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Chuck’s Place: How To Manage The Inner Critic

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The power is in your own hands…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

Shamans call the inner critic a foreign installation, programmed to overshadow the true nature of our magical beingness. Rather than bask in the awe of our unlimited potential it causes us to stew in the murky waters of  unworthiness and inadequacy.

The foreign installation delivers an inner dialogue that judges incessantly. The voice might sound like our own, but this is a kind of AI stunt. The voice is impersonal and it afflicts every human being with its negative messaging.

On a personal level, this internal dialogue delivers constant suggestions to the subconscious mind that manifest in powerfully negative moods and beliefs about the self. The way to neutralize the effects of this program is to reprogram the subconscious mind.

One major pitfall in dealing with the inner critic is to try to reason with it. It’s very tempting to stand up to the critic, but be forewarned. However receptive it may be, it is programmed only to defeat. Beware of its reasonableness and encouragement, it’s merely another opportunity to ultimately steal your positive energy through greater defeat and humiliation.

Another highly effective tactic of the inner critic is to trap us in feeling resentment for being offended by the words and actions of others. It is indeed necessary to take action when one is victimized, but the holding of resentment entrenches one in deeply negative thought and feeling, as the inner critic perseverates in its negative messaging.

Note the mechanism that the inner critic utilizes to achieve its decisive influence: the non-stop flow of negative suggestions to the subconscious mind. Rather than attempt to prove your worthiness to the critic, deliver your own constructive, positive messages to the subconscious mind.

Here’s an institutionalized example of negative messaging. Just prior to receiving communion with God, during a Catholic mass, this prayer is repeated three times: “Lord I am not worthy to receive You, speak but the word and my soul will be healed.” The message delivered: I am not worthy, I am undeserving, and I require you to heal me.

This disempowering messaging could be reprogrammed, as follows: “I am worthy. I intend to be healed.”

These suggestions, delivered to the magical center of the subconscious mind, generate positive self regard, acknowledge the power of the conscious mind to use its words to initiate a healing, and have faith in the subconscious mind to manifest a healing.

Rather than argue with an impersonal program, copy its highly effective strategy. State positive suggestions to the subconscious mind often. The subconscious will eventually pick up the consistent messaging of your suggestions and manifest their intent.

Of course, the new suggestions will be competing with powerful programs established by years of the foreign installation’s internal dialogue. These old programs generate blocking beliefs that compete with new suggestions. Have faith in ultimate success and perseveringly, and with passion, state your suggestions.

Sometimes, we might argue that some of what the inner critic highlights is true, so we can’t really believe the affirmations we’re stating. Face the truth of habits or behaviors that sabotage the self. Rather than berate the self, take steps to address these issues. While addressing these issues continue to state your positive intentions for the self.  Feel love versus disappointment for the self, regardless of its foibles.

Finally, don’t attach to the outcome, which means don’t try to imagine or plan how things will work out, just trust that they will. Exercise faith. Faith is the knowing that you are a magical being capable of creating a fulfilling life through the marriage of your conscious mind that designs the blueprint, with your subconscious mind that sculpts your intent.

Rather than passively allow a foreign installation to construct your life, create your own masterpiece. State aloud or write down your intent, fix an image of that intent firmly in your mind’s eye, and constantly reaffirm your intent with positive affirmations to yourself.

Trust that your beloved partner, your subconscious mind, will follow the necessary path, however long and winding, to manifest your heartfelt intent.

Hold faithfully to the image you have designed, knowing that every day is presenting you with circumstances that require decisions and actions, the building blocks of your already-in-progress, created, new life.

In construction,
Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Anatomy Of Lust

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Be illumined…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

The Latin root for lust is lustrare, which means to illuminate, to brighten. Like a moth, irrevocably attracted to a bright flame, lust is an overwhelming desire or craving to merge with or consume an object that shines with the promise of deep satisfaction.

Lust is most frequently associated with sexual passion, which comes online at puberty, fueled by hormones whose biological urgency is ultimately the intent to bring forth new life. Typically, one becomes sexually attracted to the shine or glow one sees in another, and lusts for some kind of sexual release with them.

The overwhelming power of lust challenges deeply the ego’s reasoning ability and will. The emotion of lust is so binding and blinding one often feels powerless to not acquiesce to it. Despite very negative consequences for acting it out, lust, due to its compulsive power of attraction, can frequently defeat the ego’s best of intentions of restraint.

Interestingly, the guidance upon dying is for the soul to travel directly toward the light. That which most powerfully Illuminates is the ultimate Creator. Union with God is union with the light. Passion is the energy of creation.

Lust imbues the human experience with creative energy from the most primal levels of biological desire to the highest form of spiritual love. Lust is the energy that the subconscious employs to draw to it the materials for its creative activity as it embarks upon the task of fulfilling a suggestion.

Lust is also the energy that feeds addictions. Addiction is a spiritual disease that achieves the momentary satiation of calm through union with an object, substance, or behavior that shines with the luster of promise. Addiction binds one to the repetitive habit of seeking union with the mana of its substance, usually with diminishing returns of satisfaction, generating greater dependency and despondency.

Lust is an essential energy of life that is so powerful that it can destroy life. The desire of lust is an essential component of intimacy, yet, if it is too dominant, can forestall the development of true relatedness and connection, qualities essential to enduring relationship.

Perhaps the greatest challenge in human form is the mastery of lust. To avoid lust is to forsake the creative and emotional dimension of one’s divine birthright. To give over one’s life to the compulsions and mismatches of lust is to lose control of one’s life.

Oftentimes, a repetitive cycle of doing lust’s bidding can accrue to its loss of luster where the spark of illumination can then transfer to a true path of heart. The Buddhists call this avidya , the long path of ignorance that eventually accrues to enlightenment.

If we recognize that the true source of lust is within our own soul, which is then reflected outward to ‘catch our eye’, we might then take hold of our creative energy within ourselves. If we align our desire with the realization of our true self we present to the subconscious the intent for fulfillment.

Shine on,
Chuck 

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Chuck’s Place: The Full Breadth Of The Subconscious Mind

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We are all part of the vast interconnected All That Is…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

If the conscious mind is characterized as command central, then the subconscious mind is boots on the ground.

The conscious mind is the active mental side of our wholeness. It has the capacity to think and suggest, with awareness.

The subconscious mind is the magnetically generative side of our wholeness. It has the ability to draw to it all the materials needed to create and manifest a suggestion.

In their most individuated relationship, the conscious and subconscious minds are the divine couple whose intent and manifestation serve the creative expression and experience of All That Is, the greater interconnectedness, the oneness that we all are.

The subconscious mind operates beneath the threshold of consciousness, at the crossroads of influencers that market suggestions from the conscious mind, as well as from a multitude of characters that exist in the depths of the collective unconscious of All That Is.

In these regions, one first encounters what Jung called the personal unconscious, which is populated by the shadow, which includes the rejected parts of the self, as well as a warehouse of internalized beliefs obtained through social interactions that heavily overshadow our view of ourselves and others.

Jung called the characters in the personal unconscious complexes. A useful current psychotherapy model calls them one’s internal family system (IFS). Negative beliefs about the self emanating from this shadow dimension prompt an ongoing internal dialogue that generates a steady flow of disempowering suggestions to the subconscious mind.

Beneath the personal unconscious are the characters of our ancestral tree, whom contribute their genetic disposition, as well as wisdom, wounds, and questions emanating from the lives they’ve lived. Bert Hellinger’s Family Constellations addresses influences from this dimension, which generate powerful suggestions to the subconscious mind.

At the deeper depths of the ancestral unconscious is the evolutionary journey of our species, which determines our instinctual reactions to survive via powerful instincts and archetypal patterns. When activated, the magnitude of emotion and energy from these centers powerfully influences the suggestibility of the subconscious mind and its subsequent manifestations. An example would be, a mother filled with superhuman strength to lift a car to save her trapped child.

Finally, the subconscious is connected to all the selves we have been in our various incarnations, as well as to our High Self, which is at the nucleus of our soul’s journey through infinity. This network of connections, with all their accumulated wisdom and concern, has its own portal of energetic influence upon the subconscious mind.

As you can see, the subconscious mind has a vast set of connections and suggestions to choose from as it navigates life. The subconscious largely controls the fate of our body, as well as the life we will manifest.

As opposed to the conscious mind that generally uses rational thinking to decide its course of action, the subconscious mind weighs the emotional intensity and attractiveness of proposed suggestions. The subconscious truly demands to be impressed by its potential suitors; suggestions must resonate.

The conscious mind has access, through the subconscious mind’s connections, to these deeper centers of the unconscious mind. Thus, when I ask for help from my High Self, this request becomes a suggestion to the subconscious that often results in an intuition—a meaningful image—that sheds a broader light on the concern I was contemplating.

I note that the image provided was not the result of a rational process but rather one of powerful associative value. The High Self provides the exact missing puzzle piece to fit the current puzzle. Remember the magnetic power of the subconscious; it draws to it, with precision, that which is needed to fulfill its chosen project.

The conscious mind is certainly the greatest influencer of the subconscious mind, at least in this human life. Its salient feature is the exercise of free choice. The fate of our current world hinges on the exercise of the conscious mind to align its suggestions for the greater good.

The greater the conscious mind is able to Know Thyself, in all its dimensions, the more balanced and fulfilling will be its suggestions. If current thoughts and suggestions to the subconscious mind are old, outdated and negative, resulting in old stuck patterns, then it’s high time to reprogram with new, inviting and invigorating suggestions to manifest something totally new.

The subconscious mind is highly impressed by thoughts, emotions, beliefs, intentions, prayers and mantras rotely stated, or emotionally expressed through art, music and movement. The key is perseverance without attachment to outcome.

Know that any suggestion you put out to the universe has already been created on the mental plane of thought and that it just needs to gestate under the magnetic sculpting of the subconscious mind before it manifests. Have the patience to ensure the faith of its inevitable delivery.

The ultimate key is knowing that you—as a necessary component of All That Is—are the creator of your own life. Go ahead and create that masterpiece!

Creating,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Attending To The Ultimate Relationship of Self Love

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This is an interactive blog. Read it to yourself or listen to it. Do not listen to it while driving. This is also my last blog post until Tuesday July 9, 2024. Listen to it as often as you like, and each time you do, you will go deeper.

I safely close my eyes and withdraw my attention from the outside world. My conscious mind observes passively the effects on my body of  suggestions I give to my subconscious mind. I stress: my mind and body are completely passive, they needn’t make anything happen. They are present to experience the magic and independent ability of my subconscious mind to manifest my suggestions.

Before I knock on the door to my subconscious with my requests I remind myself that I, as ego architect, must initiate through suggestion, then get out of the way, as my subconscious mysteriously fulfills my suggestions. I am confident and direct as I deliver my suggestions.

I speak to you, my subconscious. You are the master of my body’s functioning. With love and gratitude I firmly present to you my  intentions. As I state them I passively observe their fulfillment.

My feet feel deeply relaxed.*

My ankles, my knees and my hips feel relaxed and comfortable.

My solar plexus and the whole central part of my body feel relaxed and quiet.

My hands, my arms and my shoulders feel relaxed and comfortable.

My neck, my jaw and my tongue feel relaxed and comfortable.

My forehead feels relaxed and smooth.

My eyes are quiet and relaxed.

My entire body feels quiet, comfortable and relaxed.

I am quite relaxed.

I feel quite quiet.

My mind is calm and quiet.

I feel serene and still.

I trust my body, it will never let me down.

I notice now the impact of these suggestions upon my body and mind. I am deeply calm and relaxed. I know that I have been delivered to a resting place that will deepen every time I repeat these suggestions.

I realize that I am in the presence of creation. My conscious spirit  stimulated my subconscious soul body to manifest the calm I now feel. Their sacred union gave birth to my present state of being. This is the loving relationship that brings forth new possibilities of me.

I am grateful and I am thankful for this loving relationship as it delivers me to new life.

If I am ready to launch into rejuvenative sleep, off I go.

If I am ready to return to outer focus and activity, I suggest that my subconscious restore me to fully engage waking life.

Having attended to the ultimate relationship of self love, I launch.

*These Autogenic Phrases are abstracted from the work of Elmer and Alyce Green while at the Menninger Foundation. I am grateful to the late Dr. Eleanor Eggers for her documentation of these phrases on her website Help For Stress Disorders.

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Chuck’s Place: Holding Space For Possibility Beyond Influence

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Choose a path with heart…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

We live now in an age of extraverted influence where the mind is preoccupied with the narratives, messages and suggestions of outside influencers.

The energy that sustains these entities is largely drawn from the mental and emotional attention we supply them with, in our reactions to power dynamics exercised by the various players. It’s like a sport, where we identify with, and root for, our chosen team. The subtle energy of emotion powerfully shapes the creative outlet of its manifestation in physical reality.

My recent blogs have focused upon the power of self-hypnosis to generate change on the physical level of reality. The conscious exercise of autosuggestion allows one to assume personal responsibility for the creation of one’s own purely physical reality.

While it is true that outside influencers have infiltrated and saturated the news, social media, and atmospheric thought space with their intentions, everyone is free to think beyond these outer scripts and suggest to the subconscious a reality in harmony with their own personal intentions.

Predetermination must be accepted as a probability among all the permutations of all that is. Perhaps the  interplay of formerly repressed historical autocratic forces, now unleashed throughout the globe, is so great that we cannot avoid the tide of its destruction. However, despite the potential of that possible reality, the freedom to create still rests with each individual.

My predilection is for a world where truth, not manipulation for personal gain, is the guiding force. I seek not to influence anyone with this intent other than to awaken them to their own latent power to create. May they exercise that power with heart, whichever way that leans.

Evolution requires of us to evolve, not to simply follow. If, as a species, we must relive and remake the past before we can move forward, then that truly is where we are and what we must live through. I can be in acceptance of that probability. I see no alternative but complete acquiescence, with equanimity, to all possible outcomes for evolution to advance.

The truth is that life in time/space offers such an opportunity for the refinement of the love we possess, so that, regardless of the drama of our given time here, we can grow. Learning to love all, with detachment, is the highest form of spiritual love. This is the definition of a path with heart.

I am convinced that a sizable portion of humanity is aligned with the intention for the greater good of the planet. This can very well be the silent majority. To be in alignment with this intention is to suggest it to the subconscious, without revealing it outwardly. No need to be an influencer. When we peddle our wares, we awaken the algorithms of descent that then drag us into the mud of doubt and despair.

Instead, find spiritual companionship in the rightness of a path with heart, and in the subtle dimension of dreaming as well, where teachers readily support evolutionary intent.

Hold dearly to your inner truth as your guiding spirit. Never surrender your power to intend, your innate birthright. Become the loving outcome of your own evolutionary suggestions.

Hold space for possibility beyond influence,
Chuck