Photo: Alan Cleaver

 

Get up, splash some water on your face, and start living life rather than running through the motions!

 

I have a small group of clients that I work with, and on a recent call one of my students said, “Thank you so much for helping me wake up!” I loved hearing that!

 

I told him that we can all go to sleep in life. No one is immune! I do my best to be transparent and say, “Look at me, I’ve gone to sleep.” (You can read my recent post on breaking through a wall.) In part, I was asleep. Arjuna Ardagh calls this the Iago trance. Huna teaches you must be ala (aware) and a’o (in the light).

 

Many of us are aware of the moments we wake up, because we see something that is so beautiful and we have an awareness of how small we are. Maybe you walk out onto the volcano floor and you catch your breath. Or climb a mountain to see expansiveness of the sky and just stare in wonder. Maybe you catch your pet or your child looking at you as if you were perfect and there is zero wrong. Whatever it is, you have had that moment. We all have.

 

The Iago Trance

 

And yet we fall asleep and go into the Iago (or waking) trance.

 

Why? Because we wake up in the morning, we feed the cats, we feed the kids, we drive them to school, go to the office, run the meetings, pick up the kids, go to soccer, get home, cook dinner, open the mail, pass out with the TV on and do it all over again the next day. I’ve been doing hypnosis since I was 11 and meditation since I was 5, so I can tell you that repetition puts you in trance.

 

So now I hope you are saying, “Thank you Dr. Matt, but WHAT CAN I DO?”

 

Waking Up

 

Well, from experience I can say, you need to find something to cling to that is going to keep you ala (aware) and keep the a’o (lights) on! Is that someone in your life that inspires you and you stop and enjoy the connection at random times? Is it scheduling things that give you ample time to tap into the spiritual and/or energetic aspect of who you are? Is it a daily practice that allows you to connect with the idea that we are spiritual beings experiencing the physical rather than the other way around? Or, yes, all of the above.

 

Honestly, I don’t have a specific answer, because some people need the ritual and others need the spontaneity. Here is what I have begun to do. I have been keeping track of the things that keep me awake and I incorporate them into my life.

 

For me, the things that keep me awake are the things that make time become irrelevant. Often when I write, time seems to disappear. I write fast; however, in the time it takes me to write a blog, I am connecting with higher consciousness and that keeps me awake. I don’t let it become routine.

 

Another example of losing time is when you are with someone you love or care deeply about, and suddenly you look at your iPhone and say something like, “Holy crap, where did the past 3 hours go?… Let’s keep going!” I have had that happen and while you can’t force it, you can enjoying being around those individuals because they may serve as a means of staying awake.

 

It may sound counter intuitive, but that is connecting to the energy and spirit for me. And that is what keeps me awake.

 

So…. What is your alarm? And are you going to begin to get control over setting it? I want to hear what you do, so reply to this post and let me know!