Passing On The Knowledge

BECOMING A TEACHER

Passing on learned knowledge so others may benefit from our wisdom, is arguably one of the greatest gifts we have to offer. Wisdom in one of the few benefits we get from getting older, so passing it on is all the more rewarding.

For those that come to us willingly seeking knowledge, it is a joy to impart our wisdom and all the more rewarding to receive their gratitude. For those who we try and impart wisdom but who aren't receptive to learn from us, even when they could greatly benefit from having our insight and guidance, it can be frustrating. We needn't try so hard. For it takes great patience and skill dealing with these individuals and only so much we can do to help them.

I have been on a quest since the beginning of this year. A path of self analysis and discovery, which has given me some amazing and insightful information - tools on how to fix/avoid problems, grow physically, mentally & spiritually. I can already see in just a short space of time how this new knowledge is greatly improving my quality of life and in some cases already, through my teaching - other people's lives too.

Growing Pains
The path towards self mastery is laden with obstacles that can deter us from the path and trick us away from our goals. Overcoming these obstacles is very much a part of the learning process and can be both mentally and physically painful. These challenges we face along the way, which manifest in emotional and physical symptoms are called growing pains. They are a naturally occurring phenomena and if addressed correctly, will help us to strengthen. Many people hit these obstacles and either stop or turn back. This is where many will become inflexible, cease to grow or worse, ill.

It is the job of the teacher to help these individuals to take the necessary steps. It is the skilled and patient teacher who guides the fearful and weak - holding their hands through the process, assuring them they will be ok. It is this skill that we need to learn more of and only a very few are willing to put in their time and efforts, also at great pains & at times it seems, for no return. It's through perseverance and a will to help those that need the most guidance, that we continue to grow more ourselves and develop as great teachers.

Remembering Youth

THE BENEFITS OF WISDOM

When we are young adults, we start to believe we know best. We've been on the planet long enough to learn what's right and wrong and needn't listen to our parents and peers to inform us otherwise - what do they know? A lot it turns out. 

We should try and remember how we were in earlier years. It helps us communicate better with the young. As much as we try, it's still difficult to convey how we know more, as they (I remember) don't want to listen. Life is a path of discovery and rediscovery. Even now, in my 40's, I'm still essentially the same person, but I have a far wider scope and perception than I had previously. My parents will have an even wider perspective and our grandparents an even greater viewpoint of the world.

In western culture, we tend to ignore the elderly and what they have to say. We certainly don't look after or up to or appreciate them as other cultures do. This is certainly something we need to start doing more of and listening to our elder's life-earned wisdom is a good start.

Battling Fear

FACING DOWN OUR FEARS

Fear is a very powerful emotion. When fear rises up in us it can take over all other thoughts and render us helpless. Overcoming these fears can be very tough to face up to, but simply 'removing ourselves' from the thoughts, by using a breathing meditation technique, where we can observe the thoughts as they happen, we can then see them for what they are - just thoughts.

While driving down to the South of France this weekend, I became very fearful. I was about to compete in the Megavalanche race which is a crazy downhill mountain bike event full of multiple hazards and potential for injury or death. I have been in many situations before on mountains where there is potential for such injury - but I've been younger, fitter, stronger physically and more experienced. Mountain biking is something I understand the physics of, know what the equipment is capable of but something I have only a small experience of doing and certainly not in a competitive arena before. I was beating myself up. Why am I doing this at 43, what am I trying to prove, do I want to risk being out of work or paralysed, will my girlfriend leave me, where will I get the money to pay the bills, how will I look to my friends when I can't do the race or if I'm airlifted off the mountain?

Nobody knew I was having these thoughts. I was entertaining them coming and going as I engaged in other conversations with my friends. And when I got a quiet moment, I switched over to being the observer in my head and just witnessed all the fear, paranoia and misery fight for attention. I actually found it quite amusing seeing these multiple facets of my mind being so blindly assured of their states of being, yet here I was, completely calm hearing them out until they exhausted themselves and went quiet. How refreshing to see these thoughts for what they are. They aren't who I truly am and by rising above them, they don't define me but merely fire off for a bit and then disappear.

When it came to the day to qualify and race - I was completely calm and ready. My self confidence and trust in my abilities were restored to the point where I managed to gain a lot of ground on the others in my race. And had I not gotten a puncture, would have put in a really good time, I'm sure. It's likely I'll compete again in the future but even if I don't, I know I have what it takes and this mindset and the technique for tackling fear can be applied to anything we do in life.

Observation
There are many techniques for facing up to our fears. Understanding where they come from through getting to know ourselves better will really help. To really fight them takes a lot of courage. Practicing the technique of removing oneself from fearful thoughts by observing as a third person as Geoff explains in this video, was something I'd heard spoken to me before, but suddenly appeared as a revelation this time I heard it. Once again I'm amazed at the timing that Geoff's wisdom comes through to me.

This video arrived in my inbox the day after my races and confirmed what I already learned to be true. Hearing these wise words from Geoff, who has been spending many years training and learning these observation plus other self mastery techniques, made me feel really pleased at my progress over the last 6-7 months. I've grown as a person in such a short period of time. And this is something we are all capable of achieving if we desire and allow it to happen.

Fear should not be given the power to take a hold of us. But by being courageous and harnessing this powerful emotion correctly, we can use this force to make us stronger and elevate us towards further greatness.

Wisdom And The Benefits Of Exercise

HEARING VOICES

I woke yesterday with a particularly stiff neck and general weakness in my arm which have been ailing me of late. I've not been doing much exercise over the Christmas break - deliberately to allow some time for my body to recover and I really wanted to do something today that I enjoy rather than just go and lift weights in a gym - ie. Yoga. My first thoughts on waking yesterday, were to stay at home and let my partner go alone to the yoga studio as it was a tube ride away, cold & raining plus my body felt a bit achey. This is my lazy weak voice speaking up. Luckily, the other thoughts kicked in that told me some light exercise, stretching and getting out of the house would do me good. My positive and motivational voice was the right one to listen to.

We all have this inner conflict – it's the same voices that tell you to stay in bed when you've planned an early start and the same voices that stops you making progress through fear, laziness and other negative thoughts. Thankfully, I've got a pretty strong sergeant major voice in me that gets me out of bed in the mornings and chides me when I don't set out to do the things I've given myself. This voice can also be a bit over demanding at times - so we have to listen to both voices and we then need to evaluate what they say in order to make decisions for our actions based on what we've learned before. I'd call this Wisdom.

I watched a documentary on the subject of Wisdom last night - a group of older actors, artists and people already respected for their achievements, talking to camera about what this word means to them. I know older people who think they have wisdom - I know younger people too....convinced they are right without having the experience or without really looking at what they are saying/doing or really analysing/storing the information to be in a better position to say they've learnt something.

So, I know from experience, that getting up and doing some exercise - even if, when I've not had much sleep, am hungover or just feeling below par - I know that raising my heart rate, warming my muscles, stretching, sweating and getting the endorphins flowing, is going to benefit me. And I know this because I've pushed myself to do something before when I know it will benefit me because I have already learned this through experience.

So I got to yoga - a new place (for me) called Good Vibes, which is in Covent Garden, London. It's a really nice, warm studio which has SAD lighting (great for a cold, grey wet Jan 3rd in London). The American girl teaching had a good positive energy and generally, it was clear that everyone in the room were feeling pleased with themselves that they'd made the effort to take the class! After just a few minutes of warming up, I found my aches and pains had already subsided and the confirmed benefits of doing yoga came flooding back to me - plus I felt chuffed that I'd won out against the negative voices again...why had I even considered not coming - had I doubted yoga's healing properties?!? No, I'd allowed some time to have a conversation with myself to weigh up the pros and cons of the situation in order to made a good judgement call. This was all based on previously learned truths gained through experience where I'd remembered the outcome of those successful decisions over time. This is called wisdom!
Here's the film Wisdom - should you wish to watch it - think it makes a good balance with the film watched the day before, The Power of the Heart - which talks about trusting your instincts - both available on iTunes.

After the yoga, I met an old friend, had a light lunch and discussed Wisdom, Intuition, being grateful for what we have and what it means to be Happy (just remembered there's another interesting documentary likely worth seeing that I started watching on New Years Day - I'll come back to this one after I've watched it in full at a later date). My partner and I then came back home for a bit, and went to the health shop to buy some coconut butter. I'll save the coconut butter for a later post, when I've had time to discover the potential benefits of using it as I've heard it's great for many things.

Afterwards, we took a sauna/steam in our local gym and had a massage at our fabulous chinese herbs, medicine and treatments shop called Herbs & Harmony. I'm going to go back for a series of massage treatments on my back, neck, shoulders & arms plus I've booked in for a consultation at 10.30 today with the doctor to see if some acupuncture could help fix my weak bicep problem quicker. Then it's another session of dynamic yoga followed by a steam & sauna to get me ready for work tomorrow - my first day back in nearly two weeks...

I'm not usually one to talk about or analyse dreams but I woke up this morning with a very strong recollection for a dream I was having about a tidal wave. I wasn't afraid in the dream - I'd managed to find a way to ride out the wave as it engulfed everything around me. So I looked it up. Interesting!

'Tidal wave and tsunami dreams remind us that if we don’t confront and deal with things that are out of balance in our life, then they will confront us first!'