Ease And Flow

The problem in middle life, when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to decline, is to identify yourself, not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. This is something I learned from myths. What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light? Or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle?
Joseph Campbell

A friend complemented me recently on how well I was looking. `You look fabulous´, she said, `How do you do that?´

My instant response, before even thinking about it, was to say: `I’ve only borrowed this bodysuit and, since finally learning some years ago how to take care of it, my intention is to leave it in the best possible state, when the time comes.´

Then this morning, the above quote from Joseph Campbell crossed my path. What a beautiful example of synchronicity!

A favourite story of mine goes as follows: On a beautiful sunny May afternoon, Cologne Cathedral, one of Europe’s finest architectural and cultural gems, is thronged with awestruck visitors. The bright sunlight is streaming through the many spectacular stained-glass windows, creating an almost psychedelic kaleidoscopic experience. At the base of each window, a religious teacher is singing the praises of his particular window. The Rabbi, the Imam, the Bishop, the Zen Master, the Hindu Guru, and so on; each explaining to the curious on-lookers why their window is the best one, the one worthy of all our attention, even devotion.

They have lost sight of the light, the light that is streaming through all the windows. That light, without which the windows would be pointless, is of primary importance, not the windows. On first hearing this story, my response was to decide to keep my focus on the light, on that infinite flow of unconditional love, and not let myself get too distracted by the windows.

During this morning’s contemplation there was a sudden shift. I saw the scene in an entirely new light. Now the windows represented not religious belief systems, but every individual life `story´, including my own.

We strongly identify (positively or negatively) and are constantly preoccupied with the body, our standing in society – the associated threats, risks, and opportunities – , our relationships, the materials we have accumulated, and what Eckhart Tolle calls `our story ´. He goes on to point out that `we are not our story ´.

What if my life were not about me but I were simply a vehicle through which the light (Campbell refers to `consciousness´) manifests? This is a daring notion, one that has gradually taken root in my being over time, and is now growing stronger with each new year, each new season, each new day.

Joseph Campbell, in the masterful volume `Pathways To Bliss´ calls this becoming transparent to the transcendence. Such a paradigm shift transforms us forever. Just like when we finally see the second object in the optical illusion, there can be no going back to the old perception, the old way, despite the sporadic efforts of my ego, rising up in resistance, to roll back the waves.

If not handled with skill and care, this resistance to `what is´ can be a source of great suffering. Thankfully, I have learned to utilise resources over the years of my own transformation, which help me navigate these waters in ease and flow. One such resource is the Positive Intelligence (PQ) Mental Fitness framework which has become an increasingly important element in my work as a Transformation Coach.

The basic premise of PQ, developed by Stanford Academic Shirzad Chamine in San Francisco, is that, residing in the left brain, – that brain area which is characterised by data, rational analysis, and serial processing, – we have the fear-driven Saboteurs.

In his scientific research, Shirzad has identified the following nine Saboteur types (who, together with a universal Master Saboteur – Judge – repeatedly take us hostage in thought and action): Avoider, Controller, Hyper-Achiever, Hyper-Rational, Hyper-Vigilant, Pleaser, Restless, Stickler, and Victim. Each of us has a very personal combination, an individual team line-up of saboteurs, variously developed in terms of their respective potency and influence. The team captain is always the Judge.

These Saboteur voices tell me that my life is about me, that I am my story. Otherwise referred to as the voices of the ego, they originally secured my survival in childhood but then morphed into runaway trains which wrecked destruction in my personal and professional life, draining large amounts of my life energy, holding me back from unfolding my true potential. They did this by keeping my attention focussed alternately on the past and on the future, ensuring the absence of Presence in my life. The Saboteurs ruled my mind, day and night.

If you are curious about your own Saboteur team line-up, you can find out with the (free) PQ Saboteur Assessment Test here – Saboteur Review. As soon as you have identified which saboteurs are the most active and thus the greatest obstacles to reaching your full potential, you can start with the actual `training´.

The first muscle to be trained in this PQ Mental Fitness regime is the Saboteur Interceptor. This mental muscle helps me identify when the Saboteurs are on the march, pre-empt them, and turn down the volume of their war cries, thus taking the wind out of their sails.

The right brain is our `Sage´ or PQ brain. It is an interplay of middle prefrontal cortex, insula cortex and right hemisphere, i.e., neural networks that are characterised by emotional perception, pattern recognition, and parallel processing. It is responsible, among other things, for empathy, intuition, creativity, seeing the big picture, innovation, self-reflection, self-knowledge, concentration, and implementation skills.

We activate and live our positive potential to the full by means of empathy for self and others, by approaching difficult situations with wonder, curiosity, and openness; by opening ourselves to new ways of doing things, by developing innovative solutions; by tuning into and listening to our intuition and inner wisdom; and by taking fearless and unswerving action. Empathy, Explore, Innovate, Navigate, and Activate are our Sage Powers.

The Sage Perspective, from which we learn to operate, states that every situation contains gifts for all concerned.

The second mental muscle to train is, therefore, the Sage Enhancer. Over time, we can work more consciously with these powers, the volume can be adjusted upwards, and we begin to hear more clearly the voice of deep intuition.

The third object of training is the Mind Command muscle.

This is the one that enables us to quickly switch from Saboteur to Sage, – ideally in real time, – and to recover swiftly on those inevitable occasions when our Saboteurs do succeed in hijacking us. To activate and live our positive potential to the full, we need to be present, in the here and now.

This muscle is trained by a series of physical sensation exercises (PQ Reps) which are made available throughout each day using the PQ App on your device. The App also contains a veritable Mental Fitness Studio of longer (up to 15 minutes) exercises which I can choose to do at my convenience. These exercises all serve as circuit-breakers of our Saboteur `stinking thinking´ and bring us, even if only briefly, into the present moment. With every repetition, we become more accomplished at this.

PQ Mental Fitness is simple. Train these three muscles every day, even for eight weeks, and you will experience a noticeable shift in your energy, your well-being, and your relationships. This is, of course, just a start. If all goes well, Mental Fitness, like physical fitness, becomes a choice for life. We learn `to go with the flow´.

Once we have experienced the paradigm shift addressed in the Joseph Campbell quote above, it is much easier to switch from `push to pull´. Research has shown that our reservoir of willpower is exhaustible and can be depleted over time. We all know the January or February fate of `New Year Resolutions´, right?

Studies have shown, for example, that participants who use their willpower trying to resist unhealthy snacks that were put in front of them in a waiting room, later gave up sooner than others when faced with challenging puzzles in the second phase of the experiment. The Saboteurs push you into action based on negative emotions like stress, regret, anxiety, and fear of failure.

This negative push of Saboteurs can achieve quick wins but will inevitably drain our reservoir of willpower. This is tantamount to driving with the handbrake on, and may have undesired consequences later in the day. For example, if in the morning you use your willpower to push yourself to do what you consider to be lots of unpleasant tasks, you might deplete your willpower reservoir by noon. We all know stories of having a great morning meditation only to be overcome by a fit of road rage less than an hour later, on our way into work!

By using up our willpower reservoir early in the day, we may become impatient with colleagues in an afternoon meeting, quarrel with our loved ones when we get home, or might not be as resilient in recovering from some challenging situation later in the day, allowing the Saboteurs to drag us down with self-pity, resentment, or anger. As was recently pointed out to me: `We do burnout, not get burnout!´

On the other hand, your Sage pulls you into action based on positive emotions like empathy, curiosity, wonder, creativity, passion, and compelling vision. This pull of the Sage, based on positive emotions doesn’t require willpower to keep going. It’s easier and flows naturally.

So, anytime during the day when we find ourselves pushing ourselves or others with negative emotions, we can stop. We can make the `shift to pull´. By using the Sage Perspective, we can make the task or situation more compelling and appealing. Perhaps we can use Empathise, Explore, or Innovate powers to inject something positive into the situation, turning it into something we would want to do rather than believing that it is something that must be done.  By shifting to pull, we keep our reservoir of will power full, so we can draw on it to be more patient with self or others, to handle the unexpected challenges that come our way, or to recover faster from setbacks.

Paradoxically, the better the mental shape we are in, the higher the probability of experiencing the paradigm shift in the first place, and the more successful we will be in navigating the ensuing transformation process in ease and flow!