Sanctuary for Heart Magic :Unwinding Spines & Unleashing Hearts utilizing Network Spinal Chiropractic in Boulder, Colorado: NSA

Dreaming Awake

Sleep & wakefulness

Eye We are all familiar with dreamtime. Some of us may remember our dreams more than others, but we all dream. Many people put dreams in the category of “not real”, meaning they have no definitive reality because they lack tangibility, linearity and consistency. Yet most of the time when we are fully immersed in the dream experience we have no idea that we are dreaming. We simply experience the dream and then at a certain time the dream ends or we wake up. Most of the time while we are in the dream state things seem quite normal and ordinary to us kind as they would in our waking state. Once we wake up only then do we realize that we were dreaming and not a moment before.

One caveat to this is when we lucidly dream, which is when we literally wake up inside the dream and are able to manipulate the dream with our wakefulness or our conscious state of being in a dream rather than being the dream or the dream simply occurring as if by itself on automatic pilot. You are both experiencing the dream and simultaneously realize that you are the dreamer dreaming the dream. For those that have had this experience you know that this is where magic literally comes to life inside of the dream. Seeming impossibilities become possible and the direct manifestation of those possibilities is experienced through the dream the moment you realize it. You quite literally know your power and have access to energy and information that was previously elusive to you. You feel so awake, empowered, energized and in direct knowing of the mystery of life, and your knowing becomes what you immediately experience. There is no gap.

One of the things about the sleep dream state is that we get more access to our unconscious minds because our everyday conscious minds are resting. Sleep is quite literally the resting of our conscious minds. Our unconscious mind on the other hand is that aspect of mind that in our waking state is often obscured, but becomes unobscured when we fall asleep. The unconscious mind is like a warehouse of dormant energy and information about ourselves, life, the universe and the cosmos at large. This is what we access when we fall asleep. When you fully wake up inside of a dream (ie. lucid dreaming) your conscious mind becomes active and your normally unconscious mind is also simultaneously present and available. This is why I personally believe that the gap between knowing and direct experience/manifestation is eliminated in these instances. That which is normally forgotten when we are awake in just our conscious thinking mind is intact along with our conscious thinking mind. This is a recipe for infinite knowing and direct experiencing.

Dream of Reality

Thoughts like dreams

Rip Many spiritual teachings talk about how what we view as reality is really just a dream. That when we wake up from our sleeping dream we are simply awakening into another aspect of the dream that seems more real or permanent due to our conscious thinking mind creating a sense of continuity through its patterns of thought and memory. Yet this experience that we call reality seems to be missing a lot of information and energy and many of us sense this through a subtle (or not so subtle) feeling of disconnection from something. Most people can’t even really put their finger on what is missing, they just feel this sense of being lost or in the dark along with the feeling that there is something more.

If we are indeed dreaming right this very moment, asleep to the unconscious part of our mind which contains all knowledge and infinite free energy, can we not wake up into the aspect of our mind that is asleep when our conscious minds are awake? I do believe that this is what spiritual teachers are pointing to when they talk about awakening. This is the dropping of the veil, where worlds become one again or better stated where mind becomes one again. The conscious mind reconnecting into the infinite sea of unconsciousness, sparking it and making it come alive in the light of awareness, bringing to life infinite possibilities and manifestations out of this sea.

It is important to know that separation is simply a thought. It is not a “real” thing. In fact there are no real separate things. There is only thought. Thoughts are what tell you what you see, they are the information source for what you experience. Conscious minds generate thought and thought creates worlds. So if you recognize that there is not really a gap between the conscious and unconscious aspects of your mind, there is only a thought of separation or thought of a gap, then you can directly experience the non-separation that inherently is. All that is required is that you drop the thought of separation.

When you suspend focusing on the thoughts and forms that the conscious mind creates, even if only for a one second, you immediately drop your conscious mind into the vast spaciousness of the non-separate unconscious mind. Some people call this pure awareness. The configurations that patterns of thought (aka light) create and condense down into forms that we call reality are what give shape to pure awareness or the unconscious mind. These thought/light configurations can create the illusion of separation and thus the feeling experience of it. If you are identified with the forms, which are just configurations of light, and are asleep to that which is the former of the forms (ie. the dreamer), life will seem automatic, like it is just going along on its own and that you don’t have much to say or do about how it goes. That is until you wake up. Remember that only when you wake up from the sleeping dream do you realize that you’ve been dreaming all along. Being inside of a thought (what we call reality) is like being inside of dream. When you suspend or stop the thought even momentarily you create an opportunity to wake up from being inside of it where it is no longer dictating your experience. All that remains is pure awareness not yet condensed into a form through a thought. Increasing the brightness of your conscious awareness on the former of thoughts, the creator of all worlds, which is this pure awareness, will wake you from the dream of thoughts altogether.

Dr. Amanda Hessel, Chiropractor, Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) & Somato-Respiratory Integration (SRI), Boulder, Colorado

The stages of healing, transforming & awakening

Cliff notes version

Decorative mandala round pattern with sacred geometry element Me Most of you have heard me talk about the “12 stages of healing.” The 12 stages of healing are what the structure of Somato-respiratory Integration (SRI) is built upon and represent stages of consciousness or awareness that a human experiences on their journey from separation to unity. This particular structure of the 12 stages of healing was based upon the work of Dr. Donald Epstein, however these stages of consciousness are universal and you can find them named in many different traditions or schools.

What is unique to them here is that their are paired somatic “exercise” that go along with each of the 12 stages and corresponds to a level of awareness. The idea behind doing the exercises is to more fully “land” or be in the stage that you are in. No stage is better or worse than another. We all experience all of the stages at different times or rhythms of our lives. Progression through stages is also not linear, meaning you don’t always go from stage 1 to 2 to 3, etc. There is also no defined amount of time to be in a particular stage. Some people may be in 3 different stages in a single day, where others may be in one or two particular stages for years.

So what are the benefits of knowing the 12 stages? Its helpful for many of us to have a roadmap or structure so that we can “know where we are”. Knowing where you are helps you create more coherence within your experience because you can better align your perceptions to where were are at. For example say that in your life you are behaving in ways that feel congruent to you, like maybe you are exercising or being helpful to others, meditating or eating healthy, but your perceptions (thoughts, emotions, sensations) you don’t really match it. There is an incongruence between the actions you are taking and your perceptions of life. This is where SRI can be helpful in bringing to light more of the perceptual consciousness shifts required to make your experience more congruent. Ultimately meaning that the actions you take feel 100% aligned with your feeling and thoughts.

The seasons of well-being

12 stages grouped

The 12 stages are further grouped into what we call the seasons of well-being in Network Care. To begin the 3 basic seasons are called Discover, Transform and Awaken. It looks something like this:

Season of Discover: SRI stages 1, 2 & 3

Season of Transform: SRI stages 4, 5, 6 & 7

Season of Awaken: SRI stages 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12

So what are these seasons and why are they important? The season of Discover is the self- discovery process of becoming aware of how you have kept parts of yourself separate from the whole of you. Said another way you discover how you have protected yourself from experiencing painful feelings, thoughts and sensations. Within this season the first 3 stages of SRI are included. Stage 1 (suffering) is the experience of discovering that you have been disconnected or at least a part of you has been disconnected. When you discover this you realize that you have been living in some level of separation and the experience of that separation or disconnection is suffering. In SRI stage 2 (polarities) you are aware that a part of yourself has been separated or disconnected, so you are not in full separation, but you resist this part of yourself. It’s the experience of “disowning” or rejecting those parts of yourself that you don’t like or can’t be with. Lastly SRI stage 3 (stuck in a perspective) is where you realize how you continually resist this part of yourself over and over and over and over again.

Next is the season of Transform. Transformation is ultimately the refusal to keep any parts of self separate anymore. It includes SRI stage 4, which is where you declare to include an aspect of self that’s not been included. It’s saying enough of separation of this part of you. No more are you going to not include this part. Enough of not including it. SRI stage 5 is merging past the illusion that this part is really separate. SRI stage 6 is a preparation into full self, absolutely nothing will ever keep this part separate again and stage 7 is the resolution of separation and a surrender of this part into all of you. It’s the full embodiment of self and realization that all parts of self must be included. We essentially go through these various stages of 1-7 discovering and reclaiming all the various aspects of self until everything is included. This is the healing/growth journey.

Lastly is the season of Awaken. Awaken is the knowing that nothing ever left the whole, nothing was/is ever separate. SRI stage 8-12 correspond to this knowing. As you become more familiar with all of these stages of consciousness you can begin to integrate various stages with other stages to help support and resource you throughout this journey of separation to unity.

Dr. Amanda Hessel, Chiropractor, Network Spinal Analysis & Somato-Respiratory Integration, Boulder, Colorado