Dancing On Your Brain: The Cha-Cha Effect
 by: Maya Talisman Frost

My grandmother used to say that the secret to living a good life is maintaining a flexible spine and a flexible mind. Whether we’re talking about joints or brains, there’s just no room for rigidity.

Mark Twain once made a comment that illustrates my grandmother’s idea perfectly. He said: “It is discouraging to try to penetrate a mind like yours. You ought to get it out and dance on it. That would take some of the rigidity out of it.”

That’s exactly what we need to do in order to be open to new ideas. We’ve got to take our brains out and dance on them! Do the twist. Do a little clogging. Tap. Cha-Cha. Shake it like a Polaroid picture.

We all know people whose brains we’d like to flamenco. And if we’re honest, we’ll admit to needing to have our own brain danced upon from time to time.

It’s not that we set out to be rigid. We establish certain thinking patterns and we build whole belief systems that may or may not serve us well. At some point, we get complacent, lazy, or just plain clueless about the boxes we’ve built for ourselves.

We humans have an interesting way of hanging on to old thoughts and beliefs. We end up with a cupboard full of ideas past their shelf life—unexamined, unused, but still taking up space.

Our thoughts become incredibly repetitive as certain cues pop up in the course of the day.

Let’s say that every morning, you listen to the news, full of turmoil and despair, and it reminds you that you’re not sure if you want to have a child with so much uncertainty in the world. Then you get in the shower and get ready for work, and as you look in the mirror, you realize you aren’t getting any younger, and maybe you’d better make that decision to have kids now while you still can. And then, as you drive to work, you pass a school, and you calculate how old you’ll be when your child is the same age as the students you see. Then you get to the office and wonder how you’d be able to juggle work and a family at the same time.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Every single day.

That’s just one example. There are many. It could be about your job, your weight, your relationships—you know the top ten things on your own mental list. No matter what you’re facing in life, you have cues that bring it up for you again and again. You thought about it yesterday, you’re thinking about it today, and you’re going to think about it again tomorrow.

What if you did some applied thinking? Not just that casual sort of obsessing you do daily, but serious applied thought?

We need to learn how to think more efficiently and effectively. Dr. Edward de Bono is a former Rhodes scholar who was on the faculty at Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard universities. He is considered the world’s foremost authority on creative thinking.

Okay, the guy’s brilliant. But the cool thing about de Bono is that he wasn’t interested in revealing his method only to those who breathed the rarified air of the world’s finest universities. He was passionate about developing a way to teach creative thinking that was so simple even a five-year-old could benefit from it.

He coined the term “lateral thinking” and set about developing clear, visual ways to enhance the way we think. He uses the image of a car. Just because you’re in a good, quality car does not mean you are a good driver. You must learn how to drive. Some people are better than others, but everyone can acquire a reasonable amount of skill. You must have the desire to learn and spend time practicing. Once you become good at it, it’s easy and enjoyable.

De Bono believes that good thinkers aren’t born—they’re made. He says there are two dangerous fallacies: that if you’re intelligent, you don’t need to do anything about your thinking, and that if you have a more humble intelligence level, there’s nothing you can do about your thinking.

De Bono inspires us to develop a broad view. The broader your knowledge base, the better your thinking. De Bono actually came up with the phrase, “think outside the box”--but don’t hold that against him! It remains a clear image and a permanent part of our language because it immediately conveys the concept of stepping out of our regular patterns.

Do your own lateral thinking to see where it leads. When you find yourself stuck in your thoughts-of-the-day cycle, go wide. Jump the track. Consciously take your thoughts in a new direction.

Decide on a certain cue—say, whenever you look in the mirror and notice wrinkles or gray hair—and instead of your usual “I’m-getting-so-old” lament, picture yourself with white hair and crinkly eyes. Imagine the things you’ll be doing when you’re old. Escape into a reverie of the dreams you see coming true and the loving friends and family surrounding you. Stop dreading the process and focus on that brilliant 85-year-old who will be amazing and amusing everyone.

Your bones need lateral motion, and so does your brain. You can walk for miles and miles, but unless you add some sideways action, you’re grinding your hipbones in their sockets. Linear thought will get you where you think you want to go, but you will have missed out on tremendous opportunities for gaining perspective.

You’re going to keep on thinking until the day you die. Why not be a bit intentional about it? Pick your cue, and engage in a full-on effort to replace a repetitive thought cycle with an interesting new twist.

Take your brain out to dance in this daring new direction. Flex and stretch it at every opportunity. Feel it becoming more limber, supple, and—why not?—sexy.

Cha-cha-cha, Grandma!

About The Author

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 70 countries. She serves up a satisfying blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief in her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage. To subscribe, visit http://www.massageyourmind.com.
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Getting To Good: Your Spontaneous Woo Quotient
 by: Maya Talisman Frost

As I was driving to a friend's house, I passed the Dublin Pub, a local watering hole known for its live music. On the reader board, one band's name caught my eye: Spontaneous Woo.

I did a little digging and learned that the band hails from Bay City, Michigan and offers a funk/jazz blend. The term "spontaneous woo" refers to an audience response often seen during concerts in which a rising tide of enthusiasm culminates in a distinctive eruption of happy exclamations.

Now, there’s a universal human experience. There is nothing quite like letting out a joyous, spontaneous "Woo!" when things are going our way. We might personalize our woo, making it come out as "Yesss!" or "Sweeeeeet" or even "Woo-HOO!"

There’s an appropriate word for this in every language. No matter what elicits this response, we know it means something good has happened. We recognize these woos, whether inspired by simple pleasures or major milestones, as a celebration of goodness. What makes us woo tells us a whole lot about what we value, and what we value is all that is "good".

What is "good"? How do we define it?

The British poet, W.H. Auden, said: "Goodness is easier to recognize than to define." Isn't that the truth!

We know "good" when we see it, just like we know when something is woo-worthy. Putting this into words in a consistent way is tough. This is where your personal philosophy comes in. Realize that your ideas of what makes a life "good" come from the people you know, the books you've read, the movies you've seen, and a host of influences you can't remember right now.

We use "good" to describe everything from a haircut to a mathematical theory. Essentially, something is "good" if it satisfies a certain expectation we have of it--it hits the target. A "good" cup of coffee could be strong, weak, bitter, sweet, milky, steaming hot, black, organic, shade-grown, or free, depending on what you value.

"Good" may be a moving target, but Aristotle happened to like the whole idea of targets. He used the Greek word "telos" which was the term used to describe an archery bulls-eye. It's a simple mental image--a big circle with a dot in the middle.

Teleology refers to the study of the purpose of things. Aristotle believed that everything in nature has a purpose, or target. A thing is good if it serves its purpose, fulfills its mission, or hits its target. The whole world is made up of these interrelated purposes.

According to Aristotle, our purpose is to think in order to live a good life. We're supposed to use our brains to contemplate, to appreciate the complexity of the universe, to attain greater understanding of our role as humans, and to be happy. By fulfilling our role as thinkers, we are living to purpose-we are living a good life.

What does that mean exactly? What do we use as guidelines or markers to help us determine if we are getting close to good?

If, as Aristotle says, our purpose is to live a good life and be happy, why isn't there some simple formula we can apply to everyone? What's the minimum woo-quotient of a good life? Can we be happy if we're not living a good life? Can we live a good life if we're not happy?

How much do we need to be happy? We all know plenty of people who never seem to be happy no matter how much they have. One of our greatest challenges as humans is figuring out how much is enough.

Aristotle believed that we need to use courage, honesty and moderation in pursuing pleasure. He considered moral goodness and enjoyment in life as the same thing. He believed it was okay to pursue anything you want, as long as you don't go overboard. This concept of moderation became known as the "golden mean".

Not surprisingly, this golden mean became a popular idea, especially among the rich. It was just what they wanted to hear! Remember that the majority of Aristotle's students were wealthy--who else had the time to study philosophy all day? Aristotle himself ended up being handsomely paid--especially for a philosopher!

Aristotle had his work cut out for him trying to remain moral while becoming wealthy. His most famous student, the classic overachiever Alexander the Great, clearly never got the point about moderation. Aristotle's emphasis on the golden mean got lost in all the excitement about pursuing whatever you like.

Hmmmm. Sounds a lot like modern life, doesn't it?

What kind of life would Aristotle suggest we live in the midst of all the stuff of the 21st century? What does moderation mean now?

Wealthy people are not necessarily more or less moral than anyone else, but they ARE tested more than the rest of us. They have the means to live an excessive lifestyle if they choose to do so. If you live large, your morality--or lack thereof--is magnified for the world to see. Add a dash of celebrity and a stint on TV, and you start serving as some sort of example.

This is where we get confused between "a good life" and "the good life".

We're fascinated by the choices people make when they have the ability to live any way they choose. We read magazines featuring photographs of celebrities in their homes. We watch television shows that give us tours of the properties owned by billionaires. We're both fascinated and repelled by reality shows that offer riches to those who manipulate others.

Why? It's because we're curious about the choices made, and we wonder what we would do given the same set of circumstances.

Seeing the homes, the furnishings, and the cars gives us an idea of what is valued by the individual. We watch because we wonder what choices we would make if we had the same bank account. Would we be extravagant? Would we live simply? Would we be tacky or tasteful? Would we horrify the neighbors or build a better community? Would our children be kind, compassionate, and generous, or would they be self-centered brats with a huge sense of entitlement?

Would we be like Sting--or Ozzy Osbourne? Would we have daughters like Sofia Coppola--or Paris Hilton?

Most of us have the, uh, good fortune of not being tempted to live without limits. Without being fully tested, we don't really know how we'd fare in a world of big money and bigger visibility.

The wonderful thing about living a good life is that it is possible to do it at any economic level. You can live a good life in poverty or wealth. Though we tend to think it's a lot easier to be an excellent human when we have sufficient funds in the bank, both versions--rich and poor--come with plenty of challenges.

It's tempting to put off becoming your best self until you believe you have the financial support to do it. "I'll be generous once I get to the top," you think. "I'll be kinder when I'm not so stressed." "I'll give back to the community when I retire."

There's no dollar amount that precludes or guarantees a good life, and there's no reason to postpone your own greatness. You may win the lottery tomorrow, or you may lose everything. Despite any dramatic shifts in your personal fortune, you can live a good life today.

Note and relish your own spontaneous woos on a daily basis, and look for ways to increase and deepen them. Think, be happy, and share that wealth in words, wit, and warmth.

The good life never felt so good.

About The Author

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 70 countries. She serves up a satisfying blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief in her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage. To subscribe, visit http://www.massageyourmind.com.
[email protected]

Be A Change Master!
 by: Keith Varnum

The person who masters change, masters happiness.

The best way to thrive in today's ever-fluid, volatile world, is to become a master of change. A "Change Master" not only welcomes, invites and celebrates the flux of constantly evolving life, but also consciously drives and directs these rhythms. When you live "smart," you drive change. You don't have to let change drive you. When you shift from a "resistance-to-change" mindset toward a self-empowered frame of mind, you unlock your vitality, creativity and spirit.

Change, the Unwelcome Guest

Most of us were not raised to welcome change. On the contrary, our modern Western culture promotes the opposite: the pursuit of predictability. We're advised to try to keep our life as regular, set and stable as possible. The status quo is sacred. The unknown future is portrayed as dangerous and threatening. "Don't rock the boat!" we're admonished. The collective strategy is that the more aspects of our life that remain the same, the less we have to adjust and adapt. And the less we have to change, the easier life will be. The party line is that change is inevitable-unfortunately!-but certainly no fun. Having to constantly change and grow is experienced as a struggle-a challenging, hard ordeal-by most of our elders.

Make Change Your Ally

Indigenous peoples have a different approach to change. Native peoples live closer to Nature than most Westerners do. And they take their cue from Mother Nature who advises: "Make change your friend, your ally. Allow change to work for you, not against you." The natural world suggests we learn to roll with the punches, so we can enjoy life exuberantly expressing itself through continual change.

Feng-shui Your Life

If we observe elements of nature, we see that water and wind flow with the life's tides of constant change. Water and wind are flexible and fluid, willing to transform shape immediately with the fluctuating forces acting upon them. They move in the direction of the movement of change. They take the quickest, easiest path-the path of least resistance-no matter what changes in form are required. Hence, the whole philosophy and practice of Feng-shui: the art of nurturing energy flow, health and aliveness. The very term literally means "the way of wind and water." In Chinese, "feng" means wind, "shui" means water.

Change as Opportunity

Native peoples wisely view change as a personal opportunity, not as a threat. They know that change brings fresh perspectives and new possibilities. Indigenous peoples look for the gift in every curve ball that life throws us. Indigenous cultures welcome the surprise and spontaneity that naturally accompany change. They know that the more we flow with the fluctuations of life, the more resilient and happier we are.

"How Can I Steer Change to My Advantage?"

Knowing that change is inevitable and ever-occurring, tribal peoples intuitively respond to life's fluctuations ahead of time-rather than waiting until life forces them to change, reacting after the fact. Looking ahead with excitement and clarity, native peoples anticipate the inevitable twists and turns of life's winding river. They prepare themselves and their lives to bend, re-arrange and transform to harmonize with the upcoming meanderings of the river. They know that change is life's agent of renewal and strategy of survival.

The Myth of Change as Struggle

Contrary to popular belief, change does not have to be hard! Change can be difficult if we choose to fight it or deny it-like the perennial ostrich, sticking its head in the sand and pretending something doesn't exist. When we don't prepare ourselves for life's rollicking rollercoaster, we don't enjoy the ride.

But if we get proactive and anticipate change, we can not only flow with the current, but also direct the current. We can lead change by taking the initiative to take creative steps ahead of time that allow the inevitable to be accommodated with ease and even joy! A Change Master chooses to embark in new directions, to experiment with different options, and to surf the waves of change as a fun life adventure.

Intuition to the Rescue!

With today's fast-moving pace, action often has to be taken with limited or imperfect information about the future. Without all the necessary facts, the analytical mind doesn't know what to do. But intuition does! A Change Master consults intuition-inner guidance, instincts, "gut feeling"-when sufficient data is not available.

The analytical side of our consciousness organizes and stores information. The intuitive side immediately retrieves all relevant data and experience from the full depth and breath of our lifelong experience in order for us to make wise decisions. The analytical mind is to intuition as a file cabinet is to the supercomputer at the Pentagon. Intuition functions a thousand times faster than the mind. And has resources a million times more vast. A Change Master uses intuition to improve his or her ability to improvise and adjust quickly to change. Intuition helps us to not only survive, but to thrive!

Inner Guidance Saves a Family

Humans also have precognitive abilities, but usually don't use them as much as animals. Susan, one of my coaching clients, is an exception. One day she received a very strong intuitive knowing to sell her family's home and move. Loving the house, neighborhood and schools, her husband and children didn't want to uproot their lives without a good "rational" reason. Her certainty in the accuracy of her intuition fortunately convinced the family to relocate. The week after the their home was sold and the moving van had left with all their possessions, the house was destroyed in the 1994 Northridge, California, 6.8 magnitude earthquake!

Ride the Wave

With an open, willing attitude toward life's inevitable fluctuations, a Change Master can discern the probable path of the future and make pre-emptive adjustments to make the transition easier when it comes. If we are in denial or blinding fear about the future, we can't get ourselves ready to handle the shifts with grace. With an accepting approach, we can intuitively predict the course of our future and arrange our life to take the fullest advantage of the changes.

(c)2004, Keith Varnum. All rights in all media reserved.

About The Author

Drawing from the wisdom of native and ancient spiritual traditions, Keith Varnum shares his 30 years of practical success as an author, personal coach, acupuncturist, filmmaker, radio host, restaurateur, vision quest guide and international seminar leader with "The Dream Workshops." Keith helps people get the love, money and health they want with his free Prosperity Ezine, free Empowerment Tape and free Coaching at www.TheDream.com.

Four Powerful Pathways Into The Light And Sound Of Oness
 by: Judith Pennington

The easiest, most exciting adventure in consciousness follows the lamplit guidance of the still, small voice in each of us. In the quiet of meditation, we listen to our souls and hear what is most needed in our lives and how best to obtain it. This wise, kindly voice never fails us and never falters.

There is no substitute for inner listening. But in our travels, these four pathways emerge to enhance our joy and draw us into the Oneness.

See which of these harmonic pathways resonates best with you: thought and word, self-knowledge, inner peace, or chanting and toning. All work together, as individual notes or as a chord, to transport us into the beauty and music of higher consciousness--the light and sound of Universal Mind, or God.

1. The power of thought and word. When our ideal is peace, healing or prosperity, and we say or do something out of alignment with this, we sense, feel or know it. The discord itself keeps us on track and guides us back into oneness with ourselves, others and Spirit. The great psychic-healer Edgar Cayce, who said that "Thoughts are crimes or miracles," lovingly advised everyone to create an ideal by which to live. This is best done in meditation, so that the soul voice may show us what is needed most. For you, is it peace, joy, self-discipline, will, oneness or something else altogether?

If a single word floats up when you ask this question, create with this word an affirmative phrase or sentence, then go back into the silence to see if it is good and right for you. When it is, post your ideal somewhere and, during meditation, use it as a mantra to draw your busy mind back into the silence. This will build your ideal into your life. When the words of your ideal no longer have a "shine," or "go dead" for you, you have incorporated this quality and it’s time to return to meditation for a fresh ideal.

Every time you think or speak your ideal, you are physically attuning your body-mind to it, so be sure it’s a spiritual intention that will uplift you! Ideals are blueprints with which we build our lives, whether we know it or not! If you aren’t convinced that your thoughts, words and emotions influence the physical world around you, you might find these stories very interesting.

Last November I attended an historic conference in Virginia Beach that featured the physicists and U.S. military personnel at the center of America’s research on remote viewing, termed "anomalous perception" or "anomalous perturbation" (psychic receiving or influencing) by these methodical thinkers. One of the presenters was the famous remote viewer and artist Ingo Swann, who reminded us that thoughts, as vibrations, are heard and felt by all sentient beings, including house plants!

At a party in New York City, Swann met Cleve Baxter, who later authored the classic book, The Secret Life of Plants, and visited Baxter’s home to participate in experiments. Baxter had hooked up lie detector electrodes to the leaves of ordinary house plants, and every time Swann struck a match, the readout jumped sharply in reaction. After awhile, the reactions stopped and Swann asked why. "The plant knows you’re bluffing!" Baxter told him. And so it did, as illustrated time and again in Baxter’s landmark book.

In other experiments, Baxter and Swann took skin scrapings and drops of blood from a man and put them in a vial hooked up to the same electrodes. The readouts consistently jumped when the man was poked with a pin, even when he was five blocks away! (See the second edition of my e-zine, OneWorld, for a series of eye-opening articles and interviews from this amazing conference.)

That we are all one body, one mind is indisputable. Yet we so easily forget and doubt how our thoughts and words affect everyone–and everything–else, including our own bodies and minds.

2. The power of self-knowledge. My still, small voice has said for the past 16 years that releasing darkness enables us to attract and hold more light, and recently, DNA experiments carried out by a Russian scientist proved definitively that this is true. It’s intuitively verifiable as well, and a phenomenon that we can physically feel as it takes place.

Here’s how to bypass your ego, which I call a "hero in its own mind," and awaken to what you need to know about yourself. Every time you find yourself angry, frustrated or in conflict with someone else, "Stand back and watch yourself go by," as Cayce so vividly advised. "Know Thyself," emblazoned on the temples of Greek mystery schools, is the key to conscious evolution. If we do not undertake this journey, we are not really conscious at all.

I was taught this by my meditative writings, and as I traced my discordant words and actions back to their source–fear of inadequacy and a crippling lack of self-love–I was able to see and correct the destructive patterns of behavior that drove me to addictive decisions and ways of life. I could actually feel my burdens growing lighter, as my pain, sorrow and yearning gave way to increased amounts of light in my body-mind.

What fascinated me most was the correlation of this "en-lightenment" to sound: with each stride forward, I could hear my singing voice becoming ever more resonant and beautiful! I can still hear the difference in my voice, in shifting from one state of consciousness to another, and especially in singing with other spiritual seekers, wherein everyone’s voice grows more harmonious, resonant and beautiful. I concluded that the high frequencies of love bring us into our blossoming literally and in response to our deepest desires.

3. The power of inner peace. Silent meditation, by building up the divine currents of energy within us, is the single most effective way to heal and transform the body-mind. These currents, containing the light and sound of God, tune up our bodies through the chakra system, or "wheels of energy," as Cayce called them. He said, and virtually all medical intuitives have seen, that these seven energy centers connect the spiritual dimensions with our endocrine glands, located at major nerve centers The chakras, powered-up like frequency transformers with multi-level circuits, step our energy up or down.

You can feel this happen during meditation, and the longer you meditate, the more sensitive you become to these subtle energies, which carry us into the Oneness. I experience this oneness not only as a sense of love for and connection with others, but also as oneness with my highest mental clarity, creativity and intuition. After 16 years of regular practice, I emerge from every meditation, brief or lengthy, feeling more centered, grounded and in attunement with my true self. Going within kindles the divine spark in us so that we may know and speak the truth of who we are–and, in this, reach out to others in love, compassion and service.

A calm, peaceful sense of oneness is critical to our evolution; otherwise, we volley back and forth from one state of consciousness to another without ever really knowing what is real and what is not. I experience this shifting consciousness when I don’t meditate every day. The slippage is all too apparent to me, and unfortunately, to others around me as well.

When I do return to meditation, I am amazed at the consistently gentle, loving voice of my heart, which does not complain when I skip my contemplative time, but waits patiently for me to return. Recently, while in deep meditation, I heard a quiet little voice say, "I am too hurried." Upon engaging in a pen-and-paper dialogue with my heart and mind, I learned that both want and need the restful peace of meditation.

This makes sense, doesn’t it? It is in the Oneness that both are energized and made more vibrant and whole. In this blissful state, these three notes organize themselves into a chord made of the proper co-creative partnership: mind serving heart, heart serving soul, and soul serving what I call the Divine Harmonic.

4. The power of chanting and toning. To comprehend the potential of sound, we have only to read the Hebrew Bible, which tells us how the powerful vibration of trumpets and the drumbeat of marching feet toppled the walls of Jericho. In modern times, we have seen this same harmonic phenomenon in a California bridge undulating in resonance with the frequency of wind blowing all around it. The bridge eventually shattered. Equally unpleasant to many of us is the deep, rumbling bass of automobile speakers passing by and thumping our beating hearts into palpitations.

Such "entrainment" sensations can be reversed by a meditative thought, word or rhythmic sound, all of which will rapidly shift any frequency pattern. People have always used chanting and toning to evoke altered states of consciousness and heal with the power of sound.

I've recently read, but have not yet verified, that Egyptian hieroglyphics show adepts using the vibrations of their voices to heal their patients’ energy fields. It makes sense intuitively that if we fully understood the capabilities of frequency and vibration, we would be able to heal anything.

The racial memory of these abilities, lost through the ages, has been restored to us by Cayce and others. Researchers reading of Cayce’s glimpses into the distant past believe that the mastery of sound technology is how the Mayans, Aztecs and Egyptians moved 100-ton boulders hundreds of miles and up mountainsides to build megalithic temples and pyramids.

David Elkington’s meticulously researched book, In the Name of the Gods, claims that Egypt’s pyramids were not meant to be burial chambers, but were frequency modulators for spiritual ascension and for quickening the mummified dead. Like sacred cairns and stone circles, pyramidal structures amplify the resonance of chanting voices and may have been used to raise the frequencies of the crystalline human body into harmony with the crystalline healing frequencies of the Earth. We know today that this frequency, 7.8 hertz, is a fundamental brain wave frequency of meditation and spontaneous healing by hands-on practitioners.

Hindus, Buddhists and many Westerners harmonize the body-mind by chanting the familiar "Om" or singing the word "Hu," the Sufi and Eckankar seed sound for God. (Eckankar is the present-day Religion of the Light and Sound of God.) The vowel sounds in these words move energy through the abdominal, cardio-pulmonary and cranial cavities of the body when we focus on feeling this movement of loving, divine energy, rather than how we sound to others. The key to chanting and toning is being present to it.

Here’s a powerful chant from ancient Egypt, resurrected in trance by Edgar Cayce and explained in a little book, Music as the Bridge, published by Cayce’s Association of Research and Enlightenment (edgarcayce.org) in Virginia Beach. I’ve asked people, during my talks and workshops, to sing this chant and always hear beautiful harmonic overtones that carry the singers into deep meditative states. Cayce said this particular chant awakens our ability to draw ourselves into the divine and the divine into us. See if it works for you!

Surrounding yourself with a sacred circle of love, chant the word ar-ar-r-r--e-e-e--o-o-o--mmm. Fill your pelvis and navel with this rich, resonant "ar-ar-r-r" (as in ah-r) and with your whole body sound the "eeeeee" (as in eat) in your solar plexus, moving the breath upward and directing the "oooooo" (as in oh) to the heart and throat, then the uuuuuu (as in blue) to the base and center of the brain, and the "mmmmm" (as in room) to the forehead and frontal lobe of your brain. You will feel this last sound vibrating the very bones of your head.

If you sit with this chant for awhile, you’ll feel the currents of spiritual love coursing through your body-mind, and a river of peace will carry you into the Oneness of perfect love. Share your peace and healing by visualizing your loved ones and Earth’s people basking in joy.

Joy is the natural outcome of these pathways into the Oneness, for here we feel the perfection in all things and know ourselves to be one with the Divine. All pain, loss and sorrow fall away in this journey toward the Light and Sound of God. In the beautiful music of this illuminated Oneness, we soar on wings of freedom and joy, at home in our place of true belonging, forever.

©2004, Judith Pennington. All rights in all media reserved.

About The Author

Judith Pennington is a writer, workshop leader and author of a critically acclaimed book on the soul and consciousness: The Voice of the Soul: A Journey into Wisdom and the Physics of God. Visit her website, www.eaglelife.com, to read articles related to this one and to sign up for her free e-newsletter, The Still, Small Voice, and e-zine, OneWorld.

Ego, Arrogance, and Self-Esteem
 by: Edward B. Toupin

The pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain are not our only motivators. Whether you realize it or not, our underlying purpose in life is to define and pursue our true purpose in life. Regardless of what we feel or do, we are all simply searching for some type of meaning within our own individual existence that can somehow take us further. However, many problems we face in our lives arise from the lack of true life meaning.

We sometimes lose our direction and become distressed about our circumstances. Our body goes through the stages of stress, including panic, defiance, and fatigue. When we encounter too much stress, we become exhausted and in a last ditch effort, we replace true meaning with an imitation meaning, and make this the primary focus of life. We then lose our self-esteem and direction under layers of defense mechanisms, ego and arrogance, that not only destroy our external world, but they can obscure our own view of the world.

Ego occurs when you have no foundation of belief or clarity of purpose in your world. Ego is cleverness to hide ignorance and obscures clarity. Ego provides you with the mechanism to affect everyone around you negatively to bring them down so that you can feel better about yourself.

Arrogance occurs when you hold on to useless and malfunctioning ways of living life, but you're unsure of its stability. Arrogance is the stubborn conviction that, against all odds, you will push forward down a path that is obviously wrong for you and everyone around you. It is a situation that develops when you begin to lose faith in your own beliefs and direction, yet you still believe, against your own best judgement, that you can succeed along the same path.

Self-esteem can only exist when you take the time to clear yourself of those things that no longer work, take pride in yourself, and make a realistic plan to better your life and yourself. It is not a feeling of power over others, but it is an acceptance of others and a feeling of power over your own life.

About The Author

Edward B. Toupin is an author, life-strategy coach, counselor, Reiki Master, technical writer, and PhD Candidate living in Las Vegas, NV. Among other things, he authors books, articles, and screenplays on topics ranging from career success through life organization and fulfillment. Check out some of his recent print and electronic books covering various life-changing topics! For more information, e-mail Edward at [email protected] or visit his sites at http://www.toupin.com or http://www.make-life-great.com.
[email protected]

Another Life ... I Wish I Were Someone Else
 by: Edward B. Toupin

In 1978, Erma Bombeck wrote a book entitled "The Grass is Always Greener over the Septic Tank." It was a most humorous read, at the time. Of course, this title falls in line with the idea that "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." But, her sentiments hit the idea head on in noting that there must be some specific reason that the grass is greener "over there." While the top layer is nice, plush, and green, what is it that boils underneath?

In our very early years, we all strive to be like "someone else," as we're not really sure who we are at the time. Eventually, we reach an age, a level of maturity, where our role models change and we become, well, us. However, in so many situations, we still strive to be like someone else or we envy or hate others because we are not like them --- a most peculiar waste of time on our parts indeed.

Sometimes we strive to be like others because of the situations or challenges that we must deal with every day. Indeed, it would be spectacular to drop everything in life and simply walk in someone else's shoes into what we picture as our "ideal situation." However, did you ever stop and think about that other person's situation? You only see the positive aspects that "attract" you to this other person's life, yet there are always negative aspects hiding beneath the surface. You must realize that each and every life path comes with its share of challenges. Someone who "appears" better off than us actually has a different "class of challenges." Yet, it's not how "challenge free" a life can be, but how those challenges are managed that makes a life fulfilling.

Realize that we sometimes hold on to challenges as an excuse to not move forward in life. Whether we like it or not, we sometimes like to "hang in place" because our current situation provides us with a safe, comfort zone with which we are familiar. Familiarity not only promotes a comforting feeling, but it also breeds lethargy. To turn you life into something more fulfilling and change your challenges, you must decide on the challenges you will undertake. You must determine what it is that you want in your life and then define a path to achieve --- specify your goals to reach your ultimate Vision. Then, evaluate your challenges to determine if those challenges you are tackling will propel you toward your Vision or hinder your progress.

If we sit still in our lives, we "create" personal challenges as a mechanism to keep us busy and to fool our souls into believing that we must remain stationary due to numerous setbacks. Many of these challenges have to do with unsatisfied desires and lethargy including absorbing the problems of others and living in your head to satisfy the needs of the soul. However, when we're moving forward in life, we encounter challenges as a result of change and momentum where the Universe must create balance in our wake. In the long run, it is easier to only manage forward-moving challenges than to have to create and then manage our own challenges.

As you can see, challenges can be changed from "problems" by merely altering their purpose. It is a change in perspective that changes our attitude to those challenges that we face everyday. However, this change in perspective can only occur if you have a plan in place that allows you to look at things from a different angle. To do so, you must determine if the resolution of a challenge will be a benefit to your desired direction. If not, then the challenge might not be essential to resolve, except for purposes of ego. Yet, ego is only a false protector that comes into play when we lose our way. Once we have a direction in life, ego can be replaced with self-esteem to allow you a chance to build and move forward.

In the long run your desire for someone else's life will merely bring on someone else's challenges. If you do decide to take on someone else's life, although their current destination might be appealing, their path might not be something that will satisfy your desires. Become your own hero and stop envying the lives of others as, in most cases, they envy your life as well. As you plan and define your direction, you will find that your life is truly unique. Learn to love yourself and your life and take the time to "turn it into" everything that you desire.

About The Author

Edward B. Toupin is an author, life-strategy coach, counselor, Reiki Master, technical writer, and PhD Candidate living in Las Vegas, NV. Among other things, he authors books, articles, and screenplays on topics ranging from career success through life organization and fulfillment. Check out some of his recent print and electronic books covering various life-changing topics! For more information, e-mail Edward at [email protected] or visit his sites at http://www.toupin.com or http://www.make-life-great.com.

The Great Career Switch
 by: David Leonhardt

"Hello. Is the doctor in?"

"I'll be with you as soon as I finish filling in these forms."

"But I really need to see a doctor."

"There, now what can I do fo – EEEEEK! You...you....you're a grizzly bear."

"Yes, ma'am. Can I see the doctor, please?

"Wh...why would you want to see the doctor? He doesn't usually see grizzly bears, you know."

"Some movie actor thought he'd be a real smarty and kiss me."

"Oh, oh, I saw that on TV. That was Brad Pitt. You're the Brad Pitt Bear."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"Ooooh, you lucky bear. How did it feel?"

"Look, miss. This actor comes up and slops one on me. Now I have icky human germs. It's given me a rash. How would you like it if Brad Pitt just walked up to you and kissed you?"

"Ooooh."

"And to add insult to injury, he recorded it on national television. How would you like that?"

"Ooooh."

"And instead of giving me antibiotics, Jennifer Aniston starts pawing me."

"Ooooh."

"I feel so used."

"Wow, for a bear, you sure lead an exciting life. Kissed by Brad Pitt. Pawed by Jennifer Aniston. National television. Ooh, how thrilling."

"I wouldn't call such abuse 'thrilling'. It's not like I have an exciting job...not like yours."

"What, this? I spend all day filling in forms."

"Wow. I've never filled in forms before."

"And I have to book appointments for sick people all day long. And people who think they are sick. And people who don't know if they are sick. And sick people who think they are not sick but don't know if they are sick. And people who are sick but think they are not sick and wonder if that means they might be sick."

"Wow. I've never helped sick people before."

"And I have to keep explaining why the doctor can't see them yet, because he is busy tending to another patient. Have you any idea how it feels to have to keep explaining that over and over, day after day, week after week?"

"Pure happiness. You must have the doctor's excuses memorized by now"

"And I am stuck here under these flood lights, force-fed muzak that sounds like somebody grabbed a CD player and stuffed it with pancake mix and maple syrop until all that is left are the beatless, rythmless memory of a pre-civilization melody."

"I love muzak. Big Griz is my favorite muzak composer."

"You like that drivel? Hmph. You would probably love this job."

"You bet! Filling in forms. Talking to people. Making appointments. Basking in glorious musak – what could be better?"

"Well, you can have it then."

"Really? But, then who will kiss Brad Pitt. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it."

"Hey. How about me?"

"You? You want to kiss Brad Pitt?"

"Sure, since you do need somebody to do it."

"That is so kind of you. You would sacrifice yourself for me."

"Yeah. Yeah. Move over. I've got to get puckering."

***

"And so, children, that's how the lady found herself stuck in the grizzly bear cage over there."

"Wow, Uncle Jimmy. You sure teach us a lot of great stuff every time we come to the zoo. I thought she was just a zookeeper cleaning the cage."

"Ah, yes, but she no longer has to listen to muzak, so she is happy. Different people like different things. What brings this lady happiness are not the same things as make a grizzly bear happy, for example. Understand?"

"I sure do, Uncle Jimmy. It also explains how come Dr. Block has such a grizzly receptionist."

About The Author

The author is freelance writer David Leonhardt, mailto:[email protected]. Sign up for his weekly satire column up at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/positive-thinking-free-ezine.html or read more columns at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articles.html. Or join in the happiness at http://www.thehappyguy.com.
[email protected]

Duplicity
 by: Wayne and Tamara

Direct Answers - Column for the week of January 26, 2004

We've been married 20 years. In order to spice up our sex life we would occasionally share fantasies, and one that seemed to turn us both on involved my wife with me and another man. This remained a fantasy until recently when we had drinks with a photographer who specializes in "boudoir photography."

Probably as a result of too much wine I asked if he would take photos of my wife, and he agreed. On the day of the photo session my wife asked me what she should do as she was nervous. I conveyed to her she was to lose her inhibitions and enjoy the experience. The shoot took place at midday, and I could not be there.

Afterwards she told me the photo session had been a success. She and the photographer shared a bottle of wine, and in the course of the session she'd learned much about posing properly. She went on to say she and the photographer participated in a whole gamut of sex acts she really enjoyed since he had unlimited stamina.

She said she hoped I felt good since she had gone along with it for me. She says she loves me more than ever and will not ever do this again. Her subsequent actions support this. Although I helped to arrange it, I am unable to stop thinking of the whole episode. I want to get over it and move on, but I'm losing sleep big time.

John

John, in one of Mozart's operas, an older man bets two younger ones their sweethearts are fickle. As part of the bet, the two younger men are to pretend to be called away, then return in disguise and try to seduce the women. The older man is confident the women will not be faithful; the young men are equally confident they will be.

While the plot is hokey, it flirts with a great truth. Our deepest desire is for someone who wants only us. What you really want is for your wife to say and mean, "You are the only one I could ever make love to." That is the sexier thing and the deeper desire.

You didn't understand your sexual fantasy would override your deeper desire. In your head you controlled the outcome. In actuality, you controlled nothing. You didn't fantasize your feelings would turn out like this. But in the letters we receive, one or both parties is always revolted by the outcome.

Your wife was not true to your fantasy. You weren't there, and that is why you feel she is mollifying you. But even if you had been there, your feelings would likely be the same. We never, ever, recommend intimate relationships with more than one person. In the letters we receive, the outcome is always what you describe.

Wayne & Tamara

Diminished Capacity

Last month my boyfriend of eight years and I hosted a New Year's Eve party. After I was completely and utterly drunk, my boyfriend and best friend took me into the bedroom with plans to have a threesome. We discussed this before but not thoroughly.

My somewhat sober boyfriend had sex with her. Apparently (I don't remember much) I approved. Now I am heartbroken. Everything that was so special between us is gone. I look at him with disgust because of the things they did. I am so ashamed this happened. I don't know if I'll ever get over this.

Audra

Audra, we get more letters about sexual jealousy than about any other topic. This is the most intimate act you can do with another person. Most people cannot tolerate even the suggestion there is someone else in their partner's life.

The third, fourth, fifth, or sixteenth person in an intimate relationship dilutes and devalues the relationship. When the relationship is no longer mutually exclusive, the boundaries are lost, and usually, so is the relationship.

Wayne & Tamara

About The Author

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: [email protected].

Working on Your Groove
 by: Rondell Demmings

We all come to a point in our lives, like in the movie “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” that we lose sight of who we are. Life has a person in so many different roles such as parent; employee and spouse we tend to lose “us” in being there for others. Although Stella got her groove back by meeting a man that was 20 years younger than her, how do we know that Stella’s groove is going to stay? Stella still had some matters in her life that she needed to clear up before taking a vacation to Jamaica Taking a vacation is a temporary fix. When you come back all the problems are still there waiting on you.

In order to start working on your groove you must first clear out the garbage that has been holding you back from being happy. When I say garbage I mean the emotional matters in your life that are holding you back from enjoying your life. If you are having a hard time forgiving someone from your past this is an emotional problem that has to be dealt with before you can move forward in your life. Holding on to the anger is like walking around with an anchor attached to your heart. Any opportunities that may come in your direction will be overlooked because you are still anchored to the past. In the book “In the Meantime” by Iyanla Vanzant she discusses how we have to start in the attic of our mind all the way to the basement of our minds.

Physical matters can also hold us back from getting our groove back. Say that you have been procrastinating on cleaning your garage. The more you think about doing it and not taking the action to do it will hold you back. In the movie, Stella was working at a job that was very profitable but the stress was overwhelming. Her dream was to build furniture and she wasn’t doing anything to make her dream a reality. Very few people realize that the things we don’t do will drain us more than the things we actually physically handle. As long as you procrastinate this brings your energy level down and eventually makes it even harder to get accomplished. Your subconscious starts accusing you of being lazy and after a while you really start to believe what your mind is telling you is true. You have to start taking baby steps to get back into action so that you will feel better about yourself. If you have a dream on hold or something you need to accomplish then take a certain amount of time either everyday or once a week to accomplish whatever it is you would like to accomplish. You will see that once this matter is complete you will feel a rush.

Once you have cleared up the garbage then it is time to work on you. Now is the time to give yourself special attention and figure out what makes you happy. During this period you would be required to do something special for self on a regular basis. I take every Thursday as my day for me. On this day I order carryout for the children and I do whatever brings me joy. If it is just reading a book, this is what I do on this day to give myself special attention.

Another thing you will have to consider is eliminating people from your life that don’t enhance your life. If you are in a relationship that you are doing more giving than receiving this may be a matter to re-evaluate. I am not speaking only on romantic relationships. This can also cover friends and family. Sometimes people have a tendency of taking your kindness for weakness. As long as you don’t set boundaries with these people they will keep on taking and not giving. You deserve better! You have to realize that you have the right to be selfish. If you don’t give yourself special attention on a “regular” basis who will? You have to learn to say no. If it is something you don’t want to do or don’t have time to do then simply say no. You don’t have to do anything in life that you truly don’t want to do except maybe pay taxes.

About The Author

Rondell Demmings is President and Founder of Visions Illuminated. She assists individuals in creating and living the life of their dreams. She also assists psychic/tarot readers in building a profitable home-based business on a shoestring budget. Rondell is an online instructor with universalclass.com and author of the e-book “How to Get Your Groove Back”. Visit her website at http://www.visionsilluminated.com
[email protected]

Exploring Beneath The Surface
 by: Rebecca Skeele

Unwanted feelings and thoughts are rich territory to dive beneath the surface for fresh insights that open the heart. Imagine for a moment that you are floating along on the ocean of feelings unwilling to accept that the choppy waves to your left signify anger. If you put on snorkeling gear and dive under them, you will see a whole new world.

Beneath the anger you will most likely find a hurt or a fear. Complete the following sentences with yourself:

    * Each time I think of __________I get angry.
    * If I feel this anger, I’m afraid that ___________.
    * When I feel this anger, I am hurt about __________.

Remember, avoid assigning personal meaning to these feelings. (I’m such a terrible person for feeling and thinking this way.) Just swim around with your snorkel securely in place, investigation the fear and hurt that lies beneath the anger.

Surface briefly and reflect about the role your anger plays. Here are a few possibilities:

    * Anger is a shield that protects a part of me that feels afraid or hurt.
    * Anger is a red flag alerting me to the presence of fear of hurt.
    * Anger is a messenger. A part inside must feel afraid or hurt.

Now take a deep breath and dive again, looking next to the fear or hurt for a judgement it may have spawned, such as the following:

    * If people knew I was afraid they would reject me.
    * I’m pathetic for being afraid of this.
    * Feeling hurt is weak and foolish.
    * Because I feel hurt I am unworthy of love.

Chronic reactive angry responses can disrupt relationships, derail important business deals, and cause high blood pressure. Unexpected fear can freeze us in mid-sentence, hold us back from speaking our truth.

The heart – the energetic center of acceptance and loving – shuts down when you adopt black and white thinking. Desperately needing to stay in control of life and make sense of the world, you resort to rejecting what you see as wrong (bad, inappropriate, immoral) and cling to what you see as right (good, appropriate, moral).

When the heart opens, making sense of the world is not as important as being happy, finding lasting peace, feeling healthy and stress free, and getting a good night’s sleep. Restraining from taking a position about the world, other’s behavior, your performance at work allows the heart to thaw out revealing depths of information that quiets fear and loosens the grip of control. You then can live authentically rather than self-righteously.

Questions for Letting Go of Black/White Thinking:

   1. If I am judging my husband/wife/boss/ friend do I also judge myself in the same way?
   2. Am I condemning my mistakes or lack of perfection because I am afraid of failing or being seen as a failure?
   3. Do I judge anger (fear, sadness, caring, loving) as wrong in others because I see it as wrong in myself?
   4. Do certain people get on my nerves because I’m afraid their behavior resembles my own?
   5. If I want to be happy rather than right in this situation, what do I need to accept and forgive in myself?

Snorkeling can open the mind to what is really going on in your ocean of feelings. But only self-acceptance can uncover these truths and open the heart.

© 2003, Rebecca Skeele, Author, Coach, Counselor

You may publish this article on your website or for personal use as long as the article remains unchanged and the signature file is included. Notification of use is appreciated.

About The Author

New Strategies for Living Well
Rebecca Skeele, MA, MSS
Author, Coach, Speaker
"expand your vision - change your life"
BK: You Can Make It Heaven
(505) 984-1739
http://www.makeitheaven.com
[email protected]

What's Your Plan? Designing Your Future
 by: Miami Phillips

So you have set your goals for the year. Congratulations!

I have come to believe most of us set our goals for incorrect reasons. We set goals for short term objectives. Most of these objectives concern materialistic wants: money, and physical things. Let's look at a slightly different approach.

Start with deciding what your life should be. Take some time to define your life five years from now. Here are some questions you might ask yourself.

   1. What am I feeling?
   2. What types of people are around me?
   3. What are my surroundings like?
   4. What am I doing?
   5. Where am I going?
   6. Where have I been?

Notice there are no questions dealing with money, or named places, or named people. The answers to these questions will provide you with attitudes, feelings, values, perceptions and other non tangible ideas that make life worth living no matter where you are, who you are with, or what you are doing!

If we have created a lifestyle that we like, then the physical part of our lives will fit right in and accompany the lifestyle because it has to! My suggestion is to look at the lifestyle you want to create, and set your plan to achieve the lifestyle instead if the physical side of life most of us set our goals to achieve. *To go even deeper, define your values very clearly and make sure that your vision of your life in five years fits with your values.

Is it worth it? You have heard the phrase plan your work and work your plan? I can promise you that if you do not create your life by setting goals and a plan to reach them, someone is doing it for you. If you think about it, that is really scary! What kind of vision do they have for you?

Think of it this way. Look back five years ago in your life. Are you today where you imagined you would be five years ago? Or are you where someone else imagined you would be?

Don't you think your life would dramatically improve if you made the plan? Don't you think you might have a little more interest in your life than someone else? I should hope so.

As the advertisement says so well:
Just do it!

As always,

Your online Coach and Friend,

Miami Phillips www.creativemasterminds.com
Helping everyone find their path and stay on it.
[email protected]

Quotation of the Week
Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me. Carol Burnett (1936 - )

About The Author

Miami Phillips is an ANSIR Certified Personal Coach and the founder of Creative MasterMinds who believes personal growth is an essential ingredient to being happy and contributing to this world. While his main focus is affordable personal and business coaching, he also offers motivational teleclasses, ebooks, reading recommendations and much more. To find out more visit his site at http://www.creativemasterminds.com or send him an email at [email protected]

Give a Hug for Happiness
 by: David Leonhardt

Hugs have a long and honorable tradition, going back to the day the caveman first squeezed his wife and discovered that no ketchup squeezed out. Since then, he found that his wife makes an awesome teddy bear, and he can always squeeze a rhinoceros when he wants ketchup for his hotdog (which gave him the necessary motivation to go hunting when his wife asked him to).

Hugs remain an important part of our daily happiness, but some cultures raise better huggers. For instance, North Americans exchange way too few hugs, depriving themselves of an abundant source of warmth and comfort.

So for a little motivation to increase your happiness, here are the top five reasons to hug somebody today:

   1. Save on your heating bills (good for the environment, too!).
   2. Keep your shnookums from eating that extra piece of double-fudge choco-blaster cake.
   3. Hugging sure beats crying.
   4. Love makes the world go 'round, hugs help you gather it in.
   5. The warm glow of a good hug lasts for hours.

So go forth and hug somebody. No, not the parking lot attendant. It's too cold this time of year for that. But hug someone who wants to be hugged, and see if you might just bump each of your happiness up a notch.

About The Author

This motivation first appeared in A Daily Dose of Happiness: http://thehappyguy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html Get the best Daily Doses in a free ebook: http://www.thehappyguy.com/l/daily-motivation-inspiration.php , or visit David Leonhardt's home page on happiness: http://www.thehappyguy.com.
[email protected]

Discover Your Purpose In Life
 by: Andrew Lawrence

Everyone has a life purpose; a unique and special something each of us is supposed to do in LIFE. A life purpose is not a specific job or career, it is much deeper and much more fulfilling. Now, you can uncover your own life purpose. You can do it the easy, fast, modern way, using a modestly priced online program, or you can uncover your own life purpose using the more difficult (but free) old-fashioned do-it-yourself method, If you want to save a few bucks and try doing it yourself here's how ...

There are 3 main parts to your life purpose ... motivations, life principles, and service to others.

Step #1 Motivations

First, list at least 5 activities you like to do most.

Next you list the actions required to do your favorite activities. Use only "action verbs"; action verbs are words like: create, nurture, restore, catagorize, communicate, etc.

Then, narrow the action verbs down to the top 3 choices.

Step #2 Principles

Next you list the ideals that you, personally, believe in most strongly. What you stand for. Come up with as many as you can think of (5 or more if possible). Then you choose the single most important principle to you; your guiding principle.

Step #3 Service

Your life purpose also involves being of service. Being of service to others. Being of service to others in the real world. Think about others in society who you care about strongly and would like to see helped, i.e. what groups or types of people or entity would you most like to serve or see helped? List as many as come to mind (10-12 if possible). Then choose the single most important one to you, the one that you feel the strongest about.

If you complete these 3 exercises properly all 3 components of your life purpose will be revealed to you.

Just put the 3 components together and you will have the answer to the age-old question of "who am I ... and why am I here". You will have discovered your own unique and special purpose in life.

About The Author

Andrew Lawrence is the founder of the Life Purpose Society and creator of the online program, "Find Your Life Purpose in 30 Minutes", the fast, easy and inexpensive way to uncover your own unique and special purpose in life, at http://lifepurpose.0catch.com

Drawing On Creativity: How To Trick Your Brain
 by: Maya Talisman Frost

Can you draw?

Your answer to that question reveals a surprising amount about your brain and the way you integrate your right and left hemispheres. (In this article, the left side will be referred to as the dominant one, which is by far the most likely scenario.)

You see, the left side of the brain excels at verbal, analytical, rational and logical tasks. It's the dominant half. It takes over most of the time, using words to describe and define, figuring things out step by step, drawing conclusions based on facts and logic, and thinking in a linear way. The left side of the brain jumps right in with words and symbols, and is such a bully that it takes on even those tasks it isn't likely to perform well.

Now, the right side of the brain is completely different. It relies on nonverbal cues to process perceptions. It's good at tasks requiring the ability to see similarities, to understand how parts fit together as a whole, to make leaps of insight (those a-ha moments), and to perceive overall patterns at once. It tends to hang back a little, letting the left side take over most duties.

It's sort of like siblings. You've got a confident, verbal first child and a quiet, introspective, thoughtful second child. Who do you think wins the argument for that last dessert? Who chooses which television show to watch? Who dominates the conversation about where to go on a family vacation? The second child might have a valuable perspective, but the older one is so assertive that he tends to win most arguments and rule the roost.

If your answer to the drawing question is "No, I'm pathetic," it's likely your left brain is being a bit of a thug. Whenever you pick up a pencil and start to sketch, it's taking over with its tendency to verbalize images and analyze shapes. Meanwhile, the right side--the perceptual, spatial part of your brain--is over in the corner, raising its hand, trying to get attention. "Oh, pick me!" it says. Too bad that the left side is already busy drawing lines and forming a strategy.

What if you could outsmart the bully on the left? What if you could somehow give that right side of your brain its chance to shine?

According to Dr. Betty Edwards, a respected art educator and author of the best-selling book, Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain, you can actually make a mental shift from what she refers to as the "L-mode"--the verbal, dominant form of thinking--to the "R-mode," which relies on visual cues. It's possible to get the right side to kick in and take over the task of drawing.

How? Well, we need to get tricky.

The left side takes over tasks UNLESS it finds a particular job undesirable. If a certain task takes too much time, is too detailed or slow or simply too difficult, then the left side gives up. So, the trick is presenting the task--in this case, drawing--in such a way that the right side is allowed to jump in.

This happens a lot with words. When we try to describe something verbally and find it too difficult, what do we do? We rely on gestures. Just try to describe a spiral staircase without using your hands.

Dr. Edwards teaches people to draw by presenting them with images that are upside down. This puts the left brain in a state of confusion so that it can't easily decipher shapes, assign a top and bottom, attach labels and categorize them to match stored memories.

The key to integrating your right side lies in looking for opportunities to allow it to become dominant. When presented with a confusing image, your left side gives up. We should literally turn things upside down in an effort to thwart the left brain's control and let the R-mode take over.

This same idea works in creative problem solving. Sometimes the best way to deal with a challenging issue is to sleep on it. When the left brain is exhausted, the intuitive, subjective, holistic right side has a chance to sneak in and come up with a solution that seems to have come "from nowhere". See? We don't even give our right brains credit for creative insights!

It's exciting to think that there are ways to outsmart our brains. By intentionally putting ourselves in a state of mental conflict, we can enhance our creativity.

Look for ways to plunge yourself into that discomfort zone. Whether we're tackling a picture or a problem, the key to jumpstarting our right brain lies in shifting our perspective.

Grab a pencil, turn the picture upside down, and start drawing! Somewhere inside you, that frustrated artist will be grinning from ear to ear.

About The Author

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 70 countries. She serves up a unique blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief in her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage. To subscribe, visit http://www.massageyourmind.com.