Monday, February 18, 2008

When conversations don't go right

When someone says something you don't like, that challenges your perception of how life is, or challenges how you see yourself, it is your choice how you respond to that. You have a choice as to whether you take it personally.

If you react in a negative, unconstructive way, take some time out to reflect on what happened leading up to that moment. How were you feeling at the time when they said it? That is to say, what particular "state" were you in? Did you focus on what you heard (did you turn up the volume?) or what you saw? Did you blow things out of proportion (make a mountain out of a molehill)? Did they give you a particular look that really pushed your ego button?

The key is to learn from each situation and grow. You can then be prepared should a similar situation occur in the future. You should not expect difficulties to present themselves but you should be as prepared as you can be to meet them. Prepare for everything, yet expect nothing.

Keep an open mind and new solutions will present themselves to you. You can choose to respond a different way. Be aware of your own internal tension and take deep breaths to release it. Tap into source (see previous post on Short meditation for connecting to Spirit) and respond from a centred space. Socrates, the great ancient Philosopher, took time to go into a meditative state before meetings.

Try asking questions to find out why the other person said certain things or acted a certain way. If you allow them to respond in their own time, in their own way, then "in-sight" will come your way. Insight is literally to see inside, to understand the deeper reasons.

You might try asking open-ended questions such as "why do you believe...?" or "what makes you say...?" or "where did you learn that...?"

It is important to ask with the intention of discovering more about the other person, so that you can better understand them. Quite often the reason we fall into arguments is because we have one way of looking at the world and the other person has their own unique way. Therefore, you need to learn to be fluid and shift your frequency so that you can see with their eyes.

Note that if your intention is to manipulate the other into your way of thinking or behaving, however, then the outcome of the conversation is likely to be a negative one. If your intention is pure and you seek to enter a neutral space whilst putting aside your agenda, you allow yourself the possibility of transcending your own limitations.

If the other person is limiting the way they interpret life, your intention and neutral space will allow them to question their internal beliefs and perceptions. The likely result will be that they will see and understand your side of the coin, if only because you have endeavoured to see and understand theirs. The law of reciprocity then takes effect and produces a helpful, angst-free outcome for both parties.

Make your conversations fun. You don't have to agree to get on, so detach from your need to be right!

Friday, February 01, 2008

Using dreams to access higher consciousness

Do you dream at night?

Most of us dream but we have not been taught how to tap into our higher mind to harness the information that is revealed to us during sleep. You can awaken to the power of dreaming to facilitate healing and wellbeing. Dreams are one of the most valuable ways to get in touch with higher realms of consciousness and to develop a greater sense of Self.

Ancient Egyptians believed that in the dream state, transformation took place. Today, Native Americans today still use dreaming as an important way to keep in touch with the spiritual world and the Aboriginals in Australia believe that dreaming helps us recognise that we are part of a greater coherent whole - they call it the realm of the Great Spirit. These ancient cultures, and more modern ones, believe that dreams are an extension of our waking life and not to be ignored.

Through paying attention to their dreams, people have received insight and guidance in all matters of their worldly affairs. You can develop the skill of using dreamtime with intention to accomplish specific things you want to manifest in your life.

Being aware of your dreams will help you tap into your unconscious mind and reveal the deepest parts of yourself. Learning to develop your own interpretation is a key part to self-discovery and learning about your unique energy makeup.

Trusting your own insight and developing your own evaluation of what your dreams mean in your life is very important since the deeper aspects of your psyche communicates with images, scenes and symbols. These will have different meanings for you than they will for someone else because you have a unique reality that no one else shares.

As you approach sleep time, write down an intention for healing or something that you need guidance on, whether it be for getting over a cold or flu, guidance for a new job or help in a present job, help in a relationship, or finding a new relationship, removing blocks to create an opportunity, guidance to earn more money - the list is endless!

Quietly affirm as you drift off to sleep that you will recall important scenes upon awakening. It would be most useful to keep a diary next to your bed, so you can jot down the scenarios that have been presented to you as you sleep.

When you first wake up, practice remaining quiet for a few moments before going on auto-pilot and hopping out of bed. These first few moments are a very powerful time to consciously recall first thoughts, important feelings and dream memories. Jotting these thoughts and feelings down in your journal can be very valuable, even if you think they're insignificant.

When dreaming, observe the location and whether it seems familiar to you or not, and try to get a sense of where you are in the dream. Being aware of your environment will help when you analyse your dream. Does anything in the dream remind you of your waking life? Sense if you're inside, outside, what time of day or night is it and what the weather is like. Notice if you see any colours or objects. Anything that might seem out of place or out of proportion can hold special meaning as if the dream is showing you where its main message will be found.

If you have been suffering from ill health or have other troublesome disturbances, disharmonies or diseases in your life, you can ask to be given or shown a special symbol or object in your dreams that you could use to help facilitate healing for yourself.

Practice setting the right kind of intentions for manifesting health and healing in your body by thinking specific thoughts about the area to be healed. Replace any negative, self-limiting beliefs with a powerful flow of positive healing thoughts, images and feelings. You must trust that you will be healed, not idly wish for healing. Purposeful thought ensures that your subconscious will work on the problem during your dreamtime.

Pay attention during the day to any synchronistic events which may give you further guidance. You might be in a conversation with someone or have something drawn to your attention that may be important. Synchronicity happens all the time and takes on many forms - life can be full of wonderful surprises when we are open to the possibility of support from the universe.

Remember that your journal is for your eyes only.