The Surprising Secret Ingredient That Consistently Facilitates Healing

The Surprising Secret IngredientNPA embraces and expresses one of my favourite paradoxes in the realm of healing, transformation, consciousness and love.

In this Musing on NPA & Life I want to lay it out for you, and give you an insight into, what I have come to understand is, THE biggest gift you can bring to any healing or facilitation situation.

“I’m Very Grateful”

This week I received an email from a client who wanted to express the gratitude she felt for the sessions we have been having, and offer a testimonial to share with others what she felt she experienced with me and how it has helped her.

The clue to the ‘secret ingredient’ is in here, so have a read and I’ll break it down for you after…

“Working with Joel I have been surprised by, and so appreciated, the tender compassion and acceptance that he has brought to each session. He offered a genuine loving space with no judgement; even of feelings I had previously felt sooo ashamed of.

In the past I have experienced a certain level of acceptance with facilitators but when change hasn’t come or stuckness has shown up, the focus on ‘moving on’ or changing has taken over.

Joel’s approach has the flavour of open-handed compassion and shows a level of acceptance which feels as if it comes very naturally from him. For me though, it was a very new experience and I feel that those qualities have been key to me moving on as I have.  Those more tender/”dark”/”stuck” feelings, having been offered all the time and space they needed to feel safe and relax, let down their defences and change of their own accord.

Here I am a few months later finding myself in a more peaceful and happy place! Feeling more able to deal with life, with more space and compassion now coming from within me! yeah!! I’m very grateful.”

Jane Griffin, Leicester, UK

The Secret Ingredient

So what was Jane experiencing ‘coming naturally from me’? She states; compassion, acceptance, genuine loving space, no judgement. These are qualities which naturally arise from the secret ingredient but are not the secret ingredient itself.

The thing I love most about NPA; the thing that practising it has trained into me, into my approach to working with clients and into my life in general is it’s agenda-less-ness. OK, so that’s not, strictly speaking, a real word but it points to the fact that NPA, in it’s pure form, comes with no agenda. And having NO agenda IS the secret ingredient.

And there-in lies the paradox, and the challenge for many a would-be power-user of NPA, and many a fine transformational practitioner. The question goes: “Surely if someone is paying me money to get some kind of outcome or result – shouldn’t I be doing everything in my power to get them there? Or at least to help them get themselves there!!??”

The trouble is, all that “I, me, them, their, there” stuff is based on personal power. Personal power requires a person. Persons come with an agenda. Agenda’s come with timelines, outcomes, comparisons, judgements, intentions… that leads to right ways and wrong ways both overt and covert… that leads to dogma and dogma leads to blindness… I think you get the idea.

NPA invites you to:

  • Express yourself in your natural way.
  • To say a few simple lines.
  • To notice what happens (if anything).

That’s it. No agenda.

So How Does That Consistently Facilitate Healing?

Let’s break it down

The Problem with AgendasThe problem with agendas – even ones with positive intent, even subtle energetic easily self-deniable ones – is that they apply pressure towards the intended outcome or route. Pressure tends to invoke resistance, resistance leads to persistence and before you know it you’re in a world of friction and potential stuckness. That can lead to further pressure in support of the agenda and so begins an un-helpful loop.

Jane illustrates it when she says, “In the past I have experienced a certain level of acceptance with facilitators” – in other words, there was an agenda with the facilitator, and she goes on to say how the agenda kicks up a gear, “but when change hasn’t come or stuckness has shown up, the focus on ‘moving on’ or changing has taken over.”

As you train more in the art of using NPA, you’ll begin to appreciate the importance and power of it’s agenda-less-ness. The power in NPA is NON-personal; as you get out of the way (drop the agenda) things begin to resolve all by themselves… in wonderful, effortless and sometimes miraculous ways.

Working agenda-less-ly with Jane meant that we met in a state of mutual, gentle discovery. It was like watching a flower blossom… and how personally are you involved in that process?

As Jane put it, “Those more tender/”dark”/”stuck” feelings, having been offered all the time and space they needed to feel safe and relax, let down their defences and change of their own accord.”

They (the feelings) let down their defences and changed of their own accord… And THAT is how having no agenda consistently facilitates healing, transformation, evolutions in consciousness and love.

Let It Come Alive

I have found that people who bathe themselves in the non-personal perspective at The NPA Expansive Weekend and beyond, find that it naturally comes alive in them, and with that dogma’s and agenda’s fall away. They still, of course, are available to passing intentions, outcome notions and the like, but rather than wearing them as uniform, they are passing fancy dress outfits that serve to raise a smile, warm the heart, lift a weight, disarm or arm; they come, and are used when useful and kind, and are discarded effortlessly as the truth of the moment dictates.

In the end it comes down to this, “Less ‘you-who-knows’ and more ‘Life-will-show’, invites the magic moment”

[JY-General-Bio]

 Tweetables:

“Having NO agenda IS the secret ingredient” via @JoelYoungNPA 

“Dogma leads to blindness” via @JoelYoungNPA 

“NPA invites you to express yourself in your natural way” via @JoelYoungNPA 

“The problem with agendas is that they apply pressure towards the intended outcome or route” via @JoelYoungNPA

“As YOU get out of the way, things begin to resolve all by themselves” via @JoelYoungNPA

“We met in a state of mutual, gentle discovery. It was like watching a flower blossom…” via @JoelYoungNPA

“Having no agenda consistently facilitates healing, transformation, evolutions in consciousness and love” via @JoelYoungNPA

“Less ‘you-who-knows’ and more ‘Life-will-show’, invites the magic moment” via @JoelYoungNPA

When Words Speak You (3 Keys To Divine Expression)

When Words Speak You

I remember a time when silence was awkward.

Back then, there was an urge for ME to fill the void.

Say something!

Say anything!

And if my racing, fill-the-void mind can’t find something to say, then please-oh-please can one of you get your fill-the-void mind to fill it for us!?

Then came a great relief in the realisation that the source of all experience is prior to self… It’s the first of 3 keys I’ve found to living (and speaking) your Divine Expression…

And I’m going to walk you through each of them here…

KEY 1: The Source Of All Experience Is Prior To Self

I suppose that could do with a little further explanation – so if you’re up for it, come down the proverbial rabbit hole with me…

As I pointed out in my ‘Bad News for Control Freaks‘ post:

“Enlightened Masters, Quantum Physicists & Brain Researchers agree that fundamentally there’s no personal causality & every perceived reality is entirely at consequence to God/The Field/The Subconscious (pick your label)”

A slightly softer way to look at this, is to say there’s a heck of a lot going on that you are simply not aware of. And this stuff has way more influence than most people ever dare contemplate.

And… if I’m really honest, using the word ‘influence’ is pulling my punches.  

How so?

Well, if you follow any thought, impulse or inspiration back to it’s source, you’ll very quickly get beyond the self and into a much grander, more intricately connected consciousness.

Vanilla Or ChocolateFor example: A simple act of ‘personal will’ like picking an ice cream flavour…

Vanilla or Chocolate?
Your choice right?
Let’s follow the trail…

Well it might land in your ‘actionable mental inbox’ as a preference, in the form of a thought: “I fancy chocolate today”… but where did that thought come from? What was the source of that thought..?

Now clearly there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to that, and you’re unlikely to truly experience the answer by chasing it with another thought.

But if you ask yourself the question “What is the source of this thought/experience?” and let the answer find you… then you’ll likely have a direct experience of something greater than your personal self.

Things I have heard when I’ve done this exercise with people include:

Stillness, nowhere, vastness, silence, energy, Source…

Sometimes it takes a few steps… like “Well I felt like it”… OK, so what is the source of that feeling? “Er… well it’s like pleasure”… Great, so what is the source of that pleasure? “Er… I don’t know”… Great so what is the source of that not knowing? “Ooh… it’s like a vastness”… you get the idea.

Some would argue that this is still the self, or even some ‘truer‘ Self.

That, unfortunately, is simply a modern re-imagining of our pre-Galileo notion that the Earth was the centre of the Universe, around which all things revolved.  

I know it may be seen like heresy in the modern Spiritual age, and I’m inviting you to consider that both these ideas serve to keep the self safe in a bubble of (ahem) self-importance and the illusion of control.

With a little dogma-free, and sober inquiry this vast consciousness reveals itself to be beyond local/personal comprehension and control. It’s the non-personal, and as long as I exist as distinctly me – even a grand idea of me as a Soul, or God itself –  there’s a ‘me’ and the relationship I have with the unknowable beyond.

In other words, there’s a distinct ‘you’ which is only a tiny part of something much greater.

So I call it God, the Infinite Field or some other derivative, and through my relationship with it, I come to know it and myself as best I can.

So what’s all this got to do with words speaking you?

KEY 2: Shifting Your Attention From ‘The Causal I’ to ‘The Receptive I’

Once you become aware that you are part of something bigger, you can begin to make a paradigm shift in the areas of responsibility, attention & control.

It’s a process over time, but when you really get that the experience of self is at consequence to a greater force, your attention can shift dramatically from a causal I and the heavy world-on-my-shoulders responsibility that brings… to a receptive I that basks in the gifts of The Divine.

Causal I Receptive I

The Causal I

In causal mode, you believe you are responsible for creating all that you want. For correcting your perceived imperfections. For managing your emotions, and the emotions of those around you. The list goes on.

You must therefore KNOW what to say. You must gather knowledge and expertise. You must crack the formula. YOU must determine the action to take and take it. It’s an almighty effort to be sure…

You get to assume the credit, but of course you also risk the blame – for you perceive yourself to be personally responsible.

In the silence, someone has to take up the slack; find the words that will fill the void and keep the self alive.

Rarely do the words that come from the formulaic causal I truly inspire. They can seem shiny and good but are, most likely, hollow and powerless in any real way. Kind of the ‘fake tan’ end of the ‘power of the word’ spectrum.

The Receptive I

In receptive mode the self becomes effortlessly attentive to the subtle movements within the non-personal as they coincide with the personal. (Take a breath, I’ll explain that later)

The self becomes attuned to the rhythm of The Divine, and discerns its presence amongst the noise.

In this way the dance becomes synchronous, harmonious, in time, responsive. The self surrenders to the rhythm and is moved. The pattern of Graceful genius becomes expressed through the receptive I.

In the silence, the self is cradled by The Divine; feeling it’s innate support, feeling it’s innate power; buoyed by the waves.

The experience is akin to that feeling against your back when the car you are in sets off. It’s a feeling of being moved, and the words speak.

Living in the realm of the receptive I requires you to surrender the habitual causal I and nurture an active ability to notice what is ‘moving’. The term I use for ‘what is moving’ is animation…

KEY 3: Animation 

In case you don’t know, NPA stands for Non-Personal Awareness and The NPA Process is a very simple and very effective tool for letting go of the yukky stuff and letting in the yummy stuff of life. Most people know it as a beautifully simple way to stop taking stuff personally… and it’s much more than that.

Because The NPA Process seems so simple (it’s just 6 lines long!), people often cheat themselves of the greater opportunity it brings them. To put it bluntly, they think that once they have the lines that’s it… they’ve got it and need go no further.

That’s like putting a dusty old painting from your attic in a boot sale; never realising you sold a Rembrandt original for a fiver. 

There is an art to using The NPA Process…

And those that choose to do the further trainings will tell you that something amazing happens once they have mastered this ‘art’.

What they quickly realise, is that they have gained a powerful skill whose benefits go WAY beyond just using The NPA Process. It’s a skill which allows you to master your alignment with your moment-by-moment Divine Expression.

It’s the skill of spotting the ‘animation’ in any given moment.

Animation is one of several unique terms we use within the NPA toolkit. To quote the Non-Personal Terminology Handbook, spotting animation is the skill of:

“Becoming effortlessly attentive to the subtle movements within the non-personal as they coincide with the personal”.

That’s a very technical and precise description, and I promised to explain it earlier…

So, in simple terms, you could say it’s the skill of listening to (and receiving) The Divine. And, by the way, this is something which can only happen in the realm of the Receptive I.

In both the NPA: Basic Training video programme, and my NPA: The Bridge audio programme, I go to great lengths to help you understand how key the skill of spotting animation is to experiencing Graceful and powerful NPA processes. 

So as you practice and become skilled with The NPA Process, not only do you make a positive difference to the small and big stuff in your life, but you also move yourself firmly into the Divine realm of The Receptive I.

I can’t emphasise it enough: This is an incredible life skill!

When you start effortlessly listening to The Divine, your life becomes magical.

You experience alignment, clarity and flow.  An effortless grace infuses your life experience. The words begin to speak you, life begins to carry you and silence ceases to be scary. In fact silence, and the whole backdrop of your life, transforms into a source of inspired potential.

 

THE NPA PROCESS: BASIC TRAINING…

NPA Basic Training - Start Here“This video programme will walk you step by step through the core training of The NPA Process and give you what you need to get started making a difference in your life right away with NPA.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

When Words Speak You

These days, I am un-phased by silence and have no need to fill it. I speak when words speak me. I am quiet when they don’t.

And I invite you to join me here…

For when words speak you, they carry the rhythm and power of The Divine. The pattern of Graceful genius as expressed through YOU can begin to emerge… For your joy, and the benefit of all.

As always, I welcome your comments, and am grateful if you choose to share this musing. The best place to start your journey to a magical animation led life is HERE ♥

[JY-General-Bio]

More Tweetables:

Want Wealth? Get Connected To What Truly Matters

Want Wealth? Get Connected To What Truly MattersIf you want to be and feel wealthy, start getting really honest with yourself about what truly matters.

Matter

Matter. It’s a word that speaks to the formation of the Universe. Quantum forces pulling energy waves into states of tension that give rise to apparent solidity. Energy in tension. I’m sure the phonic simile isn’t lost on you…

This is how your personal reality comes into being and what truly matters becomes more apparent in your field of experience. If you want to know what truly matters, look around your life and notice what there’s already an abundance of…

This is not about positive and negative – discovering what truly matters requires a neutrality of mind, an ability to simply notice.

This sober inquiry will help you land where you are and clear the hallucinogenic fog of positive or negative biased thinking. It has the potential to drop you into truly aligned clarity with an awareness of the intrinsic abundance of your existence.

Connected

The point of this sober alignment, is it gets you CONNECTED to what MATTERS – positive or negative as it may seem right now. It’s the difference between having your fingers on the stuff of life and the ability to move it, as distinct from just running your fingers through empty space. Basically, when you’re connected to what matters, you begin to have a much greater impact when intentions arise.

So, does your story of wealth match the reality of your wealth?

If your story of wealth is that it’s all about large amounts of money, and you have very little, then the fact is that money doesn’t truly matter to you. Once you notice what there IS a wealth of, and therefore what matters to you, you’ll automatically begin to feel the power and flow of your innately creative and abundant self – even if it’s subtle, and even if what matters seems a bit rubbish at first.

Materialise

NPA offers a very simple way to notice those points of connection and in NPA we call them ‘Cookie Cutters’. I often say that I have developed highly sensitive Cookie Cutter ears. In other words I’ve got extremely good at noticing where people are connected to what matters to them. So each process begins with being connected to what truly matters. It’s one of the reasons an NPA session with me and The NPA Process can be so impactful, even if there’s just a few processes in the time we have together.

If you want to manifest the stuff you say you want – if you want to ‘materialise‘ it – then at some point you’ll need to connect to (and start moving in) the stream of matter as it relates to you now.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and please like & share with your friends ♥

[JY-General-Bio]

[Ad-Active-1]

The Birthplace Of NPA

The Birthplace of NPAAs this post get’s published it’s NPA’s 7th birthday!

It seems like ages ago that it popped out of me in Costa’s in Abingdon. It tickles me that Divine births can happen in the most ordinary places.

There I was in my own little vortex of guided communication while around me; kids were squashing the remains of muffins into hot chocolate soaked saucers; an amazing carer calmed the colourful tourette’s syndrome shouts of her ward; a suited salesman wheeled and dealed on his phone and mid-life girl friends supported each others judgements about the this and the that of their lives…

And in amongst all that, six little lines that would rock my world (and countless others) just popped out. Lot’s of people have told me they were inspired by the story of ‘how NPA was born’ so I thought I would share it here amongst the Musings of NPA & Life. If you share this post you can watch a video of me sharing the story, and help spread the word about NPA… otherwise – simply enjoy the read:

The Birth Of NPA

“I’ve been working in the field of human consciousness and personal growth for approaching 20 years. Back in 2007 I’d had the privilege of working with many amazing people and yet…

On 29th January 2007, I was sat in a Costa coffee shop in Abingdon, Oxfordshire where I lived and quite literally a prayer was ‘born’ through me and it went like this:

“OK God,” Grace, whatever you want to call that, “Is there something specifically that wants to come through me, in service to the world… and if there is, please let me know?”

I’m very clear about this. If the answer was no, then that would have been really fine. I’d have happily just carried on teaching what I was teaching.

However, literally a week later (on February 5th) I was in the same coffee shop, journaling on my computer when the six simple lines that I now call the NPA Process literally popped out of me! They came with that tingley-wingley sensation – which is sort of a signal to me. It was like, “This is the answer to your prayer. There will be seminars and books.”

You Have To Be Kidding Me

My response was, “You have to be kidding me. That’s just too simple, too easy!” But I’ve discovered that the simplicity of NPA is its genius in as much as it means it can be used in so many different ways and yet it’s really, really powerful.

For quite a long time I kept it very, very close to myself. I wanted to discover for myself, through direct experience, what this ‘Non-Persoanl Awareness’ was? And it quickly busted many of my illusions – the things that I’d learned and taught for all those years were really challenged by this little NPA thing.

It wasn’t until 2008, in November, that I first taught it publicly and not until 2009 February when I first taught it in an official way and since then it’s just exploded. It’s in countries all over the world and that’s down to the fact that it’s so simple and it just works.”

[JY-General-Bio]

Am I Supposed To Be Ridding Myself Of The Ego?

Am I Supposed To Be Ridding Myself of The EgoThought I’d get 2014 rolling with a bit of hard-core spiritual heresy, and happened across some video footage from a panel talk I did with two excellent non-personal friends in Toronto last year.

So, here’s an extract from: “An Evening of Dynamic Conversation on The New Wave of Non-Personal Development”

It’s moderated by Dave Clark (President of the publishing agency – Solutions Inc.), and I was joined by Arnold Timmerman (Author of Leadingship – Exploring the essence of leadership dynamics) and Philip Shepherd (Author of New World, New Self – Coming to our senses in the 21st century).

Arnold & I had talked many times about doing an event like this, and it happened that our schedules coincided in Canada last May. It was a great bonus to be joined by Philip and have an opportunity to offer multiple takes on the non-personal perspective, spirituality and personal development.

Show Me The Heresy…

The particular aspect of heresy we express in this clip, is on the topic of The Ego. We take a look at where the non-personal perspective on it differs from much of the popular personal growth and spiritual dogma that’s fashionable these days.

In this extract the conversation addresses topics like…

  • What is the nature of our authentic selves and who we think we are?
  • What is the impact of self inquiry on who we think are?
  • Does the Ego disappear when you become present?
  • How does the Ego relate to the human condition and Divinity?
  • Can you actually get rid of the ego?
  • What is the mechanism that creates the ego?
  • What is the mechanism that creates states of enlightenment?
  • What is the true nature of Unconditional Love?
  • How does conscious experiencing effect your life’s purpose?

It’s amazing what you can cover in a little over 6 minutes.

Enjoy The Video…

You Can Quote Us…

“When you start self-inquiry, you’ll find that who we are is much more fluid than we think it might be”
Arnold Timmerman

“I don’t even think about ‘is my ego involved or isn’t it’ – I want to be fully present and whole”
Philip Shepherd

“The minute you start making anything in your experience bad or wrong you instantly step out of the availability of your wholeness”
Joel Young

Comments & shares are, as always, welcome! :0)

[JY-General-Bio]

Don’t Mistake An Option For A Necessity

Option NecessityOften-times in the world of healing and personal growth you may be told, or have it implied, that a particular set of conditions must be met, a certain route must be taken or a specific approach or method is the only “real” way to heal or shift your life.

A classic example is the idea that we must resolve painful experiences from the past in order to be free for a better future. While that may be a truly powerful ‘vehicle’ for the shift that suits the reality constructs of millions, there are also millions who have made, and will make, equivalent shifts with no need to recourse to their personal history.

“A” Way, Not “THE” Way

While I offer the non-personal perspective with passion and a heartfelt beleif in its potential value to those that connect with it, I am always keen to say that NPA is “A” way, not “THE” way.

It is my view that a key gift of this Human life experience is variety – many possible routes to every outcome. There are always options and in a world still full of dictatorial expressions it boils down to this:

“Don’t mistake an option for a necessity.”

Joel Young
NonPersonalAwareness.com

SHARING IS OPTIONAL (& very much appreciated) ;0)

[JY-General-Bio]