Find peace and calm within the self as often as possible to combat worry, stress, and fear that now attempt to take over. Restore yourself often to calmness within by deep breathing, calming mantras, and an open heart that knows instinctively that great change always leads to new life.
Find solace in nature where everything is in balance, where on even the harshest weather days everything accepts and waits out the oncoming event, where night and day are part of the whole and warmth and cold expected. As a human being don’t forget that you too are part and parcel of nature and thus everything that happens to you and in your life is nature unfolding. Learn from nature every day to expect the unexpected and thus to go with the flow of what comes to greet you, for that too is to be in nature.
The Shamans of Ancient Mexico discovered that by performing a specific sequence of physical movements, which they entitled Magical Passes, the embodiment of an intention could be supported and realized. An example would be achieving a state of Inner Silence, through performing a specific set of shamanic bodily movements.
In actuality, all of our physical movements are dense energy constructions of intents we may or may not be aware of. For example, if we approach a social encounter with mental trepidation our bodily movements will express this mental/emotional state. Sensitive people will easily detect someone’s true inner state by reading the physical energetic configuration they enact.
Ultimately, all there is is energy. Hence, the physical world is made up of infinite, unique patterns of flowing energy that give structure and movement to all objects in the world. One of those unique patterns of energy is you.
Did you ever notice that you need only the slightest hint of a person’s movement to recognize them? Each individual has their own unique pattern of energy, which is reflected in all of their bodily movements.
Though we cannot alter the unique energetic essence that we are, we can shift its configuration. For example, the psychoanalyst, Wilhelm Reich, discovered that people’s emotional defenses resulted in a character armor, which physically embodied in postures of rigidity and muscular tension.
Through the practice of a prescribed series of physical movements, called bioenergetics, patients are able to change their defensive energetic configurations to experience joy and pleasure.
The magic of a magical pass is being able to stir our latent ability to re-assemble our energetic essence in new, creative, and fulfilling ways. This is the true definition of change: having the fluidity to shift our energetic essence into new possibilities. The challenge to achieving our coveted changes lies in our habitual attachment to our familiar, energetically encrusted, state of self.
An alternative to focusing on the rigid mental definitions of self, to break up this energetic encrustation, is to change the current magical passes one performs on a daily basis. For example, rather than conform to a specific sleep/wake routine, break the mold. Go to sleep one night at 8 pm, the next at 11 pm, etc. Rather than type the usual texts to friends and family, withdraw into reading a book. Notice what new possibilities of feeling and creativity present in this void of routine.
If you have a breathing practice, do it many times throughout the day. The alpha breathing pass of a count of 8 inhalation, 8 holding, and 8 exhalation, followed by a no-breath pause of 4, can be introduced spontaneously throughout the day.
One may come to observe that interrupting the habitual shallow breathing pattern, or holding of breath for long periods of time, shifts one into a deeply calm reset of the central nervous system. This might actually generate its own trepidation, as the familiar definition of one’s self as a nervous person is severely shaken. We discover why we tend to cling to what we call bad habits, as we understand how they fortify our security in an unchanging personality, with known bodily movements that rigidly uphold that unchanging self.
To really become the full magic of you, observe the habitual patterns that have defined you. Focus especially on the physical movements that actualize these patterns. Change the movements, change the self.
No attachment to outcome, just persevere with light abandon. As Carlos Castaneda would excitedly express, “See what happens!”
Keep the light within you alive and well by tending to it as you would a small fire. Breathe gently upon it so that it does not go out, keeping it alive as you would a plant, flower, or small critter. It is your spirit’s presence within you that seeks to remind you of your eternal self and your connection to all that is good, to love.
As your days unfold take note of what works for you and what doesn’t. Without blame or shame simply change what you can to suit your intent to change. Take responsibility for your life, your actions, and even your thoughts, so that every day is a day of growth, change, and newness. It’s never too late to make changes that are positive and necessary. Your spirit wants to keep growing and only you can help it do so.