ABC of Balance

We have been looking outside of ourselves to re-create balance in the world. Balance though is actually something that needs first to be found within ourselves- that point of stillness, silence and stability. Held for a moment and observing our mind we see that what is un-balancing us is our thinking, it is taking us into dis-ease and dis-stress. Once we re-balance our selves the world will automatically come back into balance. By changing our thoughts we can change the world-by switching from negative to finding the positive about ourselves, others and our planet.

When we think of greatness we think of great actions; people who have and do stand up and do something great. There is another type of greatness- the greatness of conquering our own weaknesses. We all have anger, greed and are dependent on/ attached to something. When we face these things and overcome them we experience peace and love; and our courage, faith and gratitude grow. To begin we simply need to turn our vision inside and acknowledge our own positivity and capacity for greatness (goodness).

Methods:
a) Put a full stop to all that is unhelpful and focus on what you want to achieve- Instead of putting energy into the rush and stress put energy into recreating the self... the key to freedom is to become responsible for one self.
b) The past is past- We hang on to the past so much that we can not be in the present. Close past situations and seize today's opportunities to learn and give.
c) Take a powerful word or phrase and add ‘I am’ to it, such as, 'I am peace'- this gives us energy and makes us feel lighter.

We look outside for what we want and take things from outside without thought for the need for balance. However, everything we need is inside. When we go inside and fill our selves with spirituality -with an abundance of love- we naturally stop taking and share this with others. It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul- they reflect what is going on in the mind. Our eyes are meant to glow with light- this light then touches others and they themselves then feel light. Now is the age of abundance and we can collect unlimited abundance by going inside.

Put a full stop
Change your thoughts
Change the world

Freedom

Surrender means to not allow ‘it’ to be a burden- to let go and not struggle with your ego. Suffering is to hold onto something in our mind or heart that we should have surrendered a long time ago. If we seek always to enhance relationships rather than accomplish results, then we will see how the ego is naturally surrendered.

Feeling Great

Once we feel good internally then automatically we share this with others- to help others to feel good internally too. When we do something selflessly for another we feel that we have not really done anything at all.

Moving Beyond Anger

When we forget who we are stress, anger and fear emerge. At the core of our being we are beautiful and we all have the capacity to live a peaceful and loving life.

A Reflective Exercise:
Sit quietly and emerge a situation in your life that 'makes' you angry. Quietly observe -without judgement- and reflect on these questions:
-What is your behaviour? Do you completely shut down? Hit something?
-How do you feel inside? Ignored? Insulted?
-What thoughts are going around in your mind?
-What is the effect on your body.
-What is/ was the outcome?
-If you were in that situation again would you unequivocally choose to act in the same way?
-If you were in an ocean of peace and love how would you have behaved in that same situation?

As it is said that darkness is just the absence of light, similarly anger is an absence of light- the light of understanding and knowing who I am. To make changes in our lives we need understanding and realisation.

3 levels of action (motivation)
First level- Right actions. We are living by a high code of ethics. Our actions are selfless- I don’t do something because it will give me fame, money etc. I am beyond the fruit of my own actions in effect. I remain at peace and content.

Second level- My preferences. It's about me- my desires and doing everything to make then manifest. I may have to push people to get what I want. 'I am always right, you are always wrong'. I, in fact, become so totally focused on what I want though that I become trapped- I forget why I wanted that thing in the first place and find myself going from one desire to another- the fruit does never seem to get me where I want to be.

Third level- Feeling powerless. The more we do something the more it becomes powerful in our lives- it takes just 66 days to develop a habit. If we consistently make decisions according to our past, what people will think etc. then this becomes the rule of our life. We end up feeling powerless and helpless to bring about any changes in our lives. We start to feel like victims and hopeless. We say: I can't change; I need to survive...

Motivations
Anger is associated with levels 2 and 3. To go to level I (beyond anger) we need to re-assess our motives, for example, am I kind because I want to be loved or am I doing things simply because I am great and want to express my qualities?

Reflect:
-Think of an activity that you would really love to do (e.g. skiing)
-How do you feel when you are doing this activity? Go deeper than just the feeling of feeling good (e.g. of freedom)
-What does this feeling mean to me? (e.g. joy and feeling alive!)
-I ski for the feeling of freedom, joy and being alive it brings me.
-How do you feel if you are deprived of that activity/ have to spend a lot of your life doing things you must do instead?

Often we do things to experience:
-peace: the feeling of having a mind completely content and at rest
-love: feeling appreciation and love for who you are and the gift that is yours to share with the world
-happiness: the feeling of being alive
-powerful: being able to remain stable and calm
-wisdom: knowing

Breaking the Ties
Anger is a letter away from 'danger'. It's a sign there is something wrong- that I am not doing what nourishes me in my life. It is a sign that I am not cultivating something that is very important to me- peace, love, happiness, feeling empowered or a sense of truth.

Meditation is a way for us to cultivating these qualities within ourselves and experiencing them everyday, whether we are on the ski slopes or not.

Experience peace- not just the peace that you feel when walking in a forest for example - a deeper peace. When I am nourishing peace, love, happiness I automatically benefit others.

Energy

When we create positive thoughts we are creating energy whereas negative ones eat into the energy of our consciousness.

Balance

Being is invisible. Doing is visible. In being I am ‘in rest.’ Doing is work- it comes from the Latin ‘ergon’ which means energy. If we do not balance work with rest we get stressed… so let your mind bask in silence. I am peace. I am light. I am just sitting here in the centre of this forehead.

without blame

"The greatest truth that I have learnt is that no one has done any wrong to me. When I think they have it as if I am drinking poison. Meditation allows me to see both my strengths and my weaknesses. Seeing I stop blaming and judging and instead choose to educate myself appropriately. When I see my strengths and allow them to grow inside then I am serving myself. When I am honest in recognising that my own weaknesses -my own negativity- make me suffer and accept this- there is a releasing feeling. In making effort to remove them I stop taking sorrow from anything anyone tells you. Negative thoughts close the heart and it becomes unfaithful to the head. Create positive thoughts so the heart can begin to trust once again in the head. When the head feels the energy of faith it will look after the heart."

I sit back and relax
I choose to spend some time with myself
I look at myself in the mirror of my mind
Quietly I watch this body... this costume that I am in
I am aware of the various roles that I am playing
I am aware of the thoughts, beliefs and feelings I am carrying
I choose to accept and embrace everything about me...
just as it is... with tolerance and patience

Silently I choose to generate good wishes for myself
I create a thought of love and regard
I hold it in my mind...
like I would hold a butterfly in my hands... with care and gentleness
I allow this thought of love and regard to seep deep into my feelings

I look back into the mirror of my mind
My vision falls on the sparkle in my eyes
All that I see and feel reflected in these eyes is deep love and regard
I let this beautiful energy radiate
I see myself walking, moving around and meeting people
Being in this experience I naturally satisfy the needs of others
Paving bridges of trust and hope in my relationships

How do we loose our energy?

How do we loose our energy?
In reacting with fear-based emotions, versus responding with positive feelings of peace, love and joy.

Where do these fear-based emotions come from?
Why, for example, do we suddenly get angry?- Because at that moment we feel vulnerable.

Who feels vulnerable and in need of the protective guard of anger?
The ego- our false image of ourselves.

All negative emotions come from ego; when we react emotionally we can know that at that time ego is controlling our consciousness. Once we notice ego though and see what is going on- ego removes itself. When you realise the truth, the anger goes. We will know that we have found truth as when we do the mind relaxes and becomes peaceful.