making THE leap (of consciousness)

I picked up Gay Hendricks' book, The Big Leap, a few days ago.  I became a Gay Hendricks fan when I first read the book, The Corporate Mystic and have followed him ever since.  Although I am not quite finished with my current read, I am really excited to share what I have read thus far.

Hendricks' reference to the word "leap" is a leap in consciousness.  He claims that we all have a certain thermostat setting and that if we aren't conscious of our intentions to raise the temperature, we will always return to our previous thermostat setting in some way or form.  In other words, we may exceed our goals in one area of our life but suffer in another part, thus canceling the other out while returning to our original thermostat setting.

Hendricks takes time in the book to list ways we limit our consciousness.
He claims we do this with:

1. worry
2. criticism and blame
3. deflecting
4. squabbling
5. getting sick/injured
6. breaching our integrity

If I look at these six items, worry is the biggest culprit in my life.  Although I worry much less than I used to, it amazes me how worry can still seem to take me down in an instant.  Hendricks refers to worry as an addiction and I appreciated this reference.  I looked up the definition of addiction and Webster's dictionary defines addiction as "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice".

Hendricks chooses to use worry for the positive, to see it as a sign that something good and new is trying to make it's way into his life.

He recommends taking these steps when experiencing worry:

1. Notice yourself worrying
2. Consciously let go of the worry thoughts, shifting your focus away from them
3. Wonder: what positive new thing is trying to come into being?
4. Notice in your body where this positive, new thing is trying to enter
5. Open your focus to feeling this part deeply
6. Feel this for as long as you can
7. With patience and time, the idea or thought that was trying to come through will arrive

The other two that seem to hit home with me are items 3 and 5 (deflecting and getting sick/injured).

Interestingly enough, I am consciously working on receiving (as opposed to deflecting) again in my life.  It's amazing how afraid I am to say this HERE because, I know, that by putting this "out there",  I will be given more opportunities to strengthen this skill.  Obviously, I have some more work to do here....(eeeeeeeeeeek!)

I am generally a person of very good health and have felt quite fortunate in this.  I used to get sick often though - nothing ever too outrageous but just enough to feel under the weather (in other words, just enough to bring me down to my original thermostat).  Hendricks refers to the 3 Ps (punishment, prevention, protection) when experiencing illness or injury.  He asks himself three questions:

1. Am I punishing myself for something?
2. Am I trying to prevent doing something I don't want to do?
3. Am I trying to protect myself from feeling something I don't want to feel?

Getting to the root of these questions can loosen up illness or injury so that we may continue our path towards making "the leap".

In general, it was encouraging to be reminded, too, that "the very same mechanisms that produce excitement also produce fear" and that fear is just the absence of breath.  In other words, physiologically speaking, adding breath can turn fear to excitement.  I was listening to a meditation from Deepak Chopra the other day and he recommended focussing on taking 8 breaths a minute or less.  He mentioned that if we are taking more, we aren't breathing as deeply as we can.  If we are taking more, our breathing is quick and shallow and, I'd like to add, more fear-based.

Is this a lot to swallow?  Perhaps.  It's interesting, though, how when we are ready to experience more growth, these opportunities make themselves available to us.  I am willing to no longer be addicted to worry, to receive (rather than deflect) and to feel physically healthy and strong all of the time.

How about you?  What are your triggers?  What causes you to return to your original thermostat setting?

Stay tuned for part two of The Big Leap on Monday.

Until then, wishing you all a warmer thermostat...

Have a great weekend!