 The Practice of Trusting & Surrendering
Being on a path to “spiritual awakening” you already know about the importance and necessity of Trusting and Surrendering as a means to deepen your relationship with your Soul ( a term I use to refer to your spiritual self or Source energy within you) but, do you find yourself experiencing difficulty integrating these spiritual principles into your daily life? Do you regularly use the expression “Let your will not my will be done” to affirm that you want to have your Soul lead your life? Even with the most sincere invocations/ prayers, you may be unaware that your desire to follow the guidance and directives of your Soul is often accompanied by a list of contingencies. Which may sound something like “I will follow your guidance and directives‘ Soul/ Source energy’ but don’t ask me to make a geographic move, change careers, leave a relationship, etc. Having contingencies are indicators that your mind/ intellect is getting in the way and preventing your Soul from leading your life. One of the reasons for people having contingencies is that they consciously or unconsciously don’t truly believe that their Soul always has their best interests in the forefront. From the perspective of Living in Alignment, Trust equates to yielding to your Soul and Surrender equates to merging with your Soul. When you’re listening to your Soul’s guidance you’re yielding and when you’re following your Soul’s guidance/ promptings you’re merging with your Soul. The practice of Living in Alignment occurs when you are listening to and following the guidance/ promptings that Source energy is regularly providing. Trusting and Surrendering to Source energy involves training your mind to defer to and rely upon Source energy and allow this vital energy to lead your life. To “Let go and let God” will require that your mind learn how to Trust & Surrender. In your daily life, Trust and Surrender translates to getting and keeping your mind out of the driver’s seat. Instead of trying to control the outcome of what is happening in your life, your task is to accept what is happening (that doesn’t mean you have to like what is happening). Instead of becoming hypervigilant about looking for the answers to your prayers. You go about living your life with the mindset that the answers to your prayers are always forthcoming. Knowing that Source energy is working behind the scenes to orchestrate the best possible outcome with everything that is happening in your life. Trusting & Surrendering is about handing over the reigns to Source energy. The information that your mind requires to feel assured that all is well shall be revealed on an as needed basis. To reiterate, your task is to stop trying to control outcomes (such as resisting or not accepting what is happening or by being attached to a particular outcome). Developing the practice of being present in your daily activities will facilitate becoming aware of the workings of Source energy in your life. With increased awareness, your mind will gain the proof it needs to acknowledge that your Soul is more qualified, more skilled, and more experienced at being in the driver’s seat than your human self/ mind. . As your awareness of the workings of Source energy increases your mind will become more assured that Living in Alignment is a practical, effective, and reliable alternative to living your life… Every time you listen to and follow the guidance and directives from your Soul the results will always be favorable-no exceptions! Test this proposition out for yourself…. Your ability to Trust & Surrender will develop naturally the more you to listen to and follow the guidance and directives from your Soul! To learn more about the Living in Alignment approach, please visit my website www.darcyclarke.us
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 Moving out of a Fear and/ or a Shame-based reality...
The answer to moving out of a fear or shame-based reality is simple, become less identified with your humanness and societals’ conditioning, and instead become more internally resourced. You may be asking what does this mean? From the perspective of Living in Alignment, the reason people are caught up living in a fear and/ or a shame-based reality is because they’ve been conditioned to defer to and rely upon their intellect to lead their lives. This translates to being primarily externally resourced or being overly identified with your humanness and the three-dimensional world. Another way of saying this is that your egoic mind is your go-to resource. When you’re externally resourced you’ll be functioning at a deficient on account that you have limited access to universal wisdom and the bigger picture of your life. In contrast, when you’re internally resourced you defer to and rely upon the resources of your spiritual core to lead your life. Becoming internally resourced is facilitated by attending to your intuition (what feels ‘right’) and learning to listen to and follow the guidance and promptings from your Soul ( a word I use to refer to the unique aspect of the power that is greater than your intellect) that resides inside you. Has a lack of a healthy connection to your Soul deluded you into believing that you are your ego-centered mind? When this happens people think that they are only their human selves, that Source energy doesn’t exist, that they are alone in the Universe, and that life has no meaning and purpose. Becoming internally resourced is a lifelong practice of deepening your connection with Source energy while becoming increasingly aware of the wondrous unfolding of your life. From the LIA perspective, Living in Alignment is your birthright, a naturally occurring process that is uniquely special to every person. To learn more about becoming internally resourced and the Living in Alignment Model please visit my website at www.darcyclarke.us  No More Blind Followers…
These days many people are choosing non-affiliation with religious organizations that are entrenched in dogma. Although there are various reasons for this situation, the reason I would like to expound upon is that many people are moving out of a “tribal consciousness” mentality. By ‘tribal consciousness’ I’m referring to a mindset where following the expectations and dictates of leaders and not questioning/ challenging the ‘status quo’ is the norm. In the context of religion, more people are reassessing their relationship to the power that is greater than the resources of the intellect. They’re not supporting or have any interest in adhering to religious doctrine that requires their unwavering allegiance and are adamant about not becoming a ‘blind follower.’ For increasing numbers of people their intellect now requires proof of the existence of Source energy (a term I use to refer to this power that is greater than the intellect). Also, many people are seeking and requiring that spiritual concepts be taken out of their historical context and that they be made applicable to the 21st century audience and the issues, conditions, challenges, and the like that we are facing. The Living in Alignment Model is the distillation of “perennial wisdom” (i.e., spiritual principles) that was developed to address the spiritual needs of:
The main premise of the Living in Alignment Model, is that we are both human and spiritual beings, not one or the other but both. Many people are acknowledging that in order to experience self-empowerment and transformation that both their human and spiritual needs have to be identified and addressed. Living in Alignment is a new term to describe the qualitative experience of developing a partnership between your human self and your spiritual core. Connecting with your Soul (a term I use to refer to your spiritual core) is life changing! The Living in Alignment Model provides spiritual concepts that are intended to be tested. Through your subjective experiences your mind will gain the proof it requires to determine the viability of becoming “internally resourced” (i.e., listening to and following your intuition) as you test out the practicality, effectiveness and reliability of partnering with your spiritual core. To learn more about the Living in Alignment body of knowledge please visit my website www.darcyclarke.us  Qualities of Source energy
In a previous blog, I identified the term “Source energy” to name the power that is greater than the resources of your egoic mind/ intellect. This power is consciousness itself ! It doesn’t matter if you identify with this power as an entity and or as an energy or for that matter what name you use to refer to this power. What really matters is you know or come to know that this power is real, that you can have a personal relationship/ live in partnership with this energy, and that you can have a conscious experience of this vital relationship in your daily life! Listed below are noteworthy qualities of Source energy. Their definitions give voice to the workings of Source energy in my own life as affirmed by countless numbers of people from all religious traditions and spiritual paths from around the world. From the perspective of the Living in Alignment Model, Source energy is a benevolent, intelligent, interactive, ingenious, creative, omnipresent, unifying, self-generating energy system. To briefly define these qualities: Benevolent: Source energy is a loving presence in our lives. Intelligent: Source energy is the wellspring of universal wisdom. Interactive: you can interrelate with Source energy energetically and physically in your relationships with all life forms (because you and all life forms are unique reflections of Source energy). Ingenious: Source energy is highly skillful in its ability first to get the attention of, and then to work with your human self/ intellect. Omnipresent: Source energy is within everyone and everything. Unifying: Source energy illuminates your inter-connectedness with all life forms. In addition, Source energy is not static, but in a constant state of evolution. The Living in Alignment process will facilitate the opportunity for you to increase your understanding of and subjectively experience these qualities and the workings of Source energy in your daily life. The radical news is that the qualities of Source energy are intended to be tested in your daily life. Indeed, the Living in Alignment process will provide your human self/ intellect with all the proof it may require in order to acknowledge:
Furthermore, you human self/ intellect will come to acknowledge that Living in Alignment (having Source energy guide your life) is a viable and more desirable way to live your life!
The Living in Alignment body of knowledge will assist you to identify how your egoic mind/ conditioning will invariably get in your way of accessing, deepening, partnering, and or having a conscious relationship with Source energy when you are overly identified with your humanity and the world in front of your eyes... To learn more about the Living in Alignment Model and to take the LIA self-test to determine if Living in Alignment is ‘right’ for you, please visit my website at www.darcyclarke.us/Link  LIA - a Different Orientation!
Living in Alignment is much more than a theoretical framework to view life, it is a viable and what many know to be a most desirable way of living life! Indeed, it is practical, effective, and reliable! The LIA body of knowledge will expand your thinking and open your heart. The concepts presented are intended to be tested subjectively in your daily life. From the perspective of Living in Alignment, it is your birthright to be experiencing living in alignment - to have a personal and deepening relationship with your spiritual self. Everyone is living in alignment to a lesser or greater extent throughout their lives. When you listen to and follow the guidance from your intuition- the voice of your spiritual self you are living in alignment. If you haven’t already made the correlation, you will come to know that listening to and following the guidance from your spiritual self is always advantageous, with no exceptions! Likewise, when you tune out and/or don’t follow this guidance you’ll always regret not having done so. The truth of this proposition will be revealed as you reflect upon your past and current life choices and decisions. The Living in Alignment body of work has specifically been developed to (1) assist you to access Source energy within yourself; (2) to live in partnership with it; and (3) to have a conscious living experience of this vital relationship within your daily life. The Living in Alignment body of knowledge will assist you to move out of tribal consciousness (where following a leader is the norm) and experience a direct and personal connection with Source energy via your relationship with your Soul (or whatever name you use to refer to your spiritual self). Living in Alignment fosters an interdependent relationship with Source energy as an alternative to either depending on religious leaders to administer to your spiritual needs or disowning your innate spirituality. Your spiritual self needs your human self to be its hands and feet (or its agent), while your human self needs your spiritual self to gain access to the ‘bigger picture’ of your life. For more information on the Living in Alignment approach please visit www.darcyclarke.us  A Common Misconception about Spirituality…
Many people think of spirituality as being synonymous with religion, and because of this have inadvertently disconnected themselves from their spiritual self because they don’t want anything to do with religion. In other words, many people have mistakenly associated developing or deepening their connection to Source energy with religion and or having to be affiliated with a religious organization. Subsequently, many people have thrown out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to their spirituality by neglecting or disowning their spirituality after they disaffiliated from organized religion. From the Living in Alignment perspective this is very unfortunate! Your spirituality is an essential aspect of your beingness. It’s what connects your human self with the deepest or energetic aspect of who you are: your Soul (a term used to refer to the unique reflection of Source energy that dwells inside of you). By disowning the existence of your spiritual self, you are cutting yourself off from Source energy — your life force! When this occurs for all intents and purposes you’ll be functioning at a deficit on account that you’ll tend not listen to and or follow the guidance and directives that are always being offered by Source energy (the power that is greater than the resources of the mind) regarding all aspects of your life. Along with this, ignoring, denying, or downplaying the significance of your spiritual self are ways in which you abandon yourself, creating a disconnection between your human self and your Soul that results in feelings of emptiness, aloneness, and experiencing a lack of meaning and purpose in your life. In addition, the degree to which you live in fear is directly proportional to how connected you are with Source energy- the more disconnected you are with Source energy, the more you live in a fear-based reality! From the Living in Alignment perspective a life that is worth living includes being able to: (1) access Source energy; (2) live in partnership with Source energy; and (3) be conscious of this vital relationship with Source energy in your daily life. The Living in Alignment body of work taps into the core of all religious experience, which is the promise of a deepening connection with Source energy, one that endures any and all hardships, conditions, challenges, and the like. Living in Alignment is inclusive of all religious teachings and spiritual paths that foster unity consciousness. To learn more about developing and or deepening your connection to Source energy and the Living in Alignment Model/ Approach/ Process please visit my website at www.darcyclarke.us  Transformation: from the Living in Alignment perspective
Does the concept of transformation sound too far out for you? A state of being that is reserved for only a chosen few? Something that is unattainable? From a ‘What if it is true ?’ perspective, could it be that you (and all creation) are in the process of transforming? What if life itself is intended to be an on going transformative process? What if transformation is your birthright? What if it is your conditioning (familial, educational, religious, cultural)) that has caused you to think otherwise? These are some of the concepts of the Living in Alignment Model. Another concept of the LIA Model is that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed. This is because energy is the matrix of Consciousness itself and the truth of our existence! Everyone and everything is energy at the most fundamental level. Your are composed of energy, and therefore you are energy, just like every living being and everything else. This energy is light, and the essence of this light energy is Love. What you may perceive as the death of person or other life form is, from a transpersonal point of view, a phase within a transformative process. It is energy transforming itself, going from one form to another, What you understand as your birth and death are in actuality aspects of your transformation. Indeed your whole birth and death cycle is a transformative process. Your transformation has six primary phases: conception, gestation, birth, growth, maturation, and death. Once you leave the earth plane, other transformative processes occur that are beyond the scope of this Model. All life forms go through this cycle or some variation thereof. You are continuously undergoing transformative processes in one form or another throughout your life. As you reflect on your life (past, present, and future) you will come to understand that the death and rebirth cycle is playing out everywhere: in your relationships, careers, ideas, dreams, goals, etc. You can become more conscious of this process by vowing to live in present time, and also by proactively tuning into what is happening in the here-and-now of your moment-to-moment experiencing. One of the principal objectives of the Living in Alignment approach is to assist you to live consciously: in other words, to become increasingly present in your moment-to-moment experiencing. In so doing you are able to experience more fully the benefits (insights, gifts, and lessons) that you are constantly being offered. Once integrated, these benefits change your perceptions, which then have the effect of facilitating greater awareness and transformation in all aspects of your life. To learn more about the Living in Alignment approach to living your life, please visit my website www.darcyclarke.us  LIVING WITH UNCERTAINTY
In this time of uncertainty when often times it appears that for all intents and purposes the world has gone mad, we are being reminded to be part of the solution… Consider keeping in the forefront that if you’re not being part of the solution than you’re part of the problem. For many people ‘uncertainty’ is anxiety producing. Anxiety is the result of being fearful. From the perspective of Living in Alignment, the more you rely and depend upon your intellect alone, the more anxiety you’ll experience. This is on account that your intellect is limited to societal influences/conditioning. If you haven’t already experienced/ recognized this, you will come to know that the more disconnected you are from your spiritual or energetic self, the more you’ll be living in a fear-based reality. When a person is living in a ‘fear-based reality’ every aspect of their life becomes impacted and their overall functioning will become impaired. If gone unchecked, anxiety will manifest in various types of physical, mental, and emotional conditions. The good news is that anxiety can be managed and even eliminated! The first step in this process is to identify the underlying causes that are keeping anxiety in the driver’s seat. The second step is to address these underlying causes which is about understanding their source(s). The third step is to find a solution(s) to effectively deal with/ resolve the underlying causes. The Living in Alignment body of knowledge assist people to live in partnership with their spiritual core- the energetic aspect of who you are. This aspect of yourself represents Source energy or consciousness itself. This is the power that is greater than your intellect that simultaneously resides inside and outside of you. By living in partnership (i.e., Living in Alignment) with Source energy or by becoming internally resourced you will attain access to universal wisdom and the bigger picture view of your life. You will discover that the more you live in partnership with Source energy the more secure and confident you’ll feel, which equates to experiencing less fear and less anxiety. To learn more about the Living in Alignment approach to living your life, please visit my website www.darcyclarke.us  “ The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” ~ M. Scott Peck From the perspective of Living in Alignment, some of the finest moments occur when in your discomfort, you go inward with the intention of connecting with your Soul (your spiritual self or the energetic aspect of who you are- the God within). This speaks about the practice of “truly letting go” which requires trusting (i.e., yielding to) and surrendering (i.e., merging with) consciousness itself versus attempting to escape from or numb out to your discomfort. Recognizing your discomfort is the first step, acknowledging it by identifying what it is about, is the next step along with accepting the discomfort (this doesn’t mean you have to like it). If you’ve been using mood altering substances (illicit or prescription drugs) or behaviors (such as work, food, shopping, gambling, sex) to escape from your discomfort or aspects of your reality that you’ve been resisting this step will most likely be challenging at first. Why ‘?’ Because behavioral patterns get reinforced every time you repeat them, and for people who have developed addictions (psychological and physiological dependency) the neuro-pathways of the brain get altered so that the person wants/ expects instant gratification to relieve discomfort (i.e., stressors). So instead of switching on the the old default mode to escape from your discomfort a new default mode can be developed whereby you access assistance from your Soul to receive guidance on how best to effectively deal with the discomfort, unhappiness, disappointment and the like. While at the same time gaining your Soul’s perspective on how an experience or event is intended to provide you with insights, gifts, and lessons. What if it’s true that all of the experiences and events from the past, present and future are intended to serve you in accomplishing your Soul mission and transform your life? From the perspective of Living in Alignment it is your birthright to live in partnership with your Soul. When you listen to hear the voice of your Soul you are yielding to your Soul, and when you follow the guidance/directives from your Soul you are merging with your Soul. Differentiating between the voice of your egoic mind and the voice of your Soul may sound like a daunting task, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised how easy it becomes with practice. When you hear the voice of your Soul the guidance and promptings being offered sound true and there is a “rightness” that reverberates throughout your beingness. On the contrary, when you’re deferring to your egoic mind, doubt and confusion will persist. Listening to and following the guidance from your Soul will have an energizing affect and the results will always be advantageous- no exceptions! Whereas when you don’t follow your Soul’s guidance you will always feel regret. Another way of helping your mind wrap around this subject matter, is that your intuition is the voice of your Soul. Your intuition is about feeling into your life versus just thinking through your life. You will still use and develop your intellect, but instead of having your intellect be your primary go to resource, Living in Alignment is about allowing your Soul or the energetic aspect of who you are to guide/lead your life. This is what the mystics, sages, wise men and women have discovered and been teaching every since humans have been posing existential questions. Not only is this concept intended to be easy to grasp intellectually, it also becomes easier in practice every time you make a conscious decision to defer to and rely upon your Soul or when your Soul becomes your primary go-to resource. Your Soul is the power that is greater than the resources of your egoic mind. It is as real as the difference between night and day. You are intended to live in partnership with your Soul. It is a loving power, and you’ll discover how ingenious it is in its ability to get through and transmit information to your mind. It is the direct access to your creativity, it has a unifying presence, it lives in both the seen and unseen worlds simultaneously. Your Soul is still evolving, and it does not die when your physical body dies. To learn more about the Living in Alignment approach please visit my website www.darcyclarke.us  On Partnering with Source Energy
The Living in Alignment Model embraces the fact that the power that is greater than the resources of your intellect is energy! This energy is the Source from which everyone and everything is created. In essence then, everyone and everything is energy. Therefore, from the perspective of the LIving in Alignment Model, every being and everything is a unique aspect of Source energy. What I call Source energy is an intelligent, interactive, ingenious, benevolent, creative, omnipresent, and unifying Force. Sooner or later you will come to know this truth for yourself! Furthermore, you can learn to partner with Source energy! Yes, you can partner with it directly, without any intermediary, and you can do so at any time, in any place. For example, when you pray or meditate you are partnering with Source energy, and when you listen to and follow the promptings of your Soul, you are also partnering with Source energy. To reiterate, at the deepest level of your being you are made up of energy, the same energy that is Source energy. For simplicity’s sake, I refer to Source energy within as your Soul. Your Soul is a unique aspect of Source energy, simultaneously residing in both the seen and the unseen worlds. When partnering with your Soul you have access to Universal Wisdom. |
AuthorI am a licensed holistic psychotherapist with over thirty years experience. My calling in life is to assist people to have a conscious experience of partnering with Source energy in their daily lives. Archives
February 2019
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Tune into your soul's wisdom with Darcy Clarke and the Living in Alignment approach...
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Darcy S Clarke: Living in Alignment 455 University Ave, Suite 230 Sacramento, California 95825 Phone: 916.692.5947 email: darcy231@gmail.com |
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