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Encounters With Power

Dear friends,

We are all faced with events in life that make it seem like we have no choice in the matter. Think of a time in your life when you thought the situation you faced gave you no choice. As you reflect back on this event, do you still feel that way? Do you still believe you had no choice, or can you now see choices you could not see then? What can you change and what is not in your power to change?

From a shamanic perspective, there are always many more options than we thought we had because, like a quantum physicist, a shaman does not accept the outward appearance of anything. Our solid appearing bodies are anything but solid at the subatomic level. They are mostly empty space—and if that is so, what might we be able to do with them that we thought we could not?

Walk over hot coals? Pass through a wall? Travel great distances in the blink of an eye? Consider what you have resigned yourself to in your life? Is it just a reality to be endured or is it an essence-created test—an initiatory challenge to motivate you to move beyond it?

Examine your feelings about your fate closely. Is there grief? Is there anger and bitterness—perhaps resentment? These emotions can be clues to your fatalism about certain aspects of your life. Who are you trying to punish with your victim stance? Who are you trying to prove wrong or right in the matter?

If you wish, go back and choose a current situation where you feel you are stuck and do the process again.

This process is just one I’ve learned over the years as I’ve sought out extraordinary healers across the globe. I’ve had terrifying, enlightening, and at times hugely entertaining adventures. Power can destroy us or it can raise us up by teaching us and nourishing us. I may not be a master, but I have learned a few things that you may find helpful on your own quest. I share all of this in my new book, Encounters with Power: Adventures and Misadventures on the Shamanic Path of Healing.

 

Warm wishes to you on your path,

José Luis Stevens

The Ultimate Spiritual Guide for Men

Dear Friends,

 

I’m thrilled to celebrate the release of the 20th Anniversary Edition of my book, The Way of the Superior Man. Two decades after it was first published, The Way of the Superior Man is more relevant than ever. New styles of sexual expression are emerging as old roles for men and women are rapidly dissolving. In this new world, women are taking the lead.

In our new world, a man’s presence—his depth of awareness—is his most valuable asset. A man’s worth can be found in his depth of being. The Way of the Superior Man is the way of cultivating total trust in the reality that is living you right now. However vast it may be, reality is happening now, and it includes you. Feel what is, as it is, without resisting the boundless whole. Feeling all, saying “yes” to the entire now, you will know who you are. You will know yourself as the awake fullness of this entire moment, the very force of being.

The Way of the Superior Man is to realize your true strength by knowing who you are at depth, right now. You learn to feel into awareness fully, so you know yourself as conscious presence. You grow to trust the alive fullness of this moment, appearing spontaneously as you and your experience. Your capacity to embody this profound force of presence in your gaze, breath, and action determines your perceived value, sexually and financially. Your woman and your world long for the authentic power of your awakened heart offered through your whole body.

May your deepest gifts overflow in The Way of the Superior Man.

David Deida

The New Science of Empathy and Empaths

Dear friends,

The Dalai Lama says, “Empathy is the most precious human quality.” During these stressful times, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I feel passionately that empathy is the medicine the world needs right now.

Empathy doesn’t make you a sentimental softy without discernment. It allows you to keep your heart open to foster tolerance and understanding. In my new book The Empath’s Survival Guide, I discuss the following intriguing scientific explanations of empathy and empaths. These will help us more deeply understand the power of empathy so we can utilize and honor it in our lives.

  1. The Mirror Neuron System

Researchers have discovered a specialized group of brain cells that are responsible for compassion. These cells enable everyone to mirror emotions—to share another person’s pain, fear, or joy. Because empaths are thought to have hyper-responsive mirror neurons, we deeply resonate with other people’s feelings.

 

  1. Electromagnetic Fields

The second finding is based on the fact that both the brain and the heart generate electromagnetic fields. According to the HeartMath Institute, these fields transmit information about people’s thoughts and emotions. Empaths may be particularly sensitive to this input and tend to become overwhelmed by it.

 

  1. Emotional Contagion

Research has shown that many people pick up the emotions of those around them. For instance, one crying infant will set off a wave of crying in a hospital ward. Or one person loudly expressing anxiety in the workplace can spread it to other workers. People commonly catch other people’s feelings in groups.

 

  1. Increased Dopamine Sensitivity

The fourth finding involves dopamine, a neurotransmitter that increases the activity of neurons and is associated with the pleasure response. Research has shown that introverted empaths tend to have a higher sensitivity to dopamine than extroverts. Basically, they need less dopamine to feel happy.

 

  1. Synesthesia

The fifth finding, which I find particularly compelling, is the extraordinary state called “mirror-touch synesthesia.” Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which two different senses are paired in the brain. For instance, you see colors when you hear a piece of music or you taste words. Famous synesthetics include Isaac Newton, Billy Joel, and violinist Itzhak Perlman. However, with mirror-touch synesthesia, people can actually feel the emotions and sensations of others in their own bodies as if these were their own.

Studies show that one out of every five people is highly sensitive. It is my heartfelt wish that you or someone you love will benefit from The Empath’s Survival Guide and gain the tools to cherish your precious sensitivities. Get your free chapter and download bonus gifts.

With gratitude,

Dr. Judith Orloff

Miracles at Work

Friends –

If you’re reading this, it’s safe to assume that you are on a spiritual journey.

Me too.

And the most transformative insight I’ve gained over many years of spiritual study is that love is the foundation of our being.

This sounds nice, of course, until you apply it at work.

Then things tend to get a bit messy.

That’s because we are told we have to be “tough” to get ahead, and yet for many of us, being tough feels out of alignment with love.

On the other hand, being “soft” feels—well, soft.

If you relate to this struggle, perhaps you’ve also made attempts to compartmentalize your “spiritual” self and your “business” self, only to feel lacking in both.

This is where A Course in Miracles comes in and where you can use the Course’s insight to achieve a high level of career success while honoring your sacred path at the same time.

In my new book, Miracles at Work: Turning Inner Guidance into Outer Influence, I’ve taken the basic principles of A Course in Miracles and translated them into dozens of practical tools that will enhance your experience and influence on the job, regardless of whether you are a student of the Course or not.  

As a small sample of what you can expect, I invite you to try this experiment from Miracles at Work:

Instead of viewing “love” as a gesture of affection, try thinking of it as a rejection of any littleness within your own mind. In this sense, love doesn’t mean running around your office in a cloying state of sweetness; rather, it becomes a moment-by-moment practice of dissolving any judgment that can lead to emotional instability. As a result, the more you remove the judgment, the more you will find yourself becoming a clear channel for the expression of compassion and wisdom towards yourself and others.

Far from being soft or naïve, I would argue that this is actually the most sophisticated way you can show up in the world – and in Miracles at Work I’ll show you how it’s done.

Let’s get started,

Emily

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS – Order Miracles at Work today and receive more than six hours of free bonus interviews. Click here for details.

Whatever Arises, Love That

The holiday season is a chance to offer gifts and goodwill as symbols of gratitude to those we love. Whether enjoying warm meals with family, watching marathons of classic movies that remind us of a more innocent time, or feeling the winter magic that allows us to be more open, generous, and kind to others, the holidays somehow make life a more precious gift to receive.

What if the magic wasn’t reserved just for the holiday season, but could be celebrated within you in every moment?

What if the perfect gift, which was created just for you, is to awaken the unconditional love that always resides within your heart? What if this holiday season became an opportunity to explore the joy of emotional freedom in the most profound and heart-centered way?

While so many yearn for the grace of unconditional love, many tend to be confused, overwhelmed, or frustrated at not knowing how to open up to it. This is why I wrote Whatever Arises, Love That.

This book has been described as “an owner’s manual for a new spiritual paradigm.” It acts as a wise and loving companion throughout the uncertainties of an ever-changing world.

Now available as an unabridged audiobook, Whatever Arises, Love That is a powerful catalyst of healing for all stages of spiritual evolution.

This holiday season has a new soundtrack, reminding us that no matter what arises in life, “You deserve more love, not less.”
Many blessings always,

Matt Kahn

The Way Under the Way

Over the last few years, I’ve been collecting, evolving, and refining over 20 years of my poetry, which includes 217 poems collected in this book. These poems cover much of the ground in which I’ve been learning and growing with regards to the inner life.

One poem that is fundamental to the book is “Being Here.” When I was young, I found it hard to be here and to move through the world. Like many romantics, I wanted to transcend out of here. Of course, experience only landed me deeper into life. After my cancer journey, it became clear that there is nowhere to go, nowhere to transcend to but here. The image of sweeping a path though there is always more to sweep became a great teacher for me. That image led to this poem, which helps me stay on the path of living the one life I have to live.

BEING HERE

Transcending down into
the ground of things is akin
to sweeping the leaves that
cover a path.  There will always
be more leaves.  And the heart
of the journey, the heart of our
own awakening, is to discover for
ourselves that the leaves are not
the ground, and that sweeping
them aside will reveal a path,
and finally, that to fully live,
we must take the path and
keep sweeping it.

For me, the poems are the teachers. They arrive with their wisdom and become my guides. What they surface becomes my inner curriculum and by staying in conversation with them, I grow. We’re all drawn to what we need to learn, which if engaged with honesty reveals insights common to us all.

My hope is that the arc of these poems will be aids in living, listening, and beholding each other. I offer them as small wonders found and cared for through the years. I hope you might find one that, held close to your heart, will serve as a guide.

By Mark Nepo

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