Your Personal Power Blog

I have recently encountered an approach to personal growth and healing called Bioenergetics.

Bioenergetics has a profound respect for the wisdom of the body (the human physical form). The body is a living record of the events of our past. Unfortunately, this means that our bodies have a tendency to hang on to traumatic emotional content from our past, as well.

According to Alexander Lowen, the founder of Bioenergetics (pictured above), “Few people in our culture are free from muscular tensions that structure their responses and define the roles they will play in life. These tension patterns reflect the traumas they experienced in growing up–rejection, deprivation, seduction, suppression and frustration.” (from Bioenergetics by Alexander Lowen, M.D.)

This trauma from the past contaminates our personality, and in turn our entire lives, if it is not released. Bioenergetics therapy uses physical movement plus verbal processing to facilitate this release of past trauma.

The body hangs on to past trauma in countless ways, from knots in our muscles (especially, for example, in the jaws and the neck) to the way we stand, sit or walk. A skilled bioenergetics therapist can “read” a person’s personality and past by observing her body language.

Bioenergetics teaches a variety of physical exercises that can be done on your own throughout your life to keep both the body and the mind clear and flowing with vibrant energy. According to Bioenergetics “…a commitment to growth (i.e. maturation) involves a commitment to the body.”

9Mar2010
Lunar Day 25:  KNOT
Associations:  Form, Release
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  13 HAWK
Associations:  Transmutation, Contamination, Maturation

Share & Enjoy

I used to think peace on Earth was possible.

Then I came to understand the law of polarity: “everything has two poles; everything has its pair of opposites…opposites are really only the two extremes of the same thing…the difference consisting of varying degrees between the two poles of the phenomenon in question.” (from the Hermetic principles as described in The Kybalion)

Peace is the polar opposite of confrontation and conflict. At the extreme end of the pole opposite peace is violence. According to the law of polarity, the pendulum will inevitably swing back and forth between peace at one extreme and violence at the other extreme.

The challenge we face is to minimize the breadth of the swings of the peace/conflict pendulum. We do this one person at a time  by practicing personal power. The path of personal power is a path of the heart. It is a path of humility and inner strength. It is a path of personal peace.

As more and more humans claim their personal power, the swings of the peace/conflict pendulum become shorter and shorter, and this is certainly a more desirable condition of balance. But balance is dynamic, while peace is static–located at one end of the pole. Life is dynamic, characterized by polarity. This is why ultimately, peace on Earth is not possible.

8Mar2010
Lunar Day 24:  SACRIFICE
Associations:  Conceptual Net
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  12 SHARK
Associations:  Group, Confrontation, Peace

Share & Enjoy

This day brings together the emotionally charged forces of beauty, intuition, liberty and love–all of which are associated with the even more primordial force we call Creativity.

Only recently have I come to realize that perhaps what I wish for them most, is that my three children discover and express their unique creativity. I am so grateful that each of them has begun to do so, whether it be through podcasting, computer graphic design or pastels.

The entire universe came into being through a process of cosmic creativity. One of the most potent and liberating aspects of personal power is to express our own creativity at the microcosmic level of our individual life.

5Mar2010
Lunar Day 21: DREAMWEAVER
Associations:  Beauty
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  9 TOUCAN
Associations:  Intuitive, Liberate, Love

Share & Enjoy

Scientists tell us that the human brain is designed for learning. It does many other things as well, such as manage the complex metabolism of the body, but with the evolution of the uniquely human frontal cortex, our brains have become magnificent learning machines.

But is the brain merely a machine? And what does it learn? Facts? Knowledge? Facts or knowledge alone are useless, just like a computer is useless unless or until it is actually used for some purpose.

As I see it, real learning–or you might say wisdom–is a marvelously holistic process, an act of personal power that celebrates and enhances our freedom and engages many aspects of our being:

First, we FOCUS on a source of knowledge, using a capacity we might call our will or our intention, which ancient wisdom teaches is “located” in the region of the solar plexus.

Next, we SURRENDER ourselves to the source of knowledge. This is essentially an emotional act, centered perhaps in the heart and involving the feminine aspect of our being.

(NOTE:  Recent scientific studies have confirmed that there are neuron, or “brain”, cells in both the solar plexus and the heart regions of the human body.)

Next, we ANALYZE what we have received in order, for example, to fully understand its meaning and its relevance. This engages our left brain and our frontal cortex and is more a masculine activity.

Finally, we INTEGRATE what we have learned into our lives. This is a profoundly individualized and transformational, or even evolutionary, activity.

4Mar2010
Lunar Day 20:  TRANSMISSION
Associations:  Surrender
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  8 WOODPECKER
Associations:  Masculine, Analyze, Focus

Share & Enjoy

Today’s energies are all about living and acting in community. Bees create one of Nature’s archetypal communities, but of course, humans are a far cry from bees.

Nevertheless, as is the case with all living things, bees have something to teach us. For example, each bee in a hive has its clear purpose and role; and this contributes to the achievement of the hive’s objectives.

The trick is to balance this dedication to a specific purpose and role in a community with the evolutionary imperative of individual freedom. It seems that we humans are Nature’s great experiment. One of our challenges is to integrate the qualities of the animal kingdom, but do so selectively by free choice.

We freely choose to sacrifice our personal preferences on behalf of the community. We freely choose to take on a role that we could cast off any time we care to.

On the other hand, look what happens when we act like bees–that is, when we join a community and take on a role, but do so blindly or passively, under the influence of some person or ideology. Then you have a potential tragedy, such as Nazi Germany or Jonestown.

3Mar2010
Lunar Day 18:  LAKE
Associations:  Collective Aspiration
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  7 BEES
Associations:  Harmony, Sacrifice

Share & Enjoy

Personal power–as I understand it–is merely a stepping stone toward the higher path to global or cosmic consciousness. In fact, global consciousness is more like flight than like walking along a path, however elevated it may be.

Perhaps the flight of global consciousness is like the flight of the condor, which is the largest flying bird in the world, with wing spans that can reach as much as 12 feet!

The flight of the condor takes us high above the mundane concerns of our physical existence. Can you imagine the feeling of freedom and power experienced by such a magnificent flying creature?

Personal power enables us to achieve self-mastery, but only after mastering ourselves are we ready to fulfill our destiny of service to the world. Only then does the real journey begin–the quest for self-transcendence and global consciousness.

2Mar2010
Lunar Day 18:  MASTERY
Associated Archetypes:  Self-Transcendence
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  6 CONDOR
Associated Archetypes:  Physical, Global Consciousness, Growth

Share & Enjoy

The armadillo inspires us to establish boundaries and protect our personal space.

One of the great challenges of modern working life is finding time and space to ourselves during our work day. We need this in order to balance the constant invasion of assignments, tasks, requests, directives, deadlines, demands, complaints, phone calls, e-mails…on and on. Toward the end of my career at a large corporation, I found it necessary to leave my office during lunch and just walk around the building alone.

And how about at home? Are we allowed to be by ourselves when we need to? Do we honor closed bedroom doors? For me, one of the most important features of a house is the different spaces it contains for family members to be alone. This balances the value of communal spaces, such as the dining room and living room.

Protecting our personal space enhances our freedom and expands our personal power.

28Feb2010
Lunar Day 16:  DESCENT
Associated Archetypes:  Insight
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  4 ARMADILLO
Associated Archetypes:  Protection, Boundaries, Freedom

Share & Enjoy

Today’s energies support the realization in our lives of whatever we imagine.

“Whatever we can envision, picture in full detail, aspire for and vivify in the mind’s eye can be materialized as a reality in life,” says author Roger Calverley.*

Especially powerful is to validate the product of our imagination with the confirming wisdom of our body. We can do this by checking in with our gut, our heart or our throat. Tightness or discomfort in any of these three areas is a red flag worth checking out as we consider making our dreams a reality.

*from The Primal Runes:  Archetypes of Invocation and Empowerment by Roger Calverley

27Feb2010
Lunar Day 15:  FULLNESS
Associated Archetypes:  Imagination
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  3 WILDCAT
Associated Archetypes:  Results, Realization, Body Wisdom

Share & Enjoy

The Star Wars movie series made the concept of ‘the Force’ famous. So what was this Force? Is it real, or is it just an interesting fictional device? If it is real, what does the Force represent?

What is most clear to me when I recall the Star Wars movies is that the hero Luke was constantly encouraged (whether by Yoda or by Obi Wan Kenobi) to “trust the Force”. Apparently there is no bartering with the Force. You either surrender completely and trust it, or you end up flat on the ground or stabbed in the heart with a light sword.

Come to think of it, perhaps the question is not “What is the Force”? Rather, the crucial question is “How am I reacting to or related to the Force (i.e. Life or Existence)?” We’re talking here about an attitude or an orientation–a verb (e.g. action, process) issue, rather than a noun issue.

Apparently, the recommended approach toward the Force is unconditional trust, openness and receptivity. Sounds a lot like Love. Sounds a lot like Personal Power.

25Feb2010
Lunar Day 13:  LOVE
Associated Archetypes:  Barter
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  1 DOG
Associated Archetypes:  Force, Help

Share & Enjoy

When it comes to answering the question “Where does personal power come from?,” I have always liked the analogy of the electric lamp. We’re the lamp, and personal power is the electricity.

What is really interesting is that this analogy is apparently not far from actual reality. Recent studies indicate that “Exposure to the electrical field of our planet seems to be necessary for our health.”* Our brains, our hearts, even our very cells have electromagnetic properties that connect them to frequencies found naturally in the energy fields of the Earth.

A traditional religious term for “electricity” is Grace. Grace flows freely from God or Source. All we have to do is receive or “‘plug in” to it. Vanity is the illusion we humans have that we are somehow the source of our own personal power. Christian theology speaks of a fall from grace that occurred early in human history.

To return to the realm of electricity (whether by analogy or in actuality), perhaps this original disconnection (or fall from grace) has to do with how our brains work. It turns out that in our normal daily waking state (with all our thoughts, worries and fears) our brains operate at a beta frequency rate (13-30Hz), which is higher than–and therefore out of tune with–the Earth’s most common, pervasive frequency of 10Hz.

To make matters worse, we have created a culture inundated with electrical devices, power lines, and radio/television waves that interfere with the natural electrical frequencies of the Earth.

We’re dealing with simple cause and effect here. We are lamps that are disconnected, and we are paying the price with afflictions such as stress, cancer, heart disease and mental disorders. How do we plug back in to the natural frequencies of the Earth–our Source of personal power?

*from EarthMind:  Communicating with the Living World of Gaia by Paul Devereux, John Steele and David Kubrin

24Feb2010
Lunar Day 12:  GRACE
Associated Archetypes:  Vanity
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  13 FIRE
Associated Archetypes:  Transmute, Offering, Payment

Share & Enjoy