Most entrepreneurial enterprises fail. Why? Not only are there many unexpected and underestimated real world forces to contend with; our own internal limitations and resistances rise up in unexpected and powerful ways. If our dreams of worldly prosperity and service are to come true we need to address and neutralize as many of these factors as possible. Integral Deep Listening brings sources of internal sabotage to the surface where we can see them and deal with them while showing us the priorities that will gain the greatest support from spirit within. Not only is resistance diminished; we access personality qualities that are associated with prosperity.
Here is an example of Dream Yoga being applied to one start-up entrepreneurial enterprise, in this case a holistic school.
You are on your deathbed and all your dreams have come true…
I have lived a long and prosperous life with my husband. My children have the life that they dream of having, and I have harmonious relationships with everyone in my family. We have levels of communication in our family that support all our spiritual development. I have a family of people who are with me often so that my home is always full and present with the people that I love. My home is a sanctuary that people come to. Being in my presence is a healing experience for them. They feel fully supported and fully loved at all times. My work has been such that I have a reputation for supporting people to live the life of their dreams and helping them to remove any blockages and obstacles so that they can step fully into their divinity. That’s very fun! It’s more a vibration of light. A lot of the love and healing come from a place of the heart. It’s not a head space. It’s tuning in with a place of pleasure within. I can look back with an abundance of knowledge from meeting many, many people who all support me in becoming more aware. I have the capacity to remove the veils and live from that place. I have such gratitude for learning how to be receptive and open to new things and sharing these with others so they can be full with all that they receive as well. All relationships that have a charge have been resolved. I am in a place of pure love. Our school draws together incredibly talented people who have different ways of sharing their gifts so that people can hear and feel supported in ways that speak to them. Our educational offerings are easily accessible for the local market and those trainings can occur throughout the world. It goes beyond a business to a spiritual home. Even in the paper pushing and the data entry there is an awareness that it is happening for a bigger picture. In all of those things there is a remembrance. It is a place for people who are living a sacred life.
My deathbed nightmare is…
It’s lonely, empty, and scary. It feels like all these gifts turn out to be nothing. Because of my own poor choices I have pushed everyone away and I have isolated myself. I have a lot of anger inside of me and a sense of failure because I wasn’t able to evolve past that and I caused pain or harm in other people’s lives. I didn’t listen to myself. I end up alone and sad. I wouldn’t have a relationship with my family.
If those feelings had a color (or colors), what would it be?
Black
Imagine that color filling the space in front of you so that it has depth, height, width, and aliveness.
Now watch that color swirl, congeal, and condense into a shape. Don’t make it take a shape, just watch it and say the first thing that you see or that comes to your mind: An animal? Object? Plant? What?
A sword. Silver with a black handle.
Now remember how as a child you liked to pretend you were a teacher or a doctor? It’s easy and fun for you to imagine that you are the shape that took form from your color and answer some questions I ask, saying the first thing that comes to your mind. If you wait too long to answer, that’s not the character answering – that’s YOU trying to figure out the right thing to say!
Sword, would you please tell me about yourself and what you are doing?
I am a very sharp sword. I am somewhat heavy. I have stabbed her through her back but I’m not all the way through.
What do you like most about yourself? What are your strengths?
I’m shiny and pretty. I’m scary. I’m powerful. I like being powerful. I’m respected.
What do you dislike most about yourself? Do you have weaknesses? What are they?
I don’t have a good handle. It doesn’t fit right. I’m so heavy that if I was a little bit lighter I would be easier to move around. I feel like I’m the only sword. I don’t know any others.
Sword, you are in this person’s life experience, correct? They created you, right?_____ (Character), what aspect of this person do you represent or most closely personify?
Her insecure self.
Sword, if you could be anywhere you wanted to be and take any form you desired, would you change? If so, how?
I would change. I would become lighter and get a new handle. I would have a handle that fits one’s grip. Made to be in a hand. I would be showcased and available for people to see and they would come to experience me because I’m majestic. There’s more awe instead of being scary and heavy. Now I’m a sacred sword. I have a power that so that my presence helps to turn people on. They experience the lightness of me.
(Continue, answering as the transformed object, if it chose to change.)
(Character), how would you score yourself 0-10, in each of the following six qualities: confidence, compassion, wisdom, acceptance, inner peace, and witnessing? Why?
Confidence: 10 I feel loved by those who are with me.
Compassion: 9 I understand that there is a darker…I’ve experienced the heaviness, the darker sword. I have compassion for that.
Wisdom: 10
Acceptance: 10
Inner Peace: 10
Witnessing: 10
How would ______’s life be different if she naturally scored high in all six of these qualities all the time?
She would be fully able to receive the love that is abundant to her. She would stop sabotaging certain relationships because she knows that it’s only love that’s being offered. She wouldn’t have fear of failure because there isn’t any failure. It’s only a perception of failure.
If you could live ______’s life for her, how would you live it differently?
She would be sweeter to the people who are trying to be sweet to her. I’m sweet! I’m kind, I’m loving. I’m a gentle white sword. I don’t cause harm. I protect. I have the ability to be aggressive but I’m solid and strong. I’m a protective tool. She would be more active. Instead of waiting for things to come together she would be more focused and more present and more creative. I’m white and hard, like paladium.
If you could live this person’s waking life for her today, would you handle her three life issues differently? If so, how?
Regarding her nightmare, I would remind her that there’s nothing to fear. The nightmare won’t be created. It’s not her purpose. It’s only a nightmare. She doesn’t have to worry. I think she needs to keep doing what she’s doing. She’s doing it! She needs to focus in and put her energies toward that and not have doubts that she needs to be doing something else. This is her life dream! The only way she is going to live it is to do it. She can continue to stay connected to her community. It will help her to achieve her life’s dream.
What three life issues would you focus on if you were in charge of her life?
The same. She just needs to break down her big pictures into bite-sized pieces, organize them…
Why do you think that you are in _______’s life?
So that she realizes her next step and to help her remember her confidence.
In what life situations would it be most beneficial for ____ to imagine that she is you and act as you would?
When obstacles come up or she has doubts. It will help her stay committed to living her life dream.
How is this person most likely to ignore what you are saying to them?
By getting impatient! That will make her start thinking that her life’s dream could possibly be of someone else’s creation instead of her own. In order to have her life’s dream she has to be the creator of it. She’s gotta make it happen.
What would you recommend that they do about that?
I recommend that she tune in to me. Think about me. Become me, an upright sword instead of horizontal. The horizontal is the pain. The vertical is a love for space and strength and connection. She will be strong in her posture. Rather than have a feeling in her body of a crushed heart, she feels open.
______, what have you heard yourself say?
What I heard myself say is that moving forward and being identified with the sword in the upright position serves to protect, have compassion, confidence, and strength. I need to stand tall and straight and remember that in order to create the life of my dreams I have to make it happen myself.
If this experience were a wake-up call from your soul, what do you think it would be saying to you?
I need to stay in communication with higher aspects of myself.
As always with IDL, the importance of the information is not primarily about hearing new information. After all, we are listening to ourselves and telling ourselves things that we already know on some level. What is important is that we step into a broader perspective that reflects new priorities that claim will make life simpler by providing a more direct way forward. It is only by putting such suggestions to the test practically in our lives that we can evaluate their credibility. When we do so, we learn to trust ourselves as we deepen and broaden a life based on confidence,compassion,wisdom, acceptance, inner peace, and witnessing.
This lady decided to become her sword whenever she felt insecure and needed to take more concrete, focused action to make her life dream come true.
