Change Your Mind

By David (LBS) on December 23, 2011 632 views 111 Comments

Hello fellow Lunar Gamers and welcome to cycle 8 of the LG.

Last month’s game triggered several comments and a discussion or two about the difference between living in thought and living in feeling. For me, this is one of the fundamental and critical aspects of re-learning the art of being human.

Since birth (in the west), we are encouraged to honour and respect the power of the mind and elevate thought above all else. This is the modern, masculine driven paradigm that began to crumble a while ago. Feeling is on the come back, femininity is re-finding it’s proper place of power.

Thought is of course centered in the head/brain/mind whereas feeling seems to be centered in the heart-space. Interestingly, the Taoists refer to the heart as our second brain, giving it equal importance to the head brain. (Taoists also believe a third brain exists in the area or the navel/abdomen/stomach but that’s another article!)

Whilst thought and thinking have their uses, and are extremely helpful and even beautiful at times, our addiction to thought often locks us into a prison of our mind’s making. Thought tends to cut off feeling, in fact, I assert than feeling and thinking cannot occur at the same time – or at least not at the degree of intensitiy I am talking about here.

To liberate the soul from the prison of mind and perpetual thought, (most of which is automatic, banal and rather trivial), one simply needs to bring one’s attention to feeling.

“What’s there now?” and “How does this feel?” are excellent questions that can lead one away from the head brain and into the heart brain. Of course, these questions must be asked with genuine curiosity and a genuine desire to actually feel, otherwise the mind will delight in supplying countless answers from memory and mental concept, which have little or nothing to do with what is happening in the moment.

So how does this fit in with “Change Your Mind”?

Good question!

IMO, we tend to get locked into thought patterns, repeating them over and over, sometimes for years, decades or even a lifetime. We call these ‘locked-in’ thought patterns beliefs and we tend to get very attached to them, feeling rather threatened if they are challenged in any way.

This month’s game is about doing exactly that: challenge our beliefs.

Not only does this process loosen our rigidity helping us to become more rounded, balanced and compassionate individuals, it actually begins to open cracks in the mental prison.

Of course, as soon as one belief is challenged successfully, a new one will take it’s place soon enough, so this is a process of learning the art of loosening the hold beliefs have on us, rather than getting rid of them.

IME, the best way to challenge a belief, is to look into our feelings about a situation, rather than to simply adjust or reverse a mental concept.

Time for a quick analogy

This is the first one that popped into my head, it’s fairly trivial but it illustrates the point:

I look out the window, see the rain falling and the wind blowing and I believe it must be cold outside. So here I am now with a belief in place. It’s not a conviction just yet, but depending on my history with weather, it will have some strength to it. I may act according to my belief by dressing a certain way, and when I go outside, I will most likely hold my body in a certain way, breath a certain way etc, all because I expect it to be cold/wet/unpleasant.

Now, if I decide that here is an opportunity to change my mind, I can go to feelings and begin to sense my environment, internally and externally. I may find that my body actually perceives the weather differently to my expectation, and the more I am willing to ‘feel it out’ in the moment, the more my body responds and begins to act in different ways.

So here I am, challenging my initial belief and allowing my feelings to inform the mind with a new, moment by moment interpretation of the experience. I am changing my mind!

Rules for this month’s game:

1. Notice when you are operating from belief.

2. Engage your feelings by asking “How does this really feel?” or “What’s there now?”

3. Notice if you are guided to changing your mind!

As usual, I expect the LG will unfold in its own way, and this rather clumsy attempt at illustrating the idea will get radically refined as the month plays out

updated: 2011/12/23 | tags: | categories: Uncategorized

111 jewels of fabulous feedback ... click here to add yours

shelley (87) January 21, 2012

I have a question for you all.....

Are you up for playing full out this month? I feel that maybe this is quite an honour to have Diana support us and was wondering how i/we can learn, grow, develop, feel, sense, move into etc........

So guys are you prepared to commit to an hour a day??

Can we set this up, where we connect at a certain time every day and set out to do the work required?

Are you up for joining me in this? For example: We could agree on a daily time that suits and be clear with each other what works and if we are not able to make the call, communicate in advance.....

I am really up for making it fun, i just know for me, when i am held accountable by others, something magical opens up inside me!

I love it and feel we have an extraordinary opportunity here......

Feedback would be great

Look forward to playing with you.

Much love as always xxxxx
Alison (Universe Settee) (143) January 21, 2012

Hey Michelle, seems we are tuning in to each other again! See my article today

http://www.openlounge.org/settee/lunar-cycle/

Feeling happy our Open Lounge family is about to have go an exciting journey together xx
David (LBS) (135) January 21, 2012

shelley,

I’m in. An hour might be a bit of a stretch for some people, but we can agree a start time and then players are free to practice as long as they like ;)

Some time late morning or early afternoon is best for me.
Alison (Universe Settee) (143) January 22, 2012

Michelle It’s a great idea -- for me evenings are best, I may not be available every day during the day. Sure we can sort out something between us though :-)

Walker You came to mind this morning and I see it’s about a week ago when you last commented... trusting all is well in your world.

I saw you walking on wild moors -- like Heathcliffe/Wuthering Heights country! in the wind and rain. As though you were on your way to meet someone and absolutely determined to get there, however challenging the journey. No idea why I saw that!

SSS & D intending you are enjoying eachother’s company on your journeys xx
Walker (99) January 22, 2012

Hi Ali,

All is perfectly well in my world, thank you !

I feel absolutely at peace, the heart filled with love more than ever.
Loved your vision about me on Wuthering Heights though, seems like a marvelous scenery for a long walk...

Much has been said, communicated and felt in these wonderful surroundings the last few months, and now I find myself retreating a bit from the fire, not by choice, but by energy flow, as always.

In the meanwhile still observing further exchanges going on here, and feeling the warmth of all of your souls.

Much love,
Walker.
beki (41) January 22, 2012

I am in to , but the times are a bit difficoult as I don´t have every morning time. The only time I have free is in the early afternoon. ( 14.00- 15.00)
hugs,
Sixth Sense Steve (230) January 22, 2012

I am in also. What came up in seeing some of the comments is that it may be a major feat to have us all participate at the exact same moment so a few options came up.
For those of us who can agree the same moment, fantastic. For us we could imagine, create, meditate a space where we are all one together in the moment we go into our own process.

For those of us who are doing our own thing in separate moments, we too can create the presence of the group.

I feel in this moment both excited and nervous of the unfolding. The excited part is the possibility of learning a process that feels to me like it could well be our life blanket or even our saviour. The nervous part feels like I have an attachment to getting it “Right” or can I do it, can I get there (with no clue where there is). For those of you who know me well you would know this is a place I rarely go, I tend mainly to step into the unknown with a solid trust and belief in my own ability. For some reason this travel with our Soul stuff seems very important and in this moment very authentic.

Walker great to see and feel you back. Ali thanks for your communication and awareness to include us all. Yes Ali we are deep inside an amazing experience. The depth of the journey and the quality of the messages are beyond what I have ever been aware and present to before.

Last night an intention got created, mine was to Have a gentle healing journey with a warm clear message, something of magnitude got shown to me that I am almost to afraid to share.

........ I got a message from consciousness. It was fleeting so fast yet my whole being felt, sensed and was inside the awareness of the god force or the creator of all that is. I would say this is the third may be fourth time I have now experienced a message from something greater and on each occasion David has either been present or partially responsible for the energy or environment that showed up in my experience.
Absolutely sure there is more to come so thank you for creating the space for this to be communicated.

LPR Steve xx
Alison (Universe Settee) (143) January 22, 2012

In an earlier month we had hoped to do the LG with Diana and I had no resonance with it and did not feel like participating. My feeling now is one of being very grounded in my 3D world and with an ever growing, loving connection with people in my home community.

Somehow I feel this was needed, for me personally anyway, before I felt ready to go beyond vibration.

Steve I agree that what can help us all, is when each of us is ‘practising’ this (with Diana’s guidance)we can have the presence of mind -- we are at a soul level -- supporting one another.

Today... an animal came to mind when I was preparing to write this comment.... Swan. I recall Diana saying in one of her replies to me on her site, that it is important not to interpret what animals mean for others, here I choose not to interpret why it has appeared for me but rather -- on my journeys allow the wisdom to reveal itself.

xx

xxx
David (LBS) (135) January 22, 2012

Last day of the game, wow, great month.

Hope everyone is feelin’ fine

Love to all and see you in the next cycle (or perhaps the next dimension!)
Sixth Sense Steve (230) January 23, 2012

This months game has been awesome (IME) it really has assisted me in being far more inside of a feeling place rather than a thinking one.

I have identified with my air sign and that will always be a light, heady thinking place and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. To now be able to compliment that with some heart felt feelings is awesome.
LPR
Steve xx
shelley (87) January 23, 2012

Fanastic!!

Feel similar that we can come together and create an opening in advance...

Was wondering at some point, when we have played, that we oommit to commenting and share daily what comes up (no matter how little)

Look forward to having fun with you.

Enjoy!

Love to you all xxxx