Julian Kaufmann

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO LIVE AND LOVE, FULLY

Tuning In To The Hum Of The Earth

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Tune In – Turn On

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”  – Tesla

The earth is a cosmic orb in flux.  Consider how we are hurdling through space at a speed of about 67,000 miles per hour.  Yet for most of us, our physical world seems fairly stable.  We are blissfully unaware and in fact, there is much that happens to our world that we can not perceive.

Recently scientists have made breakthroughs about the mysterious “humming” that the earth makes.  Ultra-low-frequency waves are occurring that we can not hear and are a result of the ocean waves and other factors.

As I was reading the Washington Post article on the Earth’s hum,  I became aware of the humming ballast in the overhead fluorescent light at the coffee shop.  This made me think of the hum that you can hear if you are near most utility transformers as the flowing electrical current is stepped-up or down.

From here my brain went to the humming sound you make when you chant.

All these examples, and for life itself, have something in common and can be explained by energy and frequency.

Which brings me to the last point and that is the frequency of our brain waves.

During most of our day, we are on high-alert and operate in a brainwave state characterized by high-frequency brain waves.

Contrast this with the state of peace and calm we feel when we meditate and are generally relaxed. As we meditate we lower our brain’s energy requirements by lowering our brainwave state. The higher the frequency the higher the energy requirements.  Check out my blog post WHAT’S THE FREQUENCY KENNETH for more information.

Thinking About Your Brainwaves

The table below lists the typical brainwave frequencies associated with the various states:

Brain Wave State Frequency (HZ) Notes
Beta 14-30 Awake, normal alert to anxious
Alpha 9-13 Relaxed, calm, lucid, not thinking (Flow)
Theta 4-8 Deep relaxation/ meditation, Mental Imagery
Delta 1-3 Deep, Dreamless Sleep

If you would like to enhance your meditation practice, please sign up here for a FREE 100-Day program that starts on January 1.

Namaste

 

Don’t Regress During The Retrograde

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Seasons and Seismic Shifts May Occur

In case you don’t know tomorrow is the beginning of the last Mercury Retrograde of the year and with the passing Supermoon, there are all sorts of cosmological situations that may make life difficult to contend with.

Mercury the planet was named after the Roman God of commerce and communication and when the retrograde occurs, human communication can be disrupted.

And to top things off the end of the year hustle and bustle is beginning, so people may get a little testy and not be so cheerful.

No matter. There is an easy way to keep calm and carry on. You don’t have to fight fire with fire.

Simply stop and breathe.

Return to your true home that is always with us – Now!

From this place of calm and peace, it is possible to have compassion for others during this time and always.

We are all doing the best we can.

Practice self-care. Walk and walk-away when you need to.

Take it all in.

Be grateful!

Meander in your mind as you meditate. Who are you and who is having this experience?

Think outside of the box and share your creativity with others or at least in your journal.

Practice box breathing when you feel your agitation stirring.

Love all and serve all.

Peace!

p.s. – The Free meditation training to cultivate consciousness commences on January 1, 2018. Sign up here: 2018 Power Gong

A Recipe For Lowering Resistance

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I wish I may, I wish I might

“If you think you’re enlightened go spend a week with your family” Ram Dass

Tis the Season — don’t fight it! Lower your resistance and get more out of it!

My favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, is here and this heralds the many ends of year celebrations we can enjoy.

But despite the good cheer, goodwill towards others, and copious amounts of food and alcohol consumed from now until after the New Year, the holidays can also be a stressful time.

Beyond gorging and imbibing too much, spending too much time with estranged family or stranger relatives in crowded conditions may cause people to regress and act in ways they would rather not. We may fight with each other, try and force things to be something other than what they are. We resist what is, we struggle to make things conform to our ego rather than appreciating the beauty that is inherent.

Resistance steals energy away from us and our loved ones.

Luckily there is a recipe I developed that may help you thrive and not just survive this holiday season.  We can lower resistance by adding more of the four Flowgates from my book Let Go, Let It Flow and these are:

Presence, Acceptance, Thankfulness, and Helping

Why these “ingredients” are important and how to cultivate these in your life is as follows:

  1. Presence: How are you showing up, are you really here? Or are you fixated on some past wrong or are you worried about some future event? In either of these cases, your mind is elsewhere and you are diverting energy away from the present moment. To be fully present we must care for and attend to our bodies, minds, and spirit. Our physical well-being is the cornerstone of being present, so we need to be mindful of our sleep, diet and amount of exercise. Masking difficult emotions with too much food and drink does not change the reality of things. In fact, often this makes you suffer as a result.  Peace and contentment are available to us at any time. We can connect more fully with our source by doing the following:
    • Practice Box Breathing: My favorite breathing technique. Brings about a calming responses and allows your mind to focus on your breath
    • Take a walk outside: Connect with mother nature and experience the immense living world that resides outside of your home. Get some sunlight and breath in the fresh air.
    • Drink Plenty of Water: Our bodies are mostly water and we often we do not drink our recommended 8-12 cups of water per day.
  2. Acceptance:  Instead of wishing you were someplace else, embrace where you are and who you are with. Suspend your desire to judge – either yourself or others. Releasing the judging nature further frees us up to more fully experience the present moment. Notice emotions without reacting to them. A couple of techniques to cultivate Acceptance are:
    • Journal – spend some time each day with a journal and just write whatever comes into your head.
    • Name it – If you are experiencing an emotion, observe this to yourself as it is happening. Like watching a movie, your experience of emotion is putting on a show for you. Give it a name and then watch it fade away. It may come back for many sequels but likely not as strong a showing.
  3. Thankfulness: Expressing gratitude can allow you to transcend an ordinary experience. Life is a gift and the fact that we are alive is cause for celebration. When we are grateful we can’t feel angry or scared. We are open and receiving to the flow of life. My mainstays for cultivating an attitude of gratitude are:
    • 5-Minute Journal: A simple, well-designed app that allows you to record 3-things that you are grateful for – with entries in the morning and evening if you wish. A print version is also available but I prefer the app as my phone is usually with me.
    • Blessings Before Dinner: Whether with family or not. I stop myself before eating and give thanks for the nourishment I am about to receive.
  4. Helping: Suspending our ego and serving others is the ultimate flowgate. We lose our selves in thinking of others’ needs and then taking action. During the Holidays, instead of getting caught up in consuming and materialism, donate more of your money to worthwhile causes or better yet, volunteer say serving food at a homeless shelter.  If you need help finding a worthwhile cause or want to be sure that your resources are being best utilized, here are some ideas:
    • Donors Choose: Help make a difference to students by supporting their classroom needs. Helping the next generation is a great way to put your altruism into action and make the world better.
    • Crowdrise: An online platform that leverages social networks. You can create and fund your own cause.
    • Charity Navigator: A site that provides rankings and information on charities in terms of effectiveness and financial management.

By opening up the 4-Flowgates we are simultaneously lowering our resistance.  We allow life to flow more freely and we have more energy as a result.

Enjoy this season, love your family and friends and cherish the “small moments” that this wonderful time of the year affords us.

Wishing you and yours – Peace, Love, and Joy!

Affirming Affirmations

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Ok. I have a confession.

Until recently I was not a fan of affirmations because they just did not work for me. Intellectually I understood their importance, but for whatever reason, I could not actually relate to any phrases I ran across. I could never find the right words that resonated with me.

Over the years I read scores of books and consulted many online resources all extolling the virtues of utilizing affirmations as a way to accomplish your goals. The Power of Positive Thinking, Think and Grow Rich, As Man Thinketh are a few of the many books I devoured.

After reading Hal Erod’s Miracle Morning book, I have applied Elrod’s S.A.V.E.R.S. routine, save for one aspect, as my own, enjoying its benefits. In case you are not familiar with the S.A.V.E.R.S. acronym, here its is spelled out along with my comments on each facet:

  • Silence – Silence or meditation. This was pretty easy for me to incorporate since I have been gradually building up a daily meditation practice over the years.
  • Affirmations – This is where I struggled and will comment more about this later.
  • Visualization – While a new practice for me this aspect seemed very easy and enjoyable. I am blessed with a vivid imagination and could easily get into the future visions of the world that I wanted to create.
  • Exercise -Daily exercise has been a part of my routine for many years now, so this was already in the bag for me.
  • Reading – I commit to reading some type of spiritual text each day and enjoy the centering feeling of connecting with God first thing to start the day. Like exercise, this was already part of my morning routine.
  • Scribing – While I don’t yet journal in the morning. I do utilize the 5-Minute Journal App to record at least 3-things that I am grateful for each day. Also included in the app is a place for me to write an affirmation. which brings us back to the “A” – affirmations.

So the missing Affirmation piece continued to evade me. I was practicing the SVERS routine.

I searched in vain for inspiration and relatable resolutions. I would go online and copy other’s words hoping to find something that would work for me. For a recent example, see HuffPost’s  35 Affirmations That Will Change Your Life by Dr. Carmen Harra which offered the following affirmations:

  1. I am the architect of my life; I build its foundation and choose its contents.
  2. Today, I am brimming with energy and overflowing with joy.
  3. My body is healthy; my mind is brilliant; my soul is tranquil.
  4. I am superior to negative thoughts and low actions.
  5. I have been given endless talents which I begin to utilize today.
  6. …

Stopping a negative thought is better than not, but it is not the same as promoting a positive thought. 

I think in some way I was turned off by my perception of the pseudoscience of affirmations without any direct first-hand experience.   Maybe SNL’s Stuart Smalley, played by Al Franken,  biased me against the self-help platitudes I associated with affirmations. Check out this vintage clip in which Michael Jordan is Smalley’s guest on “Daily Affirmation” to see what I mean.

 

When the Student is Ready, The Teacher will Appear!

If you are struggling with affirmations, Hal Erod has a great article in Entrepreneur magazine “Why Affirmations Have Failed You and 4 Steps to Change That” that might help you like it did me.

After releasing my need for the perfect affirmation my own words finally came to me. I now have my mantra.  I believe and can attest to my affirmation’s power.  The words are my own and here they are:

I am Power, On Purpose, Producing Prosperity.

 

If you already have affirmations that work for you, congratulations. Please let me know what they are and why they resonate with you. Meanwhile, if you are still searching for your mantra. Be patient and have faith.

If all else fails, Stuart Smalley’s “I‘m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!” might just do the trick.

 

When Life Explodes Not Unfolds

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The Creative Process, Life, Can Be Explosive

Lately, I have been contemplating how life evolves.

While navel gazing, I have been contrasting the life I observe around me with spiritual constructs that I hear and often read about. In particular, the notion of life unfolding seems to be contrary to what I am seeing at the moment. Juxtaposed to still waters running deep; I see roiling waves buffeting about.

New thought teaches how the gentle spirit will be manifesting and that life can simply be a matter of allowing the unfolding to occur.  Yet what we experience in life can be turbulent and terrifying.

Consider Esther Hicks’ saccharine advice:
Everything is unfolding perfectly. And as you relax and find ease in your attitude of trust, knowing that Well-Being is your birth-right, amazing things will happen. Things the likes of which you have not seen before.

The idea of life unfolding conjures up the image of a gentle, flowing river. A sea of universal consciousness meandering along, with everything, including you and me, evolving in divine order. With enough perspective and viewing life from afar, the gentle light flickers like that light from a supernova dying star.

The reality is that at point-blank range, life can be incredibly violent and chaotic. Shit happens to us, around us, and to those we love.

On a physical level, our best understanding of the universe entails a big-bang.  Tremendous amounts of energy were released in an explosive burst of mind-boggling proportion. The big-bang is, in essence, an explosion not an unfolding. We are living after our universe blew up and our life is often punctuated by explosive events of varying kinds.

When I hear that word unfolding, I think of neatly packed towels or linens. Words matter to me and I find myself struggling to accept a concept when there is observable, physical evidence to the contrary.  So I want to unpack the concept of life unfolding.

Life is not a neatly packed origami puzzle, but rather like a bomb.  We can be humming along and then our world is abruptly and fundamentally changed. A loved one can suddenly die without any provocation. Perhaps you lose your job, your health or your lover. These are not gentle flowing events. Our life can appear fluid but it is in fact binary. There is a great discontinuity that bookends our experience here on earth.  We are manifest (born) and then we are unmanifest (we die).

You thought God was an architect, now you know
He’s something like a pipe bomb ready to blow – Jason Isbell, 24-Frames

Volatility is a measure of the changing nature of things.  Ultimately we need to learn how to accept the nature of things in whatever words or practices can help us.  Personally, I think that we are better served by embracing the unpredictable nature of life, including the explosions.  This recognition of life’s preciousness and finite experience may help us to enjoy it more until we can not.

Everything is blowing up perfectly

Beautiful things can and do emerge from the destructive process. Some of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen in my life immediately followed hurricanes that tore through Florida when I lived there. The key is to survive the storm.

Accept the unexpected. Roll with the changes and learn to live and love the volatility.