Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Wise Willy Shocked by Bullying


Hi Friends! (French below)

I've been helping out Wise Willy for about a week now, and I feel like I have a third child! I LOVE assisting him with his social media accounts and teaching him how to do various things on the computer, but I had NO IDEA he would create such a stir! I really have to keep a close eye on this little dude! One day he can bring up topics that are fun, light and inspirational, and the next, he can dive into really deep, existential subjects.

Like yesterday, he wrote about "the Black Fog" as a result of witnessing bullying at his playground. What he saw really shook him to his core. He was a little surprised when I told him that unfortunately, bullying doesn't stop when people grow up. As long as people continue to deny and project their pain and discomfort onto others, bullying will continue. Anyway, you can read what Wise Willy wrote below. I told him I would feature some of this stuff on my blog once in a while. You should have seen the excitement on his little face!

Wishing you a great couple of weeks!
Lise Villeneuve
www.lisevilleneuve.com

The Black Fog

By Wise Willy

Unbeknownst to her, Greta became a host for the Black Fog. It was thick and sticky, heavy and uncomfortable. The Black Fog carried imprints of the faces of all the people who had hurt her. They were too painful to remember consciously, but they still lived and breathed in this dark muck. Greta had been carrying them inside her ever since she was just a helpless, innocent babe in arms. The angry faces yelled how worthless and unlovable she was. She couldn’t hear their words, but she could still feel them as a deep shame and a hopeless unworthiness. As Greta got older, the shame morphed into sadness, then anger, then rage.

All she ever wanted was simply what everybody else wanted - to feel good, peaceful and happy. To be loved. But the Black Fog was too dense, too sticky to allow any bright, lighthearted, joyful feelings to survive in such an inhospitable inner-landscape. All Greta knew was pain. And so, unable to free herself from the Black Fog that kept her chained up to misery, she used the only method she knew to raise herself up: she put others down.

The Black Fog typically affected its hosts in two ways. One - the dark feelings festered into self-hatred and depression, or two - they turned their host into a cruel, aggressive bully. If only someone had shown Greta how to free herself from the Black Fog. If only she knew that beneath this pulsating, viscous layer of past pain, her beauty and innocence were still intact and shining like the sun. Like many, Greta made the mistake of believing she WAS the Black Fog instead of seeing she had become its unfortunate host.

The Black Fog was a hungry beast. It needed to feed daily on the energy of vulnerable, unsuspecting beings. All Greta had to do was open her mouth and the Black Fog was instantly unleashed onto others. It entered their bodies, caused pain, and perpetuated the cycle like a ruthless parasite. Just a few mean words from Greta gave the Black Fog the power to quickly spread from one child to another at the playground, then from child to sibling, sibling to parent, and neighbour to neighbour, until the entire community was infected.

If only Greta knew how powerful her words and actions were. If only she could experience the beautifully uplifting domino effect of a KIND word! But she was drowning in the Black Fog, drowning in her pain, because nobody ever taught her how to free herself from this inebriating darkness. Nevertheless, there was hope! Greta’s beautiful, innocent and loving heart was still unscathed. It knew that someday, she would have the knowledge and the courage to free it from the Black Fog.

----------------------------------------------
We ALL carry some of that Black Fog inside us. It is our responsibility to OWN our pain and to allow ourselves to fully FEEL IT - as opposed to escaping it, resisting it, ignoring it or projecting it onto others. The Black Fog only goes away after we have the courage to face and feel our discomfort. It may not feel great in the moment, but as this heavy fog is gradually released from our bodies, the world truly starts to look and feel like a bright new planet!
We can do this! We can collectively stop feeding the Black Fog!
Love,

Wise Willy


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Salut les amis!
J'aide Wise Willy depuis environ une semaine maintenant, et j'ai l'impression d'avoir un troisième enfant! J'ADORE l'aider avec ses comptes de médias sociaux et lui apprendre à faire diverses choses sur l'ordinateur, mais je n'avais AUCUNE IDÉE qu'il créerait un tel émoi! Je dois vraiment garder un œil sur ce petit mec! Un jour, il peut aborder des sujets amusants, légers et inspirants, et le lendemain, il peut plonger dans des sujets existentiels vraiment profonds.
Comme hier, il a écrit un texte intitulé "le brouillard noir" après avoir été témoin d'intimidation sur son terrain de jeu. Ce qu'il a vu l'a vraiment secoué. Il a été un peu surpris quand je lui ai dit que malheureusement, l'intimidation ne s'arrête pas lorsque les gens grandissent. Tant que les gens continueront de nier et de projeter leur douleur et leur inconfort sur les autres, l'intimidation continuera. Quoi qu'il en soit, vous pouvez lire ce que Wise Willy a écrit ci-dessous. Je lui ai dit que je présenterais certaines de ces choses sur mon blogue de temps en temps. Vous auriez dû voir l'enthousiasme sur son petit visage!
Je vous souhaite une belle semaine! Lise Villeneuve www.lisevilleneuve.com

Le brouillard noir (The Black Fog)

Par Wise Willy

À son insu, Greta est devenue l'hôte du Brouillard Noir. Il était épais et collant, lourd et inconfortable. Le Brouillard Noir portait les empreintes des visages de toutes les personnes qui l'avaient blessée. Ces empreintes étaient trop douloureuses pour qu'elle s'en souvienne consciemment, mais les visages de son passé vivaient et respiraient toujours dans cette boue sombre. Greta les portait en elle depuis qu'elle n'était qu'une fillette. Des expressions colériques lui criaient à quel point elle était sans valeur et peu aimable. Elle ne pouvait point entendre leurs paroles, mais elle pouvait les ressentir sous forme d'une honte profonde et une indignité troublante. Au fur et à mesure que Greta vieillissait, la honte se transformait. D'abord, en tristesse, puis en colère, puis en rage.

Tout ce qu'elle avait toujours voulu était simplement ce que tout le monde espérait - se sentir bien, paisible et heureux. Se sentir aimé, quoi. Mais le Brouillard Noir était trop dense, trop collant pour permettre à des sentiments lumineux, légers et joyeux de survivre dans un paysage intérieur aussi inhospitalier. Tout ce que Greta connaissait, c'était la douleur. Et donc, incapable de se libérer du Brouillard Noir qui la tenait enchaînée à sa misère, elle utilisait la seule méthode qu'elle connaissait pour se relever: elle rabaissait les autres.

Le Brouillard Noir affectait généralement ses hôtes de deux manières. La première - les sentiments sombres se transformaient en haine de soi et en dépression, ou la deuxième - ils transformaient leur hôte en tyran cruel et agressif. Si seulement quelqu'un avait montré à Greta comment se libérer du Brouillard Noir. Si seulement elle savait que sous cette couche visqueuse de douleur passée, sa beauté et son innocence étaient toujours intactes et brillaient comme un soleil. Comme beaucoup, Greta avait commis l'erreur de croire qu'elle ÉTAIT le Brouillard Noir au lieu de comprendre qu'elle était devenue son hôte.

Le Brouillard Noir était une bête sauvage affamée qui avait besoin de se nourrir quotidiennement de l'énergie d'êtres vulnérables et sans méfiance. Tout ce que Greta avait à faire était d'ouvrir sa bouche et le Brouillard Noir se déchaînait instantanément sur les autres. Il s'infiltrait dans leur corps, causait de la douleur et perpétuait le cycle vicieux comme un parasite impitoyable. Quelques mots méchants de Greta donnaient au Brouillard Noir le pouvoir de se propager rapidement d'un enfant à un autre dans la cour de récréation, puis d'un enfant à ses parents, d'un voisin à l'autre, jusqu'à ce que toute la communauté soit infectée.

Si seulement Greta savait à quel point ses paroles et ses actions étaient puissantes! Si seulement elle pouvait ressentir l'effet domino édifiant de paroles AIMABLES! Mais elle se noyait dans le Brouillard Noir, se noyait dans sa douleur, car personne ne lui avait jamais appris à se libérer de cette obscurité enivrante. Néanmoins, il y avait de l'espoir! Le cœur innocent et aimant de Greta était toujours indemne. Son coeur savait qu'un jour, Greta trouverait la sagesse et le courage de le libérer du Brouillard Noir.

---------------------------------------------- Nous portons TOUS un peu de ce Brouillard Noir en nous, n'est-ce pas? C'est notre responsabilité de s'approprier notre douleur et d'avoir le courage de la ressentir pleinement - plutôt que d'y échapper, d'y résister, de l'ignorer ou de la projeter sur les autres. Le Brouillard Noir ne disparaît qu'après l'avoir affronté directement en ressentant pleinement notre inconfort. Cela peut être temporairement désagréable, mais à mesure que cet épais brouillard est progressivement libéré de notre corps, TOUT se transforme! Le monde qu'on perçoit commence à ressembler à une nouvelle planète brillante et remplie d'espoir!
Nous sommes capables les amis! Nous pouvons collectivement arrêter de nourrir le Brouillard Noir!
Avec Amour, Wise Willy Mon Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wisewilly007

Thursday, January 31, 2019

The ONE Thing To Know...


-Mindfulness Bites-

Mindfulness or Mindlessness?

By Lise Villeneuve

If you asked me to share just one simple mindfulness concept with you, this would be it. What I’m about to explain is so basic and so simple, yet it has the potential to completely transform your life by freeing you from so much unnecessary suffering. Are you ready to hear it? First, imagine you had an app or a device that could automatically track, identify and record every single one of your thoughts (I know it’s just a matter of time before such a thing exists!) How many thoughts do you think you would approximately have each day? Scientists tell us we think an average of 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day -that’s 35 to 48 thoughts per minute! They also estimate that about 80% of our thoughts are mostly negative. Imagine if we had such an app that tracked all our mental chatter. What do you think we would learn from closely monitoring our thoughts?

Can we control our thoughts?

First, I think the vast majority of us would be amazed at how truly unaware we are of our thoughts. We would be so surprised to review all the things we’ve been telling ourselves in a day: all the little stories we cling to, the judgements, the fears, the beliefs, the assumptions, as well as our hopes, dreams and positive thoughts. It would be quite an eye-opener to see the contents of our minds in one day, but I think what would shock us the most would be the realization that our thoughts are so random and extremely repetitive. We would eventually come to the conclusion that despite what we may believe, we have very little control over our thoughts. If you don’t believe me, sit quietly for five minutes and observe your mental chatter. Can you control it?

Can we control our emotions?
What do you think is the second major thing we would learn from using a device that could instantly show us our thoughts? We would see that what we think directly influences how we feel. Our thoughts generate emotions, and in turn, our emotions give rise to more thoughts, then round and round the cycle goes. If our device showed us we were stuck in negative thinking patterns, then we would immediately make the connection between our dark thoughts and our bad mood, or our discomfort. But here’s the kicker: negative thinking patterns don’t just include self-critical thoughts. They include any thoughts that argue with reality. You know, the thoughts we have that resist what is, the thoughts that fight against what has already happened. The shoulds and shouldn’t haves of our minds. We all have them.

I can't believe she did that...
If our app could clearly show us the thoughts that fight with what is, we would immediately understand how much stress they cause us. “She should or shouldn’t have said that.” We would see how such thoughts - regardless if they are true or not - completely rob us of our natural state of peace and well being. We would notice how much energy we waste by clinging to these thoughts and stories that end up making us feel miserable. With the extra awareness and clarity provided by our device, we could look at any one of our thoughts that argue with what is, such as “He should or shouldn’t have done that” and we could then ask ourselves “when I cling to this thought, how does it make me feel?” What does that feel like in my body? Try it now. Think of a recent situation when you felt irritated, frustrated, sad or angry. What were you telling yourself? How did that make you feel?

After having identified the type of stress, discomfort and resistance created in your body from having focused on that particular thought or story, the next logical step would be to ask: “How would I feel - who would I be - if I didn’t have that thought, or if it never came to my mind?” Again, it doesn’t matter if the thought or story are true, justified or not. How would you feel if you simply didn’t entertain that thought?

Does positive thinking work?
Of course if it weren’t for our neurotic minds, we would all be in a permanent state of bliss. Our challenge is to end the war with our minds, to accept what is - including our compulsive thoughts and our mental stories. And how can we do this? By meeting our fearful, jealous, angry, depressed and resistant thoughts with understanding and compassion. Simply pushing our negative thoughts away or replacing them with positive thoughts doesn’t work. That’s like a band-aid solution: it’s superficial and it prevents us from deeply healing our psychological wounds. We all carry these wounds. Here’s the good news: our negativity can be a blessing because it shows us the parts of ourselves that need our attention, care and compassion. So we have two choices. We can either remain attached to our thoughts and stories and consequently have to deal with the suffering they cause us, or we can sincerely investigate them, learn what they are trying to teach us about ourselves and grow. Mindfulness teaches us how to do this inquiry. It encourages us to become lovers of what is. This is the most direct path to inner peace and freedom.

Putting up with people's B.S.
Investigating our stressful thoughts - especially recurrent thoughts like the ones that make us feel confused, frustrated, sad, angry or any other negative emotion, doesn’t mean we have to put up with people’s B.S. It doesn’t mean we can’t act or initiate change, and it doesn’t invalidate our feelings or our experiences. Sometimes we falsely believe that by holding on to anger, resentments or worry, we remain in control, or we teach others a lesson. But what really happens is that we block off our own energy by holding on to this toxic negativity. Questioning our stressful thoughts doesn’t mean we have to take all the blame, admit defeat or let others walk all over us. So what is the purpose of inquiry?

A person or situation can't make us feel anything
Inquiry simply bring us back to a state of peace, calm and clarity by examining the direct connection between what we are telling ourselves and what we are feeling. It’s never a situation or a person that make us feel anything. It’s always our thoughts about the situation or the person. This is excellent news, because we have the ability to question our thoughts, to meet them with understanding and to become more aware of their power over us. Questioning our thinking helps us release those negative emotions that hold us down, it removes confusion and it gives us peace of mind. It is from this new place of clarity that the best solutions to our problems and conflicts naturally arise. We can now take action without being angry, sad, confused or fearful.

3 questions that will change your life...
We may not have an app to help us track our thoughts yet, but that’s OK, because we have our negative emotions to help us out. They are like our alarm signal that lets us know it’s time to question our thoughts. It’s time for inquiry: what am I thinking right now? (specifically identify your stressful thought, write it down if you can) How do I feel when I think that? (identify your emotions and notice where you feel any body sensations) How would I feel if I didn’t have that thought? (specifically describe how you think you would feel) These questions might seem obvious or simplistic and you might be tempted to just dismiss them, but if you try them out, you will immediately understand their value. These questions were inspired by The Work of Byron Katie. There are a few more steps we can take to get the most out of inquiry, but for now, focusing on these three questions is more than enough.

Bring on the negative thoughts...
There is no need to try and stop, change or eliminate our negative thoughts, because they are our teachers. They show us the patterns that hold us back and keep us trapped in suffering. All that is required is to notice our thoughts, to meet them with compassion and to allow, welcome and release the emotions they stir up. That, my friends is what I wanted to share with you. Inquiry will truly set you free.

Sincerely,

Lise Villeneuve

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Are You Game?



Are we really all that different?

On the surface, it may look like we are all unique and have very different needs, challenges, desires and ambitions. However, once we have the courage to dive a little deeper into the heart of who - or what - we are, we soon discover that what we truly crave is universal : inner peace, joy, unconditional love, and freedom from our negative states.

Many of us intuitively know that these qualities are nowhere to be found in the world « out there », yet we continue to search for them by constantly rearranging the circumstances of our life. This is like trying to change the reflection we see of ourselves in a mirror, without being willing to modify or to question the source of the image itself - who we are.


What is at the root of our constant restlessness, our agitation and our psychological suffering? It is this profoundly distorted image we have of ourselves. Are we merely separate entities made of flesh and bones, or are we interconnected spiritual beings having a temporary human experience? As long as we hold on to the idea of a separate self dominated by the survival instincts of the ego, then lasting freedom, inner-peace, joy and unconditional love will remain out of reach.


To be honest...

Frankly, I am not interested in helping people simply rearrange the circumstances of their life so they can feel temporary relief, wordly success or superficial self-confidence. I am not interested in patching up the cracks in their wounded ego so that they can « function normally », like everyone else who is sleepwalking under the trance of their ego. Rather, I am interested in helping individuals wake up permanently to their full potential as a spiritual being. This is where real emotional, physical and spiritual healing begins. This is where true, unwaivering Self-confidence is born. This is the realm of miracles.

Wanting to transcend the ego takes courage, dedication and humility. It’s not an easy or popular route. At first, the ego thinks « yes, that’s what I want, that’s what I need to feel fulfilled», but this is a trap. It’s not about making our personal selves better, stronger or more powerful - although paradoxically, this often happens as a result of raising our level of consciousness. Disidentification from the ego is all about stripping away our programming and the limiting beliefs that hold us back as spiritual beings.

How is it done? By developing an awareness of what we really are; by surrendering negative emotions; by healing old wounds; by letting go of what holds us back; by opening our hearts and by humbly trusting the ever-present divine grace that guides us back to wholeness.


As difficult as it has been at times, this has been my journey for over two decades. I discovered that my entire life was essentially an illusion that kept me trapped in unecessary suffering. At first, I understood this with my mind, then, little by little, I experienced it through my heart. Because I have been through and continue to move through this process of spiritual surrendering on a daily basis, I am now able to hold that space for others to do the same thing. I do it by sharing a sacred space that includes creativity, some moments of silence, breathing, laughter, warm beverages and a whole lot of love.

Spirituality is not like working out at the gym. We cannot learn how to raise our level of consciousness by « doing » , or by simply trying to fix the problems our minds cling to. We have to allow ourselves to be. We have to find the courage to feel whatever comes up, as unpleasant as that might be sometimes. We have to learn how to be at peace with what is. It’s not enough to sit in meditation and chant mantras three times a week, because life happens outside of these bubbles of isolation. How do we react when things don’t go our way? Is the ego still completely running our internal programming outside of meditation class?

The good news is that every second of every day, as our life unfolds with its inevitable ups and downs, we can practice being more spiritually aware. We can allow ourselves to be what we truly are. We can wake up from the dream over and over again. Are you game?

If you are in the Edmonton area and would like to know more about the private sacred spaces I hold, you can reach me at consciouslivingsolutions (at) gmail dot com.


Warmly,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Things I Wish I Knew: The Paradox of Pain


Things I Wish I Knew:The Paradox of Pain

I wasn’t consciously aware of it, but I have been searching my entire life for something I only recently discovered. How different things could have been had I known this earlier on! So much unnecessary suffering could have been avoided. I wasn’t even aware that I was trying to escape my pain at any cost.

Just Fitting In

Like everyone else around me, I was just doing whatever I could to avoid feeling those queasy, raw, edgy feelings of discomfort whenever they showed up. Denial, projection, repression and suppression were my strategies of choice to run away and escape from those negative feelings. I kept myself as busy and distracted as I possibly could in order to ignore or numb the underlying pain. I was fortunate enough to have a fairly normal childhood with no major trauma, yet the pain had been building up over the years, simply as a condition of living in a world that encourages and rewards disowning and projecting our negative feelings onto others.

What Problem?

Since I didn’t even know there was a problem - this denied pain I was carrying around everywhere was preventing me from experiencing true joy and inner peace - how was I to know there was a solution that could dramatically improve my quality of life? Why wasn’t I taught this simple solution in elementary school, or in University, when I got my psychology degree? Maybe it was best that I discover these things on my own, when I was ready to truly hear them. After all, I believe everything in this universe unfolds in perfect divine order. My journey into the heart of consciousness has allowed me to grow, to unlearn and to peel off many of the layers of protection I had built around myself. Now, I am happy to be able to share what I have discovered with others. And what is that?

The Exact Opposite Of What We Do

The pathway to true freedom and inner peace is so simple, yet it is counterintuitive and rather uncomfortable. We are all wired to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. Evolutionarily, this has ensured our survival. However, we are now at a stage in our evolution that allows us to soar beyond mere survival. Now more than ever before, we have the potential to thrive. We can reach levels of bliss that allow us to transcend the drama and suffering of this world. But for that, we have to stop running from our pain. There is no other way around it. We have to willingly welcome our pain and then let it go. We can learn to see pain for what it is – trapped emotions from our past – not who we are.

Breaking Free

As unpleasant and challenging as it may appear, we can all find the courage to face those uncomfortable feelings that make us squirm, hide, run, blame, judge, and sabotage ourselves. Once we become aware of the many avoidance behaviors or crutches we desperately cling to in order to push the pain away (keeping busy, alcohol, food, sex, television, isolation, projection onto others...etc), we can start to crack the walls of the prison that has been keeping our pain inside all these years. We can stop reacting to life from a place of fear and instead start to see our triggers as opportunities, or invitations to actively release the hurt we have been carrying inside for too long.

Run, Forrest, Run!

So when that queasy, edgy feeling returns, we can stay present with it instead of trying to make it go away. We can observe what’s happening inside our body and let the emotions come out instead of running from them, or demanding that people or circumstances stop poking us where it hurts. Once the negative feelings have been released and we feel ok again inside, all our energy becomes available for problem solving, for simply enjoying the moment or for actively creating the reality we choose.

Healing From The Inside Out

It takes a while to get used to it, but this process of facing and surrendering our pain can be embraced daily. At first it might feel strange and terrifying, but as you keep releasing the negative feelings and then consciously refocus attention on positive things that allow you to feel good, you will heal your life from the inside out. When we are brave enough to face our pain, we eventually become fearless. When we are fearless, all the boundaries and limits we set around ourselves crumble. Paradoxically, fully feeling and releasing our pain is the quickest way to end our individual and collective suffering.

So there you have it. Now I know... and so do you! Thanks for having taken the time to read!

With Love,

Lise


Saturday, October 1, 2016

My Darkest Time Revealed in a Magazine!

I never would have thought in a million years that one day, I'd be sharing what turned out to be the darkest period in my life with the world - in a magazine recently published in India! Life is funny that way, and I don't regret a second of it!

Click on the link below to read the article. Special thanks to Suzy Singh.


Love,

Lise Villeneuve
Free printable mindfulness cards

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Just A Cruel Cosmic Joke?


It seems like a bit of a cruel cosmic joke to be born into this world as unified consciousness, then to grow egos that seem perfectly justified and socially acceptable, only to realize later in life that they are at the root of our deepest suffering. Then, once we become aware of our shackles, we commit ourselves to unlearning everything we have ever known to be real and meaningful. The little ‘separate self’ was just an illusion all along! We start to let go of the idea of ‘me’ and begin to let consciousness take up more space inside. Once again, just like when we were an infant, our life is no longer ‘ours’, but it flows effortlessly. We are at peace, we are free, we are “home”.

Lasting peace and freedom arise when we simply allow ourselves to Be who we truly have been right from the start. Who we truly are has nothing to do with our personality, our story, our thoughts, our emotions, our opinions, our deep conditionings or even our beliefs. Our egos prevent us from accepting and surrendering to our true identity because it threatens the very survival of our small, individual self. And who are we really? We are all part of the one unified consciousness. Nothing could be more empowering and terrifying than that!

“Home” is a state of being where our small self is no longer in control. When we are truly “home”, consciousness itself takes over, cleansing out all the remaining traces of the small, separate self that used to inhabit and restrict our being. We can finally feel at home when we wake up and recognize the illusion of ‘me and you’, ‘happy and unhappy’, ‘past and future’, ‘good and bad’, ‘success and failure’.

Once we realize that our small self was trapped in a world of superficial and limiting polarities, we can willingly surrender to who we truly are: consciousness. At this point, we are fully content being nobody. There is nothing to prove, nothing to fight for, nothing to gain, nothing to lose. We finally accept that we are complete simply by being. We finally stop creating suffering for ourselves and others. We are free from the drama of the world and our own minds. We are at peace. We are filled with joy. We are compassionate and loving. Isn’t that what we ultimately all want?


The truth is, at this stage in our evolution, arriving “home” is not likely to happen without an epic battle with the ego first.  The ego says “why on Earth would I want to become a nobody and give up all my attachments? I would get eaten alive in this world.” It’s true, there is so much letting go required, so much at stake for the little self. Our conditioning and our resistance run deep. “Home” seems utopian and unattainable. Yet at the same time, it’s within our reach right here, right now. We can only access it by allowing ourselves to be who we truly are. No amount of doing will show us the way back to simply being.

What do you think?

Lise

Sunday, February 16, 2014

A Big Pain In The...

...HEART! A Big Pain In The Heart! 

As much as this can be an uncomfortable subject because it forces us to face our deepest fears, I would like to talk about the profound pain we are all carrying. Very few of us even acknowledge that suffering exists in our hearts, but it's there, holding us down in many different ways. Releasing our pain is the key to finding our freedom.

Why don't we realize we are suffering? Mainly because we've never experienced what it feels like not to suffer. Do fish realize they are surrounded by water? It seems obvious to us, but not to them, because they've never been out of water (the lucky ones, at least!). So day after day, we swim in our ocean of psychological and emotional pain thinking this is normal. Our psyches have become hyper-sensitive in this modern world. We are filled with insecurity, anxiety, self-doubt, self-consciousness. It doesn't have to be this way.

The mind is a powerful  tool that wants to help us. It tries to fix us inside -to reduce our fears- by suggesting we do this or that, say this or that, often in a neurotic kind of way!The problem with the mind is that it thinks it can find the solution to our problems by changing our external circumstances. A better job, a different girlfriend, a better body perhaps? However, our root problem is internal: our fears make us feel incomplete, inadequate. The truth is, there is nothing we can change on the outside to fix this permanently. So what can we do, then?

The first thing to do is to fire our minds! Ignore the neurotic chatter box! Don't fight it, just refuse to participate in it. Be quiet inside and watch what your mind is telling you. Be the silent witness and stop deriving a sense of identity from your mind. You are not your thoughts. You are the awareness behind them.

Great, so you quieted the mind, but what about the pain? It's still there. You have been storing pockets of pain in your heart chakra since childhood (Samskara). Whatever you have resisted in the past, you still carry today. Whenever you close your heart to protect yourself from more pain, you actually trap that pain inside:

"Remember, if you close around something, you will be psychologically sensitive about that subject for the rest of your life. Because you stored it inside of you, you will be afraid that it will happen again." -Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul

The key to spiritual freedom is learning to become comfortable with pain passing through us. If we are able to see the pain as nothing more than transient energy that just needs to make its way through us to be released, our hearts can stay open and we won't accumulate more pain. When old, painful memories resurface, we get a second chance to open our hearts and release them once and for all. Some people experience a feeling of heat in the heart area when this happens.

So, the next time a form of pain comes your way, (and it will!) instead of fearing it, instead of trapping it inside by closing your heart, be brave enough to keep your heart open and just experience it passing through you. It will probably be uncomfortable, but in the long run, you will waste less time and energy avoiding or reacting to circumstances that trigger those sensitive pockets of pain you have been carrying for so long. You will be tearing down the bars of your internal prison one by one. The question is, how badly do you want this freedom?

Warmly,

Lise
www.lisevilleneuve.com
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