Your Biggest Block To Happiness

Your Biggest Block To Happiness ©2016 Joan M. Newcomb, CPC

Your biggest Block To Happiness isn't your family. It's not your ex. It's not your job (or lack of one). It isn't money. It's not where you live. It isn't the government. It's not time (or being too busy). It isn't your kids. It's not your age. It isn't your appearance.

Your biggest stumbling block is your inertia.

Moments of Inertia by Lucas V. Barbosa

Everyone has it. And it's not just internal. It's a key component of physical reality.

We are all weighed down by inertia. It's amazing any of us get up in the morning. Maybe that's why bladders were designed.

It's what the Wright brothers had to overcome when inventing the flying machine. It's what anyone faces when trying to take a quantum leap.

How do you break out of your rut? How do you go from your mundane life to living your dreams?

I dunno. I think I'll go back to bed.

We make up stories about our inertia. Oh, I can never do this or that, because of them or that thing that happened to me.  Our stories are very powerful. They are dream killers.

You get offered that perfect opportunity. The thing that will set you free. And you say no. It's not the right time. You don't have the money. Your family... your friends... I can't because...

For many people, they won't change until it gets unbearable. It reaches a breaking point. They hit bottom and have to get up.

Maybe your not uncomfortable enough with your discomfort?

So, here's the thing - your dreams, your desire to change, comes from your Essence, who you really are. You are Consciousness, as Consciousness you are the creator of your reality in physical form.

As Consciousness, all you have to do is conceive of an idea and it's already real. You are already there.

The thing is, your physical form, your body and your personality, exist in physical reality, which consists of density and effort. Your body feels too weighed down to get out of bed.

When our bodies and personalities are in charge, we think we have to walk everywhere. When we operate as Consciousness, we can fly.

This doesn't take years of therapy. It doesn't take elaborate ritual. A shift in perspective doesn't take any effort. It's just a decision. It's just doing it. It's taking off the smeared glasses and seeing yourself and the world as it really is.

To Consciousness, it's a playground of density and effort. As body/personality, if you work really hard, you can achieve some of your goals. As Consciousness, you can create anything that you want. And it usually ends up being greater than you could have imagined.

As Consciousness you know the bigger picture, your body/personality knows only what it sees in front of it, and it's views are distorted by it's memory of the past.

When you choose to operate as Consciousness, life becomes an adventure. Unexpected things start happening all the time. Your day becomes a series of synchronicities.

You don't have to hit bottom for this to happen. And you don't have to lose everything that you value when you make this change. Reality rearranges itself and becomes more enjoyable. You love what is. You have exactly what you need when you need it.

When you operate as Consciousness, it's a joy to jump out of bed in the morning (and it's equally joyful to snuggle in the covers and sleep in). Happiness is everywhere.

Just doing it doesn't take any effort. It's a simple choice. When you choose to operate as Consciousness, opportunities show up. Information gets provided. The way becomes clear. It just happens.

And if you're reading this, you've already made the choice!

You Are Loved, Lovable and Worthy of Love

You Are Loved, Lovable and Worthy of Love ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I am sitting in a downtown Starbucks. It is not designed to hang out in. It has hard metal seats and tiny row tables. It's across from a city park, where city denizens live.

A woman comes in with a huge stroller and a tiny toddler.  Her daughter has a grey T-shirt with a big strawberry on it. She is a bright spark of light amongst beings who have accumulated many shades of gray.

I see a lot of diversity, but not a lot of happiness.  There's a lot of pain on the streets outside of Starbucks.

Street child in Kolkata with a mango!

Another woman with a stroller comes in.  She has an infant in a front pack, a two year old, wearing an identical gray T-shirt with strawberry and a four year old in a blue cotton dress. The two year old dances around the other toddler, delighted to be T-shirt twins.  The other toddler, clearly an only child, sidles up to her mom and raises her arms to be carried.

The little girls are bright sparks of light.  That is, their light is easily visible.  Yet every single person in Starbucks and on the street were bright, shining, infants and toddlers once. They were all loved, lovable and worthy of love.

Mother Theresa once said that she saw Jesus in every poor person's eyes.

There was a form of torture POWs were put in cages where they couldn't sit down but they couldn't stand up. They had to stay crouched for impossibly long periods of time.  When they were released, it was painful to stand.

This is a great analogy for staying in pain or poverty or other dysfunctional patterns.  After spending many years in darkness, moving to a healthy stance, being visible and in the light, is painful.

More and more light is coming into the world.  More and more darkness is being exposed.  It is coming to the surface to be cleared.

If you are going through dark times, if you are experience extreme discomfort, know that it is the greater part of You emerging.  The bright spark of light that you were, You still are.  Yet is is no longer a spark but a shining star, the brilliance equalling our own Sun.

Breathe and allow your Light to shine. Breathe and allow your heart to open. You are unique. You are special. You are loved, lovable, and worthy of love.

Everyone is.

Pure And Simple Happiness

Pure And Simple Happiness ©2015 Joan M. Newcomb

Whole Foods opened it's very first store in Tacoma yesterday and I was unbelievably happy.  We've lived here for 18 months and I've been trekking to Seattle almost weekly for my organic fruits and veggies.

I could rave on about the store - it's enormous, it's bigger than the one in Rockville in the DC area where I'd shop when caring for my mom - but it isn't about the store, it's about the feeling.

It was pure and simple, childlike joy.

Happy Baby!

It surprised me, because, yeah, I like Whole Foods, and, yeah, I'm going to appreciate not schlepping up I-5 forty-five minutes each way to go shopping, but this just came in sideways.  Which is what it's like when you're receiving from Consciousness.

Something like this happened a couple weeks ago as well.  We went out to dinner for my birthday, and this same childlike joy came up.  I mean, yeah, it was my birthday and yeah, it was a nice restaurant, but there was also a myriad of things that could have pissed me off (and has, in the past).

Instead these was this gleeful feeling, everything unfolding 'just for me'!

What's going on?

I think that I've cleared away enough rubble and clutter that my inner child feels safe to come out to play.

I've been strengthening my inner connection as Consciousness, and it's allowing this to come in.

I'm hesitant to say what's contributing to this, as I don't think there's one formula for finding happiness.  I've had several times where I've experienced what I'd call a Spiritual Awakening.  It's a feeling of being in love with the Universe, in love with my life, and in love with my Self (and not necessarily in that order).

I do know that it's come after a period of focused concentration, i.e. several weeks or months of meditation and energy work.  I also know that it's gone away when I've lost my focus or gotten distracted (like getting into a new relationship).

What I can say is that it takes disengaging from outside drama.  It takes detaching from other people's 'stuff'.  It's choosing to keep your hands on the wheel of your own vehicle, and your eyes on the road of your own path.

The thing about happiness is that it doesn't come from a winning lottery ticket, or from having all your ducks in a row. You may not have learned all your lessons perfectly, or attained enlightenment. You can, however start experiencing happiness, right here, right now.

I do have some simple tools and techniques that I use, and that I've taught clients to use with great success. If you're interested, I'm going to be launching a new online training, click here to find out more!

What about you? What makes you happy?  Or, what would make you happy? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Values and Worth

Values and Worth ©2015 Joan Newcomb

What's most important in life for you?  Where do you focus 90% of your attention? What do you spend most of your money on? Do you feel satisfied with your life?

The answer to these questions may - or may *not* give you a clue about your core values.

For instance, your children may be of the utmost importance, so you work two jobs to support them, but you never get to see them, because you're working, so you don't feel satisfied with your life. 

Perhaps you spend most of your money on clothes, because you want to appear fashionable but you really you feel like the geeky kid you were in middle school.

These are examples where you aren't living your life in alignment with your values.  Your sense self worth is affected.

Sometimes what you *don't* spend money on also reflects your values.

When you know what your values are, it helps you make decisions.  You may value relationships. You may value communication.  But you make $300 an hour at Microsoft spending most of your day debugging software in a room by yourself.  Now you understand why you're rich, but not happy.

Perhaps your top values are honesty and integrity, and you're dating someone charming and handsome but who compulsively lies.  You now know whether or not to stay in the relationship.

Spiritual, emotional and material values don't always harmonize.  Your family may value hard worth and fiscal responsibility, but you value creativity and freedom.  Your Church may say they follow the values of Christ and yet aren't compassionate or nonjudgemental.

Don't allow others to determine your worth.  You are priceless.  You are a gift to this world.  You are Consciousness here to enhance the collective experience by being uniquely YOU.

Your core values are clues to your life purpose.  You're here to express yourself as Consciousness in physical form.  Your artistic abilities are your spiritual language.  If you write, if you sing, if you dance, if you act, if you paint, if you knit, if you cook, if you garden, it is the greater aspect of you communicating the essence of who you are.

To identify your top core values, take this questionnaire.

Hope this helps you navigate life in the direction of your choice! 

How To Have A Rich Life

How To Have A Rich Life (c)2015 Joan M. Newcomb

I'm in Madrid, visiting my son.  Spain is a great place to recover from jet lag. Their sense of time is totally different than the US.  Their workday starts at 9am, their lunch break is from 3-5pm, then everyone goes back to work until 7:30 or 8pm.  Dinner is at 9pm or later. They get 26 days of holiday/vacation per year.

Compare that to the US where the average workday is 8am-5pm, with a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. And, if they're lucky, 14 days of holiday/vacation annually.

It is a more relaxed rhythm to the day, and to the flow of life in general.

It feels like the US is driven by consumption and production. What do you do? How much do you make? Where do you live? We are evaluated by these things.  Spain seems to focus more on quality of life, family and friends.

Madrid is a noisy city, which would normally drive me crazy. I'm highly sensitive to sound and empathic vibration.  There is no tension here, no anxiety. There is space to be.

It's fun to see the life my son is creating here.  I recognize my kids as capable beings who came into this life with their own inner wisdom, and life intentions. I manufactured their body, gave them their initial 'driving lessons', but their road trip through life is their own creation as Consciousness.

What do you value in life?  What are your choices?

What we spend our money on, and how we spend our time, reflects our values.

We may love our family, work very hard to support them, but not spend quality time with them.  Unless you count running them to soccer practice and violin lessons quality time.

What we *don't* spend money on, and what we neglect,  also reflects our values.

You can have a low salary and a rich life.  You can have effortless abundance.

If you are feeling dissatisfied or unhappy, perhaps your externals are in conflict with your internals.

You don't have to make sudden changes to get back into alignment with your Essential Self.  Small steps have profound results.

You may need to take some time to even know what you want!

This week, notice how you spend your time (and money).  Are your actions getting you what you really desire?

Our outer life reflects our inner life.  Any external disagreement or power struggle reflects that we are  out of alignment - or coming into alignment - with our Inner Being.  Sometimes, as we begin to be more true to our heart, relationships and circumstances that aren't aren't true start to chafe.

Spend more time with your Self and inner communication. That may be journaling for 5 minutes a day, taking a walk without your phone or earbuds, working in your garden or painting.

Take tiny steps this week and see that happens!

Make It So.

Make It So ©2014 Joan M. Newcomb

This weekend we have the Solstice and, for the Northern Hemisphere, a time in nature when things seem to go dormant.  In reality, all the activity is taking place underground.  Seeds are germinating.  Soil mulched in Fall is creating the perfect environment for growth, under Winter's freezing temperatures.

In Nature, the energy of Creation is on the architectural level.  The Devas are planning the next season.  It's a powerful time to set intentions, because you have more oomph than just the New Moon.  You can send your wish list out to be worked on, and you can create through intention your entire next year.

If you do this, then next Spring fasten your seat belts!  You will find your life accelerating at the Equinox, which is when the Devic level connects with the level of form.  If you're co-creating a garden with Nature, this is the time to pull out the seed catalogues and consult with the Deva of your garden.

However, your life is your garden.  Your work is your garden, your family is your garden, the same principles apply.  Pull out your journal and have "staff meetings" with the non-physical.  Or "family meetings".

Just as plants have Devas, wherever there's a gathering of people, a communal focusing, there's an overarching Deva.  Countries have Devas, cities have Devas.  You have a Deva of your business, as well.  You have unseen help in creating your desires.

You don't have to know *how* you're going to create or manifest something.  Devas set that in motion.  In fact you don't even have to know exactly *what* it is you want to manifest.  You can know the feeling.  Happiness, contentment, security, excitement.  Love.

Vision boards are effective if the images provoke emotions.

Devas are the architects of Nature.  When you build a house, it's helpful to have an architect, he'll design something that won't collapse, that will withstand storms and earthquakes.  He'll make it esthetically pleasing, and consider details you wouldn't have thought of.  He'll facilitate it getting made much more quickly than if you sat down to work on your own, or without a plan.

Work in partnership with your Deva, trust they have your best interest at heart.  Have patience, because things will unfold with Divine Timing. You'll be amazed at what gets created, it will be better than you could have possibly manifested on your own!

Confusing Personality for Consciousness

This week on our Radio Show Janet and I discussed a topic send in by a listener.  She wondered how much of life was consciously created, and how much was that 'sh*t happens'.   Two people she knew had died recently, one had committed suicide, the other overdosed.

The suicide had been an energy worker, and was discouraged that her techniques seemed to no longer be working.  She said her Higher Self had planned for her to 'leave early'.

The overdose may have been accidental, but an aunt had foreseen when she was a child that there was a 'dark cloud in her future'.

I've long said that nothing is pre-determined in that nothing is set in stone.  We create our future through our choses and actions.  We have free will to change lanes on the freeway of life.  If that's so, how could the aunt see a dark cloud ten or twenty years into a child's future?

It's like a long term weather forecast.  Meteorologists can see a weather pattern happening in Guam and know that there will probably be snow in Oregon six weeks later.  When looking at futures, you're looking at possibilities.  You may be seeing some influence by family patterns, just as a Meteorlogist knows weather currents and storm seasons.

And within that, an individual can make shifts, go into recovery, turn from 'bad' to 'good' simply by changing their beliefs about themselves.

However, there's still weather.  It still may rain or snow.  And within that weather, there are choices how to respond.

Now an energy worker can fall into the belief that they can (and must) control their reality.  That if something is happening that they don't like, there's something wrong.  That thought alone, that something is 'wrong', is personality based.  Consciousness in neutral, amused, and non-judgemental.  Nothing is every wrong.  All is very, very well.

That bodies get sick, and bodies age, is fascinating to Consciousness, which is eternal and ever joyous.
If you're viewing something with black-and-white, life-or-death thinking, it's your personality lens you're looking through.

Jerry Hicks, husband of Esther who channels "Abraham-Hicks", developed cancer and died.  Why did he do that, aren't they so enlightened that they'll live forever?  Well, yes, and he is living forever.  But it was time to trade in the old body.

The energy worker committed suicide, that was another way to go.  But she could have also stuck around to see what else would unfold.  Old techniques stop working when you're transforming into a new state, opening to new possibilities.

I used to say that we signed up for life lessons before we were born.  The more capable we are (I'd say) the harder lessons we'd take on.  We'd enroll in 8 honors classes, two afternoon clubs, varsity sports, and a weekend job and when we incarnated discover that it was college, not high school.  Or I'd use the example of actors in movies.  The more talented actor takes on the most dramatic and painful role.

Now I realize it's not so linear. We're simultaneously Consciousness and personality-form.  Embodiment, incarnation, is continuously happening.  We're bringing in Awareness, and releasing unconscious patterns.  We inhale a new experience with each breath.

Higher Self is not separate from Us, unless you're viewing it through your personalities eyes.  You Are Essence moving into form.

When you shift to that awareness, you make different choices, you relax into whatever is happening.  And if storm clouds are brewing, you put on your yellow slicker and rubber boots and jump up and down with excitement, waiting for it to come!

Reasons versus Excuses

©2014 Joan M Newcomb

A while ago I learned that sometimes abusive behavior comes out of depression.  That is, the person who rages at you might actually be depressed (so much for thinking that depression is *repressed* anger).

That's great.  I mean, it's great to understand the reason, but it's not an excuse.  Understanding the reason for a behavior gives you the opportunity to remedy it.  Take steps to address it but it doesn't let you off the hook for having done it.

Reasons give you clarity, so you can take action.  Excuses are what you make to stay stuck.

Say you had a crappy history, that's great fertilizer for growth.  Understanding about dysfunctional patterns allows you to become conscious of behaviors so you can change them.  You're no longer a child, you may just feel like one when you get triggered.  Help is available, both visible and unseen.

You can't change the past, you can't change others, and you can change yourself, your actions and your viewpoint.

Your inner child really wants You, the wise Essence of who you really are, to drive the car.  If you're triggered, ground yourself in present time reality by talking (kindly and gently) to your child self, let them be in the safety seat behind You.

You can succeed in going where You want to go, in spite of your history, in spite of others out there still playing out old patterns.

Each one of us that stands in the present moment, breaking the pattern by choosing differently, creates healing for everyone.

Changing yourself creates change everywhere.

[When searching for an illustration for today, I found this instead, perhaps more fitting?]

Your Life Vision and Purpose

Your Life Vision and Purpose

Do you know who You are and why you are here?  Do you have a clear picture of what you want in life, or are you too embroiled in chaos, or just crawling out of the craziness?

Maybe you used to know, when you were younger, before marriage, before kids, before the reality of working for a roof over your head?

The yearning never goes away, Source is always calling You.

Sometimes you may think that it has to be hard, or that you haven't a clue, when it's right in front of you the whole time.

Sometimes Vision starts with a feeling.

It feels right.  It feels clear.  It feels as if you were born to do it.

Often, it's something you were inherently drawn to from a young age.  Maybe you gave it up because it seemed too frivolous.

Maybe you stopped doing it because the expression of it was distorted.

Purpose is really basic.  You are here to create.  You are here to give.  You are here to express YourSelf.  Maybe you create beauty.  Maybe you create environments.  Maybe you create music.

Whatever it is, you give to the world, you enhance everyone's experience by it.

To get to awareness of your purpose, you have to have other bases covered first.  You can't be running away, and be in touch with Source.  You can't be fearful and expressing Your true Essence.

When you're preoccupied with compulsive behaviours it's hard to have a vision, beyond basic needs. Even if you think you know your purpose, you're just spinning your wheels.

After you've taken your focus off outside things, you regain access to your inherent wisdom.  It's not out there.  It's in you.

Achieving your vision takes baby steps, even micro-actions.  Take the first steps, and the Universe quantum leaps You.

Look On The Bright Side

Thoughts become things, but first they make ruts in our brains.  Repeated thoughts create neural pathways, so it's possible for your mind to get stuck in the rut of negative thinking.  To shift one's perspective initially takes effort - it's like exercising a muscle - but after a while it becomes a habit.

 

How our brain makes memories

We view the world through our 'mental image pictures', so things can look rosy or glum, depending on our 'slides'.  

That's not to say to be merry as a Mormon if you're in a toxic relationship.  Viewing things with clarity, without judgement, viewing things as they are, you can make better decisions on what to do.

Our brains are constantly recording everything, not just visually but aurally as well.  Think of how we're bombarded with noise and random conversations in the world around us.  We've learned to block this out, but images and conversations can play back to us on an unconscious level.  If you don't want to be programmed by commercials, turn the sound down on the TV and look away during the times they're on!

As sentient beings, we're always looking to grow and expand.   We are naturally going towards the light (although sometimes it seems the way out of darkness is to dive through it)!  Even if things seem like they are getting worse, they are in the process of getting better.

Breakdown always means there's breakthrough in store.

We don't need to keep all the random impressions we've taken in during the day.  A simple way of clearing your inner cache of pictures is to imagine creating and deleting roses (or rose colored bubbles).  Imagine a rose.  Make it disappear.  Imagine another rose, make it disappear.  Now imagine a string of roses, like blowing bubbles, and make each one 'pop', or disappear. 

Don't worry that you'll delete something that's important, you've stored the truth it contains elsewhere in your energy system.  

But 'blowing roses' is a great way to fall asleep at night.  It helps you wake refreshed, and clarifies your dreams as well. 

The clearer your thoughts, the cleaner your manifestations.

Try this for a week and see what happens!

It Works When You Work It

There's a slogan in 12 step groups, 'It Works When You Work It'.  It means that if you do the recommended steps, you'll see results.

It's the same with energy work, and there's a few caveats.

You can't give something lip service, you have to actually take action.  You can't just visualize or make a collage, you have to physically do something to bring it your vision into form.

That doesn't mean hard work, or effort, however.  When you go into effort, you spiritually spin your wheels.  So sometimes it means stopping busywork.   It means taking authentic steps towards creating your reality.

An authentic step may look like meditation, or yoga.  Or reading a book.  Or taking a nap.

"It Works When You Work It" also means giving yourself time to practice what you're learning, time to go through the steps.  As Infinite Beings we love to jump to the end result, since as Spirit we're already there.

Whatever you are doing, requires a foundation.  Sometimes building that foundation looks like adopting a healthier lifestyle.

If you want to create wealth, you may need to start with balancing your checkbook.  It doesn't matter how great you look on the outside; you may need to start buying yourself new socks and underwear!

If you want to create a loving relationship, you may need to start with self care.  Loving yourself attracts someone who will love You, too!

Anything (on this planet) takes practice in order to become real.  Abraham-Hicks says it takes 17 seconds, but what they mean it, focusing on something for 17 seconds starts the attraction.  Focusing every day for 17 seconds begins to bring it from thought into physical.

However, the focusing has to be fun, it has to be positive, in has to be both grounded into reality and without effort.  If your focusing with clenched fists and furrowed brow, or if what you're fantasizing about doesn't really have You in it, you're just spinning your wheels.

Beware of Gremlin voices.  Those negating thoughts, 'oh this is a waste of time', 'I've tried it already and it hasn't worked', 'who am I to want this?', 'if I have what I want, no one will love me', etc. etc.   We all have Automatic Negative Thoughts.  Don't feed the ANTS.

Miracles happen when you let yourself consistently practice the techniques I've suggest in my weekly articles.  If you're reading this via my newsletter or somewhere else, find them on my blog at www.jmnewcomb.blogspot.com!

Dirty Thoughts

This is still a powerful time for setting your intentions, creating your visions, and making choices to bring them into reality.  What kind of choices are you making?  From what space are you making them?

Manifesting through reality paradigms.  A fancy, schmancy way of saying, you can't paint with old oils (or watercolors).  Or an old paint brush!

You can set any number of intentions, make vision boards up the wazoo, recite affirmations until the cows come home, but if you remain in the same energy patterns, then you'll always create the same outcomes.

You can even 'do a geographic', move to another city, change your looks, change jobs, change friends, but if your core pictures don't reset, you'll stay the same.

It doesn't matter what seeds you plant, if they're going in cement and watered with vinegar, you're not going to grow anything.

What creates fertile soil?  What creates growth?

Do something different, anything different.  You can start with microsteps.  Drive a different route to work.  Wear a different color than you're used to wearing.

After you pour your morning coffee, set the timer to 5 minutes, put the phone or tablet down, close your eyes and breathe.  Listen to sounds.  Feel sensations in your body.

I know a couple who, after they moved to a different city to retire, spent a week using their non-dominant hands to do things, whether it was to pick up the coffee cup in the morning, hold the phone to their ear, open doors, etc.  It was a way of resetting their experience in a new environment.

Microsteps are great ways to create new habits.  Set the timer to 15 minutes and clear the clutter in your office.  Stop when the timer goes off, and move to a different room (unless you're on a roll, then stay where you are).

I know two different authors who prolifically write books by microstepping.  One works 30 minutes at a time regardless of her busy schedule.  One has multiple books going at once and writes on whichever one moves her at the moment.

You have to bypass your brain.  It was your stinking thinking that got you into a rut in the first place.  Dirty thoughts create a murky reality.

Haven't given an assignment for a while: For the next 7 days, make different choices every day.  And see what happens!

Easy Peasy Manifesting

Picture: Edenpics.com

We're coming up to a New Moon eclipse, so this is a powerful time for manifestation.  The energy is building for things to happen, new doors to open, sudden new beginnings.  Set intentions, visualize ideal outcome, and catch the wave!

How do you make something happen?  There are lots of ways.  The good old fashioned way is elbow grease.  You decide what you want, make a plan, take action, don't lose focus.  You use a lot of effort, and make it happen.

The New Age Woo-Woo way is to make a vision board, recite affirmations, journal about it, spend 17 seconds each day visualizing it, ask Source Energy and allow it to happen.  You use consistent focus and a lot of faith.

Other energy ways are, put it in a pink bubble (or balloon) and let it go, go to the parallel universe where you already have it, use a 'tractor beam' to bring it to you, see yourself with it and let your current energy match that.  You can also run energy of prosperity, abundance, miracles, etc.

All ways are valid.  So why isn't everyone walking around with their soul mates holding winning lottery tickets?  They may be (they just haven't stepped into the parallel universe where they realize it)!

There's an additional component, I think, that most people miss.  You have to be in your body.  If you're not home when the Universal Prosperity Service shows up, you miss receiving the delivery.

If you're out there in the realm of thoughts and dreams, whatever you want remains a concept or a fantasy.  Even if it does manifest, it doesn't last long, because you're not in your body to have it.

Reality needs an anchor point.  Actually, reality IS an anchor point.  You're bringing thought energy into physical form, it needs to become dense in order for it to show up.

There are some energy workers that are wonders in the level of light and love, but they can't change their own reality.  They struggle for material abundance, never find their soul mate, or remain physically unhealthy.

There are some creative artists that are tremendously talented, but they can't finish a piece of work.  They get wonderful ideas, they even start some, and are never able to finish anything.

We are *all* wonderful, creative, talented, infinitely capable manifestors. We manifested our individual body, we're manifesting all aspects of our lives, good and bad, down to the smallest detail.

For the stuff you want, are you keeping it from happening?  Do you dwell in the realm of ideas?  Is what you want remaining a thought form?  Have you confused intellect with energy (or Spirit)?

Theory takes action, otherwise it remains a concept.  Manifestation requires embodiment.  You have to be willing to show up in your body, in your life, to have what you want show up as well!

We don't like to come into our bodies when they're in pain.  But when we're not in our bodies, we feel uncomfortable!

So if there's something you want to manifest, start within yourself! Bring You into your body, enjoy physical reality.  Fill your body with Yourself, your magnificent Self, and watch (and feel) the miracles occur!

Sea Changes

Sea Changes ©2014 Joan M. Newcomb

I've been pondering evolutionary vs. instantaneous change.  Evolutionary change happens over time, you sometimes don't even notice it until you look back and realize you have become completely different. One thing happens after another, you respond or react, and you grow.

Instantaneous change is when your life changes in an instant.  You look into the eyes of your newborn child.  You win the lotto.  There's a tragic accident or natural disaster.

Growth is always happening, even if things appear stuck.  Stuckness grows, it just increases in density. Things may appear frozen, but many things are germinating beneath the surface (or in the unseen).

We like things to be easy and effortless, we want our changes to be pain-free.  Do you wait for the bandage to fall off, or do you rip it off?

Moving forward or staying still, are both actions.  Letting things happen or making things happen are both choices.

Accidents, disasters, sudden changes, are opportunities for growth and depth.  They can bring out the best in you, if you remain conscious.

You may not be able to control the event, but you can set your intention.  You may not know what's unfolding, nor how you'll get through it.  But you have access within you to the Cosmic Internet of all knowledge.

You are flowing in a current of the sea of life.  Sometimes you can pull up the oars and go with it, sometimes you need to paddle not to drift off course.  Sometimes a storm tosses you and takes you somewhere unexpected, to your next leg of your journey.

It's a waste of energy to complain about what's happening.  Resistance creates more of what you're resisting.  Complaining depletes creative resources.

You can't stop the ocean, you don't really want to.  Embrace the adventure.  When you look at the big picture, it's all supporting you to get where you want to grow.

Coming Into Center

Coming Into Center ©2014 Joan M. Newcomb

I've had a few 'Spiritual Awakenings' in my life, and am teetering on another one.  I'll share with you what happened before, and what's happening now.

Each experience before came after a period of focus, and often after overcoming (or being in the process of overcoming) some great hardship.

The Spiritual Awakening was unexpected, and how it felt was unexpected, too.

The length of time I was in the awakening varied, but usually (it seems) getting into a relationship knocked me out of it.

How I got into each Awakening period was different, but each time I was doing some sort of inner focusing, inner meditation or energy work.  But the techniques differed.

So, what's happening now.  I'm refocusing energetically after a period of hardship.  What I'm doing is subliming simple on one level, although complex on others.

I'm simply walking my dog.

However, I'm walking my dog slowly and mindfully.  My dog, being a 10 year old, overweight corgi, is just fine with going slow.  She likes to sniff and pee on everything.

While she's inspecting every frond on every fern, I'm standing, centering, focusing inward.  My eyes are open, so I'm aware of my surroundings, but it's all an inward feeling.

First revelation came earlier this week, when I brought my full awareness into the Now.  The Now is pain-free.

This is so different than the decades of grounding and running energy, focusing into my body.  During traumatic times I couldn't sit still.  It was too painful.

Even though I "knew" the past was heavy and grief-ridden, and the future was fear-filled (from my body's perspective; body only knows the past, the future isn't real to it).  Even though I "knew" what Present Time was.

Bringing attention fully into Now, drops the memories, the stories, and the seeking.  There is no pain when you're fully aligned in the Present.

Okay.  So the second revelation happened the other day, I was playing with chakras and quantum energy.  My original training, running energy, auras, chakras, etc. became like Newtonian Physics after I learned about Matrix energy.  Matrix energy was Quantum Physics.

"Quantum Energy" is so outside the box, so outside the hologram, there's no center of the earth, there's no chakras.  It's an unnerving place to be, when one's been so in-bodied focused for such a long time. But it's the place where miracles occur.

Over the years I've integrated and adapted my techniques, chakras have become useful again as reference points.

So as I was walking the dog, I was playing with 'one-pointing', something I noticed I came up with a while back (doesn't mean that others aren't talking about it as well, we're all in the same Field).

As I 'one-pointed' each chakra, when I came to my throat, there was this sudden Awareness - very much like the Spiritual Awakening experiences I've had in the past.  I didn't fully tip over into it, but it's there and accessible.

One pointing my throat chakra, connected me inwardly *and* outwardly to All That Is.  That's about all I'll say about that at this moment.

Because, the next thing that's been happening, is this sense of pulling inward.  I've been consciously attempting to 'come back to center' in a way that worked in the past.

What's happening now, however, is coming back to center doesn't stop.  It's a continuous pulling inward that feels endless.  Each chakra point (and this isn't chakras as I knew them, or how I was originally trained - those were vortex tunnels that ran from front to back, energy flowed through, etc.) is like a doorway into the Infinite. There's an inner point in each one of them that is never ending.

So I'm playing with that.

The important thing here is that I'm not consciously TRYING to manipulate what's going on.  I'm not trying to control the outcome.  I'm just responding to the moment to what Is.

How is this useful to You?  Well, You will come to your own Awakening from your own series of experiences.  How to have your own... try this -

Drop your outward focus.  Pull your attention away from the drama and story in your life.  Bring your attention back from the past, all that's happened, and back from the future, all you wish that would happen.

I focus from the center of my head, that's back behind my eyes, between my ears (and up a little bit, actually).

I notice the center focus points down through my body, from the top of my head, center of my head, throat, heart, stomach/solar plexus, below my belly button, and in the base of my pelvis.  Sometimes the soles of my feet.

Imagine pulling your energy back from wherever it is in time (past or future), space (anywhere on Earth and beyond), and multidimensional reality (that can be dreamtime, or other universes, even).

Notice what that feels like or looks like - you may notice a change in your visual perception, too.

From there, it's up to You.

I'm in process with this, so more will be revealed, I'll share with you more as things happen!

Happy Awakening!

Interconnectedness

Interconnectedness ©2014 Joan Newcomb

An aging teacher tired of his student's complaints. One day, he sent him to get some salt. When the student returned, the teacher told him to mix a handful of salt in a glass of water and then drink it.

“How does it taste?” the teacher asked.

“Bitter,” said the student.

The teacher then asked the student to take a handful of salt and toss it in the lake. Then the old teacher said, “Now drink from the lake.”

The teacher asked, “How does it taste?”

“Fresh,” said the student.

“Do you taste the salt?” asked the teacher.

“No,” said the student. The teacher explained gently:

“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain remains exactly the same. But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container. When you are in pain, all you need do is enlarge your awareness. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

I'd take this a step further and say that the pain of life IS exactly the same, we are tasting the same salt that that others are tasting.  If we contain it within our bodies, it will feel overwhelming.  If we release it back to the Cosmic Sea, we gain compassion and awareness.

We're Consciousness experiencing individuality.  Our bodies are transmitters and receivers.  We have our reactions to events, but we also draw from the pool of lower emotions. When we operate from Consciousness, we can choose what we transmit. 

The Buddhist bodhichitta mediation practice has one breathing in the world's misery and breathing out loving-kindness.

In other words, you can use your body as a transformer of lower vibrations into higher vibrations.

This only works if you're already grounded and cleared, otherwise you're just swimming in pond scum.

You can tell when you're experiencing your own body's emotions, from when you're experiencing the collective discomfort.  Your own feelings have clarity, when you're feeling other's feelings, it's overwhelming.  Toss their salt back into the sea.

It's easy to get caught up in collective events, people coming together to protest, people reacting to a natural (or man-made) disaster.   We're naturally compassionate, we respond to other's sadness.  But we can't help others if we're drowning ourselves.

There's another practice where you quietly turn within and emanate Love.  You don't have to transmute other's feelings for this one.  In fact, in filling your energy field with this higher vibration, you de-energize any lower frequencies of your own that you're holding on to.  

This helps bring light into the world, and gives others the opportunity to match a higher vibration.  It helps Consciousness evolve.

We don't need to eliminate all uncomfortable feeling responses, that just numbs us and misses the point of being in a body.  When you expand your awareness, feelings wash through you.  Discomfort still exists, and you're holding a bigger space.

We're all capable, Infinite Beings.  We are at choice.  Be the Ocean.

Feeling Other's Emotions

Feeling Other's Emotions ©2014

Empathy - the ability to feel other people's feelings.  Many of us have the ability to feel other's feelings, we just don't know it!  Or if we do, it feels like a burden.

Empaths are very sensitive to their environment.  They feel the energy of restaurants and offices, parties and gatherings.  It can be challenging to drive down the freeway, when you sense all the accidents that have happened there!

If you feel an emotion out of the blue, not connected to what is going on around you or in your life, it's probably someone else's.  You can pick up loved one's feelings, even if they're 3,000 miles away.

Feelings that don't make any sense, that feel really intense, are usually someone else's communications.  They are emitting how bad they are feeling.

Sometimes they come in on familiar channels.  You may allow them in because they're a friend or loved one,  Or they may remind you of a family members.

Sometimes it's just proximity.  The guy in the apartment above yours has been laid off and is really depressed.  Even though you are happily employed, you start having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.

People who aren't empaths will say, that must really be your emotion, you're just in denial, but I disagree.  If you live in an apartment building with too thin walls, you're neighbor's rap music at 12am is not your bedtime listening choice!

You have no control about other people's remittances but you can, believe it or not, control your ability to receive.  You can 'dial down' your emotional 'hearing'.  You can zip up the front of your chakras to help protect your space.  Imagine your lower chakras being like volume dials, and turn them down.

This may be hard for some people to do.  Their empathic ability protected them growing up.  Perhaps they had a parent that was unpredictable.  They never knew what mood they'd be in when they came home.  But they could feel them coming, and knew when to stay out of the way.

People communicate with feelings, a mother may have a hard time turning down her empathy with her children, even when they're adults.  It's important to know if your infant is in distress, but less so to feel the anxiety of your twenty-something preparing for their graduate exams!

We mistake empathy for compassion.  You can feel compassion towards someone who's suffered a shock, a loss, but it doesn't help you help them if you're expressing the same intensity of grief.

If you're rescuing a drowning man, you need to keep your own head out of the water.

Society places great expectations that we match the energy of groups.  If you're actually able to be a half-step above the emotional energy field, you can be accused of being cold or unsympathetic.  You might, however, be the only clear-headed one in the crowd, able to lead the way out of darkness.

As an empath myself, my biggest revelation has been that I get to set my own energy level.  I can decide to be a different vibration.  I can imagine my aura to be a different color, I can see myself vibrating a half step above.  I can allow a sense of amusement for whatever black comedy I'm engaged in. 

Give yourself an empathic break today.  You will find it totally transforming your life!