When Challenged - Come Back To Principle

From time to time, we all come face to face with challenges, and when we do, we are well off to have tools and a practice that allows us to not get pulled in by the surface appearance of whatever circumstance or condition that has come into our experience. Two of the most powerful tools at our disposal are the breath and spiritual principles, which both allow us to stay in a high vibration even in the midst of challenges. I invite you to join me for this podcast episode as we explore these.

Transcript

Blessings and welcome to the Path to Freedom podcast. A weekly and practical podcast with the intention to inspire, Empower and uplift us all to wake up to who and what we are. So that we, That is you and me, May forever allow for greater and grander expressions of that who and what to emerge. With ease and grace. My name is Daniel Rocquio and I'm your host. Blessings and welcome to the Path to Freedom podcast. This weekly and practical podcast about us waking up to who and what we are. About us allowing for greater and grander expressions of that who and what to emerge. And about us allowing for, You know, The peace and the love and the joy and the harmony and the abundance and the wholeness that is everywhere, That is inherently within each and every single one of us, That is inherent in every single moment, In every single space and in every single place. And so through us raising our vibration, Through us expanding our consciousness, We allow more and more and more of that to flow through us, To well up from within us, To emerge from within us. And so I welcome you to this beautiful space, To this beautiful journey and another episode of exploration and another episode of going ever, Ever, Ever deeper and wider and higher into the truth and the essence of who and what we are. Into our self-awareness because that is a major part of this journey. That we observe ourselves, That we become aware of, Where we perhaps need to do some work to become aware of the small and the limited thought patterns and opinions and the judgments, Perceptions that keep God out. Sort of a lampshade that keeps the light bulb from flooding the room with light. So do our small and limited thought patterns and perceptions keep God dimmed? God is fully present everywhere, In every single being, In every single one of us, But these small and limited perceptions that we hold on to, That keeps God out. Alright, So I welcome you here regardless of whether you've been here before or if this is the first time you're tuning, I'm deeply grateful that you're choosing to tune in, I'm deeply grateful that you're choosing to participate, I'm deeply grateful for your willingness to not only embark upon this journey but to participate and keep moving forward and upward and onward. Thank you, Thank you so, So much for your contribution to making this planet a better place for all beings to be on. So for that I give thanks. The title or the theme for this particular episode is, When Challenged, Come Back to Principle. When Challenged, Come Back to Principle. And this is a follow-up on last week's episode. I honestly don't remember what it was called, But it had something to do with challenges. And I was guided to explore a challenge that I'm moving through. And this is the sequel. I'm becoming ever more aware of these, You know, These beliefs that I'm holding onto that do not serve me anymore. I'm not saying that they have served me in the past, But it was only reasonable for me to hold onto them. Or actually, At that space of awareness, At that space of consciousness, I had no reason to challenge them. But now, You know, As I am growing and as we are growing, The egoic excuses and the egoic stories, They don't seem so valid anymore. And so I've been challenged to challenge myself, And I've been challenged to challenge these beliefs and stories that I've held onto. We need to begin, Before we move any further into this exploration, We need to begin where we need to begin. And we want to begin in gratitude, And we want to begin in stillness. So that's exactly where we're going to begin. And so I'm inviting you, I'm inviting us to make ourselves comfortable as we're going to move into a brief moment of meditation, And followed by an evocation. An evocation. A blessing of this time together. And so in this moment I invite us to make ourselves comfortable. I invite us to close our eyes. I invite us to put a smile on our face, Allowing the body to create a healing environment. A friendly, Loving environment where that which no longer serves us may be released and let go of. And that includes beliefs and stories. That includes germs. That includes injuries. That includes everything. Healing is not only relegated to one area, But any area where we release and let go of something that limits us, That inhibits us, That keeps us from expanding. That is when and where healing happens. And so through smiling, We send a signal to the body that all is well, That it can begin to relax, Release and let go of tension, Release and let go of anxiety, Release and let go of fear and worry and doubt. So smiling is a beautiful healing agent in that sense. And it doesn't even matter if we particularly feel like smiling or not, Because the body doesn't know the difference between a real smile and a fake smile. So by a smiling, We set something in motion, We set healing in motion, We allow healing to happen. And so as we keep that smile on our faces, I invite us to close our eyes again. And I invite us to gently tap between our eyebrows to activate that divine eye, That first eye. And while we smile and while we tap, Let's set an intention for this brief meditation. And my intentions are always for me to wake up to doing what I am, For me to forever allow for greater and greater expressions of that human water to emerge. And I invite you to join me or you can catch your own intentions. We can release the tapping. I invite us to place our hands in our lap, Palms facing upward, Thumb and middle finger touching as a sign of receptivity. And as we turn our attention to the breath, We want to be aware that the body is fully able and capable of breathing in and of itself. And what this means is that we do not need to make the breathing happen. And we do not need to participate in the breathing. But we can simply allow it, Observe it, Witness it as it happens. We also want to be aware that the breath has four stages to it. We've got the in-breath, There's the space between in and out-breath, The out-breath, The space between out and in-breath. And us being aware of these four stages and seeking to sustain our attention on them, On all four of them, Makes it so much easier for us to remain attentive, Remain focused on our breath. And as we take on the feeling tone that all is well in this moment, Let's give the peace that follows permission to move us deep, Deep, Deep into the stillness and into the silence. As we let our attention drift away from the breath, Let's gently turn it back and lovingly turn it back to the breath and begin again. Beautiful. . . . . . And as I in a moment move us into our opening prayer, Our evocation, I invite us all to remain with our eyes closed, Our hearts open, Our minds open, So that we may catch the vibration of this prayer, Thus giving it permission to move us into an even higher vibration, Into an even more expanded consciousness. And so in this moment I'm grateful I am. How deeply grateful I am for this path of awakening, This path of freedom that we are on, Of continuously waking up, Of continuously allowing for greater and greater expressions of who and what we are to emerge. And I'm so grateful for your participation, I'm so grateful for your willingness, Your continuous yes to release and let go of the small and unlimited, To continuously engage in self-observation, To increase your self-awareness, To continuously grow and unfold and expand. I'm so grateful for your willingness and for your courage to do all of this, To be a conscious participant. From this space of gratitude I know and I feel, I absolutely know and I absolutely feel, The goodness of God, The goodness of Spirit, And the allness of Spirit, And the eternality of Spirit. God is good, Fundamentally good, Always for itself and always for all of creation, Never against anything, Never against anyone. And as God is all there is, Both the Creator and the creation, It means that that good is fully present in every single space and every single place. And as God is also eternal, It means that that good has always been here, Is here right now and will always be here. And this is so regardless of whether we can see it or not, Whether we have the eyes to see it or not. Because God is infinite love and infinite peace and infinite joy and infinite harmony and infinite abundance and wholeness, Beauty. All of these are divine qualities. And as God is fully present everywhere, It means that right where you are and right where I am, As we and God are one, As we are unique and perfect emanations of Spirit, Spirit expressing itself in us and through us, It means that all of these qualities, All of these good is fully present right where we are. And so I bless, Bless, Bless this episode. And I bless, Bless, Bless the expansion that is about to take place. The raising of vibration, The expansion of consciousness that is about to take place. I bless you, I bless the equipment, I bless myself. Knowing absolutely and feeling absolutely that all is well right here, Right now, All is well. Something truly wonderful is happening in this moment, In every single moment. And everything is always working for the highest good. I know it and I feel it. I know it and I feel it. So it is and so be it. Amen. Alright, So today's theme is when challenged, When challenged, Come back to principle. But today's theme could just as easily have been moving deeper into surrender. Or trusting the fundamental goodness of Spirit. Because these are all connected. And to give you the background, If you have not tuned in for the last couple of episodes, A while back I was asked to head a project and I accepted it. Not knowing or not realizing that this project was going to be a lot more time consuming than I had expected. Which has left me with a lot of frustration, Which has left me with a lot of resistance. Because where I used to have plenty of time, Where I used to have a space to tend to honor my spiritual needs, That space is largely diminished to the point where I now need to choose which need to honor. I don't have the space to honor them all on any given day anymore, Which I used to. And these needs of mine, They are meditation, They are a breathing space, A space to be, They're physical movement, And the last one is a space to be creative. And I used to, Every single day, Have the space and the time to honor all of these. But now I don't, Since a couple of weeks back, And this has really sort of spun me into a spiral of becoming aware of how I have tried to make things happen. Because the space that I'm most, Or the space that I have been most frustrated over not being able to have, Was the creative space. I've been blessed with ample opportunities and possibilities to be of service. But for that to happen, I have needed a space to be of service. I have done a lot of recordings, Meditations and brief teachings and things of that particular nature. And as I think I shared, Was it last week? I need about an hour, An hour and a half, Every single day, To keep up with this level of standard that I have set for myself. No one has imposed anything upon me, But I have set an intention of deliverability to record, To edit and finalize a specific number of, And ultimately publish a specific number of these sessions every week. And so what I've come to realize, And I believe I began to realize it last week, Was that I've been caught in the belief that I need to make, I need to deliver this amount of sessions to keep moving forward. And ultimately, I've been driven by the fear of not getting to where I want to get. I have my intentions and one of these intentions, These supreme intentions, Is to be a greater teacher and healer than I've ever imagined. And so these new possibilities, They have opened doors that have not previously been opened. They have showed me possibilities that I was unaware of. And so it's like, It's like I'm a hunting dog, And I've picked up the trail of this particular animal that I'm chasing, And that I'm hunting and that I'm tracking. And the closer I get, The more eager I get. The more eager I get. So that's the space that, Or actually that's the vibration that I've been coming from. I think I've used the analogy before that it's like I've been running a marathon, And I can now see the finish line. I'm dead tired, I'm exhausted, But I can see the finish line, And simply because I can see the finish line, It gives me the strength to speed up. Had I not seen the finish line, I perhaps would have stopped, Because I was so tired. Now, I'm not saying that I'm that tired, But it serves as an analogy, A metaphor, That I have been speeding up. I'm so much more productive now than I was about a year ago. The things I'm doing, All of the things that I'm doing, Well, These last couple of weeks I have not had much space to be creative. But before I took on this project, I had just as much time to be in a creative space and to honor all these needs as I did about a year ago. But in that time frame, In that amount of time that I have and that I had, So much more flows through me now than ever has before. And I'm not going to go into detail to, Well, Why not? I'm taking classes, A number of classes, I'm studying, I provide content for a couple of apps, I record this, The podcast, Each week. I write courses, I produce, I create courses, Online courses. And the one thing that I have not been doing as much as I used to is to send out my newsletter. I used to send it out every week, But now I believe I did send one out last week. But before that, It was probably, I don't know, Two, Three weeks since the last one. So that's the one thing that I'm, I'm not releasing it, But I'm not engaging as much in it. But other than that, There's so much more now on my plate than ever before. And yet I'm filled with much energy, Probably more energy than ever before, And I just love it, I just love it. But this experience where I've come face to face with not having as much time to be creative, Has brought to my attention, Has brought into my awareness that I've been trying, I've been seeking to make it happen, Unless I publish, Unless I provide enough content. And the amount of content is something that I have decided for myself. So I've been operating from the belief that unless I produce that specific amount of content, Me transitioning into the next stage of who I am, Into the next expression of who I am, Will not be called forth. So I've been operating out of fear, Trying to make it happen, But that is getting it all backwards. And it's kind of funny when I hear myself say this, Because I've, I cannot remember how many times I've sat in this chair, Recorded a session or an episode here in this podcast, Saying that we need to feel that it is done. We need to feel that it is done. And from that feeling, From that knowing and feeling that it is done, We're to engage in inspired action. Now, I mean, I'm not blaming myself, And I'm not, You know, Judging myself, But it still amuses me, How I've been teaching something and then I realize that I'm not, I've not been following my own teaching. I know that the way it works, You know, We become aware of something intellectually, And that intellectual knowledge then gets integrated and gets embodied within us, And as it gets embodied, We live it, We are it. But we are not it from the beginning. So there's nothing wrong, There's nothing weird at all about this. It's just funny. It's just funny. And it's funny how, You know, How difficult it can be to detect, To become aware of these subtle beliefs, These inconspicuous stories that we tell ourselves, Like the story I've been telling myself, Or actually the ego has been telling me and that I have bought into the story that I need to produce. And unless I produce, I will not be moving forward. I will not get to where I want to get. The ego truly is a trickster. Truly, Truly, Truly. But, On the other hand, Once we do become aware, It is such a liberation. It is such a liberation to become free. I mean, To become aware. Because when we become aware, And when we hold that awareness in a space of love, In a space of compassion, In a space of kindness, In other words, When we can refrain from judging ourselves or criticizing ourselves, Beating ourselves up for not being where we think we should be, Or for not being able to do what we think we should be able to do. In that moment of embracing and allowing whatever is to be as it is, That's when the healing happens. That's when the release happens. When we shine the light of awareness on something, Just holding it up in the light causes it to dissolve and transmute itself. Just like walking into a dark room with a flashlight, And wherever we point the flashlight, Whenever we point the light, The darkness dissolves. It is exactly the same with our consciousness. It is exactly the same with us. That when we shine the light of awareness on something, That something cannot persist as long as we're willing to release and let it go. I mean, We can become aware of something, But unless we want to let it go, Unless we seek to let it go, Unless we set the intention to let it go, It is gonna stick, It is gonna remain. As we walk on this path, This path of awakening, This path of freedom, Which is all about taking a good and honest look at ourselves, Our habits, Our tendencies, The stories we buy into, The beliefs we hold onto, The small and the limited. As we become aware, Gradually, Through that awareness, Healing happens. And what I need to remind myself of is that undergirding and underneath, And a pivotal part of this fundamental goodness of Spirit, Is that there is only divine and perfect timing. I mean, We can put into our calendars a due date, A date when, Let's say, I want this or that to happen. I want this or that to manifest itself. We can put it in our calendars. But God doesn't care squat about our calendars. Because God has its own divine plan. Spirit being omniscient, Which means that it sees all and it knows all, It knows exactly the divine and perfect timing for everything. For everything. So coming back to me and my experience, I thought I was under the aegis that I could improve, And that I could speed up something. By doing more, I could get there faster. But that is not how it works. But actually, It works the exact opposite way. Because from my belief that I could speed something up to get there faster, The vibration that I'm holding is that I am not there. I don't have it. But the thing that I desire, The good that I desire, It is somewhere out there, It is somewhere in some future moment. And as the sacred loss only can respond and reflect back the vibration that we're holding, The feeling tone that we're carrying habitually or predominantly, If I walk around feeling that I'm not quite there yet, That this needs to happen or that needs to happen before I can get there, Then obviously that is the only thing that the sacred loss can reflect back to me. Me not being there. Me not being there. And so, Oh, I forgot the title. And so the theme of this episode was, When challenged, Come back to principle. And what this means is that when we become aware, And I have been doing this a lot these last few days, Since I became aware of having this notion, First of all, That it is up to me to make it happen, And second of all, That I'm not quite there yet, That there is some place else I should be, Or that there is some place else that I need to be other than here, Now. So when we become aware, The practice we want to engage in is to come back to principle. And principle, The spiritual principle, Is a spiritual statement of truth, Such as, All is well. And these are my three favorite and go-to principles, And especially, All is well. So peace, Be still, Is the second part of that principle. All is well, So peace, Be still. Or we can lean into, Something wonderful is always happening. Or we can lean into, Everything is working for the highest good. Or we can lean into, God is. We can lean into, Spirit is good. We can lean into, Abundance is all there is. We can lean into, I'm eternally and divinely sourced, Fueled, And funded. We can lean into, I mean, There are infinite numbers of principles. Ultimately, There's only one, God is. But then, You know, From that we can derive an infinite number of subset principles. But we're wise to have something to lean into, So that the moment we catch ourselves having drifted, So that the moment we become aware of having bought into the egoic stories or beliefs, That we have something to come back to, Come back to the breath and begin again. Come back to the breath, Come back to the nowness of this moment, And lean into principle, Affirmation of truth. And gradually, What happens, Not only does this practice become habitual, But as it is with affirmations, When something is repeated over and over and over again, And this is the principle behind affirmations and how they work, When something is repeated over and over and over again, It sort of goes from our conscious minds into our subconscious minds. The subconscious mind is the part of us, We don't have access to it, It runs and it governs most of our lives, It is the brain behind all of our habits, And through the repetition of an affirmation, Of a statement, A principle, That repetition gradually reprograms our subconscious mind. That new belief is being programmed on top of the old ones. So even though we don't have access to the subconscious mind in a conscious sense, We do have the way to reprogram the subconscious mind. And so when we have stated, And I've been using, Especially all is well, So peace be still, I've been using that principle for, I don't know, A couple of years maybe, And whenever I become aware of me having drifted, Whenever I become aware of me having been caught up by the lower vibrations of fear and worry and doubt, Or, You know, Lack in limitations, I lean into that affirmation, I lean into that principle. And so that principle has become close to all I know. I mean, I'm not saying that stuff doesn't come to the surface, Stuff will always come to the surface, Such as this story and belief that I've just uncovered within myself. But the stuff comes up does not mean that there is an emotional charge around it. I have not been experiencing this fear. And so in a sense, It's not mine. It's just an old habit. Because I used to be like this all of the time. I used to never trust anything but myself. I used to have the belief that if I wanted something to get done, I was the one who needed to do it. I was the one who needed to do it. And now I'm more and more leaning into, I'm not doing anything by myself. But everything that gets done through me is done by spirit moving through me. So the release in the beginning, Many years ago, In the beginning, The release let go, It was such a difficult, It was such an excruciating process. It was such a struggle for, I do remember, It was such a struggle, And it was such an effort on my part to release the let go. And now it's like the moment I become aware of it, In that moment, It releases and it's let go of. So it's become so, So, So much easier to be in the state of expansion, To go beyond the comfort zones, To venture into the unknown, To release and let go that which no longer serves me. It's become so much easier. But I have done the work. I have built the foundation. I am still building the foundation. Every single day I move into prayer. Every single day I move into meditation, In some way, Shape, Or form. They're not all days that I actually sit for 30 minutes. But if I can't do 30 minutes, Then I do 5 minutes. If I can't do 5 minutes, I use my, And I still use my moments in between to move into meditation. When I'm driving, My God, Driving has become perhaps my number one meditation spot, Because I'm driving pretty much every day. And I'm usually alone in the car, Which gives me a space where I can be fully present. Because meditation is not only, You know, As we did in the beginning of this episode, Meditation is not only when we sit with our eyes closed. By meditation, In its truest sense, Is being fully present in the nowness of this moment. And so we can be fully present in the nowness of this moment with our breath, Regardless of whether we have our eyes open or closed, Regardless of whether we're out walking or sitting still, Regardless of whether we are listening to someone speaking or actually speaking ourselves, Or being fully silent. We can still be fully present with the breath. And so that's how I spend much time driving, Being fully present with my breath, Observing the surroundings, Observing the scenery as I'm driving, Down to the smallest detail. And so as I'm driving, As I'm driving on the freeway, Obviously I'm not neglecting to have my attention on the road and on other cars and all of that. I take my responsibility as a driver, And I am not in any way, Shape, Or form encouraging any of us to neglect that responsibility. But we want to take it, We need to take it, Obviously. But if I'm passing a tree, I seek to be so attentive to that tree that I pinpoint and lock my attention on specific leaves or pine cones or blades of grass as I'm passing them. Not labeling them, Not seeking to describe them, Not seeking to put them into any kind of context, But simply being fully present, Simply observing it. If only for, You know, Half a second, Because, You know, As I'm driving on the freeway, Looking at a blade of grass is not something that I can do for an extended period of time. So we want to come back. We want to come back to the nowness of this moment. We want to come back to principles. And we want to make it a practice. I think we've talked about praying ourselves up before, Which is a way to use prayer to inoculate ourselves against fear and worry and doubt and worldly conditions. And in the same way, We can use coming back to spiritual principles, And we can use self-observation in a way that, In a consistent and regular way, To the point where it becomes habitual. All right, So what I'm catching is that we're going to move into a exercise. And so what I'm inviting you to do is to bring into mind some kind of challenge, Any kind of challenge. It can be a major one, Or it can be a tiny one. It doesn't matter. So bring into mind, And I invite you to pay attention to any physical sensations, Any emotional sensations, How thinking about this challenge makes you feel physically, Emotionally. And now I invite us to come back to the breath, Which is where we want to begin. So turn our attention, Let's turn our attention toward the breath. Let's take a couple of deep breaths. Sort of release, Sort of let go of the attachment. The experience may still be there, But through coming back to the breath, Through coming back to the nowness, This moment, We break off the attachment to that experience. And obviously after this exercise you're free to pick and choose your own go-to principles. But for the purpose of this experiment, For the purpose of this exercise, I invite us to use all is well, So peace be still. And so we have the challenge, And now let's feel into, Let's lean into the fundamental goodness. Let's lean into our knowing and feeling that God is right here where we are, That God is good, Always for us, Never against us. Which means that in this moment, Beyond our thoughts, Our opinions, Our judgments, Our perceptions, Beyond all of that, As we come back to the nowness of this moment, All is well. So let's remind ourselves, And I invite you to say it to yourself, All is well, So peace be still. And I invite you to say it loudly, Especially in the beginning. Hearing yourself say it gives the words more power. It increases their effect. So just say it softly to yourself, All is well, So peace be still. Keep breathing, Keep breathing. Come back to principle, All is well, So peace be still. Pay attention to what happens in your body, Pay attention to if the emotions get stronger, Or if they begin to dissipate and dissolve. All is well, So peace be still. All is well, So peace be still. All is well, So peace be still. Keep breathing, Keep repeating, All is well, So peace be still. All is well, So peace be still. All is well, So peace be still. And this, My dear beloved friend, This is the practice. Whenever we become aware of being snagged by the ego, By stories, By beliefs that do not serve us, This is the practice. Coming back to the nowness of this moment, Leaning into spiritual principle of truth, Allowing that to set us free, As it is stated in the Bible somewhere where Jesus says, Know the truth and the truth will set you free. The truth is God is, The truth is God is good, No exceptions, Unconditionally. So all is well, Peace be still. All right, I love this, I absolutely love this. I can't help sometimes to sort of amuse myself and indulge myself. What if someone had taught this to me growing up as a small child? My life would have been totally different. Now I'm not saying that I wish for that to have happened because I love, I absolutely love my life, I absolutely love who I am and where I am. And if it hadn't been for every single experience that I've had, I would not be me, I would not be here. So I'm not wishing for anything else. But sometimes my curiosity peaked as to what my life would have looked like if someone had taught this to me when I was a small child. That was a small passes. I am going to bless us out so that we can get into the real world. Now this is the real world, But so that we can get on with our lives and practice this practice. Practice the practice. And so in this moment I invite us to close our eyes and come back to gratitude. My Jesus God. How I love being here, How I love being me and how I love sharing this space, This journey, This adventure with you. I'm deeply, Deeply grateful for this podcast, For the technology that allows all of this to be, The words that flow through me, That we get to participate in all of this together. And as I say, All of us together, I know that we're one. There is no me, There is no you, There is only one, There is only us, There is only we. Because God is everywhere. God is fully present in every space, Every place, Every being, Every object. So there's no difference, There's no separation between us other than by appearance. So we in God are one. And I am absolutely grateful and I absolutely give thanks for everything that has transpired during this session, During this episode. For the expansion that has taken place. For the healing that has taken place, For the awareness that has risen up. For the release and let go that has happened, Fully knowing that we in this moment are brand new expressions. We've been born again. The we that are here now is not even the same as the ones who went into this episode. So something truly wonderful has happened. Something truly wonderful has happened. And I'm so thankful, I'm so thankful for it all. And I'm so thankful for your participation, For your willingness to grow, To expand, To unfold. And I know that as we leave this space, We're going to carry this vibration, This raised vibration. We're going to exude and radiate this expanded consciousness. For all of creation to feel and to be touched by, To be moved by. I know it, I know it, I know it, I know it, I know it, I feel it, I accept it, I give thanks for it, I allow it to be. So it is and so be it. Amen, Amin, Hashi, Aho, Hoteb, Shalom, Salaam and Hallelujah. Thank you so, So, So much for choosing to join me, For choosing to participate. Until the next time, I bless, Bless, Bless your day and I bless, Bless, Bless your way. A beautiful, Magnificent, Radiant, Powerful being. Namaste. You have been listening to an episode of the Path to Freedom podcast with me, Daniel Rocchio. I invite you to stay tuned for more episodes. If you have any questions or comments or just want to get more inspiration and empowerment, You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. I also invite you to visit my website, DanielRocchio. Com. I bless your day and I bless your way. Your beautiful, Wonderful being. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you so much for your grounding presence in my life. You are a constant. Namaste 🫶🏽🙏🏽