Hardships: We shall overcome!
You’ve got hardships. For how long? You might think, “I don’t know yet.”
I’ve experienced mine from the very beginning, born Code Blue with my umbilical cord around my neck. The umbilical cord is supposed to support life, yet each person must overcome it. That is to say that biology is supposed to be on our side. We can learn to overcome when biology seems unfriendly.
You’ve got difficulties.
How difficult? Your answer might be, “I don’t know yet.”
I was not born into the most parental and socially friendly environment. My parents didn’t know, and the people they associated with didn’t either! They were all consumed with evil Karma, and they didn’t know this, either.
My schoolmates and teachers were also unaware of the Karma they carried. I’ve found situations repeated throughout others’ and my lifespans.
Here’s the good news: We can overcome personal, familial, and societal evil Karma!
The choice arises from the experience of attunement.
Life experiences have taught me the value of attunement. I’m always amazed by the Awareness that arises from this skill. I am also amazed at how simple and natural it is for EVERYONE to engage. (Please, don’t confuse simple with easy. They are not synonyms!)
I look forward to each experience of attunement. It is a real privilege that reveals and transforms reality into Divinity. Can you imagine your life transformed from banal to Blessed and Blessed?
Many mothers – earthly mothers, divine mothers, kind mothers, fierce mothers, so many mothers – have become my best friends and teachers. They have nurtured me to the point where many of the bad seeds of life have failed to succeed, and the good seeds of Love, Life, and Joy thrive. I want to share these gifts and how to attain them abundantly with you.
The sharing of Heavenly Seeds is insufficient in and of themselves. You can go to the store and buy every seed in sight. You will still not have a bountiful garden that sustains life for all. The commitment to a relationship with your divine partners is what I know and teach. The commitment process nourishes and enriches life, making life well and worth living. Indeed, it makes one live a Life of Abundance where you can eat and share in the Fruits of the Divine!
Life is a learning process.
I have learned there is nothing wrong with suffering and nothing wrong with releasing it. There is nothing wrong with good karma or bad karma. How your life unfolds will be a function of your attunement skills. I began to understand this while volunteering with hospice patients and working with soldiers at Ft. Hood, especially terminal AIDS patients. (Yes, I’m old enough that the words ‘terminal’ and ‘AIDS’ went together.)
When my wife agreed to marry me, I continued to learn. She has shown a willingness to forgive me to the moon and back so many times! I finally learned to find Joy in the release of suffering with the birth of my son (now 16 years old).
I stayed vigilant in my learning with children and adolescents in inpatient psychiatric facilities, adults, and children in public mental health with dual diagnoses (meaning they had both developmental disorders and other psychiatric disorders), veterans and their families, private practice, and people in ordinary life.
By paying attention when doing ordinary things, like going to the grocery store, practicing Aikido, rock climbing, exercising, and so many other activities, I continue to learn.
About Me
Every person and experience has taught me something.
Formally, I received training in Neurolinguistic Programming (with Steve Andreas, a direct student of Milton Erickson MD), hypnosis (Society for Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis), and EMDR (EDMRIA, Francine Shapiro’s work).
I earned a Ph.D. in Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in chronic pain patients using biofeedback. I’ve studied in Steven Porges’s lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago (the father of Polyvagal Theory) and studied statistics with those who studied directly with BF Skinner (one of the fathers of Behaviorism). Currently, I’m studying with Integrative Psychiatric Institute for the privilege of bringing psychedelic-assisted therapy to Colorado Springs.
Most importantly, I’ve learned and look forward to learning more about the True Spirit found in all the people who have interacted with me. I have also learned and gained knowledge about public layers. I get excited and feel privileged and blessed when people share their private layers, and I also feel compassion and blessed when people share their secret layers.
No secret makes me squeamish, and I honor your privileged communication as I have for thousands. I can and do keep secrets! I have no words for when we’ve gone beyond secret layers. Carl Yung calls this experience numinous. Yogis call it Nirodha. Buddhists call it Nirvana. This is my desired state that we all could share!
What do I do and have done for fun?
I’ve practiced yoga asana (shapes associated with the exercise for 20 years), yoga nidra for over 8 years, and meditation for my whole life. I have a certification in iRest Yoga Nidra since 2020 and earned my RTY-200 with Yoga Studio Satya in 2023. I also earned a level one certificate for Gentle Somatic Yoga (James Knight) in 2023. Note about meditation: Meditation is a consequence of life awareness. It develops from experience but is marketed as the vehicle of experience. This type of thinking puts the horse before the cart! Everybody meditates on a certain level, which can evolve through experience. It is not for or because you think it will somehow mysteriously change you into a more likable version of yourself!
Although I’m not great at it, I have rock climbed for fun on and off for over 10 years and keep trying to adapt and overcome. I have played all the instruments to a degree of proficiency: piano/organ, flute, voice, and guitar, and I love and appreciate them all!
Longboarding was fun until I ripped my kneecap off in 2023. I’m still contemplating when I will get back on, as I am still recovering from the experience. Although I love snowboarding, I’m the slower older guy on the slope, trying not to take out children, but I’m having a good time. Keystone is my preferred mountain. Although I have played Tomoki Aikido for over eight years and am considering starting it again, I’ve not found the space to make and play with Colorado friends. Nature and camping are my loves.
When I was younger, I used to do more primitive camping. I still do, but I do more car camping than a 5-mile hike!
I love going to the gym, especially when I get to go with my son. Weightlifting is fantastic, although I’m recovering from the foolishness of failing to warm up! I like shooting handguns, long guns, and shotguns for sport. Although I like shooting, I’m a terrible hunter, so I mainly stay at the ranges.