Workbook for The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn

 Hi folks!

Billionaire Elon Musk and some other super rich folks say we may be living in a simulation.  Imagine if a more highly advanced civilization did create an extremely sophisticated computer simulation a long time ago, and we are it.  According to information out on the Internet, high tech computer codes exist in the framework of our world.

So what if the world actually was a simulation - a game? What would you do differently?  How might you operate the game controls?  I have experimented with many things in my lifetime. I have out-of-bounds planets in my natal astrology chart in the declination aspects, so I sometimes feel like I want to experiment. Perhaps you are like me?  Read on and see, like me, if there is everything to gain and nothing to lose by experimenting in this way.

Florence Scoval Shinn begins her book, The Game of Life and How to Play It by saying, "Most people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle. It is a game.  It is a game, however, which cannot be played successfully without the knowledge of spiritual law, and the Old and the New Testaments give the rules of the game with wonderful clearness...a great game of Giving and Receiving. 'Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.'"

A battle implies that there must be enemies.  According to Websters, a game is an exercise or play or a contest, which implies players. The word successful implies the favorable termination of what is attempted.  Sowing is the act of scattering seed on the ground for the purpose of growth.  Reaping is to receive the reward for the scattering of that seed as a benefit from the exertion.  I have hope that everyone, deep down, wants to successfully reap doing some good work.  Good work, however, is often a matter of perspective - just look at politics.

This workbook is not about the world view or being part of what is popular.  If you are looking for world view or to be part of what is popular in the world, please go elsewhere. Everything I do is about knowing oneself. It is what I have spent my life doing. “Know thyself” was inscribed at the entrance of the Temple of Apollo in ancient Greece. This famous saying of Greek philosophers became a cornerstone for Western philosophers.  If you already know yourself, please go elsewhere. I won't be offended. If you want to know yourself and improve yourself, then lets play!

As information, the book The Game of Life and How to Play It uses Christian terms, and I have added Bible references. Please do not be intimidated by this. You do not have to be a Christian to play.  I just feel that Florence Scoval Shinn describes the process to play the game pretty well, and I will be adding other examples later.  This workbook with activities goes along with this book to help create awareness.  To download a pdf of chapter 1 of the workbook and book, click this link:  Workbook for Chapter 1. I will update and add more later. The book The Game of Life and How to Play It is in the Public Domain. If you want to read the entire book before I get the rest of the workbook uploaded, you will need to do an Internet search.  

Namaste,
Terrie Harmer

Yin Yoga: Surrender & Receptivity in Body, Mind and Spirit

Most exercise in our culture is quite yang: running, bicycling, rock climbing, aerobics.  Vinyasa yoga flows are energetic, active, generate heat and are primarily yang. To maintain optimal health and flexibility, our bodies require balance.  What is balance in our life?  Where does one find out how to have balance?  How does one maintain balance? 

I teach Yin Yoga.  I began practicing Yin Yoga in 2011 and discovered that Yin Yoga was so much more than just poses. Although referred to by some as passive yoga, Yin Yoga was extremely challenging for me as I attempted to embrace complete stillness in a yin posture I held for five to eight minutes. The long-held, seated Yin Yoga postures target deeper elements in our bodies: connective tissue, fascia, ligaments, joints, and bones.  I held stillness for five to eight minutes in each pose and began to penetrate deeply into my connective tissues. I learned to practice detachment as I held stillness in each pose, and I witnessed the things that came to the surface rather than reacting.  This practice of witnessing rather than reacting began to spill over into other areas my life. 

What I did not understand when I began to practice Yin Yoga was how much my practice would express itself in and through my entire life.  It has been amazing!  The experience of becoming receptive to complete surrender was subtle at first, but as I committed more and more to my Yin Yoga practice, I began to witness more and react less.  At first, many of the things I witnessed from within actually shocked me. Because Yin Yoga dives so deeply into connective tissues in our body, storage for hurts and pain, things which I had forgotten frequently came up into my consciousness. I began to grow as I became more receptive and began to surrender to what came up.

So if you are the type of person who prefers NOT to look at those "darker" aspects of your life (which we all have) in order to make changes within yourself and grow spiritually, definitely DO NOT begin a Yin Yoga practice!

However, if you are at all like me and you want to experience a true spiritual awakening in all its full-blown glory, even as you live your life, then cultivating a Yin Yoga practice will probably be a lovely experience for you!  When you begin to unleash the possibility of liberation and transformation that is possible within each of us, you will become as hooked as I am!

Yin Yoga is also great for athletes, busy executives, or anyone looking to add more balance into a highly yang lifestyle. Why not try a Yin Yoga lunch hour practice in your work place - with Yin Yoga there is no sweating!

We must each turn within to find our balance.  Sometimes going within yields results we really do not want to look at, but look at it we must if balance is to be achieved.  Think of the S line that runs down the middle of the Yin Yang Symbol.  It is like a river that flows between lightness and darkness, good fortune and pain.  These are the things of life.

If you enjoyed this post, please go on and read my post Quieting the Mind in Meditation and also my post Looking into Infinity. If you enjoy this blog, please share a link to it with others! Thank you, Terrie Harmer

© Copyright 2017 - Terrie Harmer. http://bodymindandspirit2.blogspot.com/