“No decision is a decision too.”

People tend to say they are poor at making decisions. It is more likely they are quite capable of doing so yet unwilling to follow through on them. Action brings a decision to life and incurs responsibility. We move from a vague position of comfort and non-accountability to one of commitment.

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I am sorry to all those people who come to this website and find some ideas being repeated. This theme of inertia has been raised in previous articles but many site visitors keep getting stuck around issues of when to act on their ideas and why they feel so overloaded if they let the time for action pass. Inertia develops when we disconnect from taking action, as if another aspect of ourselves or someone else would be gracious enough to step in and do that part for us.

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Let’s assume it is easy to come to a decision and that we can even get excited about the action we need to take. However, the fear of experiencing the fallout from taking that step is too much. If we repeatedly think about taking that action, a part of us can almost become convinced that we have actually done so because we have practiced it in our minds so often that it almost feels real. Yet it is a false reality, a fantasy, and we are left with a divided self – the part that senses the action to be carried out and the part being left to eventually fulfil that action – but there is no communication or connection between the two.

“Wouldn’t it be great to deal with a particular concern and then be able to say – Next?”

Feel the freedom that enters and is right there the moment something that we have been carrying around for a long time leaves us. There is a space to welcome the ‘next’ thing we are ready for and to start to deal with that as well. This is how truly successful people make their way. They do not allow themselves to get bogged down in the ‘what if’s’ or remain buried in how, what, when and why scenarios. A successful decision-maker is too busy handling what comes up and dealing with it quickly to ever notice being buried in ‘stuff’. This ‘stuff’ can be an acute state of stress build up for some people. Here is some symbolism to point out why it is unhealthy to hold onto that ‘stuff’.

Imagine if each problem you had to face were a block of wood and you could only let go of it after you had dealt with the issue it represented. You may be so busy getting in touch with how that block feels and what type of flame it will create and whether your chimney is properly designed for the way it might burn – before you know it you have another problem looming and you’re holding the next block of wood as well. You would just keep piling blocks up without ever using them to start a fire. If you physically had to hold onto them they would be piled up above your head. Once you could no longer see in front of you there would most likely be a great toppling over. Surrounded by blocks of wood – all your problems – now in disarray and out of order in a heap around you – it would become a guessing game as to what order of importance they came in, how relevant they are to this moment now and just what you ought to pick up and start to set on fire first. No wonder people feel helpless, hopeless and INERT in the accumulation stage of a crisis. It is not simply a balancing or juggling act but a waste of good present moment energy fuel that never gets realised.

“Do you choose to live by dead wood or by a beautiful flame?”

If we hold onto a decision to act upon in the future it starts to accumulate a bank of stagnant energy. Anticipation for the action remains on a mental level only but starts to leak into our emotions too. This is when people start to feel ‘sick and ill’ about their responsibilities and get tired all the time. The flow on effect is that others around them pick up this gloomy energy and are repelled.

A person who can set their mind to something and focus on action is going to be attractive.

In order to keep a continuous flow in life and implement our decisions in the right timing, we need to fuel the steps to their accomplishment without second-guessing ourselves. To doubt a decision that has already been made creates an impediment. Sooner rather than later, once doubt has set in, we may abandon the spontaneous and natural decision that first came to us. A chance is missed.

A blockage from over-thinking and the heaviness that fear dictates start to depress our energy. Instead of enjoying the free flowing action that comes from taking a spontaneous step we are left in ‘the dead zone’ of not knowing what to do. Yet right at the start we had that absolute feeling of trust that we knew exactly what we wanted and were excited by the idea! And even if we didn’t know we were prepared to take a risk and see what came of it.

Spontaneous thinking doesn’t easily return once we have allowed our rational mind to be the guide.

“Living well means making mistakes.”

Next time you make a mistake or the outcome of a decision you act upon is less than ideal, congratulate yourself that you have stepped into life with all its twists and turns. You are trying things out, you are seeing how things fit and you are getting involved! Allow mistakes to fuel your passion and make you more determined to ‘come unstuck’.

The worst thing that can happen in following through on a decision is that you could be wrong. So what? That is how you find your way to what will work. Even a backwards way of working has its opportunities and gives you life experience that you can cherish.

“Be too busy to be proud.”

Become so involved and so unheeding of any gossip around you that you can actually move forward for yourself.

Until next time,
Karen Cohen

Advice received in a reading must be considered according to our strength or vulnerability. We must take our own personal capacity into account and not just run on ahead with what is written on the page as if the book knows more about us than we do. It takes a series of deeper questions to find out if we really have the ability and tools to change at a particular time or if that is even really necessary. Sometimes it is just nice to know that the hexagram drawn is one possibility.

Our success can be hampered by the level of our own personal development but our stage of progress must be respected. If we know an action is just too much for us then pushing ourselves according to the outcome of a reading is not going to be correct.

We must take all the time we need to arrive at readiness for any action and this is where matching thoughts with feelings can bring better alignment to move.

For instance, if we are struggling in a relationship that is one-up/one-down it takes time to master feeling equal. In some relationships this may never occur.  There may be friends who tell us we need to be free of a particular person or situation but our attachment level is based on security needs or comfort and we are not ready.

These deeper issues need to be dealt with first and possibly discussed with professional help as they are the steps that navigate the path towards our release. If we do not take progressive steps we are expecting too much of ourselves. We are the only ones who can determine when to make a change and honour the instinct that tells us we are not ready, working slowly and quietly at our own process of self-care.

The best questions to ask of the I Ching then relate to how to handle our own identity and have a voice that is respected. It starts with respecting our own voice and finding   ways to enable individuation. We can ask questions related to strengthening our assertiveness and re-discovering our own values.

It is easier to blame another person than to own the fact that we have ‘gone missing’ from our own life.

People tend to consult the I Ching when they have a question about the meaning of their life or its direction. They ask the same broad question repeatedly. This defeats the purpose of the overview or bigger picture and brings confusion from then on.

The hexagram drawn from a broad life question is only the starting point of deeper questions to highlight steps. By continually consulting the I Ching over a broad life issue we can draw up more problems than solutions.

Issues are dissolved only after we have developed key skills within the bigger picture, starting the walk step by step and being proud of ourselves along the way. This keeps us connected to present moment living and daily practice builds towards a big picture.

If we consult the I Ching on a major issue in our life we need to trust the first element drawn is the most powerful view. From there we can ask questions that will uncover why we want certain things to happen or what is lacking in a particular situation.

It is never wise to ask questions about another person or their behaviour. The starting point is always within us and not in the pattern or person affecting us. The questioner finds out more about their own contract with the other person and how it may be altered by a suggested change in their own behaviour. If we formulate the questions from our own intention then we are taking responsibility.

A question (plea) such as:

“Why does (name) always try to control the course of my life?” can be reframed to –

“Why do I allow others to dictate the course of my life?”

I am using the August Energy Tips sent out in the Members newsletter to outline a reading about this, using a hexagram that has been discussed before. It is an example only and not a personal account transacted between anyone from this current site.

A life purpose movement of consciousness is taking place with mind trainers and life coaches helping people discover their true calling. The promise seems to be focused on helping people catch up with what they were ‘meant’ to be doing and to ease out of any dead ends. This can be positive when approached in a practical and mindful way but it can also be based around ideals that are unrealistic and grandiose.

When the urge to find new life purpose has become overwhelming we may start to panic under the pressure and doubt choices we have made. Did we follow the wrong career? Did we marry the right partner? Will we ever gain independence or be wealthy?

The I Ching suggests there are no mistakes, only energy responses, signposts that we have become sidetracked or that we are on course, reflected back to us through changes in our world or through blockages that indicate change is needed.

When we lose friends, money or direction it is common to feel the pressure to want to know what we did ‘wrong’. Instead of riding out the storm we tend to try to fix it and search for something to make our way easier or avoid the change that is taking place. We want things to return to how they were before and we wait for things to go ‘wrong’ before we look. When things are going well we don’t doubt our focus or life path. These patterns are part of the natural cycle of adjustment.

For some of us there are hidden ‘dreams’ that were buried in order to make way for other needs to be met. We are unable to act on every whim and interest that comes before us. If we did then our life would be overcome by desire and carelessness, corrupted by trying to satisfy our personal will. There are dreams we may have promised ourselves we would fulfil ‘one day’ but the passage of time and conditions take their toll.

If real life is in the present moment and spiritual in nature no matter what our job or pathway looks like, then we have not ‘missed the boat’ or spent our life in a wrong choice. There are no wrong choices, only lessons repeated as we resist learning. This is how it becomes possible to find an emotional pattern or habit running through an entire family.

Some lives may appear more exciting to our wandering eyes but lessons are the same for all people; it is a matter of whether we are willing to go through challenges. If we use an external monitor of fame and fortune as our map we will probably be disappointed with our achievements and start ‘the hunger’.

If we give power to another person’s notion of what is good for us then we may seek the ideal of another life purpose.

Is it the new life purpose that is actually calling us from our vivid buried dreams and desires, or is it the need to take back some element of control over our own choices and act from our own initiative that we are really missing?

In the ego world of self-aggrandizement and one-upmanship, where the focus is on becoming the best you can be, using all you have, getting all you ever dreamed of and never losing it, object consciousness prevails and the target is up ahead, out there, someplace in the future.

A true life is a simple life. If we build from that premise and keep returning to that as our central base, we will not lose our way. If you have been a victim of other people’s opinions, the challenge is not necessarily to escape to where they can no longer get at you, but to overcome that demon within yourself that has you faltering when they judge you.

We have no control over what other people say and do but we can control how we respond to it. Part of our life purpose needs to be in building these inner resources that can carry us through whatever challenges come our way. Then ‘life purpose’ becomes how you handle this moment and what follows.

When we consult the I Ching it is to receive help with motivation, timing, conditions, suitability and to detect any pretence or ‘false god’ that may be taking us down a pathway that is misleading. Flashes of inspiration enter when we leave a space for the greater knowledge to reach us.

When we trust ‘experts’ and put them on a pedestal to make decisions on our behalf we weaken our own inner resolve. If we find mentors and run with their stories of accomplishment or how they attracted their money and follow their pledges of ‘You can do it too – let me show you how’, we may be denying our own ‘life purpose’ and falling for theirs. Are we looking for a missing parent? If so, then it is time to start parenting ourselves and gently leading the undeveloped part of our nature forward step by step.

There are many great teachers and business people in whom we can trust. Their role is often bountiful, to the extent that we may remember what they have said to us for as long as we live. They have truly made a difference to us on the inside.

But when we are concerned that our ‘life purpose’ is not exciting enough or does not seem to be netting us any rewards we can be susceptible to being misled by another’s suggestion.

We are all wired differently and need to create our own design. That design does not amount to ‘one big thing’ we do in order to put our stamp on the world. It is the composite of many small acts of trust, kindness and expression that build our character and give our life purpose every single day.

Once we are capable of calling ourselves adults we also need to be capable of owning our choices. Yet we fall for someone else’s interpretation of what is best and it could be just another grand seduction. We naturally crave to find hidden potentials for artistic expression or follow the non-traditional formula so we can think of ourselves as unique and different; yet harnessing our creativity is not so difficult.

It begins from here, whether we are washing dishes, changing nappies or writing an engineering blueprint. Creative living is as much an attitude as it is a ‘destination’. Those who believe it is the latter run the risk of never being able to ‘find it’ or ‘get there’. They may be dissatisfied with what they have now and that can spark unhealthy or unnecessary ambition for change. If we work our way forward with an open heart from our present point, things fall into place.

Karen Cohen
www.iching.com.au
Karen@iching.com.au © Copyright 2010 One Publishing

Too much holding back damages the spontaneous spirit of joy that courses through our veins when we are open to new ideas. Messages are received best when we are relaxed and flowing, living with our guard down and not crippled by justifications, blame or repetition.

It doesn’t matter whether we are rich or poor, old or young, vibrant or frail, contact with the Super Conscious force of the universe comes from our willingness to ask the ‘personal’ self to step aside. When we move away from ‘personal’ there is access to a power greater than we are, the all-knowing mind or consciousness of all things.

We live within the intelligence of the universe but may only be accessing the known parts we have personally achieved – our personal work, our level of academic intelligence and the circumstances within which we love and have attained our network of experience. Though we know there is more we may have difficulty manifesting aspects of the subtle realm, preferring to maintain the known rhythm of our limited wheel of worldly attainment – the small picture – a better job, house, car, clothes, holidays and relationships – finite realities that we use as signposts of growth.

There is nothing wrong with this and we all chase these things, but when attention to these false conditions dominates our thinking and renders us insecure if we don’t have them, we are on the wheel of restraint, even though we seem to be moving ahead!

Spiritual development is something other than this; it is the awakening of the whole self and does not have a finite measurement that can be displayed for others to see. It can be a spine tingling realisation that without all the material things and personal successes we can still exist fully and have a purpose. Security comes from the peace of knowing we are part of the invisible plane of existence.

If we abandon our story – who we think we are, what we do for a living, the situations that have brought us to where we are now, where we live, where we’ve been, who we’ve known and what has ‘happened’ to us, we are free and available to contact the precious realm of the spirit within – the nameless, all-knowing power of existence.

This all-knowing plane of existence does not have a personality or know what stains or stamps of worthiness are on our character. It is a channel of power that streams through us directly when we allow ourselves to ‘get out of the way’ and become open to its healing.

Sometimes it is just nice to simply call on that energy to take our place, as if we are moving out of our own way to allow the greater consciousness to step in and be in contact through us. This is the Divine Will that knows no bounds, the font of all knowledge available to every man.

When we set aside the ego level of our personality – the achievements, the self-doubt, the worry and fear, the needs we think we want satisfied and the obligations we carry – in that moment of clearance there is a pure space for the energy of the subtle realm to come in and be received through us, unblocking our restraint.

All our cells respond to this pure essence of life that is always available.

If we have intentionally come to a standstill for fear of where to go next then restraint is a natural rest stop along the way, until we have the courage to make a decision.

Our mental thoughts create an atmosphere around us that is felt by others. These thoughts also send messages to the Universal Sub-Conscious Mind, indicating whether we are open to receive new information or are in lockdown, living with the brakes on, responding only to our own intelligence and conditioned perceptions.

It may be easier to recognise a habit of denial in a friend, colleague or family member rather than in ourselves, but denial is real for each of us. No one is immune from getting stuck in a denial pattern and defending ourselves to hide a pain we feel unable to deal with or an experience we are not safe enough to heal. It is unfair to judge another or ourselves for this blindness of spirit.

If denial patterns linger and become a lifetime fixture – which does happen – then we will always be living with the brakes on. When it feels as if the brakes are on it may be necessary to ask within for what it is that we are denying in ourselves; this will unlock the energy again.

Find time to access the part of yourself that protects, denies and finds restraint comfortable. Give that unawakened part the safety needed to find expression. This can happen simply by acknowledging there has been denial even if you are unclear what that denial has been about. In doing so, a window opens up.

Karen Cohen
© Copyright 2010 www.iching.com.au

One definition of POWER in the controlling lines of I Ching Hexagram 8 refers to it being a result of “constancy in the use of proper principles”. We are asked to “review our allegiances” because “to unite with improper influences would bring misfortune”.

Refusing to align with improper influences results in personal inner leadership and that alone is power. The improper element is not the people we align with but the emotions that govern our decisions. To be tempted to improper actions by foregoing the step by step process of development and rushing things is an act of inferiority.

Internal strength brings a certainty to our aura that can be felt by others. We may not need to attain a position, rank or affirmation from outside us to prove our power. It comes naturally once our internal ability to respect power has been established. If we seek power before inner development of it is evident, there will be a gap in our understanding that will be exposed over time. We will be left open to humiliation and learn it would have been better to take time to grow and rise naturally.

Make power tangible now. Be at one within. Form allegiances based on proper principles. Do not rush development. Then you will be ready to hold power.

Make WISDOM tangible – “by exercising your knowledge in difficult situations.” If you develop and grow your wisdom by standing up for what you know to be true, then you will be in true possession of your wisdom. Abandoning this opportunity and aligning with the pack – the easy way out – degrades the self and you lose a little bit of your own wisdom each time you act this way. To put forward your beliefs may leave you open to attack but if you are not using your wisdom in life then you are not in ownership of it. Face opposition in a calm way or walk away, but still hold to your position. Silence can become an agreement with evil or prove you are weak-willed.

When you formulate your own opinion it does not mean you are trying to change someone else. You can respect all people but to respect yourself first and own your wisdom is to be guaranteed the right to keep it. Make wisdom tangible now. Own what you already know. Remain open to what you don’t. Receive openly. Wisdom is free.

Karen Cohen

When we cross over into the energy field of another’s responsibility and start to do their thinking for them, we are blurring the lines between our own patch and theirs.

This overlay of behaviours brings consequences.

Actions that were never ours to carry out in the first place can influence and alter the character of the other person when we step in where we are not needed.

What is good and beneficial for another’s development may often appear as hardship and struggle to an onlooker and the desire to rescue that person may arise.

Seeing another struggle for something and stepping in to help them can be noble, but not if it causes them to remain weak and helpless while we take responsibility and glory for finishing a job on their behalf. We can only develop strength by being allowed to build muscle and such growth does not accrue overnight. It takes trial and error, work and dedication to build the internal character that can see us standing strong when faced with adversity.

Someone who has been kept dependent because another wanted to relieve them of their struggle may not have been helped at all. If we leave a person to handle their own affairs in their own way, we are respecting their boundaries.

There may be grey areas in your life where another person takes the heavy load for you. True grit emanates from internal virtues that we only get to develop for ourselves. Fortitude, perseverance, assertiveness, or a decision that brings challenges, are all examples of areas where we must take the full risk ourselves. If we are leaning on someone else for these attributes then we are contributing to our own weakness and inviting others to invade our boundaries.

Filling gaps for others can blind us to taking care of our own life and responsibility. We may want to look at why we choose to suffer in this way. Even though it appears to be a symbol of martyrdom or even true love and gives us great pleasure, it can be a form of theft. It can also become a pattern that is hard to break. Building esteem from the gaps or weakness of others means we are not respecting their boundaries.

Give other people room to be themselves, no matter how hard it is to watch them go through their own experiences. We are all at different stages of consciousness.

Karen Cohen     © Copyright 2010

www.iching.com.au

In planning a successful project it is helpful to use big picture thinking. This gives an overview of the project to be mastered and the steps along the way to its accomplishment. Using the visionary gift you can picture yourself reaching the goal.

You may be able to discern what will be helpful and what may be a blockage in the tasks you envision up ahead. This may begin the ‘perfection’ cycle, where you know exactly what you need to implement but fear some of the steps will not be done right.

Communicating to yourself using too many details may disrupt your clear vision.

In the I Ching at Hexagram 41 there is reference to help that is graciously given when a person is already moving in the direction of their desire. This is the hexagram of decrease, where results of our own labours are tested and the outcome can be dependent on our own input and patience. If you pretend to be able to do a task that you have not mastered yet, the results could bring about humiliation. Be patient.

When outcomes appear to be impossible, remain dedicated to the task and humble in your self-reliance. This way companions may appear who can assist with your development. Be open to receiving input when it arrives and not so swollen with your own ideas that you miss the opportunity. Remember, opportunities appear from unlikely sources. Personal judgments must be set aside in order to reap the rewards.

Hexagram 41 reminds us that to be a little bit thrifty can be empowering. If you use up all your resources and stretch too far in an attempt to reach an outcome, you are likely to miss the mark.  The foundations of a building must be kept strong in order to support what is held above. Likewise, starting your vision on a firm foundation has far more practicality and merit than trying to build your expanded vision too quickly.

Write down some simple impressions of what may be up ahead. This is enough to rely on for your big picture while you build a firm foundation from which to develop it.

When using the visionary gift it may be tempting to throw yourself at the behest of someone in a superior position to you. This may prove to be of no benefit as it actually increases the power of the person to whom you have subordinated yourself.  The I Ching suggests no advance is possible in such a situation. If you make yourself less than another person in order to warrant reward, it is unlikely to occur. No act that is self demeaning can support advance. Serve others without demeaning yourself.

Your task is to be true to yourself as you implement your visionary gift. Realise the steps to your outcome as slowly as they unfold from within, no matter how humble.

Karen Cohen    www.iching.com.au

My friend had been an abundant source of knowledge, comfort and nourishment, a woman of outstanding nurturing who although not overly nurtured herself in childhood was able to complete a cycle of life by ‘working with the emptiness’ to reclaim her pot of gold, the radiant and joyful heart.

One by one each friend climbed the stairs to sit at her bedside for just a few minutes and say whatever it was that could bring a completion with her while she was still in a physical body. It was a challenge and honour to just stay present. All the stress inside her was transcended as she enjoyed the noise of all her friends together downstairs.

We all carry stress within us that can turn into disease if we fail to recognise our habits. These habits live in our thought patterns, our behaviour and our words and we carry them in our system energetically in order to cope.

Some parts of our body, when unable or unready to process the concept connected with an emotion, will store that energy until much later on. Pushing down and away from what our subconscious mind may be telling us, we train our bodies to handle the stress by storing it away for a later time when we may be better able to process those feelings. Organs in our body tell the story back to us in time. It can be a shock.

Normal energy circulation is paramount to health and understanding. Passages of the I Ching remind us that if we deviate from the universal natural law and create distortions, it will result in delays with reaching our goals and with disharmony in the body. Since life is never static we are literally forced to rebalance our energy system to maintain a suitable connection between the polarities of Yin and Yang within us.

Productive and creative energy is the natural pattern of energy flow. Water transmutes to Wood then to Fire then to Earth then to Metal and returns to Water again. In other words, each element creates the next and can be recognised using symbols in Nature.

There is a natural cycle for our energy to orbit within the body system too. The kidneys relate to Water, the liver to Wood, the heart to Fire, the stomach to Earth, the lungs to Metal, returning to the kidneys or Water again. Kidney energy is vital to life and the way we move our energy around and within the body system can indicate whether we are working with the creative order or falling into a competitive one.

Take an Overview of your own life using Hexagram 20 of the I Ching. Get to know yourself better by becoming more objective about where you are going.

Realising that every choice creates an effect in our environment, think about the inner planes of your body and how choices you make will manifest either the creative or the competitive order within you. If we are flowing in the creative order then the body will mainly be at ease. Staying too long in the competitive order will disrupt the cycles and start to cause a decline that leads to a third energy cycle, known as the destructive order. Once we begin the destructive pathway our bodies will show deterioration other than the normal wear and tear and we will need to adjust our approach.

Take care on your journey. Every day counts. We are sensitive beings living in the thrust of change that can be felt physically as our bodies act like shock absorbers.

Every organ in the body system has a use; it stores, processes or distributes energy. When you are eating think of how well you are digesting your ideas. If your ideas are stagnant you may experience problems with blood circulation. When you are tired yet push on beyond your capacity, consider how this affects your stored kidney energy.

External pressure such as the need to be popular or noticed by others can lead to internal pressure. The source of that pressure is irrelevant. It may come from family, teachers, peers, the media, but if we internalise that pressure it has become our own. Can you afford to exchange your own good internal energy for such passing pleasures?

Use all your awareness to live a true life.

Karen Cohen

www.iching.com.au

If you ever wish to discuss elements of the I Ching with me or have any questions whatsoever that relate to its content and your development, please email Karen@iching.com.au and I will be happy to answer all queries.

Charges only ever apply to mini-readings or full readings as these incorporate specific personal conditions, questions and insights.

Interdependence with others is integral to life and one of the hardest lessons seems to be that we take things personally and in so doing, set ourselves up to suffer.

Being attacked or singled out in word or in deed by another person can put us on the back foot, but falling into self-pity or a full state of anger over their comments or actions only serves to fill us up with an emotional burden – the one they are throwing onto us. If we take things personally then we are accepting their control.

As soon as we take things personally in any confrontation we are likely to give up our responsibility and resort to blame. In that position we are unable to be powerful. The power I refer to here is the intuitive instinct to be of full heart and full voice and full mind – to step out of the way of another person’s onslaught and walk on.

Why is it that we believe another’s opinion of us and often seek it out, eagerly awaiting their approval? We possibly believe the words if they are said by another but may not believe what we say to ourselves. It is more than likely we will accept their rejection, in turn resorting to rejecting ourselves and pondering why they have treated us that way.
Falling back into a comfort zone of taking things personally will keep us living a life of drama and suffering for as long as we allow it. These entanglements are commonplace; we ‘enjoy’ them every day, sparring and getting involved in one-upmanship, patting ourselves on the back after achieving a breakthrough that justifies our position.

If we awaken and remove our own self judgments our lives will turn around. You may already be on that road and far ahead of the above commentary; however, there is always room to be more at ease, more compassionate and less retaliative and there is absolutely no place for resentment. It eats a person up. If we take in the poison of another’s person’s opinion it can eat into our self-esteem and integrity too.

Be like the gentle wind in Hexagram 57 – penetrating but capable of dispersing clouds that have gathered and leaving the sky clear and calm. We all have to deal with enemies – known and unknown – and it is the grace with which we handle the ‘defeat’ that will determine our new undertakings.

Perceptions and projections of our own ambition sometimes make the walls of our world seem solid. Life may give us the appearance there is another world ‘out there’ which we seem unable to access.

When this happens we may attempt to improve our position, only to find we are still feeding the tree of dissatisfaction.

Thinking too far into the future or scrutinizing our past ensures we suffer. We can become inert, afraid of making a mistake, or make awkward attempts at changing things quickly to restore order. In trying too hard we deplete our energy stores.

If we seek a single major solution that would bring meaning and peace of mind permanently, we are asking for something outside of us to do the work.

If the world is not outside of us then moving in tandem with ‘it’ – the way things are in the ever present now – will ensure we keep inner power and do not get fragmented.

When our energy is scattered we are in the prison fabricated by the mind, mulling over problems that seem uniquely real and sometimes unsolvable. In moving with the rhythm of life there is evidence of spirit. We do not stop to observe ourselves and second guess our choices. The consequences of our decisions may be evident later but choices made while we are moving with life are bound to be right.

What is right is the ability to move with the inevitable changing dimensions of life.

To be naturally content is to be happy with who and what you are.

You are a moving and changing ‘state of being’.

If we have all inherited strength from Nature then we have no need to be operating as if we are lost in the desert without supplies. Our supply and source is always there.

We have ‘chi’ or natural energy circulating through our bodies. When we are at a standstill in life due to a preoccupation with the what, when, why and how of where we are going, or because we have had a deep shock from which we are overwhelmed and unable to recover, we start to lose parts of our natural innate strength. Being fixed pulls our energy down and we become denatured by thoughts of security and stability.  We can also lose our ‘chi’ through fear of dying or a loss too great to bear.

Fears are evident in our sicknesses and in our moods. They are also evident in our productivity. The prospect of change can be so alarming to us that we freeze up.

T’ai Chi and similar energy practices such as Qi Gong provide support for internal energy. Transforming out of balance body spirits and bringing internal adjustment through these exercises releases the plug of impossibility and opens the chakras.

When practiced on a daily basis our energy begins to circulate and filter.

Committing to such practices can be a tall order so let’s open ourselves to the idea of movement, even if we don’t actually move. If blocked from change because we feel deeply afraid of what has been or is to come, simply imagining the sun and moon circulating behind our eyes can alter our energy field and have a restorative effect. There is no effort involved in this exercise; it is just the experience of energy moving.

Just standing in a position of readiness can also be enough!

Simple Movement Exercise For Anyone Who Is Stuck:

Stand barefoot with both feet on the ground, shoulder width apart. Bend at the knee with arms reaching forward and hands open. This will trigger heaviness in the lower body and highlights how we are pulled down when in a fixed and firm position. Be aware of the heaviness and its implications. What does it stand for in your life?

Lean gently forward and out slightly to the right, without moving your feet from their position. Use the right knee as a pivot as you lean out and let the right arm lift slightly.

Come back to the centre and do the same thing on the left side, then return to the centre. Flow gently through the movement from right to left, always coming back to the centre, where you can feel the lightness that builds.

This is a way to start conducting your energy field and causing it to support you!

Next time you are deeply embedded in a problem you are unable to solve get up from your chair for a minute and start making these gentle movements. If you are too inert to get up from your chair then do the exercise sitting down. Even if you are unable to conduct this exercise physically, think of yourself moving.

Movement supports our intention to go forward from any difficulty in life and can have a calming effect as we prepare to take the steps that will reshape us.