Connecting to Your Essential Intrinsic Self

There is an old story about how the Allies decided to take over a certain tropical island as a base after World War II. They brought in three officers to manage the operation – a German, an American and a Japanese. Supervision over day-to-day operations was assigned to the German, human resources to the American, and supplies to the Japanese. For several months the three officers were left to run the base on their own. Then one day a general came by to check the status of the operations. He posted a message to the effect that he wished to speak with all three officers on the day of his arrival.

At the meeting he asked the German for a rundown of the daily schedule. With typical German efficiency, the officer immediately produced a file with printed documentation for the entire time period. The general then asked the American about human resources, and the American presented him with a flowchart of goals and accomplishments for all workers on the island.

The general was fully satisfied with their efficiency and analyses of the situation. He then looked around for the Japanese officer, who was nowhere to be found. Puzzled, the general questioned the others: “So where’s that Japanese chap?”

Somewhat flustered, they replied, “We don’t really know … we haven’t seen him since the first day of the assignment.”

For lack of a better option, they offered to take the general on a grand tour of the island. Suddenly, as they entered a dense forest, the Japanese officer jumped out at them. Waving his hands vigorously, he smiled and shouted to the general, “Supplise!”

In general, life is full of surprises. The biggest surprise by far is that life’s ability to surprise us is what supplies us with the capacity to hope and the will to move forward.

Fred, a friend of mine, worked in computers back in the seventies. Two major stock exchange companies decided that they could save money by creating a separate company to process all their trades and interactions with the brokerage firms through a shared computer network, so they formed a new company. The goal was to reduce the computer staff in both exchanges and transfer the programmers to the new company, maintaining only a skeleton computer staff as a backup within each of the original companies. Both companies made their programmers very attractive offers to move over to the new firm, but they also had the option to stay with the computer department where they had been working.

Fred, a very dedicated worker, had a manager with whom he had excellent rapport. The manager told Fred that he had decided to make the transfer and requested that Fred move with him, since they worked so well together. Fred had a hard time deciding as he weighed the pluses and minuses. Finally, the fact that he really liked his manager swayed him in favor of transferring. Fred accepted the offer, and a few months later he found himself working at the new company as a third-level Cobol programmer – the same status he had enjoyed previously.

But alas, it was not long before the management realized that they had made a gross miscalculation in their human resources requirements and they had a great many more programmers than they needed. Within a couple of weeks Fred found himself laid off, while his former manager was retained.

We can easily imagine Fred’s deep shock and disillusionment. Thoughts such as, “Why is this happening to me?” and feelings of betrayal were probably foremost in Fred’s mind. If we could take a snapshot of that moment in time, it would most likely reflect deep hurt and disappointment.

But Fred, never one for self-pity, went out job hunting the very next day, and within a week was hired by a major car-rental firm at a higher salary. Meanwhile, the board of directors at the company he left decided to award substantial severance pay to every programmer they had laid off. The package allowed the programmer one month’s salary for each year of service to the stock exchange. Having worked fifteen years for the exchange, Fred received well over a year’s salary, gratis!

By the time Fred had been working for the car-rental firm for a year, he was itching for a change. He heard that the new firm (which had laid him off just a year ago) was looking for programmers again, and he applied for one of the available positions. During his year with the car-rental firm Fred had acquired many new programming tools and skills, and as a result he was rehired as a level-five programmer, with a commensurate increase in salary and perks. Not such a bad payoff for a couple of days of disappointment!

If we could ask Fred at the moment when he was rehired whether or not he was happy that he had been fired originally, he would likely have responded, with a huge grin, “What do you think?”

If we ponder the essence of potential, we will find that its most noticeable feature is the element of surprise. In order to grasp the true reality of ourselves, or of those we wish to help, we need to bear in mind that it is possible to amaze ourselves. We can reach beyond our current, limited perception and abilities, into levels of achievement that we could not have imagined previously.

When we set limits to what we believe we are capable of, we restrict our potential and give power to negative self-talk and negative self-perception. This holds us back from becoming all that we can be. By keeping ourselves open to the element of surprise, we free ourselves to reach ahead.

We have the ability to connect to our essential, intrinsic self and to our infinite positive potential by accessing what is known as the seven energetic windows.

These energetic windows enable us to connect with our potential in seven distinct areas. Each of these areas is connected to the body’s endocrine system, which is associated with one’s inner communication.

The seven windows and their meanings are:

* Note about body-level awareness: Have you ever walked into a situation or met an individual and had a sense that the situation or the individual was dangerous or bad for you? Yet you ignored your internal message and rationalized that you were just getting nervous for nothing. Did you then enter the situation or the relationship and end up getting burned? This is an example of denying your body-level awareness. Of course, body-level awareness can work on a positive level as well.

You can connect to your essential, intrinsic self and to your infinite positive potential through the following procedure:

1: Place your right hand on the top of your head and read the following statement aloud:

I choose to open my energetic window to activate the energy of my pineal gland, [breathe] and I choose to use that energy to connect to my infinite positive potential [breathe].

Now visualize the positive energy of potential flowing into your head and gently filling you with a total awareness that you can be whatever you choose to be! Your browser may not support display of this image.

2: Leave your right hand on the top of your head while you place your left hand on your forehead, and read aloud the following statement:

I choose to open up the energetic window of my mind’s eye, and I choose to allow my infinite positive potential [breathe] to spiral down freely into my pituitary gland, [breathe] so that I can understand intuitively the ramifications, both positive and negative, [breathe] of all my desires, thoughts, words and deeds, [breathe] and so that I can gently attune to my innate creativity, while accepting myself and others positively, [breathe] non-critically, [breathe] and with unconditional understanding [breathe].

Now visualize the positive energy of your infinite potential flowing into your forehead and activating your creative intuitive energy, gently attuning you to your innate creativity [breathe].

3: Remove your right hand from the top of your head and place it on your throat, while leaving your left hand on your forehead, and read aloud the following statement:

I choose to open up my energetic window of positive and open communication, [breathe] and I choose to allow the integration of my infinite potential and my creative intuition [breathe] to flow gently into my throat, [breathe] activating the energy of my thyroid gland [breathe] and opening myself up to 100 percent positive, open and creative communication with myself and others [breathe].

Now visualize your positive creative energy flowing into your throat, and see yourself communicating openly, lovingly and respectfully with your parents, spouse, children and/or colleagues [breathe].

4: Remove your left hand from your forehead and place it in the center of your upper chest, while leaving your right hand on your throat, and read aloud the following statement:

I choose to open up my energetic window of 100 percent total, positive, unconditional self-acceptance, self-love and self-protection, [breathe] and I choose to allow the integration of my infinite potential, my creative intuition and open communication [breathe] to flow gently into my thymus, [breathe] activating a radiant inner state of unconditional self-acceptance, self-love and self-protection [breathe].

Now visualize the energy of pure self-acceptance and self-love flowing into your chest and into your heart and lungs, and see these positive feelings about yourself flow out from you and encompass your parents, spouse, children and/or friends with unconditional, noncritical acceptance of who they are [breathe].

5: Remove your right hand from your throat and place it on your solar plexus, while leaving your left hand on your upper chest, and read aloud the following statement:

I choose to open up my energetic window of truly instinctive body-level awareness, [breathe] and I choose to allow the integration of my infinite potential, my creative intuition, open communication and pure self-acceptance [breathe] to flow gently into my solar plexus and adrenal gland, [breathe] and to allow me to truly attune 100 percent to my gut feelings, without self-denial, [breathe] and to learn positive directions in my life [breathe] from my gut feelings [breathe]. From positive instinctive gut-level feelings in my body [breathe] I choose to understand positive directions in my life [breathe] to which I should allow myself to flow, [breathe] and from negative instinctive gut-level feelings in my body, I choose to see the red light and to back off from the situation or relationship [breathe] before I get burned, [breathe] without any self-denial and without rationalizations [breathe].

Now visualize tuning in to the messages of your physical, gut-level feelings, and be ready to accept their messages truthfully and without self-denial, in order to learn to recognize your intuitive awareness of those relationships and situations that will lead you to positive self-actualization, and to recognize your intuitive awareness of those situations that would only cause you pain and anguish, God forbid. See yourself moving forward in life without codependence and without need for the approval of others – allowing yourself permission to be yourself and to achieve everything that you are capable of achieving.

6: Remove your left hand from your upper chest and place it directly below your navel, while keeping your right hand on your solar plexus, and read aloud the following statement:

I choose to open up my energetic window of positive self-actualization [breathe] and to allow the integration of my infinite potential, my creative intuition, open communication, unconditional self-acceptance, and true connection to my body-level awareness [breathe] to flow gently into my navel and on below it, [breathe] allowing me to truly achieve positive self-actualization of all my talents and abilities, integrated together with joy and balance [breathe].

Now visualize yourself writing a list of your most important personal goals, allowing your innate creativity to present pathways and directions by which you can achieve those goals, and see yourself reaching those goals; hear yourself speaking positive words of encouragement to yourself – words that tell you that “You can do it,” – and feel the energy of success within your solar plexus and in your body-level awareness.

7: Remove your right hand from your solar plexus and place it two inches [10 centimeters] out from your pubic arch without touching it; straddle your legs to lock into your conscious- and subconscious awareness that you are ready to achieve positive self-appreciation. Keep you legs apart until you finish this exercise; remove your left hand from below your navel and place it on your left leg to activate a positive self-talk cycle of inner encouragement, and read aloud the following statement:

I choose to open up my energetic window of positive self-appreciation, [breathe] and I choose to allow the integration of my infinite potential, my creative intuition, open communication, unconditional self-acceptance, true connection to my body-level awareness, and positive self-actualization [breathe] to integrate together in harmony and inner joy, flowing gently but firmly into my pubic cavity, [breathe] allowing me to achieve true positive self-appreciation of all my talents, abilities and achievements, [breathe] including physical, [breathe] emotional, [breathe] mental, [breathe] spiritual, [breathe] potential [breathe] and energetic [breathe] achievements, integrated together with joy and balance, [breathe] in all areas of my life, relationships and learning experiences.

Using the Seven Windows to Cleanse Oneself of Self-Punishment

Now that the seven windows are open, it is possible to utilize them to cleanse oneself of various levels of negativity.

Visualize the healing energy originating from the first energetic window beginning to flow downward into the second window, completely filling the area between the two windows in the process [breathe deeply]. Let the energy of potential fill your mind, cleansing away all negative or compulsive thoughts, negating them through the infinite light of your positive potential.

Picture the healing energy flowing from the second energetic window onward to the third window, cleansing the area between the two windows in the process [breathe deeply]. Let your creative energy fill your mind, saturating your sense organs with positive perception, creating an optimistic visual perception of yourself and your environment. Listen intently to your inner, quiet voice of positive self-encouragement. Attune your sense of smell to connect fully and completely to your inner spirituality and to the unique meaning of your life. Allow yourself to taste and experience the innate sweetness of life and relationships.

Envision the healing energy flowing from the third energetic window onward to the fourth window, cleansing the area between the two windows in the process [breathe deeply]. Open yourself to positive self-expression and communication. Hum a favorite melody, tuning in to the sounds and rhythm, and let the emotions of the melody infuse your entire spirit and body with new hope and joyous expectations.

The healing energy of the fourth energetic window cascades downward into the fifth window, completely filling the area connecting the two windows [breathe deeply]. Let the energy of 100 percent total, positive self-acceptance and love fill your heart, cleansing away all self-destructive and self-punishing behaviors and perceptions.

The healing energy of the fifth energetic window continues downward into the sixth window, completely filling the area connecting the two windows [breathe deeply]. Let the energy of body-level awareness fill your chest, allowing you to create focused self-direction.

The healing energy of the sixth energetic window continues downward into the seventh window, completely filling the area connecting the two windows [breathe deeply]. Let the energy of self-actualization fill your lower torso, allowing you to move forward to a radiant, successful future.

As the healing energy of the seventh energetic window comes to rest, let your mind’s eye watch as it circles around and heads back up to the sixth energetic window, and from there upward through all the rest of the energetic windows, bringing total positive self-appreciation to enhance the energy and message of each of the windows. Allow the energy cycle through all seven windows, back and forth, washing away all tendencies toward self-degradation and denial, leaving you free to be the truly actualized person you were created to be!