Is Happiness a Disease or a Disorder?!!

I’ve been studying (unofficially, unscientifically) about mental health. The desire amongst ‘the profession’ to classify various ‘conditions’, and then to set about labelling so many of us in order to (i) justify their existence (the profession, not the ‘condition) and (ii) to prescribe medical solutions is, at best, highly questionable. Yes, it has its place in more extreme cases, even then it has shown to be only part of a long term answer.  Read more about such classification here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_and_Statistical_Manual_of_Mental_Disorders

Here’s something almost unbelieveable:

Research paper ‘A proposal to classify happiness as a psychiatric disorder’ Jnl Medical Ethics, 1992, by Richard Bentall.

It is proposed that happiness be classified as a psychiatric disorder and be included in future editions of the major diagnostic manuals under the new name: ‘major affective disorder, pleasant type’. In a review of the relevant literature, it is shown that happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discreet cluster of symptoms, is assocated with a range of cognitive abnormalities, and probably reflects the abnormal functioning of the central nervous system. One possible objection to this proposal remains – that happiness is not negatively valued. However, this objection is dismissed as scientifically irrelevant.
[End]

The use of the word normal and abnormal is fascinating. Pathologists often look for so called ‘normal ranges’ of health indicators. What they mean by normal is average.

What if we live in a world where average health (both mental and physical) is decidedly sub-optimal? This would make optimum health ‘abnormal’ according to such measures.

As such I entirely agree – happiness IS statistically abnormal, consists of a discreet cluster of symptoms, is assocated with a range of cognitive ‘abnormalities’, and probably reflects the abnormal functioning of the central nervous system.  In the sense that in the modern world, driven by time, outcomes, money, ego tends to block us from happiness – our cognitive ‘normality’ is far from happy.

In Robert Holden’s great book on Happiness, ‘Be Happy’ he makes the link between happiness and authenticity. Most people believe or feel that you cannot be inauthentic and happy. When people are authentic, they are happy. If only more doctors, psychiatrists, politicians, teachers, counsellors, coaches, leaders and HR Managers… knew this!

‘Eat Pray Love’, Spirituality and Enlightenment. Is it just for girls?

I’ve read a few books about spiritual journeys and gurus. The only thing I’ve become convinced about from reading their books is it seems to be a long hard journey with no guarantees of a definite outcome and no real knowledge of what the outcome is or ‘should be’. I recently read ‘Eat Pray Love’ by Liz Gilbert – it sparked some thoughts about my journey and my beliefs.

I share these with you in the knowledge that: beliefs are easy to change (that’s a belief), are transient and are largely responsible for creating your reality. My words are written with little first hand knowledge of what often gets described as spiritual practice, and with plenty of observation of those who do practice (and write about it). Through my own journey, I have learned how to find relative peace and let go of the negative ‘chatterbox’ or ‘monkey mind’.

Now I don’t claim to be a very spiritual person, or to want to be – I’d rather just be authentic. My partner, Diane, has said the opposite, that I am very spiritual… Who knows, who cares? It’s just a label. I’ve known many people who actively seek spirituality as some kind of sanctuary from their other ‘real’ world. If you buy into living in the moment, the power of now, then your sanctuary is real while you are there, and its absence, or the absence of very spiritual feelings is also real when you are not there. Unfortunately, not being there for so many people is a frustrating and painful place to ‘be’.

If you feel the need to escape, then this is what we call an ‘away from’. We often need powerful, almost debilitating ‘away froms’ in order to have sufficient motivation to make change. However, to see change through to a much better alternative, there needs to be an equally powerful ‘towards’ motivation and vision for your future. When you can step into that future, it can become your new reality in the moment.

To me, detachment and enlightenment are polar opposites. Surely an ideal and enlightened life could be easy, not hard, or necessarily devoted? Requiring discipline yes, involving the sacrifice of vices that hold you back, but not abstinence on a grand scale. Gilbert describes devotion as “diligence without assurance” – a kind of blind faith. I fear all too often it is the blind leading the blind… You can choose to have faith in yourself and in ‘the process of life’. To me this is not very far removed from being rational, may be slightly instinctual and intuitive. It is a long way removed from the kind of irrational ‘blind’ faith of many doctrines. Sure, use rituals if they help, but only if they help you embrace life as opposed to hide from it.

It seems to me that enlightenment “should” be something that you carry easily with you at all times, rather than some place, a nirvana that you go to as some kind of escape from that other world that you occupy. Just look at the word ‘avoid’ – a void – are you simply escaping to nothing. Sure it can represent a respite. Is it really a valid, authentic long term solution? Or simply a different kind of jail.

I keep seeing teachers claiming that you can step into enlightenment in a moment and that your level of enlightenment is measured by the number of moments that you spend in enlightenment. They tell me that it is possible to move from a place of pain and suffering to a place of enlightenment. Personally, I think this is a bit of a con. Are you conning yourself?

Here’s how I see it. Your pain and suffering is largely self-inflicted. It is actually a choice, however, the choice only becomes clear and real when you understand and accept that there is a credible alternative. Now for me, the credible alternative is not avoidance, escapism, meditation, satsangs etc. At best these are just possible tools that you can use to help find your true, higher self (but not the answer, not your higher self), at worst they are pure escapism, a surreal distraction. The pain and suffering are lessons, which once you accept them as such, lead to genuine growth of you as a person, they are part of the experience of human being. It does seem as though ’the universe’ continues to gives us these lessons until we ‘get it’. I do not believe that human ‘being’ is that permanently meditative ‘escape’ state.

Real human ‘being’ is being an expression of your true self, one that requires you to let go of fear and limiting beliefs; to let go of the need for escapism, be it though worldly addictions or more meta-physical ‘trips’ satsangs etc. Being your true self is about taking action, it is about being authentic, it is about acting (actually its about not acting, but keeping it real) from a place of love and trust, not fear of judgement or fear of not being good enough. It is about acting out your values as an expression of your true self. I admit that for most of us, choosing to express our true values will feel like an act to start with, as it is such unfamiliar territory.

So, the choice that I mentioned, for me is a choice to ‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway®’ as we teach on our workshops, stepping through your inauthentic and egoic ‘lower self’ to take massive action as an expression of your higher self, your true values, your dreams, the best of you…

I look upon life’s journey and the journey of self-development or spiritual development as one of increasing awareness and acceptance. It is a kind of ascention, stepping up through increasingly higher calibrations of emotional and energetic states, rather like rungs of a ladder. What I all too frequently seek is (rather too) desperate seekers of some kind of spiritual salvation, trying to take short cuts, jumping the whole ladder, only to slither down a long snake, back to the place they are running away from.  Their fears sabotage the temporary nirvana and ‘monopolise’ their heads – go to jail, do not pass go, do not collect £200… to continue the analogy.

As you move your calibration steadily up the ladder, you are moving your average point of emotional and energetic calibration. By doing so, as your natural range or variation in emotions shifts, you are also moving up the base level, your lowest point of calibration. As a coaching client said to me only yesterday, “It’s like a ratchet, each time I slip, I go to a higher base/place than before”.

Here’s two different perspectives – you can diminish, downside and disempower your ego, or as Debbie Ford would say, embrace it and merge it with your higher self. Do what ever works for you, just don’t be a slave to it.

So if you are bored with board games, there is this alternative. For me, it could well be that the ultimate destination of this ascention is the same, I am just drawn to what for me is a more authentic path, one full of growth, humility and humanity.

Back to the book… I loved the honesty of ‘Eat Pray Love’ and the credibility of the some of the advice from Elizabeth Gilbert’s gurus. The way that she writes is refreshingly honest, her feelings laid bare, and also very funny and expressive. It’s definitely not just a book for girls!

Elizabeth embarks on a year’s journey into her soul, through three very different experiences in Italy, India and Bali. She learns how to make choices rather than being a slave to her emotions.  Finally, she learns how to stop “brooding over the past” or “worrying about the future”. One of the gifts she receives is being present in her life. Liz learns how to ask God, the Universe, her higher self (whatever, however you wish to see it) for answers and to trust that they would come when she truly needed them. Finally, she learns how not to rely on anti-depressants, which she knows can only be a temporary answer to life’s challenges and not the solution with the learning/life lessons. Some interesting questions are asked about the nature of SEEKing enlightenment and DEVOTION to supposedly enlightening rituals.

This and other books that I have read beg the question ‘Do we need a guru?’. I certainly feel that we generally need guidance out and away from our lower selves. This does present us with the opportunity to connect with our inner guru, the higher self, at which point for me, over reliance on any external guru is likely to become counter productive and dependent or co-dependent.

There are many brilliant passages in ‘Eat Pray Love’. Here’s a link to just a few of my favourites. Do go and read the book.

Note: ‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway®’ is a registered trademark of Susan Jeffers, PhD, used with express permission, under licence.

A few brilliant passages in ‘Eat Pray Love’

 

There are many brilliant passages in ‘Eat Pray Love’. Here’s a link to just a few of my favourites. Do go and read the book.

[1] Depression and Loneliness [low calibration energy & emotion, your egoic lower self – Andy] track me down after about ten days in Italy… They come upon me all silent and menacing like Pinkerton Detectives, and they flank me- Depression on my left, Loneliness on my right. They don’t need to show me their badges. I know these guys very well. We’ve been playing a cat-and-mouse game for years now. Loneliness, the more sensitive cop, says “I’m sorry ma’am. But I might have to tail you the whole time you’re travelling. It’s my assignment.”

Then they frisk me. They empty my pockets of any joy I had been carrying there. Depression even confiscates my identity; but he always does that. Then Loneliness starts interrogating me, which I dread because it always goes on for hours. He’s polite but relentless. He asks why I am all by myself tonight, yet again. He asks (though we’ve been through this line of questioning hundreds of times already) why I can’t keep a relationship going, why I ruined my marriage, why I messed things up. He asks why I can’t get my act together, and why I’m not at home living in a nice house and raising nice children like any respectable woman my age should be. He asks where I think I’ll end up on my old age, if I keep living this way. “It’s not fair for you come here,” I tell Depression. “I paid you off already. I served my time back in New York.”

But he just gives me that dark smile, settles into my favourite chair, puts his feet on my table and lights a cigar, filling the place with his awful smoke. Loneliness watches and sighs, then climbs into my bed and pulls the covers over himself, fully dressed, shoes and all. He’s going to make me sleep with him again tonight, I just know it.

[2] The Yogic path is about disentangling the built-in glitches of the human condition, which I’m going to over-simply define here as the heartbreaking inability to sustain contentment .  Taoists call it imbalance, Buddhism calls it ignorance, Islam blames our rebellion against God and Judeo-Christian tradition attributes it to original sin. The Yogis say that human discontentment is a simple case of mistaken identity.  We’re miserable because we think of ourselves as mere individuals, alone with our fears and flaws and resentments and mortality.  We wrongly believe that our limited little egos constitute our whole entire nature.

Yoga is the effort to experience one’s divinity personally and then to hold on to that experience forever.  Yoga is about self-mastery and the dedicated effort to haul your attention away from your endless brooding over the past and your non-stop worrying about the future so that you can seek, instead, a place of eternal presence from which you may regard yourself and your surroundings with poise.  Only from that point of even-mindedness will the true nature of the world (and yourself) be revealed to you.

[3] Like most humanoids, I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the ‘monkey mind’– the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit, and howl. From the distant past to the unknowable future, my mind swings wildly through time, touching on dozens of ideas a minute, unharnessed and undisciplined… Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions… The other problem with swinging through the vines of thought is that you are never where you are.

[4] Your ego’s job isn’t to serve you. Its only job is to keep itself in power. And right now, your ego’s scared to death cuz it’s about to get downsized… Pretty soon your ego will be out of a job and your heart’ll be making all the decisions.

[5] My sense of helplessness was overwhelming. What I wanted to do was pull some massive emergency break on the universe… I just wanted to call time out, to demand that everybody STOP until I could understand everything… what Richard called ‘control issues’… There’s only two questions that human beings have ever fought over: “How much do you love me?” and “Who’s in charge?” (love and control).

Video Out-takes and introductory webinar recordings

Click here to subscribe to our new monthly education and support package.

• Do you know just how awesome you truly are?
• How much of your potential are you really living up to?
• Do you like, understand and accept yourself completely?
• Could you like, understand and accept all others?
• How much of your behaviour is driven by ego?
• Do you love yourself 10 out of 10? Would you like to?
• Can you/do you expect anyone to love you more than you love yourself?
• Did you know there are at least 9 types of intelligence?
• Never mind intellect – how emotionally and spiritually intelligent are you?
• How emotionally and spiritually intelligent would you like to be?
• Are you in charge of your wellness, health and energy? Would you like to be?
• What does your higher self look, feel and sound like – are you in alignment?

Here is our first ever YouTube video together, introducing our new monthly PD service:

The recording of Part 1 of our introductory webinar from Wednesday 21st October is available by clicking on the word ‘Recording’ in the blue box below:

As promised, here’s the funny out-takes from our first ever YouTube video:

The recording of Part 2 of our introductory webinar from Thursday 29th October is available by clicking on the word ‘Recording’ in the blue box below:

Sign up for our amazing monthly Holistic Persponal Development Support package here.

Like everyone, we hate spam. You details will be kept confidential, your email will not be shared with anyone else. We will only contact you with regard to these webinars and our holistic personal development service.

Mind, Body & Soul Webinar – Holistic Personal Development

Thank you for visiting our stand at the Mind, Body & Soul show in Cheltenham.

We provide fantastic and transformational workshops and coaching with many many very satisfied clients who have radically improved their lives.

Now you can access support from us online with our all new webinars and monthly private members support service.

Join us on Wednesday 21st October for part 1 of a free webinar which explans our non-nonsense, eye opening approach to holistic personal development and Authentic Transformation. Juss enter your details below – if you can’t join us live, we will send you a link to the recorded webinar. All you need is a PC with sound an an internet connection. You will be able to see us, and our presentation, interact with us

Like everyone, we hate spam. You details will be kept confidential, your email will not be shared with anyone else. We will only contact you with regard to these webinars and our holistic personal development service.

Sign Up for our Webinar and see our very 1st YouTube video!

• Do you know just how awesome you truly are?
• How much of your potential are you really living up to?
• Do you like, understand and accept yourself completely?
• Could you like, understand and accept all others?
• How much of your behaviour is driven by ego?
• Do you love yourself 10 out of 10? Would you like to?
• Can you/do you expect anyone to love you more than you love yourself?
• Did you know there are at least 9 types of intelligence?
• Never mind intellect – how emotionally and spiritually intelligent are you?
• How emotionally and spiritually intelligent would you like to be?
• Are you in charge of your wellness, health and energy? Would you like to be?
• What does your higher self look, feel and sound like – are you in alignment?

We are re-running Part 1 of our introductory webinar this Wednesday 21st October at 7:15pm – please register below. Part 2will follow on Thursday 29th October again at 7:15pm (GMT), again – please register to receive joining instructions. You can use this page to access a recording of each webinar after the event too.

Like everyone, we hate spam. You details will be kept confidential, your email will not be shared with anyone else. We will only contact you with regard to these webinars and our holistic personal development service.

…this comes from of our model of holistic personal development:

Testimonial - The material is taught in such a simple way, which makes it so effective. Di and Andy deliver it in such a heartfelt way that creates so much added-value in the workshop. They are truly amazing people who I will never forget. Dan, Warwickshire
Click this link for many many more amazing testimonials.

This is a monthly membership service which takes you through a process of Authentic Transformation, where you get to really understand your true self, how and why you operate the way you do, and how to be your best and connect fully to your potential.

As Andy would say… “Humans are the most complex thing on the planet. 50 trillion cells, driven by emotions, instincts and thoughts from 100 billion brain cells. We are each in charge of the world’s most powerful super computer, with more memory capacity than all other computers on the planet (10⁸⁴³² MFLOPS to be precise!). In turn, our complex thoughts and emotions are in charge of the planet’s most sophisticated pharmacalogical laboratory, regulating much of our state and our health.”

We are going to show you how to love yourself and why where there is fear, love is not and where there is love, there is no fear.

Over the past 6-7 years Andy and I have both been on an incredible personal development journey. We have trained with and studied some of the world’s top motivational and developmental experts, each giving us great distinctions. We have discovered that the very best teachers are actually teaching the same things and that real, lasting positive change comes out of a holistic and balanced approach, partly intellectual and conscious, partly energetic, intuitive and subconscious.

In spite of and because of these great teachers, we have actually experienced the most growth over the past two years of being together. Combining our individual knowledge, styles and approaches to life, we have become each others greatest teachers. In the process, we have created and delivered fantastic workshops and coaching.

Now we want to make this easily affordable to you. Whether you are new to personal development easily and affordably available, or seeking ongoing support for your journey, this unique holistic approach will provide great insights and progression.

OK – so what is in the package? It is a monthly membership scheme.

• Every three weeks we will be holding a live webinar, with a presentation and discussion – you will be able to ask us questions live.
• The webinar will be recorded so that you can watch it again as many times as you like.
• We will also be posting highly educational videos for you to watch
• You will have access to all of our posted material via a private members social network, where you will be able to interact with us and our other members.
• On the members network we will be building up a library of supporting materials to help you on your journey of self-discovery and self-actualisation.
• This is all our own network and material – we will be inviting guest speakers on specialist subjects that we are not so familiar with such as Feng Shui and Nutritional Therapy.
• All of this material will be provided in bite sized chunks, easy to assimilate, simplified and put into context of our holistic framework for personal development.

These webinars are ongoing. Our journey has lasted 6-7 years each and is ongoing. Our core material will be presented over the next 18-24 months, in a way that you can understand very easily and incorporate into your life.

Three key distinctions regarding personal development are:

1. Everyone is different – therefore not all purported solutions will work for everyone.
2. Personal development or Authentic Transformation is a journey – not everyone is at the same point in their journey, not everyone is ready for some of the more advanced concepts… until they have grasped the fundamentals…
3. Many techniques and subjects taught under the umbrella of personal development, great as they are.. are tools and concepts, not solutions in themselves. Things like goal setting, NLP, meditation, Law of Attraction, EFT, special diets, some spiritual practices and teachings… To be truly useful, these tools need to be used in a more holistic context and framework.

Our webinars embody these three key principles.

Subscribe now. It is only £27 per month, you can cancel at any time, so there is no risk. We know you will feel that you are getting way more than your monies worth.

Our Soul & Spirit magazine ‘Cosmic Ordering’ article Aug 09 issue

Did you catch our three page spread in the August 09 issue of Soul and Spirit magazine?

If not then you can download and view a PDF of the Cosmic Ordering article by clicking on the image to the right:

Find out what journalist AnneMarie Flanagan learned on our Cosmic Ordering/Law of Attraction 2 day workshop; plus read the amazing results that Lynne Edwards has achieved with her life, in only 12-15 months, since attending our workshops.

We’ve Launched Our Holistic Personal Development Webinars !!

TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE WEBINARS. Andy and Di’s all new affordable, hype-free, holistic, personal development webinars.

Join us f.o.c. online on Wednesday 7th October at 7:15pm (GMT) for the launch webinar, where we will be sharing our framework for the most effective personal development and introducing our monthly support package and membership service.

Use the invitation below to sign up now.

Note: your email address will only be used by us to contact you regarding the webinars, unless you specify otherwise and your details will not be shared with any third parties.

Holistic, Affordable Personal Development (without the hype)

Do you find the world of personal development rather too full of hype, clever marketing and over-blown promises? I do!

Di and I have been working together for over 18 months now. With 5-6 years of previous in-depth personal development training each, we have amassed great experience, a broad and holistic perspective and created some brilliant models for developing self-awareness, self-acceptance and ultimately self-actualisation – creating the life of your dreams. We are about to launch a new regular online webinar service that will take you through a holistic process that will enable you to master yourself and your personal-development.

If you want value-packed, affordable, understandable, holistic, ongoing, supported self-development – look no further.

We get amazing feedback from our workshops – people regularly say “I’ve done lots of personal development… this is the best workshop I’ve ever been on“. We actually start at the beginning – with Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. This is an essential first step that is missing from most people’s journey of self-discovery and self-development.

There IS a lot to personal development. Whilst many seminars leave you on a high – the tendency is to come back down to earth with little long-term change.  The quick fix of a seminar is nice and can be a little addictive; for others, treatments and therapies can give short term relief to pains and frustrations (symptoms). What is truly required is to get past the symptoms – to the cause of any unhappiness, stress and lack of understanding or fulfillment or purpose. This requires a conscious understanding of what is happening and a conscious decision to take control and make changes.

This leap in consciousness is very definitely possible. It requires a structured and holistic approach. Below are a few of our holistic models for explaining the authentic transformation process, understanding yourself, your identity and personality. We invite you to contact us to register your interest in our webinars.

Here’s a few of our holistic models, which will be covered on the webinars:

A Life Without Limits – Why Settle For Anything Less?

Di and I will be sharing some of the key ingredients to Living A Life Without Limits with Oxford Yes Group on Tuesday 16th June at 7pm. All are welcome, read more about it and book online here: http://tinyurl.com/AndyDi

Andy & Di talk at Oxford Yes Group

Do you feel like life happens to you?

So many of us feel like life happens to us and we have little choice and control.

This is only as true as you believe it to be. It is our beliefs that create our reality. There are few absolute truths. It has been said that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. I know quite a few who seem to escape the latter!

Just look at the word belief. Look closely – be[LIE]f.

Every belief we have is not absolute. It is just our perception. It contains a lie; because every belief can be changed.

Four years ago I discovered myself. I found out that I had a great set of values, lots of skills, the potential to contribute and play much more full out in life… and yet I had a crappy set of beliefs that were limiting my experience of life and my potential for achievement and fulfilment. My beliefs even prevented me from enjoying what was, in the moment, the here and now, so my potential for enjoyment and fulfilment was postponed – postponed to a point in the future that simply was not going to exist with those crappy beliefs.

I have learned how to change all of this now. Our ‘Feel the Fear And Do It Anyway®’ workshop is licensed and approved by Susan Jeffers PhD, author of the international best selling book of the same name. This workshop has changed hundreds of lives, the book hundreds of thousands. It is the most influential workshop that I know of and have experienced – so many of our clients say the very same thing.

The Little Book of Positive Thoughts for Carers

My incredible Mum, Brenda Munitich, has had her first book published at the wonderful age of 76.

She is a full time carer to two, as well as overcoming cancer herself over the last year.  She read her first positive thinking book at the age of 18, when she was helping to raise her 6 brothers and sisters.  Thanks Mum, for teaching me how to love and care for others.

Mum, you are such an inspiration.  It’s so wonderful to see your dream come true!

Many thanks to Andy, my partner, for all his help with layout and editing to bring Mum’s book to a publishable standard.

Her book can be purchased here from Amazon.

Finding Your Inner Power

Here’s what one very grateful, inspired and inspiring attendee of our ‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway’ workshop, sent us by email:

I hope that you are both well. I am sending to you in this e-mail my enormous thanks for the Feel The Fear… workshop. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting both of you and all of the others on the workshop. The honesty, openness, warmth and love shone through and certainly helped me. The commitment shown by both of you was also really inspiring.

I know that I have a long journey ahead, but as always, it starts with the first step and I undoubtedly took that step last weekend with you. I learnt a good many things, but in particular:

1. My dissatisfaction is not about what I have/don’t have, where I live/work or what I can/can’t afford – it is all about me – who I am and how I feel about myself.

The changes I need to make are not about my career, home, car, holidays etc., but are about my inner self and finding the joy therein.

2. I am a powerful person – a leader. Importantly, I do not need to fear this power. I do need (and want) to embrace it. My power is a power for good – for me, for those around me and my wider community.

Now that I believe that my power is a power for good then I also know that if other people have an issue/problem with my power then that is their issue – not mine.

I am learning to let go and trust and I hope you will let me share with you an experience of mine the day after the workshop – the day I look at as the first day of the rest of my life:

At approximately 1 a.m. I was awoken from a deep sleep by the most intense feeling in the region of my solar plexus — a tingling mixed with a sense of being hit forcibly in that area but not in an aggressive or negative way.  The best I can liken this to is the excitement of Christmas morning as a young child, hoping that Santa had been.  However for me, this particular experience was much more powerful, sensual and even sexy!

As you might imagine, in the unfamiliar circumstances of my overnight accommodation the sensation was at first frightening — my conscious mind kicking in with all sorts of questions — what, why, how etc.  At the same time I heard a voice, not mine or even one I recognised, that seemed able to answer every question I had even before I had asked it.

The whole experience seemed to be both good and bad at the same time — the voice was deep and rich, calming and authoritative.  I called it Aslan, after the lion in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Aslan’s message to me was:

That the sensation I was experiencing was the “Grand Design” showing me the extent of my power.
That it is a power for good — for me and others and that I can use it in that way.
At first I was afraid of this power — it was overwhelming!
But Aslan’s response was that I had nothing to fear from my power and that I should embrace it.

I found myself saying out loud that I have nothing to fear; that I am powerful in a good way; that I do not fear my power and that I will use it to the best purposes.

The physical sensation continued throughout the day.  Each time I had a choice between a negative or positive reaction, I chose positive — the result was another physical buzz in my solar plexus.  A good reward!  On my “Pain to Power” scale on the range of 1 to 10, I was definitely at about 15.

The positive effects did not end that day and I’m pleased to say that they have continued and I am working very hard on making sure that they do continue.

Reading this now, in the cold heart of an e-mail, I hope that it does not appear bizarre.  All I know is that the experience was very real to me and it was an experience that I had never had before.  It was clearly too much of a coincidence that it followed so soon after my attendance on the workshop and I genuinely believe that this was the start of something very exciting in my life.

I look forward to sharing future excitements with you. Once again many thanks.

Mind, Body & Spirit Festival

Andy & Di are appearing as guest speakers and have a stand at the Mind, Body & Spirit Festival in Moseley, Birmingham on Saturday 4th April, 10am to 5pm. We are talking about how to Develop Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence As Path To Enlightenment.

Click on the following to download the festival Speaker Programme and flyer:

Mind, Body & Spirit Festival Programme

Mind, Body & Spirit Festival flyer

Some Unexpected Benefits Experienced In This Weekend’s Workshop

Hi, It’s Andy here again.

I just wanted to mention some unexpected benefits experienced several participants from this weekend’s ‘Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway’  workshop:

• Everyone slept very well on Saturday night. Two participants in particular suffer from some insomnia – they experienced the best night’s sleep in ages.
• Most commented on feeling great on Sunday morning (in part due to point one). This is also due to awaking with a positive attitude, looking forward to taking positive action for the day’s outcomes. This invigorated them as they woke up.
• People achieved new high levels of clarity in their thinking and communication. One participant has already commented on experiencing much improved communication on their first day back at work – something which their colleagues and clients have already commented on.
• The improved communication even extended noticably for three participants into larger and more clear handwriting in their workbooks. It is amazing how our ego typically causes confusion and unclear thinking in an attempt to sabotage any decision making that might otherwise take us out of our comfort zone (otherwise known as growth).