B(u)y the Book:
So you have to check out this book:E-Squared: Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality?
E-Squared is all about becoming bold and “demanding” things from the Universe, trusting the pure physics of the Law of Attraction to produce. I just call it audacious asking followed by due diligence: set the intention and follow the intention with a lot of what Amit Goswami calls “DOBEDOBEDO.” In other words, see what you want, feel the energy of it deeply by connecting with the feeling tone, and then follow the path of that energy by taking appropriate and purposeful action. We truly can’t know the HOW when we set a bold intention, but we can take a step, allow things to unfold, pause and listen deeply, discern the next step, and watch it all unfold again.
Moths have this down pat.
Have you ever watched a moth in flight? There’s a lot of short bursts of movement in seeming random directions, but what the moth is in fact doing is quite directed. After finding the scent of a potential lover (setting intention), the moth sniffs the air for pheromones (discerning path), moves briefly in the direction of higher concentration (taking the next step), and pauses to sniff and change directions based on the new input (letting things unfold and pausing to discern the next step). This ever-adjusting path forward looks spastic and random to us, but it takes the moth to a potential mate over great distances. The moth NEVER doubts that.
Now I don’t know where you fall on all of this manifestation stuff. I personally think it lands somewhere between faith and science, both to which I have a deep, long-term connection, and I have truly seen it work miracles. Unfortunate (in my opinion), is when books like this one sprinkle in some things that make my inner scientist just shake her head and cringe, like the experiment where you make homemade dousing rods out of hangers to “prove” that you affect the material world with your thoughts. I totally know my thoughts affect the material world based on quantum mechanics. These hangers do NOT prove that point. (There’s much more sophisticated experiments that prove that one. What I WILL buy into, as a hypnotherapist, is that we subconsciously direct the hangers with subtle muscular response to our thoughts. But I digress.)
Going BIG
So journeying between St. Louis and Cincinnati on New Year’s Eve, I decided to play with this book. I decided to TRULY ask audaciously instead of my “just big enough” that has served me well over the years. I created my completely cliche’ list of New Year’s intentions, but on steroids:
#1 “Have our first major retreat scheduled by end of year.” (Okay, that was like a nothing statement! So what if I’ve never led a full weekend retreat before! Schedule a retreat. I can “schedule” a retreat whenever on earth I want! That was a goal. An action step. And a bit of a nothing one at that! Come on Renee!)
#2 “Teach in 4 different states this year.” (I only had planned 2, so 4 was a definite and exciting stretch. Audacious, but not in the uber sense of the word. Come on Renee, GO FOR IT!)
#3 thru 8 Trying harder. And harder. But still so very practical. Audacity is required here. GO! FOR! IT!
#9 “Have someone seek me out to offer one of my workshops or presentations at their desirable and unexpected location.”
There! Now THAT was audacious–embarrassingly audacious. I felt ashamed for writing this “demand.” I’m a “nobody” and I don’t seek fame or fortune, but that sure looks like I do! And as a nobody, who on earth would even dream to invite me anywhere? I truly winced writing it. I winced reading it to my husband. I’m wincing again posting it!
#10-21 Well now that I went and got all crazy, I just get to have fun! See big trees. Improve my tennis game. Learn the uke…..Yay me!
Turn Up the Volume! She Did It!
Four DAYS later: Contact from someone in a third state who heard about me through a friend of a friend. Holy guacamole! Only a couple days and I hit “a new state” AND “an invitation from someone seeking me out unexpectedly.” This has me singing a little Monkees, “I’m a Believer!” Sure, it was “only” Kentucky, but it SO freaking counted! Never, ever doubt the HOW.
My final thought: “Wow. I wonder what the 4th state will be?”
Four MONTHS later: Um, answer? Vermont. And to top it off, the Universe decided to just throw in an extra little “by unexpected invitation” into the mix. I mean, I had already given it credit for producing on that one, so another was totally unnecessary (but a nice touch)! Forget the singing, I’m laughing and terribly excited! So now for the formal announcement:
Renee Groenemann has been named to the faculty of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy (PRYT), an international training program for leading-edge yoga therapists. Renee will start her work as a Mentor in the new Mental Health Professional Track in June 2014 with the program’s very first group of trainees to specifically focus on direct application of this work to mental health therapy. Renee will have input into how the track will be implemented and continue to evolve as students learn how to integrate mindbody awareness into their traditional therapy practices.
In addition, Renee’s career path will be featured on a traveling banner campaign for future professionals, and she will be a regular guest blogger for the Phoenix Rising website over the next 6 months.
Renee describes PRYT, succinctly, as where
“yoga, body work, personal growth work, and current mindbody psychology unite in 1 ½ hours of deep relaxation, insight, and healing.”
A traditional PRYT session is much like receiving a massage, except you “receive” yoga stretches while engaging in insight- and presence-oriented dialogue with the practitioner. Based on what you discover in your “time in deep presence with self” you are then guided through a process where you create action steps for lasting change in your life—a true integration of the work on a practical, day-to-day life level.
The article, Profound Presence, by Donna Raskin provides great insight into the process.
While working towards her Master of Arts in Community Counseling in a Mental Health Setting at the University of Cincinnati, Renee received credit for independent study of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Levels 1 and 2. Upon completion of her degree, she pursued her certification in PRYT (now a 9 month, 805 hour IAYT and YA recognized program) in 2002.
Since that time, PRYT has provided the “lens” through which Renee has worked with clients as she integrates mindfulness, mindbody science, and concepts in positive psychology and neuropsychology into a holistic approach with clients dealing with trauma, grief, chronic pain, life transitions, and more. Many of the non-touch elements of a Phoenix Rising session can be incorporated seamlessly into a regular psychotherapy session. Mindful presence has been shown to be an important part of the trauma recovery process.
Traditional PRYT sessions, involving assisted postures and touch, can be used by anyone for: deep relaxation, spiritual insight, focused life change, mindbody connection, physical and emotional therapeutic release, or a complement to traditional therapy.
Renee offers Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy sessions both in person and over the phone at Spirit(ed) Growth LLC at 11449 Lebanon Road in Sharonville and at Grace Tree Yoga & Growth Studio at 8933 Cin-Day Road in West Chester. Contact her at renee@spiritedgrowth.com (www.spiritedgrowth.com) or 513-289-6759 to schedule your appointment today!