How to Deal with a Changing World

Change is upon us whether we are ready or not.
This struck home with me yesterday when some official group proudly stated that the recession was over. Pardon me? I had a similar feeling when BP announced the oil volcano was capped and that 75% of the oil had been cleaned up. Yeah...sure. I don't know exactly when the practice of outright lying to the public started but it has certainly become a standard practice these days. The changes taking place on this planet are going to be difficult enough, let's at least stop denying the truth of our predicament.

Perhaps nearly 30 years training in traditional martial arts has skewed my perception somewhat, but leaders lacking in integrity, honor and a genuine respect for the planet are not leaders at all. Is it just me or is there a real feeling like the inmates are running the asylum?

Anyway, there is way too much talk of doom and gloom, and the terrible problems we are facing and not enough clear answers as to what we can do as individuals.

How to deal with the challenges of a changing world is what we need to be focused on. Once we realize that there is no benevolent government or organization out there that is looking out for our best interests, we can start to help ourselves.

1. Get your body working properly.
A healthy body is of the utmost importance in dealing with change. You need to be able to react and adapt effectively to a variety of situations. Having a body that you can rely on is very valuable. If your body is sick, unfit, hooked on medications or contaminated with chemicals and toxins it difficult to count on it when problems arise. Learning to breathe properly is the first step. Deep relaxed abdominal breathing is the key to getting more oxygen into your system and creating more energy. Moving and stretching the body assists circulation of the energy and keeps muscles toned and flexible. Stop eating fast food and other chemically processed foodstuffs these are only making things worse. A regular detox or fasting program to cleanse the body is recommended.



2. Get your mind calm and clear.
A calm and clear mind is imperative if you need to react to changing situations. A mind that is distracted and cluttered is not able to think quickly and clearly. Unplug the television (and toss it out the window!). It is a waste of time that is much better spent on strengthening your body and calming your mind. Learn to meditate. Meditation quiets the thought process so you can focus on what is truly important. Simply sitting in silence for a few minutes a day is enough to get started. Spend some time out in nature. We all need a connection to the natural world. Listen to the wind blowing through the trees. Immerse yourself in the present moment.

Getting the body healthy and the mind calm is the first step along the path of discovering who you truly are. It is not always easy, but in the long run it will serve you much better than a meat lover’s pizza and Dancing with the Stars.

Mindless Workouts

Mindless Workouts are what I define as workouts where there is a disconnection between the body and the mind. They are a side effect of our hectic lifestyles. Mindless Workouts are taken in between classes, business meetings or while the kids are at school and are done with a real sense of urgency. They are done with little or no connection between the physical exercise and what the mind is thinking. Watching television while running on a treadmill is a prime example of a Mindless Workout, there is no awareness of what the body is doing. This type of exercise is driven by an undercurrent of stress in life or the mistaken belief that it is not necessary to pay attention to what we are doing. The result of this type of exercise is the Metabolic Spike. The Metabolic Spike is a situation that takes place when a person undertakes a vigorous exercise program which causes an extreme rise in the metabolism, only to suddenly fall, leaving the individual feeling exhausted and incapable of a speedy recovery. This behavior can be instigated by many different triggers, but stress is usually a main factor, not only the usual everyday stresses of life, but also the additional burden of rushing through a workout. The Metabolic Spike can be quite counterproductive to what the person is actually trying to accomplish. The problem comes after the workout, when the mind reconnects and notices that the body is fatigued. The energy of the body has been used up and needs rest in order to recover. Unfortunately, once the Mindless Workout is finished people have to get back to the “rest of their lives” and there is no time for the body to rest and recover. Instead it is off to the next class, meeting or picking up the kids. Sadly, as a substitute for rest, overeating becomes the only available method of recharging the body. Self control is sabotaged because the mind feels good about the accomplishment at the gym and that is used as justification for eating even more. The following day brings more of the same with excess eating or the next phase, guilt about excess eating which sends them off to the gym for another Mindless Workout. This is a downward spiral.


Practices such as Tai Chi and Zen Yoga are primarily concerned with energy flow through the body. And while these traditions may call this energy by different names this is, in fact, the metabolic process. To have this energy flowing through the body properly requires exercises that gradually increase the burn rate and maintain that state for a longer period of time.

So where do we begin? As with most physical activities, the best place to begin is with breathing. The amount of fat that is burned during exercise depends on the ability of the cardiovascular system to deliver oxygen to the cells. In order for the metabolism to burn fat it is necessary to supply the cells with sufficient oxygen. This is done through the practice of deep breathing exercises in order to get more oxygen into the body and then ensuring that oxygen is sufficiently distributed throughout the physical structure. Think of starting a car on a cold morning. When the engine is first started it can be sluggish because the oil is not circulating. By warming up the car the oil begins to flow through the engine keeping everything lubricated and functioning. Just as in a car, the energy needs to be flowing through the body in order for it to function correctly when we ask it to do something vigorous.

While there are a many different breathing methods, the simplest and most beneficial to this process is basic abdominal breathing. In basic abdominal breathing the abdominal muscles are expanded on the inhalation (pushing the belly out) and contracted on the exhalation (pulling the belly in). This deep, rhythmic breathing brings balance to the bodily systems and allows the metabolism to rise naturally as more energy is created.

Once the body is breathing effectively, it requires movement in order to distribute the energy throughout the body. The most beneficial movements for this are rotations of the joints and shaking the extremities. Shrugging the shoulders, circling the arms, elbows, knees and hips are all excellent exercises as are shaking out the hands and feet. These types of exercise encourage the smooth flow of energy through the meridians of the body. In this way, the metabolic process enables a flow of movement through the body so that fluids and nutrients get to the cells, allowing the systems of the body to work the way they are supposed to, without additional stress. This energy lubricates the joints and assists in releasing toxins from the body. Be aware that is it important to continue the breathing exercises while doing the movements. Unlike Mindless Workouts, the breath is the connection between the mind and body and allows you to truly feel the process.

Movement is followed by stretching. Deep and long stretching of the body delivers oxygen to the musculature. Rather than build muscle, this practice tones the muscles while lengthening and strengthening the fibrous tissue. There are stretches for every part of the body, and as with movement, it is vital to continue breathing into each stretch. That is the connection between body and mind and will assist maintaining a balanced metabolism. By beginning any exercise routine with breathing, movement and stretching the metabolism is raised off the baseline in a gradual manner and is able to be maintained at the higher rate for a longer period of time.

Accepting Yourself

Seeing our body in realistic terms is, unquestionably, a difficult step in the journey to love ourself. The world we live in bombards us with images of the perfect body. Television, movies, the print media and the internet continually shape our perceptions of what is considered the ideal physique. But once we get beyond the hype, we are left with the fact that there is no such thing as an achievable ideal. Everyone on this planet has his or her own unique body, each with its own size, shape, and idiosyncrasies. And no matter how much time, money, and effort we spend trying to change it, it will basically remain in the same general shape all of our lives, at least until scientists figure out a way to genetically modify our DNA, which will be no help to anyone reading this blog. Of course, there are certain behavioral patterns that can alter the body shape to some degree, but for the most part we must come to accept our body as it is before we can begin to move forward. Acceptance is the key to doing this.

Accepting your body as it is at this present moment enables you to start anew on a positive footing and begin to move forward. Without acceptance you will remain stuck, denying the truth of yourself. All the help in the world will do you no good until you are ready to accept yourself. Once you are, however, the stage is set for recognizing the detrimental behaviors you engage in and understanding their impact. The need for change will become evident and all that will be required then is a willingness to make the changes.

Your body is your physical presence in the world. There are almost seven billion bodies on the planet, but each individual one is different from all others. They come in an infinite variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. While they are generally similar in certain basic ways -- arms, legs, head, torso -- each is also unique. This uniqueness comes from many things but the genetic makeup is the most important. It is the hand that each person is dealt in this game of life. For the most part it is impossible to change its basic outline. Tall people cannot become short. This obvious statement may seem silly, but in reality, it is one of the most difficult ideas to accept and yet one of the most important to understand if you are to get productively in touch with your body. You need to understand that there are parts of you that cannot be changed and then accept them as inevitable and not subject to judgment.

How often do people complain about their physical characteristics? I hate my hair! I wish I were taller! My feet are too big! My hands are so ugly! Brown eyes are boring! On and on we go. Of course all of us have a tendency to bemoan the body we were given while at the same time coveting attributes we don’t have. All the while those around us are doing the same thing. Yes, all too often the person with the curly hair we like so much would give anything to have straight hair. Most people find it difficult to be content with what they have and spend their lives believing that if their body were different, their life would be different. This could be true, but then the whole equation would be different and a new set of circumstances would arise. With a different body we would be a different person and most likely that new person would be just as discontented as the old one.

TRUE SEEING
In order to gain true awareness of the body, the first step is to approve of the body you have right at this moment - not the body you want, not the body you are going to have in six months after you work out, not the body you had last year or ten years ago, but the body you have right now. Oh no, you say, but yes, the body with the belly that pops over the belt buckle or the thighs that rub together, or with the yellow stained teeth and hacking cough, or whatever best describes what is wrong with it in your perception. Regardless of all the faults, real or imagined, it is the only body you have. If you have to live with it, you might as well come to terms with it instead of fighting it. Acceptance of that fact is like opening a door to a new world.

True Seeing: Try this exercise when you are alone with no chance of interruption. Stand naked in front of a full-length mirror and look at yourself. Don't judge yourself, just look. Look at your feet. Slowly move up and look at your legs. Continue to move up and look at your hips and torso. See each part of your body for just what it is. Remember, don’t make any judgments about any part of it. Look at your chest and look at your arms. Look at your neck and your face. Observe carefully without overlooking any part. This is your body. It makes no difference how you looked in the past or how you want to look in the future, this is your body now and that is all that matters. You have no alternative, no healthful alternative at least, to accepting it. Neither does it do any good to lie to yourself if you think there are parts that are unappealing. This is true even, or especially for people with bodies that have been disabled by genetics, disease, or accident. To hide them or convince yourself they don't exist is pointless, there's no one else in the room but you. There is no one to fool. In fact, you are not even to allow yourself to call them unappealing. That is a judgment. The important thing to remember is that all you are doing is looking at your body. You are making no judgments nor allowing opinions to intrude as to whether it is good or bad. True seeing like this can be a very challenging exercise. Don't be afraid. A wonderful door is opening up for you. Step through and learn to accept yourself just as you are.

From Within: More Thoughts on Creating Reality

So how do we go about creating a different reality if we are not satisfied with the one we are existing in? The only answer is that we must embody the reality we wish to create. Make it real through conscious effort and will. If we are able to embody that which we seek then we can create our reality around us. This may seem like the old problem of which came first the chicken or the egg, however is not actually so. In fact the idea of creating our reality by first living in that reality is more like cultivating an energy field that provides the fertile ground for that reality to come into being.

The easiest way to explain this is to consider the phrase… To spread peace, you have to be peaceful. How can we bring peace to our lives if we are not practicing a peaceful way of being? It all has to begin inside of you. There is no outside source. It begins within and grows outward. If you want to instill happiness and joy in those around you, you must be happy and joyful. If you seek respect, then you must be respectful. There is no other way to make this happen. It’s called practice. The more you do something the better you get at it. If we practice peace, or happiness, or joy, or respect, eventually those things become a part of us and we begin to radiate it outwards.

Creating our reality is not something that happens overnight. It takes conscious effort and the drive to want something better for ourselves and our world. Selfishness and greed have no place in such a reality.

wishing you much peace

Creating Reality

A wave is not separate from the ocean. Every wave on the ocean is the whole ocean. Yet as an individual wave it displays its own uniqueness.


In the same manner each of us is an individual, yet we are a part of something much greater. We are part of the whole of creation. Most of us feel our individuality strongly. The idea of a web of life turns that feeling inside out. It is a feeling in which we, as individuals, are connected and a part of everything else there is. In other words, the fundamental reality of the self is not only something inside the skin but it is everything outside the skin as well. We are simply part of the whole of existence as, in the same way, is the ocean wave.

At this moment, in this present reality, we are a playing a particular role but that personality is superficial because the real self is actually all that there is. When we realize that our individuality is superficial, then there is nothing to oppose us in seeking self-realization within the framework of all existence. When there is no opposition, there is nothing to fight against and we can begin to make progress.

It is important to believe that we create our own reality. For good or for bad, the thoughts that you have influence the events that take place in your life. How often do you hear people say “just my luck” or something equally negative when unfortunate circumstances arise? Whether you believe you can do something or whether you believe you can’t, you are absolutely correct. It all begins with your belief.

When you begin to believe in positive things, positive things start to happen. The thoughts that you generate in your mind have a tangible effect on the world around you. When you are sure that your thoughts can change your life, then your life begins to change. You can live in a garden of beautiful flowers or you can live in a garbage dump. The choice is yours and begins with your attitude towards yourself. Happiness creates happiness in the world, just as misery creates more misery. If you make a conscious effort to tap into the energy of the universe and send it in positive directions, you open yourself to positive change and the energy of the universe will be able to flow in that direction. If you cultivate the negative aspects of life, that negative energy will grow in intensity around you.

Too often we set ourselves up for failure. “Oh, I’m terrible at that,” we say before we begin. This is a sure way to make it so. It all begins with your attitude toward the endeavor. This is vitally important. Whether you believe you are good at something or terrible at it, you are absolutely correct. If you were to start off by saying “Oh, I’m pretty good at this,” then your attitude would help rather than hinder your efforts.


Yes, I know it sounds too simplistic. But that is part of the game your mind is playing. When you are unable to control your thoughts, your mind creates your reality for you, and then you have to deal with all sorts of problems. When you consciously decide how you are going to think about something then you are directing the flow of energy in that direction. It may not always turn out exactly how you imagine, but more often than not you will find that you are moving in a positive direction.

wishing you much peace

You Know, I Don't Know

Have we become a civilization of idiots?

Recently, whenever I’ve started up a conversation with someone on the financial disaster or the Gulf oil volcano, in an attempt to determine if they have any coherent thoughts on these current situations, I usually get a rather wishy-washy, half-hearted response. Quite often this response sounds more like a worn out cheerleader rooting for a losing team. If I dig a little deeper and try to see if they actually have any independent thought other than some verbatim quote from the mainstream media, the inevitable answer is you know, I don’t know.

This ridiculous phrase has become a staple in the American English language. It is as if our brains have become numb and lazy. Television obviously has a lot to do with it, but there is more, this type of speaking has been with us for years. Yet, now it seems to be getting worse. We are barely able to put together a sentence without using I mean, just, like, or you know. Add I don’t know to it and you have a fully inane conversation. We are hardly even aware of the absurdity as we nod in agreement to someone else spewing out the same babble. I mean it’s just like, you know, I don’t know.

This is the same response I get if I ask about the housing crisis, or climate change, or any of the thousand other issues that now seem to face us like an epic tsunami. It seems that we have reached a stage where we are unable to compute the myriad of conflicting data so our brains seize up and we spew out you know, I don’t know. Perhaps we though that Prince Obama, riding his horse of hope to the rescue, was going to save us. That delusion has all but dried up now, and we are faced with a reality we don’t want to look at.

Time to wake up!
Change has arrived at our doorstep and Upheaval may not be far behind. The question we need to be asking ourselves has to do with how we are going to react and adapt to these changes. Are we going to remain distracted by our cute little technological gizmos? Are we going to continue to eat chemically laden, processed food? Are we going to sit back and watch everything unfold in slow motion on our plasma screens?

Or are we going to wake up, unplug and start getting ourselves together, learning sustainable skills, growing our own food, and building communities that can weather the difficulties ahead?
The answer, inevitably, is just like, I mean, you know, I don’t know.

Healing our Inner Self

Healing our inner state of being is done with kindness and compassion. In this process, development of the heart is essential. We must learn to use our heart as an organ of perception and project a heart field that is open and generous. This path is one that leads from self-absorption to caring for others. When we realize that everything worthwhile in life is created as the result of love and concern for others we begin to recognize that everything we do leads to a consciousness evolution of our spiritual nature.

Our lives are improved immeasurably by softening our hearts and approaching everything with genuine gratitude. This can be a real challenge in today’s busy world where it often seems like events conspire to knock us off balance on a daily basis. We must persevere if we truly want to reach a better place.

We are never just doing. Wherever we are along the path, it is always a process of becoming something greater.

Perfection of character, the path from self-absorbtion to conscious caring and service to others is a long and bumpy road, but it is the only one that leads to the top of the mountain.


Nourish your Body: breathe - move - relax
Calm your Mind: sit in silence
Open your Heart: smile - give - love
Honor your Soul: heal - nurture - forgive
Expand your Spirit: remember

wishing you much peace...