Your Pain Body is not You

Do you wonder why you can be in a terrific frame of mind and then something happens or someone says something and you fall into a feeling of heaviness, hopelessness, and despair?  Or why someone can “push your buttons?” It can happen after something a family member did or said, or when you’re getting ready to celebrate a holiday or birthday.   For me, it’s that feeling of wanting to desperately hide in my bed with the shades drawn.  It can last for minutes, hours, days, or longer.  Some people spend a lot of time there, others only occasionally.  

Eckhart Tolle (A New Earth, the Power of Now) characterizes this uncomfortable and despairing feeling as the pain body.  Everyone has one. It’s the emotional aspect of the ego. It’s a very unhappy entity.  It’s essentially unexpressed pain in the form of energy that your body has been holding onto from the past. 

As Tolle explains, “Any negative emotion that is not fully faced and seen for what it is in the moment it arises does not completely dissolve. The energy field of old but still very much alive emotion that lives in almost every human being is the pain-body.”   It could be the energy you have from childhood after being told by your parents to “stop crying.”  Or the unexpressed grief you carry from the death of a loved one.  Past-life regressionists say it’s negative energy imbedded in our cells that we carry from one life time to the next.

These negative emotions become an energy field.  The energy gives off an unhappy vibration. It doesn’t want to end its unhappiness because an end to its unhappiness is the end to the pain-body.  The pain body actually seeks negative experiences and needs more of them to keep itself energized.  One of the ways it feeds is on negative thinking. 

When I had my last strong experience with my  pain body (after something my partner had said) I retreated to bed all afternoon and watched cable news, gossip shows, and ate cookies.  This is what the pain body wants – more negativity. The best I could do that afternoon was to accept it and to know that things would change.  As Tolle points out, the first step is realizing that there is something in me that seeks unhappiness,that seeks unpleasant experiences, that seeks more negativity because it feeds on those things.

There is a way out. 

If you can become the watcher of the pain body and not identified with it it won’t be able to replenish itself through you. You won’t be generating more negative thoughts for it to gain stregth.  The moment you observe it, feel its energy field within you, and take your attention into it, the identification is broken. A higher dimension of consciousness has come in.  Which Tolle calls presence.

There are modalities to help remove energy blocks like Kundalini yoga, past life regression therapy, and energy-based body work.  And as basic as it may sound, thinking positive thoughts helps bring positive thoughts into your vibrational field.  Negative thoughts feed the pain body and cause a different vibration which then attracts more negativity.

The most direct response when you are overcome by it, is to see it as not you.  See it for what it is. In the present moment, there is no past pain. Take one moment at a time, accept what you are feeling, and find a way to connect to Spirit.  Read something inspirational, contact a friend, pray, or do something fun that connects you to the present moment.  The power of your presence will connect you with joy.

Staging Your Home Gives You a Powerful Advantage

What is home staging? Staging is marketing. It is a proven technique that turns a home into a product that can be marketed and sold. It transforms a home to appeal to the broadest possible audience to generate the greatest possible interest from buyers. Staging sells homes in less time than the un-staged competition and helps maximize your equity.

Why stage your home?

• Allows you to get your home sold quickly.
• Maximizes your selling price.
• Reduces the amount of showings.
• Minimizes your stress.

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

A home’s condition will dictate the selling price. It’s quite simple – show your home in its best light at a higher sales price or lower the price and lessen the improvements done to home.  Staging gives you a powerful advantage.  An essential part of selling your home is preparing it for sale, yet this is frequently overlooked or not done correctly.  Quite simply, homes that are appealing sell quicker and for more money than homes that don’t have that “wow” factor.  The better a home looks, the easier it is to sell. 

Here’s what people say about staging:

“Statistics report that while most homes take more than 30 days to sell, staged homes average about 13 days on the market and sell for about 6 percent over list price.” 

–Fort Worth Star Telegram, June 2004.

 

 “Staging speeds up sales in a sluggish market, and can bump up prices 2% to 10% in a moderate market. The biggest advantage occurs with luxury homes or in a market with bidding wars over properties, where effective staging can boost prices by 30% to 50%”.

–Wall Street Journal, April 30 2003.

 

 Valerie Torelli, broker/owner of Torelli Realty in Costa Mesa, Calif., has been staging homes since 1991. “I have five seconds to sell a home five seconds to make an impact on the buyers when they first walk in the door,” said Torelli. “Staging ensures that that impact is a good and lasting one.” –

Realtor Magazine, April 2003.

 

 The better impression your house makes on buyers, the closer you will be to making a sale.   Properties that are staged with a flair showcase a home are the type buyers get excited about the moment they drive up.

-Roger Sturgell, Chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors, Austin American-Statesman, 2005

I Am Rich and So Are You

Sitting in bed wearing flannel pajamas on a rainy Saturday morning with my partner, David and my two Westies, Lucky and Gracie, I wondered “What price would I put on this experience?”  I sat in a comfortable bed, with the sight of towering trees and rain drops streaming down the windows, enjoying the warm colors of the Christmas lights (I light year-round), savoring my coffee, listening to David read from a favorite book of ours, and feeling contentment.  What would I pay for this experience?  It was priceless. 

I notice and appreciate aspects of my day that I used to take for granted. I’ve begun putting a pretend “price-tag” on moments in day-to-day activities which I tended to gloss-over or use as a means to an end. This exercise has shown me how truly how rich I am.  Why?  Because my “price-tags” read “price-less.”

The price-tag is a visual tool I use to connect with abundance.  When I think to myself, “What would I pay for this?” I notice the richness of the moment.  Simple, spontaneous things like cutting up vegetables with David, watching Lucky and Gracie play with each other, and enjoying the smell of fresh herbs are priceless. When I started realizing that I could not place a price on these moments, that money was no compensation for them, I realized true abundance.  The money part is unimportant, it’s a vehicle to get me in touch with the pricelessness of every moment I’m given.

Eckhart Tolle says in A New Earth,  “The warmth of the sun on your skin, the display of magnificent flowers,… biting into a succulent fruit, or getting soaked into an abundance of water falling from the sky.  The fullness of life is there at every step.  The acknowledgement of that abundance that is all around you awakens the dormant abundance within.  Then let it flow out.

What would you pay for the sunlight on your skin, or the experience of biting into a wonderfully succulent fruit?  When you realize how much of your day is full of these moments, you may see how rich you truly are.

The Perfect Meditation

My Backyard

On a recent cool, crisp, sunny day here in Austin, I excitedly anticipated making time in my day to sit out in my backyard.  I planned to sit underneath the towering trees and meditate.  It would be the first backyard meditation here at my new home and that made it especially delicious.  I took my seat under the trees in the early afternoon which the perfect part of the day.  Calls had been made, computer work done, my dogs were gone for the afternoon and the barking dog across the street was not barking.  A gentle breeze caressed my face as I sat down to open to a great spritiual connection.  What could be better?

And it was. I was peaceful and relaxed.  For about ninety seconds.  And then, my ego voices, always looking to capitalize on my open mind, attacked. 

My mind started thinking and this is what it thought – “This is certainly nice but I think if I had a chair with a bigger cushion it would be more comfortable.  Or, maybe I should put a lounge chair out here.  No, the lounge chair I have is cheap and not very comfortable.  And would I put two lounge chairs here? I don’t want to spend the money for a really nice lounger.  And besides, I shouldn’t be laying down when I’m meditating. Maybe if I put more flower pots around the chair it would feel better.  What would really be great is to buy a hammock – the way the last owners had it.  I wonder where I’d get a hammock. I wonder how you hang it between the trees?  Does it harm the trees? How much do they cost? Would I sit in a hammock? When? That could be a good secondary place to meditate, or just look at the clouds, the clouds probably look really great from that vantage point. I bet I could see the clouds better from over there then from here….”   

And then I came back – to the present moment.

The last thing the ego wants for you is to be calm and present.  It feeds on judgment, fear, and anxiety. My thoughts said this could be better and let’s figure out how to change it.  The ego feeds on not being present in this moment.  It robbed me of a few minutes of the glorious experience of sitting outside and being okay with what is.  That is its job. I observed this and then scolded myself –which admittedly is simply using the ego again. 

Then I got back to my “right-mind” and accepted all of what had happened and reconnected with the moment.  I accepted the chair, the clouds, and what I was doing, exactly as it was.  That connected me with the wonderful experience I had anticipated. I know that as long as I observe and not identify with ego I will become freer and freer of allowing it to rob me of the present moment.  And the present moment is all I’ve got.  Life is made up of present moments and living a joyful life is living in the present moments offered to me.

The Sacred Pause

Enough.  These few words are enough.

If not these words, this breath.

If not this breath, this sitting here.

 

This opening to the life

we have refused

again and again

until now.

 

Until now.

 

David Whyte

Valuable Resources for Green Living

An important tool in the effort to build greener buildings and live greener lives is the selection of products that were made using environmentally friendly processes and are used in environmentally friendly ways.

Green products are available for just about any daily need, and the ways they are green are many and varied: They are energy or water efficient; they use healthy, non-toxic materials; they are made from recycled or renewable sources; they make current products you use more efficient or more durable; and they are recyclable or biodegradable, among many other things.

But among all the truly green products comes the risk of “greenwashing;” that is, products that are advertised as green without truly offering environmental or health benefits.

 

The ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) provides the following list of resources on their website www.asid.org.  The directories below can help you sort through the claims and find the products that best meet your needs.

 

1- GrenSpec Directory www.buildinggreen.com

The online GreenSpec® Directory lists product descriptions for over

2,100 environmentally preferable products. Products are chosen to be

listed by BuildingGreen editors. They do not charge for listings orsell

ads.

 

2- GREEN BUILDING PAGES www.greenbuildingpages.com

Green Building Pages is an online sustainable design and decision-

making tool for building industry professionals and environmentally

and socially responsible consumers.

 

3- GREEN2GREEN www.green2green.com

Green2Green.org features comprehensive information regarding

green building products, materials and practices. The site offers side-

by-side comparisons of products using a variety of environmental, technical and economic criteria.

 

 4-OIKOS www.oikos.com

Oikos is a World Wide Web site devoted to serving professionals whose

work promotes sustainable design and construction.

 

 5- THE GREEN GUIDE www.thegreenguide.com

National Geographic’s Green Guide offers staff-written reviews of a host

of products, ranging from appliances, home furnishings and home

improvement products to personal care and pet supplies.

 

 6- GOOD TO BE GREEN www.goodtobegreen.com

Good To Be Green is a directory of green building products,

sustainable building materials and green building service providers.

Products must: be made out of recycled materials; ensure a low

environmental impact during the construction, operation and/or

demolition of the building; conserve natural resources like energy,

wood and water; and improve air quality.

Blocks to Abundance…What to do if you can’t pay your bills

Changing your paradigms and your internal dialogue about your right to abundance is the long term way to shift prosperity energy. In the meantime, what do you do if you’ve got bills to pay and you simply don’t yet have the money to pay them?  When you are overtaken by the voices instilling fear and anxiety in your mind and telling you that this “new-age” affirmation stuff won’t work, nothing’s going to work and I’ll never be abundant –  here are tools to help you find peace.  Negative and ego-driven tapes in your head, which wake you up in the middle of the night, or invade your day are debilitating and not helpful to living an abundant life.

Be assured that you have another way to live if you desire it.  You can choose to be grounded in Spirit and plugged into the Abundance and Love of the universe.

So, you’re awake at 4:00 am running the familar tapes in your head about how you can’t pay the bills due and what’s going to happen.  It goes from bad to worse until you’re finally in such a bad place that you don’t feel like you can even get up for the day ahead.  Here are ways to “get out of your head.”

 1- Separate you from the thoughts you are thinking.  Look at the thoughts as an observer.  Don’t identify with them.  Even doing this for a minute begins a good practice to use daily.

 2- Ask for help from Divine Consciousness.  Listen.  For me, the mantra “Be Still and Know that I am” often comes into my mind and I repeat it until I am able to connect with trust and love.  Pick up an inspirational book and read for a few minutes.

 3- Make a list of things you are grateful for.  At least ten.

 4- Connect with someone and send them good energy. Do this throughout the day as you can.  For example, a smile at a stranger, a phone call to a friend that you’ve been putting off, an extra hug for your companion or child will allow you to connect with love.

 5- Go outside and spend time in nature.  Sit and look at the clouds, take a walk, or garden.

 6- When you are out of the panic place you can calmly contemplate your options.  If you are open and calm, you’re able to receive guidance from the universe which often-times means that a new idea will appear.

 7 – Do the next right thing regarding the bills.  It may mean doing nothing today, calling the person you owe the money to, or cashing out savings.  Trust that this situation is temporary, you will get through it, and most of all that Divine Consciousness wants you to be happy and abundant.

Uncovering Blocks to Abundance and Transforming, Part 2

 

Abundance emanates from energy flow.  You exchange energy through giving and receiving.  If you’re blocked by limiting mind paradigms, most of which are created unwittingly in your childhood, you aren’t able to give and receive fully.  It’s your birthright as a Spiritual Being to have all you need.  No one is better or less than you are.  No one deserves more or less than you do.  The universe supplies more than enough if you remove your limiting beliefs about what you “deserve.”

Mind paradigms that block you are like tapes you play in your head from your childhood…from what you heard your parents or mentors sa.   These tapes unconsciously act on you.  Things like:  there’s only so much; get it while you can;  life is hard;  I don’t deserve it;  I don’t have enough; and I won’t have enough.

Mind paradigms that free you to soak in abundance: 

1-  I am connected to everyone and everything in the Universe and beyond and all my needs are taken care of.

 2- I now receive abundance which flows from the Divine Source.

 3- All that I need comes easily to me now.

 4- I am open to giving and receiving abundantly.

 5- The Universe provides more than I need.

Changing the way you think and re-programming your old tapes is the key to changing your life.  Recalibrate the way you relate to the world and shine the light on old thought patterns.  Find out what’s at the root of these thought patterns for a lasting paradigm shift. 

You may experience an “ah-hah” moment when you dig down into your unconscious thoughts and see what’s been driving you.  Uncover these beliefs, accept that you didn’t know better, and then replace with the Truth.

For example, if you believe there’s only so much that can go around, it may be because you were taught not to trust in the abundance of the universe and you were never told that you are a Spiritual Being whose birthright is abundance.   

Use your affirmations daily and get curious about any resistance you have believing them.  Repeating positive affirmations along with honest introspection will enable you to begin to open your energy to abundance.  Enjoy it, it’s yours!