Accepting Your Dream, published in April/May 2003 edition of "The Fifth Agreement"

Living Heaven on Earth starts by knowing and fully accepting who and where you are. You can live this dream by accessing a state of total acceptance of what is and being in the moment.

Let’s pretend you are talking to someone on the phone, asking for directions. You are running late and have judgments about this. You think you should be much closer already so you give them a false, but more impressive address. It is going to make impossible for you to find your way to where you want to be. The directions you receive are going to be based on your imaginary location, not on where you really are in that moment. You will most likely wander around, utterly lost, until you find the courage to look at where you are, call them again and give them your actual location. This is a metaphor for what happens when we fool ourselves into thinking that we should be different than how we really are.

It is only when you come to the place in yourself of totally surrendering and accepting who you are that you can then act and create your own life as a masterpiece. This comes from a place of acceptance and presence. It allows you to feel at peace and in love with yourself, even during the most challenging circumstances. This doesn't mean that you now become passive, and watch your life go by. You act confidently instead of falling in the endless pit of wanting to fix yourself or others. You no longer frantically attempt to escape who, what and where you are.

Easier said than done, you might think! Any rituals or exercises that remind you to love yourself are particularly useful at the beginning, so that you can "fake it till you make it." You can rely on tools until love becomes integrated within you. Mastering awareness is key to this process. It requires constant, neutral observations of what we think, feel and act. Here are some of the exercises favored by my apprentices to strengthen your presence in each moment, accepting what is:

- Your new bionic body: Separate the ongoing mind chatter from the feelings you feel in your body. Pretend you have just started to live in your new bionic body, which is wired with sensors everywhere. Of course, you are curious to know how this new body-machine works. You do not have a judgment whether one sensation is preferable over another. Every time a feeling arises, pretend to turn on your bionic sensors and experience with curiosity the sensations they provide. You might feel a contraction here, tightness there, a tingling over there. If a specific thought or memory comes up, jot it down, and put your awareness back into your body. You might associate these sensations with a specific color, sound or shape. Breathe into them, go towards them, relax into them and allow them to morph into other sensations, shapes and colors. Let them run their course naturally, instead of tensing up against it, or numbing yourself to it. Any pain naturally dissolves when you fully accept it.

- The talking head: When your mind is commenting non-stop, you may pretend to turn on an imaginary tape recorder inside your head. A tape recorder doesn’t judge the quality of what it is recording, it just processes the information and records it. A variation is to pretend you are video taping a "nature show" and to become aware of when the inner voice is commenting on top of the action.

- Listening your way out of your mind: Shift your listening to the outside, focusing on the sounds of a car passing by, on the rustle of the wind. This is a great exercise to do on an ongoing basis. As soon as you notice that you’ve immersed yourself in your inner dialogue, simply focus your attention on the outside again. Sometimes, a thought will arise that carries great emotion with it. Jot it down in a little notebook, so that later in the day, you may use stalking or dreaming to break that particular agreement. Then just go back to focusing outside.

These exercises allow you to access the place of the witness. They allow you to stop believing yourself, to stop taking your thoughts and feelings personally. You can feel good inside yourself even when your body is racked with fear. You allow the sensations to move through your body, without wanting to stop them, take them out on someone, or repress them. You now own your emotions and impulses, instead of your emotions owning and controlling you.

As you begin this process of noticing and separating yourself from all the beliefs that exist in your mind, you will get a clearer sense of where you are in your life. You can then choose which beliefs are supporting you in moving towards a greater state of acceptance and love, and which are keeping you in pain and separation. Little by little, you uncover your true self that has lain dormant under this mountain of beliefs. As you let go of them, you naturally reclaim your power and let your love shine through. Have fun in this exciting adventure!

Tamara Messenger is a Toltec teacher and healer. She draws on her 10 years experience of practicing awareness in the moment and on her healing modalities to guide people to their own true self. Upon request during healing sessions, she accesses your individual dream, subconscious and generational patterns and energetically transforms them. Tamara is available for sessions and apprenticeships, nationally and internationally, in English and French. Call her at (619) 795-6170 with any questions.