How the Will Centers Feel in Our Physical Body

Recognizing who's WILL is in directing our life is truly an amazing fete.  It reflects a commitment to to be more fully our True Self.  A 'self-hug, pat on the back' is in order.  Do that now!

Now, how WILL feels as it is present in our body:

Energetically, the will centers are energy centers in the backside of our body. They are in alignment with the chakras as  represented on the front of the body. It is helpful to think of WILL as the force which supports us in moving out in the world. It is the energy which gives us the little (or sometime forceful) push to take action in our lives. One of my teachers, John Pierrakos, talked about the importance of aligning our will with Divine Will. The question, he said was whether we were aligned with other peoples will, our will, or God’s will? Of course, whose will is in charge dramatically effects our personal development as well as  self-discipline, self-determination, and showing up Truthfully in the world.

When we work with our daily review practice, our goals and our vision for our life, it  becomes clear which use of WILL mostly informs our life and our choices. To Live Truth is to have our personal Will and Divine Will be aligned (or as the mystics say, 'as one').


Self Reflection:  Who's really in charge of  your life? Give yourself a 'self-hug, pat on the back'  for anytime you have given over to Divine Direction-the 'will' of a higher dierction!

The Pay-Off

The pay-off from living with Divine Will as the director of our life is having such a stream of power, support and direction that, through our mere willingness to stay connected to Divine Will, serenity, ease and wisdom are our constant (well at least always in arms reach) companions for our life.  

This intention for living brings us the most freedom and possibility to live the Truth of who we are, without fear (from the world and other people and from our own inner fear/power driven and distorted ego.  

Carolyn writes:  Living in alignment with Divine Will is a practice-and through practice I have made some progress in staying connected more and more of the time.  It is certainly not a once and done experience.  But once I had a revelation of what this kind of experience would feel like, I want more of it and more often. Turning a part of my life over to Divine Direction BEFORE I got to the crash and burn has ALWAYS had wondrous results; sometimes beyond my wildest dream results. The longing for living daily with this kind of connection has continued to urge me toward ever more turning over my willfulness and my resistance.  It is a sometimes gut-wrenching process, but it has always, always been worth it when I do. 

Living with Divine Will as a partner, with us as the junior member of the partnership, through a commitment to act by checking in with 'God' first, guarantees progress toward manifesting a positive and healing vision in the direction for our life. 

Self Reflection:  What is my personal partnership today?  Me, my ego and my will? My will and another's will? My will and Divine Will?  How does my pie-chart measure out? 

Sharing Our Will With The Divine

For most of us our first experience of turning our will over to the Divine is when we have run out of options.  How many times have the words "I give up!" or 'Help!" or "I can't do this anymore." or "F%*& this!" come out of our mouths. Those words are a first step toward sharing our Will with Divine.

Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have habit of letting our life get to such edges of desperation before we become willing to change what we are doing, before we open the door for unseen options? Some of us are slow learners.  Some of us have grown up feeling we have to do it all our selves in order to deserve things getting better.

The practice of getting directions for living of our life from a source other than our habits, our egos, our emotions, or our minds, is just that...a practice.  It is a practice that is best done with at least one other person as witness and corroborator.  We share with one other person our intentions for the day, and we connect with them at the end of the day how we were able to hold and complete our intention, or how we were tripped up in our efforts.

Self Reflection:  What is the one area of my life I would be willing, maybe even LOVE to have a direction better than I where I am currently heading?  So far, what has kept me from giving my will over to Creator?

The Only Time Free Will is Truly Free

Our Will is perhaps the biggest gift we are given as human beings.  When others are able to co-opt our Will, when we give them use of our gift--we become a sort of slave to their whim and worry, at the very least.  At the worst, however, because the Will is an instrument for our life force, by living according to other people's will, our life force is no longer available to us to live our life fully, with the health, vitality and creativity that is our birth right.  This shows up in our life in various forms of illness, depression an inability to trust or rely on our intuition etc.

Additionally, our ego distorted and malfunctioning ego takes over the use of the will in collusion.  This renders any sort of discipline, dependability and discernment pretty much impossible.

So what is the solution?  Imagine this, we, after a being is incarnated as body and soul , The Creator/Divine hands us a little package. "Here", Creator says, "here is the tuning fork for your life force. Use it well."  Poof.  We are born.  The exact things required to have our will be useful for us --discipline, discernment, and dependability -- are not available to us as newly born human beings.  We are born helpless in meeting our own needs. These things develop through right use of Will.  This is a paradox, an oxymoron! 

The only way to keep and use this gift for our growth and transformation is to hand it over to the One who gave us the gift in the first place.  We WILL find that the freest and most profound use of our will occurs only when we give it back to The Divine and run all of our life force back through the Original Source of all life.  We know these moments because we experience ease, support, discipline, clarity, hope, feelings of love and acceptance, and the awareness that all is fundamentally well. Probably all of us have had these moments.  The power and energy of these times can be so powerful we are overwhelmed and snatch back our will in an automatic reaction of fear for the unfamiliar.

Carolyn writes;  This is my experience of when things are going to well or are 'too good to be true':  I take back my Will and go back to doing things 'my way' or 'other's way'. The struggle of 'my way' and the painful restriction of being under other's control is more familiar.  I may not thrive in this space, but, so far,  I have survived. I also take back my will when I feel life is going too fast for my comfort zone.  I will find some way (crisis) to bring a halt to my progress so I can return to a more familiar, even if uncomfortable way of living.

Self Reflection:  What are the areas in my life where I am likely to give my will over to others?

Life According to Other People's Will

We begin our reflection on Willingness and Will by looking at how we learned to adopt 'other people's will' as a strategy to live our life.  As infants and young children, we were dependent human beings, and we learned to follow the instruction of others to be safe and secure in our life.  Sometimes these 'instructions' were really demands, and not living according to the rules and dictates of our caregivers threatened our well-being.

For some of us, learning to pick up cues from others about their needs and wants, and about what of our behaviors were acceptable to others became a way of life; a pattern we have never outgrown. In fact we may have honed these skills into fine art.  This way of interpreting and responding is so second nature we may not be aware we are doing it.  

When we are in the grips of 'other people's will', we feel pushed around, helpless., with no or limited options, often out of control, fearful, and concerned about getting things right.  We also feel stuck,  dependent, confusion, and feelings of shame .  We are aligned with a need for approval and acceptance as a priority in our life.  This list, of course, is not nearly complete!   

Self Reflection:  What are times or areas of my life where I still experience some of the above mentioned states of being, emotions, feelings, thoughts and behaviors.  Are there some other ways not on this list I would add where I recognize Someone else has control in my life?  I can recognize this and know, by recognizing the patterns, I have begun to shift them...my willingness to Live Truth has begun.

Waxing Moon: Contemplation and the Will

The first part of the moon cycle, the waxing moon is a more contemplative path/time.  Again, this does not mean there is no action, but rather the action, growth, shift, change, transformation, development, are happening from the inside out.  Often this internal process is not visible to others.  Sometimes, we are not even aware of it.   We go inside this seed of our being to see how, where and what is needed to nourish it to grow and be useful in the outer world. 

In the month of September, with the teaching and path to Live Truth, We ask for whatever we need to Live Truth as the Full path of our life: moment to moment in our day, and taking this commitment into our evening and sleeping/dreaming times and  beginning again every day.

To be willing is the first step in this path to Live Truth.  The suffix '-ing' implies action.  In this case, it implies an intention toward action.  '-ing' always seems to me to give me an out-I can still change my mind about doing whatever it is I am 'ing-ing' to do.

For example: I say I am willing to go on a food-detox program.  This doesn't mean I have begun the program.  It's more like a pre-commitment.  I may be willing, but I might never start the program.

This state of being willing is a critical state to experience on our path of personal and spiritual growth.  Consciously staying in a place of willingness, for as long as necessary, gives time and space for the seed of our purpose (our Life) to accept/receive the impulse to grow. We are willing, and sit with our willingness, and then we consciously choose to take action.

The next place to explore in the world of WILL is an understanding of the three kinds of will from which we live our life:  Our Will, Other people's Will and Divine Will (or God's Will/Creator's Will)

Self Reflection: What nourishment do I need to grow my life to Live Truth-Fully?

Live Truth, Waxing Moon: How to Be the Essence of Our Truth

September Moon carries the auspicious energy of the clan mother Jamie Sams refers to as 'Keeper of Tomorrow’s Goals and Dreams' (pg. 185). This month revitalizes our commitment to live as fully in our life as we are currently able. This kind of re-commitment  seems necessary following the often busy and chaotic energies of the summer months.

The Path of Live Truth is a call to awareness on many levels:  Of our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self, as well as awareness of all that is going on around us. The close of the day has a vibrational frequency (a unique energetic sense) that is not felt at other times of the day. The awareness we give to this  'close of the day' energy frequency supports our ability to reconnect to to the earth, to our intuition, as well as to the ancient ways. It is only by connecting to the natural world that we are truly able to sustain our connection to a sustainable wisdom [Truth] (MacEowen pg.7).

Carolyn writes: From my own life experience, I find sustaining my connection with the Truth I am aware of is difficult. The teaching of this moon cycle gives us ways to sustain this connection: Keeping our vision and our goals in the forefront of our minds, our eyes to what is ahead and consciously dreaming our dreams—every day!

This energy of Live Truth calls us to connect with our discipline, our determination, and our dependability--which are strongly aligned with our will. In the next few posts for the waxing moon cycle we will explore the role of will in Living Truth.

Self Reflection: How am I keeping and honoring my goals and dreams for my life?

Serving the Child, Serving the Future

Karin, a founding member of our original Moon Cycle Circle and guest blogger, starts off the exploration of the role of 'will' (and true service) on the path to Live Truth.  She shares her personal reflections:

During last month's focus on Serving Truth, I was startled by the assertion that I needed to serve myself. (This flies in the face of my Christian indoctrination.)  It took so much pressure off me to serve, serve, and serve some more until I was spent. Working with Kinders these past two weeks--and I mean, young Kinders--with their joyful and willful expression, has reminded me to be aware of and care for my own inner child.  I intuit that I need to cultivate and give witness to an intermingling of service to them and to service to myself. Therein lies the evolution and healing of Planet and Self--one and the same!

It takes daily contemplation and review of my intentions in order to Serve God/The Good.  My intentions encompass guiding the little ones in learning how to 1) distinguish needs from wants; 2) balance their needs and immediate wants with those of their peers; 3) to assert when they have not been heard, yet also practice strategies of patience and grit when faced with challenges.  Basically, to stre-e-etch both their brains AND their hearts when peers trespass their boundaries and they don't receive immediate gratification--tall orders for any of us, let alone Kinders!

August's focus on Service and September's focus on Awareness of Tomorrow's Dreams in its range of manifestations epitomizes my journey through the cycles.  The image of a giggling-then sleepy-then generous babe Wata-jis in the cradle board (from Jamie Sams story of Setting Sun Woman) captures the essence of a Kinder kid!  This morning I looked at our class pictures and could distinctly envision them as high schoolers!  I need to be aware that their future selves will carry the foundational circuitry and emotions from their Kinder selves!

What exactly is my role?  It's imperative that I pray morning, evening, throughout the day (!) for the words and patience to love them just as they are developmentally (as my young Karin needed and did not always receive). Also important is to give them choice and a measure of responsibility in making those choices.  Tell them in word and deed that I trust them.  Model that I, too, make mistakes, but that we can and will become skillful emotionally and cognitively.  This is a process, an entire life's journey. My co-teacher and I are learning that patience and respect (with respectful consequences for obstinacy!) during this journey are the hardest to practice and model.  But the fruits of our labor are so worth it.