This post is in response to emails and comments I’ve received regarding accessing the Default when people have the experience that they were damaged from their earliest memory and earlier.
Here’s the summary: The most important thing is for you to begin tracking for the most exquisite form of you that you know, learning how you do yourself when you’re like that, and doing that all the time. That’s your Default. Establish it as powerfully as you can. Do it often and do it for longer and longer periods of time. Once you’re really good at it – begin rewriting your history in a way that brings your newly acquired state to your entire life, past and present.
{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
HI,
I love this posting. It reminds me of living the best story told yet by me in my life and how I unfold. I like to think of questions that prompt me or bias me in the direction of choice and that is congruent with who I am.
One questions is does the story constrain/limit/problematize you or does the story create some excitation/adventure/possibility and opening? The other question is does the story set the ground for the most Magnificent story of one’s life that hasn’t been told yet?
Welcome back to your home.
Best,
T
Hi T!
Check out a wonderful view of our collective story by watching the discovery Channel’s “How the Universe Works”. Afterwards, the cacophonous big bangs in IIG may give you a whole new feeling.
Hey Andria,
I’ll have to check that out. It is a whole new feeling that I’ve accessed. It’s beyond what I had experienced in the past and it’s informed by the future experience.
Best,
T
I love this video. For any of you who may want to make this really complex, Devon’s answer is simple: this story, this psychological story that gets wound into the system, that stands as a challenge to be broken through on your way to the perfect you, this story is just tightened muscles. Whenever the past traumatic event or time period happened, you tensed muscles…muscles that have not released or known what it’s like to be fully relaxed and reset since before the occurrence.
The answer? Listen to IIG, continue to relax…reset. In relaxing your muscles, you are allowing the inner light from inside you, the part of you that lies deeper inside of you than from whence the story came, to flood your system and melt away all of the muscles that tensed out of fear and misunderstanding.
Keep listening and it makes me so happy to read of everyone’s progress on their path to perfection!
Thanks, Devon. It does get easier and easier as we reframe our state of being in each and every moment, and really feel the difference until our body registers the state of being too. What I’ve come to appreciate is that we, as souls, have incarnated many lifetimes intending to learn the lessons that we signed on the dotted line to learn. We then set up every soul that we’ve known from previous lifetimes to help us learn those lessons. It’s no coincidence that we have a challenging time letting go of a specific person(s), and it’s because we’ve shared many lifetimes with him/her/them.
Given this scenario of the soul’s evolution, it makes sense that we would use the default to allow ourselves the self-love and self-acceptance that we really came to learn in this incarnation. We’re courageous souls to intend to come into this earth experience at this time, and I honor everyone who made this decision.
wow! Tami!…. that is so beautiful. what you wrote…. i absolutely agree…….perfect peace………..rainey
Thank you, Rainey. To soul connections and learning the messages
.
Hi Devon,
This is a good direction. Thank you. In the months just before I was introduced to IIG I was already breaking through a lot of the Maternal rejection from my early childhood and even starting to realize that my mother’s absolute despair and resentment toward me began before I was born and probably at the moment she realized I was in her oven. Although it was a little uncomfortable for me to hear in the first few sessions, the “womb sounds” and references in IIG have really helped to show me that I existed before the resentment and the rejection in her thoughts ever did. Before my mother even knew about me,,,,,,,,,,,,,
I existed.
Whole. Here. Alive. Perfect. Now.
That is the state I gather my purest Default essence from and it works best for me. I know that many people have way stronger early negative influences than mere maternal resentment and neglect, but I believe IIG can also help them to find their original state before all the bs ever even started. It has certainly cleared a lot of those murky amniotic fluids for me! I also followed a sort of step by step letting go, room by room airing out process. I was very lucky that IIG came into my life at a time when so many of these energies and forces were already starting to unfold themselves before me. IIG just seems to have given me a valid source of basic guidelines and truths to work from and has accelerated and boosted my process by leaps and bounds! I look forward to learning even more about, and from, my human operating system each and every day. Thank you for your insight and for reaching out to so many of us who thought we were alone in all of this. ……….peace…….rainey
Hey Rainey,
I am really loving your comments lately and today is no exception!
One of Devon’s favorite rules of neurohacking has always been, “Cells that fire together wire together.” In reestablishing your Default as the baseline awareness after years, sometimes decades of bad programming, this is most certainly the case.
For many people, the cells that have been firing for them have created highly charged, negative emotions. At that point, that is the strongest state, however, the more the Default is tapped the less charged those memories become.
It is phenomenal to look back and see this in action. All those highly charged stories that we believe to be truth are actually nothing but…well…stories. And when we realize this whole form, we begin to view all those “horrible” moments in our lives through the lens of the Default. Everything becomes singular with the Default at the base.
All the best,
Steve
YES!, Thanks Steve. You are exactly right. I was thinking yesterday about the line Devon uses in IIG “grow yourself up again” and that is a perfect analogy of what happens each time we go through the memories/stories and realign our perceptions of an event while using our most recently acquired perfect truths. (is this re-framing?) With every visit the negative energies are weakened and the positive ones are stronger. And i am now noticing too, thanks to Chip, how with each story there is a definite muscle configuration that occurred and I am focusing my awareness on the precise point in the event when the muscle tension manifested itself then accessing the default and allowing a release before moving to the next scene of that story….Next time i look at that story I can glean the real lessons there from a relaxed default position…. its a bit time consuming and takes some starts and stops but is also very rewarding and exhilarating! I truly am growing myself up again with my own future assistance… i can only believe this is an infinite practice for me…….
…(big chessey toothy grin)..
lotsa love to everyone and keep blogging, it really helps so much to read everyone’s points of view…………..
perfect peace………….rainey
Awesome, and yes, your description of reframing is right on the money.
The other night I dreamed that the City of Perth blew up. There was no sound but I saw it: two (at least) big blasts and the city was demolished. The next day, however, I felt clear and light and good. Since then my body has gone through all sorts of strong and weird tensions in the aftermath of what feels like my capital headquarters blowing up. I have no idea who I am but am enjoying the ride. IIG is a good new process and even better that it is shared so readily with the world.
Hi Devon,
IIG is certainly an interesting process. Watching myself slip in and out of the default is an amazing experience. I’ve been listening every day (multiple X each day) since I downloaded and have certainly noticed that there are times when my anxiety is much more pronounced than it had been previously. My energy level has also increased – maybe another expression of anxiety – at any rate things are shifting rapidly and I look forward to being able to return to the default when in the presence of “difficult” people. For the moment, I will just remove myself from their presence to reframe until I can maintain the default when dealing with them.
Thanks for reminding me to write down what it is that I want to attain – esp in the area of health. Kind of like goal setting. I need to have a copy to refer to so that I can ensure I am on course.
Cheers,
B
Hey Banba,
I think you are totally on the right track!
The old axiom rings true, in that you become more like whatever you are surrounded by. If one surrounds themselves with energy vampires, they become depleted and if they surround themselves with passionate people, that rubs off too!
Personally, when I experienced the Default I wanted to create a life that supported this state. I changed friends, changed careers and changed interests all to better acquaint myself with the Default. The more I deepened and expanded the experience the more I attracted what I wanted and repelled what I didn’t.
It’s funny to see the people I was friends with long ago. For some of them, my way of being teased out the aspects that I respected in them most. By moving towards singularity I rocked them into it as well. Still, there are others who perceive my way of being as a threat. They are repelled because it threatens who they think they are. Tough noogies
Thanks for sharing Banba
Steve
Thank you for sharing Banba…glad to hear you are enjoying the growing power and stability inside of you
It is helpful for me to remember that, before I even knew about the Default, I had experiences of it…every day.
What happened in these experiences is that something about my surroundings triggered a response in me…the environment usually felt warm, and like a bell that begins vibrating at the frequency of its surroundings, my system responded with its own power and warmth.
IIG has taught me it’s possible to generate this response for myself…so that even when the response that I’m generating to my outside world is not one that I would like, I feel empowered to keep listening, to keep exposing myself to the edge of my comfort zone. With patience, I can gradually see the frontier recede and my comfort zone expand…until I am generating that organic warmth on the coldest of days!
Two more things that you are bringing up for me that is always a great reminder: 1) The universe is supporting us in every way, shape or form…as long as we keep our senses attuned to it 2) Energy flows where attention goes
IIG will take care of the rest!
Hi Devon,
Thanks for your work. I think you are amazing, and I hope to continue living and learning through your program… I want to share my experience. I feel that I am a lowly neophyte… Over the years, in many different places and through many different mediums Yoga and meditation being significant), I have been blessed with many bursts of awareness, and many periods of “alignment”… Yet the mundane seems to creep in… life’s challenges seem to knock me back into living…
I was SO excited to be introduced to your program, thrilled, and began sharing about it BEFORE I listened to it for the first time (I had THAT much of a positive experience just being introduced to you through your video).However, I had a rather significantly negative experience when I did. My family life was not easy, but I feel that I have overcome it… for the most part.
I have to say I am amazed that I was so powerfully brought back into the womb, and that my awareness of that experience was so powerful. But it was so difficult that I turned off the program, and have not listened to it since. It was really, really difficult, to become SO aware of the negativity that my mom was experiencing at that time… Not surprising, but difficult, and since I did not know what to do… and did not have a lot of time (I am a grad student, and am rather pressed for time) I did not pursue sharing my experience, or trying again.
I appreciate that other people have had similar experiences, and I think it lends a great deal of validity…(is validity the right word?) to your program. It is POWERFUL. I appreciate your following up with this. Maybe you should think of warning people who had difficult birth or childhood experiences?
Just a thought, and I will try again.. It is sort of scary, and seems like it will be hard to create a new beginning, but I will try. I have faith…
Sue
Hi,
I appreciate the story you shared and want to encourage you to go underneath that story into a place deeper and more like your other experiences of bursts of awereness and alignment.
Part of the process is relaxing underneath the somatic contraction of safety or keeping things familiar. I would suggest being completely open to an absolutely different and new experience and being steadfast in your all out efforts to relax: breathing, slowing down, tensing and releasing that which gets tight, letting go, letting go, have a full blown expectation of your Default.
All of us have a profound and deep experience of the Default with well beeing, readiness and relaxation. It’s getting through and unlearning what’s on top of it. I would even tap into the excitment that you generated inside of yourself with your representation of what the program would be like. That experience seems like an opening to possibility.
Before doing the IIG I did work, training in somatics and truama work. There I had a fully body release of trauma throughout the body. If I had done the IIG at the time I would have gone more directly underneath all of that by relaxing and letting go of stories (representations of what it was/is).
I look forward to hearing about your new experience.
Best,
T
Thanks T~
“Relaxing and letting go of stories (representations of what it was/is)”… that’s the key… For many years I have been fond of an artist on Cape Cod who tells us to “always be beginning”… always be a beginner… it has a whole new meaning.
And so it is…
Yes. I love the practice of always being a beginner. The art and practice of the complete and total release and letting go of one’s boundry conditions of who we think we are via old stories. We were all imprinted and reinforced with conditions from some of the inhibitory experience. What is underneath that and profoundly who we are is a place to continually discover what’s possible from moment to moment to moment……..
Best,
T
Hi Sue! I hear you about the time crunch you have right now, but you won’t be a grad student forever (yay?). And for myself and others who have posted here we do go through some profound changes in our hearts, minds, and bodies with IIG. It’s a detox of sorts. But like having a cold or flu, it runs it’s course and we feel good again. I’m just pondering out loud here but I’m wondering if you would have and easier time of your grad work if you were on your inner game?
I think rewriting my history has been the most fun of this whole process. As I’m in that review of things I’m just watching/feeling and going, “nah, I don’t like that, lets make what happened _____.” I’m not writing an epic novel, just making a shift in the events that made me feel poorly about myself in some way to loving and supported life lessons. Some are easier than others, but I am growing myself up again with me being in the roll of both parent and child. In doing this I find my attitude towards my parents has changed. I’m surprised they are still the same people they always were when I talk to them because in my mind and body they are different. There has been no fence mending here as they have their own rewritten history. For me there is just less anxiety surrounding them as parents.
Keep the faith Sue, and know there are a lot of supportive people here.
Thanks Donata,
It is beautiful to hear you have made so much progress with your parents. I was lucky that I somehow (should we laugh now?) spontaneously realized my parents were just grown children, trying to make it in their crazy worlds… They never figured out how to be happy in those lives, and have both moved on…I feel to higher places… But I guess I still have a bit of “detox” to get through as I let go of my negative impressions…
To answer your question, won’t EVERYTHING be easier once we are on our inner game? It is an addiction, attachment… with a nasty hangover of (self) judgment…
I appreciate your encouraging words. I will keep, keeping the faith~ and keep working on letting go… It is almost summer break, so I will have time to get my game on! : ) Prepare for the rest of our lives. ~peace, love, and light
This post has captured my attention. My analogy is meant to encourage those who are feeling limited by past experiences:
Yesterday, I was mountain biking really fast, descending a treacherous trail in the Rocky Mountains ~ not the time to think about a bad crash from the past, but I was. I started overcorrecting, I scared myself, and it wasn’t fun. So, I just stopped, right there in the middle of the trail, and gave myself permission to ride in my default (I call it “my Feeling” ~ thanks Kiela!). Only then, did I welcome everything the ride was offering.
Devon,
Pardon me for being a little slow. I just started looking at the blog and I have a story to share. I’ve been spending day after day installing the innergame hour + version. I really wanted to get it into my head. Every time the audio would ask me to think of the pictures in my head the only thing I could see was a being of some sort that told me “I love you.” I thought I was doing something wrong! Then I finally took the time to download the installation manual and almost flipped out when I realized that the being I was seeing is the fetus on the cover of the manual. WOW! Anyway, I guess I was going a little deeper than the installation was asking me to go. I envision energy – and it’s telling me that I’m here and I’m loved. Anyway, I’d like to kick it up a few notches, cos I want to address some of the issues I’m having in the here and now. Any suggestions? By the way, I live in New Jersey. How does one go about studying with you?
Hey Karen,
Would you mind elaborating on the issues you are having in the here and now? What does it mean you’d like to kick it up a few notches? Maybe I can provide some insight
All my best,
Steve
Something you said on the last telecast prompted me to respond. Does God make mistakes? I don’t think so. I think it has everything to do with the human element of free will. Where society goes astray is in its thinking it has the right to exert power over another.
Hey Thomas,
In Robert Anton Wilson’s PROMETHUS RISING he touches upon a concept called “What the Thinker Thinks, the Prover Proves.” This means that if you walk around the world believing you are an ugly person, you will filter for information that proves this point. If you believe you are attractive, you will filter for this information too and thus, prove your point. We are simply too limited to see all of reality for what it is. When we accept that all beliefs and stories we tell ourselves aren’t true, simply installed into the system without intention, then we can take up the onus of being self-programmers or as Aleister Crowley put it, “Believe nothing but be able to believe anything.”
Devon was the first person to tell me that one of the most useful beliefs to install is “Everything is perfect” or “God is perfect.” This means that if you win the lottery that is perfect, if you step in gum then that is perfect and if a hurricane hits Asia and thousands of people perish, as offensive as it may initially sound, that is perfect too. It is simply a useful belief, because if we accept that the hurricane is perfect, rather than have an existential crises or uselessly bemoan the horrors of the world an individual will be more agile, less reactive and realize that the only constant is change.
As a sidenote, traditionally, before a man can uptake the study of Kabbalah, he must accept the precept that “Everything is perfect.” Some wisdom is simply timeless
Thanks for the comment Thomas!
All my best,
Steven Perchikov
I’m not feeling the perfection these days. In fact, about a month ago, I got a bad cold that I had trouble shaking, even taking a full week out of the office, which I never do. Since the major cold symptoms left though, I’ve been experiencing difficulty breathing, and was just diagnosed with fluid in one lung, and am now on a very potent antibiotic, with side effects that concern me. While I listened to IIG, I always most enjoyed the section where you talked about reprogramming our DNA to create the perfect health that is a natural by-product of our default state. Since that has not been my experience, as much as I still enjoy listening to the program, I wonder what I might do differently. I’ve listened mostly when I’m in a near sleep state. I’ve never gotten the connection to the muscular identification that you mention. The closest I feel I’ve come to sensing something like a default perception state was while taking a leisurely bike ride on the rail trail near where I live, with the sun shining through the spring green leaves of the trees. I felt that kind of broad awareness is probably what default feels like. Other than that though, I’ve been going through the same old struggles, but the health and energy area is the most concerning. Any advice?
Hey Nancy,
You said: “The closest I feel I’ve come to sensing something like a default perception state was while taking a leisurely bike ride on the rail trail near where I live, with the sun shining through the spring green leaves of the trees.”
Questions:
How did your body feel during the bike ride (your thigh muscles, your back, your sense of balance, the smell of the air, the feel of the wind, the taste of the dust/air, the arms, the shoulders)?
How was the movement experienced on the trail: smoothe and balanced, rock, bumpy and how was that in your body, how fast or slow were you breathing and from where upper chest, middle, lower?
How did the sun feel on the face on the arms, on the rest of the body, how bright was it, was physical sensations on the skin (movement, tension, warmth)
How green were the green leaves, what other colors, could you smell them, did you feel any of them?
Then bring that kind of acuity to your Default and deeply feel, experiene and notice it.
Best,
T
Nancy
You mentioned, you experienced a broad awareness when you were on the bike ride. I have experienced your same issues and I have experienced your same periodic shifts.
Awareness is wherever your attention lies at a given moment in time. Right now, you could feel the shirt on your shoulder, the light from the room, the glow of the computer screen, any one of a zillion thoughts or beliefs….etc.
I like to think of awareness as like gravity: it organically drops to a place in my body where I allow it to drop.
Thoughts tend to create tension in my face.
Relaxing my face….allowing alllll of the muscles of my head and face to relax (which takes time, but feels soo good), enables my awareness (the sensations that come to my attention) to drop into my body…making me feel broader.
What did you feel, sense, notice on your leisurely bike ride? Did you like it?
Nancy
Focus on that bike Ride and expand on that feeling. Once you start to embody that then ask yourself what perfect health means to you.
Hi Everyone. I had an experience this weekend I would like to float out here. During IIG, Devon speaks briefly on seeing the world as benevelant or maelevolent (sp?). And how that shapes your world view. Now I understand letting go and rewriting your history should change this, but I’m having difficulties with this. The upshot is I had (not an argument) a traumatic disscussion with my boyfriend this weekend leaving us both in tears that was probably my fault because “the world is out to get me”. On the upside to this, I was trying (unsuccessfully) to get to my default during the whole thing, but I WAS noticing how my eyes, and jaw was tight and my hips hurt. De-fault to the default was not working for me here.
So, I have 2 concerns – how do we change that world view, or is it ingrained just like our language preference? And is de-fault to the default just a matter of practice?
Thanks, Donata
Donata!
The experts can give you the best advice, but I’ve been sorting some of these things out for myself, so I’ll give it a shot.
Devon says the stronger state wins. Is your need to be right, wrong, the victor, the victim, heard, or not heard the stronger state? Maybe the top blew off, because you believe that being in your default means not feeling or expressing your emotions. Feel everything, even in a fight. Notice what you feel and where ~ always, not just while you’re lying peacefully. Which you did!
I would also like to offer that you are no longer seeking…give your brain a rest. Benevolence v. malevolence (as well as ‘default to your default’) are just philosophical concepts for your brain to chew on, which allow you to disregard your body, well, that is, until you feel them in your body.
And, play with it…it’s just a game.
Hi Donata, Andria,
The excitatory bias (notice potential/possibilities) and the inhibitory bias (notice for problems/limitations). Neither are True and both bias the experience in different directions. Similarly the benevolent universe and the malevolent universe conceptions generate different biases (excitatory/inhibitory).
The De-fault to the Default is practice and a decision to orient, be and become a certain way. The neurochemistry takes about 10 minutes to shift internally. So when you are out of your Default you simply make the choice, practice of accessing it with as much ease, specificity and intention as you can. Even when there is counter evidence or muscular contractions and openings on top of the Default your choice is already making micro-changes that take a little while for one’s awareness to pick it up.
You may also want to access your Default and go back to that memory and experience it anew from your Default. I also agree with the other comments about the stronger deeper state is the orientation or what wins.
An exercise once you’ve deepened into the access of Default is to access the inhibitory with the most extreme example of whatever emotional state is challenging and shift to Default. This teaches what it feels like to make the transition and that is possible and that you have a limtless capacity to re-access and be in your Default.
Best,
T
Hey all,
Donata, you have posed some of the most important questions that I have yet to see on this forum. I think T did a phenomenal job answering but I’d like to add my 2 cents too
In the beginning resetting is difficult. It is particularly challenging when the toughest situations come up. You are relatively new to this work so just the fact that you are aware of your default, know that you prefer it and realize when you are in it and when you are not is huge. It is a muscle and you are exercising it. Nobody expects to take a few boxing classes and suddenly become world champion. It takes a lot of sparring, perseverance and definitely some bumps and bruises.
As for the belief structure, rest assured that it can be changed. My biggest suggestion is to play around with it. As an exercise, whenever possible, exercise the belief that “The universe is out to help me.” Whenever you see something, anything, make it equal, “The universe is out to help me.” Even if it seems hard to imagine that some events have occureed to help you, make them equal that anyway and justify it to yourself. I know it may seem silly at first but the more evidence you gather for this belief (and rest assured, once you filter for it, the evidence will present itself) the more you will believe it.
Good luck Donata!
All my best,
Steve
Thanks so much. As ususal, my Gemini brain gets ahold of something and over thinks it. *gets out of her head and into her solar plexus* So much (for me) of IIG is things I knew, but turning it upside down to my benefit. And I read this stuff and go “Duh!” So difficult yet so simple.
THAT’S just it EXACTLY – the default state is incorruptible – it’s the ever-present foundation of perfection. It’s only the transient thought-stuff, the fleeting “stories” of waking consciousness that we practice day in and day out AND have habituated, that veil the perfect singular awareness that is the core of what we are. It’s there, this crisp perfect state of being, and the moment you choose to let go of the overlay of stories about who you are, your true identity as this perfect center shines through. The question to ask is “can I let go of wanting to re-install this story that says I am something that could be damaged” or any other question that asks you whether or not you’re ready to let this story go, to let this program or overlay that is running in the background go.
Beautiful day, Beautiful Being ~
xo
k.
oooh! Shivers! Thanks K.
Hi Donata
I am super impressed with your commitment to the Default and your awareness of how much you like it.
One of the most powerful things that Devon has taught me is that: if I cannot relax my whole body, pick one part. Doing so sharpens and strengthens my intention.
Your body and mind were “choosing” to respond in a particular way….my picking one aspect of the Default to put your attention, like a waterfall, oftentimes the rest will follow.
Two things I have been trying:
1) To realize my true smiling potential…from the inside and out
2) Relaxing my brow
One can even combine them…smiling from the brow!
Hello Everyone
I had a thought. I think it is so powerful and beautiful that everyone is wiring the Default so deeply into their consciousness…into their bones, their cells, into every parts of their being.
Many of you have courageously reported venturing into Tolkien-esque areas of your past that are relaxing muscles that have been contracted and clammed up for a long time.
It’s important to keep everything simple! In “working through” stuff, you are merely unlocking long-held areas of muscular tension, not figuring out a story!
An immensely equally powerful tool that I am learning to bring with me is the smile. In Buddhism, they say that the point of the journey to enlightenment is to realize that there was no journey at all. There was no path. The journey was not to find out anything new, but to undo anything that we have done on top of ourselves (stopped smiling, tensed muscles, allowed stored up energy and stress to clog the system) to protect ourselves and separate ourselves from our experience.
In rewiring your muscles to feel that organic, pleasurable feeling of being alive and shining this unbearable of lightness into all the parts of your being, remember that you can smile through the stories, you can smile through all the BS that’s been “done” to you.
Because, if I am correct to assume, the whole point of venturing through these dark waters is to shine the light through them.
So again, when I find myself getting overwhelmed by all of the wrongs that have been done to me and how much I have to overcome, I can smile, I can relax all of the muscles in my face to keep my awareness in my body, I can be grateful for everything that I have. I can be happy. Right here. Right now. I can smile.
Similarly, with motion comes emotion. With presence comes a higher degree of comfort. I was walking to the library yesterday, and I dropped my books in a field and started shaking every muscle in my body, laughing out loud, smiling through the top of my scalp. I watched my muscles tense out of fear of being laughed at, and smiled through them. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever done.
We can be grateful, we can be happy. Right now. Because everything is Perfect. Everything is Beautiful. Everything is.
http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=smiling%20african%20children&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
Hi,
I really like the all out embodied smile that radiates life, love, happeiness, being etc.
Here are some principles that may be of use from another model:
The Principles of An Effortlessly Effective Body-Being
Centering:
locating and being able to focus mind and feeling-attention, as well as move the whole body from, the bodies center.
Grounding:
developing a stronger connection and feeling-association with the ground – drawing power from the ground.
Being Whole and Unified:
being capable of feeling every cubic inch of the entire body and learning to unify this whole in awareness and action.
Relaxing:
being able to let go of the mind and muscles and allow the body to attain a natural, open, and unused state.
Being Calm:
learning to allow the mind and attention to be undisturbed by circumstance, and to refrain from creating negative or inappropriate thoughts and reactions.
I love that IIG and the broader HOS model are so fundamental that one can integrate other elements, frameworks and principles from what works.
Best,
T
Oh yes, the muscle thing. When I first was asking questions on this blog I was having troubles getting in touch with my body. When I did, I found just how painful all my muscles and joints were. I have to check in daily and breathe out anything that has surfaced. I think it will be great to smile into that.
That’s fantastic, Donata. Smile from your wholllle body!
Also, shake all your muscles around and continue to relax your face….that will wake up the awareness in your muscles. Be goofy.
My biggest challenge has always been mother dearest. She is a nasty old witch that should have died long ago. Sue me for being brutally honest. I think at the core of this is a belief that nothing ever works out for me, so whats the point.
Hi Thomas,
Who would you be and where would you be if you relaxed and let go of this story and the body muscles that hold that in place? What is underneath the expression you shared? What do you need to let go of to move into a different story?
Best,
T
I have no love in my heart for her what so ever, maybe when she is dead and gone.
right now I have power of attorney and desire to have her commited. I have the kind of hatred that puts most people behind bars. I’ve explored religon and spirituality looking for answers and yet.. and yet all I get in return in contemptuous crap.
Hi Thomas,
With regard to your mother, I have no investment how you feel in her one way or another. That said, right now you’ve got it set up internally so that every time you think of her you feel a way that is quite simply no good for you.
Hatred has to be one of the worst chemical cocktails you can make for yourself. It’s exactly the kind of pattern that would develop out of a deep internal belief that nothing ever works out for you.
The question is, what do you want?
Curiously,
Devon
Realizing that much of what holds me back from true, deep personal change and embodying the life that I want to live is procrastination, while initially a hard pill to swallow, has been immensely powerful.
There is a story of a mountain climber who was caught on the side of a mountain…he was stuck. He was at a point where, to continue climbing took great, great effort. However, to give up and climb back down the mountain was extremely taxing as well.
So, after sitting there for a while and weeping for the hardness of the world, he realized that whatever path he was going to take was going to involve much hardship, pain and frustration. Whichever way he chose.
He looked down at the bottom of the mountain, the way from which he had come, and he looked up at the top. The sky looked clear, the view looked beautiful. The choice became simple.
Thomas, this is so helpful for me to hear your story, as I can think of so so many situations I am in that are similar: exerting the effort to bring about the personal and emotional change that I want is going to be extremely challenging and taxing. But coursing down my habitual emotion patterns would be equally exhausting.
It’s going to take effort either way, so what is it going to be? Victimization, hatred, resentment and anger, or forgiveness, love, strength, generosity, compassion, exuberance and eventually…triumph?
Is it going to be the bottom of the mountain, back the way you came…the only way you know…or up to the top?
Keep us posted! Thank you so so much for sharing. Keep sharing…let us all support you!
Chip
Let me replace “hardship, pain, and frustration” with “effort!” That’s all it takes! Good luck, Thomas!
Hi there Devon and Kiela! Hey Everybody! I have a mountain bike race report for you.
My training runs leading up to the first race of the season were fast and effortless. I had been feeling the wind on my body, taking in the gorgeous scenery, and hearing everything. But, last night, during my race, I put my head down, didn’t tap into my senses, forgot to soften my eyes, and my time was slower than in training. Whoops!
Nevertheless, after the race, there was a brilliant, chubby rainbow nestled in the billowing clouds that reminded me of all that had gone right. I had no pre-race jitters, I was aware of my legs and my breath, and my riding was 100% on balance, with no missteps, even when one of the pro riders got off his line and accidentally crashed into me. A collision like that could’ve easily mangled both of us, but I held us both up, with little effort.
I’m having a blast. I race again in three weeks. I’ll keep you posted.
And…Thomas! Are you serious with all that?? Consider channelling your passion into following Devon’s step-by-step instructions toward a life beyond your wildest imagination ~ but only if that’s what you want
.
Wishing all of you the Best of everything!
Hey Andria,
Great posting on the application of focusing on what works and worked and orienting in the direction of what you want. I’m finding it easier and easier to leverage in the direction that I want and want to experience no matter the conditions. I’ve come to feel leverage like a taught Zen bow directed and ready to be let go directly into the direction I want no matter the external conditions.
Thanks for the posting,
T-dog
Sweet! Thanks T!
Andria! Old habits die hard? You were in a groove when you practiced, but you got in the race and wham, you felt caught up in the old ways. Consider though the energy of all the other racers around you, it can be an influence. But I think, from what you said, you were in the flow anyway – you remembered enough to get your body to bring you back around to it. That is wonderful! Its working! lol – the rainbow oracle – beautiful
Grats! – Donata
I like your simplicity Andria over my stories
Amen
Chip! You have no idea how I feast on your writing, specifically the bit about muscle tension and stories. I lu-u-uv the way you express yourself. Today, I was playing with your word, “effort”.
One of the climbs in my next race gains 1,000 feet in elevation in one mile, on a loose, rutted atv track. Thanks to you, my thinking switched from, “Whaa, this is going to be so hard…” to , “this is going to require all of my effort.” And, then, something amazing happened when I was out there today. The idea morphed into “this requires all my power ~ skill ~ attention ~ this requires me to be at my best ~ I’m at my best when I’m just me ~ this requires me to be me ~ so, just be!”
That said, it has taken effort, attention, practice, and multiple installations to learn what it feels like to just be, and then to just be, but being here is the best thing ever. Thanks for taking part
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Thank you, Andria. My understanding of IIG has grown since I wrote that post!
With IIG, there is no effort.
A powerful insight that I have had is that the only real exertion of effort comes when I am indecisive.
As soon as I make the decision, and I begin to put one foot in front of the other, there is no effort…there is just the next step.
Even in your story, notice that your experience of effort only came in anticipation of your goals. As soon as you made the decision, the rest was easy!
That is really powerful for me to think about…right now. If, at any point, I am feeling like I am exerting effort, just relax and reset and go back into my experience.
It’s amazing how little easy it is to sink in to the pleasure of the present moment…how comfy it is.
Just an update here. I had to meet with my ex last week. Past meetings have been less than civil, but I doggedly tried to get into my default. I was not having an easy time of it, but clung to those feelings anyway. By the time I got to the meeting, my body had caught up to what my brain had been trying to tell it and I was there! The meeting went very well and I left with a very positive feeling about it! Its working!
Best to all =) Donata
Congratulations Donata. I love that once can practice even when there is relentless counter-evidence. If we could see the miro neuro chemicals changing with the muscular and sensorial shift even when reality hasn’t been bent fully and believing with one’s totality that it already happened just not yet as it unfolds.
I would add that you could access the Default fully and completely and remember that memory in full service of your becoming and practice…change it how you will.
Best N Beyond,
T
Why no posts since May?