A Time of Conflict But Inner Peace; the Contradiction.

It has been an interesting long while - since my last Blog.
I have succinct reasoning to justify this absence of written expression. The main one being, I was reading Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in my early knowledge quest to quench the thirst of insight... I did note that he said and wrote: "There are things that I, and other great people such as Louise L. Hay, will never speak of."

I made a video during some times of shift and turmoil, and it was intended for others. It was made after a short sharp burst of energy, that thankfully subsided as fast as it came.

I will include it at the bottom of this blog. Dr. Gillian Ross the main inspiration behind the video or the themes expressed, was pleased with it, however my ego show at the end and the music was not of her fancy. Very reasonable. 

The music and creative drive really came to the fore, I decided to pursue further music/audio and photography, visual media.,..

I am creating a new balance in my life, I sat making that video for hours, and much to my detriment. I have quite a special new video in the making. The creative process has been refined, rather than excess it just focuses on bit by bit - build the foundation, then the structure... and a building of I hope beauty... over time.

If I sit on my glutes all morning, I now experience cabin fever - I get this feeling that anxiety is trying to creep back onto my back. It has not been there, weighing on my shoulders for more than two years now. That monkey can stay off my back. I will allow him jungle time, he can play, but not on me.
He has plenty to occupy him I am certain. The jungle can be vibrant and alive.

My mind is a more meditative tranquil paradise, as opposed to a jungle these days.
I did an animal spirit guided meditation by Teal Swan this morning for the first time, the one by her rather. I recently did an animal spirit meditation by Gillian, deep Yoga Nidra style, but it was to get in the body of the animal the spirit... not to source your specific power animal.

My first great spiritual experience of unforgettable magnitude was when I was around 15 years old. I was leaning toward the esoteric world - largely driven by my goth sub-culture desire and other teenage yearning.

Poetry, Goth, and the contrast of Graffiti, and rebellion... the artist, the writer, the mind. The spirit.
The insecurity of fear, the weakness and vulnerability of youth.
The wanting or needing to feel a part of something greater, but always standing from the outside looking in, casting a mere shadow inside the wishful circle for fleeting moments.
The wanting to know and understand, what I was born to do. What made me happy - was it drugs, or the 100 miles an hour excess life? Was it spiritual?

That 15 year old was invited to a Shamanic journey, by his experienced older esoteric friends and acquaintances. We went up to this magical house, in the foothills of Mount Wellington, I believed the home was owned by one of the rich spiritually minded souls.

They started the ritual and ceremony, burned some Sage and did other Native instinctive tradition. It was commented the whole room started to get this intense energy. Some said the earth was moving and the room was shifting. This was before we even descended.

Back to first person, I was led down stairs, almost like my artwork in a slight sense, to the spirit world. My power animal made itself visible. To my shock and almost amusement - it was a Polar Bear.

I was thinking you are joking me right?
Like at that age I probably envisioned being in some commercial for Coca-Cola - after all at the time I drank that toxic crap - was the spirit world poking fun?

That soon got blasted away when one of the guides in the room, (speaking guidance) - asked us, or prompted us to question the animal before us.

Are You my Power Animal?

This was the question. (That was the question).

Imagine my total surprise, keep in mind a kid from an fairly ordinary upbringing of usual concepts and earthly restrictions... almost forced into church mainstream worship. The bear replied:

You Are Me.

Enough said.

I got to reunite with that animal thanks to Teal Swan this morning. It was an old friend.
We are no longer just friends... we decided to merge. We are as one, not apart.

In keeping with tradition I will include a great song by an Australian legend of spirit - Xavier Rudd. Please watch it until the end - some of the most visually spectacular imagery ever caught on video from Australia. And in-spirit. Inspirational.

Namaste.

Motivation - Driven to Succeed Mind Over Body!

I had some powerful thoughts recently on Motivation. I was reading a book about our Aussie Champ Sally Pearson, and I feel that Motivation is a huge driving force within all of us.
It can be for whatever pursuit we attain it to, sports, career, athlete success, business, relationships... the desire to just make something come full circle starts with a goal, or an idea. A vision, an inspiration... a dream perhaps.

Some of us are Not motivated. We are not particularly driven to do anything substantial. Perhaps reasons for this are varying, it can be the place we are at right now in life. What I want to talk about is what drives a person to follow through, and what sustains momentum? What essence keeps motivation strong? I will not go into excess detail I tend to ramble too much in my blog posts, so I will try to keep this short. Two main principles I have discovered for me personally have been:

Discovering your Passion. I love this T.D. Jakes quote:

I believe all the primary success masters have adopted this simple mindset of - if you do Not enjoy what you do, that can be your career or job, or chosen interest/pursuit you will not succeed. Find or discover your True passion and it will be your true purpose.
That is a first guiding principle I found worked for me, and opened up paths and realms of possibilities.

Principle One: Purpose and Passion - or Love.

Loving the passion, and getting such a high level of enjoyment from it, you are forced to always do it. How many things do we honestly maintain for a long period of time we dislike?
If you paint or like writing Poetry, but you only get a low or moderate level of joy, perhaps look into something that draws your creative energy stronger - into feelings... not short term emotional reward; but something that feeds you the feelings of happiness and pleasure.
If you embrace exercise and fitness but do not like certain activities, change the exercise to something you do enjoy, or change the mindset approach.
If you do not like working at McDonalds, get the hell out of there and push yourself forward.
If you are in retail, but dream of something big - but a family member or some fear holds you back from trying to think about something else - think big, shoot the fear down. Perhaps you are from a family that expects you to accomplish something according to what they believe. What they believe is right for you - You might be expected to be a Lawyer, and frowned upon for expressing a desire to follow a different path - ignore them - this is Your Life - Not Theirs. If you allow yourself to live under the control and expectations of others, allow yourself to be dictated to by the opinions; good or bad, of others - if you listen to the Naysayers - you will be doomed. This leads me into the next principle because you are held back by the above by a strong force:

Second principle - Fear and the required Dissolution.

Fear is the number one enemy. It prevents most of us from everything.
It comes from the mind - but you can slay it. You can learn to beat it.
Most people have fears of failure - what if I try and fail?
What will my friends and family think?
What will I think of myself?
Failure will come - to everyone - but learn to embrace rather than hide and avoid it.
Each little obstacle is just another hurdle you can jump and you must keep hold of hope, you and focus. You never know, the path might be clear for the next 100 metres until the finish line. If you think, that hurdle was too hard... there are twenty more ahead - I might hit the next one with my knees, and fall down. I will lose. I do not have the energy or strength left in me to reach it. It's too hard. You will not get to that finish line in life. The Motivation has been lost. It escaped you. The bad aspect of your mind won - it beat you down like a champion boxer, it gave you a KO, but the sad thing is - it was Not better than you - it was not a champion that beat you - it was a shadow. It was something within yourself you allowed to break you down, largely in part from your own negative thinking.

I was listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival the song below at 4am this Sunday Morning during fasted Steady State Cardio - ... Run Through The Jungle.
It got me onto the thoughts of how war time and extreme life challenges force motivation. I need not discuss or raise opinions about war and killing - what I want to emphasise is the mindset in order to survive and endure hardship - in order to stay motivated.
I heard recently that a person who was in the Jewish filled death camps observed the people around him, he wrote or noted that the people who gave up, had no motivation to survive, usually met this fate. The people that had some drive within, the fighters that embraced a mindset of - I want to get out of here, and tell the world what horror took place - I will Not allow myself to die in this shit-hole. These people cannot beat me. I want to tell my future children and grand-children of the atrocity - so this never happens again... these people had something worth living for - a sheer drive to continue. The motivation needed in order to last... of course not all of them did survive; but the majority of the stronger minded people walked out to share the tale. The people who said this is it. I give up... generally one would be led to believe, endured a tougher time and relented first mentally.

Mental strength is paramount. The Mind is more powerful than the body. You need to learn that success is based on how you think, and what you think - what you create in your mind - how you visualise your goals - and how you sustain the motivation needed.

I will include a great video interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger on this topic. Place your attention on the mind aspect he discusses, and the people who speak to him of the desire. The people that crave on hunger and feed from it, as opposed to those who do not.

Nourish your motivation with passion - feed it heaps of calories, fatten it up everyday - make it obese in fact. Fuel the mind, Research. Read. Watch. Listen. Learn. Be inspired. Create. Share ...Grow.
and RUN THROUGH THAT JUNGLE OF FEAR - beat the odds and come out the other side Victorious.
There will be times you will doubt, you may want to entertain quitting. Think about the reasons you are doing it - perhaps the soldiers in this clip thought about that loving wife back home, the family they intended to reunite with. Think about why are you doing this? Focus - and continue the march.

Like I always say Improve the Body the MIND follows!

If you have any questions I am happy to answer and help when I can, I am Not motivated by money or a desire to profit from my positive encouragement. I do not have a website that wants you to outlay large sums of money in order for me to feel whole. This blog is public and not advertised it is free and basic. I have been ignored by many of the highest profile fitness and health industry bloggers. I do not care, I will continue to enjoy what I love doing. Character is everything - arrogance and ego are ugly. I just try and promote my social media interests to feeding my own goals - the gratitude I receive from others telling me - they can learn from this. What I have faced and the challenges I can share - how I have learned from them. What I can show to others;  a light that remains behind a closed door. If you want to open it up, look into changing things - start with an idea, a dream, a vision. Build on it. Look into mental fitness such as meditation and nutrition for the physical, get yourself active and help your body learn to love you back. Then things start to happen, things can open up. You can gain confidence. I was watching the Biggest Loser this time last year, and when the Trainers spoke of the concept - Let go of the Past - In order to move forward - I was thinking at that point in time ... How??? Is it possible??? I Wish I could. Please explain how this is possible?

Now I understand. Now I get it. You grow, the strength comes from the manner in which you learn and adapt and apply. With growth comes mass - you get bigger, mentally and physically. Stronger in mind and body. I am not talking about bodybuilder mass I am talking strength of heart, mind and body in terms of gaining true Power. The strength to start to view the world differently. 

If you want a truly great tip; if like myself - you faced some severe mental challenges and issues in the past the book called "Your Erroneous Zones" by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer may just be the blueprint you will need to get started. If you have faced challenges you cannot let go of, or just think the past cannot possibly be forgotten - consider investing in it - if there was one book I needed to read - if the world ended, and I was forced to hold one book for the rest of my days - and if the world was troubled - that book would be my gift to myself. If I can share this gift with one person and it changes their life, my work is done.

like Dr. Wayne W. Dyer says:

if you change the way you look at things, 
the things you look at will change.