Just wanted to share some thoughts and experiences about the connection between intention and results.
For quite some time I've been able to wake up a minimum of five minutes before the alarm rings, regardless of when the time is set, or how much or how little sleep I've had. I usually take a quick moment of consious focus on what time I want to wake up before releasing into sleep.
Earlier this week I did NOT have any focus at all before bed. The next morning I received a call with the question as to whether or not I was going to teach my morning class. I was surprised to find that I had overslept well past the starting time of the class. In several years of teaching, this was the first time it had happened. Upon reflection, I realized I had set no intention of waking at any particular time. (Fortunately the fitness center is close by, and I made it to class within seven minutes of the call. A quick gargle and spit and I was out the door).
Yesterday was our big family Thanksgiving, and I usually find myself on the floor rolling around with the kids doing some crazy yoga stuff. This year was no different, except this time THEY tried to teach me something--which left me with a knot on my chin and a displaced thoracic vertebra. Thanks kids! (It wasn't a major displacement, but it wasn't comfortable!)
BUT... as I was preparing for sleep that night, I set the intention that I would release all tension from my back so that it could realign during the night. To my amazement, the next morning my back was perfectly realigned. (I'm not suggesting that we dispense with Chiropractors just yet though...)
Which brings me to a question. Have any of you had any experiences setting intentions with your mind that manifested in your body? Please take a minute and share! I would love to hear of other examples of how you use intention (or whatever your particular focus is) to positively influence your physical self.
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What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet. -Woody Allen
Bryan,
Interesting topic. I am currently living proof of the negative effects of the kind of thinking you are talking about. I am really depressed about my body right now. I think that my negative self-talk is manifesting itself in the form of mounting injuries that are starting to spiral out of control right now. Also, having a new child and being subsequently sleep-deprived, it is really hard to fake a positive attitude.
Your experience with being all out of whack from playing with the kids is not an uncommon experience, except that I can't really pass them off after a fun-filled, tough night of horseplay. One thing I have definitely noticed is how many chronic injuries have cropped up since I had kids.
So, according to your post, I should be able to hit the reset button on my mind and start to heal my body. Do you have any particular mental drills that you recommend? Maybe my body needs more than this, but an attitude change may be a good start.
Incidentally, sleep has always been a huge problem of mine. I correct it with Ambien, which works very well for me when I do it. I would love to not need it though. I couldn't imagine life without an alarm clock!
Yes, I have an awareness routine that I go through before sleep. It is similar to what we do at the end of a yoga class - Savasana (pronounced shuh-VAH-suh-nuh)which translates as 'corpse pose'.
Since inhalation is connected with muscular contraction, and exhalation is connected with muscular release, we link any tension in the body with the breath, and let it leave with each exhale. As we lie flat on our backs, we begin scanning our bodies for tension, beginning with the toes and slowly moving the awareness up the body one section at a time, ending at the crown of the head. It is easier to release tension in sections at first. Also, it is important if in bed to position the body in such a way that full release doesn't put the body into any contortions or uncomfortable posititions. This can be a bit more challenging (or less!) if you are not sleeping alone. There are actually some really nice spooning positions that can encourage full release as well. Experiment!
Eventually this relaxed state can happen in just a few seconds. I have found that the very LAST part of my body that wants to let go are my glutes. Can't tell you why. Maybe I'm a tight-ass or something. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
The muscle of the mind must also release. This is sometimes a bigger problem than the physical muscles. For this I recommend listening to a lecture by my first physiology teacher. Regardless of my energy level, one minute of his drone would transport me to alpha state. I'm sure you have someone in your history that invoked that response. Perhaps a quick visualization of them would do the trick.
Anyway, I wish you a happy and restful release tonight! (even if it is only for ten minutes in between the baby's cries!)
Without a doubt I have experienced this. If I make the intention to get up at a certain time, almost always will I wake up at said time. If I don't, like you said, I won't and will wake up usually less restfully and with some stiffness if my back (don't ask me why).
Don't know why or how it works, but I never underestimate the power of the mind in regards to the body and to healing.
Originally posted by Jean-Paul: Incidentally, sleep has always been a huge problem of mine. I correct it with Ambien, which works very well for me when I do it. I would love to not need it though. I couldn't imagine life without an alarm clock!
Oh, man, you caught my eye with the Ambien. My wife took that for a while and, despite what the doctor told her, it was NOT a good thing for her to be taking that for very long. She became essentially addicted in that she couldn't sleep well without it and had to just do the cold-turkey thing to get off it. JP, I don't know all the details of your situation and am not qualied to evaluate them if I did. Yep, you definitely need your sleep to keep up with all that's on your plate and I'm truly sorry that this is a problem for you but I did want to express my concern based on our experience.
I rarely have any problem sleeping and tend to wake up at the same time each day... all pretty routine and don't need to change it much. However, I do know that if there's something out of the ordinary that really catches my focus, such as knowing that I need to get up early to catch a flight or something, then I will usually wake up before the alarm anyway. When I took yoga many years ago, I remember being instructed to visualize a clock face with the hands set to the time you wanted to wake up.
This past weekend I visited with Andrea Fournet of 'Yoga with Andrea' which is seen on AETN/PBS on Sunday afternoons at 4:00pm. ((Blatant plug: you can hear my music on there each week, and if you're watching regularly, you'll see my mug on there from time to time.))
She told me that both her husband and daughter suffered from insomnia on a regular basis, and they tried everything, including ambien. They found a solution that I want to share with you now. They studied a book called "Say Goodnight to Insomnia" by Gregg D. Jacobs, Ph.D. She said the information in that book made all the difference in the world in their understanding of this sleep disorder, and in their ability to get a good night's rest.
I haven't read the book, so I must refrain from comment. If any of you have read it and have an opinion, please share!
I hope you all have a happy and joyous holiday season.
____________
Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort. -Charles Dickens
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I have heard you can call upon energy in the collective unconscious of the universe to do things like this. Others call it synchronicity: I think, "I would like to learn more about creativity" and the next day you meet someone who teaches art. Others would simply ascribe it to coincidence.
Has it happened to me? Yes, absolutely. And you know what? The more I call upon it, the more I find it happening.
Great concept. I really enjoy reading C.G. Jung and that is a concept that he has really explored. I agree, at the risk of sounding "new-agey," about the events of our lives not being coincidental.
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Even with those coincidences, or whatever we choose to call them, they key, I think, is to take advantage of them. There is a reason these people show up, these things keep recurring, ideas come to us. The key is to be in tune with them, and to place ourselves in a position to respond positively when they do occur.
Sounds like kismet, karma, predestination....whatever you want to call it. Sometimes you gotta think that what was meant to be was meant to be. I think it is your attitude that determines if it is viewed as a positive or negative. I remember reading an article that stated that those who have a deep abiding faith in a higher entity (God, for most of us), whether they were religious or not in a formal sense, had a more positive outlook and would put a more positive 'spin' when trying events happened to them. Some call that perspective. Whatever it is called, a positive attitude will certainly enable you to be more constructive and enthusiastic about tackling the trying event head on. Even non-religious here-and-now types of personalities can recognize that.
So I think I am agreeing with you Fish. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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In a sense...but, I don't believe in predestination. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, so forgive me if I ramble...here goes: It's too fatalistic, and it's in direct conflict with my belief in a benevolent God. As I think about it, salvation and damnation would be predetermined, and that's just too bitter a pill to swallow.
I think thisngs are presented to us as choices, and we can choose either A or B. The choice has to be ours, though. I also believe that we can call upon God (higher power?) to provide us with certain things...sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no.
But, I also beleive we can move things with our will, that we can exert influence on the things and people in our lives, through our thoughts, our actions, etc.
Like I said, it's all a little fuzzy still--does any of this make sense?
Yes, and I guess it's a matter of perspective. If you were religious, the predestination would be known only to God, as He would be the only one who would have knowledge of everything to come. Come to think of it, he would be outside of time, having created it, and therefore, there would be no 'to come' or future for him. I mean, He's God. [img]smile.gif[/img] For us though, time is a constant and unalterable dimension...however, we know that theoretically it is alterable (thanks Einstein) and that brings in the definite possibility of controlling time: i.e. if God is outside of that dimension, it is just another variable for Him, in the way the four directions are variable to us, right?
So, if you are still following my kindergarten-level philosophical ramblings: The idea of predestination isn't really a useful one for us, except to use as a method to cope when things happen to us that we can't explain. Since we don't know the future and are locked in time, our options still exist and since there is not way we could know, if you assume God does, what will happen (is predestined) you can only try your best and struggle as you can. Precisely because the future is unknown to us.
Anyway, that's the way my mind, trained in a little physics and math, looks at the problem of predestination that exists in most major religions.
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