Self mastery and self-management are quickly becoming valued attributes in our increasingly outward directed society. The enlightened leader is the one who has a connection with his/her spiritual essence and makes a conscious decision to grow and evolve and become a better person within himself by taking up practices that lead to inner/spiritual growth.
The greatest act of creation is man’s ability to recreate himself. You have the capacity right now, in this very moment to transform yourself on the deepest level. The essential ingredient is a burning desire to do so. This desire comes from the Soul level.
One of the many gifts of nature is that in its very essence it is present. Nature has its own consciousness. Sometimes when I’m at Rancho la Puerta, I gaze at Mt. Kuchuuma and I could swear the mountain is breathing. When we go out into nature we are lifted to its consciousness which is always in the powerful present. When we are truly in the moment, the mind is not worrying or wandering, causing a leakage of energy, it is in the here and now.
A practical mystic is someone with both feet firmly on the ground yet actively involved in their daily spiritual practice. My spiritual teacher Walt Baptiste often said that he wanted his students to be successful in both the material world as well as the spiritual. The idea of balancing both the material and the spiritual was integral to his teachings and he was a great example of this himself.
After reading my book The Tenth Door, many people ask me: How did you find the kind of discipline that was required to do what you did? At first, I was taken aback because I didn’t think of my love of yoga and the love for my teacher as discipline.
Who doesn’t enjoy belly laughing? What’s more fun and bonding than having a good laugh with someone? This spontaneous expression of joy turns out to have a cascade of positive effect on your mind as well as your body. And more good news is that there are no negative side effects.
You may have heard the saying “the mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.” Well the same can be said for our emotions. One of the ultimate challenges in life is to learn to master our emotions so that they enrich our lives rather than rule our lives.
We all have had first hand experience of stress. It effects us on all levels: physically, mentally and emotionally. It can wreak havoc on the nervous system and zap us of our precious life force. It depletes the adrenal glands and can leave us exhausted coloring our world view and affecting our emotional state.
Did you know that in a typical day you think approximately 60,000 thoughts? What is even more astounding is that 90% of those thoughts you thought yesterday. Most of us would like to thinks we are constantly expressing creative thoughts and ideas, but apparently that is not the case! Psychology reveals that the majority of our thought patterns and beliefs are formed at a very early age and repeat themselves over and over throughout our lives.
The word Health comes from the old English word Wholth. It refers to the well-being of the whole person: body, mind and spirit. With the advent of mind-body medicine, the western world is embracing what Eastern Wisdom traditions have been teaching for thousands of years–that mind and body are inseparable. They are one. As you work toward healing the physical body by accessing the mental and spiritual realms, you will be activating healing energy on every level of your being.