What's going on ?

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a new step on my journey. I shared my understanding of The Three Principles, Mind Thought  and Consciousness. I was with a small group of dedicated professionals - teachers who explore with some of the world's greatest philosophers, our children.

As I shared my stories of discovery and practice I remembered a young ten year old boy with the spirit and courage of a lion in spite of his circumstances. I first met Thomas ( name changed) in assembly. Thomas had a difficult life at home and felt safest from the top rung of the wall bars, where he shouted and swore, entertaining the other kids.I saw his pain underneath his veil of clown. Beyond the veil of pain was another angry one and beyond that one of fear. Eventually Thomas the ten year old showed up in a most unexpected way. After spending time in this small Lancashire primary school with the children, with some of their parents and their community I discovered a unity of  bold strength. I went into assembly again and smiled at Thomas in his crow"s nest. He smirked shyly back checking around to see if his softness had been spotted. He was safe and he relaxed into a mild shout. 

The whole assembly hall was full of hundreds of children who ignored the shouting and we got on with singing and exploring for fifteen minutes. Then from the corner of my eye I saw Thomas climbing down to join us. He was the last to leave and as he walked by he lifted his head and said,

"S'good that miss,," 

I cried softly back in the staff room.

You see Mind works through with and from us. 

Sometimes our thinking projects a reality that ia made up. Then we look for ways to validate that reality. Thomas was validating his fears and pain, brought about by cruel parenting, from a high safe-to-him crow's nest. When he experienced trust and love through our connection he became more open to new thinking.

Last night I didn't" t tell Thomas" s story. I told some stories of me and later I quietly asked Mind how to connect with my next group of teachers. The answer came through Thomas. 

However I share this beautiful work in the schools in this land I know Mind has my back and I can let go and just be.

To all the teachers your biggest gift to children is to model how to listen with nothing on your mind and if you aren't sure about this then pop to my website where there is a short Vimeo clip.

In love and service 

Anni

Life in the fast lane

Have you ever experienced a time in your life where you feel stuck in over worrying, overwhelm or overwork? Sometimes when we try hard to achieve a specific outcome it seems to become more and more elusive to us. We drive ourselves faster and faster. That's because when we are lost in our thinking we are less resilient or purposeful.  We try harder, dig our heels in and continue to berate ourselves.
Meanwhile old habits kick in making you doubt and better doubt yourself. As these insecure thoughts play out in our minds like a brass band,  we give them so much more attention, creating a thought storm of thought habits or a deep mental rut that distracts each of us to our own detriment. Sometimes this over thinking becomes a fear or arouses some anxiety which eventually takes its toll and will either affects our performance, or at worst affect relationships.


I had the privilege of coaching a CEO over a time, listening to his lament of how busy and fast life was and as he described every detail of all the things (and all the people) that irritated him I listened.  (I have heard similar stories from social workers, teachers and parents I have coached). You see listening and not being caught up in another person's thinking - or your own, listening with nothing at all on your mind is crucial. There is nothing calmer than another person being fully present to you. Not a colluding presence agreeing and joining in with a person's thinking, but as one who hears between the spaces of the words quietly. It is as if time slows down and a deep simple feeling of connection occurs. You tune into the other person. In this reflective space your own inner common sense or wisdom can be heard. When I first listened to  the CEO I caught myself thinking "Poor guy" and smiled inwardly as I realised I was getting caught up in HIS thinking instead of pointing back to his inner truth. You see this is the beauty of the Three Principles, it is an inner journey- there is nothing new to learn, no theory to overlay, merely an understanding of how thinking creates our reality from the inside out. Once we realise that it is not external circumstances driving us, not other people or different circumstances,  it is merely our inner thinking creating our personal reality. It's us! WE are the horse not the cart, we are the driver not the car!

Another time I was coaching a young woman who was in complete overwhelm and hardly drew breath for the first fifteen minutes. Thoughts spilled out from her mind like an effervescent drink. As I pointed out her that her mind was full -without space for new thinking to refresh her common sense, she reflected for just one simple moment and it was long enough for her to laugh and to take time to hear her own wisdom. She was playing out a belief from her younger self, one that her Mum also had. This belief brought fear and anxiety about 'doing everything properly' and in not knowing what properly was (she had  previously assigned the understanding to the grown ups) she lived out this made up thinking reality. Once this young woman was still enough to reflect and to hear her own wisdom pointing to the truth that this was not her, her eyes lit up. We then had a powerful discussion of her new reality, with reflection time. From this clearer thinking more resilient place she created a new dream.

Let me share a little of how our mind works and how we could take our foot off the gas and slow things down more. Slowing things down creates ease and clarity. It points us to our true self and uncovers the innate well being we all have. When we experience thoughts we are creating our own reality, projecting  and re-projecting out into our lives. We live in the feeling of our thinking and these old stuck thought beliefs project on to our screen like a movie channel or gold channel on sky tv. This mental projection plays out really well in relationships and in the work place. The good news is that we can change channels and the simplicity of the three principles, that innate wisdom that occurs when we understand that we CAN change channels. From wisdom we are clear and purposeful once more. The beauty of this work is that the principles are an inherent part of our human experience, there is nothing to do...nothing to learn and all to experience.

www.annipoole.com

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