Living in the Flow

I feel as if I had a cool epiphany this morning and I desire to share it in the most simplistic way. I copied three statements from my previous blog, Best. Year. Yet., and I'll offer simple ideas to build on them in a personal way. I suppose 'simple' is a relative term. Take your time...deep breath...here we go:

"Effective programs in personal development all seem to be based on the natural laws of the universe. Brilliant. These laws are in effect whether or not we choose to have awareness of them or not."

So for this blog post and for simplicity sake, let's refer to what is often named 'God' as the energy of pure potentiality that is pervasive throughout all life. That idea seems to be most inclusive for all existence. Let's assume that that energy is one of unconditional 'love' (another word used to define something we feel and experience within, rather than find or touch or speak - a feeling of expansion, light, and flow). So let's say that the energy of pure potentiality is a mystery and is as empty as it is full. Now let's examine existence as we may think we know it. To exist, 'life' is governed by principles or laws that are always at work. Period. So...maybe an example would be that water turns into ice at a certain temperature, whether or not it becomes a potentially dangerous iceberg or an icecube to refresh a glass of water. The point is that these laws are indendent of our concepts of good and bad. So knowing these laws and becoming aligned with these laws can align us all with 'peace' (assuming that is our collective desire) or flow within that will then reflect or be projected externally.

Since I am no scientist, let's just use one simple law that we all know: cause and effect. Imagine drawing a circle and insert the word cause on one side and the word effect on the other side, adding arrows that demonstrate that cause leads to effect and effect leads to cause, showing a continuous cycle. I'm no graphic artist either otherwise I would show you what I am envisioning! 

So this makes sense as far as stimulus and response like Pavlov's dog. In that example, we can see how habitual patterns get programmed into our subconscious. Stimulus can be anything, yet to my mind we react to our sensory perception of 'said' stimulus. For example, we can assume that a stimulus is a person maybe, yet the person is causing a sensory experience or felt sense that our cells or nervous system is reacting to (our internal physiology does not know the person anymore than the message the nervous system is receiving from the sensory experience of that person). 

When we talk about mindfulness or meditation, the practice helps us slow down and align mind, body, and spirit so that we can recognize the patterns that have been created, and undo false belief systems, paradigms/mindsets that are contributing to limited thinking patterns keeping us from our fullest expression of who we are here to be. If you think of yourself (originally) as a seed you could consider the conditions of the mind that are either helping or limiting growth and full expression. 

You may have heard a saying like,"change your thoughts, change your life". So that would be getting aligned with this law and changing thoughts as stimulus to change the effect. 

Okay...this was my aha moment this morning: create the effect, or the desired feeling, which in turn would change the 'cause' or the external experience or stimulus. Does that make sense? This is a real typical skill in personal development, visualization. Effective visualization is really centering oneself and creating the feeling, the sounds, the images, of the desired effect. So this is not a new concept, I just never saw the deeper connection to the law of cause and effect. Personally, I focused on noticing the 'cause' and allowing for a space, and then changing the cause (a limited belief perhaps) to 'feel' better. In this example, my awareness or my focus is not fully on the effect...even though that's what my desire is: to feel open and free, to live authentically. This brings us to intention...

"Another word you hear a lot in personal development is (the) setting (of) an ‘intention’. When we intentionally align with these laws we align with the energy flow that is always available, yet often and unknowingly, we are living in resistance to it."

Are you getting it? When we intentionally bring our awareness or focus onto the 'effect' we desire: ex.what does feeling good look like? (create the image in your mind)...what does feeling good feel like? (create the feeling or sensation - get it? our nervous system responds to sensory input)...what does it sound like? (create or notice sounds that feel good - or feel open, free, expansive, light - which is why music can be such a healing and joyful experience as it is a felt experience and our nervous system responds accordingly). Again, when we intentionally bring our awareness or focus onto the 'effect' we desire, we co create the 'cause' or what is happening. The key here is to not be attached to the outcome. Have you heard the saying, "you come up with the 'what' and allow the universe to come up with the 'how' "? Or in this example, come up with the desired outcome which in all cases can be broken down into a felt experience: desire a new car? what felt experience are you anticipating with that new car? focus on that. Want to win? what felt experience does winning give you? focus on that. Desire to fall in love? Rather than attaching to a specific person or type of person, focus on the feeling you desire and create the 'effect' and be open to the 'cause'. This concept is based on trust, not doubt.

"One of the lessons BYY teaches is the principled teaching of action and attitude. When our behavior matches our truest desire we align with the natural flow of life."

Would this concept of action and attitude be a 'principled teaching' because it is exactly aligned with the law of cause and effect? And when we intentionally align with the law, then we are living in the flow of the energy of pure potentiality and therefore are the co creators of our inner experience, which dictates external experience - or the experience of external experience. External experience will always include the range or spectrum of the human experience. Things happen. Our experience of the 'things' that happen is different when we are the observer of the human condition and can live in a reflective space as opposed to assuming one is the external experience and feeling as if 'things' are happening to us, having no control of our own. Living in the external experience creates fear, whereas living from the internal experience is (true) love or flow.


Lastly, action is movement. Flow is movement. To create anything evokes action or movement. I'm going to risk contradicting myself, yet one can desire an outcome without being attached to it. Right? Do you know what you are moving toward?

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