Innerwords Newsletter: Expand Your Consciousness to Change Your Life

Even when we know a lot about how life works and are doing the right things, journaling, affirming, visualizing, meditating, and praying, we get stuck sometimes not manifesting the results desired. It could be an annoying habit we want to change or a destructive pattern, or maybe we have failed to attract that new job, life-partner, or more money. It could be that we are resisting taking a risk that we know is necessary. Then again, it could be that something out of the blue has crossed our path and we are totally at a loss as to how to move forward. How do we move through impasses that stop us from getting what we want to experience or explore?

The Solution? Expand your consciousness to change your life. There is a need to increase the boundaries of your world to include the new things you want to manifest. A limited world affects your ability to create; you cannot continue thinking and acting in old ways and expect new results. The way to grow the boundaries of your world larger is to expand your awareness. I will talk is about consciousness – what it is and how to use it to be even more aware co-creators in manifesting the results you want to experience in your lives. Finally, I will share ways that I grow my world bigger, ways I expand my consciousness.

As you read, choose one of your own issues where you are unsatisfied with results. May you receive one idea that moves you forward in the direction of your dreams.

What is consciousness? It is the medium in which we all live and move and have our being, it is infinite possibilities, Universal Intelligence. It is the Source of our existence, our creativity, imagination, intuition, inner knowing, and unconditional love, ever responding to our thoughts, feelings, and prayers.

Consciousness is what we are, the ground of our being. We each have an individual drop of consciousness within the ocean of All-That-Is consciousness. To know, love, and grow our individual consciousness allows us to be more powerful co-creators of our own lives. The more consciously aware we become, the better able we are to realize and live our potential individually and collectively.

Let’s use an analogy. Imagine a continuum with an acorn at one end and a full-grown oak tree at the other. The acorn holds inside the seed of it’s potential, yet it is unconscious, unrealized. It has not experienced what it is capable of becoming. On the other end of the continuum is the oak tree that is awakened, fully conscious and realized after traveling the life-path of a seedling, small tree, larger tree and on into a mature tree.

We begin life like the acorn, unaware, yet fully capable of growing towards our individual potential. Inside each of us is the seed of our individual blueprint ready to sprout and grow when the proper nutrients are available.

Before I talk about ways I expand my consciousness when blocked and unable to manifest the results I desire, I need to mention Grace. Grace is beyond our control. It is where unexpected people and events come in contact with us that awaken us and take us to new places in awareness. Grace is beyond what we could even ask for; it is outside of our awareness and intentions – it is a gift from God. An example of Grace operating in my life is the story I told in my spring newsletter about how a young couple with a baby changed me forever. They introduced me to concepts outside of my frame of reference and expanded my consciousness.

Grace operated in my life many years ago through a young couple and their baby. In our brief encounter, they catapulted me on a new path for my life and I am grateful for the gift the three of them gave me.

How did I meet this couple? One summer, before we had children, my husband and I were invited to a friend of a friend’s lake house. Being in my early 20’s that sounded like a fun weekend; sleeping on the shag carped living room floor in a sleeping bag was no problem. Also invited were the young couple with a six-month old baby boy, who was so cute and smiled a lot. I gravitated towards them and soon found out this baby had four birth defects, one of which was that all the ribs were grown together as one solid rib on each side. When I learned this and had a look of horror and shock on my face, the parents quietly told me it was okay and that they were at peace with his problems. As I relaxed, they told me about contacting the Association for Research and Enlightenment, A.R.E. for short, in Virginia Beach, that continues the teachings of Edgar Casey who was clairvoyant.

Even though Edgar Casey was no longer alive, the association has thousands of readings he did for other people. The association allows others to research their own health issues by going through the many readings. When I returned home I bought and read, There Is a River, to learn more about this man. Edgar Casey was a devout Christian who had the ability to fall “asleep” while meditating on a person with a physical ailment and then begin talking about what he or she needed for healing. Many people achieved results. Others received insights about their condition.

The young couple went on to explain about a soul reading they recently had about their child and were learning to understand some of the lessons about the baby’s current birth conditions. They were learning about themselves as well. This fascinated me, as I had never ever had a discussion on topics like these. It was not only the topics we discussed that caught my interest, I was amazed at the peace this young couple had about their child who would have an early death. Why weren’t they suffering and depressed as I would in this situation? I continued reading many of the Casey books, which expanded my horizons, and gave me much to ponder. Many more books and teachers with alternative philosophies found their way onto my path since I was now opened by this experience of Grace.

Now choose a number between 1 and 7. While you read seven ways I expand my consciousness when at an impasse, pay special attention to the concept that goes with the number you just chose. Pretend there is a special message being revealed to you.

There are dozens of ways to nurture and expand your consciousness, to move further along the path toward the awakened side of the continuum. Here I will share seven ways I work with my own awareness when I get stuck and need to grow.

1. Gratitude – I am grateful for this moment. I open to as many moments as possible in my day saying, “Thank You.” I wake up appreciating my life, body, talents, my awareness, my husband and family, my dog, living with beauty. I go to sleep expressing a moment of thanksgiving. This is especially important when I do not like something in my life or day. I know there are always things to learn as I go through challenging experiences. I understand we all have ups and downs as part of the human experience. I am grateful to experience my life each day.

2. Quiet Time Alone – I value being aware and understanding myself. I practice self-inquiry to honestly examine my life, face my issues, and ponder what I want to explore and express. I may pray, say affirmations, journal-write, or read to build awareness. I look below the surface to find inner conflicts - such as competing needs that get in the way of my inner peace and manifesting results. I root out outdated beliefs and patterns and update them. At other times, I am receptive and listen to my intuition or meditate. It takes quiet time alone to do the inner work, both active and passive, necessary to identify issues, to heal, and to grow. I value congruency between my inner and outer self so take quiet time alone on a regular basis.

3. Mindfulness – I choose to spend more and more minutes being present and authentic. I bring my attention back to the moment to experience what is going on right now in my life, with my inner feelings, thoughts, and reactions. I practice accepting the current reality and to stop resisting what is – the good feeling as well as bad feeling experiences. I am constantly learning from my interaction with my outer experiences. I notice what comes up for me as I go through my day. Recently, I caught myself being impatient and critical with a slow, talkative checker while in line to purchase an item; she was talking to her friend who just went through her line. With this awareness, I told myself to deep breath and to flow with the experience, to be less goal-oriented. Next, I decided to bless each person in the store. Yes, I was in a positive place when it was my turn.

4. My Body as Teacher – I view my body as a recoding of my history, the expression of my consciousness up until this minute. My body talks to me constantly, so I like to listen to what it says. Symptoms, imbalances, and pains give me the opportunity to understand it’s messages through metaphor. My body helps me delve below the surface to learn more about issues that are unconscious to me.

5. Down Time – I make sure to rest, daydream, or sleep as needed. When I am overly busy and in a fast mode, it gets in the way of receiving creative ideas and insights. When I have down time, it allows solutions and answers to problems to pop into awareness when I least expect it. When I am not being goal oriented it fosters creativity and inspiration.

6. A Friend or Life Partner – to listen to and help us as we talk about our issues. We all need at least one person who cares about us. When another listens to us, it expands us. We can receive help processing our feelings, thoughts, and problems. Sometimes the other person’s comments or feedback can take us beyond our point of view. It is a gift to have a friend or life partner to talk to who is caring, nonjudgmental, and encouraging.

7. Service to others – takes us away from being center focus. I lose myself and forget my problems when I am truly helping another. It expands my consciousness to use my gifts and talents as well, aligning with my purpose for being here.

In conclusion: I invite you to expand your consciousness when you feel blocked and unable to reap the fruits of your intentions. Remember, there are dozens of ways to grow the boundaries of your world larger to include the results you desire. Take note of the number you chose above and consider putting that idea into practice the next time you are at an impasse. When Grace knocks at your door, smile and let her in. Expand Your Consciousness to Change Your Life.