like it or not, this image/event/idea has now been included in the story of my life. I cannot pretend it away or erase it. It is now part of the script in my life’s drama. If I don’t accept this fact I will not be able to be in the truth. 

3) Ask, “What does this image/event/idea have to offer me?” 
List multiple possibilities of what this could offer – both helpful and unhelpful, no limits. Just let ideas come to mind without evaluating them.

Examples. It is an opportunity to…

• Be enraged with justification.
• Feel righteous.
• Use the questions of The Work (see below).
• Feel trapped, victimized – ”I can’t get it out of my mind.”
• Use it as an excuse to stay stuck.
• Discover my power by being triumphant over a difficulty.
• Learn something I never thought of before. 
• Experience a happy ending to this scenario which started out as something upsetting.

4) See all the options I can think of laid out like a buffet, like a huge array of foods at an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Be aware that I can choose which ones to put on my plate. 

Remembering that I am in my life’s story, making a choice about the script, “How do I want this plot to unfold? Where would I like to see it go?”

 Try scripting a few of these options of where it could go next. Let the inspirations flow. Seeing the choices involved is already empowering. Add new options as they come to mind. Be creative, put in some humor wherever you can – laughter is a short cut to well being.

Once we get on that track (possibilities, options, empowering choices, humor) good ideas appear. “Now that’s better!”

___________________________

Dealing with Judgments
This process comes from The Work by Byron Katie.

Process:
1) Write down the statement in a clear and simple way.
Examples:
“People/he/she shouldn’t do ______.”  “People/he/she ought to ______.”  “People/he/she are _______ and that is not good.”

Write it as it would be spoken by a child or a very judgmental part of you, what you might think in an uncontrolled moment when you are not being careful to be nice or when your emotions are running high.

Note that at this stage in the process the judgments are not about ourselves, but rather, what is outside of us — other people, the world…

2) Ask, “Is that true?”

3) Ask, “Is that really true? Can I be absolutely sure that it is true?”

4) Ask, “How do I react, what happens, when I think that thought, believe that thought?”

5) Ask, “Who would I be without that thought?”
If I had never even had that thought, if that thought had never even occurred to me, what would my life be like, how would I feel?

6) “Turnarounds” — turn the thought around.
This is to write the original statement in some way that is the opposite, or 180 degrees from where it started. An important part of this is to now see how that gets played out within ourselves, how it is reflected within ourselves.

Examples:
“He should not ignore me.”
Could become: “I should not ignore him.”  “I should not ignore me.”  “He should ignore me.”

“People are selfish.”
Could become: “People are generous.”  “I am selfish.”

7) Take the Turnaround and come up with examples of how that could be true. The suggestion is to come up with 3 examples for each turn around.

8) Do numbers 6 and 7 with another Turnaround.

Doing this process loosens the invincibility of the thoughts that are ruling our perceptions of the world and ourselves. 

The Work of Byron Katie is at: http://www.thework.com/index.php

Here is a good video of Byron Katie doing this process with a woman on the topic of racism.

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*Many thanks to Cheryl Gaglione for introducing me to The Work of Byron Katie.*

Matthieu Ricard, a Tibetan monk, described it well in a Ted.com lecture. He spoke about how our emotions are like the waves, they rise and fall. When something good happens we are happy, but after a while that feeling fades. 

If we go beneath the waves of the surface to the deep constancy which is ever-present below, we can experience the well being which is always here.  

As we move into awareness of that underlying flow of well being, we exist more and more in a state which is steady and enduring. We can then ride the waves of emotion with more pleasure and make better choices along the way, too!