This week I saw a series of posts on LinkedIn celebrating the fact that three firms led by former PwC colleagues had made it into the FT’s list of the top UK management consultancies. Part of me was thrilled for them because I know how hard they worked to get there. And then I became aware of another feeling – a sense of disappointment that the work I do was unlikely to ever get that kind of public recognition.
Gently I was able to acknowledge the feelings of my lower self and see the trap of the maya for what it was. The desire for success comes from a deep sense of inadequacy within often transferred from one’s parents’ astral body to ours between the ages of 7-14. It can take seven years to undo this and release it completely.
How do you release the craving for recognition?
For a few years I pretty much stopped meditating as I believed my teacher at the time who said it was a mental practice. Then disaster struck and I lost much of what gave my life meaning and the grappling irons of my emotions played havoc on my world for a while until I found a new way in. First by following the Sufi tradition of connecting to the heart and then through the art of contemplation – a more dynamic form of meditation that incorporates aspects of yin and yang. This was my way back to myself.
I am sharing all that with you because it is in the pausing that you find yourself and the infinite resourcefulness that lies within you. Why would anyone share such a secret – doesn’t it put me out of a job? No because often the experience is all the more powerful when you have a guide and in the awakening to more joy and wisdom sessions where there can be up to 20 of us coming together, the energy is palpable. Similarly in a coaching session there can be big shifts. Recently a client had the realisation that one of their core values was predicated on the way they had interpreted an incident from nearly thirty years ago.
What is the process?
The way to illumination comes when you can access your right brain through play or using imagination. This can be the pathway to intuition the first step on the way to wisdom.
In reality it has very little to with the words or even the process and more to do with your energy and the vibration of the person that you are with. It’s in this space that healing can take place. Physically what happens is that your cells transform and there can be an implosion as you shed a memory that you no longer need.
Colour can provide a wonderful way to help clients to access painful memories. It is sacred work and so it is important that you trust the practitioner who you are with because it tends to go very deep. The value of it is that by going within and clearing these black holes in your aura you can bring about a transformation that is seen and witnessed by others. This internal clearing can lead to big change externally say in your business which is amplified by taking practical steps too.
It can be uncomfortable
It requires you to face your innermost fears. Rather than projecting them onto others you go into your field of fear and so lessen your mental anxiety. It’s often a slow process; with patience and over time you stop being afraid of fear. This has an impact on your external behaviour too. For example you may have the realisation that you no longer need to accumulate wealth. You recognise that it was a strategy you deployed because at your core you felt insecure. There was a sense that with more you would feel less uncertain.
Becoming prosperous
Little by little you start to trust in life and begin to prosper. Prosperity is about having a little more than you need such a different feel to wealth accumulation! There’s a rhythm with prosperity and trust and a realisation that you get what you need when you need it. Conversely the more you cling on to what you have, the more it pours through your fingers. I still remember how I spent the whole of my last pay check from PwC in less than a month and how initially panic crept in….
I share all this with you so you start to sense the depth of the attachment and what’s involved in releasing it. When I start working with clients I ask them to commit to six sessions as a minimum because there is an expectation that coming back to your self like anything should be quick. There is a desire for a quick fix. I find that six sessions can often lead to the alleviation of symptoms and so clients experience a shift. The truth is that for most the untangling of such deep-seated issues takes time so those that tend to see sustainable change are the ones that commit to the long term.
I hope my transparent sharing of the process gives you greater understanding. The irony is that the true manifestation of wisdom is ordinariness as wisdom changes nothing within us. As the saying goes before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. If you can hold onto that idea you are less likely to get caught in the trap of focusing on the end results or the way things will be when you finally achieve something. In this way you can enjoy the journey wherever it may lead.