Seeing The Good

People do things.

Often enough people do things I don't like.  I used to give a lot of attention to internally grumbling about all the things I would think people were doing, why they shouldn't, and what they should be doing instead.

One day a coconut hit me on the head, I saw a tunnel of scintillating light which filled me with a peace beyond all imagining, and my disease of judgment was permanently and forever cured.

Okay, not really.

Actually, none of that happened.

I gradually became aware that all the judgments of different sizes and shapes were basically pissing away my lifeforce, and with it my happiness.  A tremendous amount of the energy being cultivated by my spiritual practices was being eaten up by the energy of judgement.

One day, nearly two years ago I decided to do something about it.  As a Capricorn, I tend to like structures.  Not confining structures, not imposed structures, but strong supportive structures that I can stand on and see further, stretch my wings a little wider.

I'd heard about A Course In Miracles for years, and after reading another book that references the Course through and through called "The Disappearance Of The Universe" by Gary Renard, I was sold.  The Course, in particular it's Workbook, lays out one year of short daily lessons that lead the sincere practitioner through reasons not to judge, the power of forgiveness, and ultimately the realization that nothing ever happened to forgive in the first place.  It reveals that the idea of something being wrong in the first place is a flaw in perception, and that by healing perception, one is free from judgment.

It works.

I diligently went through the daily lessons, practicing these points of view for the entire year.  And yesterday, I got to see some of the fruit of all this practicing.

Yesterday was a Monday.  For the last 3+ years, I've been trekking out to Desert Hot Springs to teach at We Care Spa and do private healing sessions with the guests.  People come from all over the world to cleanse, detoxify, heal, and retreat.

After teaching the morning breathwork class, I had some extra time between sessions and saw a voicemail on my iPhone from my Mom.  'Something's up,' I thought, 'Likely something intense.'

Sure enough, Mom left a very emotional voicemail that she'd just been told by her husband of fourteen years, and relationship partner of twenty years, that he'd been having an affair for some time.  He'd brought this woman into their home of ten years more than once when my Mom was away.  All this on top of being driven by very old wounds into addictive and reckless patterns around spending and online gambling.

She's my Mom.  I love her.  And I can be very protective, at the cost of my own lifeforce, over those I love.  At least that's how it's been in the past.

Somewhere within five to seven minutes of sitting with this revelation, I let go.  I was crystal clear that I was not going to help anyone, solve anything, or serve up some brand of equalizing justice by going into judgment and negative emotion.  These weren't mere thoughts, I felt them.  And I could feel my heart recognizing and choosing love.  Love for this man.  Love for my mother.  Love for myself.  Love.

I do not like what happened.  I don't wish it for anyone.  I do not like lying of any sort.  My Mom reminded me over and over again, while raising me, that she'd rather have me tell her the worst true thing I might've done, than to tell her the smallest lie.  "The truth," she'd say, "I can do something with.  A lie isn't real, so I can't do anything with it at all."

Within a short time, I was in back-to-back private sessions.  I wasn't going to cancel the sessions as people were counting on the healing.  Nor did I need to cancel them.  I don't need to be perfect or wait for the perfect conditions to help anyone heal.  I have the tools.

I could feel the visceral support of all my past practices rising up to be recognized, and engaged to stay open, to anchor deeper into love, to let all the swirling thought forms and emotions MOVE.  As I continued to breathe, soften my body, and remain PRESENT, all the inner dialogue about my step-father just melted into pure energy.

I know in my bones that he didn't choose the affair to consciously be malicious.  Just as his spending patterns were not consciously chosen.  His past unhealed pain, the insecurity he carries and hasn't released, manipulates his thoughts and emotions into actions that promise freedom, release, happiness, and pleasure, but only lead to more suffering and tighter bondage around his life and his heart.

How do I know all of this?  I'm human.  I've watched the same patterns in myself and thousands of people.  We're not all that different from one-another, have you stopped to notice?  There really aren't that many different varieties, just variations on a number of similar themes.

All in all, I was still a bit shocked, pleasantly shocked, but shocked nonetheless at the peace and freedom I was feeling with all of this.  Not only that, but I was vibrating more intensely with energy than ever.  And all of this was completely relevant in various deep ways to the healing sessions that day.

When I got to speak with my Mom live, I let her know I was holding a space for her to feel whatever would arise emotionally.  I also encouraged her to notice and release the urges to project anger and judgment or any attempts to exact pain or revenge in subtle or obvious ways.  "There's a heavy psychic cost to that way of operating," I told her, "And if it's freedom you want, if it's love you want, it's got to start with how you walk through this.  Feel your feelings without suppressing anything.  And remember all the good times you had together.  Those really happened.  Don't shred those.  Use them to anchor in your choices to be peaceful and come from love.  From these perspectives, you're going to have a much easier time knowing what to do, when to do it, and how.  You'll have much clearer, stronger boundaries and guidance from Intuition as you're taking the steps to starting your new life."

I also encouraged her to ask all the people she's sharing the stories with to choose to send positive prayers out to this man.  Sending anger and judgment will only magnify the cause of the addictions and lying into other future dramas.

She'll have easy moments with this, and challenging moments.  I'm certain that this is one of the best things that could happen to her.  The Universe doesn't mess with people for sport.  Egos do that.  With all the tremendous Grace that's circling around my Mom from friends, family, and colleagues, she'll come out of this a new woman.  She'll emerge from this fire as the expansive phoenix that's been living within her all along.  She's brave, beautiful, powerful, and gifted.

People do things.  We like some things, we don't like other things.  Perspective is everything.

Seeing the good takes cojones.  Practice makes it easier.

The Source of Happiness is Within (Short-Cuts part III)

Before my weekly trek out to teach at We Care Spa in Desert Hot Springs this morning, I was reading an article my friend and mentor David Elliott sent me from Buddhist Monk, Matthieu Ricard.  In it, he distinguishes a fundamental difference between pleasure and happiness.  He references pleasure as something that mostly comes from contact between the senses and objects and situations of desire.  Pleasures have to be repeated, he notes.  

Happiness, on the other hand, is an inside job.  It's a quality of our True Nature.  Not the nature of the ego, or the mind, or the emotions (which are all very related as one large mechanism known in Sanskrit as antahkarana).  

So as I'm getting closer to Desert Hot Springs, I'm thinking about short-cuts in reference to Ricard's article. It seems so obvious in the moment -- short-cuts are nearly always about seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, with some seen or unseen urgency around making it happen NOW.  

Without having cultivated habits around looking within for happiness, or even knowing it could be there, it's incredibly natural to look outside for something to do, a person to connect with, a object to buy, or something along those lines to experience the energy spike that comes with pleasure.  One of the challenges with this is that once is rarely ever enough.  If it feels good, the ego wants it again, and likely with stronger intensity to the experience.  If the experience costs money, and there isn't any, the ego feels justified in using credit to buy the experience.  

At some point the emotional, financial, and spiritual debt reaches a peak and starts moving in to collect on the debt.  

In my own case, as I've been paying off the financial part of accrued debt (just recently passed the half-way mark and can feel the light at the end of the tunnel), I've been amazed at the impact on my intuition, emotions, and physical stamina.  In my experience, the states of emotion and mind I were in at the time of delaying payment by using credit were also put on a delay.  In taking the short-cut through using credit, I wasn't aware of the ways I was suppressing my own confidence and happiness and cultivating a stronger habit of looking outside for happiness.  

I'm not suggesting that credit is bad.  It can be a very positive thing when used consciously and positively.  Good and bad are human ego judgments that don't have much relativity outside the human realm (ie; in nature -- find me a good tree and a bad tree...no such thing!).

Short-Cuts.  The seduction to take short-cuts is everywhere.  Whole industries are predicated on making life experiences faster, cheaper, and more readily available.  Again, that's not good or bad.  However, there are costs to it all (see http://thestoryofstuff.com).

This afternoon, I felt some pretty strong pulls on my energy and they're connected to some unpleasant feelings.  My knee-jerk impulse was to want to call someone who I could talk about it all with and be done with the feelings.  If I feel better after the call, but haven't myself digested the emotions, what happened?  The other person psychically begins carrying them through empathy if he or she doesn't have the priceless discipline to remain neutral.  It's a short-cut.  But at some point, someone somewhere down the line has to do the spade work of sitting down and fully digesting the emotions (and/or sending them back to their source if picked up empathically).  

Yep, I did try to reach a couple of friends.  And I'm happy to say I didn't reach either of them.  I sensed what was happening with me, and chose to slow my attention down, slow my breathing, and tune into what I was feeling.  In the slowing down, it's easier for me to recognize self-love within.  As soon as I can detect the feeling of self-love, I can focus on it.  At that point, I have to stay focused.  My thoughts seductively attempt to draw me back into the sped-up familiarity of the negative emotions.  As I bring my attention to feeling my feet and deepening my breath, a smile cuts loose across my face.  

How strange, I think, to be feeling happiness and discomfort at the same time.  And yet here it is.  I don't need to get anyone to carry my discomfort in order to find freedom.  All I need to do is slow down enough to be present with myself and just observe what I'm feeling as pure sensations.  When I look at them in this way, they disperse fairly quickly.  My next task is to continue staying present, rather than get involved in thoughts about the past.  My thoughts about the past only have an impact on the present when I'm entertaining them in the present.  And I've noticed that when any negative emotion is up, it seems to color the memories of the past in such a way as to convince me to feel worse. 

Happiness, while already existing within, is a discipline for me.  It takes conscious, continuous discipline to choose happiness and stay present (which I'm experiencing more an more as being intimately related; presence and happiness).  

In chatting to one friend who's a gifted professional dancer on the way back from the desert this morning about some of these themes, I mentioned my hesitation about having a conversation like this with some folks as some would say I'm over-thinking things, over-analyzing.  Yet, we discussed, there's often a profound difference between the skill and awareness level of Michael Jackson's dancing and someone in a video dance jam class at their local gym.  There's a difference at the level of interest in and passion for precision that comes from countless hours of cultivated discipline.  

When it comes to the journey of Awakening and all the indwelling happiness, joy, and love to be recognized in the process, it seems to me that cultivating interest and skill in precise Awareness is my part in what allows for these highly sought-after qualities to be recognized and consistently experienced.

Connecting The Dots Around Short-Cuts

It's been a fascinating ride for a long time now, and an especially focused ride with a lot of surprises and twists and turns in the last several weeks as I've been preparing for this morning's Global Healer Group with David Elliott on "Psychic Boundaries", with my home as one of the locations for it.

I set a very strong intention after reading David's focus for the group:  To have clear, strong, boundaries based in abiding self-love and to take a big leap deeper with my capacities to work with intuition that's based clearly from the heart, from love that is Universal, rather than emotionally based.

Little did I know how clearly Life was listening, and the speed with which it would bring me circumstances so far outside of my experience, and seemingly out of the clear blue sky (even though I keep being reminded that there just aren't any accidents).

I'm more than pleased with how I'm noticing more and more support from within to keep reaching through the discomfort in a handful of situations and choosing to feel love from within.  Even when the felt sense of love has felt like a tiny grain of sand, I know that once I slow down and focus, it's not long before the feeling expands.

Cultivating the ability to recognize and feel love seems less an issue at the moment, thankfully.  Remaining fully anchored there is still a work-in-progress.

As I look backwards (yes, Mom, you're so right about hindsight always being twenty-twenty) at the moments when I've felt stuck, heavy, depressed, angry, afraid, or sad, they all have a similar feel to them.  I sense them like textures, and this particular texture is the same, irrespective of which negative emotion it's attempting to stimulate in me.  It's heavy, dark, intends to appear immovable, knows how to create confusion and drama, and withdraws in the presence of real love.

My relationship with this heavy teacher (yes, I choose to see it as a teacher rather than adversary), feels like it goes back as far as my consciousness has had some form of existence.

Generally, it seems to come into my space in costume.  Meaning, it often has a very different initial appearance than the less than positive ways I've described it above.

One of its many enticing costumes over the years has been to present me with the opportunity to get something I think I want very quickly, and with little to no effort.  The absence of the need for effort or patience can make whatever it's promising (historically:  money, love, intimacy, respect, and being appreciated, recognized, and included), appear to have a certain sparkle or glamour that appeals to my ego.

It HAS to appeal deeply to my ego to get my attention.  And it has had to be sneaky of late to get my interest in what would seem like unfamiliar ways.  It can't actually look like a short-cut, as I'm on the lookout for those and cultivating my discernment with these trojan horses.  It will try to look like something I've wanted, like say a really ready-to-go relationship.  And in a case like that, it'll have the potential partner be incredibly appealing to my ego so that when this person so emphatically tells me how amazing, how beautiful, how hot, how smart, how talented I am, that I'll take the bait.

Why is it bait?  I didn't grow up thinking I was beautiful, hot, or amazing.  And there are still holdouts through my memories of growing up with these insecurities.  So these "tantalizing" opportunities will do their best to offer to erase my past pain by filling me up with another person's need, want, and desire for me.

I'm not interested anymore.  The glamour is wearing off.  I'm beginning to see the pumpkin masquerading as a Maserati sooner and sooner each time.

And because everything in this vast world of duality is generally a mirror, I'm becoming more and more cognizant of the places where I have let the little boy in me think he was being loved through a person's infatuation with the tremendous energy the accompanies the work I do personally and professionally.  I'm learning to discern the difference between infatuation and readiness.  I'm studying it more closely than ever.

Getting deeply involved very quickly with someone who is merely infatuated with me based purely on the externals of appearance or life-circumstances, or glamoured by the energy associated with the work is a short-cut.  It's a temporary gratification to my ego, that has a tremendous cost to my personal energy when the obvious need to de-escalate the romance arises and drama of one sort or another ensues.

The closer relationships in my life require me to be very conscious, and I'm setting a stronger filter for that consciousness to be reciprocal and based in self-love.

As a very clear example, and a strong communication from me to the Universe, I said to a friend this afternoon, "I no longer wish or need or am willing to date anyone who needs healing from me."  I am no longer willing to let my work be an enticing pull to be in relationship with me as a friend or a lover.  While I recognize that we all will continue to grow in relationship with each other, it is not my job, my interest, nor am I willing to be holding the role of the healer in my close relationships.

This is something I have used in the past as a short-cut to connect with the appearance of Love.  As my experience of self-love continues to expand beyond my wildest dreams, I'm far less seduceable in these ways.  On the heels of these last several weeks studying boundaries with a more refined magnifying glass, I'm definitely not interested in being seduced by anything that doesn't know Love.

Someone recently asked me, "Why aren't you trying to 'sell' me on working with you?"

I said, "Well, for starters, for this work to go anywhere, you need to be sold on working with yourself.  My job is to be a witness, not a salesman.  When the time is right for someone to engage with this kind of work, they know it, they feel it, and their Spirit nudges them along to the best places to do the work."

I don't want anyone dependent on me for a sense of self.  At some point they'll resent it, and get aggressive about it.

AND, selling anyone on working with me is an attempt to take a short-cut in expanding my work short-term.

It's far cleaner for me to love myself, focus my awareness on deepening and expanding this self-love, and in the words of one of my great teachers over the years, "Let what comes come, and let what goes go."

By the way, that last quote is not at all about being passive.  It's not about being a victim of life's circumstances and just sucking it up.

The quote depends on a foundation of self-worth and self-knowledge which recognizes that everything truly lasting and worth having comes from the openings around abiding self-love.  Self-love leads to awakenings, joy, peace, and happiness that aren't based on better circumstances.  They're qualities of my True Nature.  No one can give them to me.  No one and nothing can take them away.  It's my job to let these qualities live me fully, and from there to enjoy letting what comes come, and what goes go.

It's fine to take time open-heartedly exploring a situation before signing any binding contracts, physically or energetically.  It may not feel like an exciting short-cut, but it may just preserve a tremendous amount of life-force down the road.  I'm worth it.  So are You!

David Elliott's Level 1 Healer Training ~ Nov 13-14 in Brooklyn, NY

Would you like to learn powerful efficient tools for taking big leaps in refining and trusting your Intuition, healing yourself, healing others, & deepening Self-Love as a gateway to expanding Freedom?

Join us on November 13 & 14th in Greenpoint, Brooklyn where I’ll be teaching David Elliott’s Level 1 Healer Training.  If you’ve already taken the class, you’re invited to review it at half-price.  Between taking the class and teaching it, I’ve jumped into the material well over 25 times, and I’m always amazed at how much more I soak up each time.


Here’s what David Elliott (creator of the Healer Training Series) has to say about the Level 1 Class:

“This 2 day course gives you the basic tools of this technique. Ideally students have read the book or listened to the audio of THE RELUCTANT HEALER and HEALING and become familiar with the written information prior to the start of the class.  Once the class begins the process of understanding and connecting to your energy and intuition is initiated.  The first technique used to connect you to your energy is an ancient breathing technique known as pranayama yoga. This technique has been fine-tuned by David with over twenty years of practice and use in healing. Just the breathing training alone will give the participants an incredibly powerful tool. There will be much practical application working with the breath during this 2-day course.  Simultaneously you will be learning how to access your intuition through the openings that occur with the breathing - which will provide you with an unobstructed pathway to spirit. The intuition exercises have been specifically created for this class. Your connection to spirit will be powerful. Spirit always shows up as you learn to access it though your energy!  Once this connection is made you will learn how to work with energy to bring about your own healing. This is accomplished by clearing the blocks on physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. And finally the healing work segues into an understanding of how to work with others. You will have a partner each day to work and share your gifts with. Each person's gifts and talents are brought out to establish originality with each healer. The whole class is a lot of fun!”

"After watching Scott teach the class I realize there are parts of the class he teaches better than me. If you have any desire to be a healer take this class, you will learn a lot about yourself, your intuition, and healing!" David Elliott


When:  Saturday & Sunday, November 13-14, 2010
Time:   9am-4pm  (arrive early to avoid being late)

Where:  97 Green Street Apt G3
            Greenpoint, Brooklyn 11222
            (718) 757-2758

Exchange:  $475 ($425 if paid-in-full by Nov 1, 2010).  **Payment Plans are available for this class.

How to Register: Call Scott on 310-922-4890 or send an email to scott@trustthebreath.com, I’ll give you complete payment instructions.

Bring: A Notebook and Pen, Folded blanket or yoga mat, Eye Pillow if you have one, and any healing tools you may have (oils, sage, etc. and don’t worry if you don’t yet have any.)  We'll move between sitting on the floor and laying down for the breath meditations.  If you tend to get chilly, bring a warmer layer to put on.

Directions:  You can take the G train to the Greenpoint avenue stop and exit the train station towards India street.  You will be on Manhattan avenue.  From there cross India street and continue walking north on Manhattan for two blocks. Turn left onto Green street. We are the cream colored warehouse at the end of the block. There are many doors on this building.  Ours says 97 Green Street Apt G3.

Love,
Scott
(310) 922-4890
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

Awakening The Net of Support ~ ECSTATIC BREATHWORK This Sunday~ 10/3 5:30-7pm @The Hub

Sunday, October 3rd ~ 5:30pm-7pm ~ The Hub (West LA) 

Net of Support or Web of Illusion ~ The Gift of Clarity

There’s a potent teaching story from India that’s been handed down through the generations.  It’s about cultivating what in Sanskrit is called ‘Viveka’ or ‘Discrimination’.  The story talks about a dirt road outside of a rural village at night.  Walking along this road, up ahead appears something long, large, and ominous laying across the road.  Is it one of the jungle’s enormous snakes waiting to make you into dinner?  Or is it a large length of rope that fell off a wagon passing through the village?  The mind is so creative...if it believes the object is a dangerous snake, watch the thoughts and emotions is spins, pushing adrenaline through the body.  If the mind sees a rope, all remains calm.

We’ve all got circumstances.  We’ve all got other humans in our lives.  And most of all, we’ve got ourselves all day every day.  When the Light of Discrimination is Awakened, Intuition and Clarity are available as part of a vast and potent Net of Support that is felt, recognized, and let in.  When this lamp of discrimination is not lit, or dim, any one of us can get caught in the Web of Illusion.

This Sunday, we’ll work with the breath, and more specifically, the profound Awareness that moves on the breath to brighten this Light of Discrimination and Clarity.  And here’s an extra tidbit ~ Self-Love is both fuel and an outcome of this Light!  Join us!!

Breath Deep. Heart Awake. Body Soft. Attention Clear and Present.

Join Us.

When:       SUNDAY night 10/3/10  5:30-7pm   
                    ((Arrive early to avoid being late))
Exchange:       $35
Where:      The Hub (http://thehub-la.com)
                    2001 S Barrington Ave, Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90025-5363 US
                    { S Barrington Ave between LaGrange and Mississippi }
                    Entrance for the Hub is located on street level at the ground floor of the
                    parking structure located on South Barrington Avenue.
Bring:          Yoga mat and/or blanket-we'll be sitting on the floor at first then lying down
                     for the breathwork.
RSVP:        You can reserve your spot through The Hub  310-575-4200


These ECSTATIC BREATHWORKSHOPS are nothing less than a journey deeper into the experience and expression of who and what you are, a journey into the Heart of Freedom within.  Through a simple and powerful breathing meditation, you gain and deepen the tools for seeing past your former limitations, gain muscle for being your own best ally, teacher, and healer, and deeply taste a place free of insecurity, full of self-love.

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk   

Self-Love ~ The Ultimate Short-Cut

In the last several days, my past has been coming back to revisit me.  As I sit here at my desk watching my breath, grounding deeper into the Earth, feeling the sensations in my body in this moment....the dots are connecting with more lucidity.  I've been clearing a considerable amount of credit card debt this month, which for me represents places in my past where I used the short-cut of credit to get something in the moment that I didn't have the resources to purchase with cash.  Bear with me here, as I'm choosing to look much deeper than the surface of things where credit and debt are considered normal and a regular part of life for so many.  I'm choosing to look deeper than ever at my relationship with resources, and how the amount of flow of resources through my life is correlate to the depth of my trust and love in my Self.

A handful of people have been surfacing over the last few days with whom I'd had situations in the past at times when my sense of self was projected so much more onto how the world thought of me...or at least how I felt the world thought of me.  In each of these cases, I made decisions out of suppressed insecurity in the moment.  In a couple of cases, they were decisions to engage in purchases or deals where my part of the exchange would be handled "later".  Basically, on credit.  In both cases, my ego seduced me into believing that the service or product was urgently needed, and would dramatically improve the quality of my life.  And in both cases, in retrospect, I would've been fine without said "improvements" or waiting until I had the funds.

In these cases, the psychic energy coming to me has felt draining and more than a little aggressive.  It's definitely getting my attention and cause for me to slow down, pay attention, and humbly ask my intuition to teach me...to bring me clarity so that I can recoup my energy, release the investments that left me open to these "feeding energies", and return to expansion and Love here and now.

Engaging in these deals without the funds combined with the strong "expectations" that these deals were going to somehow quickly save me from something, set me up to have my personal energy supply be wide open for feeding.  The antidote?  Self-Love.  My real-time, in-the-moment practice of connecting with self-love has become deep, strong, and continues to grow.  However, because I'm dealing with situations from the past, my practice has to be strong enough to be in the moment and fill the void of insecurity lurking from the past.  It requires extra vigilance, extra clarity, extra neutrality, and extra self-love.

This is all coming to light as I'm preparing myself for David Elliott's next Global Healing Group on October 10th focusing on Psychic Boundaries.  As he mentions in the invitation letter, really consciously dealing with Psychic Boundaries is the steepest gradient.  It's steep because it's not obvious to most of us, most of the time.  We've been so easily distracted by the surface of life, and by the idea that happiness is something to be gotten in transactions with the outer world and the people in it, rather than an innate quality of the Self revealed through abiding self-love.

So I've been more focused than ever these last couple of days in noticing the thoughts crossing my mind...noticing which people come to mind, how often, and what happens to my energy when thoughts of them arise.  If my energy expands with a thought, I know it's probably based in Love.  If my energy sinks or dissipates, I know the exchange is off, and that I must go deeper into self-love as I'm setting these psychic boundaries.

As I've been paying off debt again, I'm noticing a lot more frequency in the last two days of thoughts of people that come with a drop in my energy.  This morning, the clarity from my intuition is strong.  It's showing me that I'm revisiting places in my consciousness, places that in the past I've pulled away from out of insecurity...I'm being given fresh opportunities in these areas to stay present, deepen my breath, connect with the feeling self-love, and remain neutral...even when, and especially when I'm uncomfortable or feeling triggered toward negative emotion.  As I choose love through the discomfort, I'm building stronger muscles for freedom.  As I choose love, I see more clearly that it's only the ego that is uncomfortable.  Love is my True Nature, and Love itself is content in itself.  I'm re-orienting more of my attention to the Truth of who and what I am.

For now it's a process.  I choose to make deeper peace with the process.  I choose Peace.  I'm demonstrating these choices to myself in the moment by consciously breathing into the old empty crevices with self-love, self-trust, self-appreciation, and recognition in the moment of who and what I am.

It turns out that Self-Love is the ultimate short-cut.  The ego will likely always think otherwise.  And in the words of Adyashanti, "Ego is always pretending to be the most important thing going on."

LOVE,
Scott

"Embracing The Unknown" ~ This Friday 8-9:30pm, Ecstatic Breathwork at The Hub

In the Tantric scriptures of Kashmir, Knowledge is revealed as being either limited and bound (which gives rise to suffering) or Living Knowledge which gives rise to Freedom.  Learning to let go of limited knowledge through trust, surrender, and embrace of the unknown makes SPACE for Living Knowledge to be revealed with in, and with it, all the ecstasy, joy, love, and freedom we’ve been seeking through so many externals.  Come dive in!

FRIDAY, September 17th 8-9:30pm  ~ EMBRACING THE UNKNOWN;
ECSTATIC BREATHWORK at The Hub

In the Heart of the Unknown, the alchemy of transformation, Awakening, and truly LIVING await.  Intellectual knowing is all accumulated from the past, and has its place...and it won’t reveal that Inner Splendor at the Heart of Who and What you are.  For that, you must Trust yourself enough let go of the known and dive into the awesome, the Heart of Freedom, the Unknown.  It’s the safest place of all in this free-fall.  We’ll focus intention and the power of this Ecstatic Breathwork to reveal and let go into this Inner Splendor in all it’s glory!


Breath Deep. Heart Awake. Body Soft. Attention Clear.

Join Us.

These workshops are for all levels of experience and are nothing less than a tool for setting yourself free.  We’ll use a simple yet powerful breathing meditation as the linchpin for the work.  I call it ECSTATIC BREATHWORK.

When:       FRIDAY night 9/17/10  8-9:30pm  
                    ((Arrive early to avoid being late))
Exchange:       $35
Where:      The Hub (http://thehub-la.com)
                    2001 S Barrington Ave, Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90025-5363 US
                    { S Barrington Ave between LaGrange and Mississippi }
                    Entrance for the Hub is located on street level at the ground floor of the
                    parking structure located on South Barrington Avenue.
Bring:          Yoga mat and/or blanket-we'll be sitting on the floor at first then lying down
                     for the breathwork.
RSVP:        You can reserve your spot through The Hub  310-575-4200


These ECSTATIC BREATHWORKSHOPS are nothing less than a journey deeper into the experience and expression of who and what you are, a journey into the Heart of Freedom within.  Through a simple and powerful breathing meditation, you gain and deepen the tools for seeing past your former limitations, gain muscle for being your own best ally, teacher, and healer, and deeply taste a place free of insecurity, full of self-love.

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk  

The Ecstasy of Relationships ~ An Ecstatic Breathwork Intensive at Virayoga in Soho, this Sat 8/28 1:30-3pm

There’s plenty of room for YOU in this Saturday’s Ecstatic Breathwork Intensive at Virayoga in Soho.  Today’s the last day for the early registration discount ($60 pre-reg / $75 at the door).  You can pre-register by emailing reserve@virayoga.com or calling (212) 334-9960.  It’s a large space, so we have plenty of room for last-minute deciders to show up as well :)

Ecstasy of Relationship ~ Deeper Freedom In and Through All Relationships
Releasing the past, trusting the future, coming in the moment with Self-Love.  An afternoon of Ecstatic Breathwork and specific exercises to Awaken and deepen your capacity for Self-Love and Freedom in every relationship and interaction.

When:  Saturday, August 28th
Time:   1:00pm-3:30pm  (arrive early to avoid being late)

Where:  Virayoga
            580 Broadway (btw Prince and Houston)
            New York, NY 10012
            (212) 334-9960

Exchange:  $60 Pre-Registered by August 27th ($75 day of event)

Bring: A notebook and pen, water bottle, folded blanked or yoga mat, and eye-pillow if you have one.  We'll be alternating between sitting on the floor for the group work and laying down for the breathing meditations.  If you tend to get chilly, bring a warmer layer to put on.



Love,
Scott
(310) 922-4890http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.comhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

Accelerated LEVEL 1 Healer Training Class in West Hollywood ~ FRIDAY, August 20th 9am-5pm

FRIDAY, August 20th ~ Accelerated LEVEL 1 Healer Training Class
   On Friday, August 20th from 9am-5pm, I’ll be teaching David Elliott’s LEVEL 1 HEALER TRAINING class at my home in West Hollywood as a 1-day intensive.  


(This is the perfect thing to prepare those of you who'd like to step into the Level 2 Class with David Sat/Sun Aug 21/22.)

Whether you're looking for deeper healing and capacity for Self-Love, and/or are feeling ready for more tools to help others, this class is for you, and a lot of FUN!

The Intention for this class is: "To bring out your gifts as a healer so you can heal yourself and others, and to give you tools and practical experience doing healing work that will solidify confidence in your own gifts, thus increasing your ability to see, hear, feel and intuit the truth."  

"After watching Scott teach the class I realize there are parts of the class he teaches better than me. If you have any desire to be a healer take this class, you will learn a lot about yourself, your intuition, and healing!"  ~ David Elliott

If you ever find yourself with people, this class is for YOU!  $275.  To reserve your place, please reply to this email or call (310) 922-4890.    

The Doorway to FREEDOM is Always Open ~ ECSTATIC BREATHWORK This Sunday~ 8/1 @The Hub

Sunday, August 1st ~ 5:30pm-7pm ~ The Hub (West LA) 

The Doorway to FREEDOM is Always Open

In any given day, the moment is brimming with doorways to recognizing and experiencing deeper FREEDOM within.  So often the ego keeps us reaching outside to control and manipulate circumstances and interactions from a place of insecurity, a place of hidden constriction around the Heart.

This Sunday, we’ll look at these simple doorways (practices) to opening the Heart and stepping into a place of Spaciousness, Ease, Freedom, and abiding Self-Love that expands exponentially with Attention and Practice.

Breath Deep. Heart Awake. Body Soft. Attention Clear and Present.

Join Us.

When:       SUNDAY night 8/1/10  5:30-7pm   
                    ((Arrive early to avoid being late))
Exchange:       $35
Where:      The Hub (http://thehub-la.com)
                    2001 S Barrington Ave, Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90025-5363 US
                    { S Barrington Ave between LaGrange and Mississippi }
                    Entrance for the Hub is located on street level at the ground floor of the
                    parking structure located on South Barrington Avenue.
Bring:          Yoga mat and/or blanket-we'll be sitting on the floor at first then lying down
                     for the breathwork.
RSVP:        You can reserve your spot through The Hub  310-575-4200


These ECSTATIC BREATHWORKSHOPS are nothing less than a journey deeper into the experience and expression of who and what you are, a journey into the Heart of Freedom within.  Through a simple and powerful breathing meditation, you gain and deepen the tools for seeing past your former limitations, gain muscle for being your own best ally, teacher, and healer, and deeply taste a place free of insecurity, full of self-love.

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk   

Miracles Are Seen In Light ~ ECSTATIC BREATHWORK This Friday~ 6/11, 8-9:30pm @The Hub

Friday, June 11th ~ 8:00pm-9:30pm ~ The Hub (West LA)

“Miracles Are Seen In Light”
 ~A Course In Miracles

“It is important to remember that miracles and vision necessarily go together.  The miracle is always there.  Its presence is not caused by your vision; it’s absence is not the result of your failure to see.  It is only your AWARENESS of miracles that is affected.  You will them in the light; you will not see them in the dark.”

This Friday night, we’ll continue working with attention, focus, and awareness.  The light you carry will never be more or less, it is what you are.  If you want to see it, you need to remove what’s covering it up.  This clearing process is a daily practice.  You become what you meditate on, you merge with the object of your focus.  This breathwork is a tool for “un-sticking” your awareness from illusions, and giving you the space and power to place your focus on Truth, Love, and Joy.  The Awareness of Truth, Love, and Joy as your True Nature IS the miracle.   

When:       FRIDAY night 6/11/10  8-9:30pm   
                    ((Arrive early to avoid being late))
Exchange:       $35
Where:      The Hub (http://thehub-la.com)
                    2001 S Barrington Ave, Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90025-5363 US
                    { S Barrington Ave between LaGrange and Mississippi }
                    Entrance for the Hub is located on street level at the ground floor of the
                    parking structure located on South Barrington Avenue.
Bring:          Yoga mat and/or blanket-we'll be sitting on the floor at first then lying down
                     for the breathwork.
RSVP:        You can reserve your spot through The Hub  310-575-4200


These ECSTATIC BREATHWORKSHOPS are nothing less than a journey deeper into the experience and expression of who and what you are, a journey into the Heart of Freedom within.  Through a simple and powerful breathing meditation, you gain and deepen the tools for seeing past your former limitations, gain muscle for being your own best ally, teacher, and healer, and deeply taste a place free of insecurity, full of self-love.

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk   

The Catalyst for Freedom ~ ECSTATIC BREATHWORK in Weho ~ Wed 5/12, 7:30-9pm

The Catalyst for Freedom

There’s a tremendous amount of energy afoot.  Have you noticed?  How you engage with it moment-to-moment determines the difference between freedom and suffering.

Breath Deep. Heart Awake. Body Soft. Attention Clear.

Join Us.

These workshops are for all levels of experience and are nothing less than a tool for setting yourself free.  We’ll use a simple yet powerful breathing meditation as the linchpin for the work.  I call it ECSTATIC BREATHWORK.

When:   Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
Time:       7:30-9:00pm

Exchange:   $40  (no one turned away)

Where:  1226 Havenhurst Dr. #9
                (Havenhurst is 1 block West of Crescent Heights between Santa Monica Blvd and Fountain Ave)

Parking:    It’s best to park at a meter on Santa Monica Blvd or in the West Hollywood City Lot just South of Santa Monica Blvd behind Out Of The Closet between Havenhurst and La Jolla.  The City Lot is $1 per hour in quarters.  Other meters in the area are free after 6pm.

RSVP:      Due to size of the space, please RSVP to hold your place.  If need be, we’ll start a waiting list. 24hrs cancellation by phone. (310) 922-4890

BRING:      A folded blanket and/or yoga mat to lay on for the breathing meditation, water, and a smile!

LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

Love Takes It Up a Notch ~ Ecstatic Breathwork @ The Hub ~ SUNDAY night 5/2/10 5:30-7pm

SUNDAY, May 2nd, 5:30-7PM  ~ JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT COUDN’T GET ANY DEEPER ~ Love Takes it Up a Notch,
ECSTATIC BREATHWORK at The Hub

“Let us be like two falling stars in the day sky.  Let no one know of our sublime beauty as we hold hands with God and burn into a sacred existence that defies — that surpasses every description of ecstasy and Love.”  ~Hafiz

These Ecstatic Breathworkshops are nothing less than a journey deeper into the experience and expression of who and what you are, a journey into the Heart of Freedom within.  

When:       SUNDAY night 5/2/10  5:30-7pm   
                    ((Arrive early to avoid being late))

Exchange:       $35

Where:      The Hub (http://thehub-la.com)
                    2001 S Barrington Ave, Suite 150, Los Angeles, CA 90025-5363 US
                    { S Barrington Ave between LaGrange and Mississippi }
                    Entrance for the Hub is located on street level at the ground floor of the
                    parking structure located on South Barrington Avenue.
Bring:          Yoga mat and/or blanket-we'll be sitting on the floor at first then lying down
                     for the breathwork.

RSVP:        You can reserve your spot through The Hub  310-575-4200

Love,
Scott
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

This Sunday, April 25th 4:30-6pm ~ Paving the Road to Self-Love, ECSTATIC BREATHWORK at Liberation Yoga

SUNDAY, April 25th 4:30-6pm,  ECSTATIC BREATHWORK at Liberation Yoga

PAVING THE ROAD TO SELF-LOVE, BRICK BY BRICK:  Revealing and Releasing the Illusions Behind Insecurity

These Ecstatic Breathworkshops are nothing less than a journey deeper into the experience and expression of who and what you are, a journey into the Heart of Freedom within.  Through a simple and powerful breathing meditation, you gain and deepen the tools for seeing past your former limitations, gain muscle for being your own best ally, teacher, and healer, and deeply taste a place free of insecurity, full of self-love.

DATE:            Sunday, April 25th, 2010
Time:             4:30pm - 6pm (come early to avoid being late)

Cost:              $44

Bring:            Yoga mat and/or blanket-we'll be sitting on the floor at first then lying down
                       for the breathwork.
Location:       Liberation Yoga
                      124 S. La Brea (btw 1st and 2nd)
                      Los Angeles, CA 90036

RSVP:           You can reserve your spot through Liberation Yoga  (323) 964-5222.


LOVE,
SCOTT
http://trustthebreath.com
http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com
http://huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk  

The Gap Between Knowing and Being

There are days like this one where I'm at a complete loss for how to rationalize the gluttonously nasty things human beings do to one another and our habitat on this planet.  It seems like destruction is a publicly traded commodity.  Kindness has become woo-woo.  Therapy, a way to band-aid the horrendous guilt, and narcotics, a way to sleep at night, only to wake to triple lattes as a replacement for crap sleep from the narcotics. 

It's a hamster wheel. 

I don't see an end in sight on days like this. 

We may very well create the end of the sustainability of the human race on this planet in my lifetime.

There's an ever-expanding fault-line gaping between what we truly know as right action and what we actually do with our time, money, and energy.  The race to get more of anything and everything faster than the competition to fill a bottomless hole is accelerating.  The snake is eating its own tail and we're so distracted as a race into hurrying towards something more, better, and different.

Three 46-minute sittings of meditation, an hour and a half of chanting, three hours of exercise, and a day filled with self-inquiry have not gotten the disgust and anxiety to abate.  I feel responsible for this mess.  I feel called to do something about it, and struggle with the notion of an ego driven to be lofted into heroism, rather than trust in a rooted altruism arising from my heart.  

It's amazing how the hue of nasty casts its shadow over every thought and feeling.

This too will lift.  It has come to pass.  

I'll hear some piece of music tomorrow, or the sound of the hummingbirds outside my window in the early hours, or read some status update on Facebook that restores my faith in humanity.  Or is it just more anesthesia?

What's the difference between burying my head in the sand and immersing myself in self-upliftment, self-realization?  Can I trust the mechanisms I have for seeing clearly the gap between knowing and being?  

Even as I write this, I know this is a visitation; the blossoming of stored old emotional energy enlivened the news on Uganda's proposed bill to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death.  

I know that the power of my days, months, and years of focused practice will burn up this distorted point of view in the ever-burning fires of Truth.  It will happen as surely as the Sun will rise in the morning.  

I will be infused with a new point of view:  one that has more space and compassion rooting through the crevices.  It comes because I have asked.  I have asked, and am never let down in sincere prayers like these.  I have not asked for the world to be rearranged overnight.  I have asked to see differently; to see in a way that is productive.  To see in a way that empowers actions based in Truth, motivated by trust, and marinated in knowing.

In the meantime, I sit.  I sit and attentively watch.  I move closer to the sensation of my breath, the simplicity of my body sensations, and the remembrance of all the ways I love myself.  Already I feel the shifting of the sands within.  

Writing brings its own release.  It's a way of participating without forcing change.  Reporting on the inner landscape without nailing myself to the cross for having these feelings reveals space.  In that space my breath deepens, and the healing expands.

The gap between knowing and being is my teacher.

Scott Schwenk

http://trustthebreath.com

http://scottschwenk.blogspot.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-schwenk

(HuffPost) Finding Ground in Mid Change

How many of you remember that old commercial in the late 70’s/early 80’s:

“How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie-roll pop?”

If I had a dollar for every time my mind had that kind of thought around my growth process, I’d be sitting on some huge cash reserves!  I don’t know about you, but for me, and most of the clients I’ve worked with, future growth can’t be calculated or measured like that.  Usually when my mind is asking for something like that, it’s really looking for some kind of certainty, some sense of solid ground on which to feel safe. 

Recently I’ve been looking and feeling deeper than ever into some of the core layers of ego inside of me; layers that can actively distort my thoughts and emotions about nearly anything if I’m not vigilant.   These are the layers of what some spiritual teachers call “inner division” – they create a feeling of being separate from the sense of well-being most people would say that strive to get to.  They create a feeling of being separated from love essentially.  Getting more specific, I’d call it self-love.

This afternoon while I was speaking with my friend and mentor, David Elliott, about his new book “Healing”, I was talking about my experience of working with the first exercise in the book – “Write down all the ways you love yourself.” 

I told David that generally my list starts with activities, things I’ve done to or for myself that would seem loving.  Yet my real sense of self-love is that it’s not based in actions, but is most definitely reflected in actions.  If I do not love myself while taking a shower, it’s just a mechanical act.  If I consciously actively love myself while showering, it’s a whole other experience that leaves me feeling expansive, refreshed, and full of joy.

It’s a feeling that I’m learning to cultivate and sense regardless of what I’m doing, or what’s happening around me.  If my love for me is dependent on any particular set of circumstances, my love will be absent without those situations.  If my willingness to move into flow and expansion is tied to what can be given to me, it can just as easily be taken away.

So far this might be sounding a little hard to wrap your head around and turn into practices that’ll abundantly reveal self-love.

For me some form of meditative practice is essential for revealing and experiencing the feeling of this love.  At the moment, it’s a daily practice of sitting two times a day, once in the morning and once later in the day for a minimum of about 23 minutes.  23 minutes hasn’t got any special significance that I know of, it just happens to be the length of the CD track I’m using for meditation.  Several times a week, I also practice the breathwork that I teach.  Both of these constitute meditation practices that quiet my mind and open me to experiencing profound expansion, relaxation, and moments of no thoughts of any kind.  There’s a palpable “Presence” that moves through my body like a buzz or humming feeling, the sense of feeling spaciousness in my cells, and an ease in my breath.

It’s also crucial for me to get some form of exercise daily.  I need a combination of working with weights (which help me feel strong, grounded, and solid in my body) and cardio (which also gets my breath moving deeply and into a rhythm – excellent on the days I haven’t practiced the breathwork).

Then throughout the day, when any thought arises that carries or stimulates some form of tension or negative emotion, I’ve learned to question the truth of the thought.  The best-selling author Byron Katie teaches that any thought that creates suffering indicates an argument with reality and a belief in something that isn’t true.  The way to release the stuck emotion is to show myself the truth by asking myself good questions. 

One of my favorite questions is “Can I know this is the absolute Truth for certain?”

And finally, keeping all the spaces I occupy clean.  That goes all the way from physically cleaning and organizing my home, office, and car to maintaining the ecology of my relationships.  I have a practice of regularly scrolling through the contacts in my iPhone and noticing my thoughts and body sensations.  If my stomach clenches when I look at a name, I know I’ve got some work to do.  And doing this work always gives me more space to breathe.  It may mean questioning my beliefs or thoughts about the person, or it may mean picking up the phone and finding out if there’s an amends I need to make. 

All these practices are scalable, meaning they’re to be experimented with, tried out over time, and adapted to the situations.  By no means is this the end of the road on practices either.  Essentially I look for practices to cover the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual…all of me.

I also check in to make sure I’m having some fun.  This is a muscle I know I need to keep focused on building.  If I’m not careful I can start to get a little too serious, and it’s only a few steps from seriousness to heaviness. 

While excavating the Truth within, or even just navigating what’s real in a relationship, things can appear distorted and the process can feel incredibly destabilizing.  It continues to be priceless for me to get more comfortable being uncomfortable, to find the solid ground I’ve been looking for within myself, where no person or circumstance can take it away.  It’s a knowing.

All the things I listed above are activities that help me feel clear and awake so I can actively perceive the solid ground within. Find your own, experiment, and do something long enough to see results.  Then use the results to refine your experimentation.  And have some fun along the way.