Insights for your personal evolution
Personal Growth
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance, and Dreams
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Shortly after I became intrigued with learning about my shadow side, a colleague recommended The Dark Side of the Light Chasers: Reclaiming Your Power, Creativity, Brilliance, and Dreams
We begin in childhood to disown parts of ourselves, usually through family experience which shapes our core beliefs. “The pain you experienced when you were two, six, or eight is just beneath the surface of your consciousness. Until it’s transformed, it’s always there driving your life.” The coping techniques we enacted from childhood remain our behaviors as adults. Ford teaches that we “attract whomever and whatever we need to mirror back the aspects of ourselves that we’ve forgotten.” The universe provides exactly the experiences that will teach us particular lessons.
The simplest method of discovering what we need to learn is to recognize the traits that bother us the most in others. We project onto others what we deny in ourselves. It’s important to make the distinction that simply noticing a trait isn’t enough. The moments that affect us emotionally are the opportunities to focus on. Once you embrace a quality in yourself, others with the same quality can no longer annoy you. The charge around it is lost and miraculously the particular trigger evaporates from your experience.
I have attempted explaining this concept to others and it often meets with resistance. In this current trend of positive affirmations and focusing only on the positive, it is difficult to understand how bringing attention to the negative could be at all helpful. Ford says, “When we believe we can only be one or the other, we continue our internal struggle to only be the right things.” However, when we are able to integrate those negative aspects, we accept and become our total selves.
Likewise, we project positive traits onto others which reveal the possibilities in ourselves. We are not able to see qualities in others that we don’t have ourselves. Often we admire others because we wish we could be more like them. In fact, we have that potential but often live in denial.
A revealing way to discover your shadow side is to ask others what they perceive as both your positive and negative traits. Ford states, “We never have to believe what others think about us, but if we are afraid to hear what the people closest to us have to say, we should take notice. Most people are afraid they will hear what they fear most. This is denial at work.”
In order to live authentically, we must take responsibility for all events in our lives. We are not victims of chance, our experiences are reflections of our selves. We choose how to interpret and respond to the people and circumstances that surround us. Ford says it best in this statement: “Don’t strive for perfection, because it’s the desire for perfection that leads us to build these walls. Strive for wholeness, and for light and dark to live equally. Just as everything has a light side and a dark side, so does every person, because to be human is to be it all.”
Book Author: Debbie Ford
Riverhead Books, 1998
http://www.riverheadbooks.com
Debbie Ford conducts seminars on the dark side at the Chopra Center for Well Being in La Jolla, California, where she is a consultant, teacher, and integral faculty member. She also leads her own day and weekend Shadow Process workshops nationwide.
Other books:
Why Good People Do Bad Things: How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy
Spiritual Divorce: Divorce as a Catalyst for an Extraordinary Life
The Secret of the Shadow: The Power of Owning Your Story
The Right Questions: Ten Essential Questions To Guide You to an Extraordinary Life
The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Plan It, Love It
Frequency: the Power of Personal Vibration
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As the earth moves at a faster vibration, human bodies attune to this energy and it can be overwhelming. In Frequency: The Power of Personal Vibration
Each of us is born with the capacity for unbounded love and expression. As we interact with our parents and others we become accustomed to their responses and adapt our behaviors. When we are validated, our soul feels truth and love. When our expressions are ignored or rejected, we learn to adapt to the lack of approval and acceptance and shut off particular feelings. For example, you may withhold affection if your parents become uncomfortable and tense. Our natural frequencies shift to accommodate those around us.
Peirce describes how to sense the different vibrations in the body while focusing our attention on differing sensations as a range of emotions takes place. We note the differences and then learn to tune in to what feels most natural, our home frequency which reflects our truest selves. When we are able to consciously shift our frequency with intention, this is where the true power lies.
In order to transform to the higher frequencies, it is necessary to remove the blockages from past conditioned behaviors. It is important to recognize and observe unhealthy feeling habits without judgment, both in yourself and in others. As you learn to recognize different frequency levels you can consciously choose to merge (or not) with them to activate new experiences.
One excellent tip is to “feel into what you notice” rather than assuming we are separate and need to wait for a sensation to come. It is necessary to let go of preconceived notions and allow what is noticed to make itself known. Peirce recommends starting with more mundane situations, such as what to have for breakfast. After becoming adept at this level, move forward and discover more meaningful insights and impressions.
During a problem, often your energy will move toward what has your attention. It is helpful to think that this is an experience you’re supposed to have. Peirce states, “Your problem is really a question. The question helps you discover an experience your soul wants you to have.” Rather than trying to change the quandary, focus into your body and view the issue in your imagination. In a relaxed and present state, often the resolution will work itself out.
A key to the law of attraction is that, according to Peirce, “In a unified world, instead of attracting something, you notice it already existing in your reality, and you keep paying attention to it. …When willpower surfaces, the ego is back, thinking it’s running the show, reinforcing the idea of isolation and difficulty. …Therefore, energy is wasted in protesting, over-riding, and trying to change what you have before you fully understand the perfection of why it’s there.”
We attract what matches our frequency – good or bad, in relationships and in the problems we face. For example, partners often act out the same issue from opposite ends. While this may feel like conflict, there is much in common between the pair. When a relationship is over, it reflects a shift in frequency and we no longer have a need for growth possibilities in that situation. The shift can be conscious or unconscious and every connection brings value.
As we become further accelerated, maintaining higher frequencies allows our souls to exhibit freely. Deeper awareness of ourselves allows us to connect profoundly with others. We develop empathy, a “direct knowing through vibration; it is sensitivity filtered through your heart.” Authentic soul expression becomes the source of transformation.
Book Author: Penney Peirce
Beyond Words, 2009
http://www.beyondword.com
Penney Peirce is an internationally respected clairvoyant empath and intuition development trainer known for her common sense approach to developing expanded human capacities, heightened perception, and spirituality. She’s trained and counseled business and government leaders, scientists, psychologists, and those on a spiritual path since 1977.
Other books:
Dream Dictionary for Dummies
The Intuitive Way
Dreams for Dummies
The Present Moment
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
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Like a lot of people, I have often pondered the meaning of humanity’s existence so when I saw the title, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose 
Achieving internal awareness eludes many due to the ever-present ego which crowds most people’s ability to know their true selves. The ego, a collection of thought forms and emotions, “could almost be looked upon as an entity that has taken possession of them.” The constant stream of thoughts in each of our minds commands our frequent attention, defining who we think we are. The challenge is to remain aware that while we have thoughts and emotions, we are not our thoughts and emotions.
Tolle defines the pain-body, an integral aspect of the ego, as unprocessed negative thoughts that leave behind fragments of pain in the emotional body. We carry our past experiences throughout our lives and due to this baggage, we often react to situations inappropriately. Generally speaking, these emotions become “unhappiness.”
When reading about this, I recalled a previous conversation with a college-age friend. She expressed that she had always felt unhappy and had been offered a prescription from a psychiatrist to help with this condition. Since she is otherwise quite able to function well in life, my advice to her was to consider that perhaps nothing is wrong with being unhappy and it may be just who she is and not a state that needs fixing.
Validation of that suggestion came in the passage where Tolle counsels a woman carrying great sadness and pain. He asks her to look within and accept how she feels in that exact moment and to ask herself the question, “if you don’t mind being unhappy, what happens to the unhappiness?” Tolle explains that acceptance of however you feel in a given moment is the quality of presence.
When you are able to break free from habitual negative emotion and pain, and separate from the typical mind chatter, you begin the process of knowing the essence within yourself. While this may be difficult to attain consistently, Tolle assures that even a short moment of presence and internal stillness is a huge victory. This awareness leads to the capacity to truly know your inner self and to find meaning in life.
Tolle relates through anecdotes the wisdom of three specific states of mind – nonresistance, nonjudgment and nonattachment. Achievement of these states brings room for inner space. “It comes as a stillness, a subtle peace deep within you, even in the face of something seemingly bad.” As each of us becomes more aligned, we begin to fulfill our inner purpose and are thus ready to live our unique external purposes.
One’s purpose is less related to what you do and intrinsically defined by how you do it. There are three modalities of “awakened doing” – acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm. From the mundane to the exhilarating, all actions are equally due the attention of the present moment. As we awaken to this more aware phase of being, all of humanity will transform to a “new earth.”
Book Author: Eckhart Tolle
Plume, 2006
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/adult/plume.html
Eckhart Tolle is a contemporary spiritual teacher who travels extensively, taking his message throughout the world.
Other books:
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Practicing the Power of Now
Stillness Speaks
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Wishing: How to Fulfill Your Heart’s Desires
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Inspirational and lighthearted, Wishing: How to Fulfill Your Hearts Desires
As an intuitive counselor, Harper has witnessed the triumphs and pitfalls of different people’s wishes and relates the most favorable conditions for those successfully granted. Foremost is the skill of properly wording our wishes with positive statements and being sure we are ready for what we want. We must also consider the idea that we may already have what we wish for but may not realize.
Harper gives an eye-opening explanation of how we are responsible for creating our own reality by coining the word “response-able.” We attract both traumatic and pleasant events in our lives in order to have the opportunity to respond to them, thus learning more about our true natures. By becoming more conscious of what we attract to ourselves along with our responses, we harness more power in our lives.
There is a simple but fine balance which must be maintained in order for wishes to come true. We must confidently expect our wishes to be granted, but not have expectations as such. Rather than obsessively and consistently focusing on a wish, we must wish once then let it go and allow. We are to be specific in what we wish for, but not be specific in how it is to manifest. Harper clearly explains how to precisely attune our wishes for the desired outcome.
Along with brief and interesting anecdotal wish stories and wish sense tips there are many suggested practices including exercises and meditations for getting in touch with what we want, why we want it and how to open to receive. Having listened to Harper’s lovely voice on her Chakra Workout Meditations CD, I found myself “wishing” for an accompanying CD for guidance through the different meditations.
Harper suggests we start small with our wishes, for example, a cup of coffee or running shoes. Once confident in the methods, wishes can get more sophisticated including new relationships, jobs, good health and even personal transformation. Through clear and explicit means, wishes can be composed, visualized and realized as a form of manifesting one’s desired reality.
Book Author: Elizabeth Harper
Beyond Words Publishing, 2008
http://www.beyondword.com
Elizabeth Harper is an internationally acclaimed teacher, intuitive, healer, and author with an extensive clientele including royalty, government officials, celebrities, authors, scientists, and professionals from all walks of life. She leads popular workshops at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York, and writes regular columns and articles for magazines in the United States, Australia, and South Africa. She offers consultations online or in-person at various venues.
