We have been working with conflicting beliefs and trying to focus in on those beliefs that we want to nurture.  The importance here is to remember our thoughts matter, but we are not victim to them.  

In his seminar, discussing conflicting thoughts, Eckart Tolle gives a nice description of how the inner voice is a thought that lives as a tiny field of energy that we can either feed with our attention, or simply let pass.

The (inner) voice is thought formations. These are energy. Every thought is an energy field, and each thought formation wants to draw your attention, suck it up into itself. 
"Come here," and the other [thought] says, "No, come here."
It may sound a little spooky, but it is not spooky,  You can regard a thought almost as an entity,   Not a physical entity, but an energetic entity.
That lives there, it has a life span, and some thoughts persist for a long time,  and certain thought patterns are also entities that can shift and take on one form, and then another form.
So every thought is a little entity or energy field.
[When you identify with it it draws your focus] It wants to draw all your attention in, because the more attention it can draw in, the more it grows.  It wants to grow. Like everything, it doesn’t want to disappear.  It is for you to know, when this happens. 
Who am I? Are you this voice or that voice? No, I am aware of these voices.

So when we become aware we have distance from our thoughts and can chose which thoughts to energize as they support our goals and healthy beliefs.

I was listening to Abraham Hicks, and she briefly talked about the difference in energy in a belief versus when you just "know" something.  

She states:

Knowing has less resistance than belief.
Doubt has a lot of resistance, belief still has sometimes, some particles of resistance, but knowing has no resistance.

So how do we know something.  It isn't a mental thing, it is the connection to our core, our higher self.  It is connected to our purpose, and when we know there is no alternate.

Eckhart Tolle talks about the conflicting inner voices, versus knowing here.  It is a very interesting experience, in that when he has the experience of knowing there is no conflicting voice present.  It simply is there calling him to do this.

"What am I supposed to do in life?  What is my real life mission?  Sometimes you get paralyzed and then the mind comes up with all the reasons not to try something..
Instead of looking for the answer through the movement of thought-- there is never any real answer you arrive at through the movement of thought.
You must first become present. then at some point, a thought may come that has a different energy field to it. A thought that you feel, yes, that’s it.  There is a certain realization that comes that may finally take the form of a thought, for example when I was living in Europe and I had the thought, I have to leave.  THere wasn’t another thought that said, “No I should stay”. So the question is, what really matters here is realizing that you are not this voice or that voice, you are something deeper, you are the awareness of the presence.
Watch the full conversation here.  
https://youtu.be/QpBOcw5WQPg

Listening to this reminded me of my own experience with starting the Community House.  I had been thinking of what I could do with the  money from my inheritance, and an idea would come, and I would say inwardly,

"I could do this....with the money."
and then the inner voice would say,
"What else are you going to do with the money?"
and then I would agree,
"Right, what else am I going to do with the money?"

So this went on several times, with fleeting ideas, and then the Community House became available.  Again my head created the phrase, "What else are you going to do with the money!"  And this time there was no response.  Why?  Because the Community House was the true option.

​One of the favorite things of many that Mary Sise shared in the presentation on EFT (or Tapping) was that when we clean up our beliefs we can be more effective in our lives.

“The work is to figure out what the [source of the negative emotional] energy is in there…often times where it’s stuck, just shows us…like if you were bullied, you would be triggered by bullies today…and you can clear that up…but that doesn’t mean that a bully will be your best friend, it is just that you won’t react.  You will be able to take [the right] action.  And when you do take action it will not seem too intense to the rest of the world.  It will be soul action rather than reaction out of your wound action.

“And that is why you become more powerful on the planet, because people can hear it in a different way.  And you watch, your influence will shift.

“I know who you are, I know your light, I know your divinity in form.  Because I know that about me. , and I know that about everyone…and I know bad things happened, and it wasn’t great, but let’s get it cleaned up so that all of you can be here. So you can be the light that you came here to be.

“You clean up all your stuff, you just have to walk on this planet, and you will make a difference…a big difference!”
 
Truly when we are talking our talk (and that is our inner talk here) we are in integrity, and therefore can communicate more clearly.  We are speaking not just what we think others want to hear, but what we truly believe.

The negative beliefs are so sneaky, and we rarely allow ourselves time to really be aware of what they are saying.  The first step is bringing all the beliefs into the light.  We did that by starting a list.  We can do that daily as we notice fearful beliefs starting to surface.

What we want to do is to replace our fearful beliefs with the joyful beliefs aligned with our desires.  We want to focus on deep desires, desires of the higher aspects of the self, not just material desires.  When we are focused on those “heart centered” desires, we will have loads of support from the universe.  We will be working with the quantum aspect of the world.
  
Excerpt From: Free Will, Quantum Science, Heart Consciousness, and Creativity
By Amit Goswami, PhD

In Order to Change Your Life
If you want to change your life today—to make it radically different tomorrow—you must engage in the creative process. This process requires the ability to respond without sifting through past memories. It also requires cohesiveness of intention, and purposefulness. You really have to wake up to the fact that you are not a machine randomly responding to chance events in the world. You are actually a purposeful, embodied consciousness.

The universe has a purpose; it evolves in order to make better and better representations of love, beauty, justice, truth, good­ness—all those things that Plato called archetypes. When you wake up to this purposefulness, you become focused.
If you don’t tune in to the purposefulness of the universe, it all seems meaningless and you risk becoming hedonistic—you explore things that are pleasurable and avoid things that are painful. Your life will be driven by ordinary dreams—a big house, an expensive car, and other physical and material pleasures. But the real American Dream is about the pursuit of happiness, not pleasure. What’s the difference? Too much pleasure always ends up in pain. But have you ever had too much happiness?


https://drive.google.com/file/d/15cVPArOGxlV5PRUnNTCAuzWgthEPyY6P/view?usp=sharing
​ 

Today's first introductory session to our course Strengthening the Spiritual Core presented the main components of our next three months of self-exploration: the three aspects of the human being - the Intellectual Life, or mental life - the Feeling Life, the heart center - and the life of the Will, the act of creating.

Our first month is focused on the mental life.  This is the realm of beliefs and values.  We started our session by looking at some of the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others, and also beliefs about the world.  We looked at where these beliefs were not supporting our best interest.  It is interesting to see how our own inner beliefs can be in conflict with each other.  

This first month we will do some work to try to identify and strengthen our healthy beliefs and core values.  This is such important work.

I was looking over some of my notes from earlier on this topic, and came across an article on Brene Brown from Forbes magazine.  One of her core factors for being a leader is based on this same idea.  She writes:

​Living Your Values (Rather Than Simply Professing Them)
Get clear on what you believe and check that your intentions, words, thoughts and behaviors align with your beliefs. Name your values by writing them down. Then identify core behaviors that represent how you might live those values. And, what are the behaviors that tell you that you’re off course?
Courageous leaders who live their values instead of just talking about them are never silent about hard things. For example, courageous leaders do not partake in willful blindness. As a leader, you must be aware of what is going on around you. You must realize when to act and know that sometimes you need to act in difficult situations. It takes courage to recognize these opportunities for leadership and to set an example for your team. Making decisions that honor your values will be tough because doing the right thing is rarely easy.

We are all leaders in our own lives.  We become leaders when I recognize what we want and move towards it.  When we use our own inner compass to guide our decisions and actions rather than relying on on others to decide for us.

We hope you can  join us for our continuing conversation on how to connect to our deep inner purpose through strengthening our connection to who we truly are and who we want to be in the world.

Please Join us Tuesday January 4th at 7PM CST. 

Abigail Larrison is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Abigail Larrison's Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 4, 2022 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

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I am at home with the holiday blues, and wondering if it is all worth the effort, and then I happened to watch this youtube video.

https://youtu.be/0xQ_OTilgEM

I remembered that I am not alone in the effort to live a life based on Love rather than Fear.

So come and join us in our efforts to live a more meaningful life.

Join like minded people on January 1st at 11AM Central Time for our annual Intentions Setting Ceremony!

Make 2022 a year filled with courageous, heart-centered living.  Bring a candle to light as you set meaningful intentions for the new year.

You are also welcome to stay online with us for the second hour for an introduction to our course Strengthening Your Spiritual Core!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87560864301?pwd=dXd1R283YnFPSktKUmxLdlZOM0VFZz09

Meeting ID: 875 6086 4301
Passcode: 466933

What if your thoughts had the power to attract the things you wanted into your life?  Well, ample research evidence suggests indeed they do.  So why is it that when we do all of these positive affirmations, our hopes and dreams do not suddenly manifest before our eyes.

Well, most likely it is because those positive images are drowned out by the thousands of negative images we project unconsciously into the field.

So, start using your consciousness wisely.  When you are confronted with a fear, take some steps to ensure it doesn't overwhelm you.

First, use logic.  Have I been in this situation before?  What happened?  Did it turn out alright?  If not, have I learned from it, so that I can use that new-found knowledge to create a better outcome?

Second, imagine what the best possible outcome would be.  You don't have to know how it will happen, just entertain that outcome.

Then, imagine other best-case scenarios.  Keep envisioning what you want, instead of what you don't want.

I can hear you now, "But that is just wishful thinking, it is not reality."  "I have to look at the evidence." 

And so that inner critic continues protesting, "If I choose all this positive thinking, that would be living in a fantasy."  

First off, if you are looking at the evidence, make sure you are examining all the evidence. Look at the evidence that fits a positive outcome, not just the evidence that fits the negative outcome.

Most important remember, all of our imaginings, whether positive or negative, are fantasy.  They are not real.  They are our thoughts.

Like Neville Goddard says, "Thoughts Become Things."

So, choose your thoughts wisely, start training your brain to create the life you want!

Join us for our New Year's Intentions setting on New Year's Day at 11:00 CST.  Start your year off right and learn about our first course of the year!
​

A friend Suzanne sends me morning messages to inspire and sometimes just to make me laugh.  Yesterday she sent me one by Thomas Merton.  I am vaguely familiar with Merton, and had superficially read through some of his autobiography years ago, but this quote resonated with me, and led me on a search for more.  I truly had no idea of the wealth of insights and guidance in his teachings.  A quick search brought me to dozens of meditations and recordings.  I brief dive into the material had my soul stirring!   

The quote she sent me is what started it all.  Mainly because it spoke to my present state and reminded me of the way in which I can go through all moments in life, choosing the highest expression of myself, when I look for those opportunities to do so. Even those moments that are extremely challenging are to be savored as opportunities.  These moments that I want to avoid because of the pain they bring, are actually the tipping point, the falling away of the old.  If I can see the opportunities and possibilities in these challenges, then I will most definitely grow into my greatest potential. 

Here is the quote:
"You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going.  What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."

As we enter 2022, let's be intentional about year.  Let's set a plan in front of us.  The power of a heart centered intention cannot be overstated.  It doesn't mean that I know how the plan will be enacted or can decide the specific outcome.  What it means is that I am connected to my heart's desire, and I am navigating my world in connection to that highest value-state.  Setting intentions is a powerful way to live our destiny rather than to be kicked about by fate.

Our intention setting ceremony, to be held at 11AM CST on New Year's Day, will focus on bringing into awareness this vast and expansive array of possibilities and challenges that are set before us as we embark on a new year.  

Please Join Us Via Zoom!
Check back here for the link or contact us to get on our email list here: Get In Touch

Below is one of the many meditations on Thomas Merton's work. 

It creates a beautiful preliminary to our work in the course Strengthening Your Core.

From this you will realize our goal, reconnecting to the true-self, the authentic-self, the spiritual core of our being that radiates love, and joy, and creativity, and spontaneity.

Please listen to his word here, or read them below, and then join us after the intentions setting ceremony for our introduction to our second run of the course "Strengthening Your Spiritual Core"

https://youtu.be/Uj5k6-7aVQ4

Only silence can reach that dimension of reality that is too deep for words.

Silence has many dimensions, it can be a regression or an escape, a loss of self, or it can be presence, awareness, unification, self-discovery.

Negative silence, blurs reality, and we lapse into daydreams or diffuse anxieties.

Positive silence pulls us together and makes us realize who we are, who we might be, and the distance between the two.

Positive silence implies a discipline choice.

Creative silence requires a certain amount of faith, for when we come face to face with ourselves in the lonely ground of our own being we confront many questions about the value of our existence, the reality of our commitments and the authenticity of our everyday lives.

When we are constantly in movement, always busy, meeting the demands of our social roles, passively carried along on the stream of talk in which people mill around morning to night. We are perhaps able to escape from our deeper self and from the questions it poses.  We can be more or less content with the external identity, the social-self, which is produced by our interactions with others in the wheeling and dealing in everyday life. 

In the silence we are challenged to be with ourselves.  To drop the social self entirely now who am I?

If you are sharing an awkward silence with yourself, perhaps it is not working yet.  For there is no such thing as awkward silence, only being awkward in the silence.

Let go of the awkward, put down the mask, just Be silent with yourself.

What you hear in that silence may be the noisy screams of the social-self not to be let go of.  

But you can let it fade for now. 

And in real silence, in the positive silence, open to the experience of the real self that arises.

If we are afraid of being alone, afraid of silence, t is perhaps because of our secret despair of inner reconciliation.  If we have no hope of being at peace with ourselves in our own personal loneliness and silence, we will never be able to face ourselves at all we will keep running and never stop.

In silence we do not simply confront ourselves we become ourselves.

In silence we face and admit, the gap between the depths of our being which we consistently ignore and the surface which is untrue to our own reality.

We recognize the need to be at home with ourselves, in order that we may go out and meet others, not just with the mask of affability, but with real commitment and authentic love.

When we live superficially, when we are always outside ourselves, never quite with ourselves. Always divided and pulled in many directions by conflicting plans and projects, we find ourselves doing many things that we do not really want to do, saying things that we do not really mean, needing things that we do not really need, exhausting ourselves for what we secretly realize to be worthless and without meaning in our lives.

Every man needs enough silence and solitude in their lives to allow the deep inner voice of their own true self to be heard at least occasionally.

When that inner voice is not heard, when man cannot attain to the spiritual peace that comes from being one with his own true self, his life is always miserable and exhausting. 

He cannot go on happily for long, unless he is contact with the springs of his own spiritual life, which are hidden in the depths of his own soul.

If man is always exiled from his own home, locked out of his spiritual solitude, he ceases to be a true person.  He becomes a kind of automaton, living without joy because he has lost his spontaneity.  He no longer lives from within, but only from outside himself.

We are now in the final stretch of 2021 and so it is time to tap into the New Year energy!  We will host our annual New Year's Intention setting on New Year's Day at 11AM CST.  Stay posted for more information.  

It is incredible what we can accomplish in a year.  Life is filled with so many opportunities.  We tend to get bogged down in the mundane and lose sight of what our soul is really calling us to do.  Make this year the one where you finally step outside of your routine to move purposely onto your heart-centered path.

Following our intentions setting on New Year's Day, we will host a summary of our upcoming course.  If you are interested in living a more heart-centered life, please come join us for the second run of our course "Strengthening Your Spiritual Core".

This is work of the heart.  Learning to love the self.  Learning to connect to the Higher Self when making choices in life.  There is only one person who truly knows what it is you are meant to do, that is you.

We falsely identify our self with what I call our "ego interfacing personality".  That is the part of us that has been shaped through our experiences in the world.  The true Self is not the personality, or the product of our life experiences, it is the eternal Self.  The spiritual Self that has incarnated onto this planet in order to fulfill your divine purpose.

Those of us who have lost touch with that authentic Self have difficulties making decisions, knowing which way to go in our lives, feeling lost and a lack of meaning and connection.  When we tune back into who we truly are, that expansive loving awareness flows through us, and we are able to live a life filled with peace, serenity and endless amounts of unconditional love.

This year we will continue the hybrid format, and host our bi-weekly event in the Yoga space at the Community House.  Please check out more about the course and find the course schedule here, and please be sure to register if you are interested in participating.

My first stint in graduate school was at the Institute of Animal Behavior, a now defunct department at Rutgers that focused on Ethology.  Ethology is a powerful field of studying behavior and resulting phenomenon and using the scientific method to evaluate theories on the purpose of these.  So my training was in classical scientific method.   As a scientist, when doing an experiment, you start with a theory.  Our theory is that energy healing is an effective tool for physical and emotional dis-ease.

Let's just say, even if we are uncertain of the mechanism of how something works, the evidence that it does work warrants further exploration.  Furthermore, it is always mind-blowing when it does since it questions our materialistic view of the world.  

Last night at our healing circle, we had the opportunity to see this mind-blowing power at work.  We started our session with the prayer of St. Francis, or rather the Twin Hearts meditation as it was developed by GMCKS, founder of Pranic Healing.   We all felt the energy flow through our hearts to our hands.  I have done this mediation hundreds of times, and it was pretty powerful even with just the three of us.  

We followed the meditation with a brief intro into how Pranic Healing works.  Even though my formal training is in classical neuroscience, I spent over a decade training in bioenergy healing, working with Master Co, the primary disciple of GMCKS.  I have treated my own training more like an academic or scientific journey, and less like a healer or practitioner.  But, I have been feeling called to start using these tools as I am seeing the need for healing in our community.

The system calls for cleansing and then energizing the energy field (or aura and chakras).  There are specific patterns for various diseased states, but a general approach is a direct one.  That is, if it hurts, clean it with white or green prana and then energize it with white, or violet.  *there are specifics about color, but these color choices are a safe bet.  

One of the ladies had a tooth abscess, so we  swept the area with clean prana, and then briefly energized it to support the healing.  We ended the session with a prayer of thanks.  It was probably about an hour later that she called me, so excited to tell me the news.  The abscess was gone!  It had burst when she got home, and drained on its own.  I was so excited.  Like I said, I have always observed these things as a scientist--holding no expectation, just performing the experiment and recording the results.  To have another positive example, makes me laugh in my heart.  This stuff is so freaking cool!

This is not pretend-land, but founded in the powerful facts of the workings of consciousness and the magnetic fields (or morphic fields--or consciousness fields) of our bodies.   The how of it all is still a matter left to those who are leading the way in our advancing understanding of the multi-dimensional reality.  But why should we wait to understand quantum mechanics of energy healing, when we have a powerful healing tool at our fingertips (quite literally)?!

Consciousness Explorations has a curriculum of online courses.  Most of these are in development, however, we successfully ran the course designed to help strengthen your connection to your higher self, through developing greater self-awareness and fostering self-love.  This is our first offering of the New Year 2022 and will run from January until March.

​Strengthening Your Spiritual Core is a journey of discovering and connecting to our Self with a capital S.  We will meet twice a month on the new and full moons to set intentions to connect to and work with our highest aspects of self.  

From the course description:

Each of us has a divine path.  It is through our connection to our higher self, the part of us that knows and remembers, who we truly are that we find our way to this path.  What causes us to forget?  What causes us to stray and become aimless?  How can I step back onto my path and come to realize my divine purpose in the world?

The course was a powerful experience for me, as I found I was able to transform old beliefs about my abilities in music, and to embrace the creative act of singing, which I now do fearlessly every day!

We will be sending invitations all this month to participate so if you are interested in learning more, please contact us.