A Physical Pose for Your Steady Persona

Even when you're feeling insecure or life is "rocking the boat," your Steady Persona, or the part of you that always remains firm amidst the turmoil, stands on that boat straight and tall and seems to find the perfect amount of gravity to keep a perfect balance.

When you're feeling unsteady in life it's important to reintroduce yourself to your Steady Persona. To reacquaint yourself with her practice a simple physical pose that focuses on grounding the femur bones.

What? Ground the femur bones? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

You'll see many proficient yogis ground their femur bones (Note: It may take someone a year or several years to do this proficiently. It does not always come easy!) They do this in a forward fold position. The hips must be centered over the feet in a true forward fold. The knees may bend as much as necessary. The four corners of each foot must be in comfortable contact with the ground.

Now....Ground the Femurs!
To ground the femurs, which are the large thigh bones, flex the quadriceps up and move the front of the thighs (also the quadriceps) into the back of the thighs. When this happens you may feel a slight tilt upwards of the sit bones and your low back may become slightly more concave (arched). At this point you may also feel (and this is what we're going for) a push of the calf muscles downward into the feet and a push of the feet downward into the ground. This downward motion provides a deep grounded feeling which will put you back in touch with your Steady Persona.

Work with a Teacher or Use a Prop Such as a Small Ball to Help
You may need to work with a teacher a few times before mastering this sensation. One thing that helps is to place a ball or a yoga block between the inner thighs and press in on the prop and press it slightly back as you perform the forward fold. This should help you to automatically lift the thighs up and back.

Start holding this pose for one minute and then work up to a longer amount of time. Ideally, to achieve steady results and reacquaint yourself with your Steady Persona you should hold the pose for at least two minutes (no longer than five) and breathe steadily making your exhale twice as long as your inhale.

As always, consider doing something spiritually or mentally steady to really support your Steady Persona from a deeper level. If your Steady Persona needs to lead one of your current projects you will need to support her on multiple levels.....not the physical alone.

[[[[WATCH THIS VIDEO TO SEE THE EFFECTS AND BENEFITS OF GROUNDING THE FEMUR BONES]]]

Disney's Movie "Inside Out" - Taking the Lead with the Right Persona

I watched Disney's "Inside Out" last night for the first time. I was enchanted by the movie. As per Pixar's "usual" the amount of observation and creativity that went into the making of the film are outstanding and clever.

The basic concepts of the film reminded me of my own program, The Personified Physique, because it focuses on the varying aspects of one person.

It also reminded me how important it is to decide which persona (or emotion in the case of "Inside Out") will take the lead on a project. Sometimes "Joy" needs to be in charge and sometimes "Sadness" is best at leading the way.

At the end of the movie all of the emotions get a place at the control panel together and I like that metaphor as well. As we come to accept all of our emotions we become more whole ourselves.

A Sense of Lightness

Today is Thanksgiving and I'm counting my blessings. I'm even trying to count the disappointments in life as special blessings. Today for example I've been thinking about a continual sense of heaviness that I've carried for a good deal of my life and how I can count it as a blessing.

Yes, I've struggled with weight loss to some degree but mostly the sense of heaviness has been a spiritual burden. I've realized though that a sense of lightness is more or less free. To feel light and free all you need to do is recognize the insignificance of most burdens. As the saying goes "choose your battles," and I would add "choose your burdens."

It may be uncomfortable to quit a job that offers no joy but in the long run and perhaps even in the short run it will be worth it because it, like most jobs without love, are insignificant except to teach us what is significant.

I remember one of the initial scenes in the movie "Wild" starring Reese Witherspoon. In the scene, her character is in her motel room packing a large hiking pack. To make the process easier she straps the large backpack on while lying down but when it's time to stand up she can't do it! I feel like life is similar....some of us for reasons I still don't understand choose to carry many burdens, and must learn sooner or later the lesson of "letting go" and the lesson of holding onto the things that are most valuable and hopefully not too heavy.

How to Change Yourself: A Focus on Viewpoints Through a Persona's Eye

Even though I don't really believe we can truly change ourselves at the deepest level of our beings I do believe most of us have, since a young age, disguised ourselves and hidden ourselves so well that when our true selves do come out from time to time even we are surprised. Once in a while, for example, I'll have this incredibly happy, dramatic and sparkly little personality just burst out of me which is always a surprise after more than a decade and a half of corporate life, depression, physical sickness, etc.

It would seem that those who have learned to change in the most dramatic ways and in the least amount of time are aware of a few little "secrets."

Here's a few of these secrets:

1) The kind of change you want the most doesn't happen because other people change you.
2) The kind of change you want the most doesn't happen because you change other people.
3) The kind of change you want the most doesn't happen (at least not completely) because you start to change your habits.
4) The kind of change you want the most does't happen (at least not completely) because you change your environment.
5) The kind of change you want the most happens when you decide who you want to let into your life based on your own boundaries, when you change your habits, when you change your environment AND when you change your viewpoint of everything around you (including yourself, your environment and other people around you).

As I have mentioned earlier in this entry I have struggled with depression. I've not always known how to "deal" with depression. I've seen counselors, I've done meditations, I've seen depression as a symbolic representation of the need to try something new and I've done breathing exercises. All of these things were helpful to some degree (except for breathing which is helpful to a HUGE degree! Hah!)

Anyway, besides the things I've already mentioned something else that can be valuable is to visualize a persona. This can be a persona outside of you but I like even more to picture a persona with me that is the "Happy Marci Persona." This "Happy Persona" definitely isn't leading my life when my "Depressed Persona" is but I like to remember what my Happy Persona looks like, what she likes to do and that she CAN be a lead in my life......that it's a possibility. I may not always know how to get her in the lead but I know it's possible. I know it's possible because I can imagine her in the lead of the very circumstances I'm currently living and how things could be different.

Imagining a different persona in the lead of your life doesn't mean you are devaluing your "Depressed Persona." Negative Personas can teach us many wonderful lessons but let's face it.....many of us do want to move toward the positive and if that is your goal try creating an imagination (which is just a different kind of virtual reality) of the possibility of how your life could be different and then if you like what you see then continue to see your counselors, do your meditations, change your environment and do whatever else you like!

Think of change as something that is already there (like the wind) and all that you can do is 1) change your viewpoint of the wind from enemy to catalyst and use the right tools to 2) protect yourself from it by imprisoning yourself or by building windmills or flying machines.

You are free to be you!

How to Diffuse Negative Emotion

As you continue to develop your personas with the Personified Physique method you'll probably notice that negative emotions will surface. These negative emotions often surface 1) because we are trying to move in positive directions and are getting negative feedback and 2) because we are triggered by old patterns which annoy the hell out of us. (Nobody likes a habit they can't seem to give up especially when they are trying to improve their lives.)

Many times we will be triggered by people who we do or do not know well. Often times these triggers will result in feelings of negative emotions. The Personified Physique offers methods for talking to our negative personas to look at the negative emotion from a positive perspective (so we keep moving in a positive direction) but how do we deal with the people themselves?

When people trigger us and we feel negatively about the triggers sometimes we act negatively toward those people but that rarely works well for us since the trigger is about us and not them. So, the next time someone triggers you and you feel negative feelings surface try taking two inhales and two exhales (before reacting) and then try saying the following to that person:

1. I can understand why you feel/think that way. I see the situation a bit differently...would you be interested in hearing it?
2. I can see your point of view. My point of view differs somewhat....would you be interested in hearing it?
3. Thank you for sharing your real thoughts with me. I appreciate your sincerity. My thoughts differ somewhat. Would you like to hear them?
4. What I hear you saying to me is [SUMMARIZE WHAT THEY ARE SAYING] and I can see that you feel [SUMMARIZE THE EMOTIONS THEY SEEM TO BE FEELING]. Would you say I am understanding the situation correctly?

You may feel that it's difficult to see another person's point of view when you try these tips. If you can't authentically see another person's point of view it is very difficult to communicate. If you would like some tips on learning how to see from the point of view of another person try reading this article on "Learning to See a Situation from Someone Else's Perspective."

Personas Outside of Us

One of the valuable things about the Personified Physique is---of course---the concepts of personas. Personas help us to visualize something that we want to develop in ourselves. If we want to be a smarter person we can get clues from those who are the Smart Personas. How do they walk? What is their daily routine? What do they read? Etc.

I've noticed that often it's the people we admire the most who have the characteristics that we want to develop in ourselves the most.

I for example really love Shakira. She reminds me of myself somehow. Most people who know me would never say that the sexy, wild, chest-popping Shakira is anything like me but that's the key. I know deep down that my sexy, wild and chest-popping personas are there.....but how do I bring them out in a way that works for me?



This is really what the Personified Physique is all about.....observing the personas we admire and learning to be self-aware enough to bring those qualities out in ourselves with the talents that we already possess.

Oxymorons

Oxymorons are the strangest things. Here are some examples:

*difficult simplicity
*peaceful warrior
*truthful liar
*thin fat
*crazy sanity

These word pairs aren't supposed to make sense but when you think about them they really do.

I've been thinking about the first word pair above, namely, "difficult simplicity." I've realized how complex it can be to make things simple. The more I try to make the Personified Physique a simple program the more I get caught in complexities and sometimes I just throw up my hands in frustration.

But I guess The Beatles had a point because when I "let it be" and go do something else sometimes I'll have these thoughts come to mind and then I realize "Oh yeah! The Personified Physique is really easy. Just describe it like this. Just do it like this.

But even though it is easy.....getting to the easy point always seems quite difficult.

Oxymoron.

How to Develop the Habit of Awareness

Developing awareness can be scary at first because some of us have a fear of being imperfect but you'll probably find that if this is the case with you you're going to realize that being aware provides more benefits than pitfalls including attracting people who trust you more readily. To develop awareness here are two easy things you can do:

1) For one week record yourself in conversation throughout all your encounters with others. You can buy those little spy recorders (yes, some of them are pens or even usb drives as you can see in this entry's image) and carry them around. Then, over the next couple of months listen to how you talk to others and consider your motives. Were you ever trying to invoke negative feelings in a person you were conversing with (jealousy, insecurity, inferiority, fear, etc.) If so, why were you doing that and is there another option? If you can identify your motives in these conversations you are doing a great job already in developing awareness.

2) Try writing a fake journal entry from the point of view of someone who knows you (a friend, acquaintance, enemy, etc.). This works best if you are writing from the point of view of someone who is not fond of you. Write an entire page and see if you don't realize that you can actually see his/her point of view. Then, the next time you encounter this person if things start to get heated try to cool things down by saying "I can see your point of view. Thanks for sharing that with me. I still tend to believe this but......" and then afterward if you feel anger (which is pretty inevitable, take up boxing. Boxing can do wonders for anger release.

After a few of these exercises (and there are others you can search online if you're interested) you'll start to carry awareness with you as a habit. What this will feel like (at least at first) is that you are two people in the same body. You're the person doing things and you're the person observing your actions; you're the person saying things and you're the person observing your words; you're the person thinking things and you're the person observing your thoughts. To me, it feels kind of weird....almost out-of-body but still fun because you get to feel more like a super hero with a super kind of gift......the gift of self-awareness.....which by the way, in may cases, will increase your awareness about what others are feeling or thinking as well.

I Deserve Respect

I went to my chiropractor a few weeks ago. He did some of his normal "checks and balances" on my skeletal frame but based on my attitude that day he guessed there was something up with me emotionally.

He was right. I've been patronizing (literally) this chiropractor since 2012 and I'm sort of an emotional-heart-on-my-sleeve type of person so he knows when I feel like punching someone.

"Who do you feel like punching today Marci?" he asked politely.

Actually he didn't ask that question though I can imagine him doing so. Instead he began his neuro-emotional technique which I am always impressed with because it works so quickly. It basically functions with the chiropractor asking my body questions with a series of muscle testing to confirm the answers. This time the emotion came back to an incident with my father.

After talking briefly over the incident and asking a few more questions he asked me to say "I Deserve Respect." It was just a mantra and just three words and I began to speak it in a practical way but could feel the wave of tears coming over me.

And then the tears burst through. Wow...I deserve respect. For some reason Aretha's song had never meant so much to me. It was in that moment that I realized I truly needed to be treated with more deference, more understanding and from the perspective of personal boundaries....my Dad not only needed his own personal boundaries (to protect himself) but also needed boundaries when it came to dealing with his children.

Anyway, I left the chiropractor's office in tears and with a bottle of some kind of supplement in hand (still can't remember what it was) and I haven't stopped thinking about the mantra "I deserve respect," ever since. I don't know what I should do with my newfound wealth of understanding so it's sitting there and I'm holding a space for it so it can stay there and eat, sleep, party and whatever else a good "wealth of understanding" does in its spare time.

As for the Personified Physique the respectful persona is someone we can observe outside of us for clues as to how s/he carries herself/himself and also a persona or aspect that exists within us. I think of this persona taking a step backward when s/he knows herself/himself is getting close to something that could potentially cause someone pain. We're generally aware of when we're trying to cause pain.....if we're even expending the least bit of energy to be aware and so the respectful persona is an easy one to develop if we're practicing awareness.

How to Develop Greater Awareness and Carry It With You
Developing awareness can be scary at first because some of us have a fear of being imperfect but you'll probably find that if this is the case with you you're going to realize that being aware provides more benefits than pitfalls including attracting people who trust you more readily. To develop awareness here are two easy things you can do:

1) For one week record yourself in conversation throughout all your encounters with others. You can buy those little spy recorders (yes, some of them are pens) and carry them around. Then, over the next couple of months listen to how you talk to others and consider your motives. Were you ever trying to invoke negative feelings in a person you were conversing with (jealousy, insecurity, inferiority, fear, etc.) If so, why were you doing that and is there another option? If you can identify your motives in these conversations you are doing a great job already in developing awareness.

2) Try writing a fake journal entry from the point of view of someone who knows you (a friend, acquaintance, enemy, etc.). This works best if you are writing from the point of view of someone who is not fond of you. Write an entire page and see if you don't realize that you can actually see his/her point of view. Then, the next time you encounter this person if things start to get heated try to cool things down by saying "I can see your point of view. Thanks for sharing that with me. I still tend to believe this but......" and then afterward if you feel anger (which is pretty inevitable, take up boxing. Boxing can do wonders for anger release.

Successful People: What is the #1 Thing They Have in Common?

Once you align your physical self with your non-physical self (i.e, your thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.) you'll be a successful person.

But believe it or not you're already a successful person.

But if you're like most people you don't believe that last statement so I'll say this: The #1 thing that people who don't currently believe they are successful can develop so that they do feel successful is their own life vision and a constant and natural sense of self-awareness. People who feel successful and seem to flow in this world are people who don't really pay attention to other people.

Okay, let me clarify.

Successful people do pay attention to other people but not too much.

They listen to other people.

They care about other people.

But they don't listen to other people's "musts" and "shoulds."

And they don't care about what other people say is "right" or "wrong" except to respect their personal boundaries.

People who feel successful are primarily seeing and chasing their own vision of themselves and of the world they are creating as they uncover who they really are. They uncover their soul and thus change the world.

They are few in number but they are aware enough to know what they desire and that includes what kind of a world they desire to live in.....and so you will see them naturally changing the world around them but mostly they are focused on their own vision and on self-awareness.

Expansion and Contraction: What is your persona doing?

As we develop and show in real-time the personas that are taking us toward our life's desires you may notice in my positive persona videos that almost every persona whether s/he is open/closed s/he will always be expanding.


I'm not sure I could think of one positive persona that would find any use for contraction. Many negative personas find use for contraction and that's no problem except that negative personas are not meant to take us toward our life's desires but to show us when we are moving away from them and it's fine to move away from them. Moving away from our life's desires can show us with even more contrast exactly which personal boundaries we'd have to create in order to move in the other direction again toward our life's desires.

It's that simple.

It's that easy.

If you want to be moving toward your life's desires and you've chosen positive personas to get you there make sure every pose and exercise feels like an expansion and not a contraction.

In my videos I'll try and give you all the tips you need to head in the direction you want to go.

Feel free to leave any questions.

Accept How You Feel and Do What You Love!

I've thought a lot about the essence of what I want to share with the Personified Physique program and the thought keeps coming to my mind that the more simple the program is the better.

Overall, I think the program has a simple format. It goes something like this:

1) Understanding of basic concepts
2) Mental exercises
3) Physical exercises
4) Application

Deep down though the program is something people can do without doing the actual program. Deep down the program could be described even more simply:

1) Accept how you feel
2) Do what you love

Any program is generally designed to help people find change and I think the simplest way to get real change is to accept any and all feelings you have (they are just feelings after all) and do what you love. There are many instances in which your feelings and what you are doing won't match up (that is the frustration of misalignment but eventually there will be connections and alignments that happen and what you do will end up generating feelings that will result in more energy and more of the kind of emotions that you want to feel.

At least that's the idea. What do you think/feel?

The Sensitivity and Inflammatory Nature of "YOU"

If you've ever taken a writing course, a rhetoric course or any type of speech coaching you've probably learned not to say "YOU"! If you've ever gone to couples counseling you've probably realized how carefully you must consider using the word "you."

Using the word "you" in many cases is a big "no, no" and can be very dangerous if you want to maintain and care for a relationship over the long term.

What's the big deal? Why is "you" the worst three-letter word?

The truth is that blame has "scapegoat-ism" have become so common in our culture that just saying the word "you" gets people on edge. They know that if someone is saying "you" chances are that someone is trying to push responsibility onto someone else and that can be very comfortable in a culture that is continually confused about who is actually responsible.

The sensitivity and chaos cause by the word "you" can result in a lot of discomfort but it can also provide YOU with valuabel clues about our culture and about valuable clues about what is powerful in our culture.

Here's a hint from me. Where vulnerability lies power can be found.

WHERE VULNERABILITY LIES POWER CAN BE FOUND.

And power can be found in the word you. What I'm trying to say is that people are so afraid of what others are pushing in their direction that they forget to look at the most important you of all.

The MOST IMPORTANT YOU = ME.

There is so much power in each of us that it's common for us to be afraid of our own power, responsibility and talent and to point all of it in the direction of someone else (i.e, you). Blame is one way but putting people on a pedastal (e.,g, Hollywood superstars) is just another form of blaming.

If we remember that everything we can see in others can actually be found inside ourselves then it's pretty easy to see how powerful we truly are and how many personas we can authentically demonstrate in our lives.

Check out these Personified Physique persona videos:

Intelligent Persona
Successful Persona
Lucky Persona
Sexy Persona - for Women
Sexy Persona - for Men
Tenacious Persona

Identifying Your Deepest Desires

Identifying your deepest desires is easy but can seem daunting to many people. Here's a quick way to do it.

Simply do one thing.....ask why over and over again why you desire something until you can no longer effectively ask why.

Here's an example:

Q: What is your deepest desire?
A: I don't know.
Q: Do you have a general desire? Something you would like to have or accomplish?
A: I would like a sports car.
Q: Why would you like that sports car.
A: Because it goes faster than any sports car that I know of.
Q: Why would you want to be able to go faster than the speed of any other car?
A: Because I don't want to feel held down. I want to feel like I can go anywhere fast!
Q: So you value speed and getting places fast. Why?
A: Because I want to feel free.

So there's your deepest desire: WANTING TO BE FREE. Of course you might continue asking "Why?" and might find some additional interesting desires but generally you know when you've hit on your core deep desire.

Now, with the Personified Physique you can use the Free Persona (and possibly other personas) to help you feel and to be more free in your life.






Learn more about these additional personas:

--Carefree Persona
--Adventuresome Persona
--Daring Persona
--Calm Persona
--Peaceful Persona
--Intelligent Persona

Listening Persona - Imbalances

Having an openness in the form of being a good listener can actually have its imbalances. Caregivers such as counselors, massage therapists and teachers quickly learn that listening too openly can actually really throw off your health and happiness.

Being a a balanced listener means knowing when to say that you can't listen any longer.

Watch this Listening Persona video that shows the physicality of the imbalanced listener:

[[[TRY TO DO A CHEST OPENER AGAINST THE WALL AND YOU WILL SEE THAT YOU REACH SOME KIND OF OPENNESS LIMIT. OF COURSE SOME PEOPLE LIKE CONTORTIONISTS AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE TRAINED FOR A GREAT DEAL OF TIME HAVE THE FLEXIBLITY AND THE STRENGTH TO BE VERY OPEN BUT GENERALLY FOR SHORTER PERIODS OF TIME. JUST LIKE THIS EXERCISE IT'S IMPORTANT TO BE AWARE OF WHEN YOU'RE GETTING UNCOMFORTABLE SO YOU CAN EXCUSE YOURSELF AND DO SOMETHING THAT ALLOWS YOU TO REJUVENATE YOURSELF.]]]

The Listening Persona - Gifts

The Listening Persona offers many gifts. Like the Observing Persona your Listening Persona is a provider of valuable information. The Listening Persona will give you an edge not just in working and "dealing" with other people but in becoming in working and "dealing" with yourself.

Watch this video about the physicality and mindset of the Listening Persona:

[[[THE LISTENING PERSONA LIKE MANY OTHER PERSONAS IS A RECEIVING PERSONA. IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ANYTHING YOU NEED TO BE OPEN IN BOTH MIND AND BODY. THIS ISN'T JUST ABOUT YOUR EARS FOLKS. LISTENING REQUIRES THE ENTIRE BODY. WE WANT TO OPEN THE FRONT SIDE OF OUR BODY BECAUSE THE FRONT SIDE OF OUR BODY REPRESENTS RECEPTIVITY WHILE THE BACK SIDE OF OUR BODY REPRESENTS SOME DEGREE OF NON-RECEPTIVITY. TO OPEN THE FRONT SIDE OF YOUR BODY YOU CAN DO A CHEST OPENER AGAINST A WALL LIKE THIS OR A BRIDGE LIKE THIS OR A WHEEL LIKE THIS. TO PREPARE YOUR MIND FOR LISTENING IT IS A GREAT IDEA TO INCORPORATE THE HUMBLE PERSONA AND THE LEARNING PERSONA AND THE EXCITED PERSONA. TOGETHER THESE PERSONAS GET US EXCITED ABOUT HOW MUCH THERE IS AVAILABLE FOR US STILL TO LEARN. THE POINT IS TO BE EXCITED ABOUT LISTENING TO SOMEONE INCLUDING YOURSELF AND NOT JUST DO IT BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO OR BECAUSE IT WILL GET YOU MORE SEX OR IT WILL GET YOU WHAT YOU WANT. IF YOU ENJOY LISTENING TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS THEN YOU YOURSELF (AND OTHERS) WILL RESPOND MORE READILY BY OFFERING ALL SORTS OF VALUABLE INFORMATION.]]]

The Selfish Persona - Imbalances

The imbalances that the Selfish Persona can lead us to are to cease sharing the self with others. Keeping our energy inside can be greatly damaging and cause severe imbalances to the self. When people talk about selfishness in general this is the kind of selfishness they are referring to.

This kind of selfishness can include not sharing the following:

1. Physical items such as food, clothing, etc.
2. Talents
3. Ideas and thoughts
4. Energy
5. Love
6. Affection
Etc.

Watch this video to learn how the imbalance of ceasing to share the self of the Selfish Persona can be demonstrated in the physical body:

[[[LIKE THE SELFISH PERSONA AND IT'S GIFTS THIS SELFISH PERSONA WILL TURN IT'S BACK ON OPPORTUNITIES TO GIVE WHETHER IMPLIED OR DIRECTLY ASKED FOR. HOWEVER, TURNING THE BACK IN THIS CASE FOR PROTECTION OVER AND OVER AGAIN WILL LEAD TO A HEAVINESS AND A SMALLNESS OF THE SELF. IT IS ALMOST AS IF THE PHYSICAL BODY FLEXES OVER AND BEGINS TO SHRINK AND IT IS HARDER TO CARRY ONESELF. LIKE THE BODY IS REACHING A STATE WHERE IT WILL IMPLODE. THIS IS BECAUSE THE ENERGY WE HAVE IS MEANT TO BE SHARED AND WE ARE ALSO MEANT TO RECEIVE ENERGY BACK.]]]]


Note: In my opinion the Selfish Persona shouldn't be forced to be balanced. If you do not have a personal desire to share items #1-6 above then why force yourself? Chances are that if you do not want to share #1-6 you feel unsafe in some way and should explore the Safe Persona and the Protected Persona. There may be various reasons that you don't want to share however and you don't need to bring the Guilt Persona along for the ride when you don't sincerely desire to share.

The Selfish Persona - Gifts

The Selfish Persona is one of the interesting "negative" personas to me. Selfishness is demonstrated by those who according to the dictionary "care only for themselves" and by those who have an extreme concern for the self.

The gifts that the Selfish Persona offers is a deep understanding and care for what the self needs and for what the self desires. The Selfish Persona also by it's nature understands the importance of the self  and of NOT OFFERING WHAT WE DO NOT DESIRE TO OFFER can be a lovely and valuable thing depending on the desire that you are trying to achieve.

Remember, not offering what we do not desire to offer can protect us from developing the Resentment Persona in an imbalanced way.

Watch this video to understand this particular gift of the Selfish Persona:

[[[PHYSICALLY THE GIFTS OF THE SELFISH PERSONA CAN BE SEEN WHEN WE TURN OUR BACK ON ENERGY SOURCES THAT ASKING US FOR SOMETHING THAT WE DO NOT WANT TO OFFER. STAND STRAIGHT LOOKING FORWARD. FIND YOUR CENTER. IMAGINE THAT SOMEONE YOU KNOW OR THAT SOMEONE YOU SIMPLY IMAGINE IS ASKING YOU TO GIVE THEM SOMETHING. THEY HAVE VERY GOOD REASONS FOR ASKING YOU TO GIVE THEM THIS THING. IT MAY BE TIME OR ATTENTION OR SYMPATHY OR AN ACTUAL THING. WHATEVER YOU IMAGINE IS GREAT. NOW IF YOU WANT TO GIVE THEM THIS THING THEN GIVE IT TO THEM. THEN IMAGINE SOMEONE ELSE APPEARING AND ASKING YOUR FOR SOMETHING....KEEP IMAGINING THIS HAPPENING UNTIL YOU DO NOT WANT TO GIVE. WHEN YOU DO NOT WANT TO GIVE IMAGINE YOU ARE TURNING YOUR BACK ON THIS PERSON. NOW TURNING YOUR BACK ON SOMEONE IS LIKE WHAT SELFISHINESS FEELS AND IT DOESN'T FEEL GOOD. HOWEVER SELFISHNESS CAN BE A PROTECTION FOR YOU AND DOES NOT NEED TO LEAD TO THE GUILT PERSONA BECAUSE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO OFFER SOMETHING THEN YOU ARE RESPECTING YOUR DESIRE EVEN IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO GIVE AND RESPECTING YOUR DESIRE IS A PART OF RESPECTING YOURSELF AND RESPECTING YOURSELF IS VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE YOUR GREATEST DESIRES.]]]]]

The Selfish Persona often walks hand in hand with the following personas:

--Loneliness Persona
--Original Persona
--Different Persona
--Desirous Persona

How Many Personas Will You Need to Develop to Reach Your Desire?

This is a great question and the answer is that I have no idea!

Soon after I came up with the idea of the Personified Physique I sat down to mind map one of my desires.

Here's an example of a mind map if you've never seen one:

One of my desires is to become an excellent Samba dancer. If you've never seen the samba danced before you may be missing out! It's a dance full of energy, strong rhythms and lots of sunshine.

To become a samba dancer may not seem like a deep desire for many people but for me it is! So I sat down and wrote "Samba Dancer" in the middle of a piece of paper and drew a circle around it. From there the mind map is easy. Simply draw a line from the "Samba Dancer" circle and write a persona that you need to develop to become an excellent X,Y or Z.

Here's some of the personas that I decided I needed to develop to become an excellent samba dancer:

--Energetic Persona
--Physical Persona
--Fun Persona
--Jungle Persona
--Wild Persona
--Bold Persona

I also need to develop the Love Persona and the Peace Persona as they are some of the strongest personas and often help the other personas to thrive!

By the way here's a photo of a professional samba dancer. Isn't she outstanding?

The Peaceful Persona - Imbalances

In all honesty, from what I am aware of there are really no imbalances when the Peaceful Persona is embodied. However, there are circumstances that can result in imbalances depending on your desires.

Let's say you desire in this life to deeply experience a state of self, a state of duality or a state of separateness from others. This may seem very strange to many of us but I believe there are indeed people in this life who desire to experience these things. For these persons trying to embody on a regular basis the Peaceful Persona would be counterproductive to their desires. The Peaceful Persona leads to a sense of oneness and non-disparate togetherness so the concepts of self, duality and separateness may still be understood but not experienced.

Watch this video to learn about the imbalances of the Peaceful Persona:

[[[THINK ABOUT YOUR #1 DESIRE. LET'S SAY YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE BEING A GOOD MOTHER TO YOUR CHILD. NOW IMAGINE THAT YOU ARE ONE WITH THAT CHILD......THEN IN REALITY YOU ARE NO LONGER A MOTHER.....YOU ARE ONE ESSENCE WITH THAT CHILD. SO REALLY EXPERIENCING BEING A MOTHER TO A CHILD MEANS SOME SORT OF SEPARATENESS OR MISUNDERSTANDING WITH THE CHILD. THIS MAY SEEM STRANGE BUT PEACE IS ACTUALLY A REALLY COMPLICATED PROCESS. LET'S TRY AND DEMONSTRATE THIS PHYSICALLY WITH THE SAME CHAIR. GO BACK TO THE PLACE WHERE YOUR FEET WERE INTEGRATED WITH THE CHAIR. LET YOUR FEET TOTALLY INTEGRATE WITH THE CHAIR. NOW IT'S AS IF YOU HAVE NO FEET NECESSARILY BECAUSE THEY HAVE BECOME A PART OF THE CHAIR OR AT LEAST YOU CAN IMAGINE THIS. NOW FEEL THE SEPARATENESS OF YOUR FEET FROM THE CHAIR. DON'T THEY FEEL MORE DEFINED? THE ODD THING IS THAT IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE BEING A MOTHER YOU WILL FEEL THIS IN AND OUT IN MERGING WITH THE ENERGY OF THE CHILD PROBABLY MORE THAN ANY OTHER EXPERIENCE YOU COULD HAVE ON EARTH (MAYBE AN ACTOR OR A HEALER WOULD COME CLOSE AS WELL) BUT YOU DON'T WANT TO MERGE TO CLOSELY OR YOU CEASE TO EXPEREINCE YOURSELF AS DIFFERENTLY FROM THE CHILD.]]]

The Peaceful Persona - Gifts

When I think of the Peaceful Persona I envision someone and her/his body and mind in a state of homeostasis with the environment around her/him and by the environment I am referring to all forms of animate and inanimate items, to animals and to people.

This homeostasis of the body often happens when the physical body appears to be very still (such as the typical photos of meditative yogis) but is actually when the physical body is VERY open to the environment.

The gift of achieving homeostasis with the environment around us is that we no longer feel as if we are separate from the world around us. We feel that we are one with it. This is a very great gift as it is very difficult to feel negative energies toward ourselves our others when we are in a state of natural oneness with everything around us.

In the book "Power vs. Force" peace is also the state in which the mind becomes completely quiet. I will be honest in that I do not think I have ever achieved this state in my lifetime (at least not for more than a few moments) but I do have a theory that moving toward this state involves sensuality or the sensual persona or in other words basically involves using the physical body as a tool to transcend the business of the mind.

Watch this video to learn more about the Peaceful Persona:

[[[SINCE IT CAN TAKE SOME AMOUNT OF TIME TO ACTUALLY ACHIEVE THE STATE OF THE PEACEFUL PERSONA AND IF I DID IT I WOULD BASICALLY CEASE TO FEEL MYSELF AS AN INDIVIDUAL LET'S TRY AND ACTIVITY THAT WILL GET US PART OF THE WAY THERE. LET'S TRY AND ACHIEVE A TYPE OF HOMEOSTASIS WITH AN OBJECT SUCH AS A WELL OR A CHAIR. PLACE YOUR FEET ON THE CHAIR AND BEGIN TO BREATHE. DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT KIND OF BREATH....JUST MOVE IN THE DIRECTION OF RELAXATION.....WE'LL DO A TYPICAL RELAXATION EXERCISE BY MOVING THROUGH THE BODY AND FLEXING AND RELEASING EACH OF OUR BODY PARTS AND THEN COME BACK TO THE FEET ON THE CHAIR OR UP AGAINST A WALL OR EVEN DO THIS WITH YOUR BODY ON THE FLOOR. FEEL YOUR SKIN...BECOME AWARE OF IT AS THE ORGAN THAT BREATHES AND OPENS JUST AS YOUR MOUTH BREATHES AND OPENS. BEGIN TO ENVISION THE SKIN'S PORES DILATING AND OPENING AS YOUR NOSE DILATES TO OPEN AND ACCEPT AIR. NOW FEEL THAT THE CHAIR OR WALL IS ALSO BREATHING IN IT'S OWN WAY AND CONTAINS IT'S OWN LIGHT AND LIFE. NOW FEEL YOURSELF BREATHING WITH THE CHAIR OR THE FLOOR TOGETHER IN HARMONY. HARMONIZE WITH THE OBJECT IF YOU CAN AND OPEN FURTHER....FEEL YOURSELF HARMONIZE UNTIL A PORTION OF YOUR BODY SEEMS TO INTEGRATE COMPLETELY WITH THE OBJECT ITSELF. TAKE THIS ACTIVITY TO NEW LEVELS
]]]

How Do I Listen To Myself In A Deeper Way And Act More Authentically?

Many of us are constantly asking others for what they think. Many of us are scared to do what we truly want to do because of what people will think of us.

Why don't more people ride unicycles up the road while dressed in purple? I don't know. It may be a silly question but it can get us thinking about why so many group cultures can seem so uniform.

If you desire to find the you that is unique and courageous and the you that stands out from the crowd then it's likely you'll need to start listening to yourself and observing yourself all the time. Pretty soon it will become a habit and you will do it while you are doing all of the others things that you do.

Also, maybe you already naturally act authentically pretty much all of the time and that's awesome! You're one of those great people that just says it like you see it and always do things your own way.

However, if you struggle gaining the courage to stand out from the crowd, clearly stating your own opinions, developing personal boundaries, or doing things with your own personal flavor then here's a few tips for listening to yourself in a deeper way and acting authentically:

1. Spend more time alone and enjoy that time. You don't necessarily have to have your legs crossed in meditation. Even just doing things you enjoy (coloring, reading, listening to peaceful music, stretching, etc.) will put you in a state of peace and comfort and you'll be more likely to act authentically more often;

2. Every time you feel stressed, notice it and take 15 seconds to breathe in and out deeply. Even 15 seconds can save your day and bring you closer to your authentic self;

3. When people tell you something and they act as if that something is an absolute truth then say to yourself "It doesn't have to be that way but it will be that way if it resonates with me."

4. Notice what you notice. What stands out to you as you walk through the world? Do you notice animals more than other people do? Are colors more impactful on you than they seem to be on others? Do you learn best through tough and through feeling through things physically or through building and construction? The more you notice what YOU notice the more you will know how to take your most authentic path.

5. Notice patterns in your life especially with your relationships. Do you continually attract a certain type of person into your life who seems to be presenting you with the same challenges? Consider what it is about you that might be attracting that person and how you could attract someone else into your life who would be easier or more pleasant for you to work with.

The Loneliness Persona - Imbalances

The Loneliness Persona also has it's state of imbalance. If we let the Loneliness Persona guide our self-introspection to such a degree that we find ourselves keeping our energy inside (instead of finding a new place to offer it) or in believing that we will never find a group of friends and soul family (people who seem even deeper than biological family) then we have allowed the Loneliness Persona to take us too far inside.

Also, if we truly want to change and our Loneliness Persona helps us to realize how we would like to be then it's important to do things in the real world that show that we are that way. Showing ourselves in the real world in a changed way is like the completion of our change. It is our performance. If you want to stop gossiping then at some point you will need to find a solution that truly helps you to stop gossiping.

Watch this video to learn about the imbalances of the Loneliness Persona:

[[[USE THE INHALE AND EXHALE AS AN EXAMPLE. IF YOU INHALE DON'T FORGET TO EXHALE. SHOWING YOURSELF IN A PLACE AMONG NEW PEOPLE IS IMPORTANT IN ORDER TO FIND NEW FRIENDS AND FAMILY OR DOING THINGS IN A NEW WAY IS ALSO IMPORTNAT IN ORDER TO SEE YOURSELF DIFFERENTLY. ALSO TRY THE SIMPLE YOGA TRIANGLE POSE AND NOW TRY IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS TO "SEE" YOURSELF DIFFERENTLY]]]]

The Loneliness Persona - Gifts

The Loneliness Persona is one of those personas we love to run from. S/he can be a pleasant guest in many cases but for many people s/he simply isn't a welcome guest. When s/he comes up we are generally in a scary place called "confrontation with the hidden self," "a sense of complete independence" or something along those lines.

The Loneliness Persona, despite not always being a welcome visitor, bears gifts and one of the main gifts that it bears is a continuous introduction to the hidden self. This hidden self contains the aspects of ourselves that we have chosen to hide for a variety of reasons.

We all know that we have a self. It is obvious. Simplistically, all you have to do is look in the mirror to see that we are separate from other people, animals, objects, etc. But believe it or not you may not have gotten to know yourself in the deepest way possible; in fact, you may be somewhat disconnected with your deepest authenticity.

You can bet you do not welcome the gifts of the Loneliness Persona if you do/feel the following:

1. Hate being alone
2. Hate analyzing anything about yourself
3. Can't talk about anything that differs from your worldview

You can probably bet that you are seeking a deeper authenticity of yourself and that you welcome the gifts of the Loneliness persona if you do of think the following:

1. You continually put yourself out of your comfort zone to try new things;
2. You voraciously read or watch videos to help determine your true beliefs and opinions
3. You feel uncomfortable in some social situations and with certain personalities in your life
4. You feel like you are not quite complete
5. You feel like you could be doing better in this life you are living
6. Even when you are socializing you feel alone as if you aren't quite in the right place at the right time or do not feel stimulated mentally or otherwise
7. You are aware that you experience loneliness on a fairly regular basis or almost all of the time

If you are experiencing any of the listed items above you probably already spend a good deal of time alone. When you are alone, it is very natural to talk to oneself or consider one's own qualities. It is also common to analyze more deeply than others might. It is also very natural to have one's Fear Persona pop up and hold the Loneliness Persona by the hand because the Fear Persona knows when to warn you that you are getting too close to the truth about yourself which will cause you to see any variety of truths such as that you need new friends or that your family environment is unhealthy and caustic. In many ways the Fear Persona works against the gifts of the Loneliness Persona.

Here are some examples of things that might come up when you are alone:

1. You realize, that in many cases, you agree with the opinions of someone whom your parents/siblings/friends hate or with whom they disagree strongly even violently;
2. You realize that the people you spend most of your time with spend their precious communication time gossiping, complaining or verbally brutalizing other people and that you do not want to use the power of your words in this way. This also implies that you need new friends and leaving old friends behind and finding new friends is a TREMENDOUS ACT OF COURAGE;
3. You realize that even though you often join in on making fun of a certain personality you actually feel authentically that you do not want to make fun of that person and would rather get to know him/her. However, this would require that you stand up for this person and possibly face your Embarrassed Persona;
4. You realize that even though you are in college or at a prestigious university and working toward a degree in "X" you have no real true interest or love for that subject, and maybe that you are even very unhappy in that place;
5. You realize that you are angry with a parent or loved one but are afraid to communicate that anger;
6. You realize that you have been abused or lied to (lying is also abuse) by a "parent" or "loved one" and aren't sure how to say what you are feeling or are not sure how to get out of the situation;
7. You realize that your sexuality may not be monogamous, that you would greatly enjoy additional sexual partners or that you prefer homoexuality or transgenderism
8. You realize that even though your culture applauds those who go to college, get degrees, buy homes and have a family that none of those endeavors are what you truly desire
9. You realize that even though your culture applauds entrepreneurs, being bold, having a shoot-from-the-hip attitude, or multiple sexual partners that none of these endeavors are what you want
10. You realize that you are doing whatever it is that you are doing because someone else wants you to do it

The thing about being alone is that we often find out very clearly what we need to ACT on to get to the next level (whatever the "next level" means to you) which can be very uncomfortable especially if it involves "rocking the boat" as the expression goes. However, if something inside of you is telling you that you desire more authenticity then you can ignore that information (there are lots of personas that will help you with this) or you can act on it (there are many personas that will help you with this). There is no right or wrong in this scenario.....just your choice.

And sometimes we forget we have that choice.

Watch this video to view the physicalities associated with the Loneliness Persona and it's gifts:

[[[[DO THE ROLLOVER AND TALK ABOUT HOW IT "DIGS" INTO THE CORE OF YOU AND IN MANY WAYS  TURNS YOU UPSIDE DOWN like the gifts of the Loneliness Persona does]]]]]]

Today I Talked With My Worried Persona

Today I had a well-meaning group of friends tell me to let go of my worry regarding financial matters. My first reaction was tenderness that friends would reach out to me in that way and my second reaction was anger.

I was angry because unlike Disney's defiant Elsa I don't know how to "let it go." I've honestly really struggled with this concept because it's hard for me to feel "letting go" inside of me as a physical and mental reality.

However, I brought out my Confidence Persona, my Courageous Persona, and my Play Persona and I said to them. Let's just play with this concept of "letting it go." "Maybe we can really do something with this." And they were all on board to try!

So I called out my Worried Persona and she was immediately there.....such a responder.....she was there just shaking all over from worry. I felt how stressed she was and my compassion welled up for her. I thanked her for coming and once again like I do with so many of my negatively-perceived personas I authentically apologized for trying to hide her under the carpet for most of my life. I called in my Love Persona and the Love Persona came in and embraced the Worried Persona for quite a while and I must admit I felt such relief that I shed a few tears.

I realized that for a long time my Worried Persona had been a part of my PERSONAL FINANCIAL PROJECT. We all have a personal financial project (and a work project, and a perception project, and a sexual project, etc.) because we all have to deal with finances in some form or another. I realized though that at this point my Worried Persona no longer needed to be a part of my financial project. Before I had needed her to fill some sort of place in that project because I had grown up in a home where worry and fear were constant companions of our family finances and I wanted to fit into that family but now I no longer had a need for my Worried Persona to play a part or be a leading persona on my personal financial project.

Soooo.....I told my Worried Persona how much I appreciated her and that she had done a great job and that she had always been trying to protect me even though things had gotten out of balance. I told her she could now take a vacation and drink an icy pina colada.

Funny thing, as I was telling her this, a few moments later I had this picture appear in my mind of my Worried Persona as a beautiful woman in a purple bikini getting on an airplane to go somewhere exciting and exotic. She was no longer shaking all over.

She looked beautiful and I told her so.

Love Persona - Imbalances

Even the Love Persona has imbalances and these imbalances, when detected by us, can help us move in the direction of the Love Persona's gifts.

The Love Persona loves all personas within the self and also loves all personas within others. This is the natural way of the Love Persona. However, for a loving person (someone who lets their Love Persona lead in projects and relationships almost all of the time) that person may actually may suffer in relationships.Maybe it's a parental or romantic relationship.....any relationship will work as an example.

Here's what happens when Person #1 allows her/his Love Persona to become imbalanced.

Persona #1 (Maybe you): This person lets the Love Persona lead in a realtionship and accepts all aspects of the other;

Person #2: Lets another persona lead (perhaps the Lust Persona, the Disguised Persona, the Manipulative Persona, the Deceiving Persona or maybe just the Average Persona) throughout the relationship.

Person #1 will have indicators from it's Trust Persona, Discernment Persona and Truth Persona that Person #2 is not really loving him/her but for various reasons (mostly because Person #1 desires to love) Person #1 will continue to love because s/he understands the power of love.

However, the power of love must be accepted by Person #2 and Person #2 has the power to reject it and many persons do reject love.

This scenario shows the imbalances of the Love Persona that Person #1 has ALLOWED to happen. The lessons of the Love Persona and its imbalances are to LISTEN TO ALL PERSONAS ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARISE AND ARE TALKING TO YOU. If you don't hear your personas in the form of feelings, thoughts, patterns, reoccurring messages or through other people who talk to you then perhaps try and find more quiet time to be alone and to allow for meditation. And remember meditation can be found through coloring, listening to music, breathing, knitting, doing push-ups, hitting a punching bag or whatever helps you feel connected to powers that are not necessarily visible.

Watch this video on the imbalances of the Love Persona:

[[[VIDEO AND AN EXERCISE DOING PUSH-UPS (EXERCISE INVOLVING RELATIONSHIP) AGAINST A WALL - EACH MOMENT OF THE PUSH-UP MUST BE GREETED BY AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE (RECEIVING) OR THE PERSON DOING THE LEANING PUSH-UPS AGAINST THE WALL WILL CERTAINLY FALL]]]

Love Persona - Gifts

The Love Persona has many gifts. One of its gifts is that the Love Persona is perhaps the only persona that embraces all other personas and "jives" with all other personas with absolute acceptance. This is what is often called unconditional as this kind of
love is always unconditional and requires no adjectives. No matter what negative personas come forth inside of anyone (Hateful Persona, Vengeful Persona, Murderous Persona, Thief Persona, etc.) the Love Persona is so in love with all personas that s/he can be represented by an embrace. The Love Persona's love and acceptance is so complete that both personas when caught in this embrace feel like one.


Watch this video about the Love Persona:

[[[INSERT VIDEO THAT INCLUDES IMAGINING ALL NEGATIVE PERSONAS THAT COME UP AND WHILE STANDING UP EMBRACING THEM SO CLOSELY ONE BY ONE THAT YOU END UP HUGGING YOUR SHOULDER BLADES. HOLD THIS EMBRACE UNTIL YOU FEEL THE NEGATIVE PERSONA IS COMFORTABLE, LOVED AND ACCEPTED OR IT WANTS TO MOVE ON.]]]]]]]]

Achieve the Biggest Goals by Following Your Own Clues

I have a wise mentor who has said numerous times that goals aren't worth making unless

1) You have data that supports the goals in the first place;
2) The goal itself is objectively measurable

Although I have for a long time greatly admired this mentor I tend to disagree. Perhaps I disagree only because my style with goals is quite different.

When I think of goals now I think of something fluid and changing....something that reveals itself to you. This may sound very esoteric and probably like I'm taking some sort of drug but if you think about the most ambitious goals the the goals we really believe will make the most difference they are often VERY VAGUE! Think about these goals:

1) I want to be more loving;
2) I want to experience unconditional love;
3) I want to share my life with someone who accepts everything about me;
4) I want to contribute something great to the world;
5) I want to be an inspiration to others

What do these goals have in common? What they have in common is that they are not strictly defined. For goal #1 person A could achieve a state of "being more loving" through more service while person B could achieve it by loving himself/herself while person C could feel more loving in every way by increasing his/her study or meditation regarding love. The way in which we achieve the most important goals if very different to each of our personal stories.

FOLLOW YOU GOAL
This is why I believe it's important to choose vague goals that can not be objectively measured but that will be obviously beneficial when they are achieved.

These goals are frustrating to people who like Excel spreadsheets and step-by-step instructions but in a way you can still have that.

When you start chasing a vague goal you do things and think things that you believe might get you closer and then you do something surprising.

YOU WAIT AND YOU LISTEN AND YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE NORMALLY. THAT'S IT.

And then pretty soon you will have a new insight about your goal. You might get this insight in the following ways:

1) You start to notice patterns in your life that you didn't notice before and you realize, once you see the pattern, how you could break it or strengthen it
2) You notice that some people resonate with your goal and others don't. You don't know how you know this. You just do. So you say goodbye (perhaps temporarily) to those who are holding you back and are thankful to everyone
3) You begin to have thoughts that are not common to what people normally talk about. This may seem scary to have thoughts that many people would not approve of if you said them aloud but you could write them down especially if you see a connection between them and your goal.

Basically, the idea is that you will receive clues as you get closer and closer to your goal, until one day you realize that you have achieved your goal and that it happened in a mysterious way that probably surprises you a great deal.

Want to Help Others? Then Help Yourself!

Though the argument of "helping others by helping yourself first" sort of becomes one of those head-banging "Which came first....the chicken or the egg?" questions I think it's worth highlighting in this blog.

Service and assistance to others is an important part of life but I personally have come to believe that service and assistance more likely than not JUST HAPPENS NATURALLY when you know what your desires are in life and you chase them. How does that work?

Well, I'm not exactly sure but I think our desires often point to our purpose in life. "Purpose" is a deep scary too-much-meaning kind of word for a lot of people but basically our purpose is what we want to do to leave our lives behind with the greatest amount of happiness possible and generally its hard to be happy if 1) you're not happy and 2) if those you love aren't happy.

So, having said that I think that one amazing way to learn to help others is to get to know yourself. Anytime you put your resources into caring for your mind, body, or spirit (if you believe in a spirit of sorts), then you are getting to know something new about yourself. If this sounds unconvincing then just try one way of taking care of yourself and then ask yourself afterward what you learned about you. I think this works.

After you take care of yourself for a while you start to become more sensitive to your physical body's patterns, and to the patterns in general occurring around you. You'll start to understand why you desire what you desire and realize that your dreams aren't just unrealistic things that will never happen but that are actually within your reach. Then, believe it or not, once you chase your desires you will start to notice that you have more energy and are coming alive in a way that NATURALLY RESULTS IN YOU SERVING OTHERS.

This may seem contradictory to your beliefs about service. Maybe you believe that to help or serve others you have to sacrifice and be uncomfortable in some way. Ask yourself right now why you believe that and whether or not you could believe the following:

"I can serve myself and simultaneously serve others. They happen at the same time!"

What is Alignment According to the Personified Physique Method?

Again, great question! Keep them coming!

Alignment, in the exercise industry, and even in courses on body language, is one of the essential elements of a great fitness foundation.

If your body isn't aligned from side to side or even from your bottom half to your top half then chances are every time you exercise (without moving in a direction to correct that alignment) your body will continue to get tighter in the places you are tight and looser and less strong in the places that have to compensate for the tension.

Alignment may not seem like a big deal but consider the health of your organs. If certain areas of your body are tight and overworked then the organs in that area are in a tighter region making it more difficult for them to work and like any good relationship both sides of the body must be offering a similar amount of give and take or things start to become more and more unbalanced and the health problems show up.

Alignment At A Deeper Level
Also, the concept of alignment runs deeper than the physical level. How you are aligned with certain ideas/beliefs (you can't see ideas/beliefs necessarily) will impact your life every second of every day. Let's say for example that your deepest desire is to become a pilot but your current beliefs suggest that because you have two children you should sacrifice what little money you have to support their dreams. See how this idea is limiting to you? If you could change your belief to "There is plenty of money for me and my children to thrive and to grow into our best selves," and really actually believe this statement then you have literally changed your paradigm about money, children and yourself and that is POWERFUL!

The Personified Physique seeks to align your physical body and to align your mind with beliefs and ideas that are powerful in assisting you to achieve your deepest desires. This program may not get you to Dubai where you will live with billions of dollars for the rest of your happy life but if that did happen to be your deepest desire in life then I believe you have the internal assets to do so.

What is a "Persona"?

That's a great question!

What is a persona?

A "persona" in the Personified Physique Method is simply a part or an aspect of yourself.

There are some of our personas of which we are already well aware. People have told us from the time we were young that we were pretty, smart, stupid, clumsy, fat, eccentric, weird, etc. and if we accepted their assessments we simply accepted those personas as who we are.

However, there are other personas that we have and that we do not show the world. These personas may be hidden so deeply that we ourselves do not even think they exist. I have a friend for example who thinks she is incapable of flirting. However, she can recognize flirtation and we can only recognize what we already have within ourselves.

Anyway, there are many reasons why we do not show these hidden personas to the world but suffice it to say that most of us have a lot more resources and many more astounding personas than we might assume. And the truth is that we can develop and show these personas on our stage of life and bless ourselves and---indirectly----other during that process.

Personas Helps Us Achieve Our Deepest Desires
I guess it would be a bit strange if we just went around trying to get all of our personas to show themselves at one time without some sort of strategy......but hey......it's an experience! However, if you would like a little more organization then think about personas as a way to help you achieve your deepest desires or your top-tier goals.

1) Choose one goal. It must be only for you and it must be a deepest desire. In other word you must truly desire it and you know whether or not you desire something because you won't stop until you get it.
2) Think about the Persona or aspect of yourself that you most need to develop and strengthen and the Persona that might be somewhat imbalanced and could use a rest and a pina colada on the beach.
3) Find one word to best describe each Persona. Maybe they would be the "Logic Persona" and the "Flighty Persona."
4) Search through my free 2-min. Persona videos in my YouTube channel to get started on the Persona of your choice. If it's not there then let me know and I'll make you one!
5) If you like what you see then search my longer videos which are certainly reasonably priced. You can find those videos available on The Divine Body website. Make sure you listen to the tips on applying the Personas in real-life situations!
6) Most of all listen to what is inside of you! As you become more aware of your body and your deepest desires you will realize what you are really doing is becoming more sensitive to who you are which is very exciting! You may at this time experience reoccurring thoughts or may notice something over and over gain that you hadn't before. You may have feelings or prompts to do thing and these feelings or prompts will seem to come from inside of you. You may start to understand how other people feel. These are gifts. Listen to them and do what is right for you.

Vocabulary Defined: Terms of the Personified Physique Method

Vocabulary is boring to most people but everyone and every organization and every method uses words differently so it can be helpful to know exactly what the words are referring to.

For the Personified Physique Method I define the following terms:

• Goals - deepest desires
• Alignment - lining ourselves with our deepest desires
• Personas - Aspects of ourselves that work together to achieve alignment with deepest desires
• Gifts - what we get from each persona and what allows us to achieve alignment with deepest desires
• Imbalances - also a gift from each persona which shows us when we're moving away from alignment with our deepest desires
• Project - A dimension of your life that is important for survival and also for the art of thriving (e.g, Financial Project, Work Project, Self-Confidence Project, Personal Interest Project, Sexual Project, Relationship Project, Environment Project, etc.). Personas often group together to help you survive and/or thrive in a project. For a financial project you might survive with the Worried Persona, Confidence Persona and the Tenacity Persona but you might thrive with the Love Persona, Practicality Persona, Inspiration Persona and the Courageous Persona. Some of these personas may play bigger parts than others. That is up to you.

The Stubborn Persona - Imbalances

One of the most wonderful aspects of life is that we have the opportunity to learn from our experiences! This is very exciting news and something to be joyful over.

Somehow however our culture has decided that when we experience negativity or what we consider to be a failure that we should feel the following:

-Fear
-Guilt
-Shame

This is very sad and mostly just really inefficient because fear, guilt and shame rare---if ever---help us to understand ourselves or others and certainly don't help us to be successful in our goals!

So, as we learn about the Stubborn Persona and its imbalances let's celebrate and have joy in what the Stubborn Persona is SHOWING us through OUR OWN EXPERIENCE!

The Stubborn Persona and Its Imbalances
One of the great imbalances that a Stubborn Persona can show us very clearly is rigidity. If someone is stubborn without a cause, without a purpose and without a goal then the Stubborn Persona is showing us that s/he is being stubborn out of habit and not standing it's ground. In fact, without a goal or a cause there is no ground, which leaves the Stubborn Persona just becoming rigid.

Watch this Stubborn Persona Video to Learn More About This Imbalance

[INSERT THE STUBBORN PERSONA 2 MIN VIDEO ABOUT IMBALANCES HERE]a

Other Imbalances That the Stubborn Persona is Gracious Enough to Show Us

• Doing things out of tradition without knowing whether or not those actions support deepest goals/desires
• Not seeing opportunities because the self becomes closed off to other ideas that could support deepest goals/desires
• Turning its back completely to ideas or gifts that could be immensely beneficial and could support deepest goals/desire

The Stubborn Persona - Gifts

Every persona, whether we consider it primarily negative or positive, has its gifts and its imbalances to offer.*

Let's talk about the gifts that the Stubborn Persona offers.

Standing Ground
One of the gifts that the Stubborn Persona teaches us is to stand our ground! Its obvious that standing our ground in a firm way has both physical, mental and social benefits. If you learn to stand your ground in the right situations (and you're aligned with your top goals) you will certainly experience success!

Watch This Personified Persona: Stubborn Persona video to learn more:

[[[[[INSERT STUBBORN PERSONA VIDEO - GIFTS 2 MINUTES HERE]]]]]]]]

Additional Gifts of the Stubborn Persona

• Doesn't allow the energy or influence of others to disturb his/her resolution
• Has the ability to focus (see The Focused Persona)
• Stays on one course until s/he sees success
• Doesn't give into tradition or "what society does" just because that's what has been done before
• Has a sense of trust in what s/he is standing for

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* Note: I know it sounds strange to say that "imbalances" are an "offering," but they really are. When you recognize an imbalance it is actually a gift just like a positive gift is a gift because it gives you a clue about the next direction you need to take to reach your goals.......and it's normally the opposite direction!

Why Should I Consider My Negative Personas?

I'm sure that as people view my persona videos they are going to be asking themselves the following:

"Why would I want to develop and release negative personas?"

That's a great question and one I wondered about myself for a while. So let's think about it a different way.

What if we asked ourselves why we should LISTEN to our negative personas?

Or better yet:

What if we asked ourselves whether or not our negative personas are on our side already and are trying to help us just like our positive personas do only they do it in a different way?

We all know deep down that the way to anyone's heart----whether they are predominantly negative or positive---is through the metaphorically sweet honey and not a punch in the face. People and personas enjoy being appreciated. And appreciation is the first and best way to "deal" with negative personas.

For example, the other day my Hysterical Persona was....well.....she was getting hysterical and so I was getting scared and trying to run from the feeling that my Hysterical Persona naturally emits no matter what she does. It's her job after all to be hysterical! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

So anyway, I was very uncomfortable with her hysteria and I felt like she was wasting my time so with my normal avoidance methods (exercise, overthinking, constant action, etc.) I began to run away from Hysterical Persona. However, later on, I was walking in the park and I thought to myself.....just listen to her.

So I started this conversation with my Hysterical Persona. I told her she was a part of me and always would be and that I appreciated her and that I hadn't been fair to her in the past and that I was sorry. I told her things were going to be different from now on and when I talked to her I spoke sincerely and I could tell that she KNEW that what I was saying wasn't an empty promise. I also told her that I knew why she was feeling like she had to speak up (actually she was screaming) above all my other personas.

Why? Because she was trying to protect me.

You see. Even our negative personas are trying to tell us something. They want to take care of us. And in this case my Hysterical Persona was hysterical about a financial situation and I realized she had a right to be.

Sometimes when we feel negative emotions such as hysteria we listen to others that say pretty things like: "Just breathe and the negative emotion will pass," or that the negative emotion represents some kind of pent up crap that we can get out of us by Kickboxing or that it stems from a mental disorder or a troubled childhood. I say fine, whatever, all of that is well and good for some but to me that doesn't help because underneath everything they are saying what they really seem to be saying respectively is "Just survive as well as you can," "Just get through it by expressing your anger" or "You are broken so just do the best you can."

But I think we're really not broken. I think we are whole and I think there are aspects of us (personas) that have been telling us all along: "You are whole and I support you no matter what."

Like one of my great mentors says: "You got your own back!"

Anyway, to make a sort-of-long-story short I ended this discussion by telling my Hysterical Persona that I appreciated her warning and that I wouldn't do anything that she didn't feel comfortable with because from that point forward my personas were going to work together and act as ONE POWERFUL ME and that even though I had chosen my Love Persona and my Courage Personas to be the leaders of some of my current projects that I still wanted advice from everyone.

So listen to your voice of hysteria, anger or judgment and let it have its say. You have time and every persona---even the negative ones---are unique and teach us valuable lessons.