Day 231 - Learning how to Breathe

It's been less than a month since I've been back on the Desteni Farm. I spent a little under three months here before I went back to Canada for the holidays. I have been fortunate to be able to come here, although a lot of that fortune had to do with myself planning my life accordingly to be able to come here.

When I got here originally, I had highly intense internal experiences which I had become used to over time, where it is only in retrospect that I can see the extent of what I had been carrying around for so many years. With the support of those around me, I was able to work through the intensity, and slowly but surely reduce it.

After that, I began working on other points that had also always been there, but more in the background. And through my self-investigation (as well as constantly seeking support, either directly or indirectly asking and learning from others here), I began to understand and work with those as well. Everything now being a work in progress, a balancing or juggling act of different issues, patterns, habits, personalities and of course, my fundamental human nature that I am working on re-aligning according to the principles I wish to live, sorting out the disease and uncomfortability within me, I reached a point that I hadn't even realized I was struggling with. I realize that for so many years now, I haven't been able to properly breathe.

I am finally looking at my physical body in depth. My posture, how I hold my arms, how I walk, when am I holding tension, am I relaxing ever part of me, my back, my jaw, and even my eyes? And within playing with this relaxed stance and letting go of tension, I realized that I have not been giving myself enough air.

I will almost feel out of breath in moments, and take a deep inhale, not realizing that I had been taking short, shallow breaths for a long while. It had gotten to the point where when I was back at my job, I would stand up from my desk and feel light-headed, and lose my vision for a moment and have to compose myself for a few seconds as I caught my breath. But when I would try to breathe, everything would feel so tight, like there was no space in my body for my lungs to fill with air. It would feel forced and like I couldn't get enough in.

Now, for the first time in a long time, I can take nice, deep, long inhales, filling my lungs completely. All I have to do now is get in to the habit of it and keep remembering, not only to catch my breath, but to breathe more deeply all the time. Breath awareness. - I had forgotten how to breathe.

Note: I am walking a process of self-change using the tools of support offered by www.Desteni.org. I am taking the course called DIP Pro. In this course I learn how to take every day moments and find ways to make myself a better, more understanding and well rounded human being, the kind of human being I would like to see in this world. "Be the change you want to see" is a cool saying, but actually doing it is a bit more confusing because people tend to believe that you can't change human nature. I believe you can, because I have seen myself changing to someone I've always wanted to be. Not there yet, but my motivation is fueled by the proof I have given to myself, which I have documented online every sep of the way, in my blogs and on youtube. DIP Pro requires serious dedication and commitment, it is ot for the faint of heart. If you want to test the waters for yourself, try the Lite version, it's called DIP Lite, and the best part is, it's free! Why? Because Desteni puts individual self-change above profit. Why does DIP Pro cost money? Because it costs money to exist in this world, and takes a dedicated team to run the program. Otherwise it would also be free.
Visit www.Desteni.org

Osho Card Reading of the Day: RECEPTIVITY - Day 13 of 21

"Receptivity represents the feminine, receptive quality of water and of the emotions. Her arms are extended upwards to receive, and she is completely immersed in the water. She has no head, no busy and aggressive mind to hinder her pure receptivity. And as she is filled she is continuously emptying herself, overflowing, and receiving more. The lotus pattern or matrix that emerges from her represents the perfect harmony of the universe that becomes apparent when we are in tune with it.

The Queen of Water brings a time of unboundedness and gratitude for whatever life brings, without any expectations or demands. Neither duty or thought of merit or reward are important. Sensitivity, intuition and compassion are the qualities that shine forth now, dissolving all the obstacles that keep us separate from each other and from the whole."

The intention I held within me while pulling this card today was for support with the experience I have towards the words 'responsibility' and 'obligation'. I can describe the experience with the words 'rigid', 'stiff', 'difficult', 'burdened', 'pressure' and 'overwhelm'. 

In looking at these words, I find immense support in this card today, as the qualities of water are the polar opposite of the words I have been living in relation to responsibilities and obligations. The words I think of when I think of water are 'fluid' and 'flowing', and not just in the literal sense, and the card brings in the word 'receptivity'. 

When I look at my relationship to responsibilities and obligations, 'receptive' is the last thing I feel. The overriding sensation is that 'it is too much', and 'maybe I can squeeze in one more task', or 'I will take that on', where it is me being hard on myself, as well as full of demands and expectations, which the card also highlights as something to let go. 

Interestingly, I did an experiment today. I gave myself a 'day off'. This was not necessarily a day off from 'work', which I classify as those obligations and responsibilities which I give myself during the day as a point of discipline that I am developing, and also the self-work that is a 24 hour job, but a 'day off' from my mind, where I imposed no expectations or demands on myself for the entire day.

It was difficult at first, as I felt things would fall apart and I would fall behind, I felt some anxiety about not being 'productive', but I was able to let it go. What happened was that I got to spend a lot more time with other beings, be it human, nature or animals. I chatted a lot with my housemates, I spent time in nature, I went for a walk and a swim with a 4 year old, I played with dogs and spent time with the baby chickens and the horses. All day I felt light and un-burdened. The pressure would come up, but I would let it go.

Normally, in my life back in Canada, this type of spontaneous day would not be possible. But here, I allowed myself to indulge. To support myself, I brought through the experience I have while on vacation into my life here. That relaxed, easy, almost indulgent experience within the stand that I take of: "I am here to enjoy myself." I got this idea from a video I watched by Sunette Spies on her Self & Living channel, which I highly recommend for daily support and insights. The point here is to bring that of you that you live while on vacation into your life at home. This way,  you are not one person in one place, and another person in a different place, but rather getting to know yourself in different locations while expanding yourself by integrating all of you no matter where you happen to be.

The word the card gives me that was an experience I had not defined today within the experiment is 'receptive'. I allowed and engaged with whatever came my way. Normally when the child I live with comes to me wanting to play, I feel pressure like it is taking my time away, and I make designated play time, or impose a time limit. But today I just went with the flow and played. Then, at one point, I was collecting my empty bins from the chicken yard (chickens are free-range so the door is always open during the day), and as I was there, I took a moment to enjoy the detail of the view of the field. Right away I spotted a daiker (a small deer, Africans for 'diver', because that's what they look like they are doing when jumping through the tall grass). He looked right at me, and started walking towards me. My heart began beating with excitement, but I calmed myself a stood still, simply admiring the elegance and gracefulness in the movements of the animal. I was wondering how close he would get, and to my surprise, he walked right into the coop with me! The moment seemed to stretch out for an eternity, but with one movement of my head, he was gone. It was like a small gift from nature in a moment of  receptivity.

So the lessen I will take from today is 'receptivity', which comes from flowing with the day, with obligations and responsibilities, but no imposed demands or expectations. I will support myself to do this by bringing the remembrance of who an dhow I am while on vacation to remind myself that I am capable of being here to enjoy myself. It will be a process to balance the two polarities into a living application that is best for me, but the alternative is the stiff harshness I impose on myself when I do not direct my daily experience.

Note: I am walking a process of self-change using the tools of support offered by www.Desteni.org. I am taking the course called DIP Pro. In this course I learn how to take every day moments and find ways to make myself a better, more understanding and well rounded human being, the kind of human being I would like to see in this world. "Be the change you want to see" is a cool saying, but actually doing it is a bit more confusing because people tend to believe that you can't change human nature. I believe you can, because I have seen myself changing to someone I've always wanted to be. Not there yet, but my motivation is fueled by the proof I have given to myself, which I have documented online every sep of the way, in my blogs and on youtube. DIP Pro requires serious dedication and commitment, it is ot for the faint of heart. If you want to test the waters for yourself, try the Lite version, it's called DIP Lite, and the best part is, it's free! Why? Because Desteni puts individual self-change above profit. Why does DIP Pro cost money? Because it costs money to exist in this world, and takes a dedicated team to run the program. Otherwise it would also be free.
Visit www.Desteni.org

21 Days of Osho Card Readings - Day12 of 21: TURNING IN

I was JUST discussing with @worldclassplayer about pulling the same Osho card as on a previous day. I contemplated doing a re-pull, but we both settled on looking deeper into the meaning of the card, as maybe something was missed, or a new dimension has opened up.

The intention I was holding within me when pulling this card was yet another dimension of 'work', or 'working'. The new dimension that came up yesterday while I was working and reflectin upon my last blog, was the 'people pleaser' character. It was causing stress and tension, which manifested in the form of upper back pain.I will expand upon this point, but first, a little background: The reason the 'work' point has been stubbornly coming up day after day for me is because I am essentially 'working' all the time. Meaning, I am living, applying myself, focusing on my goals for the day and the future. Even when I relax it is work, because it is done in awareness as self-work.

Within this, my definition of 'work' is not the usual one we have all come to know so well, which exists within the polarity of work and play, where work is the opposite of play. I am pushing for living my re-definition of the word 'work', and the Osho cards have been supporting me immensely. My re-definition of the word 'work' involves a fluidity and a flow, a balance and an ease within me, within the understanding that work is love made visible. The letters in the word work then stand for Wholly Operating Reality Knowledge, where I am fully present, wholly operating within physical reality with a knowing, or a knowledge and awareness of the points my mind is super-imposing on to that reality.

Yesterday, while working in the kitchen for many hours, I noticed the points that were coming up and affecting me physically. When I looked at the thoughts that were creating the tension, I was able to deduce that I was going in to the desire for my work to please others. Instead of simply walking and enjoying the steps in a relaxed and easy manner, I began to go into judgments and criticisms about what I was busy with. I imagined all the 'what-ifs' and different disapproving reactions from the people I would be serving.

Several hours in, @gian walked in and checked in on me. I told him about the pain and the tension and he released it from my back. Within discussing with him, I was able to bring in more awareness to what I had been doing so automatically. He explained to me about 're-setting', giving myself a fresh moment to simply stop, let it go, and start the moment anew from a fresh starting point. This implies simply letting it go, which is what this card can support with.

My mind was busy while I was working, and I did not question it's activity, but instead went right into it, believing it to be real, to be true, to be who I am. I was reacting as if the thoughts in my mind would unquestionably come to pass, instead of simply observing my mind objectively, letting the thoughts go, being amused at the ridiculousness of such thoughts. This is what I understand from the 'Turning In' card.

This is a multi-faceted point for me, which I have been living my whole life. It has proven to be a stubborn one that is deeply programmed into my living, but I am up for the challenge. Writing is invaluable, in that, without the understanding and the road map of what not to do, how to navigate what my mind throws as me, and what to do about it, I would certainly become lost in the tangled mess it appears to be when we don't take it piece by piece and sort it out.

Note: I am walking a process of self-change using the tools of support offered by www.Desteni.org. I am taking the course called DIP Pro. In this course I learn how to take every day moments and find ways to make myself a better, more understanding and well rounded human being, the kind of human being I would like to see in this world. "Be the change you want to see" is a cool saying, but actually doing it is a bit more confusing because people tend to believe that you can't change human nature. I believe you can, because I have seen myself changing to someone I've always wanted to be. Not there yet, but my motivation is fueled by the proof I have given to myself, which I have documented online every sep of the way, in my blogs and on youtube. DIP Pro requires serious dedication and commitment, it is ot for the faint of heart. If you want to test the waters for yourself, try the Lite version, it's called DIP Lite, and the best part is, it's free! Why? Because Desteni puts individual self-change above profit. Why does DIP Pro cost money? Because it costs money to exist in this world, and takes a dedicated team to run the program. Otherwise it would also be free.
Visit www.Desteni.org

Osho Card Reading of the Day: 'THE MISER' - Day 11 of 21

The issue I am looking for support on today is the feeling of 'rushed' I create within myself. Sometimes I wake up in the experience, while at other times, like today, I can feel it slowly creeping up within me until I can feel it within my entire body.

I took that sensation and held it within me as I drew my card today, and this is the card I drew:

THE MISER

Card Description:

"This woman has created a fortress around herself, and she is clinging to all the possessions she thinks are her treasures. In fact she has accumulated so much stuff with which to adorn herself--including the feathers and furs of living creatures--that she has made herself ugly in the effort. This card challenges us to look at what we are clinging to, and what we feel we possess that is so valuable it needs to be protected by a fortress. It needn't be a big bank balance or a box full of jewels--it could be something as simple as sharing our time with a friend, or taking the risk of expressing our love to another. Like a well that is sealed up and becomes stagnant from disuse, our treasures become tarnished and worthless if we refuse to share them. Whatever you're holding on to, remember that you can't take it with you. Loosen your grip and feel the freedom and expansiveness sharing can bring."

What I can take from this card and it's description is the concept of wanting to have something, and in an attempt to get it or create it, we end up gathering and accumulating something that causes the complete opposite effect of what we were intending.

My understanding here it that it is not about chasing something or 'getting' the thing we are seeking, but rather becoming it and integrating it as a part of Who We Are. So what am I attempting to 'get' or 'gain'?

For me, this is but one more element or dimension to the 'work' point I have been walking for several weeks now. I have opened up the 'avoidance' point, the 'time' point, the 'distraction' point, the 'confronting obstacles' point, the 'rage' point and the 'laziness point' (in a video you can see HERE). All of these points acting like threads that have created one gigantic knot within me, which can only be undone by following one thread at a time. Now I will be looking at the 'rushed' point within the context of THE MISER.

So, to answer my question, what I am seeking to gain or get is a sense of satisfaction that I have done enough, accomplished enough this day. This feeling comes from having completed many things or tasks, and having complete them well. This, in and of itself, is not a problem or issue if I endeavor to work similar to how nature functions slow and steady, never a rush, yet never wasting a moment.

I have been practicing this point of letting go of time, and instead giving myself the time to do things properly. It seemed counter-intuitive at the time, only to realize that I actually get more done when I let go of that time-pressure. The other internal experience I am having trouble letting go of is the 'rushed' feeling, where I feel I need to hang on to that in order to keep myself in line and move myself. It is as if I do not trust myself to let it go, for fear that I will just sit around all day an do nothing.

The thing is that the 'rushed' experience is uncomfortable, but I hang on to it like the miser, thinking and believing that without it, I will not get what I want. But, like the miser in the card, I realize that holding on to the experience is like  self-sabotage, because within holding on to it and experiencing that constant internal discomfort and my body's reaction to it (soreness, stiffness, lethargy), I find myself escaping in moments throughout the day, where i need to rest and take time off to settle myself.

Now, this too is not 'bad' or detrimental in and of itself, but it is the starting point within which I am doing it that needs to change. Instead of it being an escape from the internal experience I am creating, I can do it from a starting point of creating a balance in my day. Taking a moment to be with myself, re-connect with myself and my body instead of escaping myself and my body and spending that moment in distraction in my mind. It is all about the starting point.

So today, despite all my resistances and the fears coming up within me, I will practice a 'letting go'. In order to kick start this letting go by clearly identifying how I am actually creating it, i will use the tool of self-forgiveness.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to create an internal energetic experience of 'rushed' within and as me by thinking about some of the bigger, more involved and time-consuming tasks I have on my agenda, and then imagining myself not getting it done or doing it poorly.

I forgive myself that I have NOT accepted and allowed myself to live the self-trust that I can and will get the task done, because I have done it so many times before already, and I know very well I can do it.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to think that if I don't get it done exactly perfectly and exactly on time, that I will feel terrible, because in the past I had accepted and allowed such reactions and have held on to them like a miser, thinking I will bring them up again if it happens again, instead of seeing, realizing and understanding that I can let that pattern go, and create a new way of being where, if I mess up the task or it is late, I am instead gentle with myself, take the lesson and move on.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to realize that i have also in the past been gentle with myself upon my errors, taken the lesson and moved on, where I have changed the way I do things based on these lessons, proving to myself that I can learn and improve, but due to the miser within me, I still stubbornly hold on to the 'negative' and 'bad' experiences.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed subtle undertones of 'rushed' or 'rushing' by not living in awareness of what I am subconsciously creating, not taking my actually reality into consideration, but rather clinging on to the past and therefore re-creating it here, in the present moment, which is actually a brand new fresh moment.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to taint and sabotage my present moment by clinging on to experiences of the past.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to sabotage my learning and self-development by re-hashing and clinging to the accumulated possessions of the past.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear letting go of feeling 'rushed', within the idea, thought, perception or belief that if i do not feel this way, I will not move, instead of seeing/realizing/understanding that I will in fact move better, more efficiently, and create myself more in the moment if I simply allow the moment to be what it is, and move myself within it.

When and as I see that I am going into that 'rushed', 'rushing' experience, I stop, and I breathe. I bring myself back to presence by reminding myself  that I can trust myself to get it done, and there is no punishment waiting for me if I don't, I drop the feeling of rushed, and simply move, knowing that there is no punishment waiting for me at the end, and my goal is only to discover my best potential.

I commit myself let go and move in moments of accumulating 'rush'.

I commit myself to give myself a moment to breathe and slow down when and as I accept and allow myself to exist within and as 'rushed'.

Correction to live today: Curious.

Why? Because I have always had a curiosity within me where I find a fascination within things. This curiosity comes about when I am relaxed and fully engaged in the thing. I would like to take this curiosity and apply it towards myself and my process.

Cure-I-A-City

I cure my city.

My city being, the highways and by-ways, the inner building and bricks I have used to create myself which was not done in awareness or to my best benefit, where it feels like manyy different parts rushing in different directions, which creates a dis-ease within me. The 'Cure' to this dis-ease is within entering into this city and having a good look around, exploring each business, each individual building and all the personalities that populate this city, understand them and how they work, and offer a solution so that they instead begin to wok as one toward attaining my utmost potential.

How I will live this word today will be to observe myself within how I work and discover what comes up within me, but not to judge it, react to it or go into it, rather just observe it with an objective curiosity, see whether it is what is best, and if not, to then find a solution for it.

This is how I turn an internal city of many parts going this way and that, bustling and rushing each to their own end, causing me to want to go into a million different directions, creating dis-ease within me, and finding a 'cure' by creating a city of equality, where each piece has the same goal of working together to create the best whole.

Continuing with THE DREAM - Osho Card Reading: Day 10 of 21

Continuing from my last blog... THE DREAM

Osho Card:

Looking at the point:

"What I can see when I bring the point up in me, is that there are certain parts of the work that I am doing that i have labelled as 'work' in terms of it not being exciting or fun or 'positive'. I will have a project with a final goal, and a lot of the work involved in getting there IS fun and enjoyable to me. But then there is 'the other stuff'. The research, the learning, the coursework, the 'serious stuff' that I have to go through to get to my final goal. And sometimes I don't know how to go about a certain step, in which case I go into a helplessness that I identified in my last blog, and that helplessness creates frustration and in this case avoidance and distraction."

I held this understanding with me today while I worked, and I observed myself as I went through this point. What I realized was that the pressing issue is when I don't completely understand where I'm heading, the goal is not clear, and the steps are not clear.

What I found was that, when I identified the issue, I was able to focus and hone my attention on the problem, instead of feeling 'all over the place' and directionless, which, when left undirected, leads to overwhelm and an underlying helplessness. When I could focus and hone my attention, things became more clear. I still did not see the final outcome, but I identified the right questions to ask, and I set out to ask them.

Another obstacle I could identify was that initial push it takes to get started on a task that I know will be long, in my case research. With research, you don't really know what you are looking for till you find it, and even then, it can be like finding puzzle pieces scattered about, and not having a map for how they fit together. I realize I have to become comfortable with this 'unknowing'.

Lastly, I had to address the question of time. I had given myself certain deadlines, and with them I felt the pressure, which was causing me to feel a bit of a squeeze as I was still trying to identify the obstacles I was facing. The feeling was that I didn't have TIME for obstacles, that I needed to KNOW RIGHT NOW what to do, and for this reason, I didn't want to invest the time into myself basically, to find out what was going on with me and how to walk through it.

So, what I did was drop the idea of a deadline. This seems counter-intuitive, but the thing is that holding this deadline above myself was actually causing me to move more slowly. When I dropped it, I felt lighter, and even more ready to get to work.

So, these are my findings today as I walk my quest to improve myself, change myself from limiting patterns and habits I have been living out up till now. No matter how big or small, they need to be addressed in terms of being identified, corrected and then lived out in real time.

Thanks for reading!

Daily Osho Card Reading: 'THE DREAM' - Day 9 of 21

Today the intention I held within me as I pulled an Osho card for self-support was to help me identify what is the problem I face when I sit in front of my computer to work, and I become tense, easily distracted and participate in shifty focus, where I am drawn away from the task I set out to do, and do many other cool, yet un-planned things instead or additionally. This draws out the task at hand, and causes inefficiency in my work, as well as reactions towards not getting the things done as I had planned.

Card pulled: THE DREAM

Description:

"Some enchanted evening you're going to meet your soulmate, the perfect person who will meet all your needs and fulfill all your dreams. Right? Wrong! This fantasy that songwriters and poets are so fond of perpetuating has its roots in memories of the womb, where we were so secure and "at one" with our mothers; it's no wonder we have hankered to return to that place all our lives. But, to put it quite brutally, it is a childish dream. And it's amazing we hang on to it so stubbornly in the face of reality. Nobody, whether it's your current mate or some dreamed-of partner in the future, has any obligation to deliver your happiness on a platter--nor could they even if they wanted to. Real love comes not from trying to solve our neediness by depending on another, but by developing our own inner richness and maturity. Then we have so much love to give that we naturally draw lovers towards us."

This card's description reminds me of a quote from Bernard Poolman, that "work is love made visible".

I pulled this card in relation to 'work'. And surprisingly, the card is quite appropriate in what it mentions and neglects to mention.

I think what the card neglects to mention is the work it takes to "develop our own inner richness and maturity". It takes experience, meaning, actually walking through challenges, falling and getting up again, pushing self through resistances to get to the other side of them in order to develop these things, and seeing through commitments to actually know from living experience what that entails.

It is challenging, but I personally have mostly experienced fulfillment after having overcome a challenge.

 But in reading the description, I am also led to wonder: have I developed a romantic relationship with some potential work out there that I am waiting for to fulfill and complete me?  Where I will love the work so much that it will easily flow, never posing a challenge, never a resistance, never bringing forth a part of me that I will have to face and overcome?

This is the point that comes up when I apply this card in my life in relation to the support I had asked regarding my difficulty while working.

I have set myself up and walked a process where i am in the exact position I have always wanted to be. I absolutely love it and am so incredibly grateful to be here. But yes, I am still facing the same challenges that I was facing back at all the jobs I had labelled as 'meaningless to me', jobs that were not what I was passionate about, or were not what I wanted to be doing with my time. So, obviously it was never the job, it has always been me that is/was the 'problem'. Which is cool, because it means I am also the solution, and if I am the solution, then I can apply myself in any and all work that I do, as this too shall pass, and there is no saying what will come next or where I may end up at this point in my life.

What I can see when I bring the point up in me, is that there are certain parts of the work that I am doing that i have labelled as 'work' in terms of it not being exciting or fun or 'positive'. I will have a project with a final goal, and a lot of the work involved in getting there IS fun and enjoyable to me. But then there is 'the other stuff'. The research, the learning, the coursework, the 'serious stuff' that I have to go through to get to my final goal. And sometimes I don't know how to go about a certain step, in which case I go into a helplessness that I identified in my last blog, and that helplessness creates frustration and in this case avoidance and distraction.

This is cool to see as it is another dimension opening up about a point that I had just opened up yesterday. The thing about facing such points is that they are multi-dimensional in this way, and too often we will open up only one, maybe two dimensions of a point, never really getting the full picture of how it is playing out in our lives.

So, here I can see I have a romantic expectation of the job I am doing, an expectation that is unrealistic and thus, the starting point of the work is already problematic in that it will create consequences in my work when that expectation is not met. The correction here is to drop that starting point - to let go of any and all conscious or subconscious beliefs that such  perfect, easy and flowing work will come naturally, and end up making me feel fulfilled and complete automatically.

This does not mean I will accept and allow working to be a laborious struggle. It simply means I still need to re-define what work is to me, and look at who I am within it.

This brings up the point of the way I handle the more difficult or challenging, yet necessary steps towards my goals. I have come to program myself to see this scenario as a laborious struggle. These include the obstacles I face that I must figure out as I go, not already knowing how to handle them. These are unlike the obstacles I have faced many times and are now easier to see my way through, as I had already paved the way for myself.

Paving the way for oneself does not mean creating a life of paved roads, one that you can easily coast through till the end. That would mean only always sticking to what you know, what you have already done, and that is limiting. Paving the way means making space for oneself to expand - meaning, once you have one road paved, it becomes easier, so the time and effort you had put into paving it is now freed up to start another, new road. This way, there is no coasting, there is only constant expansion.

 I will continue in my next blog!

21 Days of Osho Card Readings - Day 8 of 21: 'FIGHTING'

What I am doing in this series is holding an intention within me and then pulling an Osho card to see what support I can derive from it. In this way, Osho card readings can come out of the realm of mysticism, future predictions or positive reinforcements, and instead become a practical support that I can live.

Because it is me as MYSELF interpreting the card for me, seeing what realizations I can bring forth and how I can change my daily living, it empowers ME, instead of reading the cards in such a way where the cards hold some kind of power in or over my life.

When the power is placed in things, objects or even ideas and beliefs outside of ourselves, it actually disempowers us to change, alter or create our lives, and causes us to be stuck in habits and patterns while we wait and hope for something to come in and help us in some way.

That being said, the card for today is:

"An explosive temper or a smoldering rage often masks a deep feeling of pain. We think that if we frighten people away, we can avoid being hurt even more. In fact, just the opposite is the case. By covering our wounds with armor we are preventing them from being healed. By lashing out at others we keep ourselves from getting the love and nourishment we need.

If this description seems to fit you, it's time to stop fighting. There is so much love available to you if you just let it in. Start by forgiving yourself: you're worth it."

When I pulled this card today, I was holding the intention of asking for some support on the reactions I was having regarding my work. This card is quite fitting, in terms of the subconscious internal rage I had been building up regarding my work. The rage was a consequence of the reactions I was having, which were masking a deep helplessness I was feeling in the situation. The reactions were frustration, irritation, agitation, anger and overwhelm. Let me explain:

I am currently in a new position where I want to go ahead full steam, start my projects and become very productive. However,  I had been experiencing 'sticks in my spokes' from the beginning, namely in the form of my internet connection not working. Seeing as I am doing mostly web-based work, this caused a serious back-log, and I became increasingly emotional, from anger and frustration, to overwhelm, and then of course helplessness as I am in a different country and am not too tech savvy. It got to a point where I felt so internally angry, that I had an image of myself in an absolute rage appear in my mind, which reminds me of the image on the card I pulled today.

My housemate Leslie John  was eliminating potential problems one by one, and each one required time and testing. With each new effort, when it did not work, I would go into helplessness, subconsciously thinking and believing it would never be fixed, and there was nothing I can do. This was the belief that was hidden under the reactions, and the reactions were masking the helplessness I was feeling.

Now, the 'rage'  I was experiencing was not exerted on anyone, or being expressed in any sort of destructive way. Seeing as I am using certain specific tools of self-support in my daily living,  I was working with the points as they came up. As we worked on finding a solution, I was getting other stuff done, working on some projects in the physical that I had been wanting to do, working on my breathing, getting outside and physical when I felt the reactions building up, writing it out and seeing it for what it was.

But the reality is that the problem simply needed to be addressed. We can work with our reactions and manage ourselves within them, and that is necessary, but if the problem isn't addressed, then we'll get nowhere in reality. The problem being addressed is actually quite a simple process that Leslie John was walking, by testing things one-by-one. There was no reactions needed, they were completely unnecessary and actually drew-out the problem solving process as I would spend time fighting with myself, then having to work through the reactions before going back to Leslie John to report the issues.

And so, I will take the advice from the card, quite literally, which was to "Start by forgiving yourself: you're worth it." And I will include a self-corrective statement and self -commitment to be able to direct myself when future similar moment arise.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to react within helplessness when I am confronted by obstacles that I do not know how to overcome immediately in the moment.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to participate in the back chat that "it won't work, I will not be able to fix this", creating the feeling of helplessness within and as me.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to mask the feeling of helplessness I created within myself, by participating within and as frustration, irritation, anger, agitation and overwhelm, all accumulating to bring me to a point of rage, within which I do not function properly or efficiently, but rather drag out the problem, and thus the rage, causing consequence in my body as well as in my external reality through drawing out the problem longer than is necessary.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to create and generate a rage within me, which causes internal discomfort, triggers OCD and thus causes double consequence for my body to have to deal with and go through.

When and as I see that I am being confronted by an obstacle that I do not immediately know how to over come, I stop, and I breathe. I bring myself back to self-direction by reminding myself that there is always a solution, even if I cannot yet see it, and even if it is not the one I was expecting. I see, realize and understand that reacting to the problem only draws it out, and that the solution-finding process is a simple, step-by-step process requiring only consideration, communication and/or direct action, and there is no need for emotional reaction.

I commit myself to confront obstacles for the simple equation that they actually are, problem-solution.

I commit myself to NOT over-complicate problems and obstacles by reaction emotionally to them.


For self-support, visit www.desteni.org

21 Days of Osho Card Readings, 'Turning In' - Day 7 of 21

"The woman in this image has a faint smile on her face. In fact she is just watching the antics of the mind--not judging, not trying to stop them, not identified, just watching as if they were traffic on the road, or ripples on the surface of a pond. And the antics of the mind are slightly amusing, as it jumps up and down and twists this way and that, trying to get your attention and seduce you into the game. To develop the knack of taking a distance from the mind is one of the greatest blessings. It is what meditation is all about really--not chanting a mantra, or repeating an affirmation, but just watching, as if the mind belongs to somebody else. You are ready to take this distance now, and to watch the show without getting caught up in the drama. Indulge yourself in the simple freedom of Turning In whenever you can, and the knack of meditation will grow and deepen in you."

  I like to take this concept of objectively watching the mind, and push myself to apply it in all moments, not only special moments such as meditation. For me, how I can apply this card in my life and what it can support with right now, is a 'turning in' while I am busy walking through all the activities and events throughout my day.

This card is a good reminder to, every now and again, take a moment with my breath and ground myself, like a micro-meditation. To pull myself out of whatever mind participation I am busy with, and come back into my body with my feet firmly planted on the ground. This would be like a moment where I do a 'turning in' as a self check, and then I continue with what I am doing so that I can take this self-awareness with me into the task at hand.

Another supportive living expression of this 'turning in' for me can be applied as I integrate doing more of what I love into my day. It has become a new point that I am walking, to do more of the hobbies and activities that I enjoy, or to try out and discover new ones. Even just things I have intended to do in the past but never got around to, never made the time, or never made it a priority. This is the point or intention I was holding within me as I pulled my card today, as I asked for support on how to effectively integrate this new process into my life. 'Turning in' in this way would be to stop, to take a look at what my interests are, and then bringing myself here, fully present while I take the steps to make the time and do them, despite the reasons, justifications and excuses my mind may throw at me to procrastinate or not even do it at all!

 So far I have included spending time with animals, morning yoga, drinking tea, going for walks, growing plants and brewing kombucha (a fermented tea). I would like to keep up these activities and bring in a few more so that my life is not only about working and resting, but more of a fluid motion where I move from those tasks, responsibilities and obligations that I must do, to those activities that I enjoy, to moments of physical exertion and moments of rest, all depending on what is appropriate in the moment.

The important point I want to bring through with 'turning in', is to really make the moment about me, about Who I Am in that moment. Am I rushing around in my mind, trying to get things done as fast as possible, or am I really Here, enjoying the moment, not being seduced into the "ups and downs, twists and turns" of my mind. This way, I will be more Here, be more Myself, get to know myself more and be more present with those around me.

Even in this present moment, I took a moment to 'turn in' once I understood the meaning and my own interpretation of the card. Writing can also be 'meditative' in that it can assist and support one to clear one's mind, ground oneself here, and take a moment to understand, define, find solutions or share a moment in one's life.

Osho Tarot Card of the Day "Go with the Flow" - Day 6 of 21

“The figure in this card is completely relaxed and at ease in the water, letting it take him where it will. He has mastered the art of being passive and receptive without being dull or sleepy. He is just available to the currents of life, with never a thought of saying "I don't like that," or "I prefer to go the other way." Every moment in life we have a choice whether to enter life's waters and float, or to try to swim upstream. When this card appears in a reading it is an indication that you are able to float now, trusting that life will support you in your relaxation and take you exactly where it wants you to go. Allow this feeling of trust and relaxation to grow more and more; everything is happening exactly as it should.” I think the tendency I may have had in the past with this card would be to interpret this information in such a way where I would ‘go with the flow’ in such a way as to not apply myself fully, not direct myself, and giving up my self-directive principle within the interpretation that ‘life’, as some outside force or entity, has got everything taken care of, and I can just sit back and relax. Within this, what happens is that I get too comfortable and fall into the trap of ‘comfort zones’, where I end up procrastinating, becoming lazy and stagnant, and then accumulate undirected energy in the form of anxiety and stress, because deep down I know this way of living is not what’s best or beneficial to me or anyone. Through walking a process with Desteni, I would now change my interpretation of the phrase “trusting that life will support you in your relaxation and take you exactly where it wants you to go” as a trust in myself AS life, with the journey being more of an internal journey of self-creation. The “where I want to go” is to reach my utmost potential, because this journey is where I actually have the most power and control in the form of self-control or self-mastery. I can ‘go with the flow in terms of getting to know myself, testing things and letting them play out to see who I am within them, and then check in with myself to see where I require adjustments and changes. Remembering that I am that force that I can trust, that Self-Trust that I have been developing and continue to develop. I can relax and be at ease within myself because I know that I can investigate and direct that which causes friction and dis-ease within me, and I can change it. What I do not have complete control over are the external factors and situations I find myself in in life, and so there is a certain amount of ‘going with the flow’ involved there as I make myself “available to the currents of life” by remembering that I always have a say in Who I Am in any given situation, how I react to it, whether or not I judge or become emotional about it. I can direct myself to the best of my ability within the currents of life while not fighting or struggling against them. “Being passive and receptive without being dull or sleepy” to me also means that I can let go of the desire for security and control over my external reality, which has the tendency to create stress and anxiety within me, and instead I can remain alert and aware of Who I Am within the waters of life, including the currents, the storms and the stagnations. Instead of trying to control the situation, I practice self-mastery and master the waters within me. This process is only as difficult as we chose to make it. I have for too long accepted and allowed myself to subconsciously want life to be hard and to be a struggle, thinking and believing that if I am not burdened and struggling, that I am not fully living. What I can take from this is that I know I am capable to direct myself when things are difficult, and I enjoy a challenge – but that difficulty and challenge does not have to come from me struggling to control my environment or burdening myself with thoughts, judgments, reactions and fears. I can challenge myself instead with learning what it really means to take responsibility – to be and become self-responsible, to learn and practice self-creation, and what it means to create myself as the person I want to be. That, in itself, is challenging enough! There is no need to place any more difficulty than is necessary. So, when I pull a card that is ‘an indication that you are able to float now, trusting that life will support you in your relaxation and take you exactly where it wants you to go”, I see this as my ability to direct myself, and to trust in, and not fight that self-direction, and within this, to continue to develop that trust in myself AS Life. I have often paired “going with the flow” with the words ‘structure’ and ‘flexibility’ in a complimentary support system of words that work best when lived together. I just recently moved back to a farm and communal living environment, where there are lots of people and projects that have differing schedules as well as weather and internet requirements which change all the time. Additionally, there are animals and children with needs that can pop up unexpectedly. Needless to say, the structure here is ever-changing and ever-fluctuating, so developing a structure within this has been quite a challenge for me in the past. The challenge is creating a structure and then being adaptable in every moment. This requires the ability and discipline to structure my time and schedule, as well as the flexibility to change in a moment’s notice, and the art of ‘going with the flow’, as I cannot think about only myself, and must flow with the other people, animals and environment. Having pulled the ‘going with the flow’ card on my first day back is quite a good support and reminder of words to live particularly in this environment. I am used to a life of school and work, both which basically structured my time for me. Here there is no such rigid schedule, and everybody must work together to get things done. I look forward to living the words ‘go with the flow’, within the understanding that it involves developing the discipline of self-direction, and the realization that I can trust myself to walk the process to get it done. This puts me at ease and at peace because the process is a forgiving one, and I can walk it gently.

ReDefining 'Projection' - 21 Days of Words with Osho - Day 1

I am looking at re-defining and living words by pulling Osho cards for 21 days as a way to choose my words. I take insights from the card, and then look at the word in my own life, in terms of how I have been living it, what the correction is, and how I can move from here on out in such a way that I can live the words in a way that is best for all. The word card for today will be 'projection'. This is day 1 of 20.

This card is depicting two people looking at each other, but not seeing each other for real. We very rarely look at and see each other for real, with our 'vision' of each other being veiled by our own expectations, judgments, fears and desires. We project this on to each other, creating our own virtual realities, with all the people in our lives becoming only projections of ourselves, of all the things we have not taken self-responsibility for. I have done this, and continue to do it to this day, and this card I pulled today is a good reminder of a skill that I know I have, that I have developed with awareness, and that I know how to apply in every moment of my life. That skill is 'taking it back to self', where I have proven to myself through self-introspection, writing and self-forgiveness, that everything I have ever projected, every judgment I have ever had, has always been about me, and I have always had the ability to take the steps required to sort it out and bring it back to myself, placing my power and the power to see reality for real, squarely in my own hands. I have had this ability, but that does not mean I have always practiced it, and when I have, it doesn't mean it always went smoothly. I have gone into reactions, blame, anger, frustration and all sorts of other emotional states that seemed so real and so justified, only to lead to arguments, fighting and me feeling even more powerless and hurt than before. I think if one doesn't step-in in their own life and take self-responsibility, it is possible to live a life of endless arguments, projection, resent and creating more and more icy cold distance between self and those that one loves the most. With the ups and downs of fighting and making amends, this cycling can make it seem and feel like there is progression, forward motion and evolution within a relationship/friendship/family relation, and this can be called 'life' and 'living'. But the reality is that it is actually an endless repeating cycle that is going nowhere, when the truth is that this time can be spent actually getting to know one another for real. This time can be spent developing real trust, understanding and intimacy in relationships. When we are able to look and not project, but see each other for real, we can develop a true compassion and respect for those closest to us. We can support them and be supported by them, we can be profoundly moved by the reality of others when we go to that place of truly understanding all of them, where they stand and what they are going through. The most effective way I have found to clear up projection is communication. Communication where I either express myself clearly, or, if I am clear within myself, I reach out and ask the other for clarity. Simply explaining self, without blame, projection of ulterior motive, and then asking the other where they stand and what they are/were going through can change ones self-fabricated reality of projection into the real reality we all share, where each one has a perspective and experience unique to them. This does not mean one is either right or wrong, it means taking the responsibility to step up and find out where each one is at, and then move from there instead of moving in the secrecy of one's own mind only. From developing clarity and standing in the actual reality of where each one is at, one can support oneself to clear up the reason and source of the projection one had in the first place. This is what I have lived so far, but where and how will I move forward with the word 'projection' in my life? Re-Defining 'Projection': Within this word I hear the words 'project' and 'shun', where. within projecting we are literally shunning others in our life and world. I will change this to 'project inclusion' as the way I will live this word from now on. This is a full-time living, which is a full-time practice, wherein, when and as I see myself projecting onto others, I stop, and I breathe. I remind myself that there is an issue within me that requires my attention and direction. If I don't sort it out, it will eat at me and deteriorate the relationship I have with the person towards whom I am projecting, and I cannot stand for living like that. I take a stand and use my redefinition of the word 'projection' as 'project-inclusion', to share myself and to include the other person's reality into the way I am perceiving the situation. I can do this by stabilizing myself, expressing/explaining/clarifying myself, and/or reaching out to the other for further clarity and understanding. This is a full-time living redefinition, a step in the process toward real self-change, where living this re-definition becomes me and my living, where I become it as my new normal - a process to walk in 2018 and beyond. For more insight into re-defining and living words, check out: Redefining Words with SOUL