Two weeks ago, I spent an extended weekend in the Yucatan Peninsula with a group of sixty chiropractors, there with one of their coaches, Dr. Jeffery Slocum, a chiropractor and President of Leaning Curves, a company he created to broaden the scope and effectiveness of the chiropractic community in general. Presenters (and we were one of about twelve) were asked to present and stay for the two day event and participate in “Purposeful Connections” with all the other presenters and participants. I found the format refreshing and personally engaging. As a result of that time we spent in unstructured and focused discussion of how to become better at what each of use does in the world, I came to a revelation regarding a significant correlation between the work of chiropractors and our work in the Boothby Institute.

Chiropractors make adjustments to the skeletal structure to bring it back into the alignment most of us were originally given at birth. Done to its logical conclusion, our work is a way of allowing the human mind to return to its original state of equanimity and possibility. During the formal part of the presentation, I discussed our work in terms of unleashing access to the power within through four distinct processes.

We must first acknowledge that we are infinitely powerful, capable of taking charge of our own lives in any second we choose. If there is within me the capacity to kill and within an admitted murderer and rapist, the capacity for loving-kindness, then we are all capable of every emotion and action in the world.

Secondly, we must be awake to the miracle that exists in every second. The miracle of life. The miracle of breathing. The miracle of our diversity. The miracle of plants. The miracle of beauty. The miracle of our ability to be loving and kind.

Imagine that you have permission to be happy and to really enjoy your life.  Your life is free of conflict with yourself and others.

Imagine living your life without fear of expressing your dreams.  You know what you want, what you don’t want, and when you want it.  You are free to change your life the way you really want to.  You are not afraid to ask for what you need, to say yes or no to anything or anyone.

Imagine living your life without the fear of being judged by others.  You no longer rule your behavior according to what others may think about you.  You are no longer responsible for anyone’s opinion.  You have no need to control anyone, and no one controls you, either.

Imagine living your life without judging others.  You can easily forgive others and let go of any judgments that you have.  You don’t have the need to be right, and you don’t need to make anyone else wrong.  You respect yourself and everyone else, and they respect you in return.

Imagine living without the fear of loving and not being loved.  You are no longer afraid to be rejected, and you don’t have the need to be accepted.  You can say “I love you” with no shame of justification. You can walk in the world with your heart completely open, and not be afraid to be hurt.

Imagine living your life without being afraid to take a risk and to explore life.  You are not afraid to lose anything, you are not afraid to be alive in the world, and you are not afraid to die.

Imagine that you love yourself just the way you are.  You love your body just the way it is, and you love your emotions just the way they are.  You know that you are perfect just as you are.

Only love has the ability to put you in that state of bliss.

The world is very beautiful and very wonderful.  Life can be very easy when love is your way of life. You can be loving all the time.  This is your choice.

You can see everything with the eyes of love.  You can be aware that there is love all around you.

The only reason you are happy is because you choose to be happy.  Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering.

The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz

We must be disciplined about our consciousness and our way of life, beginning each day with self care that allows us to realize we live in a miracle, everything we do is interconnected, affects everything and every person and that the only thing we actually control is how we are going to be in the world. We need to listen to each person, so that they know we value them just as they are. And we must recognize that all damage arises from damage. When we feel well about ourselves, we damage no one. When we are reactivated or angry, most of what we do is contribute to the damage.

It is because we have at the present moment everybody claiming the right of conscience without going through any discipline whatsoever that there is so much untruth being delivered to a bewildered world.

Mahatma Gandhi

And finally we must come from a place of loving-kindness if we wish to have access to the power that resides within us and others. We must remember that people are not their behavior, their achievements, their words or their past. We must communicate from a place of ownership and never confuse responsibility with blame, shame or fault.

The moment I am clear that I choose how I am being in the world, what is wanted and needed, what to do, becomes obvious.