Do you want to focus on what is possible in your life and on the planet? Developing receptivity is an important way to open the portals.

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

Arundhati Roy's words convey the sensory, felt aspect of listening and feeling your way into receptivity. You can enhance your receptivity by developing the qualities of listening and witnessing. You can shift your receptivity in the ways you use language and trust your insights.

Listening from your three centers--belly, heart, and third eye--is central to developing receptivity. When you align our power, love, and vision in those three centers so your feelings and perceptions are not in conflict, receptivity flows. When you trust the experiences from all three centers (and not just value what is in your mind), you empower your whole being.

If, in contrast, your mind believes one thing and your heart feels another, it will be a challenge to be receptive. If your ego doubts, hope will be a challenge. If your heart is afraid, your body will close down and be unreceptive. Remember, your heart is your receiving and transmitting device!

As Cynthia Sue Larson writes,

"Finding a state of deep listening... of deep conversation... without imposing old preexisting views or conforming to others' views is a transformative state of consciousness. From such a place, it is possible to more fully appreciate and become aware of all aspects of oneself, including our past and future selves. It is also possible to move past a sense that it is always the other person who is wrong or prejudiced and not listening... so we can become alert and attentive to the way our minds sometimes move away from what we think may disturb us."  

In listening deeply, you suspend your self-oriented, reactive thinking--and instead listen with care, generosity, and trust that whatever others say, it comes from something true in their experience. By listening from your three centers, you are able to do this.  

Witnessing--observing what is, without judgment, reaction, or attachment--is another aspect of receptivity. You can learn the power of witnessing from many ancient spiritual traditions: every meditation, yoga, shamanic, and martial arts tradition teaches the practice of witnessing.

Because judgment and reactivity cloud your mind, developing non-attachment is essential. Removing the distraction of wanting (things, people, qualities) helps you witness with your belly, heart, and vision fully open. As expressed in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, written between 400 BCE and 500 CE,

"Practice leads you in the right direction, while non-attachment allows you to continue the inner journey without getting sidetracked into the pains and pleasures along the way." 

And as the Dalai Lama expresses it, "Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering."

In the Japanese martial art of Aikido, you learn to witness and observe the energy of the opponent in order to use it. If someone is rushing towards me in anger or fight mode, instead of trying to block or meet their energy head on, I would step aside and redirect the opponent's energy to help move them past me without injury.

Similarly, in shamanic practices around the world, witnessing what is, listening for what is needed to bring things into balance, and practicing non-attachment are central to all interactions with the unseen, spirit worlds.* 

"Neutrality" is the word Maori (New Zealand) healers use for letting everything go, witnessing and working without reaction or judgment.

Learning to witness, without attachment to outcome, shifts your receptivity and opens portals to different ways of organizing, identifying, and interpreting your experience.  

When you change your perception of events you experience, you alter the way these situations live within you. For example, I am about to leave for a Transformational Writers Breakout. Part of our preparation is to state, out loud and on our Facebook page, what we intend to release and let go of. As I read the fears others want to let go of--fear of being oneself, of not being enough, of speaking out, of not keeping promises, on and on--I find my own fears mirrored. This helps me change my perception from "I am the only one" to "Oh, all of us are nervous, anxious, and insecure. We'll be in it together!"

When you no longer see yourself as the cause and effect of everything, you can also release the burden of having to fix it all. Instead, you can witness what is, see life flowing around you, experience great relief, and dream yourself into possibilities. 

Copyright @2014