Tag Archives: beliefs

Composing Our World

How do you talk to yourself? How critical are you? How forgiving? How much of this self-dialogue actually makes it into the spoken narrative of your life? And what is the overall consequence? Let’s take a closer look at some of the dynamics of the inner voice, which begins in the subconscious.

The subconscious is the most powerful part of the mind and reflects our deepest and most genuine attitudes, feelings, and beliefs. These are conveyed in the way we talk to ourselves, which represents our mental state of being, our true disposition, and arises primarily from the nurturing we receive in the formative years of our upbringing. Ultimately, our inner voice is the most potent force which moment by moment, hour by hour, and day by day fashions our relationship to ourselves and the world around us.

Three important ways our inner voice effects us are:

  • Confidence
  • Poise
  • Motivation

The words that transmit our attitudes, feelings and beliefs create an immediate and meaningful impact in our lives. Although our memories and associations to them, our life scripting—the knowns and unknowns of our existence—are stored in our subconscious as images and surface through stimulation of our thought and sensory processes, we nonetheless express them as language. Over time, certain expressions may grow to be habitual and serve to define us as individuals, even those that do not represent the true ideals, aspirations, and dreams of the person we are or wish to become.

As the mystical and beloved Persian poet, Hafiz, wisely wrote:

“The words you speak become the house you live in.”   

How we talk to ourselves greatly influences the manner in which we respond to challenges, resolve conflicts and overcome hardships, as well as how we enjoy, accept and embrace our existence. It is important to be mindful and choose our words carefully, for they are profoundly interrelated to the reality we manifest. Our inner voice, infinitely malleable and capable of being cultivated into a powerful conduit of conviction and intent, is the force of energy with which we compose our world.

©2018 by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All rights reserved.

 

The Final Boundary: Fear Of Death Or Fear Of Life?

It seems to me that death is no mystery. The corpse decomposes and returns to the cradle of the earth. This is not an enigma; rather, it is a certainty. All the questions about death are related to what happens after one dies―about the ever-after and further incarnations of the soul, about the numinous energy of being that transcends the flesh. But these are not questions about death; they are questions about life. Do we live on after death? And if so, how exactly does this occur?

So it follows then that perhaps it is not actually death we fear. Consider for a moment all the casualties of our existence which are born out of fear, little deaths such as judgment, arrogance, avarice, hubris, hatred, prejudice, vice, dominion―all the things that separate us from each other and the wonders of the world around us―all the things which in turn separate us within ourselves. Could it be that what we fear is life? And when the end draws near, we are afraid of how we have not lived, of the chances we have not taken, of the dreams we have not pursued, of the prideful masks we have hidden behind, of the precious love we have shunned and the miracles we have failed to recognize and celebrate. We come face to face with the cowardice of fear and we are loath to recognize it, for it is us.

Indeed, it seems to me that life is the mystery, not death. Living is what we are afraid of and death merely serves to remind us of that poignant truth.

May we perceive such truth clearly then, in the perpetuity of each moment; that this grand mysterium tremendum of life beckons to us; our chances abound; our opportunities to embrace it are infinite. If we but listen, we will hear the orphans of love knocking at our doors―we have only to invite them in, warm them by the hearth of our spirit, and feed them the ambrosia of compassion. In this way, we fashion the final boundary as a place to rejoice in the eternity of giving, a destination of divinity and grace, a glimmering gateway where we may pass fearlessly into the land of evening.

©2018 by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All rights reserved.

The Learning Mind: Intelligence Beyond Measure

Intelligence is traditionally viewed as a genetically endowed trait that can be characterized and measured by a cognitive test. The conventional view emphasizes the academic skills of linguistic and mathematical intelligence and downplays other talents and abilities, such as the imaginal dynamics of art, music, dance, and entrepreneurship, as well as the intuitive aspects required for effective relational interaction or mechanical inclination. In fact, there are many forms of intellectual acumen; some of these are malleable and do not readily lend themselves to accepted standards of measurement. In this article, we embrace broader concepts and definitions of intelligence and cognition, and focus on the various and sometimes mystifying ways in which intelligence manifests.

Ambient Communion

At its core, intelligence is a confluence of energy, the sentience of our conscious universe transmitted via the sensorium of the living organism. Each of us is tuned to individuate this organic sentience through our sensual interaction with the world around us. Nature is filled with distinctive voices that speak in the imagery of smell, taste, touch, sound and sight, reminding us that all of life is vital and interconnected. This ambient communion calls upon our elemental character and can stir profound perceptual realizations. Furthermore, a growing body of evidence in the scientific community attests to our sensitivity to electromagnetic energy fields, akin to the migratory ability of birds, which may effect neurological functioning and manifest as psychic ability. These findings share a basis with quantum energy theory and the concept of ‘unity consciousness’, which was propagated by the late Stephan Hawking, among others, and contemplates reality as all life forces, all existence, interacting within a single, unified framework.

You can learn more about this fascinating research in the article Finding The Psychic Science.

Heart Entrainment

Since 1991, the HeartMath Institute has researched and developed the science of bridging the connection between the heart and brain, pioneering the concept of heart intelligence or “heart entrainment.” This groundbreaking research has revealed the heart as a sophisticated sensory organ that receives and processes information—an organ capable of learning, memory, and functional decision making independent of the brain’s cerebral cortex. Numerous experiments have demonstrated that the heart continuously sends signals to the brain that influence the functions of perception, cognition, and emotional reactivity.

The heart generates the human organism’s most powerful electromagnetic field and permeates every cell in the body. Compared to the brain’s electromagnetic field, the electrical component of the heart’s field is about 60 times greater in amplitude, and the magnetic component is approximately 100 times greater.

Data from the HeartMath Institute’s rigorous experimental designs has produced evidence suggesting that the electromagnetic field of the heart interacts with the heart fields of other individuals to convey information and is conducive to transmissions from energy fields beyond the space/time continuum, accounting for perceptual aspects of consciousness such as intuition and precognition. The studies indicate that the heart’s electromagnetic energy field may link to subtle fields of energy containing holographic waveforms encoded with systemic information in non-local order. These compelling findings, which align with evidence of the unified field of conscious energy referenced above, have profound implications and support holonomic brain theory and the concept of reality as a quantum hologram.

You can learn more about this seminal experimental evidence in the article Heart Entrainment: Connecting Our Love Energy.

Multiple Intelligences

In his book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, psychologist and Harvard University professor Howard Gardner sets forth the theory that people are not limited to the mental intelligence measured by the typical IQ test. Instead, he proposes that we possess eight different types of intelligence which reflect the diverse ways we interact with the world.

Gardner posits that each of us possesses all eight intelligences, yet everyone has a unique profile, a signature of how these distinctive aptitudes fit together. Here are the eight types of intelligences:

  1. Visual-Spatial Intelligence: The ability to visualize things, such as being good with maps, charts, plans and diagrams.
  2.  Verbal-Linguistic intelligence: The skill of effectively using words in both writing and speaking, and comprehending written work.
  3.  Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: The ability to reason, recognize patterns and logically analyze problems.
  4.  Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence: Excellent agility, hand-eye coordination and the ability to perform bodily movements such as sport and dance.
  5.  Musical Intelligence: A strong appreciation for music and comprehension of rhythms and sounds; for some, the ability to compose and perform music.
  6. Interpersonal Intelligence: The ability to communicate well and to understand and interact with different people.
  7. Intrapersonal Intelligence: The skill and proclivity for self-awareness and self-reflection.
  8. Naturalistic Intelligence: The aptitude for nature and interest in nurturing and exploring the environment.

Dr. Gardner contends that academia and culture are too focused on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence, esteeming the highly articulate and/or logical people of our society. He believes we should place equal attention and value upon individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, inventors, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live.

You can learn more about multiple intelligences at Howard Gardner’s official site, MI Oasis.

Brain Plasticity

The brain has the ability to reorganize itself by forming new connections between brain cells and is continually reshaping itself based upon our experiences. Changes in thinking, behavior, emotion and environment create alterations in the synapses of the brain and neural pathways of the central nervous system. This rewiring of brain circuitry is known and neurogenesis, or brain plasticity. One of the quickest and most effective ways to rewire brain circuitry is through the practice of mindfulness meditation. A set of landmark research studies demonstrated how mindfulness meditation promotes brain plasticity, with subjects having documented neuron growth in areas of the brain involving learning, memory, awareness, and emotional control, including increases in neurotransmission recorded by MRIs.

Research in neuroscience has shown enduring changes in baseline brain function—activity in response to specific emotional challenges that demonstrates brain plasticity―as a result of practicing mindfulness meditation.

By teaching us to pay deliberate attention to the current moment—without attachment to outcomes predicated upon past experiences or expectations for the future—mindfulness meditation helps us become more present in our lives. We learn to identify and challenge limiting beliefs and develop a more sensory-driven relationship with the world around us. We open ourselves to a non-judgmental existence based upon increased awareness and self-possession, fostering a potent connection of mind, body and spirit that diffuses stress and anxiety, expands cognition, and enjoins the enigmatic qualities of consciousness and intelligence.

You can learn more in the article Mindfulness Meditation & Brain Plasticity: The Science of Rewiring Neural Circuitry.

Creative Cognition

Researchers are actively seeking to define and account for the role of imagination in intelligence and correlate how this functions in the brain through neuroimaging. Cognitive psychologist Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman and neuroscientist Rex Young and their colleagues have been working to map out what is referred to as the default mode network, or the “imagination network.” This brain network has been largely ignored by cognitive scientists because it is mostly quiet when we are required to focus externally.

The imagination network is associated with daydreaming, retrieving memories and moderating emotional responses. This system is vitally important for internal reflection and assimilation of meaning, as well as triggering motivation, curiosity and learning. The instant we personally connect to something, our imagination network lights up. We begin making mental and emotional associations based not only upon our experiences, but our deepest seated aspirations—our hopes and dreams and secret longings.

While it is normal for the brain to toggle between the default mode network and the more outward-focused attention network, neuroscience is beginning to chart a more comprehensive understanding of this facet of creative cognition. Findings indicate that very creative people possess stronger connections between the networks and are better at navigating from one to the other.

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.”

~Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein often compared his thinking and creative processes to that of poets and musicians, describing his insights as “a sudden rapture.” Many brilliant individuals, Einstein and Mozart among them, credit imagination as the source of their creativity and genius. Thus the implications of this compelling area of scientific study come as no real surprise: that integration of the default mode network—the imagination network—is implicit in the function of intelligence.

You can learn more about creative cognition and the role of imagination in intelligence by visiting The Imagination Institute.

Deductions

In consideration of the foregoing, perhaps it is prudent to suggest that attempting to quantify and measure the vast and inexplicable dynamics of intelligence poses profound limitations on human potential. While certain intellectual abilities can be ascertained and gauged to provide a baseline perspective, the testing and labeling of intelligence quotients is at best a starting point in identifying the many capacities of the learning mind.

The agencies that formulate consciousness and intelligence, both our internal interactions and those with the living, breathing universe, are not yet fully defined or understood by science. Yet these are processes that continue throughout our lives and can be altered and enhanced in any number of effective and significant ways. We can partake in the sanctity of ambient communion, practice meditation to expand our cognitive facilities, cultivate our creativity, and entrain our hearts to better transmit information encoded in the unified field of conscious energy. Indeed, we can focus and develop the multiple intelligences that comprise our unique manifestation of organic sentience—our fingerprint upon reality.

©2018 by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All rights reserved.

Daimonic Presence & The World Soul

Many religions and esoteric traditions embrace the transcendent power of the human soul. The soul is believed to be the source of intuitive insight and creative genius, giving rise to divine flashes that connect one to an ‘intelligent other’ often considered as an autonomous god, spirit, angel, muse or daimon; or alternatively understood as a facet of the human imagination or collective unconscious in a Jungian sense. Whether it comes from the artist, the monk, the shaman, the medium or the mystic, communication with this other order of reality is commonly attributed.

This article explores daimonic presence in a variety of aspects, presenting fresh insights into our shared relationship with the mysterious and numinous dimensions of reality. The purpose is not to prove or disprove the existence of such realms and beings, but rather to evoke their validity through the perspectives of history, art, literature, philosophy, psychology and science, demonstrating how they inform, and have always informed, human experience.

The Anima Mundi

In his work Timeaus, Plato first described the World Soul, also known as the Anima Mundi, which depicts the universe as a single living creature that contains all living beings within it—the soul of the cosmos—the intelligent and harmonious principle of proportion and relatedness that exists at the heart of the cosmic pattern and allows the living world to unfold in divine confluence.

“…Therefore, we may consequently state that: this world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence … a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related.”     Plato, Timeus, 29/30; 4th century B.C.

This concept of an interrelated and beautifully ordered universe, animated in much the same way as the human soul animates man’s body, captured the imagination and admiration of numerous philosophers and theologians though the centuries. However, the scientific revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries came to describe the world in mechanistic terms, with intelligence belonging only to humans or to detached, theoretical deities, with no existent living connection with the universe. This engendered a profound alienation and denied human beings an inherent and vital bond with the living, breathing world around them.

Poets and philosophers of the Romantic era resisted this mechanical world view, and eventually discoveries in science, particularly in quantum physics and the principles of a unified field of conscious energy, presented seminal challenges to the Newtonian premises upon which much of traditional scientific theory is based. Consequently, the compass point of science appears to have pivoted toward this ancient metaphor of nature’s innate and majestic sentience, the World Soul, the Anima Mundi.

Hallowed Emissaries

In the original Christian reception of Platonism, daimons were identified with angels. The ancient Greeks viewed them as intermediaries between humans and the gods, spiritual advisers of a sort. Daimon literally means ‘divine power’, ‘fate’ or ‘god’. For our purposes, daimon (the Latin spelling of which is daemon) is recognized as a term that for many centuries was a respected characterization of these hallowed emissaries. Unfortunately, as Christianity transformed perception of pagan deities, traditions and rituals into agencies of Satan, the word daimon morphed into demon and came to represent hideous creatures of evil.

“We not only live among men, but there are airy hosts, blessed spectators, sympathetic lookers-on, that see and know and appreciate our thoughts and feelings and acts.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

By drawing on a philosophical tradition that flows down the centuries from the Platonists through the Romantics, and crucially in the poetry of William Bake and William Butler Yeats and the literary works of James Joyce, to the groundbreaking contributions of imminent psychologist Carl Gustav Jung—and the seminal interpretations of Jung’s work by renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell—one may trace an ancient history of understanding and embracing a daimonic reality, an alternate realm, an otherworld. This daimonic reality is the archetypal landscape of folklore and myth that populates cultures from antiquity, the perception of our world interpenetrated by another, shadowy yet powerful reality, one full of wonder, beauty and terror.

Indeed, Jung and Campbell would contend that this is not merely a realm of the individual psyche, but of the collective psyche of the cosmos, the World Soul, the Anima Mundi. The cave paintings of indigenous tribes, some of which include serpents of both wing and water, as well as strange beings with exaggerated eyes and large craniums thought to be ‘star people’. Dwarves, fairies, gnomes, elves and other ‘light creatures’, the legendary wee folk of ancient Celtic civilization, hidden magical beings which are still intrinsic to the cultures of Iceland, Western Europe and Russia. Dragons, centaurs, unicorns, trolls, winged lions; these are but a few examples of daimons rooted in myths that are prevalent in every civilization across the world, presences that aggregate the imaginal plane of the Anima Mundi.

The Magnum Opus

The World Soul then, with all its presences, is not a fixed or defined phenomenon but rather a fluid entity comprised of the hopes, dreams and deepest imaginings which mankind shares with all living beings. This is the home of creation’s collective memories and the fantastical myths of humanity. Here are the arcane archetypes and powers that define our lives. Here are hidden destinations of magical meaning, places where dreams come into being. We are raised and live in a stark and barren landscape of rationality and reason, such that we easily forget the potency that lies just beneath the surface, connecting our divine wisdom in all its mystery and wonder. By exploring the pathways created by our conscious connection to the Anima Mundi, our light energy, our force of being, embarks upon magical journeys to alternate dimensions of conviction and purpose that exist within the world, places where deeper layers of meaning are waiting to come alive.

“The psyche is the inward experience of the human body, which is essentially the same in all human beings, with the same organs, the same instincts, the same impulses, the same conflicts, the same fears. Out of this common ground have come what Jung has called the archetypes, which are the common ideas of myths.” ~Joseph Campbell

It is no coincidence that the numinous realities of the Anima Mundi, the fantastical otherworlds of folklore and myth, are places of magical enchantment and alchemical wonder. Historical evidence of the existence of alchemy and magic is spread all over the globe, from compendiums that document rituals, practices, and techniques to historical texts describing these practices in context, including inscriptions, temples, sanctuaries and special tools used for such purposes. Over time, a separate branch of archeology emerged that deals with the discovery, research and interpretation of such items.

The Magnum Opus, also known as the Great Work, was the process in Western alchemy meant to create the Philosopher’s Stone, a primordial substance allegedly capable of transmuting inexpensive metals into gold, and from which the elixir of life could be derived. Jung published several major works on alchemy and is considered responsible for the subject regaining respect in academia. At the culmination of his career, Jung’s primary focus of research was alchemy and its relationship to the dynamics of consciousness. He perceived the turning of base metals into gold as symbolic of personal transformation, a metaphor for the alchemy of individuation and the morphing and mutating imagery of that process, which emerges from our stream of consciousness. The images and operations Jung encountered in his extensive studies of old alchemy texts related strongly to his theories of psychoanalysis and the unconscious.

Those unfamiliar with the subtle nuances of alchemy view it as the historical predecessor of our modern sciences. Yet Jung’s research revealed a far deeper, spiritual significance to the alchemical process. It is relevant to note that there is no single form of alchemy for one to examine. Alchemy is a cross-cultural phenomenon practiced in various forms by ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Christian Europeans, and the Islamic, Hindu, and Taoist faiths. Yet all of these use symbols to depict a process of transformation, such as the Philosopher’s Stone, which contains the knowledge of creation and bestows enlightenment upon the maker, converting the base metal of his outer character to the golden properties of his higher self, thus concluding the Great Work, the Magnum Opus.

Mythical Reality

From physicists such as the late Stephen Hawking, as set forth in his book A Brief History of Time, and Nassim Haramein in his acclaimed Resonance Project, among others, there is mounting evidence that consciousness is a non-local constant of the universe, an interactive, unifying field of intelligent energy with which we connect. We then individuate this consciousness according to our own sensual interrelationship with the environment around us. These revelations, coupled with the fact that the existence of our physical world beyond subjective perception and sensory interaction has yet to be proven by science, merit credible contemplation of realities beyond our immediate discernment.

“In art, in myth, in rites, we enter the sphere of dream awake. And as the imagery of dream will be on one level local, personal, and historic, but at bottom rooted in the instincts, so also myth and symbolic art. The message of an effective living myth is delivered to the sphere of bliss of the deep unconscious, where it touches, wakes, and summons energies; so that symbols operating on that level are energy-releasing and -channeling stimuli.” ~Joseph Campbell

As science evolves beyond the mechanistic, Newtonian worldview and ventures into the reckoning of consciousness as an equation of energy, a renaissance of spirituality and the concept of divine intelligence is occurring. We are challenged to consider ancient yet enduring paradigms such as mythology and the Anima Mundi as more than mere psychological or philosophical concepts. The World Soul, replete with its fantastical realms of transformative magic, sublime mystery, and archetypal beings of wonder and terror, is a living, spiritual force within us and around us; it pervades all of creation and is a unifying principle within the world.

Indeed, these are the alchemical forces that help us heal and transcend the spiritually bereft state of individualism; to realize the primal truth of oneness and reunite with the whole. The science of the future will embrace these ethereal dynamics and explore how the physical and mythical realities interrelate, including how these daimonic presences of conscious and intelligent energy interact with and channel the forces of the universe. The shaman and scientist will work together to illuminate the shadowy depths of understanding, while the priestess and the physician renew their ancient connection of healing wisdom.

Acknowledging daimonic presences and reuniting with the Anima Mundi liberates one from the stranglehold of materialism, awakening the soul to more meaningful purposes and dreams. Along the golden path of alchemical transformation we begin to see life differently; a new and perhaps even mythical reality becomes visible, filled with enchantments and infinite possibilities. Suddenly, we are aware of a different world that was always around us yet hidden from sight, one that does not belong to buying and selling but to the mystery of the soul. As our sense of wonder and awe is redeemed, the same redemption occurs within the psyche of the World Soul; and thus, guided by these hallowed daimons of living myth, we learn to wield the ancient magic of creation.


References

  1. Encyclopedia.Com
  2. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  3. Encyclopedia Britannica
  4. The Gnosis Archive
  5. Resonance Science Foundation
  6. A Brief History of Time

©2018 by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

Wheel In The Sky

Spinning is a cyclical process innate to creation. Just as the moon’s movement through the heavens and the earth’s movement through the cycles of the seasons represent the cosmic order and nature of life, recognized by indigenous cultures throughout history in symbolic expressions of birth, death, fertility, and the continuity of the world. By various names, myths, legends, fables and rituals, our organic understanding of this phenomenon is characterized as the wheel in the sky.

Sadly, we have long forgotten the keen senses our ancestors possessed, abilities that signified an ambient communion with the living, breathing universe. Thus, part of the ecological trouble with our planet exists within ourselves―and our illusory perception of separateness. We are all, in fact, manifestations of one boundless field of conscious energy, both individual and interconnected, each existing in the center of an infinite geometric spin of energetic awareness.

Yet the philosophy and religion underlying western science still manages to portray mankind as a divine incarnation, ‘the image of god.’ Hence we separate ourselves on a fundamental level of belief. In so doing, we assume entitlements that include wasting natural resources and sullying the earth, all for ‘the good of mankind.’ Alas, one of the unique aspects of our ‘exalted’ genus is that we fail to live in harmony with nature.

There are species far older than we are that have evolved forms of intelligence we have not yet begun to fathom. They have seen our kind come and go. They have witnessed the rise and fall of our civilizations. Wisely, they maintain a distance from us, even as we encroach upon their natural habitats and threaten their existence.

The suffering of our planet reflects divisions that exist within each of us, in our attitudes and beliefs, our words and deeds, our apathy and our vain perceptions of creatures we know so little about―beings with complex social and family structures, etheric sentience, and communication and language facilities that elude our grasp. Ultimately, the healing of the earth must first manifest within our individual hearts and minds, for that is where the force of divine unity and boundless consciousness, the interconnected circle of life in all its magnificent forms and potentialities, will anneal our survival.

Indeed, we do not exist outside this sacred circle of life but within it, connected to all things, woven together in the wondrous fabric of time and creation―bound by the cosmic spin of the great wheel in the sky.

©2017 by Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All rights reserved.

Love Or Fear? The Motivation Equation

Where is the fear? And how can love diffuse it?  These are the questions inherent in almost all motivational challenges. By developing a deeper understanding of the fundamental relationship of love and fear and how they function in the human organism, we learn to graciously navigate emotionally charged thought processes and volatile perceptual boundaries, thus inviting profound shifts of perspective in real time.

The Primal Elements

Love and fear are elemental forces we are born with and experience throughout our lifetimes, yet they defy absolute comprehension. Behavioral philosophies and psychological theories of the mind commonly consider love and fear as the primary emotions of the reptilian brain, with all other emotions being secondary. Physiologically, love and fear are tied to our survival instinct and the release of the stress (fear) hormones adrenaline and cortisol, and their anti-stress (love) hormonal counterpart, oxytocin. On a mental, emotional and physical basis, love connects us—within ourselves, to each other, and to the world around us—while fear separates us.

Consequently, love and fear are also the primal factors of motivation. Love is the impetus for connecting to our world so that we develop and thrive, while fear compels separation as a means of protection for ourselves and our loved ones. Comprehending this innate relationship of love and fear as the motivational foundation of human behavior offers a tangible context for resolving conflict and inspiring transformation, both individually and collectively.

In our innovative programs and practices at Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery, we actively enjoin our clients in the mindful process of identifying separating behavior (fearful actions and/or reactions based on perceived threats) and responding with connecting behavior (caring gestures and acts of compassion). This serves as an effective strategy for breaking down complex issues into workable pieces that can be addressed in the moment, and empowers change as individuals, teams and organizations realize how compassion is the potent connective tissue in their internal and external relationships. We call this dynamic cognitive empathy, which is an important component of a larger skill-set known as emotional intelligence.

Excavating Maslow’s Pyramid

Any credible discussion of the psychology of motivation requires consideration of Abraham Maslow and his motivational theory based on human needs. So let’s examine Maslow’s infamous hierarchy of needs, which is archetypically depicted as levels within a pyramid.

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs Criticized

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs Is More About Self-Actualization Than Motivation

Maslow proposed his hierarchy of needs in a paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation,” which was published in 1943. The concepts have provided a framework for the psychology of motivation and have been widely utilized to conceptualize policy and practice in the social sciences and in business. The precept is that human behavior is motivated by the satisfaction or frustration of needs, which are arranged in a predominant hierarchy from physiological, to safety, to social, to esteem, to self-actualization.

Yet Maslow’s theory has its share of criticisms, the most significant of which are the limited scope of his research sample and the subjective methodology used in formulating the characteristics of “self-actualization.” The study was conducted by analyzing the biographies and writings of eighteen people, most of whom were highly educated white males. The subjects included Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, William James, Aldous Huxley, Gandhi, and Beethoven, as well as students from the top 1% of college populations. Although the study did include extraordinary women like Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa, they comprised a small percentage of his sample. Thus, the validity of Maslow’s theory is questionable as to females, as well as individuals from lower social classes and varying ethnicities. It is also relevant to note that Maslow did not include children in his study.

The empirical and theoretical criticisms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs contemplate the following:

  • Cultural relativity and universalism
  • The validity and ordering of the original categories of needs
  • The lack of defined and measured variables throughout the model

Contemporary research by Tay & Diener (2011) tested Maslow’s theory by analyzing the data of 60,865 participants from 123 countries, representing every major region of the world. The survey was conducted from 2005 to 2010. The results of the study support the view that universal human needs appear to exist regardless of cultural differences. However, the ordering of the needs within the hierarchy was incorrect (see SimplyPsychology.org article here). While this and other research refute the existence of the original need categories and question the directional hierarchy that Maslow proposed, these studies do support the existence of lower and higher level needs, along with gratification and deprivation as motivators of self-actualization.

Motivation Is Human Connection

“None of Maslow’s needs can be met without social connection.”    ~ Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D., M.B.A.

In her astute Psychology Today article: ‘Social Networks, What Maslow Misses,’ Dr. Pamela Rutledge takes issue with the widespread assumption represented by the pyramid: that human connection is NOT a primary need or instinct, but occurs instead as an upward climb from food and shelter. She points out the collaborative effort required for basic hunting, gathering and protection from the elements, and illuminates how the drivers of social connection are intimately interwoven into our basic survival, even in a world shifting with technology.

Purely on the basis of definition, a persuasive argument exists that motivation and self-actualization are not one in the same. And, as you can see, a rigorous unearthing of Maslow’s pyramid uncovers a framework that is clearly about self-actualization—the process of systematically meeting human needs. In fact, one might even conclude that a better title for Maslow’s 1943 paper would have been “A Theory Of Human Self-Actualization.”

Our Wonder Years

A rational mind would consider food, water and shelter more urgent requirements than affection and nurturing. The mature individual would deem safety a priority over compassionate interaction. And pragmatic adults would agree that security in maintaining these basic necessities is more important than self-esteem and the sense of belonging.

Yet as infants, wrapped in swaddling clothes and safely cuddled in loving arms, nursing at our mother’s breast and having all our fundamental needs met for us, the opposites all hold true. Common sense, supported by thousands of research studies on childhood development, tells us that at this stage of life, when sentience is rapidly developing both psychologically and physiologically, love and esteem needs are primary—not a third or fourth tier priority.

Motivation And Formative Relationships

As infants and children, we acquire our vast repertoire of skills by studying the faces, voices and actions of others, beginning with our parents and primary caregivers.

The importance of early childhood development has been acknowledged by economists, behavioral scientists, educators, neuroscientists and biologists. Our formative years effect how we grow and develop through adolescence and into adult life. The most powerful external influence on all aspects of our development, resilience and adaptability to life’s challenges, is the quality of love we receive from our parents and primary caregivers.

Our formative attachment relationships determine our physiological functioning, cognitive perception and emotional awareness, development of language skills, and understanding of ourselves, others, and the unfolding world around us. The varying forms of separation anxiety experienced by all children, which can endure or recur throughout childhood, demonstrate both our innate understanding of the need for love, and our instinctive fear at the prospect of being separated from those who provide it to us.

The fundamental physiological need for emotional interaction with those who love and care for us is how motivation awakens in our lives. Love drives our desire to connect, learn and develop. When circumstances challenge our bonds to these relationships, we sometimes experience fearful reactions that we must learn to cope with. When these critical attachment relationships are non-existent or nominal, or if they are significantly compromised or severed during our childhood journey, traumatic developmental, emotional and psycho-social consequences can result—all of which are rooted in a deep and abiding fear of not receiving the love we need.

Connecting Or Separating?

Motivation is a quickening of inner awareness and self-possession based upon two factors: the drive to fulfill our basic need for love and all that we associate with it, and the experience of fear—the circumstances, situations and people we perceive as threats to that love, or to our own safety and survival. Cognition, curiosity, comprehension, exploration, discovery, affection, and affinity are among the developmental aspects of our formative years, and are all connecting behaviors primarily associated with love. Apprehension, worry, indecision, anger, aggression and aloofness are among the common childhood separating behaviors associated with fear.

Yet the primary emotions of love and fear are also conceptual in nature and as we learn more about how they influence our world, we manifest additional behaviors that reflect the broader spectrum of secondary emotions related to them. This brief Slideshare illustrates how love and fear function as powerful forces of motivation in our everyday lives, and reminds us that we can alter our perspective by being mindful and choosing compassion and empathy.

Our lives are filled with transition. Events both expected and unexpected impact our day to day functioning, self-esteem and sense of purpose. Growth and adaptation in a fluid and fast-paced world of technological, economic, political and personal challenges are prerequisites to our health, happiness and survival. The catalyst in how we respond to the trials and tribulations posed by these largely externalized factors, is motivation—an internalized, somatic phenomenon that is greatly influenced by our developmental associations with love and fear—and which, throughout life, continues to be shaped and impelled by our social interactions.

“Motivation kinetically embodies the desires, ambitions, revelations and trepidations that both consciously and subconsciously order our lives.”

Understanding the intrinsic relationship of love and fear helps us identify the underlying motivational factors in ourselves and others. We recognize separating behaviors that result from falsely perceived threats, and distinguish them from comportment rooted in deeper-seated fears. We also embrace the unifying force of love. By mindfully connecting with caring gestures, acts of kindness and compassion, and critical attending, we discover that fearful reactions can be mitigated and diffused. This is how practicing cognitive empathy negates the limiting aspects of fear and inspires us to address larger connective issues and fulfill needs that ultimately define actualized people—individually, collectively and organizationally.

 

©2016 Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All Rights Reserved.


Cathexis Logo Pic MemeCathexis Therapeutic Imagery specializes in innovative approaches to workplace wellness, mindfulness training, and personal development. Via private coaching, presentations, workshops, training events, and our partnership in the unique online wellness community Your Wellness Room—used by Kaiser Permanente, EFactor and other notable companies—our nationally recognized programs and practices help people and organizations make positive changes. Please call for a free consultation at (818) 512-4371 or contact us via email.

 

Healthy Body Image & The Inner Child

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Acknowledging and nurturing the inner child is critical to achieving a healthy body image. The framework of this relationship determines the degree to which our mind and body are connected . . . or disconnected.

Positive body image is more than merely how we see ourselves physically. It’s how we feel about our physical appearance. And more specifically, the ways in which liking our appearance differs from disliking our appearance, and how this translates to our relationship with ourselves and the world.

Genetic inheritance influences our bone structure, body size, shape, and weight. Consequently, we are all different. At the same time, the equation for weight and body mass is the same for everyone: the calories we intake each day versus the calories we burn. Yet if everyone ate the same and did the same amount of exercise for a whole year, we would not all look the same in the end. This has to do with body type and metabolic rate. And the fact is that liking one’s body, or disliking it, is not all about appearance. People of all shapes and sizes, even some with incredible physiques, suffer from negative body image.

The Silver Screen

The media is a powerful influencer in the body image scenario because it propagates cultural images and sells advertising space. Of course, this drives the movie and television industry, as well as industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, and yes . . . diet and exercise. In fact, weight loss and exercising products are particularly notorious for proliferating body image stereotypes.

Here are some relevant statistics:

  • More than 80% of Americans watch television an average of three hours each day
  • Children engage in increasing amounts of media use fueled by internet access through phones and laptops
  • Eight to eighteen year-olds are engaged with some form of media about seven and one-half hours per day

Even animated cartoons and children’s videos commonly emphasize the importance of being physically attractive. It is also relative to note that although sexually objectified images of females in advertising are most likely to appear in men’s magazines, the second most common source of such images are advertisements in teen magazines directed at adolescent girls. The sexual objectification of men— which is less frowned upon socially and receives far less negative attention, but is nonetheless impactful on influencing body image—is also popular in advertising and media portrayal.

While this is merely the tip of the iceberg, what we know is that body image is primarily formed during our upbringing and is heavily influenced by media. Of course, there are other factors that affect body image which can occur at any time in life, such as sexual harassment or assault, bullying or body shaming, and any of the many forms of discrimination that occur based on appearance. But what does that really mean on a deeper level? How do body image and the focus on being attractive effect our perception of ourselves and our individual reality?

Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Body Image Mirror Mirror

Physical beauty is a powerful and influential imagery paradigm in our media-driven culture, one in which hearts, minds and dollars are deeply invested.

The concept of physical beauty is core to body image, yet it is a perception that can be false or ambiguous. Indeed, physical beauty is a highly subjective, cultural, equivocal, ever-changing, and historically trend-influenced phenomenon. Enhancement of physical beauty can be purchased in many forms. Physical beauty can be marketed, packaged and sold in dizzying numbers of ways. Physical beauty can be a mask and it can be masked. Physical beauty—vague, mercurial and moody—is even more difficult to define than love.

We abide externalized standards for physical beauty despite a deeper wisdom of diversity and empathy that considers it shallow and superficial, something which only goes ‘skin-deep.’ Some innate part of us knows physical beauty is only so relevant in the greater scheme of things; we understand that it is not the same as physical attraction, yet we still allow it to affect our perceptions of ourselves and others. Thus, if our life experiences, whether based on genetics, lifestyle choices, past traumas or a combination thereof, have led to negative body image based upon this volatile concept of physical beauty—if our self-esteem suffers because we have ‘bought-in’ to the idea that we do not meet socially accepted standards of physical beauty that serve as a prerequisite to love and acceptance—we are harboring false or ambiguous perceptions of ourselves which need to be reconciled.

What Love Has To Do With It

Negative body image is a manifestation of fear—fear that we will not receive the love and acceptance we need—fear that we are unworthy of love because of how we look. This fear reaction occurs on a primal, instinctive level which, in psychological terms, is commonly referred to as a trauma of the inner child. Negative body image underlies addictions, eating disorders and other self-destructive habits, and is rooted in a subconscious disconnection of the mind and body.

Thought processes, behavior patterns and lifestyle choices can emerge that reinforce this negative body image. These often include poor eating habits, lack of physical activity, and a general disregard of accepted wisdom on achieving and maintaining good health. Choosing to be unconcerned about such things is a manifestation of the mind/body disconnect.

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Denial of troubled emotions empowers the inner child to take possession of our personality at times, to hijack our ‘adult’ decision making process.

A common way we compensate for this underlying fear of being unlovable is with food. Eating can be thought of as self-love because it stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain—it makes us feel good­—yet this can become a deceptive form of self-abuse and inner conflict, as we realize on a deeper level that that we are mistreating ourselves. Physical activity, particularly exercising, can serve as an uncomfortable reminder of this dysfunction; in order to appease this inner conflict, many adopt attitudes such as: “I don’t like my body anyway, so I don’t really care.”

Suffering from negative body image means we exist in a stasis of emotional apprehension and apathy; that we have adapted and become comfortable with a way of life which may include unhealthy lifestyle choices impelled by a subconscious fear of being unloved. In order to move ahead, we must begin utilizing deliberate acts of self-discovery, such as mindfulness training and practice, to recognize and alter these psychological, physiological and behavioral dynamics. Perhaps the most critical element in this process is learning to acknowledge and nurture a conscious relationship with our inner child.

The Inner Child

The concept of the inner child is traceable to Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and more recently, Eric Berne, among others. It is a basic principle used in therapeutic applications and 12 step recovery approaches. The idea of the inner child is well-known and accepted in popular psychology because it makes sense; it resonates with people. The concept commonly arises in the context of healing the psyche—of the inner child being wounded, stifled or otherwise emotionally compromised. Yet whether or not injury to the psyche has actually occurred and to what degree, there are many fundamental and holistic reasons to embrace our innate, childlike nature.

“A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child.”      ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Even if one is raised in the ‘best of families’ under the most ‘normal’ of circumstances, it is possible for a parent to have a challenged moment and say something like: “You’ll never amount to anything.” After all, parents are human and far from infallible. Yet statements like this, which undermine a child’s conviction that the parent loves and believes in them, can cause developmental setbacks that carry into adulthood. It is also common for parents to have expectations of children that either go unfulfilled or to which children grudgingly conform; this erodes self-esteem and creates the feeling of wanting to ‘leave childhood behind.’

Children in dysfunctional, impoverished, or circumstantially challenged families often take on adult roles such as cooking and cleaning instead of playing with friends. They may care for siblings or ill parents instead of having free time to simply be a kid. And sometimes, in more dire situations, a child may become hyper-vigilant to the emotional state of their parents or other adults in the household in order to protect themselves or siblings from neglect or abuse.

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In attempting to leave our child-like self behind, we become emotionally attached to the past. We diminish spontaneity and the joy of cherishing each moment with awe and wonder.

The inner child is deeply affected by the sense of being unloved, or unlovable, or both; this perception can readily transfer to poor self-esteem and negative body image. Experiences such as bullying, physical abuse, psychological abuse, abandonment, and physical or sexual assault are the kinds of events that engender shame, guilt, rage and resentment, and can radically traumatize the inner child. Any experience of being physically or psychologically violated, even when it happens in adulthood, can create this trauma.

The mind/body disconnect occurs when we endeavor to avoid, deny, or set aside feelings associated with troubling events such as these. The inner child is the part of the psyche where emotion is experienced, so when we try to block out fear, anger, shame, rage, resentment, guilt, sorrow, and disappointment, we also inhibit feelings of joy, love, happiness, compassion, empathy, and contentment. As well, we create negative associations and emotional attachments to the past that define us as victims, which is an identity the inner child experiences as being left behind or exiled. By attempting to protect ourselves from unwanted reminders of our trauma, we project fear into new situations that confuses our perceptions and divides our attention between the past and present. This phenomenon is known as emotional looping and is a symptom of what psychology calls “arrested development.”

Broken Crayons

Love and fear are the primal elements of human motivation. Love is the connecting force upon which we thrive. Fear is the dividing force that protects us from threats. Owning shame based on negative body image catalyzes fear founded upon an inaccurately perceived threat, which polarizes our love energy and creates a disconnect within ourselves and with the world around us.

In whatever ways the events of our lives have shaped us, we can only accept our fate and embrace our misfortunes as opportunities. While we cannot forget the past, it is important to acknowledge that change occurs in the present. This is why mindfulness training and the practice of mindfulness meditation have been a successful medium of transformation for so many people. By developing the self-possession and connective consciousness to actually be present with what is happening in the moment, we leave behind knee-jerk, defensive reactions sourced in the past and experience the freedom to reclaim our child-like trust and wonder.

colorful artistic crayons

It is only natural for some of our crayons to get broken along the way; in fact, we sometimes break them ourselves. But that does not mean the days of coloring vibrant meaning and purpose into our lives are behind us. Even with an entire box of broken crayons, we are capable or recreating ourselves.

It is this life force and energy of love—love that diffuses fear and invites empathy and self-possession—that is the foundation upon which healthy body image and a positive inner child relationship resides. Here lies the motivation of physical activity, the preparation and partaking of nutritious food, the sacred acts of caring and nurturing, and the exuberant, child-like outlook that stimulates and invigorates us. Indeed, this loving connectivity is how we pick up the broken crayons of our lives and carefully put them back into their precious boxes. 

©2016 Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All Rights Reserved.


Cathexis Logo Pic MemeCathexis Therapeutic Imagery specializes in innovative approaches to workplace wellness, mindfulness training, and personal development. Via private coaching, presentations, workshops, training events, and our partnership in the unique online wellness community Your Wellness Room—used by Kaiser Permanente, EFactor and other notable companies—our nationally recognized programs and practices help people and organizations make positive changes. Please call for a free consultation at (818) 512-4371 orcontact us via email.

Cynicism: When Fear Has Become Hubris

Cynicism & Skepticism

Those who identify themselves as ‘cynics’ and ‘skeptics’ commonly affect an aloof intellectualism and take pride in their cleverness and humor. Yet such posturing often serves as denial of an underlying fearfulness, especially of those enigmatic aspects of reality that defy logical explanation.

Skepticism is the application of reason and critical thinking to determine validity; it is the process of finding a supported conclusion. Cynicism is the awareness that people can be deceptive, untrustworthy and motivated purely by self-interest. Being both open-minded and critical when evaluating information, and adequately scrutinizing the qualifications and character of the individuals who present it to us, are healthy and useful applications of skepticism and cynicism.

Yet all too often there is an attitude of hostility attached to the skeptical viewpoint, a presumption of the worst in people and an unwillingness to consider ideas and concepts that defy convention or transcend the tried and true. There is also an element of insecurity familiar to the cynic, an anxious and easily threatened disposition that is quick to judge and hides behind highbrow comments and polarizing witticisms. And sadly, a certain amount of pride and self-satisfaction are common to this derisive and emotionally detached demeanor.

Fear Is The Elephant In The Room

Our training programs at Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery include teaching both private and corporate clients mindfulness and emotional intelligence through the incorporation of trance states such as meditation, hypnosis and therapeutic imagery. Thousands of studies conducted by hundreds of independent researchers have demonstrated the benefits of meditation and hypnosis in reducing stress, managing emotional reactivity, improving focus and concentration, strengthening immune system function, and treating an array of medical and mental health related conditions. (The findings of these and other peer reviewed research studies are available in my article: A Review Of The Significant Research On Hypnosis, Meditation & Trance States.) 

The evidence is overwhelming and, in fact, mindfulness meditation is being widely used in business to facilitate healthy and productive environments and positive workplace culture. Elephant In The RoomNonetheless, there are still many skeptics who assign a degree of “woo woo” to the practice of trance state healing techniques and the idea of mind over matter, or expansion of consciousness beyond mere thought. This speaks to fear; specifically, fear of loss of control in individuals who prefer the left-brained functionality and structure of analyzing and processing information. Yet this kind of cynicism also represents a quagmire of unbelief that exists in the world of human potential, a dismissive sentiment which undermines the value of holistic health practices and the spiritual aspects of self-actualization.

“Proof” is the vernacular of the cynic. Science speaks in terms of “evidence.” And the materialist view of reality—the assumption that the physical processes of the universe exist beyond subjective perception—has not been substantiated by mathematics or empirical observation. In fact, reality is known only through sensory interaction, the way our mind relates to light, sound, smell, touch and taste.

The core of emotional intelligence is understanding love and fear as the fundamental elements of human motivation. Love connects and fear divides. Pessimism, sarcasm and skepticism are rooted in fear because they ultimately express limitation and separation. And cynicism—the unhealthy compensation for fear that manifests as haughty and disparaging points of view—represents a cowardice of compassion, curiosity and unity.

Expanded Consciousness

Ours is not a world of absolutes. Developing the ability to recognize and fully trust our powers of perception, to realize deeper wisdom and enlightenment, to experience profound insight and fulfill our journey of purpose, are ultimately endeavors of spiritual self-discovery.

Expanded consciousness involves opening up to the sacred bond of creation and inviting divinity in its many enigmatic forms—these are functions of inclusion rather than exclusion, of being liberated from constrained convictions, of embracing infinite possibility rather than limited proof—and of connecting instead of dividing, both within ourselves and to the living universe.

©2016 Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All Rights Reserved.


Cathexis Logo Pic MemeCathexis Therapeutic Imagery specializes in innovative approaches to workplace wellness, mindfulness training, and personal development. Via private coaching, presentations, workshops, training events, and our partnership in the unique online wellness community Your Wellness Room—used by Kaiser Permanente, EFactor and other notable companies—our nationally recognized programs and practices help people and organizations make positive changes. Please call for a free consultation at (818) 512-4371 orcontact us via email.

Every Day Is Earth Day

Unity Consciousness

There is growing acceptance in the Western scientific community of the ancient idea of a unified energy field that links all of creation in an ethereal bond, an innate consciousness. In his book, A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking calls this phenomenon the Mind of God. Many other scientists and researchers refer to it as Nature’s Mind, Unity Consciousness, or the Quantum Hologram (see Greg Braden article, Oneness & The Quantum Hologram, here).

“The universe is a unity. Every material thing is in all things. All things come from all, and all is in all things.”    ~John Toland

The navigation of consciousness transcends the boundaries mapped by a pantheon of great human minds, reaching ever outward into this sensory holograph that is creation’s enduring mystery. The connection of all living things, the cosmic equation—the whole of life within every part, and every part within the whole—manifests in our perception of reality as multiple dimensions that elude absolute comprehension and definition. We can see, touch, hear, smell and taste the universe around us, yet these images are shifting perspectives of an even greater fabric and texture, an interwoven awareness we have merely glimpsed through the eyes of science, physics, eastern medicine, psychology, mysticism, and spirituality.

The ‘angle of light’ shed by our specific viewpoint and the various ‘interference patterns’ of our own attitudes and beliefs, serve as vectors of discernment that create the basis for this concept of reality as a holographic image (see M.S. Benford Journal of Theoretics study here). And the function of our mind, body and spirit, the magnetic and vibratory energy of the human aura interacting with the vast energy of the universe, is a critical variable in how the world ultimately presents itself to us, affecting how we perceive and experience our individual realities.

The power of individual perspective greatly influences the enigma of reality and its various dimensions and levels. Our attitudes and beliefs, our emotional intelligence, comprise the filters with which we process incoming information, while also sending coherent emotional impulses to the heart, the electro-magnetic dynamo of the human organism. The heart then transmits this energy, the magnetic force and vibration of our convictions about ourselves and the world—which can be photographed and measured as the seven levels of the human aura—out into the universe. In turn, the unified energy field (see John Hagelin, Ph.D. video on quantum physics and consciousness here), our connection on an atomic, molecular, and biological level to every other living thing, responds by attracting like frequencies of energy. This is how our consciousness, individually and collectively, fashions the quantum hologram, or what we perceive and experience as ‘reality.’

unity consciousnessMay we acknowledge that every day is earth day and reflect upon our unity consciousness, our treasured connection to the skies and forests, the oceans and waterways, the mountains and deserts, to the eternal womb of wild nature and all its magnificent creatures. The earth itself is surrounded by a geomagnetic field, an aura, a source of conscious energy to which we are all linked. Let us embrace and celebrate the sanctity of this interwoven force, the manifest bounty of our planet and its collective spirit . . . the Mind of God.

©2016 Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht., Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery

Light Of Winter

Winter Solstice

A WINTER SOLSTICE MEDITATION

(Note: The following article is from a presentation on MIndfulness Meditation given during the Winter Solstice service at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Canoga Park, California, on December 20, 2015.) 

In this article and accompanying meditation (see the link below), we celebrate Winter Solstice in a very special way, as we join in mind, body & spirit to invite reborn light into the fertile depths of our individual and collective souls. We shall contemplate and explore the seeded darkness of our inner being; the transcendent mystery of midwinter and its promise of renewal wrought by the pale sun and cold earth; the ancient, echoed wisdom woven by countless seasons into bone and sinew and sense. We shall partake in the interconnected sentience of our living, breathing and enigmatically conscious universe. At this revered confluence of endings and beginnings, this holiest of all seasons beneath the turning of the Celestial Wheel, let us rejoice in ambient communion with the resplendent wonder of the sun’s rebirth in our hearts, and create a cradle of spirituality from which to draw inspiration.

Mindfulness

My practice includes teaching both private and corporate clients mindfulness meditation. There have been thousands of studies conducted by hundreds of independent researchers demonstrating the benefits of mindfulness meditation in reducing stress, managing emotional reactivity, improving focus and concentration, strengthening immune system function, and treating an array of medical and mental health related conditions. It is being widely used in business to facilitate healthy and productive environments and positive workplace culture. There are still skeptics, however, many of whom assign a degree “woo-woo” to the practice of meditation. Having meditated daily for nearly 40 years, I can tell you first hand that whatever woo-woo that occurs is not in the meditation itself, but rather in the experience of higher conscious. We shall consider this phenomenon in relationship to Winter Solstice a bit further, both conceptually and experientially.

I invite you to take a deep breath. Match your inhale to your exhale. Now repeat this deep, measured breathing and focus your attention on it. Notice the air moving. Touch your thumbs and fingertips together; wiggle your toes. Observe yourself in relation to the space around you. Just be present with yourself . . . in this moment. Let go of all resistance, expectation and judgment. Simply allow yourself to experience the here and now.

     “Still yourself. Listen. Breathe.”

This is what is known as a mindfulness moment. The Zen of mindfulness, the bone and sinew of it, the essence of being truly present, is momentarily absolving oneself of intentional thought. And the most effective way to learn the art of mindfulness is through mindfulness meditation, which is a western, non-sectarian, research-based form of meditation derived from the ancient Buddhist practice known as Insight Meditation.

MindfulnessMindfulness meditation develops the skill of paying attention to our internal and external experiences with acceptance, patience, and compassion. The idea of enlightenment, of shifting and expanding perception beyond the realm of human intelligence, is grounded in this subtle and remarkable discipline of inviting a pure awareness that diffuses the habituation of fearful thoughts, emotions and behaviors. In mindfulness meditation, one of the oldest and most venerated practices for exploring the ineffable dimensions of consciousness, the seeded darkness of our inner being, has come of age.

Unity Consciousness

But let’s set aside ancient wisdom for a moment. Instead, let’s use modern science to embrace this old world perspective of the interconnected sentience of our living, breathing and enigmatically conscious universe. I quote Neil deGrasse Tyson, popular astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space:

“The atoms of our bodies are traceable to stars that manufactured them in their cores and exploded these enriched ingredients across our galaxy, billions of years ago. For this reason, we are biologically connected to every other living thing in the world. We are chemically connected to all molecules on Earth.  And we are atomically connected to all atoms in the universe.”

According to quantum physics theory, beneath molecules, atoms, subatomic particles, and quarks lies a singular unified field of energy, an intelligence from which all forces and particles emerge, a ‘conscious’ structural matrix that exists everywhere in the universe. This energy field is considered ‘conscious’ or ‘intelligent’ because it encompasses the basic behavior of all things within the functioning laws of nature. The scientific community calls this concept unified field theory, or unity consciousness. In his book, A Brief History of Time, Stephan Hawking refers to the phenomenon of unity consciousness as “the mind of God.”

This consciousness, or organic sentience, is foundationally influenced by the interconnection of the Sun and Earth, a transmission of galactic energy communicated through light and vibrational wave frequencies along the infinite electromagnetic spectrum (radio, microwave, infrared, visual, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma rays); much of which we cannot see or feel.

In his book, ‘The Social Conquest of Earth,’ pre-eminent Harvard biologist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner E.O. Wilson sets forth a stunningly vivid and succinct description of the limited aperture through which human biology allows us to perceive our world.

Unity Consciousness

The migration patterns of birds are a primary example of the ability of animals to sense electromagnetic fields

What is most fascinating and relevant about this account is not that technology can reveal realities to which we are insensate—colors we don’t see, sounds we don’t hear, energy fields we don’t sense—what is most compelling is that all of these are perceivable to biology, just not human biology. It is established biological fact that animals see colors we can’t see; hear sounds we can’t hear; feel vibrations we can’t feel; and sense electromagnetic fields.

All living things are comprised of energy that radiates an aura, a “bio-electromagnetic field,” which results from electrical impulses generated by the movement of electrons around the nucleus of our cells. The human aura includes physical, emotional, and mental/spiritual aspects, and represents this chemical, biological, and atomical connection to the living universe. Research utilizing infrared and Kirlian photography has demonstrated that meditation intensifies or “charges” this aura, which enhances its interactivity with the geomagnetic energy fields of the earth and the cosmos.

From this scientific perspective then, is it such a leap to conceive of creation’s wonder, the transcendent mystery, perhaps even divinity itself, as this conscious matrix of unified energy that surrounds and connects all living things? And is this conception not distinctly akin to what Unitarian Universalism calls “the Interconnected Web of Life?”

Winter Solstice

Winter solstice is the time to honor the transcendent mystery—the wonder of the seeded darkness and the beauty of light reborn. Celebrations of longer days to come and the turning of nature’s seasonal wheel have been common throughout cultures and history. Winter solstice is the promise of patient wisdom beneath the turning stars, a time to embrace the rebirth of the sun with great hope and compassion in our hearts.

Pagan author T. Thorn Coyle wrote that the solstice is:

” . . . a chance to still ourselves inside, to behold the glory of the cosmos, and to take a breath with the Sacred.”

For many people, the Winter Solstice season marks the only occasion all year they set foot in a house of worship. Indeed, midwinter’s confluence of endings and beginnings—the night of greatest darkness and the sun reborn in hope—stirs a searching of the soul’s belonging. It is a time of coming together in fellowship, of setting aside enmities and ideologies, of observing rites and rituals that allow us to glimpse the spiritual cradle of life’s miracle. It is a time of gratitude and wonder, of compassion and grace, of peace and goodwill.

I invite you to join me for a few minutes of Mindfulness Meditation, as we contemplate . . .

Light Of Winter

Winter Solstice Meditation

Light Of Winter Meditation

(click on the link, close your eyes, and enjoy the meditation)

©2015 Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht. & Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery. All Rights Reserved.

Shawn picture-52

Shawn Quinlivan, C.Ht.

Cathexis Therapeutic Imagery specializes in innovative approaches to workplace wellness, mindfulness training, and personal development. Via private coaching, presentations, workshops, training events, and our partnership in the unique online wellness community Your Wellness Room—used by Kaiser Permanente, EFactor and other notable companies—our nationally recognized programs and practices help people and organizations make positive changes. Please call for a free consultation at (818) 512-4371 or contact us via email.