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Tools For Conscious Awareness
Newsletter For
A Next Step...Light Center for Transformation and Healing
Vol. 93 -Addendum- June, 2008
In Truth, Simplicity, Love and Service
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FEATURES:
LIGHTNESS OF BEING
BREATH, AWARENESS AND NATURE
AFTER DEATH CONTACT
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK
FORGIVENESS
KIDS IN CHURCH
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“There is one Truth that shines thru all Creation. Rivers and mountains, plants and animals, the sun, the moon and the stars, you and I--all are expressions of this one Reality. It is by assimilating this truth in our lives, and thus, gaining a deeper understanding, that we can discover the inherent beauty in this diversity.”
Ammachi
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…all effort is wasted energy…since true creation is birthed through us, not because of us.
“In the new game of life that we are about to play, there will be new rules,
new team players, and new goals for achievement based primarily in teamwork
and community participation among like-minded members.
Play, as the operative word, is essential now, for all higher dimensional creation
will come through a lightness of being and effort will seem like old-world drudgery.
In fact, all effort is wasted energy here since true creation is birthed through
us, not because of us.
Any responsibilities, jobs, or relationships that seem like "work" will not work
at all here, so it is important to let go of anything that feels burdensome or heavy.
We are required to release all that we no longer desire now so we can make room for
the arrival of all that we dreamed of.
Most importantly, we must free ourselves from all pre-conceived notions of what we
thought we should be, do and have so we can truly be, do and have it all.
Wishing you the courage to live your dream!”
Joyfully,
Lauren
ThinkWithYourHeart.net
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“My friend Jenya, a zen monk, ornithologist, and one of the first Russian
breathworkers, recently reminded me of a profound truth: “Everything in nature—
every shape, every sound, every movement, every color, every texture, every
fragrance—has healing power.” It is up to us to breathe in this healing power,
to trust it, to relax into it, to become one with it! “ Dan Brule from his May
2008 Breath & Breathing Report
Hello Everyone,
I am in Cancun at the moment, relaxing, having fun, enjoying every moment, feeling
myself a part of everything. I’ve been remembering one of my early teachers Hans
Bruno Geba. He was teaching breathwork in the early 1960’s as a way of developing
what he called a “re-creative lifestyle attitude.” He was a delightful man, an
extraordinary psychologist, counselor and therapist.
His approach to life had a profound effect on me and my practice. And so this month
I’d like to share with you some of what he taught—or maybe better to say: “where I’ve
gone or what I’ve done with his teachings.”
Breathwork as Recreation (Re-Creation)
People exist in two dimensions or realms: the natural realm and the symbolic realm.
By the natural realm we mean that we are “being lived;” and by the symbolic realm we
mean that we are “living life.” Our health, happiness, and our ongoing experience of
reality are determined by the relationship between these two dimensions. These two
realms can be balanced and harmonized to produce peak performance, to allow optimum
health, and to express our ultimate potential. Depending on the harmony or disharmony
between the natural and symbolic realms, we either make ourselves well or we make
ourselves ill.
Most people live predominantly in the symbolic or mental realm. In other words, they
“live in their head.” Because of this, many of the body’s natural functions have been
taken over by the analytical mind: they are driven and controlled by mental energy that
disturbs or disrupts our nature. One of the main benefits of breathwork is that it takes
us out of our head and settles us back into our body.
The symbolic or analytical mind is a relatively recent development in evolution. It is
what sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. It is responsible for all the
great inventions and all the creative contributions humans have made to the world. But
the analytical mind also produces all of our conflict and anxiety; and it can be deadly
when we allow it to dominate our lives and subvert natural living.
Consider the natural processes of eating food and eliminating waste. Look how important
“social etiquette” is in some social circles. Things like how to sit, how to hold a fork,
or where to place a napkin, receive more focus and attention than the nutrients that the
body actually needs to live. Look at how much social and cultural conditioning—even shame
and punishment—go into toilet training. Some people worry so much about these things that
they develop lifestyle attitudes of guilt and self-loathing, to the extent that they
create headaches, stomach ulcers, and even colon cancer.
Notice how much energy goes into fancy packaging and clever advertising, meant to associate
junk food with being happy, healthy, and attractive. Instead of eating what is naturally
good for us, we consume what our conditioned minds symbolize as valuable.
From conception onward, we are clearly being be lived by life, by nature. We are acted
upon before we are able to act. Growth and maturing marks a path from impulsive existence
and movements to increasingly free choice and self-determined actions. We evolve from
automatic blind necessity, to conscious mindful living. Animals don’t have this freedom:
they are in every moment controlled completely by their nature. We are a product of nature
controlled by it on the one hand, and on the other hand we have the ability to control
nature and to consciously change it.
Breathwork involves two interrelated events: “being breathed” and “doing the breathing”
This is a natural reflection and expression of the two realms: being lived and living
life. Before you decide to live your life, you are already being lived; before you decide
to breathe, you are already being breathed.
Life-force or breath-energy may be the least understood thing on earth. But that doesn’t
mean we can’t make use of it for our benefit. Most people don’t know how electricity or
cars work, but that doesn’t stop them from switching on a light or driving to the corner
store. We don’t have to be enlightened masters to make good use of our life-force energy.
We can heal ourselves and each other with it. We can use it to move to the next higher
level of being, to end our suffering, and to live in grace.
Actions and Attitudes
Your lifestyle attitude is the expression of how you live your life. And attitude is a
function of action and awareness. Awareness and action is a unit, not a duality. It is
not an “either - or” (we live in a universe not a “duoverse”). Attitude not only
determines action but it is also a result of it, a constituent of it. It is a determinant
as well as a result. Action-awareness or awareness-action is a holistic expression of
the mind-body gestalt. Lifestyle attitude is movement, and movement is action-awareness.
Action-awareness naturally expresses as ethics and emotion.
Early awareness was concentrated on actions focused on survival. Scarcity was the driving
force behind human actions. Will there be enough food for today? Will there be enough
food for the winter? Will there be enough water to drink? Will there be enough water for
the crops? Will there be enough people to do the work? Will there be enough people to
fight the enemy?
Real and natural scarcity caused a “do or die” attitude. This is the ethics of survival.
Today, there are artificial scarcities. These scarcities are symbolic or analytical as
opposed to real and natural. Real dangers have been replaced by false or “mind-made”
dangers—dangers that exist only in our head.
Our thinking causes changes on the cellular level. It causes muscular tension, and affects
body chemistry and blood flow patterns, which can lead to disease. Psychological strain
causes dramatic hormonal changes, resulting in physiological illness. Thoughts activate
emotions, and emotions trigger thoughts: and in a way, our body is caught in the middle.
Research in psycho-neuro-immunology proves that free floating thoughts and reactive
emotions are a deadly combination. We can poison ourselves with our lifestyle attitudes.
We can reduce and even block antibody production and immune system function by how we
think and the way we consciously or unconsciously live our lives—by our attitudes.
Spiritual Breathing is fun!
If you approach breathwork with the same attitude that you approach other healing and
growth work, you will miss what it is really about. It’s a paradox, because breathwork
is therapeutic work, it is self-improvement work. And yet, it is a break from the work
of self-improvement; it is a reprieve from therapy.
Breathwork is meant to be fun. It’s fun to be natural, and it’s natural to have fun. But
fun is generally associated with frivolous, unethical, time wasting, selfishness. In fact,
health and long term survival depends on it. It is fun to feel good and to care about
yourself and others. It’s fun to respect nature and the environment. It’s fun to love
and be loved.
To focus on fun is generally considered to be childish. Growing up, we are taught that
only serious adult pursuits are considered mature or necessary. (Call it the “adulteration”
process—we adulterate our children!) And so recreation, even when indulged in, is attacked
like work; it’s made into serious business. Our vacations are hectic; our free time, our
time off, is filled with chores. Even our breathing sessions are stressful!
In fact, very serious issues can be resolved with a dose of lightness. Look at the wars
we wage on each other, on terrorism, on cancer, on hunger, on poverty, on drugs. Have they
really solved anything? They keep us focused in the wrong direction. Even breathwork--
which is pure and natural re-creation, is considered by many practitioners and trainers
to be “very serious” work that must be regulated and controlled. (I no longer count myself
among that ilk.)
The Breathworker’s attitude is unique. It can best be described as “sensory/intuitive—
action/awareness.” Breathwork creates a natural balance between “being lived” and “living
life.” It’s about consciously harmonizing mind and body, creatively blending the natural
and symbolic realms. This is a key to thriving in life rather than just surviving it.
In breathwork, we practice breath awareness and conscious breathing. Breath awareness is
the experience of “being breathed.” Conscious breathing is the practice of “breathing the
breath.” We are either doing the breathing or letting the breath breathe us, in the same
way that we are either living life or letting life live us.
During a breathing session, we generate the re-creative lifestyle attitude, which is
process oriented and present moment focused. We are simply breathing and feeling. It
is a pure experience. We are aware of our mind and in touch with our body. Breathwork
puts us into a creative, resourceful, intuitive state. We are connected, at one with
ourselves and our surroundings. We are open to grace, and at ease in the world. We let
ourselves be, we allow life come and go. We freely flow our energy and express our true
nature.
The Cataclysmic Lifestyle Attitude
In the same way that a natural attitude and the free and easy flow of breath can lead
to the recreative lifestyle, breath-holding and the analytical mind can lead to a
“cataclysmic lifestyle.”
You probably know the sick feeling of an unhappy love affair. When in that situation,
you feel lost, disconnected from yourself and from life around you. This is suffering.
But at some point you regain your balance, you come to your senses. Your mind clears and
you are able to let go. Your attitude changes and you feel alive again. You are free.
This is a relatively simple and harmless example of temporarily going through the painful
cataclysmic attitude. But the consequences of constantly living a cataclysmic lifestyle
attitude are far more severe. On a personal level, it can lead to an avoidance of love,
life-long dread, free-floating anxiety or rage, mental illness, catatonic stupor, or even
suicide. On a social or cultural level, it can lead to senseless wars, genocide, and
holocausts.
Just as individuals can loose touch with nature and reality, organizations, institutions,
and entire nations can too. Just as you can poison your bloodstream, burn a hole in your
stomach, or destroy your immune system… societies controlled by the cataclysmic lifestyle
attitude can destroy plants and animals; burn holes in the environment, pollute oceans
and the air, and destroy the planet.
We seem to have passed thru the nuclear threshold; the world has survived the threat of
nuclear annihilation. But today, we are in the grip of what is called the “terrorist”
threat. Our governments foster cataclysmic attitudes by keeping people and institutions
focused on crisis emotions, on survival motivation, on alienation, fear and scarcity.
The cataclysmic lifestyle attitude is dominated by fear and dis-ease. In this state, the
head not only dominates the body, it is disconnected from it. We are not “together,” not
united. We are not functioning as a harmonious unit. Notice how our government leaders
are so disconnected from the “man on the street.” Notice the constant conflict between
segments of the population: the liberals and conservatives, democrats and republicans,
etc. Notice the way that media pundits, radio personalities and talk show hosts fuel this
divisiveness.
When you are split, you are not inspired; you are not clear or focused. There is a
stressful attempt to control yourself and everything around you. You tend to dwell on the
details of a problem instead of dismissing them; your body is tight and tense, restless or
in pain, and your mind is scattered or caught in dull, useless repetition.
All of the environmental problems and polarized political and social conflicts grow out of
an internal split within the individual mind and body. By dealing with ourselves, others,
and events as if they are isolated entities instead of parts of a continuum we create and
maintain the very problems that we seek to solve. Only inner peace can lead to world peace,
yet none of our “leaders” and no one in the media seems to have it.
We cannot change ourselves when we are busy defending ourselves. Even if we wake up and
realize that we have made a mistake, that we are on the wrong path, that we are acting
out a dysfunctional pattern… we cannot seem to stop ourselves. We have to finish our act!
Other people may recognize our error, but instead of changing course, we stay the course.
We put our life energy into defending ourselves, our actions and our position.
It seems that once the chemicals in our system and the molecules of our emotions have been
activated, we have no choice but to wait for them to run their course; we need time to
neutralize ourselves before we can wake up, move forward, and be fully human again.
Breathwork is the perfect thing to practice in order to allow this “coming home.” It’s
the perfect thing to do when analytic or catastrophic attitudes drive us. Breathwork gives
us a way to settle back into our natural being—into a re-creative lifestyle attitude.
Breathwork was originally called rebirthing, because people literally felt “born again”
into a new and naturally vital body. But in many cases, breathwork has been taken over
by the analytical mind. It has become just one more thing “to do” to ourselves and each
other, rather than a unique and creative way of “being” in harmony with nature and life.
………………………………...............
“Body is a mythology perpetuated by our senses.”
Dr. Richard Bartlett, innovator of Matrix Energetics
www.matrixenergetics.com
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After-death contacts (ADCs) involve contact with a departed spirit, either by seeing,
feeling or some other firsthand encounter. At least 25% of Americans in general have
experienced ADCs. That percentage swells to 66% for women whose husbands have passed
on and 75% of parents whose children died. These are typically meaningful, especially
when a validation aspect indicates an authentic encounter.
One type of validation ADC is termed evidential and includes experiences in which a
person learns something he or she did not know before and, in fact, had no way of
knowing. Information revealed by evidential ADCs provides stronger documentation that
these encounters are not illusions. Visiting spirits may relay information that was not
known to anyone but is later verified.
An example of this type is provided by Bill and Judy Guggenheim in "Hello from Heaven".
As Kitty, a sixty-five year-old homemaker in Alabama described:
Leland was our friend, and we bought our home from him. He was a mail carrier and was
killed one morning in his mail truck.
The next morning he appeared in my bedroom! While standing there, he told me to tell
Frances, his wife, that he had an insurance policy she didn't know about. He said, "It's
in our bedroom, in the top drawer of the chest under the paper. Tell Frances where it is."
And then he disappeared.
My husband, Cliff, walked in the room and I told him what had happened. He said, "Well,
let's call and tell Frances." I said, "She'll think I'm nuts!"
So my husband went down and told Leland's brother, Reed, to look in the top drawer of the
chest under the paper--that he might find an insurance policy there. But Cliff didn't
explain what had happened to me.
Sure enough, they looked and there was an insurance policy just like Leland had told me!
Reed called and thanked my husband, but we never told them how we knew. They just wouldn't
have understood.
Years ago, I attended a high school graduation party for the daughter of close friends
and heard the following ADC that has both shared and evidential aspects. While talking
with the family, I shared a bit about my upcoming book and the various categories of
evidence. When I mentioned after-death contacts, one of the grandmothers interrupted me
and said, "I had one of those!"
She turned to her daughter and said, "Remember when Helen was so ill and close to dying?
Ruthie and I were on the front porch and we saw the same thing at the same time: a white
ghostly shape appeared out of nowhere in the yard in front of us, moved across the yard,
and then suddenly disappeared. I turned to Ruthie and said what we both knew: 'Helen must
have just passed on.'" She continued, "We went into the house and she had just died.
When you see something like that--and someone else does too--you know without a doubt
that death isn't the end!"
As described by Raymond Moody, M.D., Ph.D., in "Reunions", Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.,
had an evidentiary encounter with a deceased patient. She was walking in the hallway
toward her office one day and noticed a woman standing in the corridor. They began talking
and Dr. Kubler-Ross led the woman into her office.
After a while, she said with considerable amazement 'I know you!' and recognized the
woman as 'Mrs. Schwartz,' a patient who had died several months earlier. Mrs. Schwartz
acknowledged her identity and the two talked for some period of time. In an attempt to
obtain verifiable evidence of the visit, Dr. Kubler-Ross asked the woman to write a
note to her minister. Afterwards, analysis of the handwriting matched samples written
before she passed over.
Your spirit, soul, consciousness, awareness, energy, essence -- whatever you want to
call it -- predated your human birth and will survive physical death. Evidential ADCs
are just one of many categories of evidence that prove this life-transformative news.
Yes, my friends, a vast amount of religious, clinical, scientific and firsthand evidence
convincingly proves that we each really are immortal spiritual beings. This is the good
news that sets us free, that helps us make sense of what often seems to be a chaotic
world.
We each truly are "soul proof", just as a watch is shock proof or water proof. Our real
selves do not die, cannot be hurt, and can handle any outward circumstances with style.
Life is indeed a totally safe and magnificent adventure amidst eternity.
There are many experiences like these ones reflected here that help us know this truth
without a doubt. Life is immeasurably more peaceful, joyful and exciting when you know
who you are, why you're here, and Who is always walking beside, within, and all around
you.
Soul Soothers online
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Let's say it's 6.15pm and you're driving home (alone of course) after an
unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, and frustrated……You are
really stressed and upset.
Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate
out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only five miles from the hospital
nearest your home. Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it
that far.
YOU HAVE BEEN TRAINED IN CPR, BUT THE GUY THAT CONDUCTED THE COURSE DID NOT TELL
YOU HOW TO PERFORM IT ON YOURSELF !!!
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE?
SINCE MANY PEOPLE ARE ALONE WHEN THEY SUFFER A HEART ATTACK, WITHOUT HELP,
THE PERSON WHOSE HEART IS BEATING IMPROPERLY AND WHO BEGINS TO FEEL FAINT,
HAS ONLY ABOUT 10 SECONDS LEFT BEFORE LOSING CONSCIOUS.
WHAT TO DO ??
ANSWER:
DO NOT PANIC, BUT START COUGHING REPEATEDLY AND VERY VIGOROUSLY.
A DEEP BREATH SHOULD BE TAKEN BEFORE EACH COUGH, THE COUGH MUST BE DEEP AND
PROLONGED, AS WHEN PRODUCING SPUTUM FROM DEEP INSIDE THE CHEST.
A BREATH AND A COUGH MUST BE REPEATED ABOUT EVERY TWO SECONDS WITHOUT LET-UP
UNTIL HELP ARRIVES, OR UNTIL THE HEART IS FELT TO BE BEATING NORMALLY AGAIN.
DEEP BREATHS GET OXYGEN INTO THE LUNGS AND COUGHING MOVEMENTS SQUEEZE THE HEART
AND KEEP THE BLOOD CIRCULATING. THE SQUEEZING PRESSURE ON THE HEART ALSO HELPS
IT REGAIN NORMAL RHYTHM. IN THIS WAY, HEART ATTACK VICTIMS CAN GET TO A HOSPITAL.
TELL AS MANY OTHER PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THIS. IT COULD SAVE THEIR LIVES !!!
DON'T EVER THINK THAT YOU ARE NOT PRONE TO HEART ATTACK. NOWADAYS DUE TO THE
CHANGE IN THE LIFE STYLE, HEART ATTACK IS FOUND AMONG PEOPLE OF ALL AGE GROUPS.
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Beloveds, the heart is a place where most of us have opportunity to heal
woundings of the past. We guard against being hurt as before and we close off,
thinking we are protecting ourselves. We can heal and transform this defendedness
and open our hearts again without having to suffer heart dis-ease or heart attacks.
FORGIVENESS is a journey that can take a while and it is essential in healing the
heart.
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3-year-old, Reese: "Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen."
A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy,
don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."
After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way
home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was
wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought
up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."
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In Truth, Simplicity, Love and Service,
Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Om Peace.
Young Toni Delgado and Young Kelley Elkins
A NEXT STEP...Light Center for Transformation and Healing
P.O.Box 429
Dona Ana, New Mexico 88032
toni@anextstep.org
www.anextstep.org
575-382-8771
Buy Toni's new book: A CALL TO MOTHER’S GRACE AND GIFTS
Go to OUR STORE: bottom of page at www.anextstep.org to order it.
Also available at iuniverse.com, amazon, barnesandnoble, borders.
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