Shambala Vision – The way of the Warrior
The four Bodhisattva vows
All countless beings I vow to liberate
Endless blind desires I vow to uproot
Gates of knowledge without end I vow to pass-through
The great way of awakening I vow to achieve
According to Buddhist mythology, a Bodhisattva is any person who chooses to liberate, not only him or her self but all living beings on this earth.
The Legend of Shambala
The legends talk about an ancient kingdom located high up in the mountains. It was an enlightened society and a model for how to build a better world. The people understood the principles of how to live rich and productive lives while enjoying peace and abundance. The name of that city was Shambala.
But the world outside the kingdom was in great turmoil with wars, sickness and starvation. People were corrupt, self-centered, fearful and cruel to each other. Meanwhile, in Shambala, the people were practicing meditation and martial arts to prepare themselves for what was to come.
As the world outside fell deeper into darkness the kingdom of Shambala disappeared into a deep mist. From that time only a few people have been able to reach Shambala in their visions and receive the teachings.
The legends continue to tells us that when the day comes when one world is at its greatest need, the kingdom of Shambala will reveal itself again. Then the warriors of Shambala will stand up against tyranny and they will be victorious.
We have come to a time when the spirit of Shambala is awakening. It is awakening as a vision and a realization within hundreds and thousands of people around the globe. The teaching of Shambala is revealing itself and many are ready to receive. Our mission is to support this process by training our own minds and bodies as well as connecting together to create positive change everywhere.
The Shambala Vision is a belief in the good of humanity and the power of kindness and positivity. It is about appreciating the gifts of life and nature and to use this great gift to live a good life. It is also about and sharing our surplus to everyone who is in need and taking care of our planet. We are here on this earth with a mission. That mission is to do good and to establish an enlightened society here on earth. A society where knowledge and wisdom may grow and where we can continue to evolve humanity to higher realms. This is the calling of the Shambala Warrior.
The Shambala Tradition
There are a few different traditions with connections to the myth of Shambala. The tradition described here is not directly linked with any other tradition but naturally has common features. The main source of what I write about in this book comes from my life experience and especially from intuitive knowledge that I received as a child during meditation. Since being a child I have always felt which practices and teachings have resonated with me, and that I could therefore adopt. As I studied further I could see that it was the teachings of Shambala that I was receiving. The teachings are not specifically connected with any religion or faith but it has many links to Buddhism and Shamanism but also to the teachings of the Vedas and the Rainbow Warriors of the Hopi Indians. To have a notion of greater good is a key aspect and meditation is a vital part of the training. In this way, the Shambala training blends well with many faiths and can be adopted as a part of any existing belief.
The Shambala Warrior
The path to self-realization is a long one, but every step on the way brings great joy and deepens our understanding. Many people today are living a life filled with suffering, trauma and sadness. Most people search for a solution in entertainment and material possessions, but as we all know, that does not give a remedy to our situation. That is why we must, for our own sake, find a path that we can follow with great perseverance to bring ourselves back to balance with our nature.
In the Shambala tradition, you have a great purpose here on this earth in this lifetime. It is not only to enjoy life and secure your own needs or the needs of your closest ones. Not even to reach enlightenment and escape the suffering of the world. We are here to protect the planet and to establish an enlightened society that will enable us as humans to evolve further. This mentality is the mentality of the warrior. Warrior here does not mean that we will go to battle, but that we will not hesitate to act for the good of mankind even when it poses a danger to ourselves. It is about developing good qualities like honour, bravery, empathy and decisiveness.
We can see that there is a great need for people to stand up for the cruelty and unjust treatment that is affecting so many people in the world today. It is clear that the people, governments and structures that are in control do not want to create a system that is fair. The democratic system is flawed and gives no way to provide the answers to this problem. Thus there is no hope of change if this change does not come from us, from outside of the established system. This is why it is of great importance to share this knowledge throughout society. That is is why your participation in this vision is of importance for the whole world.
In this text, I will give a brief introduction to some fundamental ideas in the teaching and also some basic practices that you can do yourself.
The Warrior King
In Shambala everyone is sovereign. To be sovereign means that you are the highest authority in your life. You are the master and your decisions are final. No one is more important than you and you are always the one who makes the final decision. Many times it may appear that you are not in control and that other people like politicians, spouses or parents are forcing you to act in ways that you do not want to. It is true that you might have other people trying to make you follow their ideas, but you are always the one who chooses if you will do it or not. The law might say that you are not allowed to act in a way you want and they may threaten with penalties for not complying with their will. Nevertheless; you decide if you want to follow their laws or if you will risk taking the consequences of breaking them.
You are the king of your domain. Even if there are enemies planning to take you down, you will continue to be the king and you need to act in a firm and direct way to create a future that is good, for you, your close ones and the whole of the world. You will need to stay focused and clear in your mind at all times, even when things are threatening or difficult.
The Healer
To have an open heart is the source of courage. With an open heart, the warrior can understand what path is the right way to go and how to act. It is by opening your heart that you develop courage. We do not hide and protect ourselves but open up to everything that surrounds us. This is true courage, not to throw ourselves into battle without thinking. Courage is a quality of great importance for the warrior. The heart is also the source of compassion and love. The heart opens to magic and miracles and will enable you to heal yourself as well as others. It is the connection to the earth and to life.
When we listen deeply and fully and accept everything as it is we give space for things to heal by themselves. Without judging anything and just being. This is to give compassion. This is also how we heal the world. By allowing ourselves to see the suffering of the earth and the problems around us without reacting to it with fear or anger. In this way, we will get a clear picture of our own shadow as well as the shadowy forces of the earth and we will be able to find new ways to create positive change and restore balance with the power of our hearts.
When we sit down to meditate we often start by focusing on our posture. Sitting like a king on the mountain top. Brave and strong. Sitting absolutely still with a straight back and your head high. We sit with dignity and grace. We acknowledge the power and responsibility that we have. At the same time, we sit with our bodies relaxed and our shoulders low. Finding the equilibrium of focus and relaxation. Your chest is open, opening our heart to the world. Ready to feel life with both sorrows and joy, fully and directly. This is to be brave. To accept everything that comes to you, knowing that you can and will be able to take this knowledge and learn from it.
Complexity and simplicity
We all have possibilities to enjoy an experience and to be absorbed by it. We have the choice at all times to absorb our selves in emotions or to absorb ourselves in our thoughts and ideas. It is the natural polarity of the creation. We can either go towards complexity or towards simplicity. The complexity is our thoughts and ideas and things that we create around ourselves. Here we find expressions of creativity and bursts of energy. The simplicity, on the other hand, is the “now”, the experience of the world without thought, judgment or reflection. Only the stillness of the moment where we gain rest, relaxation and inspiration. Here we enjoy what is, and have gratitude towards life.
Most people today work all the time towards complexity, trying to push the limit, only to exhaust themselves. As the athlete needs to relax in between contests so do we need to recharge in between anything and everything that we do in the world. To be in rest does not only recharge you, but it also grounds you. As you are in your feelings you get connected with your true longing, your dreams and passions. You see your faults, your old patterns and you will find ways to solve these. You get connected with your inner guide, with the universe, and with the unlimited knowledge.
The Natural State
True nature is what we need to understand, believe in and practice to be in our full potential, find happiness and solve the problems of the world. To understand this true nature we have to start at the source, the present experience, the one truth that we all know and have. By being in, and exploring the present moment we can gain all knowledge that we need to live with good health, happiness and to help to heal the planet and all living beings.
Our true nature is what we already have. Our natural state. The state that we are born into this world with, but that most of us have lost sight of along the way. When we return to the simplicity of being in this moment we gain access to a natural intelligence that will guide us in our daily lives and help us to heal ourselves and to live a good life. Our minds are often occupied with thinking about many things all day long. This takes us away from the natural state and into concepts and ideas that are constructed by your mind. This is what often is called the illusion.
The inner guide
In our natural state, we will find everything. You will have access to all the knowledge that you need, all healing abilities and all guidance. what you do need is to have a strong belief in yourself as well as a method of looking within. It can be of great help to have a spiritual friend or a group of friends that encourage you to do the practice. It can also be good to have a teacher or a guru to help you on your path. It is important to remember that it is you, in the end, that has to find the answers, and that you are the only one that can lead yourself all the way to liberation. You have the inner guide inside and all you need is to listen to it and you will find the way.
Some people follow a special path of practice with great effort but are caught in a false idea that the truth lies outside themselves. Even if you are following an enlightened master, you can not become enlightened by only copying the master. The master gained insights through the connection with his inner guide and wrote down some of these insights in the form of special practices and teachings. By following these methods you might make progress, but only some. To go the whole way you need to find your own guide and find the methods that are tailor-made for you.
To do meditation, qigong, yoga or other practices is a great way of incorporating awareness in your day. You can do them in an intuitive way, feeling where my body wants to go and listen to what is happening inside. It can be a great help to follow a form or an instruction to get started, but it also adds thinking and comparing. If you are learning or know a specific form of meditation, yoga or other spiritual practice you can use that as a base to build on to extend your own practice. Doing so you will be free to let go of form and follow yourselves.
The Truth
The only truth that we know for sure is that there is an experience at this very moment. The future we do not know and the past is not more than a story in our mind. Almost everything we think we know is based on assumptions. We might believe in an article we read in the newspaper, a God or in heaven and hell. But we can not verify this fully, not without experiencing it ourselves. We only know truly what is happening now.
To realize our true nature is not about believing in the right knowledge or metaphysics, but to be naturally present in ourselves and with our surroundings. You might know ten thousand things, but this is not going to help you much if you are not ready to let go of all these ideas and return to the present moment. To what is real. You might have an attachment to a special knowledge like how the laws of the universe are working or how to predict the future. All these beliefs, no matter how good they seem to you, will only be able to help you if they lead you towards the now, and there they will have no use anymore.
This is not to say that metaphysics and knowledge are not good. They can have value in your life. But it is not until you are able to verify it as truth yourself with your own direct experience that you can know it to be true.
We put far too much importance on our thinking mind, not understanding that the thinking mind only is a quite small part of your being and that it needs to be used wisely and with great restrictions. It is said that the mind is a good servant but a poor leader. To find the truth we need to be humble and know that our current beliefs might be false, and stay open to change our beliefs at all times.
Beliefs
Beliefs are powerful. When we believe in something we get inspired and focused. We can even heal our bodies with our beliefs. To choose what you believe in with great care is of vital importance. Often it is our false beliefs that are creating a hindrance for us and takes us away from our natural and peaceful state of mind. To fill the cup of tea, you must first empty the cup. Take it upon yourself to totally accept that you do not know much, and let your old beliefs stay in your mind only as possibilities, often with little importance. Make yourself empty of all unnecessary beliefs. As you calm your mind and look into the present moment without any ideas you will soon gain clarity and insight. Be sure not to cling on to any new insight that you might get. Let everything go and it will naturally become a part of you.
When you read or hear teachings that you resonate with you can choose to try them out. When you act upon your newfound beliefs and contemplate the results in your meditation you will get a feeling for what is working and what is not. As your practice of meditation gets deeper you will get your own direct experiences that will leave you with insight that you will be able to trust fully.
Truth of Perfection
One of the greatest truths is that everything is perfect just as it is.
It might look like the world is in turmoil and that things are not going our way. This is true from one perspective, from the viewpoint of the person. But as we connect with the present moment we become absorbed in the greater intelligence of the universe or the great void. We understand that both the person and the world are only temporary manifestations and not so important in the whole of it all. Everything is evolving with or without the person.
This does not make you useless or unimportant. Rather it gives you a space to relax and act without pressure. We can observe our surroundings without judging them as good or bad. We can find and follow our true purposes and help everything around us to flourish. By being kind, positive and expressing gratitude you help to heal and energize yourself and people around you. When we let go of thoughts we find a space where everything is happening naturally with ease and calm. We understand that we are an integral part of everything.
Even as everything is perfect there is still a longing to live a good life and to find a life purpose. To reach for awareness and to understand the truth is in itself a way to find inner and outer peace. To become a light warrior and dedicate yourself to liberating all beings from suffering is not something we have to do. It is something that we want to do when we understand that this is the way for our own happiness and liberation as well.
Meditation and healing
To calm our minds and to let go of thoughts and judgments we train our minds using meditation. By sitting in meditation you will get great support to your daily life. Our goal is to be able to stay with the practice throughout the day until it becomes automatic and natural.
Some people have already tried meditation and are left feeling frustrated that they were not able to focus on the practice. They might believe that they are not good at it and that they would rather find another method of focusing, like jogging or painting. It is normal that the first weeks or even months of meditation can be very hard, and that it can feel like there is no direction or focus in the practice. This is due to the fact that we often use our thinking mind all the time and that it needs some time to adjust. The good thing is that it gets easier. I strongly recommend everyone to take up a daily meditation habit. To do sports and other meditative activities are great but should be used in combination with silent sitting meditation, as the stillness from sitting still creates an ideal situation that will give you greater progress.
In meditation, we always have a point of focus. This can be anything in your field of awareness and you can start by focusing on your breath. The breath is working directly with the energies and as you breathe in and out, energy is moving through your body. For every moment that we can focus on one object, we will naturally direct energy to that point. This energy will accumulate and help us to stay focused, which in turn, will generate more energy. This energy can also be saved in our bodies and used later for other things, like sports or mental activities. It is good to always have some extra energy stored in our bodies so that we can act with full strength and find solutions to problems fast.
By always going back to the practice before we get too tired, we can recharge our energies and be ready for anything. When we have low energy levels we are not able to think clearly. If you have a problem that you need to solve you will find that you will get much better results if you relax your mind and recharge it with a meditation practice. Then when you apply your mind again you will be able to produce great results. Be sure to always stop thinking before you get tired, and not to empty your energies fully. This will greatly improve your capability to regain your energy.
Storing energy
Every moment of stillness and focus gives more energy. If you continue doing the practice this will add up. To me, it feels like filling a balloon. As I follow the out-breath I feel the energy filling me, and while breathing in I keep my focus, not to let the air out. If I am distracted the energy will start leaking out, but if you continue the balloon will be bigger and bigger. This energy is stored and can be used to create new beautiful complexity. Like creating music, paintings or developing ideas and visions. The energy also gives you focus. That focus can be reapplied into the practice to support you in being in the experience.
The more time we spend focusing on saving our energies, the more energy and focus we will have. If we continue to return to our practice, even for short moments, we will eventually reach a point where the practice will become easy. We do not need to use so much effort to remember the practice and keep our mind away from daydreaming. Everything becomes easy and natural. When we are firmly into our practice and when the focus is clear and stable we will be able to go deeper into the object of our focus. Our senses will open up and give us more information that we normally can not perceive. At this point, the practice gets more interesting as we now enter new territories of exploration.
It is important not to give too much mental notice to what you encounter. The practice is always the same. To focus on the experience without thought. You might think that you gain great revelations and insights, and that might just be true. But stay assured that everything that you gain will stay there without you needing to take notice of it. As soon as you start thinking about your experience you will start to lose your energy and the focus will drop. Never let go of your focus, stay with the practice and continue exploring the present moment. Let yourself fall into the present moment and become absorbed with it. Some people are afraid that they will lose control by going deep into the experience. This is in reality what you want. To let go and be free in your natural state.
Remember the practice
The biggest part of the practice is to remember to actually do the practice. The practice in itself is very easy. Focus on one experience that you have chosen and see what happens. One way of doing this is to start with relaxing into the experience for short moments. You continue to do this more and more until it becomes automatic.
Start in the morning and take a moment to remember. Then let go of everything and enjoy the moment. You can fill yourself with positivity, knowing that you are in the practice and that you are getting healing from it. Then continue your day, taking a moment of just being in the feelings every time you remember to. It can help you to find triggers to remember the practice, like always as you enter a door, go to the bathroom, or turn a page in your book. In this way, you will gain more and more energy throughout the day.
To have a longer meditation gives another quality that can strengthen and support your practice. Use a timer and sit still for a fixed time. It can be as short as 5 minutes. I recommend sitting for 35 minutes in the morning and if possible again in the evening. Practice focusing on one point and just see what happens. As soon as you notice thoughts, go back to the practice. In sitting meditation you will have the time and space to develop your energy and that will support your daily practice.
The Inner Child
We need to accept our inner child as a source of happiness, play and joy. The inner child can also be a source of confusion, sadness and pain. Many people try hard to act like an adult to be seen as mature by not allowing the child to be seen. This often ends up as a theater where people try to be something that is not true and cut themselves off from their natural joy of life.
Often the inner child is connected to negative feelings like anxiety, anger, fear and other feelings that we do not want to have. Sometimes it can feel like we lose our mind totally and are taken over by these energies and this can cause negative actions to manifest in your life. This can then cause more negative feelings of guilt and shame and add to the totality of negativity. We need to accept our inner child and care for it. Here you need to be really brave. You need to stop yourself from running away towards distraction and stay with the feeling. Then you start healing your own wounds and accept more and more of the difficult feeling into your experience. Direct energy of acceptance, love and empathy towards all memories and feelings that you receive. You are now the healer of your old pain, and when you have accepted the negative feelings they will start to change and can transform into new strength.
Negativity is a natural part of life and we can use the negativity in a constructive way to help us on the path. Negativity can be seen as compost that becomes nutrients that are helping growth. For the negative feeling to be matured to a state where it is ready to be used we need to create the right situation. We need a rigid and strong container to hold the negativity and then apply warmth, love, compassion, forgiveness and care in a soft and gentle way.
Save your self, save the world
There are those who think that spiritual practice is about saving yourself. Many have the belief that we need to start by awakening our own mind before we can try to help others. In my view, this is not the case at all. The inner and the outer world is interconnected, and only if we make an effort to heal the outer world we will be able to heal ourselves. The two practices are equally important and as with everything in life, we need to find the right balance.
If you are successful with your life and practice, you might gain great fortune. Some people feel that this fortune is there to enjoy and that other people need to do their own work. Instead of sharing their abundance they share their words of wisdom, and instead of helping the world they start believing in miracles to intervene and save the day. This is not true spirituality, but rather spiritual materialism. This is a state where people collect spiritual knowledge and holy items in the same way that other people chase money and fame. Both paths lead to the same end.
We need to understand that when we have for ourselves what we need to survive, we need to look around us and start giving our abundance away. When we have a problem on the planet, we need to solve it. This is true spiritual knowledge that needs to be applied for us to be able to solve our current situation as well as developing ourselves. We can combine the spiritual practice with the betterment of the planet and bring forward the spiritual warrior. This is a state where we naturally serve the earth and find our true meaning.
Shambala practices
Here I will give a brief introduction to some of the practices that we do. You can try it yourself but it is better to learn these practices directly from a teacher for the best result.
The Mountain King
Set an alarm for 15-35 minutes. This helps you to be able to focus fully on the meditation without the need to think about when to stop.
Sit down in a comfortable position, cross-legged on the floor, in a chair or lying on your back. Feel your body’s weight. Relax your body and see if there is any part of the body that is in need of extra relaxation.
Hold your head high. Stretch your back slightly and center your posture. Relax your shoulders and let go of all tension. Push your chest forward slightly and feel your heart opening to the world.
Sit like a king on top of a mountain. Absolutely still. Untouched by the elements. Firmly grounded like the mountain itself. You are sovereign and the most important and powerful person in your life. Sit with a sense of dignity, worth, honour and grace.
Breath and take some time to enjoy the goodness of life. Observe the good sensations in the body. The wind in your hair, the smells, the beauty of life. Take comfort in that life is always striving to create beauty and abundance. The universe has a basic primary function of goodness that brings us strength and happiness. Enjoy it. Breathe in fresh energies, breathe out old energies. Sit like this for a while and smile to yourself and to the world.
Now, it is time to practice our courage. Courage is to be with the things as they are. To be able to be with the suffering and pain that you have in a relaxed way. See it, feel it and be with it. To fully accept and be what you are. It brings out our deep sadness, tenderness and compassion. This is how we truly become stronger, by facing ourselves and coming to peace with what is. Accepting past, present and future.
Let your strong kings pose and steady breath act as support that you can rely on to keep you safe. Let your open heart give you the comfort and care that you need. Now stay like this, steady, quiet and absolute still and listen to what is happening in yourself.
When thoughts enter your mind, notice them and let them go away. Put your focus back on your posture and your breath.
What is happening now? Where is the feeling in your body? Where are the feelings located? Explore it in silence and see what knowledge it has to give you.
Natural Stance
We strive to find our natural way and do what we are meant to do. Much like animals that can do complex work in big communities without ever having to study how to do it. It comes naturally to them. This natural way has for most people been lost and in its place, we have filled our heads with ideas and distractions. To find our way back to the natural state we must start with the basics. First, we look at our posture which is the fundamental connection that we have to the planet. If we have a strong connection to the earth we can get more energy from our surroundings. This will guide us further and give us stability, power and a sense of direction.
To practice a natural stance you start off by standing on the ground preferably with bare feet. You can then experiment with different postures to find a stance where you feel connected and grounded. In this grounding pose you will have your legs about shoulder-width apart, your palms facing slightly forward, your knees slightly bent, your head high your shoulders low and your chest open, pushing slightly forward. This is the equivalent of the king’s pose but standing. To get into the posture you can try jumping and landing directly into the posture. Make sure that you land on your whole foot, and not on your toes. You will take the whole weight firmly in your legs. You want to create a deep earth connection where you feel like a rock. Have the whole feet in contact with the earth and push your toes slightly down into the ground. Then you put your focus on your breath and imagine how you get a stronger connection with the earth. You can imagine that you are connected to the center of the earth with a beam of light, or that you have roots under your feet stretching far down into the earth. To work on your position have a friend pushing you while you stand in the posture. Try to have your eyes closed and feel how stable you are. Change the position, your feet, arms and pelvis and try to feel what is the most stable position for you. Practice this many times until you naturally use this posture in your everyday life.
Qigong
Qigong is a great way of practicing moving meditation and intuitive energy work, like healing.
In qigong, you often start by practicing the natural stance. When in natural stance, have your hands stretched forward as if you were hugging a tree in front of your body. Focus on your posture and then bring your focus on your breathing. Breathe in energy from all directions and push this energy into your body, into your bones, your stomach and throughout your whole body. With every in and out-breath can focus and direct energy and in this way prepare your body to be able to handle a greater amount of energy, become stronger, harder and get more endurance.
We practice several forms of qigong but the focus is on the intuitive form. The formless form, where you move with the energies around you and let your bodywork for you. This is said to be the highest form of qigong and here you can find the connection with your own power.
Squatting
The squatting position is very good to relax in and work from. Again this is a position that we many times have forgotten and we might find it a bit uncomfortable in the beginning. In this position, we are very centered and protected, like a child in the stomach. It is a position that you, with some training, can use to relax. To practice the transition from the natural stance to the squatting stance is of great benefit as it at the same time teaches us how to move and bend our body in an efficient and natural way. Most people have a tendency to bend their backs forward when doing work that requires us to lower our upper body. This takes a lot of energy and is not good for the back. Your back needs to be straight and stretched, slightly bent backward in an arch to have the best stability and support. We bend our legs and use the larger muscles of the tights to do the work.
To practice squatting begin in the natural stance and from there bend your knees while having your head high, having your chest open while pushing your bottom back and slightly upwards creating an arch in your back. Your bottom should go straight down and the main weight is on your tights and your back, not in your knees. You can practice this by standing facing a wall making sure you are not leaning forward while going down. When you are getting better you will be able to stand close to the wall without touching it. You can also practice this with a partner standing facing each other and holding each other’s arms while squatting together. This gives support to not fall backward. Stay in the squatting position and breathe for a while and then go back to the natural stance and continue like this for a while.
Intuitive Breathing Meditation
Our breathing is the engine of our energy flow in our bodies. We move energy both on our in-breath and out-breath. When we let go of our control over our breath and manage to relax, our breathing will take a new form that is more open and energizing. Many times we forget to breathe all together or have very shallow breathing in our chests. This is many times a consequence of earlier traumas that we have not resolved and that haunts us by contracting the body and the breathing. Many people also hold their breath when in situations that require extra effort which is the opposite of what we need. To breathe shallow is a natural result of shocking events and can protect us while being in a dangerous situation, but we need to let go of this to become healthy and relaxed.
When we breathe naturally we will see that breath can take many different forms. The breathing will adapt to the situations and naturally do what is needed for different situations. You can have very shallow breathing, deep belly breathing, holding your breath in and holding your breath out and the breathing can be used to massage your muscles and your body from within. All this can and will happen naturally as soon as you stop controlling your breathing.
To practice intuitive breathing you start as in normal meditation. When comfortable you start by doing strong belly breathing for a while. You breathe in fast and fully for about one second and then out again for one second. Continue like this for several minutes. Breath with some force but make sure you are not pushing yourself too hard so that you get a headache. Breathing fully and out fully. You will feel energies building up in your body. When you feel ready you then hold your breath with your lungs full. Hold the breath as long as you can, Then breath out and wait for your natural breathing to take over. Do not try to breathe yourself, but trust that the breathing will start by itself at some time. When it starts you can observe it and see how it regulates itself and what rhythm it takes. You can repeat this many times and increase the time you do full belly breathing.
Pushing your limits
To create change in your life and in the world, you need to make an effort. You will grow and learn faster and be more healthy if you always stretch your limits a little. This must be done in a wise and balanced manner. If you push yourself too hard your body will contract and you will get a negative result. If you push yourself to little you will have little progress. The optimal state is when we push ourselves to a point just before you can feel any pain.
This principle applies to all parts of life and training. Use it to extend the amount of time you sit in meditation. The amount of time you stay with mindfulness in your working day. The amount of time that you think positive thoughts and say positive things. How hard your practice physical exercises and when you stretch your muscles. Keep challenging yourself.
Once you have established good habits you will often lose them again. Much like you can lose yourself to thought during meditation. When you notice that you have lost a practice you have a very good position to reinstate that practice again. In the same way that you put your focus back on the meditation practice when you notice that the mind is wondering. To lose the practice is a natural thing and sometimes you needed a break to relax and gain more power and then you can go back to your practice with new energy.
When you exercise, you try to push your limits, but never more then you can handle without pain. After training, you relax your whole body and make sure not to work out again until the muscles have had the time to build up and are relaxed again. A short workout every other day is already giving big benefits.
When you stretch your muscles it is important to do it gently. If you have a pain in a mussel see to that you only touch slightly on the pain, It should always be a good feeling and not painful. Make sure there is no pain but that you are close to the limit and observe as the pain slowly goes away and you can increase the pressure or the stretching. Many times you do not actually want to stretch your mussel that is tense but instead help them to relax. You can do this by tensing them even harder for a while and then when you are reaching your limit letting go and relaxing the mussel.
Releasing past tension and trauma
Before we can fully get into our full power we need to address the problems that we have from our past. This does not need to include processing memories but instead more about releasing the tension, or memories stored in your muscles. To get deep into your system and to be able to access and release old traumas you need to work on several layers.
To be able to grow we need to develop a mind of acceptance, both too difficult things that we have been subject to as well as difficult things that we have been exposing others to. To be able to accept all things as they are is important to be able to heal and develop. The more we can accept and have understanding for, the stronger foundation we will get to build on. Even if you have been through very difficult things in your past this does not mean that you are flawed and that you can not become a spiritual warrior. There is no judgment on you nor anyone else and the only thing that counts is your willingness to learn, train and use your power to do good things now.
Deep Belly Breathing
We can use our breath to help us unblock and access some of our feelings that we have suppressed in the past. In this exercise, you lie down on your back and do full belly breathing in a fast tempo. Set your timer for 10-30 minutes. If you have an experienced partner you can do it for longer limes to reach even deeper. Breath in fully for about one second and then out again for about one second. Push yourself and breathe with full energy. Make sure not to push yourself too hard and keep within your limits. This exercise will affect your whole body and you will be able to feel a tingling sensation in your arms and hands. If done for a longer time you can get some cramps in your arms and hands and have some trouble moving for a while. This is normal and a sign that you are doing in the right way. After the time is over, stay on your back and observe your breathing and your body for a while.
Shaking the Body
To release body tension you can shake your body. This is a natural way that we release stress and tension. When we are subjected to a stressful event our body reacts by sending our hormone that activates our muscles makes us ready to fight or run. When the immediate danger is over we start to shake and shiver our body. This is a countermeasure by the body to release the tension in our muscles and relax them again. In our culture, we often suppress the natural shaking of the body as it can be seen as a sign of fear. This leads to tension being stored in our mussel memory and affect our overall health. We can release this later in life by inducing shaking using this exercise.
Lay on our backs with your legs bent and your feet on the ground. Palms face down towards the floor. You can set a timer for 5 to 20 minutes. From this position lift your bottom up and start shaking your legs and your whole body slightly. You can observe as the body naturally starts moving in different rhythms and stretches in different directions. After a while, your legs will start to tremble and shake more intensively. For some people, it helps to first exhaust the body with a static yoga posture like sitting in a half squat. After some minutes of shaking, you might get tired of holding your body up you can change to having your body on the floor and holding your legs up stretched above the floor. You can experiment with putting yourselves into different positions while shaking your body. You can combine shaking with prolonged deep breathing and stretching with further benefits.
Transforming Negative Energy
Start by sitting in the king’s pose. Let the strong rigid pose be like a container for your negative feelings in your body. Focus on the negative feelings in your body and encapsulate them with your posture. Often the negative feelings can be felt like fast pulsating energies that are difficult to carry. By making strong safe protection around them we can start working with them. Relax your shoulders and your body and start breathing deep and slowly. Open your chest and heart and direct your heart into the pain.
Now consider that the pain is like a little baby that is in great fear. The heart is beating fast and there is a lot of stress. In order to calm this child down, we need to create calmness and stillness around it. Slow down your breath as slow as you can and use the breathing to caress the pain. Slowly and gently stroking the pain with love and compassion. In this way we will be able to feel slow, still and gentle energy fully surrounding the stressed and painful area. Continue to keep your focus on the pain, always caressing and stroking the pain with a gentle touch of your slow breath. After doing this for a while the negative energies will suddenly be able to release totally and like bubbles of air trapped underwater, be able to shoot up like light up your spine and being released as light and healing power. This power can then be redirected into your heart or towards another place in need of healing.