Stop bullying yourself with Mind

The most effective way to stop your mind from being a bully, to stop tormenting you, from being the source of your suffering, is through disidentifying with it. Simply come to recognize it is not who you are.

The ego mind isn’t you. But, it isn’t your enemy either.  It exists to keep you safe. Whenever ego mind insults, doubts, is unsupportive, this is not echoing low self-worth, belief you are not enough. Ego is simply threatened by something you do. The only way to make peace with ego mind is to realize full potential.  This is rising above or going beyond its limiited sense of reality. Allow true Self to take charge. To see through the tormenter is to be aware beyond this ego mind. It only exists to help you grow out of it.

As long as ego mind is in control, suffering occurs. The ego does not align with true Self. Ego mind is not interested in love, happiness, joy, peace.  Ego is a constant problem-solver to help body and ego survive.  Yet, its survival tactics are not always needed. All the resistance, anxiety, self-doubt, self-condemnation and negativity don’t determine what we can or cannot achieve.  Mind cannot intimidate us without our own consent.

We are taught to mistake ego mind’s desperate attempts to be heard for who we are.  What is the best course? Come to recognize the voice of ego mind and learn to ignore it.  See ego mind as a gift.  Be gentle with yourself.  Re-training the mind to be positive and kind is not the answer. We cannot force ego mind to forget its evolutionary programming. Instead, use ego as a useful tool and move on.

Rather than allow ego to gather momentum, be the witness. View ego as a facade. Distance from its never-ending stream of repetitive, automated, thought patterns. Shift into the voice of our true Self, the naturally supportive, loving and accepting core of who you are.

7 Reasons we dream of home

Many people share they dream about different houses. Sometimes it involves their own house or an unfamilliar house under construction, or even part of familliar or unknown homes, even dream homes.  Consider 7 reasons you might be dreaming of a version of a home:

1. Ready to integrate early memories.

Recurrent dreams of familiar places imply the dreamer is working through old memories. What is unfolding in your life right now of relevance? Imagine visiting the attic, going through old photos, a process of letting go.

2. Expanding our sense of who we are

Often, when we dream of a previous place we have lived, we may notice something different, but really, it is us who has changed or evolved. You may be in the process of creating a new sense of "home".  If certain house rooms change, or renovations are ongoing in a dream home, that is a mirror of our ongoing growth and expansion on many levels.  Some people also come to feel home is not a physical place, rather, it is where the heart is, and they take it with them wherever they roam.  A feeling of home may be felt outside any structure. 

3. Reclaiming Soul fragments

Dreams of our old home can remind us of lost parts of our soul that are ready to be retrieved and reclaimed. If we find ourselves in a playroom, we may be growing too serious in life and yearn to for more  chill time. Maybe trauma happened in this home, and the subconscious urges us to recognize it as part of our healing journey? 

4.  Representing your body

Houses can also be a metaphor for the body, pointing to an area that might need attention. For example, dirty windows are like eyes that are not seeing clearly. Would you benefit from an optometrist visit? Electrical wiring points to the state of the nervous system.  Plumbing echoes state of ingestion, digestion, and elimination (How is your own inner plumbing?).  Basement invites swimming deeper into our ocean of emotions.

5. Children are on the brain

Dreaming of a childhood home may echo visions of security, fulfillment, success that involve children. As we parent, care for kids, or contemplate having our own, many childhood memories, and even wounds, are bound to come up, may even be modelled by the behaviour of children in our midst.  The subconscious echoes what it was like when we were kids so that we come to see beyond our beliefs and behaviours. It can also help deepen existing relationships we develop with kids.

6. Nostalgia

On a basic level, childhood home dreams can also mean we wish some aspects of our lives were like they used to be, especially amidst adult challenges.  Adult responsibilities, relationship/marital issues, bills, laws and regulation, time constraints, sometimes trigger people to wish everything was always taken care of for them like when they were kids.  

7.  Refers to level of maturity

Childish or immature behaviour could also present in our reality. Whether it's you who is behaving childishly or someone you know, it can remind us of our youth, and subsequently, the house in which we lived as kids.  This could also signal the end of an earlier version of ourselves we have outgrown or a nudge to "grow up." Fire, death, and destruction of buildings  and how we respond to house-related crises may seem drastic in a dream, but they are not always so negative.  They can also be symbols of transformation. We are who we are because of all our expeirences and are invited to learn to accept and integrate the lessons in it all. 

Dream Analysis of the Week- Terraced garden

Dream:

The dream took place on a terraced farm cut into seven levels alongside mountains.  A man stood next to an old fashioned (heritage) Australian Queenslander house. Red dusty sand was blowing around him. He, the dry land and house seemed somehow out-of-place in the surrounding terraced farm. He looked up, remarked he could not see beyond clouds.

At the next step down was the lady who was tending to a lush area of green plants at mid-calf level.  Although the man looked for someone with a hand above his brow to shade the sun, he did not see the woman. She reached into her pocket, took out a credit card and asked her daughter from the next level down to step up, go to local shop to get some seeds.  The daughter smiled, said "I don't need the card." Lady shrugged, "okay" and accidentally dropped card in the water where is could not be found.

Stepping back, the lady looked up, saw 3 levels of floating gardens were growing different crops above the clouds. The rice was lush and green. Alternating crops included flowers in vibrant colours and vegetables growing in swirls above and below levitating soil.

Insight:

Mountains represent challenges, goals, milestones and things to work toward.  Terrace farming prevents soil erosion and contributes to soil conservation and keeps crops well-watered. Nowadays, the method allows growing versatile crops, and its management is more comfortable with online agricultural software. Notice the man is unable to communicate with the woman. This points to possible issues being seen and heard as you are.  Stepping away from what you outgrow may help you nourish your spirit and grow in new ways.seeing yourself working on a unknown farm represents new beginnings on the horizon and possibilities going forward. 

On another level, the HUman is like a 7-story house.  Each level is represented by the chakras which are cosmic doorways to different states and stages of consciousness. Notice humans generally live and die on only one floor.  The conscious mind is the floor on which we live. Directly below is the underground basement or unconscious.  Below that is the third floor or collective unconscious.  Still lower, the fourth floor, is the cosmic unconscious.  Above the floor on which we live is the super-conscious mind.  Above that is the floor of the collective conscious. Above that, is the cosmic consciousness.  From where we are then, there exist three floors above and also below.  If we only focus on where we are, we miss the bigger picture. 

Self-realisation is about becoming familliar with the entire arragement of 7 levels and taking it further to experience each one directly. Its not about staying up above the clouds in the higher levels or getting bogged down at the lower levels. Nothing can remain unfamilliar or unknown. No stone can be left unturned in this process.  Each level has its own initiations. The reason is that one cannot be one's own master so long as one is a slave to (fearful of) the unknown. Reflect on the number 7 and its significance in your life- i.e. colours of the rainbow, # dwarves & traits in "Snow White", days of the week, energy fields, ect.  Awakening is about growing more spiritually-inclined, more apt to go inward, see from different points of view. Its natural to explore more levels of one's inner house, to shed light on shadows and expand into more of true nature.

The dream also invites the dreamer to review his own perception of current needs, pull out or let go of what is obsolete or outgrown or overgrown.  This is a message about listening to spiritual (inner) guidance rather than material conditioning. Different kinds of abundance present.  Meditate on abundance, wealth, what you sow.

We offer Dream Consultations that explore the significance of single and multiple dreams. We also offer an Astral, Lucid & Dream Yoga Course.  Contact us for details.

5 Ways to begin taking radical responsibility

To draw on the theme of a new online radical responsibility course I am offering, consider 5 ways to begin taking radical responsibility:

1. Recognize that you create all of your life experiences. 

This may be a shocker: No one and nothing is doing anything to you. Stop looking outside of yourself to people and conditions and thinking they are happening to you. Unconscious individuals look at lack of peer feedback and believe peers are the issue. Conscious individuals shift attention off the external and focus on themselves. This is a choice. Where are you placing your attention? 

2. Accept your deepest intentions (unconscious commitment) are not in your words, but in results showing up. 

If the world is not giving you abundance, useful feedback, opportunities, clients, you feel unappreciated, these are results. Regardless of what you say you want (e.g. opportunity, clients, praise), you’re unconsciously committed to getting results you get.

3. Allow curiousity to guide you. 

Your unconscious commitment/ will (the actual result) is perfect for your next developmental step in becoming a conscious co-creator. No one is doing anything wrong. Right and wrong do not exist. This is a feeling based journey you are making conscious to reclaim inner power. Everything exists for your deep learning and growth.  

4. Answer two powerful questions from a place of curiosity and wonder. #1: “How do I create and perpetuate this situation? ” #2: “What do I get from creating and perpetuating this situation?”

The answers that arise are pivotal for raising your awareness of what you can do, how you can live differently

Question #1: Imagine you’ve been asked to teach a class called, “How to get feedback & appreciation.” Note results you get now. Be the expert. Have fun with this: create a slide presentation on how to create a boss who doesn't treat you well. Typical points might include: Don’t ask your boss for feedback. Think that all feedback must be verbal and labeled as “feedback.” Get defensive when your boss gives you feedback. As you answer question #2, it dawns you’re not crazy. You’re creating this situation and you benefit from having it be this way. Discover what they are. Own what you’re getting. 

5. If you’re willing to shift your unconscious commitment (intention), examine your presentation and apply what you learn to your life. Discover the power of conscious intenation. Follow your own prescription. Results are pointers to inner voice or vibration. SHift inside and the outside can only mirror that. Its universal law.

This is an example of how many mystery writers create their scenarios. They tend to begin with the solution to the mystery and write their story backwards. So, there is more than psychology to this.  The formula works! Go with it. See what happens.

Create radical forgiveness and self-love

Notice during this journey of human existence, we often encounter challenges, forcing us to confront our shadows and question the dynamics of our relationships. Such experiences can lead us to a renewed sense of freedom and joy, as we uncover valuable lessons from introspection and deep self-work.

Ram Dass inspires us to explore the power of shadow work and forgiveness to feel more harmonious. He echoes all we do, every action and intention, unfolds within the privacy of our heart. This profound truth highlights our innate ability to shape the external world based on our internal landscape. Our thoughts, emotions, and intentions hold immense power, and by cultivating self-awareness, we can consciously create a reality that aligns with our true self.

Shadow work, essential to growth, unveils the hidden aspects of our psyche. It reveals the nature of our shadows, which learn to disguise themselves to fulfill their own needs. These shadows manifest as dysfunction, creating disharmony and disconnect in our lives. Still, shadow work offers us opportunity to recognize these shadow aspects with compassion and understanding.

Sometimes, painful experiences serve as catalysts for deeper self-reflection. A challenging encounter, like a recent exchange with my family about my decisions for my kids' home education, prompted me to question why I am viewed as a "bad person." Despite the initial urge to blame, I realized the power to change the narrative is within me. Understanding that everything is done within the privacy of our own hearts empowers us to explore what needs to shift inside.

Through shadow work, I discovered that my shadows sought to create a world of fear, chaos, and disconnection by projecting my own fears onto others. For years, in seeking acceptance, I unconsciously surrendered my power to those around me. Yet, this realization led me to see I am a loving and compassionate being. Shadows within are responsible for my own perception of dysfunction that manifests externally. By embracing self-love and recognizing our shadows, we can release the need for external validation and reclaim personal power.

To allow our transformation, the practice of surrender is key. Yet this is not giving up or giving in, its about "letting go" of old stories, projections, judgments we carry within. Creating space within our hearts for something new to manifest requires release. Central to this process is the radical act of forgiving self and others. Forgiveness does not always require we involve those we forgive directly. It is an internal process, allowing us to let go of resentment and create healing within. Recognizing that everything we do unfolds within our hearts empowers us to take ownership of our experiences and create positive change.

Shadow work unveils the nature of our shadows, allowing us to address and integrate them with compassion. By releasing the need for external validation and embracing self-love, we reclaim personal power and create a foundation for inner transformation.

Feel into the power of the mantra, "Let go, something magical is about to happen." This mantra beautifully encapsulates the essence of our journey. By surrendering to the flow of life, we create space for something extraordinary to unfold. So, let us release our attachments, embrace the transformative power of shadow work and forgiveness, and allow the magic of life to unfold before us. May we find solace in the privacy of our hearts and embrace the transformative power that lies within us.