Category: Tools and Tips

Dear Being Energy Community

One of the most fascinating concepts of the ancients is the concept of time.  We focus on time this week because it is something that seems to be escaping us, outside of our grasp. So we want to pause and reflect on the implications this concept has on cultivating awareness and shifting to new perspectives.

People living in Mesoamerica, for thousands of years, understood time differently that we do today. Instead of a linear sequence divided in seconds, minutes and hours, that moves from past to present and then to future, they saw time as cycles. They understood human beings as part of an ever-changing universe and our connection to all.

One example of this concept is demonstrated by the way the Maya predicted and understood the world in which they lived.  They created a complex calendar system that included three interconnected circular calendars. They recognized that the natural world, the cosmos, and even their own bodies functioned according to observable cycles. They recognized that the celestial bodies within these cycles emanated energy, forces that informed human perception. To locate themselves within these cycles the Maya tracked the movements of planets, the moon, the sun, and very important to them, Venus.  They devised a complex system to determine the energetic potential and possibilities of every moment on earth (Click here to read more about the Mayan calendar).

People of Europe in the 15^th century provide another example of this concept of a relationship to the stars, relying on astronomical cycles for harvesting, planting, getting married, etc. An example is conveyed in the Clock of Prague that includes astronomical dials.

People knew then, based on the position of the celestial bodies in the sky, that there were more propitious moments for a variety of human affairs. The clock of Prague, which contains an astrolabe, a continual display of the sun, moon, stars and planets, demonstrates the importance of these observations on a daily basis.

By connecting to the cosmos and the motions of the celestial bodies, we can expand our notion of time. The seers of Don Juan’s lineage asserted that it is energetically essential for human beings to realize that the only thing that matters is our journey of awareness, our relationship with the universe.

There is much more to reflect and say about this, but we leave it to you to send us your comments and questions to further explore this topic. For now we would like to invite you to take action, to bring a NEW idea of time to your own home.

We would like to invite you to bring some stars inside your home as a guide to understanding the importance of circularity and cycles around us. Most of us live in rooms with 4 walls, lacking the movement and fluidity of cycles, which limits our perception and emphasizes the syntax of linearity.

This is what Carlos Castaneda taught us to do and what we have been practicing for years.

• Draw the FOUR phases of the moon, each phase on a separate piece of paper: First quarter moon, Full moon, Last quarter moon, and New moon.
• Be creative!
• Hang them on the four walls of your bedroom or living area in the following way: New moon on the South wall (South pole), Last quarter moon on the West wall (setting sun), Full moon towards on the North wall (North pole) and First quarter moon on the East wall (rising sun).

Over the next lunar cycle, take note of any changes in your thoughts or actions towards the Sun, Moon and stars in the sky.  What’s new?  Do you see anything differently?

We have followed this suggestion of Carlos Castaneda for many years and as an example, it has changed our spatial and conceptual perception. We all live in square rooms and apartments and we have developed a greater sense of circularity.  This sense of cycles immediately connected us to nature and to the cosmos.

We look forward to hearing about your experiences,

Aerin & Miles

*Image courtesy of Theilr, under CC license

Dear Being Energy Community: 

How do you Love? Where in your body do you find the feeling of Love?

We asked these questions and more in our first class of the new Path with Heart Series: “The Art of Moving the Assemblage Point: Jumping Grooves” as part of our exploration to assemble new perceptions and awareness.

Seers of ancient Mexico recognized that our ability to perceive the physical and the abstract occurs through a center of cohesion, which they called “the assemblage point.” They understood that we interpret the world through thought-feeling patterns that govern our behaviors and color our perceptions.

When the assemblage point shifts, we are able to transcend our usual states of consciousness to experience new levels of awareness. “Jumping grooves” is the shifting to new positions of the assemblage point. How we shift, by assembling our perception of ourselves and the world is an art that can be learned.

Don Juan told Carlos Castaneda one day, while hiking in the Sonoran desert that, “…we (human beings) are an awareness encased in our hearts”. LOVE or AFFECTION, as Carlos Castaneda preferred to call it, is a powerful unifying force that acts to bind our awareness, and it influences our physical, emotional and cognitive development. It is a guiding force that causes us to act intelligently, from confidence and it is one of the most powerful tools for moving the assemblage point.

The feeling of love, belonging, compassion, understanding, affection, fondness, warmth, care, friendship, tenderness, all of the above, can shift the assemblage point, can help us transcend fears, resentment, and pain.

Take action:
We continue in the upcoming classes to individually explore and to look in depth at the question, “HOW DO I LOVE?” It becomes a way that we can track how this force manifests in ourselves, in our day-to-day actions.

Specifically:

• Find three actions that you will do daily, this week that will become an expression, a manifestation of LOVE
• Notice how the consistent practice of these three actions will not only move your assemblage point, but also sustain that position of unconditional LOVE.

We invite you to share the results of your experiences in the Comments Section below

Have a loving week!

Dear Community,

A few days ago during the powerful Solstice time, you may have experienced the longest night or the longest day of the year depending on where you live. As we approach the end of 2013 and the beginning of a new journey around the Sun, we welcome light as well as darkness—the flow of contraction and expansion, to guide us to growth, wisdom, compassion and enlightenment.

To prepare for the transition towards a new cycle, Carlos Castaneda taught us to follow a specific practice that we have done for years.

First, you want to clear up space in your home, remove clutter, clothing that you are not using, clean cabinets and drawers. Vacuum your floors and water your plants. Clear your windows and exude a receptive feeling of openness and readiness. If you can, get this step done before December 31, or throughout that day.

We are aiming at cleaning our living space, physically and energetically. In summary, there are 4 ways to clean:

to throw things away that are not really relevant or needed
b. to give things away to let the energy continue with someone without your same personal history with it.
c. to dust off, wipe, wash your living quarters or at least a selected part of it like bedroom and desk area
d. to rearrange things; change the placement of things to renew the energy flow of the place

Secondly, on December 31 target your desk, organize bills and papers and clear space to sit to write a list of dreams and projects for the new year. Follow these steps:

Mentally review what dreams and projects you were able to accomplish in 2013. What new relationships you have established? what came to a closure? What new insights, information you have learned about:

Your health and nutrition
b. Your emotions
c. Your thoughts
d. Your family and community
e. About the larger community of our planet Earth

The basis of this part is to review and distill the energy from the year that ends. To recapitulate what stood out from our life this year so that we enter the New Year that starts carrying more consciously what we experienced.

Make a list and name that list 2013. Noticed if as you write new insights or ideas come.
3. Make a new list on a second piece of paper (or type it) and name it 2014.

In the area of family and friends, what would you like to accomplish in 2014? What do you want to intend in this area?
b. In the area of work?
c. In the area of health?
d. In the area of your personal development?

After cleaning and reviewing, we set up our dreams for the next year.

Once you have the lists, let them “rest” for a moment on your desk and continue whatever you need to get done or commitments you may have.
5. Around 11:30 pm your local time (yes, BE AWAKE) retreat to your desk and set yourself in silence to connect with your projects for the new year. You may like to start wiring an outline of what you would like to do, or draw a picture of yourself getting the job of your dreams, etc.
6. Stay as log as you want, just be sure that around 12:00 midnight you are connected with the universe and with your personal life path.

As the wave runs across into the Ney Year, we ride it engaged in doing a small action for the new dreams that we are intending.

Carlos Castaneda would tell us that at midnight the light of the Spirit or universe comes and “watches us”, a force descends upon us and it is a very powerful moment to be present and aware in order to feel it and become acquainted with it.

As we set our collective intentions and send best wishes to all, we join you in your joy and expansion, in creating new inspiring projects, from a pie recipe to a way of talking with kindness to those you don’t like, we welcome all.

Below you will find some of our upcoming events for 2014, to gather energy and nourish our body/mind and bring us to states of deeper calm and silence. These are essential to sustain your practice and set forth your projects for 2014.

We’d love for you to join us and we keep radiating light and love from our community to the whole world.

A special acknowledgment and thanks to all the leaders and teachers in our community!Aerin Alexander, Miles Reid and everyone at Being Energy

The Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico Applied to Modern Health: Freedom of Perception

Published in Yoga magazine, November 2011, in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Back in the sixties, don Juan Matus described to Carlos Castaneda. the “conditioning of modern man”. He told him to be aware of how we are constrained by social and cultural conditionings and how our inner being (spirit & guide) is forgotten, numb and without purpose. We identify more with the outside world, with our idea of who I should be, (competing: “I’m better/worse than him/her”) and there is little room for, or access to, our inner life.

We are bored when we are not hyper-stimulated. Have you ever concentrated on your breathing for 20 minutes while you were on a bus (or somewhere) without being interrupted by worries of the future or by stressful and repetitive thoughts? How many times during the day do you give yourself the chance to open your eyes and marvel at the beauty of your surroundings?

For the seers of ancient Mexico, we are beings of energy and we come to this planet to increase our awareness through life experiences and interactions with others. One’s self, one’s path, and how we choose to walk it, can be the purpose of life in itself, Carlos Castaneda said. But how do we choose when our attention is being diverted by all the advertisements of a consumer society? We get tense when we think about how to pay the rent or how to make ends meet. It becomes difficult to access another state of consciousness when we are in a mode of survival, worry, fear and scarcity.

What Carlos Castaneda proposed to us was not a “fashion” of the hippy years. It was a mood, the mood of the warrior, of being aware of one’s mortality and one’s approaching death. A spirit that loves and respects the earth and its creatures, and beyond all that, that seeks freedom.

Freedom is not to be understood as “I do what I want,” but as the freedom to perceive the essence of life itself, the freedom to be creative and fluid, cheerful and considerate, without expecting to be applauded or congratulated. Freedom to breathe deeply, to feel the body expand and the heart that opens when you’re in the middle of a business meeting or even the birthday of a family member you may not like. Freedom to recognize the illusion of linear time and space. Freedom to accept everything I am and to enjoy every second of my existence.

Our proposal, based on our apprenticeship and on our own experience of almost 20 years of teaching and researching, is to explore our life’s purpose as energetic beings; to expand our understanding and perception, to free ourselves from the physical and emotional limitations and to thrive in the world.

Our association with Carlos Castaneda and our professional work related to health and welfare have led us to develop being energy™. It takes the form of a series of programs focused on knowledge and education, including ancient and modern techniques of healing and personal care that increase our energy and vitality. These programs have evolved from our passion to combine two interests: expanding the capacity to perceive and improving our health.

Carlos Castaneda loved movement and we practiced movements daily with him—an aspect which we focus on in our teaching. From him, we also learned breathing techniques and ways to call inner silence which are part of the course curriculum.

In these programs we include movements, exercises and sequences of breathing that bring vitality, inner strength and confidence, and which increase our wellbeing and health.

We include information and formation from psycho-neuroimmunology – the relationship between our immune system and emotions and thoughts – dynamic lectures, and the sharing of group and personal explorations, leading to expanded perception.

By reclaiming our energy and integrating a new awareness in our daily lives, we reach a state of wellbeing; we begin to feel the vastness and mystery of the universe living within us.

For more information contact us at:

info@beingenergy.com 
beingenergy.com being energy™ provides a forum for the general public and for professionals who work in the areas of health, education, art and social science, to meet and expand our inspiration and to work together for the development of health and consciousness in a safe and dynamic environment. It is based on the conviction that cooperation and group work is the key to opening new pathways and creating great benefits not only for small groups but for the whole planet.