The Way of Mastery: Fulfilling Your Purpose and Mission Jo Anna Shaw, MBA

“I know there is something more for me to do with my life, but I am not sure what it is.” I hear this frequently from career professionals seeking deeper meaning in their work, from parents, from people getting ready to retire, from students contemplating their future, from many who are experiencing chaos in their life.

This reflection arises from an incongruity between the conditioning to seek happiness and joy through achievement and material acquisitions and the deep intention to fulfill our unique purpose and mission. If we ignore the calling of the inner chaos, stronger and stronger messages will come from our body or life experiences inviting us back to the calling of our heart. At these times we may ask ourselves, “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “How am I to serve?”

I was asking these questions the last few years of my corporate career. I was married, owned my home in a beautiful suburb of Western Washington and had an achieved a high level banking position. However, I was not truly happy or healthy. Then my position was eliminated and I had the opportunity to start over. For the first time in my life, I followed my heart and took the chance to discover a more meaningful livelihood. I chose to be an entrepreneur in a healing field 180 degrees from my corporate career. I felt like I had jumped off a cliff to learn to fly. This took me on an incredible inner journey through which I came to learn what true happiness is. I reconnected with my purpose and mission. And now I am living it. I am so grateful!

I imagine a time before I was born when I met with my guides and angels, in a sacred circle. With their guidance I created the intention to fulfill my unique destiny in terms of my evolution in consciousness and path of service. I made a commitment to remember this intention, knowing the challenges that would invite me to forget. Yet, I forgot for a long time, conditioned with abuse, limiting thoughts and beliefs of my parents, teachers and society. I know now that I have always been on the path to wholeness. I had simply been on a detour exploring the life and beliefs I learned from others. The detour taught me a lot that would enable me to empathize with others and to feel compassion for those I would serve.

My path is three-fold: to remember and live my calling; to trust (Life, God, The Universe); to be grounded and centered in my Essence in each moment. I call my path The Way of Mastery because I use most of my life experiences to master these intentions. I have explored many paths of spirituality and healing so I can be this in my life. I was led to a missing link when I let go of my corporate career. I achieved the most profound results as I learned the repatterning techniques in my new field.

The ability to release early life conditioning, which is held in the physical body in the form of reflexes, was key for me. I knew I would manifest from my deeper beliefs and conditioning starting anew. My intention was to awaken wholeness by releasing my conditioning. Like pealing wallpaper off the wall, I set upon a journey of releasing layers of physical and emotional conditioning using integrative and developmental movements in the context of the intention to unleash my pure potential. At the same time I would re-educate or anchor new patterns of behavior and beliefs by practicing a lifestyle of balance and wholeness.

I became familiar with the energy of attraction that brought me opportunities to evolve. This awareness developed in me compassion for my journey and a gentle yet effective process for systematically reconfiguring my mind/body/emotion system to access wholeness rather than conditioning as my motivating power. The process I used, which I will share here, is practical and powerful.

Mastery

The Way of Mastery is about walking the path

of a Master. Lord Jesus is one who modeled the ability to follow destiny, to love unconditionally, to manifest from Essence and to be the Light wherever his work would take Him. He said (and I paraphrase) what He did we also would do. I believe this to the core of my being. I have been exploring how to live this consciousness in all areas of my life for many years. This has led me to rebirth many of my forgotten gifts and abilities and to manifest a heart-centered path of service with families, teachers, healers and business people.

Mastery is following our deep inner knowing without hesitation with intent to bring to fruition the fullness of the purpose and mission for which you first drew breath. As we do we align with an energy of attraction that brings all the people and resources to support us in this journey. This is a profound spiritual and scientific principle.

This principle of attraction is active in each moment for everyone and everything. Scientists are documenting the energy of attraction inviting us to become more conscious of the magnificent and complex nature of the Universe. With awareness of the dynamics of life that take us on detours or awaken us to a higher purpose for living, we can apply these principles to create the happiness and joy we seek. When we recognize that we are attracting from our unconscious beliefs and conditioning and then choose to become conscious, we are walking the path of a Master.

The Way of Conditioning

If we were raised in an environment that supported our innate desire to learn and explore life, we are more likely to create a successful and happy life. However, if we have been conditioned to find success and happiness outside of ourselves they will be elusive. When life is chaotic rather than flowing there comes a point where we question what we have learned. This is an opportunity to remember and actuate our purpose and mission.

The belief I learned early on was that I am not safe to express my feelings, ideas or creativity. I learned to hold back, question myself, and to comply. Later in life I would experience the same physiological response I did as a child when my heart invited me to remember my path. I would hold my breath, grit my teeth and question until I was frozen in my ability to move forward. I was stuck in my intellect trying to figure my way while my body’s pain was reflecting the unheard calling of my heart to let go and move on. Whether it was a job or a relationship I could not decide in my best interest.

To be successful in my new work, it was important for me to be effective at public speaking and writing. The challenge was that speaking in front of a group would elicit a pounding heart, held breath, closed throat, sweaty palms and shaky hands. When I would pick up a pen to write a new idea I would immediately forget what had come to me. I could not fully take the benefits of all the spiritual practices and healing I did and affect those reflexes that were activated by my desire to be in my power in the world.

Every belief or way of being was conditioned in our first seven years of life. It was practiced the next seven years and again the next seven. Thereafter we attempt to sort out the beliefs and to live from our own truth. As we do we are given many opportunities to release this conditioning and to re-educate our system to express our unique Essence.

The Way of Mastery is to choose to become conscious of this, to remember who we are and why we are here. Then, we can raise our children differently than we were so they pass on to their children the ability to live from their inner power and to fulfill their unique destiny.

Moving Beyond Conditioning: The Integrative Movement Solution

I have identified six steps that represent the process and techniques I used to facilitate my evolution. In this process you will increase your vibration from the density of conditioning to the light of wholeness. The infinite organizing power of the Universe will reorganize your life in alignment with your Essence.

Step 1 – Awareness

Awareness is the first step to manifesting from your Essence. In the awareness that you are co-creator of what you attract and the consciousness of non-judgment exists the ability to rise above the conditioned energy of attraction into the ability to attract from wholeness. Meditation, being in nature, meditative movement programs like yoga or Qi Gong will help to learn this state of consciousness.

Notice the events and people you attract and your thoughts, feelings, senses and actions in response. The mirror these present will give you clues as to your deeper beliefs. If you respond from other than your inner power, your spiritual Essence, this is your opportunity to re-educate your system.

Celebrate awareness rather than judging your circumstances. Without awareness you cannot change. Be a pure observer with a beginner’s mind, a student of your life looking for the insights that will guide you to your purpose and mission.

Step 2 – Intention

When you are aware that you have attracted an incident that elicits an old conditioned reaction, you can choose to reconfigure your response to the person or situation through intention and movement. As soon as you can, create a safe and quiet space to work with the belief or behavior.

¥ Begin by drinking water to support the energetic, chemical and neurological changes you intend.

¥ Center yourself through breathing, doing a cross lateral movement like walking in place and touching the opposite knee with your arm and then sitting in meditation or prayer for a moment. Invite the highest of healing energies to assist you.

¥ Create the intention that you would like to manifest the next time this incident arises. For example to be loving, at peace, compassionate, tolerant, to take action, to manifest, to remember, to be successful, to be confident etc.

¥ Then follow step 3.

Step 3 – Explore the Edge

1.) Think about or role-play the situation. Do your best to re-access the same thoughts, feelings, senses and actions you originally experienced. It only takes a moment or so, just enough time to stick your big toe into it so to speak.

The idea is to bring up the neurological, physiological and emotional pattern you were in at the time. You may notice that you hold your breath, lock your knees and feel scared. Or, that you get tense in the shoulders, feel angry and have a hard time expressing yourself. The more you can re-experience the emotional and physiological sensations, the greater the potential of clearing these reflexes.

2.) Then activate the energy flow in the brain/body system by moving several times in each direction as follows. Stand up with feet shoulder width apart and move your body side to side. Rise to the ball of your foot and reach to touch the ceiling. Then bend your knees with feet flat to touch the floor. Stand and rock forward and back from the ball to the heel of your foot. Notice how recalling the challenge and moving this way affects your emotions and physiology.

To explore this edge helps you learn to notice the pattern that you desire to release. This kinesthetic awareness in the context of the intention to create a new way of being sets up the energy to move beyond this pattern by doing step 4.

Step 4 – Reconfigure your System

There are many integrative, developmental movements and other activities to reorganize the system. Here are just a few. Notice if you get thirsty and keep drinking water as you do these activities. Water helps create the proteins that make up neural pathways in the brain and heart and facilitates the movement of energy across synapses and along the meridians. Water and movement also helps cycle the fluids that carry the molecules of the emotions to be released. Remember to breathe fully through your nose as you move.

Re-educating the neurology and physiology through integrative movements –

a.) Walk in place touching your arm to the opposite knee at the same time you look in the upper visual field with eyes only. Keep this movement going and head still as you look in the lower visual field, then to each of the side visual fields. Be present with your movements. Slow movement is best. Continue with the cross-lateral movement looking in circles, figure-eights, horizontally and vertically. Use deep and relaxed breathing as you do. You can also do this crawling or lying down on your back if you choose.

b.) Stand with arms out to the side, like airplane wings, with feet shoulder width apart. Spin up to 33 times each direction starting left, then right, finishing with 3 turns left to balance. Or, lay on the floor and roll over several times in each direction. Again, remember to breathe as you move.

c.) Sit down in a chair or on the floor with your legs straight, yet slightly bent in front of you, and cross your ankles. Reach your arms above your head, open your chest and breathe deeply. Then lengthen over your legs and allow your body to relax as you breathe into your hips for a count of eight. Cross your ankles the other way and do this again. Repeat as many times as you choose.

d.) Put your hands out to the side and imagine all parts of yourself -- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual -- coming together as one, whole, integrated unit as you bring your hands together. Be with this last step for as long as you want, focused upon your breathing.

e.) Drink water and allow these movements to integrate for about 10 minutes. Continue to sit in prayer or meditation or take a walk in nature. Then go to step 5.

Step 5 – Beyond the Edge

Return to the activities you did in Step 3 and do them again noticing the changes. Move the body side to side, up and down and forward and back as before. Revisit the challenge in thought or role-play. Become aware of the new more holistic thoughts, feelings, senses and movements. Acknowledge even the smallest of changes to anchor the remembrance of them.

Step 6 - Integration

This new state is neurologically wired and will become permanent. To myelinate the neurological pathways focus on your intention in the quiet of the morning and evening for a couple of weeks and do the activities in step 4. Then let go of this process and trust.

If the old conditioning persists I invite you to seek out practitioners in the field of Educational Kinesiology and ask to learn the Dennison’s Laterality Repatterning and Three Dimensional Repatterning processes. They will also help you identify other specific activities unique to your mind/body system that you can use in step 4.

A New Paradigm

In this six-step process, the brain and whole mind/body system re-organizes itself around your intention. The brain is neuro-muscularly and neuro-vascularly connected to the whole body. As you move the body you rewire the brain and change the mind/body system. You alter your emotional and behavioral responses to life as a result. The brain is constantly evolving, developing new neural pathways every time you learn something new. It has been proven that you can open or grow a neural pathway in as little as seven seconds. Age is not an issue when it comes to reconfiguring the mind/body system. Conditioned patterns can be changed with relative ease, a new paradigm, by comparison to more mental or allopathic approaches.

The new wisdom finds that there are neurons and neural pathways in the heart. By virtue of its connection to the limbic system, which regulates the chemical balance of the body, when the heart’s electromagnetic field comes in contact with a stimulus, chemicals are released in response. If the stimulus is fearful, the body reflexes into fight or flight. If the heart senses love and nurturing, the body relaxes and breathes deeply and secretes chemicals creating a sense of peace.

The sub-conscious does not distinguish the past from the present. A reflexive response to challenges can result from a misperception of events and you can find yourself in reflexes of the past unable to control your physical or emotional reaction in the present. Movement in the context of desire, motivation and intention is the key to releasing the conditioned reflexes. By using this six-step process, the sub-conscious releases the old pattern and accesses the new.

Fulfilling your Purpose and Mission

I discovered my purpose and mission by utilizing these six steps with the intention to experience wholeness in any situation that would challenge me. I define wholeness as being healthy physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, as a state of being modeled by many great Masters. For step two I would work with even the most task specific activities that would trigger me, such as writing, reading, speaking to groups or having confidence. Knowing the conditioning that led me to struggle with these activities I knew as I moved through these blocks I would attune to my purpose. From wholeness I attract success in the work I love. Life changes can be dramatic like mine or they can be as gentle and subtle as creating new meaning with renewed passion and love for your current vocation and relationships.

Life is like a spiral. For as I reach what I think is “it” in my purpose and mission I find I am at the beginning of an expanded exploration of my potential beyond what my intellect could originally conceive. We truly keep evolving as long as we are here. I choose to participate consciously in this journey for it is far more joyful than to be at the affect of my life’s circumstances.

Freeing ourselves of old conditioning allows our Pure Essence to come forth into the fullness of our purpose and empowers us to live our unique mission. To empty the conditioning is to become as the child: open, non-judgmental, unconditionally loving, curious and playful in relationship to life.

On the Way of Mastery, take time each day to listen deeply to the desires of your heart. Heart Essence is seeking to know and feel itself as Love. Using integrative movements and activities with the intention to live your purpose and mission in all situations aligns you with the organizing field that attracts people of like mind and experiences that will fulfill your desires. You will grow into a more powerful expression of Love each time you do. May you manifest the purpose and mission that is uniquely our own in a consciousness of compassion, peace, happiness and joy.

Jo Anna Shaw, MBA, is an international facilitator of Inner Flight workshops. Jo Anna has created the Inner Flight Center in Jacksonville, OR where individuals, families and other groups to explore Holographic Healing and Life Skills Mastery^ã. Jo Anna teaches Brain Gym^®, Visioncircles^™and Brain Organization Profiles from the Educational Kinesiology curriculum. She is also developer of The Way of Mastery in Business, a course for career and business people seeking deeper meaning through their work. Jo Anna can be reached at innerflight@qwest.net, or 541-899-4447, or 1-888-885-8558.

For more information on Educational Kinesiology go to www.braingym.org or call 1-800-356-2109.