William Cooper, M.Th., Licensed Professional Counselor

I had to laugh—I only recently (last few years) realized I always front-end-loaded my tasks, chores and errands before I would allow myself to relax. It helped a lot that the first thing I do in the day is meditate, do yoga, dance and generally really enjoy myself—but after that, I would be “on duty” till everything I planned for the day was done before I would relax, sit down and read, take a walk, or call a friend. When I twigged to this, I started paying attention! I started to break the work-first-till-done habit. By throwing in a drive to the beach to look at the water, or stopping to read a book. It has really helped. Some days, I find I’ll just assess what might NEED to be done, do only that, and just relax for the rest of the day. It’s very beneficial and makes the relaxation more relaxing, too. There are more ego things to address yet, but they get easier! Thanks for your talks, William. Donna

Thank you, William—beautiful and useful description of emotion and energy! Donna

Okay, Wiiiam, I get the drift—I was just a bit put off with the introductory remarks in the previous podcast. I agree meditation is a gradual process for bringing about greater clarity of perception. The comments about hypnosis were confusing to me, for sure! Donna

I practice (meditation, walking meditation, “praying”, yoga, dancing) 2-3 hours a day, but find the quality of the rest of the day carries a meditative aspect to it. I still have things to let go of, but most of them I see. Others crop up and surprise me, still, but at least then, I see them, too. These talks are an interesting review exercise, being so orderly and sequential. Building it throughout my years of practice felt much more haphazard and progress felt very stochastic. Thanks for making the effort to organize all you’ve learned. Donna

William, thanks for this talk. I often find I am referring back to my childhood to remember what is important to me and who/what I really am. I often recall reading Alice in Wonderland over and over (I still read it every few years), and strongly identifying with Alice when she fends off the attacking pack of cards, saying, “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!” The scene and her exclamation have served me well, I feel, throughout my life. Donna

Interesting perspective! I’ve been meditating about 15 years, and have garnered some ability to relax and release, but certain aspects of life elude those skills. I will look into whether I’m repressing stuff in those areas. Thanks for the tip. Surprised I had not heard that somewhere before. Interesting! Donna

I’m drawn to your matter-of-fact, analytical approach, William, and will check out more of your IT offerings. Thank you for sharing what you’ve learned! Donna

Loving the seres! Your voice is like a wam cup of hot chocolate.. very reassurig & brings joy.