Julian Kaufmann

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO LIVE AND LOVE, FULLY

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!

Screaming At The Silent Screen

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Shhh - Silence Helps Heal The Head
Shhh – Silence Helps Heal The Head

Recently I went to the movies for the first time in a long while. When I was younger, I enjoyed going to the picture show and loved being immersed in whatever was being projected on the silver screen.  Today I rarely watch movies and when I do a prefer streaming documentaries in the comfort of my home.

After getting seated and watching 30-minutes of trailers for upcoming movies and enticements to engorge yourself on expensive junk food, I was becoming agitated to “get on with it” and wanting to start the show.

Just as the film began to roll, I was further challenged by the couple in front of us in the theater who were in the midst of their personal drama and continued talking throughout the movie’s introduction.

I found that even after the couple had stopped talking, momentarily,  to watch the film, I was still thinking about them and their talking and thinking to myself how rude it was for them to be talking while I was trying to watch the movie.  I found myself thinking about my next move – should I confront them or “suffer” in silence?  This internal debate went on for some time, growing in layers. Me thinking – “Well why don’t you assert yourself and point out the disruption.”  Me thinking about thinking – “Well he appears to be ex-military and is a possible altercation really worth it”, especially since I didn’t really care about the movie. Me thinking about thinking about thinking – “Remember that time when you challenged the older, stronger Rex when you were younger and got your ass handed to you?” And this went on and on.

My concentration on the movie was broken, and my focus had been diverted by my neighbor’s conversation. Truthfully I was already thinking about multiple other things while the trailers and advertisements went by.  Side note – the theater jacked the volume up on these making it even more uncomfortable to experience.

And now back to the action… or rather reaction.

My reaction to the chatty ones in the cinema is similar to what happens to us, throughout the day, as we confront distractions. Instead of noisy neighbors in a movie house, we have thousands of thoughts per day racing through our mind and we can’t help it. These noisy thoughts often interrupt what we are doing and divert our attention.  Unfortunately often we are not aware of this thought diversion and we follow our meandering musings.  And to think our thinking is one of the great untapped powers available to us and yet we can be derailed by our own devices.

And to think our thinking is one of the great untapped powers available to us and yet we can easily be derailed by our own devices.

We are experiencing life and its many scenes while a narrator comments about what is happening, providing colorful play by play.  We then can become fixated on this internal dialogue (our thoughts) and not be fully present as our focus becomes diverted by external stimuli.

When I realized I was not my thoughts that was a revelation to me. I could separate myself from all the mental chatter instead of being swept up in it. 

Our brains exhibit rhythmic patterns of activity and produce waves of electrical energy that can be observed and recorded in an EEG.  In my upcoming book Let Go, Let It Flow I briefly discuss our brain wave states and the relative frequencies associated with each.

Our brains are incredible neural networks that utilize billions of neurons to electrically communicate with each other.  The electrical pulses from the neurons can be measured and we call the measured electrical waves, brain waves.  The measured brain waves have a frequency to them as they are cyclical in nature. There are 4-common brain wave patterns (alpha, beta, theta and delta) each corresponding to a particular frequency at which the brain is operating.

And most of us spend the majority of our conscious state while operating in the Beta range of brain wave state. Unfortunately, this Beta brainwave state corresponds to the highest frequency range.

There is a direct relationship between frequency and energy that shows that the higher the frequency, the higher the energy expenditure required. And most of us spend the majority of our conscious state while operating in the Beta range of brain wave state. Unfortunately, this Beta brainwave state corresponds to the highest frequency range.

However, when we operate in the Theta brainwave state, we lose the sense of ourselves and feel at one with whatever we are doing and with the universe. When our ego diminishes and time itself becomes malleable, we are in a flow state as Stephen Kotler described in his excellent book The Rise of Superman.  This Theta state is also known as the optimal state for inducing flow.

Meditation is a practice of calming your mind that results in lower frequency brainwave states. Buddhist monks have been observed and their brain waves operate in the Theta range and can do so almost at will. When we can operate in the Theta state a sense of oneness develops while the sense of the ego diminishes. We become totally absorbed in whatever we are doing. We are flowing in the zone.

My meditation practice has evolved over the years. At first, I thought the goal of meditation is not to think which is impossible. Now I like to allow whatever I am experiencing and to simply just let that be. Years later I still struggle with bringing my attention to the present moment.  This why we call it practice.

Ultimately I practiced the same concept, noticing and allowing,  at the movie, just allowing the couple to finish their conversation. The movie continued to play and eventually we all, I included, turned our attention to what was flashing before our eyes.

 

Breakdown and Breakthrough

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Opening to brighter future

Breakdown
Go ahead and give it to me
Breakdown, it’s all right
Tom Petty – Breakdown

When we think of the word breakdown we often think of something going wrong. Once my car broke down in the middle of the night and I had to walk a few miles to get help. It turned out my car’s alternator failed and was no longer producing electrical current needed to keep the various electrical systems working. Since the car was not making needed electricity without the alternator, the car’s battery was eventually drained leaving me stranded, literally in the dark.

A breakdown can also describe a mental state in which we “lose it.”   According to the Mayo Clinic,  a nervous breakdown refers to a “stressful situation in which someone becomes temporarily unable to function normally in day-to-day life[i].” The clinic further states that these  breakdowns tend to occur when life’s demands become physically and emotionally overwhelming. Humans. just like cars, need their electrical systems working properly to avoid malfunctioning.

Materials can be described by how well they allow an electric current to flow through them. The opposition to the flow of electrons is a measure of the material’s resistance. Materials can be classified into two broad categories: a) conductors – those materials with relatively low resistance values, and b) insulators – those materials with relatively high resistance values. It is important to note that all materials will eventually conduct electricity if subjected to a large enough potential difference or voltage. This critical voltage level for a material, it’s breakdown voltage, above which when it is exposed the material will conduct electricity is called the material’s voltage threshold. Electrical current can flow in any material, even those that typically act as insulators, if that material is exposed to a high enough voltage – it’s breakdown voltage. A breakdown of the material’s insulating properties occurs when the material is exposed to a voltage that exceeds the material’s dielectric strength and as a result, the material begins to conduct electrical energy. A common occurrence of breakdown voltage is a lightning strike where electrical current flows from the clouds to the earth.

A brief primer on what causes lightning to strike the earth is as follows: The clouds in the sky become heavily charged relative to the earth and more and more voltage (potential difference) builds up between the clouds and the earth, resulting in a giant battery being formed. This process continues until the voltage differential between the earth and sky exceeds the dielectric strength of the air;  resulting in the air no longer being an insulator but rather becomes a conductor. The air is exposed to its breakdown voltage and as a result electrical current, known as a lighting bolt, travels from cloud to ground in a tremendous flash. Please see the following link if you would like more information from NASA  – What Causes Lightning

https://vimeo.com/178739646

Like all materials, I have a breaking point as well and had a break down as I became middle-aged. After experiencing several challenging life circumstances which included a divorce, 3-job changes and most importantly from my family members experiencing life-threatening illnesses, I slowly turned to God to help me weather the storm. Luckily for me, I connected with my higher power and this infinite potential broke down any resistance that I had previously offered. I eventually let go of my Ego and let God begin to flow through my life. After this breakdown, I would no longer persist to resist the flow of life. As I let go and let God direct me and trust in his wisdom and guidance, I went from primarily being resistant to the Flow to trying to live as an open conductor of the Flow.

Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you – Job 22:21

Please let me know if you have had any breakthroughs after what otherwise seemed to be breakdowns.

so let go
And jump in
Oh well whatcha waiting for
It’s all right
‘Cause there’s beauty in the breakdown

Frou Frou – Let Go

Meanwhile,  wishing that you can break on through to the other side.

 

Soundtracks

Breakdown – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 
Let Go – Frou Frou
Break On Through (to the other side) – The Doors

 

 

 

 

[i] Flavin, Daniel Hall. “What Does It Mean to Have a Nervous Breakdown?” What Does It Mean to Have a Nervous Breakdown? Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2016.

 

Namaste

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NAMASTE

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

– Matthew 5:16, KJV

The following is an excerpt from my free ebook “Why Less is More – The Science of Getting More Energy Out of Your Life”

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            Namaste: From my light to yours, the divine essence in me honors and acknowledges the same in you.

The first time I encountered the word “Namaste” was when I started doing yoga nearly 15 years ago. Even after completing several yoga classes, I still did not know what the word “Namaste” meant, but I presumed it was some sort of salutation. The teacher never took the time to tell the class what it meant. and I never asked her either. My favorite class back then consisted of about an hour’s worth of Ashtanga yoga, and the class was called power yoga. I took the class because I had read that yoga was good for strengthening the body while at the same time increasing flexibility. Prior to taking yoga, I had torn my rotator cuff from trying to bench press too much, so I was ready for some type of flexibility training as I had become quite rigid, both in my thinking and in my body. When the yoga class would end, the teacher would bow and say, “Namaste,” to the class, and then we all then would reply in kind, including the bow and hands clasped in prayer. It really did not matter to me what we were saying then since I had no understanding or concept of the word itself. Rather, I just knew the feeling of peace and gratitude that followed me after taking the class, and I wanted to reciprocate back to my teacher for the gift she gave me in that class, so I replied. For you see, just prior to hearing “Namaste” from the yoga teacher as class ended, I had usually been lying on my back on the floor, totally relaxed, breathing deeply after being told to “let it all go.” Lying quietly on the floor in a darkened room with faint incense burning, accompanied by relaxing music, further deepened my feeling of bliss.

You yogis out there know this final yoga pose I am describing as savasana, corpse pose, or total relaxation pose. Corpse pose is an apt name for this pose, for when I would peer around the room during class when we were all in savasana, that is what it looked like—a bunch of dead bodies lying on the ground. While in the total relaxation pose, I often had the sensation of leaving my lifeless body, and it was very liberating. As a former jogger, I had experienced a runner’s high and understood the body’s response to prolonged exercise and releasing dopamine. But this post yoga class feeling was something else altogether. As I would lie like a corpse, still and quiet, my consciousness and my awareness seemed to resonate with a higher power, and my earthly troubles that may have been weighing me down before class seemed to dissipate after the class as I lie “dying,” or totally relaxing. While the runner’s high came on in the midst of strenuous exercise, the altered state brought on by savasana came about by doing nothing. Without physical effort, peace and contentment replaced a previous mental state of worry, striving, and planning. I began to love yoga, not as a practice per se but rather for the means to the end, and that ended with the word “Namaste.”

Yoga is derived from Sanskrit, and its root means to “yoke” or join and has been described as ancient art “based on a harmonizing system[i] of development for the body, mind, and spirit.” It has been suggested that practicing yoga can align the physical and mental, producing a state of spiritual enlightenment.[ii] Prior to starting yoga, I was a stressed-out, type-A guy. I was then and still am somewhat driven, ambitious, and an often competitive person. Like many, though, I have experienced hardships and evolved in a way that has ultimately helped me to let go. Today I am much more at peace than before, thanks to yoga and many other tools that I want to share with you. Contorting around on a yoga mat for 45 minutes and holding uncomfortable poses while trying to focus on my breath can be very challenging at times, just like life itself. But the relief from lying still and breathing was immense, physically and mentally as well. After doing yoga, a curious thing would then happen to me: after being still and resting in corpse pose, I would find that I had much more energy following the class. I would sleep better at night and wake up the following day after my class with even more energy.

How is it possible to have more energy by doing less?

As we will see, science has an answer for us. In particular, there are a couple of laws that we can apply to our own lives in order to get more energy out of our lives; in particular, the Law of Conservation of Energy and perhaps the most basic law in electricity, Ohm’s Law. After all, everything, including us, is made up of energy. So the fundamental laws that govern how we approach energy efficiency and conservation along with the basics of how a light bulb works can help illuminate (pun intended) a better way for us. As we will see, by lowering our resistance, we can increase our personal power by not wasting energy and ultimately do more of the work we were called to do.

[i]. “Definition of Yoga.” Http://yoga.org.nz/. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2015. <http://yoga.org.nz/what-is-yoga/yoga_definition.htm>.

[ii]. “yoga.” The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. 19 Mar. 2015. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/yoga>.

May the Force Be with You (and you not against the Force)

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Growing up the movie Star Wars (now called episode IV) was and is still one of my favorite movies. The movie presents many classic themes – good (Light Side) versus evil (Dark Side), a love story (a love-triangle in the beginning), finding oneself and owning your personal power etc.

Another aspect of the movie that resonated with me was the concept of the Force.

According to the character Obi Wan Kenobi “The force is an energy field that binds all living things. It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it gives a Jedi his powers.” Star Wars creator and producer George Lucas when asked whether the Force was God in the movie stated,” I put the Force into the movies in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people. More a belief in God than a belief in any particular religious system[i].”

Nearly 40-years later I still relate to a monotheistic view of one power and presence in the universe. I call this God and believe that God is the ultimate source of all energy and we are different manifestations of it.

Another aspect of the movie that dovetails with my work is the notion of light vs. dark. Today I teach about how lowering resistance can increase the amount of Flow in your life. If you would like to learn more please sign up for my FREE course. Flow 101 – What Is It and How To Get More of It.

https://juliankaufmann.com/sales-page-2/

Here is a video overview inspired by Star Wars.

https://vimeo.com/153605633

In summary the more resistance we offer to life– the less brightly your life shines.

The spiritual notion of resistance is a blockage to the divine flow of energy – i.e. God, while from an electrical standpoint resistance consumes power that otherwise could be utilized for more purposeful work.

While I believe the Force is always with us, sometimes we often go against the Force. Unfortunately this is a waste of energy which is why I say Let Go (and not resist) and Let It Flow.

Namaste

[i] “The Force (Star Wars).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016.