Swami and the Married Woman: Everything Waits To Be Noticed

Stepping into the unknown...

Since 1971 we have been blessed with earning our right livelihood by sharing our life style with students, clients and seminar participants. Our combination of eastern philosophy, western psychology, and body-centered psychotherapy have been instrumental in allowing us to remain healthy and fulfilled over the past four decades

During that time we have been running an experiment that focuses on remaining available to all the invitations that arrive in the course of a day. A healthy diet, a daily practice of hatha yoga and pranayama (breathing techniques), combined with our meditation program has kept our mind clear and our nervous system strong thus allowing us respond appropriately to the many challenging situations in our life. This approach was in sharp contrast to our previous method, where we would surge forward attempting to control and manipulate events, only to be let back down again when these attempts inevitably failed. That method of reacting to life left us depleted, agitated, and most assuredly not as healthy.

We have discovered that it is essential to not only know the invitations that are useful and need to be accepted, but even more important to know which ones we should just let pass on by. An example of his occurred in 2003, when we began receiving numerous invitations to move to Vancouver, British Colombia. Thankfully we chose to move into the unknown rather than being paralyzed by fear or uncertainty. We both shutter to think what would have happened if we had not listened to this guidance and sold our house in South Florida in the early months of 2006.

We believe that being open to change is an important part of growth and that remaining open to the unknown possibilities before us is an essential part of a divine plan. However, it is our responsibility to keep our radar tuned in to these signals. Over and over again, our experiment has guided us perfectly. In the first chapter of our book we present to the reader this philosophy by sharing how, by allowing the perfect Sunday brunch to find us, we found ourselves treated to an extraordinary experience – “the best Sunday brunch in town.”

At the end of chapter one, as is the case with each of the thirty-one chapters of The Swami And The Married Woman, we give the reader the enlightening moment that was revealed to us during the chapter. In this particular case, it was as simple as knowing that the best way to find something was to allow it to find you. These enlightening moments are a daily occurrence for us, not because we are special, but because we pay attention to everything around us, which allows us to remain open to possibilities from beyond.

We are not, however, always that aware. Missed opportunities are a part of life, but we’ve come to recognize them not as mistakes, but rather as warning signals that let us know we’ve veered too far astray from the course we’re supposed to be on. These days, we can tell when we are trying to force our will on a situation rather than trusting the process. This awareness at least enables us to shift gears and return to our more comfortable receptive mode.

Whenever we’re out of balance (i.e. being influenced by a selfish desire), we miss opportunities and usually wind up in a less satisfying situation. An agitated mind is not only spinning us in circles, but also forces us to make the same mistakes over and over again. Like Bill Murray in the movie Ground Hog Day, we become caught in an endless stream of situations that leave us with no hope of moving forward into a more fulfilling and rewarding life. We are locked in the past, not knowing how to get free.

It does take practice and a heightened awareness to stay alert to the myriad of invitations that life offers us, but the rewards far outweigh the expenditure of energy. Science is finally catching up to this simple idea, demonstrating how stimulating the frontal lobe of the brain (the part concerned with processing new experiences) creates feelings of peace and satisfaction.

So, one may ask, how do I stimulate the frontal lobe of my brain?