About two years ago, I stumbled across a blog entitled “Understanding Why We Keep Secrets” By Elena Brower. I was standing in my kitchen with my jaw dropped as I read about her huge (former) secrets-smoking and cheating! It would take another two years for me to fully understand that being responsible for your truth is the first step toward what you most deeply desire in your life.
It became a deep desire to be in Elena’s presence and learn the reasons behind her outing, although I had a strange sense that I already knew them. I attended one of her yoga classes in New York, and after the class, Elena handed out flyers for a workshop she was leading, basically posing the question, “Are you behaving?”
Without hesitation, I thought: “Yes, I’m a yoga teacher, I’m basically behaving… right?” But then I started to have some doubts. I realized that I probably had work to do and decided to take my first Handel workshop with Elena and two of the senior coaches.
I was all set to sign up when I realized when it would be held – every Monday morning for two months. Monday morning? And my two daughters? And the rest of the schedule? My first set of obstacles seemed like it might defeat my dream. Luckily, the certainty that I was being called to make it happen was louder than the voice in my head telling me it was crazy. The solution was a schedule shift.
Here was the plan: -Wake both girls up an hour earlier than usual. -Drive my oldest daughter to school. -Drop off my younger daughter at a friend’s house whose mother fed her and took her to school. -After that, I’d board a train, take a subway, and arrive at Virayoga at 9:30.
I did it, and it changed the playing field for me.
After working for weeks on designing our lives and building our integrity and, yes, truth telling, we turned our attention to manifesting. Manifesting consciously is one of the most valuable tools we have to stay connected to our purpose, to our families, to our creativity.
Inspired greatly by the work of Neville Goddard, here are the principles of manifesting and Elena’s experience as an example.
- Choose a desire/wish that you want to happen.
Elena: “My Mom in perfect health.”
When I wrote the manifestation she’d recently had a stem cell transplant and could barely speak or move. So this manifestation seemed truly preposterous, but to write it out and see it over and over did help me to recognize it, months later, when it happened. - Fall in love with your desire, by creating a vivid scene around it that lights you up and fills you with the *feeling* of it happening.
Elena: “My Mom is standing near the bushes in her garden, gardening her ass off, sun shining, Jonah’s (Elena’s son) nearby. I can see dust motes in the air. She is smiling, radiant, happy. And – she has two jobs at this time, both of which she loves.”
NOTE: Almost two years later, there she was: gardening in the blazing sunshine with Jonah throwing the ball yards away from her. With two part-time jobs she loves. - Repeat this scene over and over in your mind, either after meditation or just before bed.
- Allow trust and absolute belief in this scene to permeate your being. When your mind enters the “how will that really happen?” space, immediately bring your attention back to the scene. Don’t mind the “how.” It’s just HAPPENING. The “how” takes care of itself by the sheer clarity of our vision. Nature abhors a vacuum. Napoleon Hill says that when we set forth the scene, with great clarity and feeling in our body, the momentum of the Universe will rush in to fill that vacuum, with all that is needed for you to live that scene. The “how” really will take care of itself.
- Rid your body, heart, and mind of negativity. Release judgments, complaints, gossip, doubt, fear. Take time to arrive at a very clear and positive space internally.
- Pay attention to signs from the Universe that show your wish is being fulfilled.
- Be patient, steady, and graceful, acknowledging that your wish may happen right away or take two to three years. But it IS happening.
After taking that workshop, it was apparent that my life would never be the same. I began airing my secrets and telling the truth. I was able to begin dissolving behaviors that were numbing me and making me feel like a hypocrite as a yoga teacher.
My public confession, in front of 35 yoga instructors, regarding my unhealthy relationship with alcohol during that workshop was the catalyst behind my personal and professional evolvement. That nightly “I deserve it” wine was eroding my authenticity as a yoga teacher. I distinctly remember after the airing, my commute home. On the train, an immediate sense of sovereignty came over me. I could feel the grip of my “basically behaving” behavior loosening and the void filling with pride, confidence and trust. I have sustained that feeling for years by, simply but profoundly, keeping my word to myself and limiting my wine each week. And it’s not just my students that feel that self generated safety, it’s my family, my friends, my community. So yes, I thought I was taking the HG Yoga Training course to fix the behaviors that were driving a wedge between me and my purpose, but I got so much more.
Physically, I stand a bit taller, my throat area is broader, and my face is younger and smoother.
Mentally, my thoughts contain fewer complaints and the space between a stimulus and a response is getting more patient and soft. I have been more respectful to myself, my work and my family, and I think more like a leader.
Emotionally, it’s easier for me to stay in the middle. The energetic lift and opening in my heart is softening the grip of my mind.
Spiritually, the sleepier parts of me are awakening, warming my heart. I am grasping the concept of “all one.” I have never felt as close to Source as I do now. This is certainly the most profound shift for me; towards the possibilities being vast and inviting.
This work has taught me how to align everything I think with everything I do and everything I say. I live a life with purpose, intention, love, and while I have a long way to go with this process, I understand it. I believe that this will allow me to absorb and live it more completely, so I can take it out to the world, one person at a time.
Here is where belief in yourself comes from: tell the truth about what you really want in life, remove the obstacles sabotaging that vision, and take one step on the path in service of that dream (tweet worthy!) The end result is an intrinsic sense of deep well-being and a refined quality of integration. That dominant vibration lends itself to sublime manifestations of beauty, magic, and freedom.
So now it’s your turn to ask yourself: are you “basically” behaving or manifesting consciously?