The body has its own wisdom and ways of knowing, separate and distinct from that of the mind. The mind thinks while the body feels. From each of these ways of knowing we get valuable information. Just as seeing and hearing are two totally distinct senses that supply us with discrete sensations, so too the body gives us different feedback than the mind. Our bodies have a special and unique relationship with the vibrating matrix of our reality, one which we can learn to tap into and learn from. Table of Contents Why Is It So Hard to Listen to the Wisdom of Your Body? Scientific Insights Practical Benefits of Embracing Body Wisdom Integrating Mind, Body, and Soul The Heart Intelligence Why Is It So Hard to Listen to the Wisdom of Your Body? Unfortunately, our Western culture has a history of misunderstanding this relationship. Instead of seeing our body as special, unique, and a valuable part of who we are, we often dismiss the body as something less than the mind or soul. We have divorced ourselves from our body's wisdom; the body’s feelings are now ignored and dismissed as unimportant or irrelevant. How have we let this happen? Our religions are partly to blame; they mostly have been distrustful of the body, dismissing it as a temporary vehicle whose instincts and desires we must ignore and overcome. There are countless stories of mystics and saints who flogged the body in order to keep it under control, so frightened were they of its powerful instincts and urges. But this seems illogical. From a spiritual point of view, if God has put us in a body, it is probably not for the purpose of fleeing or transcending it, but rather to learn from its mysteries, absorb its great wisdom, and grow from it. But forget spirituality for a moment; just from a very practical point of view, if the body has access to wisdom and knowledge beyond what the mind can access, would it not be prudent to tap into this source of knowledge? If the body does have these capabilities and we are not listening to it, we are undoubtedly missing out on a lot. But does it? Scientific Insights Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio has done extensive research on the body’s ability to feel and process information. “The body contributes more than life support,” he writes. “It contributes content that is part and parcel of the workings of the normal mind.” One of Damasio’s most startling discoveries is how the feelings of the body influence rational thought without us even being aware of the process. Damasio devised an experiment that he called "the gambling task." It worked like this: Each subject received four decks of special cards and with each card the player either won or lost money. The subjects had to turn over the cards one by one from any of the four decks. What they didn’t know was that the decks were rigged. Two of the decks [...]

People talk about living a happy life, a successful life, a meaningful life. But an authentic life? What is that? It's a good question, and one I would like you to think about. Just as “a successful life” can be defined in many ways, so too can an authentic life. For example, some people will define a successful life as one where one has earned a great deal of money and become financially affluent. For others it will be measured by their accomplishments. For still others it will be in the service they performed for humanity. Others again in the amount of happiness and peace of mind they have enjoyed. I have long taught that each of us defines success in our own way, and according to that definition, we set our goals and priorities on the way to achieving this success. So too with living an authentic life. Each of us must define what this means to us. For me, being authentic means being true to yourself, and living the truths and vision you find within. Being authentic means “living” your truths as a day-to-day practice, not holding them as mere “intellectual concepts.” All truths must be lived not just believed. That is why we are here in a body in time and space. This is what life is truly about. We each have an opportunity to practice what we believe. To act out our deepest visions. To have a life that is deep and rich and filled with meaning and purpose. Last month I wrote about knowing and understanding yourself as a prerequisite to self-actualization. It is also a prerequisite to living an authentic life. For how can you be authentic if you don't know and understand yourself? Being authentic means knowing and trusting yourself, honouring the conscious and subconscious minds. Being authentic means listening within to hear the truths that lay awaiting our discovery beyond the inner chatter of day-to-day living. Then once these truths are discovered, to bring them to life by living them through conscious action. It is through action not thought that one becomes authentic. For example, you may through contemplation, Mind Power, meditation, prayer, or whatever method you use to go within for guidance, discover that you feel an overwhelming oneness with humanity. You feel this as more than just a concept. Something deep within you resonates this as truth. In this case, to live an authentic life means to act upon that belief. It might mean donating ten percent of your income to charitable causes, or perhaps giving up a year or two of your life to work in the Third World for those who live in poverty. It could take many forms and all of them would be a reflection of living an authentic life. Being inauthentic would be to believe it but not act upon it. Maybe you don't act upon it because you're afraid or lazy or too busy, putting it off till a more convenient time. And here [...]

It takes courage To do what you want Other people Have a lot of plans for you. - Joseph Campbell The following is an excerpt from The Practice of Happiness, a book by John Kehoe. Yes I am a husband, a son, a brother, a writer, and a tax-paying citizen of Canada, and each of these roles has responsibilities and duties, but first and foremost I am me. And this role I will honour above all else. For if I don’t honour myself, my vision first, by what compass can I chart my life? To what allegiance can I swear other than to my own inner calling? We all have within us hundreds of possible destinies. Not thousands or an unlimited number of destinies. Not all destinies are ours to live and explore, but neither is there just one. Life gives you a choice. Depending upon your circumstances, your actions, and choices, numerous opportunities will be made available to you. To discover your destiny you must discover first what pleases you, where your heart leaps for joy. This is your first clue. Follow your instincts - these are in you for a reason. They are signposts to an exciting and fulfilling life. Choose a destiny that feels appropriate to you and follow it wherever it leads. There is a journey and an adventure ahead. I am speaking now to the twenty-year-old who is beginning his or her life and does not know which way to go - trust your instinct. I speak also to the forty-year-old who is at a midpoint of his life - have courage; there are destinies awaiting you if you heed the call. Listen to the voice within - it is calling you. I speak also to the sixty-year-old who has one last chance to grow old disgracefully. I love that expression. It has spirit in it. I read a book many years ago (the title I forget) about a woman who leaves her husband when she is in her early sixties. It was a true story, chronicling how she made the decision, the horror of the children, all middle-aged, as they tried to talk her out of her foolishness, her uncertainty as she left with only the clothes she could carry in one suitcase. She took only a few thousand dollars, leaving the house, the investments, all the valuables with her husband. The book told the story of her adventures both good and bad, including her lovers. It ended with her in Italy, married to a lusty farmer and living with him in his vineyard. She did not heed her friends’ advice that life was over, and so further destinies awaited her. She had the courage to leave a chronically complaining husband and a marriage that was barren, to trust the call within. That’s growing old disgracefully. There is a forgotten promised land somewhere here, no, not a land, not promised, not even really forgotten, but something calling to you. - Amos Oz When I was [...]

The following is an excerpt from The Practice of Happiness, a book by John Kehoe. Each moment of time is a point in the journey. A point unique and unlike any other point that has come before or will come in the future. Each moment of time is a destination that has been arrived at, whether planned or not. To drink deeply from the moment is to increase your life force - to be aware and awake and alive. To miss the points in the journey is to miss the journey. To think or believe that the points in the journey should be something other than what they are is to miss the essence of the points. It is to miss the journey. Some moments match our expectations of what we think they should be and some moments do not. All are points in the journey. All are jewels and beads in the sacred necklace of our life. The present moment is always filled with infinite treasures. It contains far more than we are capable of receiving. We, however, get into the habit of categorizing our points as good or bad, exciting or dull, important or unimportant, according to both our expectations and interpretations of them. Our expectations and interpretations are filters and blinders that rob and hide from us the essence of what is before us. This is one of the great tragedies of life, because what is before us is nothing less than the miracle of life. It is so easy to miss it, not see it. We get busy. We get preoccupied. We get lost in our own fantasies and worries and expectations when all around us our life is unfolding in the most miraculous ways. Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon The now is always perfect, vibrant and full. If you think it is less than perfect the problem is with you. Stop and think about this fact. Every moment is utterly unique and will never be repeated again, not in all of eternity. This fact alone should focus your attention on what you're experiencing now. Surrender to the moment. Let go of thinking. Enter for a moment the place where all problems dissolve. When the rational mind is silenced, the intuitive mode produces an extraordinary awareness. Our environment is experienced in a direct way, without the filter of conceptual thinking. And what do we see and experience? Everything becomes grander and fuller, and we discover that we need nothing other than what is before us. There is a sense of wonder and awe, and we see beauty and meaning where none existed before. When you reign in your consciousness and focus it on the now, life becomes much more alive and vibrant. Worries and stress dissolve. Concerns over some possible future events seem absurd. Why worry when the now contains everything you could possibly need? There will be plenty of time to worry tomorrow. Take no thought of tomorrow [...]

Energy-wise, it is not just what we think and do that counts, but equally who we are. Who we are vibrates a unique frequency that resonates throughout the entire energy web. We cannot ignore who we are.  To develop character means we take on the qualities and habits that are most in alignment with our ultimate vision of ourselves. Petty habits that no longer serve us must be dropped, but when we drop our pettiness what do we replace it with? Nature abhors a vacuum and will rush to replace whatever we eliminate with something else. But this works to our advantage, as it gives us an unprecedented opportunity to replace our pettiness with the opposite quality, then let this become our new vibration. We eliminate self-pity and replace it with gratitude. We drop our self-importance and develop humility. We change worry into confidence and fear into faith. We eliminate greediness with generosity; laziness with self-discipline. We become proactive in changing who we are. We look at all the habits we presently possess and ask ourselves do they serve us? Are they in our best interests? Do they help others? Do I want these qualities resonating within me? If the answer is no then we must change them into something else. Discovering what qualities we possess and having the courage to face the truth of who we are is what I call personal archeology. Developing our character in this way gives us a new tool to shift ourselves into whatever we choose. We are able to change whatever we don’t like about ourselves and take on whatever qualities we admire. We do this because we understand the potentials of developing ourselves in this way. Our ability to execute on our best intentions and to do great things depends on who we are. Developing character is envisioning the qualities that are most beneficial for us and having the discipline to practice them until they take hold within us. Courage, compassion, self-discipline, generosity, confidence, faith, creativity, resilience, all these and more exist for us as possibilities. There is no limit to what we can do and become when we put our mind to it. We can weave the web having a clear image of what we wish to be and become. Everything is possible to us. Every day gives us opportunities for building character. It is in our interactions with others, how we deal with difficult situations and the challenges and opportunities of daily life where we demonstrate who we are. The game of life always gives us opportunities to enhance ourselves. Life is always putting us in situations that call forth the best in us, that can help us to grow. We need to be challenged in real life situations to see whether our character is solid or not. It is through this process that we build character and make ourselves strong. We should welcome everything that comes our way, knowing that all things serve their purpose when we have committed [...]