Parvati Magazine - January 2019 - The Grace Mindset

The First Grace Mindset: Non-Resistance

A client came to me for sound healing after a long time spent trying unsuccessfully to conceive. Though medical tests had showed her reproductive system was healthy and her partner’s sperm count was normal, month after month went by without pregnancy.

When this client first arrived at my studio, we did some simple vocalizations. They soon revealed that she was feeling internally overloaded, particularly in her pelvis. This left no room for new life. I guided her to focus her awareness deep into her pelvis and allow sound to begin to arise. As her voice opened, energy began to move. She was now present for her feeling of overload. This gave room for it to release, so that she could find a sense of receptivity. Once this happened, a biological shift occurred in her body. She was able from then on to conceive and carry to term.

Receptivity in the healing process may not always be as obvious as this case, yet it is key for all of us. Being receptive means laying down your resistance to what is. In the Grace Mindset of non-resistance, you access abundance. You connect with the magnitude of being, the state of universal life force.

This can be easier said than done, since personalities always have likes and dislikes. Such notions are a form of resistance, attached to something that comes and goes. If it’s a sunny afternoon, you could think “It’s a great day!” Then the clouds come in and you’re caught in the rain. “What a lousy day,” you say. With this attitude, your well-being becomes a prisoner to even the weather!

In non-resistance to what is, you remember to put on sunblock on a sunny day. When it’s raining, you remember to put on your galoshes and jump in the puddles while giggling! In this way, you can welcome the moment and experience expansion. This is the Grace Mindset. You understand that what you consider to be your life is in fact constantly changing through the lens of temporary likes and dislikes. As you come to recognize that you are perceiving this moment as colored by your preferences, you realize that you are not limited to them—that there is a field of pure consciousness beyond them.

Grasping, wanting, seeking an externalized sense of gratification, are all forms of resistance. Resistance can also take the form of feeling againstness, as though the moment is not in your favor. Physical constriction is an indication of resistance, such as tightness in your shoulders or belly. Resistance could also be more subtle, in the form of judgment, criticism, or even rage, rooted in attachment to the idea that you are separate from pure consciousness.

Some people try “positive thinking” and affirmations to ease their pain. This may be a band-aid technique. It can help them feel better for a moment. It may even help release the temporary constriction. But it is not a permanent solution, because it is still about likes and dislikes. It is the idea of “positive” thinking as against “negative” thinking. That is still resistance. People not in touch with the Grace Mindset may practice affirmations over and over and over, experience some temporary change, and then go back to their old ways. What is needed is a practice of non-resistance to what is.

Here is a non-resistance practice for you to begin stepping into the Grace Mindset.
In this moment, what are you thinking about? Are you really here? Are you fully in this experience? Or are you attached to what was or what could be? Can you imagine your life in a state of non-resistance?

Sit up straight, and feel the position of your body. Notice how you are sitting. Notice where you may feel tense. Notice where you feel relaxed. Notice any softening, like a feeling of “okay.” Notice any feeling of “what?! I’m not so sure about this.” See if you can become willing to be with both the tension and the relaxation. Both are there. You have the opportunity to experience non-resistance to the reality that part of you is tense and part of you is relaxed. In this state of non-resistance there is receptivity to what is.

And what is there? Is it just your body, both tense and relaxed? It is also your thinking, both tense and relaxed. And then there is all this space around you. Extend your awareness outside, one inch, one foot, three feet, away from your skin. Maybe even 10 feet. Feel it. There is vital intelligence sparkling all around you. And if you were to continue to explore, 10 feet more, 20 feet more, infinitely, you would continue to experience universal life force.

Bring your awareness back inward, into a blank screen in your forehead and down your spine, like deep sea diving. Go deeper within, until you feel stillness. Within you, consciousness is arising to meet universal life force. This is the state of non-resistance to what is.

Parvati is an award-winning musician (“I Am Light”, “Electro Yog”, “Yoga In The Nightclub”), yogini (YEM: Yoga as Energy Medicine), author (“The Grace Mindset”, “Aonani of Avalon”, “The Three Supreme Secrets for Lasting Happiness”) and founder of the not-for-profit Parvati.org. All her work is dedicated to protecting all life on Earth by establishing the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS). More info: parvati.tvparvati.org.