It's rare to find examples of men who live with an open heart and who understand that unconditional love is not limited to being a feminine characteristic, but rather, can be very masculine as well.
Neale Donald Walsch's 9 minute Journey speaks with powerful clarity and inspiration.
Although the video can be enjoyed by anyone, the words and the voice provide a great role model for men looking to balance love with masculinity in their life.
In this short video, he discusses various aspects of spirituality including:
Experiencing Joy vs Denial Religion's view of sins and unworthiness Asking God and Receiving Understanding we are God also
Each sentence is spoken with empowering conviction, a higher sense of purpose, and an underlying loving encouragement. It's a good resource to have to inject some loving power into you every now and then.
Often times our daily lives can become stale or monotonous since so many of our jobs and hobbies reside online.
What happened to the good old days of battling enemies, warding off plagues, and searching for buried treasures?
Luckily for us (or unluckily), we needn't go any further then our own couch. The story of Sahara embodies much of our idealistic sense of adventure as well as a rare example of the charming and masculine man of action played by Matthew McConaughey.
If you haven't seen the movie yet, rent it or buy it. McConaughey's character is worth it, and the story is quite entertaining as well (although a little cheesy).
The film's hero, played by McConaughey, is an ex-marine treasure hunter named Dirk. Dirk searches the oceans and the deserts for history's buried treasures. His latest hunt focuses on a mysterious boat from the civil war era which is rumored to have crossed the Atlantic ocean into Africa.
On their search, Dirk and his team meet up with a world health organization agent named Eva, played by Penélope Cruz, who is in hot pursuit of a disease which leads the group into a war-torn part of Africa. They face many enemies and various challenging situations along the way.
To get a taste of the movie, view the trailor below:
In the movie, McConaughey's character Dirk embodies the perfect example of the rare masculine adventurer. Below are some of the lessons he can teach us to bring out that adventurous part within us.
1) Become a Man of Action
One thing you don't see Dirk doing much of during this movie is thinking. He goes balls to the walls in pretty much every scene. In the opening scene is he recovering a sunken treasure while diving off a massive exploration ship.
When he meets Eva, he is spear fishing off a raft and sees her in trouble then fights off her attackers. Each time Dirk finds more clues about his mysterious boat, he figures out the next course of action and takes it.
The lesson is to make a decision quickly and then trust yourself and act immediately. The reasons Dirk is able to decide so quickly is because he knows exactly what he wants and every action is either bringing him closer to that goal or farther away.
How can you become a man of action?
Figure out what you want in every situation and take action. You want to improve your health, do some research online, find a health practitioner, make a health plan, start exercising. Think for a short time to figure out a plan then do something! If you're as much of a dreamer as I am, you enjoy imagining how wonderful life could be rather then simply living that life right now.
When you feel that passion while dreaming ask yourself, "What action can I take right now to make this happen?"
In the words of Jim Rohn:
"What small but steady activities can I be doing today, that over a long period of time can lead to big, long-term results?"
2) Focus on the Next Step
Throughout the movie, Dirk finds himself in precarious (dangerously lacking in security or stability) situations, yet he never loses his drive and determination for getting what he wants.
How does he do this? He puts his focus into getting the next step handled, rather than becoming overwhelmed or discouraged by looking at the destination.
When he first finds the rare gold coin in Africa, he knows he is getting closer to proving the civil war boat is nearby. He travels to a town in search of the guy who found the coin only to discover he's dead.
While his partner gives up, he decides to find the hall of records in that same town for another clue.
He trusts the universe.
This trust allows him to see opportunities that subtley speak to him leading him to the next clue.
How can you focus on the next step?
Lao-tzu says it this way:
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
If you focus on the thousand miles you're likely going to be discouraged, as you're at 0 of 1000. Though if you focus on just the next step, you're at 0 out of 1.
It's easier to get your brain to do something just for a day, 365 times, rather than try to commit to doing something for a whole year when you have yet to do a single day.
The best thing is, the more days you go, the easier it becomes for the brain to comprehend bigger clumps. For example, let's say you want to exercise everyday for the next 2 years.
What if you only committed to exercising for today, and tomorrow you did the same thing. Then after a week you said "well, I've done one week, let's do another week" and after a month you say "well, I've done one month, let's do another one" and so on until you get to 2 years.
It's so much easier because you have less psychological barriers in your way.
The same thing goes for traveling. The times I've just "winged it" with my friends have been the most fun and when I've met the most interesting people.
So the next time you are feeling overwhelmed or stuck, ask yourself:
"What's the next step?"
3) Have the Courage to Become Vulnerable
While they are escaping from African soldiers, Dirk and his team accidentally enter another king's territory. When Dirk realizes this, he tells his partner and Eva to drop all their weapons and move slowly with their hands on their head.
Both of them are confused and reluctant to let go of their only protection in the middle of the desert but they trust him and comply.
Dirk knows that in order to gain this leader's trust, he must make himself completely vulnerable. This effort allows them to live and eventually meet the new leader who turns out to be a powerful ally.
How can you become vulnerable?
This one I'm still working on. What I do know is that it comes down to your own intuition. You have all the guidance you need within yourself.
Focus on finding the thought that feels the best and follow it until you find the path for you as well as the people who are worthy of your vulnerability.
It then shows Mark Maguire as a true masculine example when he has the courage to become vulnerable during a news conference.
Think of it this way, is it easier to become vulnerable and expose your "true self" to others or to hide behind a mask?
If they reject the mask then you can always tell yourself, "well that wasn't me anyway" and although it won't hurt as bad if something goes wrong, you'll miss out on those rare opportunities for someone to truly love the real you.
4) Stay on Your Path
Dirk knows where he is going and he focuses on reaching the next step along his journey. Dirk stays true to his path even when others project their fears, doubts, and uncertainties onto him or the situation.
He believes when no one else does. The funny thing is that others start to believe in him because of it.
He pushes through the difficulties, and influences others with his vision. He paints a picture of the boat and its treasure for his investor and transforms a hesitant skeptic to a hopeful supporter (by sharing the wealth also).
He translates his path into terms others can see so they can join him.
How can you stay on your path?
Once you find your mission and start living it, will you allow others to throw you off? They will try to since they do not know what you know. They don't feel what you feel. They don't have the unique gifts that you do. Will you trust yourself?
Meditate often and you will become more sure of your path. When you are aligned with your purpose, the actions necessary will be clear to you.
When you feel that joy on your search you will know you're headed in the right direction.
5) Develop a Resourceful Attitude
Dirk and his partner are captured and transported through the desert in the back of a pickup truck. While his partner starts to worry about where they are, Dirk is already figuring out a way to escape.
Once they do escape, they wander through the desert and come upon a wrecked, one-wing aircraft. Dirk tells his partner, "I'll bet you a 100 there's a toolkit in there." He replies "I don't want to rain on your crazy parade buddy…but I don't think we can fix this thing!"
When his partner sees trash, Dirk sees opportunity. They aren't able to repair the airplane, of course, but they are able to turn it into a one wing desert-sailing car.
How can you develop a resourceful attitude?
It really comes down to how you train your mind to work. Are you problem focused or solution focused?
When you are problem focused, you see the current reality and are almost attached to it, sort of like a poor-me stance. When you are solution focused, you see the potential reality and welcome new and crazy ideas.
When I brainstorm I often like to throw around any and all ideas that come to me, no matter how crazy. Why? Because sometimes a crazy idea may not be the answer, but it may stimulate within me a new idea that could be the answer I needed.
6) Be Willing to Let Go
When Dirk and his partner finally find a small truck stop in the desert, they have nothing to offer of value in exchange for a ride back to town.
Luckily Dirk had hidden the rare gold coin on him. Even though this coin is the only solid proof that he has of his mysterious boat, he decides to trade it for a safe ride out of the desert and back to civilization.
The coin represents everything that he's worked for, the evidence to prove to others that his idea is right. The catch is that in order for him to even have a chance at finding the boat, his true goal, he must let go of everything he has gained and face the unknown.
How can you let go?
When life comes to take away the fish in exchange for the skill of fishing, will you give it up? Can you see beyond your current reality?
In order to grab the next rung of the ladder, you must release the last one, otherwise you won't get anywhere. The moment in between the rung you are holding and the next rung is that moment of vulnerability and uncertainty.
To climb the ladder you must be willing to cross through this moment, over and over again until you reach the top. But then again, will the ladder of life ever end?
If you want to change your life, ask yourself "What is it that I am holding onto that no longer serves me."
For me, I recently let go of a computer game that consumed a lot of my attention. I could intuitively feel that it no longer served me and so I let it go and my life has been improving daily due to my extra time and energy.
7) Develop Charm and Charisma
When Dirk and Eva are in the team's speedboat, Eva tells him "This must be nice….to have this as your office." Dirk replies, "Hell, every great thing that's ever happened to me happened in the water." Then he looks into her eyes, smiles and says "every one."
If you recall from the first point, Dirk met Eva while he was spearfishing in the water. So when he is speaking about great things happening, he is subtly and indirectly implying that meeting her was a great thing though she can't be absolutely sure. There is a little bit of mystery.
In the next scene Dirk does the same thing when he indirectly asks her out. He does a little role playing with her and has some fun with the process and she loves it.
Being charming isn't something he does for the ladies only, he is charming in every interaction.
When his partner tells him "A bottle says we never find it." He replies, "Make it a case." The underlying vibe is that he is enjoying himself and sees life as one big game that's fun to play.
How can you develop charm and charisma?
This one comes down to living with an open heart. I really believe humor comes from the heart and a person who can laugh is a person that can love. That is probably why women like guys that are funny since it's a way for their own heart to open more.
The best way I've found to do this is with the heart chakra meditation from Revive Your Sex Drive. Do that everyday for a week and as your heart opens you'll find yourself delighted by even things that used to annoy you.
At this place, you will be able to magically see the funny side of everything and people will be drawn into your fun and happy energy.
One of the things many people overlook on their quest for self-improvement is their nutrition. Most guys consider a hearty slab of meat and some mashed potatoes to be "manly."
"More Protein" is the mantra you hear from everyone inside any American Gym. Though they don't say what protein is the best and how to create a balanced meal that will benefit your entire system.
Often times when I eat "manly" meals or even regular meals at most restaurants, I feel sluggish and tired for a couple hours afterwards. It's such a common occurrence that we now have a term for it, "Food Coma."
I would always tell myself, "There is something not right here, food should give me energy not take it away. There must be a better way." There is a better way and it involves using pure ingredients and creating balance in your body.
Just as masculine is considered Yang and Feminine is consider Yin, this classification system can be extended to food as well.
Yin foods are high in water content, cold, and sour or bitter. They include things like lettuce, cucumbers, fruits, fish, beer, refined sugars and require less cooking (steaming) or no cooking (fresh and raw).
Yang foods are low in water content, hot, and pugnant or bland. They include things like potatoes, pumpkin, red meat, onion, garlic, ginger, seeds and nuts, and require more cooking (stewing, baking, deep frying).
The summer is a yang season due to the heat so to balance it out, we eat yin food which will cool us down. The winter is a yin season due to the cold so to balance it out we eat yang food to heat us up.
Recently I found an extremely healthy and tasty recipe called Mung Bean Soup that is very high in yang energy. I received the recipe from a Yogi in my area and have been eating it a lot during the past few weeks with much satisfaction (and zero food comas).
In his words:
"This is one of the most nutritious, healing, and tasty meals that I have ever eaten. It is a pre-digested food. Its protein is balanced because of the beans and rice, which makes it easy to digest. It’s full of vitamins and minerals, from all the vegetables.
It has the trinity roots; garlic for the immune system, ginger for energy and the spine, and onions for the blood and semen. Cardamom and pepper are good for digestion and turmeric is good for absorption and flexibility.
I cannot tell you all the remarkable things that this dish can do, you are just going to have to eat it and find out for yourself."
The recipe is as follows:
Mung Beans and Rice (or Bhajan’s banquet) Recipe by Yogi Bhajan. Comments by Ram Dass Bir Singh Khalsa
2/3 Cup Mung Beans (wash beans). Most Indian and health food stores carry mung beans.
2/3 Cup Rice (wash rice). Basmati is best.
7-8 Cups Water (start with 7 cups of water and you can always add more if mixture gets too thick.
1 Teaspoon Turmeric. A yellow powder that is a healing medicine by itself.
1 Teaspoon Gram Masala (a mixture of healing spices found at any Indian food store.
1 Tablespoon Sweet Basil.
½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder.
2 Bay Leaves Whole (remove spent bay leaves after mixture is almost done).
½ Teaspoon Red Pepper (powder or crushed, this is very hot stuff so add more of less to taste).
5 Large Cardamom pods (just add the seeds from the cardamom pods).
Add all of the above ingredients to a large pot and start boiling. While it heats up, chop and add vegetables:
As you boil the above ingredients, you can cook the below in a frying pan until lightly browned.
1-2 Onions, chopped.
1/3 Cup Ginger Root, minced.
10 Cloves Garlic, minced.
¼ Cup Oil (almond or olive is best, but any good oil is fine).
"When the onion ginger and garlic mixture is lightly browned it’s done. Add it to the large boiling pot full of the vegetables and spices, set fire to low. You will now need to stir often to prevent scorching. Continue to cook until all the vegetables can be barely discernible. Add more water if necessary. It will have a ruch thick soup like consistency. When it’s done you may now add:"
Sea Salt or Tamari – To you your taste. Tamari is found at any good health food store.
Cheese & Yogurt – To taste (make sure to use good quality and don't overdo the cheese).
"It’s best to be served this dish with yogurt and yogi tea. The dish should be spicy hot. The more red pepper you add the hotter it will be. You may even add jalapeños, especially in the winter, when it’s cold. The yogurt will help to balance out the hot yang fire in the dish with cooling yin energy.
You can make this in a crock-pot in two ways. First, just add all the water, vegetables, and spices to the pot in the morning and set to auto. When you come home from work, all you do is cook up the trinity roots in a frying pan and add them to the crock-pot. Stir and add more water if needed and cook longer if necessary.
The second way- while you are heating up the crock-pot, is to boil the vegetables and spices in a large metal pot, while you cook the trinity roots in a frying pan. When done, add all the ingredients to a crock-pot. Leave crock-pot on high, stir every half hour or so, until it’s all done. You start with a metal pot on the stove, then transfer all ingredients to a cock-pot, as this will help to prevent scorching on the bottom of the metal pot. For each serving, you can add tamari or melted cheese for individual taste.
May God & Guru always gives us the food that we need – to be healthy, happy and holy, Sat Nam – Wahe Guru!"
I am amazed at how my body responds to this food. My energy is increasing, my digestion is improving, and I no longer have to rest after eating. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their health, especially during the winter.
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Do you ever feel like your life is slipping through your fingers or that time is passing you by and you are powerless to stop it?
I remember looking forward to special events or milestones in my life for many weeks, months or years. "I just can't wait until this happens," I would tell myself as I'd get lost into my dreams of being there in the future.
When the event finally happened, I felt like it went too fast as if I didn't get to savor it long enough or that it didn't fulfill me as much as I hoped.
The future does not exist, nor does the past. The only thing that's real is NOW, this very moment. Everything else is an illusion. As soon as you start thinking about the past, you are living in your memories. As soon as you start imagining your future, you are living in your dreams.
Both only exist in your mind.
I see only two ways to experience life at any given moment:
1. Living in the mind. 2. Living in the experience.
The mind is a tool for you to use to interpret your life, decide what you like and what you dislike, and create your own reality. It is a necessary part of this existence, though most people use it more then they need to.
For example, when I am going to surf, I usually check the surf report online to see if the waves are breaking and at which beach. I use my mind to look up the various reports and then decide on a beach and go. Once I get to the beach, I surf for a few hours and enjoy the fresh air, bright sun, crashing waves, the sand underfoot; the whole experience.
The total time to look up the surf report is 5 minutes. Investing that small amount of time enhances my experience of 3 hours surfing dramatically because it allows me to find the best waves.
But what if instead of spending 5 minutes on the report, I spent 3 hours researching the waves by analyzing each surf report & weather report in detail, checking various sources, calling friends, checking past charts and historic ocean swells, etc. After which, I finally drove out to the one beach that my research specified was the best and found out my research was spot on!
So I surfed for a total of 5 minutes, since that was all the time I had left.
That sounds ridiculous but it is the exact same thing many of us do with our own life. I know I've done it. Sure the mind is important and a little bit of research and analyzing is important but it's not everything. In fact, it's not even close.
The secret to enjoying life and grabbing time by the balls and saying "not so fast" is to become aware, to become present. When you are about to eat, don't think about what's going on in the news, or what people you have to call, or what projects you want to work on, just eat. Enjoy the food, observe the texture, breathe in the smell, appreciate the quality, savor the flavor.
Play with your food. Our parents had it wrong this whole time.
Take any activity like walking around the park, having a drink with an old friend, or your favorite exercise and see if you can observe and experience everything.
See if you can empty your mind completely and merge with the other person while you are talking with them. Allow their every movement, word, and expression to soak into your perception. It will amaze you. You don't need to read all these body language books, just be aware.
It's tough at first and I am no master yet, but keep at it. When you've experienced an event so fully with all your senses, that feeling of life "passing you by" will be gone and will be replaced by warmth and appreciation for life and all of existence.
When you are living in this experience on a constant basis, you open up the doors to abundance and true happiness.
Give it a try and share your experience with us in the comment section if you like.
Tough Guise is documentary that discusses the links between violence in the media and society’s idea of masculinity.
Although the film is a bit dated, the problems discussed still ring true about the trouble that men are experiencing in understanding their own masculinity.
Jackson Katz, who describes himeself as “one of America’s leading anti-sexist male activists,” talks about the idea of a “tough guise” that men put on as a mask to hide their deeper vulnerabilities and emotions.
The film discusses how this idea came about and how masculinity is often portrayed in the media as physical and mental strength, power over others, and violence while traits such as vulnerability, emotion, and compassion are seen as weak and unmanly.
While its true that that many men misunderstand these ideas about masculinity, I don’t think we can just place all the blame on the media as the root cause of this “crisis” (although it definitely perpetuates the “tough guise”), but rather, the media is a response to something else, mainly a lack of authentic and mature masculine power.
The documentary spends about a good amount of time discussing the areas where masculinity is distorted in the media, then spends only the last few minutes talking about ways to improve the situation.
Although this film probably does accomplish a lot as far as improving our awareness as men, it does not give a clear direction as to where to go next. That is pretty much where the “tough guys” find themselves in their own life; not sure where to go next or how to really be a man.
This film was definitely spot-on in describing the problems men face and is enjoyable to watch. All in all, it will improve your awareness of the situation and is a good first step out of the old view of the macho man.
Often times I hear guys say,"I want to work on my skills with women but for now I'm going to focus on my job (or school, or whatever)." For a while, I thought the exact same thing, "How can I expect to have a relationship, or date many different women, if I don't have the rest of my life handled?"
Although there is some truth to that, I believe that most guys take this idea too far. They think that because they are focusing on their work, they should completely write off everything else, including their love life.
This type of thinking stems from the underlying belief that success with women is a precise skill to learn which requires a lot of time and the benefits of which will not carry over to other parts of your life. Usually this belief is formed because the guy is too focused on lower level skills, such as what to say, what to wear, how to stand; all the techniques.
If you focus on all these lower levels, then you are indeed correct that you will have to devote a lot of time to learning skills that will not transfer over to other areas of your life. If you learn routines like The Cube (a fun psychological game to play with a woman you just meet), you aren't likely going to be using it when you make your breakthrough business proposal.
So what do you do if you find yourself wanting to learn multiple skills but only have enough time to focus on one? Go up a level. For example, instead of having to choose between learning pick up routines or sales tactics for your business, make your focus on clearing your mental chatter and becoming fully present.
This skill transfers over to both. By being fully aware while in a social setting like a bar or a club, you won't fall victim to anxiety or fears that pop up and will come off so much stronger when you talk to women. By being fully aware at your job, you can take a step back and observe how clients find your company, what they really want behind their words, then improve your company's offering to them.
Of course, you may still need to learn some specific sales tactics and it's useful to have a few default routines under your belt. Though your main focus should be on the higher levels if you want to make your learning time more efficient.
For myself, I have put my main focus on energy. Improving my relationship with my physical energy to improve my health, my emotional energy to improve my happiness, my financial energy to welcome more abundance, and my relationship energy to charge my interactions with excitement. It's all pretty much the same thing when you get to a higher level.
Other high levels that I plan on focusing on include fine-tuning my manifestation ability, improving my learning ability, living my life's purpose and so on.
If you find yourself with an "either or" mentality, it also probably means that the ego is running the show, since the ego thrives on duality and limitations. It's like what T. Harv Eker in The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind:
"What’s more important, your arm or your leg? Maybe they’re both important."
'Either or' thinking stems from a scarcity mentality.
"Do you want a successful career or a close relationship with your family? Both! Do you want to focus on business or have fun and play? Both! Do you want money or meaning in your life? Both! Do you want to earn a fortune or do the work you love? Both! Poor people always choose one, rich people choose both.
Rich people understand that with a little creativity you can almost always figure out a way to have the best of both worlds. From now on, when confronted with an either/or alternative, the quintessential question to ask yourself is “How can I have both?” This question will change your life. It will take you from a model of scarcity and limitation to a universe of possibilities and abundance."
Are you familiar with Reiki? What about chakras? Perhaps you're a bit hesitant about whether they are real methods of healing or just a placebo effect that the mind creates. This experience may shed some light on the effectiveness of energy healing.
The past month I attended a spiritual fair where many energy healers, massage therapists, medical intuitives and psychics gathered to offer their services at the Learning Light Foundation in Anaheim California.
At the time, I thought it would be fun to check out. Little did I know the powerful energetic changes that were about to take place within me.
I arrived at the location to find a small recreation church-like building in the immigrant side of town. As I walk to the door, a kind old man greets me and asks for the $2 admission fee. I give him the money and, with his shaking hands and warm smile, he places in a steel collection box.
I walk through a narrow hallway and into a big room with about 25 psychics, healers, and therapists each about 3 feet away from each other with a small table and an empty chair in front of them or a client. Alongside the walls of the room are vendors selling crystals, books, stones, and herbal healing products.
I walk over to a poster board on the wall and see photos and information on each of the healers and therapists. I briefly scan the descriptions and photos until I find this listing:
"Yogi Yagnesh ShantiOm: Accomplished musician, poet, craftsman, yogi and a healer. He has helped many people by teaching Yoga, spiritual consoling, and by his healing hands. He combines Pranic Healing, with Tibetan Reiki and Special healing prayers & Mantras. He has over 15 years experience as a spiritual healer."
The cost is $45 for a 30 minute healing session. I walk over to the lady receptionist and tell her I would like a session with this healer. Just as I am paying her, the healer walks over to her and says "So, anyone come in for me?" She replies, "You're just in time, he wants a session with you." We both chuckle and he says jokingly "See, I'm psychic."
We walk upstairs to a large room with a massage table. He asks me to take off my shoes and lay with my back on the table and my eyes closed. He proceeds to check my chakras with a crystal pendulum and jokes that "its a good thing I came in" (I had been doing a lot of partying around this time which probably messed up my chakras).
As I lay with my eyes closed, I could feel him waving his hands and arms a few feet away from my body, as if he was fluffing my aura. My ego kept blurting out thoughts like "This is total crap, he isn't doing anything, this is stupid." I kept quieting my mind and saying to myself, "I am open to this healing and allow it to take place."
Within a few minutes of that, he moves his hands towards my neck and I feel a powerful heat coming towards me as he lay his hands on the back of my head in a triangular position, as if propping it up with his hands. He continues to place his hands there for a few minutes.
He proceeded to lay his hands in a different place and position for each chakra. He then asks me to turn around so I am laying on my stomach. He proceeds to lay his hands the same way on the back of each chakra. Each time it just felt like he was laying his warm hands on me and nothing special was happening. It was kind of weird but I kept an open mind.
Then suddenly, as he was working on the back on the Solar Plexus and later, on Sacral chakra, I felt a sharp pain travel a few inches up into my heart and within 3 or 4 seconds dissipate into nothingness. These two twinges of pain were the only things I felt the entire 30 minutes.
He finished up with another aura fluff and then I was done. He tells me, "Don't take a shower until tomorrow, that way you keep the energy in you. Also, you may feel some changes. Like sudden crying, happiness, or a feeling of letting go."
That day I felt good and although I didn't take a shower, I did go out to a club and had about 5 or 6 beers. The next day I felt a bit hungover but had a little more awareness.
The real change came two days later, Monday. I woke up excited to be alive and to start working. I felt happier and calmer for no particular reason. I also felt like I had just had a big workout 2 days prior: my muscles were sore, like I was recuperating but rebuilding strength. I had almost forgot that I went to a healer, until I started to connect the dots.
A month later, I went to see him again for another healing session. He tells me "You will be more receptive to the energy this time." I lay down and go through the whole routine, except this time it feels different.
Each time he lays his hands on me, instead of feeling nothing but a little warmness, it feels like his hands are charged with warm energy and are sending a stream of tingling sensations into my body. I enjoy the feeling and relax. This time, the mental chatter of skepticism does not come up at all.
I thank him and go home. That night I did not shower but again drank a few beers and partied. The next day, however, was anything BUT normal. The entire day I felt like I was lighter, almost like I was floating just a little. I wrote in my journal about some realizations about myself and life. I accepted myself on a whole new level and came to terms with my own imperfections (which led to this post).
I poured my heart out as I wrote and felt a tremendous letting go. Afterward, my entire chest and most of my body felt a powerful, almost electric charge, like a pervasive tingling. It was like my heart was radiating energy and morphing or healing itself on new levels. It was indescribable, like nothing I have ever felt before. I literally felt like I had someone else's heart in my body.
The changes became more apparent as I continued with my daily life. Things that worried me or bothered me seemed trivial. I enjoyed just being with my friends, just spending time with them eating or talking. When I went out to clubs I playfully flirted with girls with no consideration for what could go wrong.
My female friends that I haven't called in a while started calling me non-stop to go out and party. I started making more jokes about everything with everyone, I was funny again. I enjoyed every part of life that I had somehow forgot before. My eyes and heart became open to all the love around me that I had been resisting all along.
I realized that living in the heart means enjoying life, not analyzing it. In the past, as soon I would start to analyze a situation and try to "figure out" another person, I was operating out of the ego. When I just let go of the need to analyze and interpret, I allow myself to enjoy everyone and everything without judgment. That is living from the heart.
I did chakra meditations to keep the feeling for as long as possible. It slowly drifted away to some extent, but my heart remained at a level of consciousness much higher than before. I had been working on my own chakras for a long time, which I believe allowed me to get so much benefit from the healings in such short time.
My goal now is to develop a lifestyle that supports this heart consciousness; and utilizing regular energy work with myself and healers is now a part of that.
Do you love to start projects but have trouble finishing them? Perhaps you constantly go back and edit or "improve" your work before letting anyone even peek at it?
Perfectionism causes us to stop just before the end of something which prevents us from receiving the rewards that "closing the deal" brings. It's actually a form of not accepting the self.
Even though I'll do a great job on something I often feel it's still not good enough and that I don't deserve to receive a reward, so I don't finish it.
Once I realized this need for perfection, it became so clear in every aspect of my life. For example, I recently purchased a digital camcorder and filmed 4 hours of our surf trip in fiji but never finished editing it. I wanted to make it professional-like with music and cut scenes, and it's been 11 months and none of my friends or family has even seen the video!
I've also realized that perfection is a state that we can NEVER experience. Something that is complete or perfect is dead. Why? Because its not growing. Growth is life.
Barbie and Ken dolls are "perfect" but they are also plastic, lifeless, and they never change. Imperfection is THE greatest gift we have since it allows us to evolve and that process of reaching new levels of consciousness is the greatest bliss and joy in our life.
Think back to when you felt incredible joy and accomplishment, what had just happened? It was probably a time when you broke through an imperfection and evolved in some way. You grew.
Being someone that wants to heal and teach others, I often feel that I am not qualified to teach until I am "perfect." I am writing a book about creating an incredible spiritual lifestyle yet I feel unqualified since I am not "perfectly healthy" or "completely beyond the ego."
Yet when I look at where I was a year ago, getting sick every other week and stuck in my head, I realize the incredible progress I've made and how much others can really benefit from it. Friends and family are already starting to come to me for help with their health which probably means I'm on to something.
Abraham says in the art of allowing workshop that "If the teacher waited until they were perfect before teaching, no teaching would take place."
If you want to start something, start. Don't worry if you don't know all there is to know, that's the whole reason you are starting in the first place.
Life is a journey, not a destination.
Try this exercise really quick. Close your eyes and think of where you are right now and compare it to where you want to be (with work, school, wealth, relationships, anything), and notice how you feel on a scale of 1 to 10. Got it?
Next, think of where you are right now and compare it to where you used to be and rate how you feel.
The results usually show that people feel overwhelmed or depressed when they compare their current self to their ideal self, since you are basically comparing yourself to infinity. Yet when you compare your current self to your old self, you feel a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Accepting the self isn't "I accept myself and unfortunately all these imperfections that I must overcome soon." It's "This is me, I got a lot of love inside. Here are all my imperfections which are really just seeds of joy waiting to be released and I love them."
Think about when you were a kid and you played with clay. If you were trying to make a figure of a dinosaur, and someone came over and gave you the PERFECT clay dinosaur already finished, how much fun would you have? The real fun is throwing down the clay, getting messy, and making your RETARDED-looking gimpyass dinosaur with your best friend.
That's what life is about. LIFE IS NOT PERFECT and because it is not "perfect", IT IS PERFECT. So why should you TRY to be "perfect" when you already ARE. "I AM" is "I am alive", I am life, I am perfect just by BEING.
People just want to be accepted and loved. It starts with yourself. Get that handled by learning how to accept yourself with all your imperfections, allowing abundance to flow, and start loving your imperfect life.
I keep hearing such great feedback on my blog's design which I greatly appreciate.
Many of you ask me how I made the blog and if I designed it myself, so I decided to create this short video showing you exactly how I created Yang Town from a simple sketch as well as a little history on how my blog started.
Feel free to post any comments about the video or questions about the Elance outsourcing process. Enjoy!
Those of you who are familiar with the Law of Attraction know how much creative power each of us have in our life. According to Abraham, there are two step to deliberate creation:
1) A deep wanting
2) Expecting or allowing that desire to manifest
What most people do is they get this deep wanting, such as "I want to buy that car!" and at that moment their manifestation starts. Then their ego gives them a reality check and it says "but there is no way I can afford it" and bam, the manifestation stops in its tracks.
So to help you fine tune both parts of deliberate creation, take out a piece of paper for this exercise.
Step 1: On the front side write all the reasons that you want the thing you want. Keep writing until you can't think of anything else. This increases your wanting of it.
Step 2: On the back side write all the reasons why you will get the thing that you want. This increases your expectation and allowing of it.
It is recommended to only work on manifesting at most 3 things at a time until you improve your skill. If you want to focus your energy even more, do it for just one.
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Yang Town features monthly articles intended to help men develop Powerful Sexual Energy, a Wise Mind, and a Loving Heart.
It's rare to find examples of men who live with an open heart and who understand that unconditional love is not limited to being a feminine characteristic, but rather, can be very masculine as well.
Be sure to check out his popular book "Conversations with God."
Do you ever feel like your life is slipping through your fingers or that time is passing you by and you are powerless to stop it? 
Although there is some truth to that, I believe that most guys take this idea too far. They think that because they are focusing on their work, they should completely write off everything else, including their love life. 
Those of you who are familiar with the Law of Attraction know how much creative power each of us have in our life. According to Abraham, there are two step to deliberate creation:
