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Chuck’s Place: Navigating Now With Fluidity & Resilience

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Don’t feed the flyers!
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

In his usual mischievous way, Carlos Castaneda would come into the gym every few hours and assess the energetic status of the thousand or so Tensegrity practitioners who’d been rigorously practicing the physical forms, called Magical Passes, we’d been taught. He’d then announce, “Not yet!” According to him we had yet to accrue enough energy to handle the impact of the special knowledge he was waiting to deliver.

Ultimately, having fully captivated our attention, he introduced a special topic, which the shamans labeled, the flyers. The flyers are inorganic beings; meaning, beings who have an energy body but lack a physical form. He stated that we are their prey, the food source for this species of being.

Flyers feed off the energy generated by impassioned human emotion, particularly the incoherent energy produced by intense anger, hate and sadness. Furthermore, flyers infiltrate our minds. They commandeer the thoughts of our internal dialogue, creating stories of us being offended, disregarded, and considered unworthy in our daily interactions. This intensifies the negative emotions that season our energy.

Of course, this is quite a grotesque characterization. Years later, I had the pleasure of a moment with Reni Murez, one of Carlos’s apprentices. She assured me that much in the shaman’s world was metaphor, not to be taken too literally. I pass this guidance along. Nonetheless, metaphor is used to illustrate  energetic facts.

The energetic fact is that thoughts, generated from within, or from an outside source, trigger powerful emotions that deplete our energy and weaken our spirit. It is also an energetic fact that some entities, human or otherwise, feed off the tortured emotional energy of others. Such is the heightened energetic reality of our time.

Clinically, the collective diagnosis of now is Acute Stress Disorder (ASD), reflecting the incessant traumatic bombardment of bombs and words that inflame and terrify the world daily. ASD rapidly turns into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the overriding diagnosis for our traumatized modern world.

In response to these diagnoses, the central nervous system, for the bulk of humanity, is fixated at the fight-flight-freeze mode. In this threatened survival state, the body floods with cortisol and adrenaline to cope with the ravages of overwhelming stress.

The side effect of this constant state of arousal is addiction to the very chemicals the body releases internally to cope with threat. This hyper alert state has become the desired state to feel safe, which results in a continuous cycle of generating fearful thoughts that trigger heightened emotions, which in turn release stress hormones to be prepared for largely imagined catastrophes.

Behaviorally, this leads to a strong attraction to activating news, outer events, and interactions that maintain a steady flow of the stress hormones we have become addicted to. The physical exhaustion of this constant state of arousal is overridden by the defensive energy released by the stress hormones that then weaken the immune system, making one more prone to disease. In addition, despite exhaustion, one is often riddled with poor sleep, as the mind is wary of releasing the defense of alert presence and relaxing instead into rejuvenating sleep.

The first step to energetic recovery is to acknowledge our chemical dependency upon stress hormones. With that, we must take responsibility for our own behaviors that ensure the delivery of our chemical fix. If we truly want the sobriety of calmness, we must be willing to change our thoughts and behaviors.

“I am safe in this moment,” is most likely an energetic fact. State it often, while allowing for a relaxing breath.

“I choose not to engage in confrontative interaction on social media, and that includes just reading it!” Why and how often do I seek out the current news? What is its impact upon my Central Nervous System?

“Am I willing to ask for help from the divine love and intelligence located in my subconscious mind?”

“Am I willing to imagine the calm I seek and allow myself to release to the joy of receiving it?”

“Am I willing to let go of control, trusting the higher power within myself to guide me to equanimity?”

“Am I willing to meditate?” When I meditate, I change my brainwaves, which allows me to sink my awareness into the limbic system of my brain, the touchpoint of the subtle body of my subconscious mind. With this direct access I can rewrite the ingrained habits and illnesses imprinted in my autonomic nervous system, turning off the embedded flyers, healing myself in a fundamental way.

“Am I willing to refuse to not be positive?” An internal dialogue of positive self-statements exchanges the release of stress hormones for the release of the emotionally regulating happy hormones of dopamine and serotonin. To be bathed in the calm of loving compassion is not addiction, it’s the ticket for navigating now with fluidity and resilience.

Thanks for everything,
Chuck

I offer a link to another meditation, this one only 35  minutes long! It’s a very powerful meditation to begin the day with, but can be listened to at any time. Enjoy!

Dr. Joe Dispenza’s Most Powerful Morning Meditation

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Chuck’s Place: Gratitude Now!

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Turn thoughts to gratitude for a brand new attitude…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

The subconscious mind is the creative powerhouse at the core of our soul. It links with the limbic system in the brain, which houses our instinctual and emotional primal self. The subconscious is vastly influenced by the survival suggestions of this primal being, with self-preservation as its number one priority.

The ego is the conscious thinking part of the soul, that corresponds with the neocortex in the brain while we exist in human form. This analytical center provides us with the ability to exercise free will, even overriding the hardwired genetic programs of the limbic system. We are free, for example, to make decisions and take actions that the limbic system would have us avoid in order to remain safe.

The subconscious is also powerfully affected by the thinking suggestions of the ego, and, if impressed enough, may manifest them, despite the more conservative suggestions of the limbic system that run counter to the ego’s wishes. Emotion is the significant variable in the subconscious mind’s choice; what we put a lot of emotion into usually wins out.

The highly emotionally charged fight/flight/freeze reaction of the limbic system is its central program for self-preservation. When the subconscious mind manifests this natural reaction in the nervous system, the ego’s neocortex center is compromised. We simply can’t think rationally, as the subconscious sends all available energy to the body to fund survival.

The result of this fear-based internal environment is the flooding of the body with adrenaline and cortisol, which generates a hyper-alert physical and emotional state to fend off real or imagined attack. Without the ego’s ability to contribute alternative perspectives and suggestions that could release the perception of danger, the body remains captive to this ever-present threatened state.

Emotions of fear, anger and hate tend to be reinforced by triggered memories of prior threats or imagined potential threats, which the brain treats as real, intensifying the emotional panic. Fearful thoughts generate negative emotions, which trigger more fearful thoughts in an ever-escalating loop of deepening negativity.

In this low frequency state of negativity, the subconscious manifests a state of exhaustion and hopelessness, matching the suggestions of the activated limbic system. In order to shift from this disheartened state, the ego is tasked with exercising its will over the limbic system’s hardwired programs, introducing new suggestions to the subconscious mind.

The decision to breathe for several minutes to an 8-8-8 count and then a 8-16-8 count will begin to shift brainwaves away from an anxious beta mental state into a calmer alpha/theta state. From this calmer place we can state our desired intent, perhaps for a more peaceful inner, as well as outer, world.

This is the opportunity to raise the emotional vibration to the heights of gratitude, an extremely attractive vibe to the subconscious mind. Begin with deep appreciation first for the divine intelligence of the subconscious mind, which places itself at our creative disposal. Send love and gratitude toward every other part of All-That-Is because, regardless of circumstance, we are all in this together.

With deep gratitude and awe, imagine the manifestation of that which you seek as fully formed. This accomplished deed in the heart and mind causes the brain to form the neural circuits and release the appropriate hormones to match the body with the mind’s imagination. The subconscious further supports this transformation by attracting outer physical reality to it that matches its inner high vibration of loving gratitude.

In this time of pervasive outer negativity, no one can be stopped from an inner practice of deep gratitude that radiates and attracts a reality that matches its love and appreciation for all. Be the gratitude rainmaker whose solo practice releases a thunderstorm of love upon the world.

Gratitude Now!
Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: The Good & Bad Of Habit

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-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

From a biological point of view, a habit is a well-connected cluster of brain cells (neurons) that form a circuit that, when turned on, directs the body and mind to automatically behave in a certain way. Many habits are inherited through the arrangement of genes in our DNA, and many are formed epigenetically, as we learn new things post-birth.

A distinguishing characteristic of a habit is that it operates outside of consciousness. Our body is frequently prompted to perform habits while the attention of our conscious mind is far away, in thought. Think about driving and suddenly noticing that you have arrived at your destination with little memory of the journey.

Habits are housed in the subconscious mind, which pairs the suggestions it receives through sensory triggers with its storehouse of habitual responses. The subconscious largely runs all the systems of our body independently of our awareness.

Habits are the building blocks of our identity. When we awaken from our night sea journey of sleep, we are quickly swept away from dreamland and placed into the familiar story of who  we are in waking life. Thoughts of our upcoming day become the triggers of our mental habits that tell us who we are.

“What is the time? Oh, I always wake up late, I never give myself enough time (depressed feeling). I won’t have time to eat (sad). I’ll grab a coffee at the gas station because, of course, I didn’t fill up yesterday because I was lazy, as usual (defeated). Oh! I have that meeting today; I hate presenting (anxiety). I feel so judged by my peers, especially by her, Miss Perfect (failure). I hate this job, but I’m stuck (not good enough)…”

We think about 60,000 thoughts a day, 90% of which are habitual. This string of thought-triggers, that begins upon awakening, becomes a nonstop internal dialogue that solidifies our sense of who we are, providing us with our familiar identity. Whether we like ourselves or not, we find comfort in the secure grounding and dependability of our habitual definition and feeling of self.

The good news, from a neurological point of view, is neuroplasticity, the capacity of the brain to establish new neural networks, and consequently, new habits. New thoughts can be consciously chosen, which, when repetitively stated and imbued with imagination and emotion, provoke the subconscious to manifest a new identity and a new physical reality.  (See link below.)

The brain treats our thoughts as actual reality. When we imagine something in our minds, the brain creates new circuits of neurons and chemical reactions that build new physical structures and emotions in the body, in accordance with the model we mentally create. When the mind rehearses its desired future, the brain builds the structures to make it physically happen.

The challenge to suggesting new thoughts to the subconscious, as Dr. Joe Dispenza points out, is that we must allow ourselves to be uncomfortable with change. Our attachment to the comfort of our familiar, known, habitual self generates defenses to protect its prior habitually-established neurocircuitry.

Subjectively, this is experienced as doubt and lack of faith in the ability to truly transform the self, mentally and physically. The tendency is to continue to place emphasis on the known, reinforcing the hegemony of the old circuitry. As Christ pointed out, without faith there are no miracles. He was not talking about faith in him but faith in the ability of the self to truly transform. That’s the suggestion necessary to get the attention of the subconscious.

The nuts and bolts of transformation is rote practice, continued over time. Say something enough times with passion, while imagining it, and it will come to pass. That’s exactly how the inner dialogue already works: we become what we think. If we take conscious control of directing our thoughts, we change our brain and we change who we are.

The challenge is both perseverance and a willingness to live in the discomfort of a fluid rather than a fixed identity. To grow, in its fullest potentiality, is to arrive at the perspective of all that is, better known as, the ultimate experience of cosmic oneness.

At the gross motor level of the physical body, the shamans of ancient Mexico used not-doings to break the fixation of habitual behavior, awakening consciousness to be able to choose new behaviors. A not-doing might be to change your bedtime every night or to wear mismatched socks during the day. Spontaneous decisions, like breaking into singing and dancing or choosing a different turn while driving, disrupt habit and awaken consciousness.

Life in Earth School paradoxically requires us to establish a uniformity of identity through a habitual self to feel safe and grounded, yet it also insists that we constantly break old habits of self in order to grow.

Life in Graduate Earth School asks us to wake up and be the rising sun each morning, like the phoenix burning off the habitual self of just yesterday, as we journey further into the adventure and discomfort of the unknown in a new day.

Nothing can ever stay the same. Habits are all temporary perches from which to observe and discover infinity. Enjoy them, learn from them, but don’t get too attached, as more of infinity awaits!

Not Doing,
Chuck

Sharing a good meditation to support a changing self, created by Dr. Joe Dispenza. I suggest listening to it in its entirety, many times, for the fullest experience.
You are the Placebo-Guided Meditation

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Establish A New Major Premise Of Being

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Any day is a good day to start anew…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

The subconscious totally accepts and manifests the beliefs of the conscious mind. If we believe we are a good person, the subconscious manifests that belief in the positive emotions we feel toward ourselves and the kinds of people and positive opportunities that are drawn to us in daily life.

Carlos Castaneda lamented the impact of negative conditioning upon the vulnerable psyche of the child, who absorbs, without any available means to fend off, the words and beliefs of its caretakers. According to the shamans of ancient Mexico, these internalized elemental beliefs are assembled and fixated at a point of consciousness, aptly called the assemblage point, that orients our perception and interpretation of ourselves in both inner and outer reality.

Internalizing the theme of being bad in childhood can pervasively fixate our assemblage point upon this belief, such that it serves as our basic premise of self throughout all of life.

The fixation of the assemblage point is so rigid that shamans have for centuries used psychedelics to allow their habitual fixation of the assemblage point to be temporarily suspended, freeing up their ability to journey deeper into their human potential.

This form of soul exploration, or retrieval, is not without its risks, as the shattering of ego consciousness by a psychedelic can lead to difficulty in fully returning to the consciousness of everyday life, or hamper the integration of  knowledge gained in heightened awareness with ordinary reality.

Carlos Castaneda recommended alternative methods of exploration that allow the grounding and reasoning abilities of the ego to support deeper exploration and positive integration, enabling one to establish a new, positive position of the assemblage point.

Intentional autosuggestion provides a powerful interaction with the creative powers of the subconscious mind that can greatly enhance the realization of our innate potential. By consciously establishing a new basic premise as a suggestion to the subconscious mind, we can fundamentally shift our experience of self and world.

Though the subconscious does not engage in rational thinking, it powerfully accepts a basic premise presented to it by the conscious reasoning mind as fact, and rationally goes about demonstrating the truth of that premise in its manifestations based upon it. The premise is the seed planted in the fertile soil of the subconscious.

The action, or law of attraction, exercised by the subconscious, is to draw to it from the soil the vital nutrients needed for it to grow into physical beingness, as solid proof of the validity of the major premise planted in its soil. This fertile soil is the divine energy and infinite intelligence the subconscious attracts as it fashions, in physical form, the intent of consciousness.

Thus, if your new major premise states that “by day and by night the infinite intelligence of my subconscious mind guides, directs and prospers me spiritually, mentally, physically and materially,” abundant change, in accordance with this suggestion, will begin to materialize in your life.

Notice that this intention does not try to engage, overturn, or argue with a negative habitual premise, such as, “I am bad and unworthy.” Any such thought activity places attention upon the older habitual position of the assemblage point, which draws the subconscious back to that fixation, and, hence, to that old state of being.

To the contrary, recitation of this new basic premise causes the soul, through the attractive power of the subconscious, to pave new neuropathways in the brain, releasing hormones and neurotransmitters that generate the emotions and sense of self intended by the autosuggestion.

This divine intelligence also draws people, circumstances and opportunities into our life that further its manifestation in the material reality of life. We begin to notice these changes in mood and energy level, as well as in events that occur in the physical self, in career and social life. As we take notice of these changes, our faith in the power of the subconscious deepens, which in turn intensifies the realization of the autosuggestion on all levels of being.

Though we may occasionally (or often!) find ourselves suddenly shifting to an older habitual position of the assemblage point, the trick is to not engage it but to quickly state our new basic premise. The word truly does become the flesh.

Remember, we arrived at our early basic premise of self through the constant repetition of words spoken to us. To shift to a new basic premise of self, we must constantly saturate ourselves with the words of our new basic premise.

As always, no attachment to the outcome. Only the subconscious mind knows how to truly attract what is needed. Just keep reminding it of your new basic premise. State it, let go, and let the magic materialize.

By day and by night, prosperity,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: It’s All In What You Emphasize

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The nagual shaman, don Juan Matus, explained to his apprentice, Carlos Castaneda, that yes, the solid object reality we live in is indeed real, but, it is energy first. Our thoughts, which are interpretations of energy, manifest our physical reality.

What we manifest is real, but the broader truth is that all manifested realities are but an interpretation of infinite energy. Like the Hindu image of the cosmic ocean, the wave is but the manifested surface that appears, and then disappears, back into its underlying cosmic oneness.

From the Thoth Tarot deck of Aliester Crowley

Aleister Crowley, in discussing the Three of Swords, in his Thoth tarot deck, states that the extreme sorrow of this card can be likened to the Buddha’s initial stage of enlightenment when he encountered the pure potential of unmanifested reality: no forms, no reason.

Despite the bliss of this pure clarity, there is the necessary sorrow of releasing attachment to the familiar. Here, one is challenged to surrender to a  consciousness greater than one’s current manifestation.

It all begins in the mind. Outer reflects inner. It’s all in what one chooses to emphasize. Negative thought is certainly an option; it’s just as real an option as a positive thought—divinity includes everything.

Everything is possible, but the paradox is that to realize this truth we must be willing to let go of our cherished beliefs, which are fixations of energy that block the natural flow of energy needed to manifest desired change. The struggle is indeed one of submitting to enlightened sorrow, the necessary crossroad that accompanies moving beyond the familiar habitual self.

Take for instance a desired physical change in the body. One may state a healing intent of change but is constantly assaulted by the feedback of sensory evidence that contradicts one’s stated suggestion to their subconscious mind. This sensory feedback loop becomes its own internal dialogue that presents a more powerful counter-intention to the subconscious mind.

The technology of change, through the use of autosuggestion, insists that one emphasize repeatedly that their desired change is already accomplished. The seed has been planted in the divine substance of the subconscious mind and its full manifestation cannot be stopped, despite the presence of a solid sensory artifact, rooted in a prior interpretation of energy.

I suggest resting the body so that the subconscious mind, relieved of its physical oversight responsibilities, might clearly receive its new directive and move toward manifestation. With presence and passion, repeat the stated intention. Be bold, no hesitation, thy will is done.

At other times, be willing to suffer those moments of fear and sorrow when one glimpses the real possibility of letting go of the cherished limited self. Yes, you are chosen; you have chosen to emphasize the red pill: the life-changing, often painful truth beyond the current fixation of solid energy.

From the Thoth Tarot deck of Aliester Crowley

Of course, when the gig is up, the gig is up. In another card of Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck, the Three of Cups, we find the near perfect realization of the manifested intent of abundance. The presence of pomegranate seeds in the cups, though symbolic of abundance, also recall Persephone’s required stay in the underworld for six months of the year with her husband Pluto, god of the dead.

We cannot escape the expiration date located in the small print of every manifestation. Life insists upon growth, which always requires the letting go of the known.

This recalls the Buddha’s suggestion that life is suffering. Everything that we attach to ultimately limits our growth. But that sorrow can be sweet when we embrace love for all in this adventure of forever. One always has the choice to emphasize love and let it fully manifest.

With love,
Chuck