by Krista Hurton
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The fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast is written from the perspective that life happens “to me”. The beast is outside of me which means it shows me a part of my rejected self. Perhaps I see the beast as ugly, harsh, angry, and unruly, all behaviours that my mind tells me is not me. How could this be me? I don’t appear to look this way, talk this way or behave like the beast, so how could this reflection possibly be me?

What does the beast look like to you?

In order for me to be able to recognize a Beast as a Beast I must have had an experience that led me to form a belief about a Beast, and its opposite, Beauty.  The mind in all its brilliant glory allows me to only believe or see one side of this. The safe side.

I will show one OR the other (beauty or beast) wearing this as my mask, unable to understand why I need to wear it in the first place.  

The mask is built out of Fear. Fear that my pain underneath will be exposed. I wear the beauty OR the beast as my mask because its ‘safe’ and hide the other because its ‘dangerous’.

If I believe I am the beauty, then I have rejected & projected the reflection of the beast outside me. And now I will try (exhaustingly) to cope and manage that beast until it hopefully “goes away” or I can manage it enough to force the beast to change.
 
The one option I haven’t considered is how the beast is happening ‘FOR ME’. The opportunity of resolving the separation of Beauty and Beast has presented itself so I can see, know, and embrace my own “beast” within. It’s the only reason I notice the Beast in the first place.

This is my opportunity to look inside myself, through the eyes of the conscious parent (universal self) that has no opinion about the beauty or the beast. We all have the opportunity to stop judging the beast and understand that the beauty and the beast are the same whole concept. They are one and they complete and compliment each other in total wholeness. They are in fact a part of my destiny and in my bucket of lessons for me to resolve in this lifetime.

Every moment holds an opportunity to understand ourselves, and understand that I am neither the top nor the bottom of the iceberg. This playful process allows me to transcend my beliefs and access the one true part of me, my universal self. By showing up in this way for myself, I continually fall deeply in love with all parts of me really, especially the part of myself that was so scared of this beast! My mind was only trying to keep me safe and protect me.

The CLI perspective invites us to understand that at first, I arrive thinking I am the top (Beauty) and NOT the bottom (Beast) of the iceberg. As we grow and our perceptions start to open, we can move into the understanding that I am neither the top nor the bottom of the iceberg. From this perspective I can embrace both sides of my mind with unconditional love, understanding that I have judged these parts of myself and no longer need to. What better way can I be in service to myself?
Perhaps my inner beast is not a beast at all, but my greatest opportunity for creating movement.

Can you fall in love with your Beast and your beauty?

As are team continues to grow and expand we've been thinking about what we should call ourselves as leaders in the classroom, and then we realized that titles and credit are not actually necessary in the organization of our business. When we understand that all we need to do is lead ourselves, credit and recognition doesn't matter. However, we do want to recognize our team member's commitment to their own practice and self-leadreship - we think we may be lifers! 

Have you ever asked yourself why all of the great efforts you are making to ‘fix’ your health may not be getting the results you want? Why does everything feel like a band-aid, in the form of restrictions including food, medicines, exercise, and lifestyles, that temporarily subdue or mask the pain.
Our current perspective of health and health care ARE the fundamental flaw limiting the possibilities and our potential for health and well being. The very system, any system, that approaches health from a mind-based perspective, cuts us off from the vast majority of what is possible.
The Shen Nong Ben Cao, arguably China’s oldest herbal text, differentiates between three levels of medicines. Our experience extends these categories to life, health and observation.

Re-action
The lowest level of awareness focuses only on physical symptoms.  At this stage, treatments, choices, and actions are taken for the main purpose of reducing pain and illness on a physical level. Here we are always reacting to something that has already happened while we try to avoid or fix it out of fear and dislike. Fear in the self-conscious mind drives a desire for something other than what is.  The mind constantly derives strategies to avoid a painful situation instead of responding to what is happening in life at the moment. ‘Thinking’ we know best and being unsatisfied with what is, leads us into this perspective and the need for tools to help get what we say we want in life and health care.
 
When driven by fear, the mind attaches itself to certain safety-based strategies, including beliefs, thought patterns, and emotions that helps us understand and make meaning of our world.  This sense of safety is false but our mind’s need for it causes us to live on autopilot, living life with no spontaneity, no creativity, and no inspiration. Life may seem safe but it is also small.

Pro-action 

The middle level of self awareness involves the nourishment and prevention of illness.  At this stage we already know about pain and our fear of it drives us to try anything to avoid it. We are ready to look beyond the physical, understanding that our energetic body, our relationship with our environment, and our mind play an important role in our health. However, as we delve deeper into ourselves and the nature of the universe, it is still with the need for a certain outcome. We are still looking for a diagnosis and treatment for the reduction of pain because of fear in the mind. Constant judging and reacting still dominate at this level.

No-action 

The upper level of life and health care openly nourish what is happening with an understanding that it is in alignment with a person’s destiny. There is no desiring, argument, or need to change reality, regardless of any pain involved.  Instead, there is an enthusiasm and willingness to allow transitions in the unfolding of life unencumbered by the mind’s judgements and fears.  This seems to come when the mind is whole and fear is absent, which engages an open heart.

Consciousness-based health care, and a conscious life, operates from an open, non-judgemental heart. This results in no diagnosis, no prognosis, no treatment, no bias, no blame, and no credit! Instead of an attachment to an outcome (‘health’), there is an unfolding consciousness shared by all, knowing that each participant is fundamental to the process of life. All information in the universe is valid and available, whether that comes in the form of body pain, life events, or the general environment. All information is just information to be observed and integrated into a deeper awareness of self.
What do these three levels look in life?
 
If I have poor vision, I can address this in any or all of the above ways. In the first reactive level I may get fitted for glasses or have laser surgery, directly addressing the physical ‘problem’ I want to solve. I may take steps to ensure I don’t make the problem worse, or let it happen again. This might include not straining my eyes by reading in the dark, or eating foods that I believe nourish my eyes.  In the second proactive level, I understand that my poor eye sight is the result of a deeper issue; however, I only look to resolve that deeper issue to improve my vision. I am attached to an outcome that alleviates the pain of poor sight. In the third no action level I would not do anything except be present to the unfolding of what is happening and observe my vision without judgment or the need to change anything at all. At this level I understand that my changing eye sight is just information and an opportunity for a deeper awareness of self.
 
Each of these levels of awareness are available to us at all times, and often we move between them, or through them, as we move through life. Which level do you find yourself in most often?