(continued from last month – see The Ten Practices of a Happy and Successful Life — Part IV )
Practice #8 — Have a Daily Self-Help Practice
I discovered something quite revolutionary a number of years ago, which I would like to reveal to you now. Devoting yourself daily to either a mental, physical or spiritual practice for as little as ten minutes a day will augment your whole being and produce amazing results. The body-mind-spirit package of who we are is holographic, and work on any one of these areas resonates and affects the others. I call it the “spill-over effect.”
Whether it is mind power, yoga, tai chi, mediation, prayer, massage, painting, sculpting, marital arts, relaxation exercises, going to the gym, journaling, or dozens of other possible practices, it is not so much which practice you choose to do that produces an effect, but the daily practice of it, whatever it is. And I emphasize daily. That is the key. Now obviously I am an ardent proponent of Mind Power, and if I had to pick only one this would be it, but luckily we don’t have to choose only one. We design our own practices in whichever way we choose, but I strongly suggest you pick something to do and do it daily.
Daily practice invites what a good friend of mine calls “answering graces.” In other words, good things happen on all levels in response. I discovered this when I first started practicing Mind Power. My daily Mind Power practice awakened my spirituality and also increased my health. And I’m not alone in discovering these benefits. Recent studies have also corroborated this phenomenon. Whatever transformative self-help practice you incorporate daily in your life will produce results in all other areas of your life. Not only this, but daily practice will quite often reveal and release extraordinary capacities that we have been totally unaware of until our daily practice revealed them to us.
Practice #9 — Have a Spiritual Belief
This may be a religious or non-religious belief. Spirituality transcends religion. Religion may be the path you use to discover your spirituality, or it may not. I practice a hybrid of spiritual practices combining Christian mysticism, Zen Buddhism, Shamanism and Jewish Kabalistic teachings. This works for me and nurtures me deeply, but each of us is called to follow the spiritual path that resonates with us. A path with heart. There is no one path to God and the unseen worlds. In the spiritual world you are not judged by your religion or lack of it, but by your heart and your actions. When I pray out loud in front of a group, which I sometimes do, I often begin with the words, “To Whom It May Concern.” I do this for several reasons. Firstly, it usually gets a laugh, and secondly it relaxes people. They get that there is not going to be any heavy dogma here. Here we are all praying together; Christians praying to Christ, Buddhists to Buddha, Muslims to Allah, and the rest to whom or whatever. Yet we are joining together in harmony and fellowship. My wife and I sometimes use the words, “The Great Mystery” instead of “God” when we pray together. Why? Because the word “God” has so many attachments and religious connotations to it that it weighs us down. The words “The Great Mystery” feel more intimate. They allow us to pray to something that is beyond our comprehension, without our having to know what it is. This works for us, but each of us is different. What words, beliefs, religious or spiritual structures you use does not matter; what does matter is that you connect within to something infinitely larger than yourself, and let spiritual wisdom nourish you deeply.
We are a multi-dimensional, holographic being made up of mind, body and soul. All three must be nourished. All three are to be explored.
Practice #10 — Love the Process of Self-Exploration and Self-Mastery
Each of us is on a unique journey and the opportunities for self-exploration and self-mastery are unlimited. No two people will follow the same path. Each of us has choices to make and actions to pursue. This process will continue until we die. There is no point; there is only the process—a miraculous day-by-day journey through the unfathomable maze of our life. Life is a journey, not a destination. So too with self-exploration and self-mastery; they are a journey. One simply becomes more aware, and hopefully more compassionate and loving. All else is just detail. Love the process itself, not what you can get from the process; the results are a bonus. The process itself, the struggle, the choices, the adventures, these are the real gifts. Love the process of growing in wisdom, understanding, compassion, fellowship. Love the process of discovering your inner self, your subconscious, your soul. Love the process of mastering Mind Power. (Note: for the first time in over 25 years the complete Mind Power training program is available in a home study format. See products page.)
