Tag: story

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Healing Without The History

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HealingWithoutTheHistory300x300In this Musing on NPA & Life, I’m going to let you know why the story that we need to re-write our personal history in order to heal isn’t necessarily true, and how NPA can help you find your natural path to healing; whatever that may be.

The Definitive Position

There are lots of ‘stories’ flying around in the world of human transformation, positive thinking and healing that are presented as ‘the definite position’. One of the reasons I sometimes refer to myself as a ’21st Century Heretic’ is that I like to examine this new doctrine, with an intention of promoting a perspective of unlimited possibility, co-creation and ongoing evolution.

Most of these ‘definitive positions’ are taken because of an experience of things working that way. So there IS an element of truth to them.

THE Way To Heal

Let’s take our topic-du-jour – healing. It would be true to say that many people have had tremendous success in healing by addressing their issues through following this idea:

“It took root as the result of something in my past, so if I can access whatever set things up this way and change the settings to something better, then I will heal”

The journey to your past can be fun. It can give the mind a recognisable, reason based and understandable story about what caused things to be as they are. It can also help relax the mind about the changes that are be-coming. It can be juicy and it scratches the itch of ‘why?’

This can be a great thing and certainly, in some cases, it’s A good way. But the leap from A WAY to THE WAY can be a trip to limitation and, perhaps even denial of an altogether simpler way.

The leap from A WAY to THE WAY can be a trip to limitation

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Infinite Possibilities

The reality is that people all over the world are experiencing healing in a million different ways, with most of them not necessarily linking their healing to their past, or changing their thoughts, feelings or beliefs about their ‘history’ in any way.

I like to think that this demonstrates the kindness and flexibility of The Universe in how it answers our prayers – not just for healing, but for the journey of healing that will suit us best.

The reality is that people all over the world are experiencing healing in a million different ways

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NPA is just a few simple words; six simple lines. Sometimes you don’t feel a thing. Sometimes you do.

It doesn’t lead you to some place ‘not here’ that you need to get to, in order to meet an idea of what it takes to heal. For example, you are not required to go to the past if that’s not where you’re hanging out naturally. You’re not required to determine ‘how that makes you feel’ if your natural expression is not emotional. You are not required to figure out what you would have to believe in order to feel this way if you ARE experiencing emotions! NPA simply meets you where you are.

LandingLights300x300NPA has shown me time and again that spontaneous healings can just sort of happen.

And what I have seen much more often with NPA is that it works with our humanity. It honours our longing for the story of our lives. It respects our minds’ childlike need for understanding and opens the way for the most appropriate mechanism to show itself.

You could say that NPA turns on the landing lights for your dreams and prayers. It makes the path that suits you best really clear, and facilitates a nice soft landing.

Life Has Space To Answer

That might be a spontaneous healing. Or it might be that you suddenly feel inspired to have a session in another healing modality – one that uses physical touch, or one that works with your thoughts or emotions – or perhaps even one that addresses the past!

Whatever it is, I often hear that the path is made clear, automatic even and that it runs smooth. Life has space to answer, and to answer in ways that work easily, naturally & sustainably for you.

With all these conflicting definitive positions flying around which tell you with conviction what is required for you to heal can get confusing. So, it’s a wonderful thing to have NPA as A way to help your most natural healing path show itself to you. :0)

[JY-General-Bio]

More Tweetables:

“NPA has shown me time & again that spontaneous healings can just sort of happen” via @JoelYoungNPA

“It’s a wonderful thing to have NPA as A way to help your most natural healing path show itself to you” via @JoelYoungNPA

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The Cripple & The Chrysalis (A True Story)

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The Cripple & The ChrysalisI recently had the privilege of witnessing an awesome moment in Nature and, as Nature often does, it blew me away.

It wasn’t just the pure aesthetic beauty; it wasn’t just the drama of an epic struggle; and it wasn’t just the bitter-sweet sadness inherent in the spectacle that moved me to share it.

There was also a Divine reflection, a lesson you might say, on our ideas around success and failure in transformation, and it was that that had me heading for my keyboard to share it here with you…

Inspiration On The Garden Pond

Emperor DragonlyIt’s not something you see everyday, and especially when you happen to have your camera in your hand! This Emperor Dragonfly shows some seriously impressive perseverance to emerge from it’s larval moult. The larva spends a couple of years under water, feeding, shedding it’s skin and growing before it crawls up out of the water. Clinging to a reed, it dries and undergoes it’s emergence as a stunningly beautiful and devastatingly effective airborne hunter.

The emergence normally takes 1-3 hours, but I watched this mighty individual birthing itself, against the odds, over a 48hr period.

The Cripple And The Chrysalis*

Herculean Emperor DragonlySo what could cause such a long emergence?

Well, unfortunately it’s wings were stuck and for a full day it hung from the husk of it’s exuvia (the hardened shell of the larva). In that day the body and the exposed wings become engorged, and by nightfall it had fallen still. I was pretty sure it was dead but to my great surprise and delight, the next day I came out to find it had managed to grasp another reed and is pulling with all it’s might.

Amazingly I am there at the moment it pulls itself free. There’s an audible snap as the restraining fibril breaks and the heroic Hawker scurries to the top of the reed.

Up to this point, having never seen this process before, I expect to see the wings open and expand. However I quickly realise that they have set, are crippled and will never serve as mechanisms of flight.

Emperor Dragonly with Crippled WingsPerhaps it’s my imagination, but I get the sense that it realises this too.

Nevertheless, it experienced several hours of life as a flightless Dragonfly. I like to think it surrendered, basked in the sunshine, took in the view and reflected on it’s time above the waterline. In any case, at some point it’s spirit left it’s body, which I found laying lifeless on a lilly pad later that evening.

Transformational Success & Failure?

In spite of it’s disability and short life this brave and determined individual was deeply admired and certainly left an impact.

Healthy Emperor DragonflyWho is to say what is success and what is failure? You never know who or what you are inspiring in anything you do – regardless of the outcome.

A short while after, a healthy brother flew in, so you & I can see the wings he imagined, to share his vision and know that life as it was imagined exists somewhere.

If you have ideas of success and failure in the realm of your transformation, I invite you to let them go and be present to the beauty and inspiration of what is.

Namaste ♥

*OK insect nerds (I include myself here), I know that Dragonflies don’t do chrysalis and I’m hoping your natural appreciation for beauty will enable you to forgive the poetic licence 😉

[JY-General-Bio]

Tweetables

“Who is to say what is success and what is failure?” via @JoelYoungNPA

“You never know who or what you are inspiring in anything you do – regardless of the outcome” via @JoelYoungNPA

“Know that life as you imagine it exists somewhere” via @JoelYoungNPA

“If you have ideas of success and failure in the realm of your transformation, let them go” via @JoelYoungNPA

“Let go and be present to the beauty and inspiration of what is” via @JoelYoungNPA

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The Surprising Secret Ingredient That Consistently Facilitates Healing

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The Surprising Secret IngredientNPA embraces and expresses one of my favourite paradoxes in the realm of healing, transformation, consciousness and love.

In this Musing on NPA & Life I want to lay it out for you, and give you an insight into, what I have come to understand is, THE biggest gift you can bring to any healing or facilitation situation.

“I’m Very Grateful”

This week I received an email from a client who wanted to express the gratitude she felt for the sessions we have been having, and offer a testimonial to share with others what she felt she experienced with me and how it has helped her.

The clue to the ‘secret ingredient’ is in here, so have a read and I’ll break it down for you after…

“Working with Joel I have been surprised by, and so appreciated, the tender compassion and acceptance that he has brought to each session. He offered a genuine loving space with no judgement; even of feelings I had previously felt sooo ashamed of.

In the past I have experienced a certain level of acceptance with facilitators but when change hasn’t come or stuckness has shown up, the focus on ‘moving on’ or changing has taken over.

Joel’s approach has the flavour of open-handed compassion and shows a level of acceptance which feels as if it comes very naturally from him. For me though, it was a very new experience and I feel that those qualities have been key to me moving on as I have.  Those more tender/”dark”/”stuck” feelings, having been offered all the time and space they needed to feel safe and relax, let down their defences and change of their own accord.

Here I am a few months later finding myself in a more peaceful and happy place! Feeling more able to deal with life, with more space and compassion now coming from within me! yeah!! I’m very grateful.”

Jane Griffin, Leicester, UK

The Secret Ingredient

So what was Jane experiencing ‘coming naturally from me’? She states; compassion, acceptance, genuine loving space, no judgement. These are qualities which naturally arise from the secret ingredient but are not the secret ingredient itself.

The thing I love most about NPA; the thing that practising it has trained into me, into my approach to working with clients and into my life in general is it’s agenda-less-ness. OK, so that’s not, strictly speaking, a real word but it points to the fact that NPA, in it’s pure form, comes with no agenda. And having NO agenda IS the secret ingredient.

And there-in lies the paradox, and the challenge for many a would-be power-user of NPA, and many a fine transformational practitioner. The question goes: “Surely if someone is paying me money to get some kind of outcome or result – shouldn’t I be doing everything in my power to get them there? Or at least to help them get themselves there!!??”

The trouble is, all that “I, me, them, their, there” stuff is based on personal power. Personal power requires a person. Persons come with an agenda. Agenda’s come with timelines, outcomes, comparisons, judgements, intentions… that leads to right ways and wrong ways both overt and covert… that leads to dogma and dogma leads to blindness… I think you get the idea.

NPA invites you to:

  • Express yourself in your natural way.
  • To say a few simple lines.
  • To notice what happens (if anything).

That’s it. No agenda.

So How Does That Consistently Facilitate Healing?

Let’s break it down

The Problem with AgendasThe problem with agendas – even ones with positive intent, even subtle energetic easily self-deniable ones – is that they apply pressure towards the intended outcome or route. Pressure tends to invoke resistance, resistance leads to persistence and before you know it you’re in a world of friction and potential stuckness. That can lead to further pressure in support of the agenda and so begins an un-helpful loop.

Jane illustrates it when she says, “In the past I have experienced a certain level of acceptance with facilitators” – in other words, there was an agenda with the facilitator, and she goes on to say how the agenda kicks up a gear, “but when change hasn’t come or stuckness has shown up, the focus on ‘moving on’ or changing has taken over.”

As you train more in the art of using NPA, you’ll begin to appreciate the importance and power of it’s agenda-less-ness. The power in NPA is NON-personal; as you get out of the way (drop the agenda) things begin to resolve all by themselves… in wonderful, effortless and sometimes miraculous ways.

Working agenda-less-ly with Jane meant that we met in a state of mutual, gentle discovery. It was like watching a flower blossom… and how personally are you involved in that process?

As Jane put it, “Those more tender/”dark”/”stuck” feelings, having been offered all the time and space they needed to feel safe and relax, let down their defences and change of their own accord.”

They (the feelings) let down their defences and changed of their own accord… And THAT is how having no agenda consistently facilitates healing, transformation, evolutions in consciousness and love.

Let It Come Alive

I have found that people who bathe themselves in the non-personal perspective at The NPA Expansive Weekend and beyond, find that it naturally comes alive in them, and with that dogma’s and agenda’s fall away. They still, of course, are available to passing intentions, outcome notions and the like, but rather than wearing them as uniform, they are passing fancy dress outfits that serve to raise a smile, warm the heart, lift a weight, disarm or arm; they come, and are used when useful and kind, and are discarded effortlessly as the truth of the moment dictates.

In the end it comes down to this, “Less ‘you-who-knows’ and more ‘Life-will-show’, invites the magic moment”

[JY-General-Bio]

 Tweetables:

“Having NO agenda IS the secret ingredient” via @JoelYoungNPA 

“Dogma leads to blindness” via @JoelYoungNPA 

“NPA invites you to express yourself in your natural way” via @JoelYoungNPA 

“The problem with agendas is that they apply pressure towards the intended outcome or route” via @JoelYoungNPA

“As YOU get out of the way, things begin to resolve all by themselves” via @JoelYoungNPA

“We met in a state of mutual, gentle discovery. It was like watching a flower blossom…” via @JoelYoungNPA

“Having no agenda consistently facilitates healing, transformation, evolutions in consciousness and love” via @JoelYoungNPA

“Less ‘you-who-knows’ and more ‘Life-will-show’, invites the magic moment” via @JoelYoungNPA

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Thy Will Be Done – A Non-Personal Perspective

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Thy Will Be Done npacentral.comThis Easter musing on NPA & Life takes a good look at the idea of ‘Thy Will be done’. From a Christian-centric Easter perspective and the story of Jesus in The Garden of Gethsemane – the events that lead to The Passion of Christ – through to a very non-personal perspective on the idea of ‘handing it over to God’.

So let’s crack open this sweet egg, and take a ride down the Easter Bunny hole…

The Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, 2008

In 2008 I had the privilege of teaching the first ever Journey Intensive Weekend for Brandon Bays in Israel. During that trip I had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem – an opportunity I was NOT going to miss.

I was raised Christian, my Grandpa was a Vicar; I went to Sunday school and sang with the church choir. I didn’t really relate to all that bible stuff, but no doubt it’s in my blood. Later as I walked the path of awakening, I was re-introduced to the core spiritual ideas that appear in Christianity, but also within the other main religious texts. In my ‘conversations with God’ over the years, Jesus has regularly been a ‘form’ through which the Divine has spoken to me. And often when Christ was around there was a good deal of talk about the nature of surrender and Divine Will.

So, on reflection, it is no surprise to me that of all the places I visited in Jerusalem, it was the Garden of Gethsemane that touched me most deeply.

The Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, Circa AD 33

What took place in the garden marks Maundy Thursday and begins the Passion of Christ and all the Christian events associated with the Easter Festival. While much of the Easter attention falls on the crucifixion and the resurrection, in my mind ALL of that is cradled in the teaching of surrender that was reached through Jesus’ very human conversation with God; often known as his anguished prayer.

In case you don’t know, The Bible tells how after the last supper, in full awareness of Judas’ imminent betrayal, Jesus takes his disciples to their usual hangout, the garden of Gethsemane. As he waits there he goes off to pray, beseeching God to spare him. He basically says: “God, I know all things are possible to You, so please show me if there is another way? In fact, if there IS another way please, please, please do that!”, and yet with full authenticity he finishes his prayer with “and always, Thy Will be done”

The lesson here is not one of personal power, it is one of non-personal awareness. Jesus does NOT set a personal goal of living without suffering and make that happen, glorifying in his awesomeness when he hits his goal or entering a self-blame/critique/lesson scenario if he misses.

Rather, he shows us that you can be fully present and acknowledge the human expression (the experience of the frightened personality in this case) and still be fully connected to the true source of all decision, consequence & experience: The Infinite, The Origin, God.

Non-Personal Responsibility

You see, often ‘Thy Will be done’ is interpreted as a personal doing. In other words, “It’s my personal responsibility to hand it over to God”.

A non-personal interpretation would be that if, like Jesus, you become fully awake to the realisation that there is no personal causality, and every perceived reality is, in fact, at consequence only to God (or ‘The Field’ if you prefer) – then you will understand that the fundamental spiritual dictate: ‘Hand it over to God’ is not an instruction for ‘you’ to ‘do’ the handing over. Rather, it’s an invitation to simply realise the True source of all experience, inspiration and action.

So, Jesus understood that no matter what personal action he undertook, God was in charge. In the end; Thy Will be done. Byron Katie (author of Loving What Is), who’s term for God is ‘reality’ puts it nicely, saying “When you argue with reality you lose, but only 100% of the time”.

So, this Easter, I invite you to entertain the notion that Thy Will is being done. I encourage you to notice how you are being moved, being breathed, being ‘done’. I also invite you to honour your personal experiences and wishes in that, and be with them as kindly as possible. The Morning Prayer which I share on my Heaven & Earth CD (http://www.shop.npacentral.com/other-products/), provides a format which fully embraces these ideas, so that could be a great resource for you if you’d like a little support with that.

Sending you always, love & blessings

Joel

[JY-General-Bio]

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Want Wealth? Get Connected To What Truly Matters

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Want Wealth? Get Connected To What Truly MattersIf you want to be and feel wealthy, start getting really honest with yourself about what truly matters.

Matter

Matter. It’s a word that speaks to the formation of the Universe. Quantum forces pulling energy waves into states of tension that give rise to apparent solidity. Energy in tension. I’m sure the phonic simile isn’t lost on you…

This is how your personal reality comes into being and what truly matters becomes more apparent in your field of experience. If you want to know what truly matters, look around your life and notice what there’s already an abundance of…

This is not about positive and negative – discovering what truly matters requires a neutrality of mind, an ability to simply notice.

This sober inquiry will help you land where you are and clear the hallucinogenic fog of positive or negative biased thinking. It has the potential to drop you into truly aligned clarity with an awareness of the intrinsic abundance of your existence.

Connected

The point of this sober alignment, is it gets you CONNECTED to what MATTERS – positive or negative as it may seem right now. It’s the difference between having your fingers on the stuff of life and the ability to move it, as distinct from just running your fingers through empty space. Basically, when you’re connected to what matters, you begin to have a much greater impact when intentions arise.

So, does your story of wealth match the reality of your wealth?

If your story of wealth is that it’s all about large amounts of money, and you have very little, then the fact is that money doesn’t truly matter to you. Once you notice what there IS a wealth of, and therefore what matters to you, you’ll automatically begin to feel the power and flow of your innately creative and abundant self – even if it’s subtle, and even if what matters seems a bit rubbish at first.

Materialise

NPA offers a very simple way to notice those points of connection and in NPA we call them ‘Cookie Cutters’. I often say that I have developed highly sensitive Cookie Cutter ears. In other words I’ve got extremely good at noticing where people are connected to what matters to them. So each process begins with being connected to what truly matters. It’s one of the reasons an NPA session with me and The NPA Process can be so impactful, even if there’s just a few processes in the time we have together.

If you want to manifest the stuff you say you want – if you want to ‘materialise‘ it – then at some point you’ll need to connect to (and start moving in) the stream of matter as it relates to you now.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and please like & share with your friends ♥

[JY-General-Bio]

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The Birthplace Of NPA

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The Birthplace of NPAAs this post get’s published it’s NPA’s 7th birthday!

It seems like ages ago that it popped out of me in Costa’s in Abingdon. It tickles me that Divine births can happen in the most ordinary places.

There I was in my own little vortex of guided communication while around me; kids were squashing the remains of muffins into hot chocolate soaked saucers; an amazing carer calmed the colourful tourette’s syndrome shouts of her ward; a suited salesman wheeled and dealed on his phone and mid-life girl friends supported each others judgements about the this and the that of their lives…

And in amongst all that, six little lines that would rock my world (and countless others) just popped out. Lot’s of people have told me they were inspired by the story of ‘how NPA was born’ so I thought I would share it here amongst the Musings of NPA & Life. If you share this post you can watch a video of me sharing the story, and help spread the word about NPA… otherwise – simply enjoy the read:

The Birth Of NPA

“I’ve been working in the field of human consciousness and personal growth for approaching 20 years. Back in 2007 I’d had the privilege of working with many amazing people and yet…

On 29th January 2007, I was sat in a Costa coffee shop in Abingdon, Oxfordshire where I lived and quite literally a prayer was ‘born’ through me and it went like this:

“OK God,” Grace, whatever you want to call that, “Is there something specifically that wants to come through me, in service to the world… and if there is, please let me know?”

I’m very clear about this. If the answer was no, then that would have been really fine. I’d have happily just carried on teaching what I was teaching.

However, literally a week later (on February 5th) I was in the same coffee shop, journaling on my computer when the six simple lines that I now call the NPA Process literally popped out of me! They came with that tingley-wingley sensation – which is sort of a signal to me. It was like, “This is the answer to your prayer. There will be seminars and books.”

You Have To Be Kidding Me

My response was, “You have to be kidding me. That’s just too simple, too easy!” But I’ve discovered that the simplicity of NPA is its genius in as much as it means it can be used in so many different ways and yet it’s really, really powerful.

For quite a long time I kept it very, very close to myself. I wanted to discover for myself, through direct experience, what this ‘Non-Persoanl Awareness’ was? And it quickly busted many of my illusions – the things that I’d learned and taught for all those years were really challenged by this little NPA thing.

It wasn’t until 2008, in November, that I first taught it publicly and not until 2009 February when I first taught it in an official way and since then it’s just exploded. It’s in countries all over the world and that’s down to the fact that it’s so simple and it just works.”

[JY-General-Bio]

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Why God Said “No Way Dude” To Moses

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Why God Said "No Way Dude" To MosesIn our positively polarised new-age culture, it is often said that God (or The Universe) always says yes. But there’s a Biblical story from the old testament which illustrates an important reason why there’s something God says ‘no’ to and the gift that this denial gives to each and every one of us…

No Way Dude

Moses in the Old Testament beseeched God to make himself known to him. God said “No way dude, you’d be annihilated” (I paraphrase) ;0)

Essentially this story points to God, Divinity as the unknowable mystery. No single being can encapsulate the infinite.

So Moses badgers God who finally agrees to let His shadow fall briefly across him. And in that moment Moses’ hair turns instantly grey and he runs mad around the dessert for 40 days and 40 nights…

This story reflects the deep longing within each human individual to connect with the unknowable – as voiced by Moses in the story.

A Finite Interpretation Of The Infinite Mystery

It further illustrates how even the slightest conscious awareness of that longing will give birth to a story, a shadow of the Truth. In other words; a perspective, a filtered translation or finite interpretation of the infinite mystery.

Then, my awakened friends, the trap of “I have it” is set. In other words we have tendancy to make our interpretation THE definitive truth, and then preach it as such to others.

In non-personal awareness we move from these subtle (and not so subtle) declarations of absolute truth, to a deep understanding that we each have a unique perspective on reality. It’s the acknowledgement that all we have is our story, and that our story connects us to the unknowable truth of what is.

An Air Of Discovery

When you surrender to the humbling awareness of this, you can begin to enjoy yours and other people’s stories, taking them lightly and entering conversations with an air of discovery and unattached passion.

So enjoy your story of Divinity, knowing it connects you somehow to the unknowable.

Please comment, like & share with your friends

[JY-General-Bio]