Tag Archives: mind

by | April 18, 2018 · 7:51 am

As within so without

That which is above is from that which is below, and that which is below is from that which is above…

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Art in the Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, Majorca

This excerpt from the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, a text shrouded in mystery and believed to be several thousand years old, illustrate to some extent how much the ancient teachers emphasized the discipline of thought.

In simple terms you could also translate the text into: What you think, you will attract.

That is why nearly all the great masters recommend and practise themselves  meditation, reflection and alone-time to realign with what is the core essence, and transmuting the daily impulses that come in reaction to dealing with life’s challenges and distractions.

Subconsciously we pick up emotions from people around us and especially from the exposure to mass media. The word “media” has its origins from the Latin word “medius” – the middle – or the medium communicating with the spirit world and passing the message on to the rest of us folk.

What we are seeing and hearing is only one window of reality and that window is often a message of fear and negativity. I would dare to say that the agenda of most of our daily thoughts is set by the first news report or “bad dream” we are exposed to in the morning.

The message from the Emerald Tablet is that we are co-creators of our universe, built in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). You need to build a wall around the temple of your soul so that you can be a creator of your own reality. Surround yourself with a protective imaginary wall that protects you from impulses that trigger stress, fear and other toxic emotions.

Reino Gevers – Mentor and Author – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

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by | April 10, 2018 · 8:08 am

Is facebook really the problem?

Facebook has rightly come in the firing line for its shoddy handling of personal data but I have a problem with the hysteria around the issue which seems to miss the point.

Social media sites are abusing our data because we allow them to do so. The contract is that services like facebook are free and we give them our data in return. Its up to the user to practise personal media responsibility, and very little of that seems to be happening in the fast digital world that demands immediate reaction.

dreamstime_xxl_109902089We unfortunately live in a time where we are constantly being bombarded with toxic emotions such as anger and fear. These are emotions that appeal to our primitive mind. Negativity gets our attention first. We are programmed that way as humans to avoid possible danger.

Social media and the technical means of spreading hate mail or fake media around the globe within seconds is something we have never experienced before in the history of mankind. Whether we jump for the bait is a personal choice, however.

The downside of social media is the complete lack of a fact-checking system, allowing every stupid and dim-witted user to spread his hate-mail. A case in point was this weekend when a deranged German crashed his van into a crowd, killing two people and injuring 20 others. Authorities were quick to point out that there was no evidence of an Islamic background.  But a leader of Germany’s rightwing AfD party, Beatrix von Storch, only minutes after the incident implied in a tweet that a migrant was the perpetrator. The objective was clear: Stir up us much anger and hatred against migrants even if the facts aren’t clear.

Hatred and fear are emotions that easily spiral out of control. They are the biggest hindrance to living a healthy life of happiness and abundance. Emotions of fear and anger are so powerful that they will lock you into a negative mode, pulling you into a continuous negative spiral. You are no longer in control of your thoughts and open yourself to manipulation by demagogues and rogue politicians. Worse they are detrimental to your health.

Using social media responsibly would be to keep on posting positive messages that make us laugh, that lift our energies and open our hearts to love and compassion. Those are the energies that indeed change our world and have the potential to lift humankind to a higher consciousness. The Internet is a wonderful invention of our time – if we use it in a responsible way.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

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by | March 7, 2018 · 10:13 am

Emotions and politics

Globally humanity currently seems to be shifting towards fanatical extremes aimed at building walls rather than dialogue for the greater good.  Rogue politicians are feasting on toxic emotions and making our world a more dangerous place.

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Extremism feeds on basic fears, greed, hatred, xenophobia and narcissism. Currently we are seeing plenty of that in the calls for protectionist trade barriers, blaming refugees and minorities for economic woes and a ruling party in South Africa opening a poison chalice by demanding the confiscation of land without compensation to redress “economic inequality.” The end result is always that everyone loses.

Learning to guard the doorway to your emotions has been a hallmark of all great spiritual teachers. For once toxic emotions capture the “tribal” mind, rational thought, logic and holistic thinking go down the drain.  Facts, truth and proven science lose out to “emotional belief.”

Extremist politicians from Warsaw to Washington would not be having such a field day if there was not a global underlying trend visible in much of the social media fueling the fires of polarization.  Humanity has been at a worse place. In central Europe at least, we have had the longest period of peace in human history built on a foundation of mutual dependency and cooperation. We tend to forget where we have come from and what we stand to lose during times of conflict and war.

It is part of human nature to focus on the negative before seeing the positive. It is a survival instinct going back to prehistoric times in being watchful of the dangers lurking in the wilds. This is why negative news, negative social media feeds, hate speech and hate mail receive far more attention than positive news.

The challenge of our times is to separate ourselves from such “negative feeds” and to stay in alignment with our higher purpose in serving the well-being of humanity as a whole. It starts with a self-love and a self-caring outlook on life that leads us into dialogue with our fellow man.

In dialogue as opposed to confrontation with an “alien” we become aware of our own true identity. We become aligned and grounded. A courageous heart discerns between truth and delusion.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

 “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

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by | December 18, 2017 · 7:15 pm

Home and the heart of things

In the past few days I have dissolved a home of 21 years in northern Germany and moved to the Spanish island of Majorca. It poses the question of what we define as home and where to let go of meaningless material attachment.

One of the key lessons of walking the Camino is that the less you carry in your back pack the easier your walk.  You have to go lean to go far. Essentially there is not much we need to feel contentment of heart.

There is not much that remains of those things we clutter our homes with when it comes to downsizing. A rule of thumb is what you haven’t worn or used during the past six months is no longer of value to you.

img_0405Within the word Home, is one of the most powerful mantras OM.  In the Sanskrit origin  it translates as the vibrational Source and connection to the Supreme.  Peace of mind and contentment can only be found With-In. You always take yourself with you wherever you are and with all that with which your mind is preoccupied with.

The bottom line: If you are a grumpy old scrooge at the place where you are now, chances are good that you will remain a grumpy old scrooge wherever you choose to go.

Its an illusion to think that everything will change for the better if you change your wife, your house, your job and your country, if you don’t change your mindset as well.

But its not the whole story.  Who you are is determined largely by your associations and the environment you live in. We are social beings who interact and need to interact with each other all the time.

If the people you surround yourself with and your immediate surroundings are no longer conducive to your further development, then its time to move.

Yet, attachments mainly in the form of material things and emotional baggage of the past subconsciously hinder us from taking a big step forward to new things, new perspectives, new relationships and in the end more lessons learned on the path to a raised consciousness.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

 

 

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by | October 30, 2017 · 6:04 am

Are you being brainwashed?

I’m sure you’ve  had the experience recently. You are talking to someone when you  notice they have switched off with their “cemented opinion”.  But you continue talking, still hoping to convince that person with your “rational argument.”

Donna parla con lettere su sfondo biancoI fall into the trap every time, knowing full well that no matter what information I provide, it will not convince the other person to adapt or change his or her mind.

A medical doctor friend of mine recently vented frustration at the growing number of patients questioning his diagnosis with information they had found on the Internet. It is mind boggling that the expertise of scientists, who have spent a good part of their lives becoming experts in their fields, is ridiculed by persons with only scant knowledge at best of the topic they are talking about.

We surround ourselves with friends and associates who share our opinions and mannerisms. We subscribe to media that feed us with information we want to hear. Its human nature. A questioning of our belief system is perceived as so “dangerous” that it might alienate us from our tribe and leave us cold and alone. The unfortunate part of this human trait is that it makes us prone to manipulation, especially if the perceived threat to group identity is threatened.

What happens to the individual manifests itself into what I call the mass brainwashing and fogging of minds. Political strategists and the master manipulators understand this part of the working of the human mind very well.

Take for example my home country South Africa. The media is churning out almost daily evidence of the looting of the country’s state-owned enterprises and national treasury by the ruling president and his cronies. In any normal situation President Jacob Zuma would have been booted out of office and sentenced to a long prison term for crimes ranging from massive tax evasion to personal enrichment and treason.  He is only getting away with it because he has convinced his electorate that they are poor because the wealth of the country is controlled by “white monopoly capitalism.” Worse still, the media controlled by this “monopoly” is spreading lies in a bid to re-install apartheid.  That is all you need to communicate in a country still deeply divided along racial lines.

Feed into already existing prejudices or fears by spreading half-truths, lies and misleading information and you control the masses who believe what they want to believe. Adolf Hitler understood this mechanism perfectly by feeding into existing anti-Semitic prejudices of a highly educated society until he had them all screaming “Sieg Heil” as the rail carriages rolled into the death camps of Auschwitz.  The economy of the oil-rich country of Venezuela was ruined by a despot riding the mantra that all the troubles could be attributed to American imperialism.

This is why I find the rising nationalism in so many countries so dangerous. It appeals to the most basic of human instincts, whispering into the ears of the masses: “Someone is out there taking or denying from you something that you regard as very precious and dear.”

The wise teachers from all the major religious traditions teach us that you need to “neutralize” your mind in order to open yourself to true spiritual experience. It sounds so easy but is probably one of the hardest things to do. Don’t we all have toxic emotions, prejudices and fears that we desperately hold on to?

A first step toward neutralizing the mind is the admission of those existing pre-conceived ideas, or emotions and in analyzing their origins.

  • What made you think the way you are thinking?
  • Do you really have an open mind to a new angle or perspective?
  • Are you versed in the art of listening?

Inside each human lie embedded the seeds of doing either good or evil. What you feed your mind with on a daily basis is what you become. You make your decisions based on your belief system.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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by | October 18, 2017 · 2:00 pm

Your friend the obstacle

IMG_0117 (1)When walking the Camino you will be confronted by obstacles.  The first biggest challenge is mental. You are thirsty, exhausted and your feet are hurting. You push yourself to the summit of that mountain only to find that you have an even steeper hill to climb further ahead. Your mood sinks to rock bottom.

We have those moments of walking through the valley of death every day. An unexpected tax bill in the post. An unpleasant meeting or other disappointment.  Life is cyclical, like the seasons with periods of winter darkness followed by the joys of spring and warm summer days.

Take a  look at some of the great personalities of our time. Nelson Mandela, Oprah Winfrey and Albert Einstein transmuted the suffering in  those pits of darkness in their youth, honing their qualities of character and emerging stronger than ever before.

What you perceive as an obstacle is a “teacher” telling you where you have to learn and refine your personality in overcoming your greatest fears which can be anything from the fear of death, ill-health, loss of material wealth and the shame that can go with it.

We need only to observe nature to see how all plant and animal life is in a continuous process of evolutionary refinement in the adaption to challenges that come with changing circumstances.

Without an obstacle, without a challenge, you can’t grow. You will remain stagnant and there is the danger of falling into procrastination and lethargy. So next time you have to deal with a major disappointment or challenge it might just be the universe telling you to take a different turn.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

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by | October 9, 2017 · 9:42 am

Guarding the temple of your soul

A few days ago I saw a front page headline in our local newspaper: “Trump opposes gun control.” It got me thinking: If I was living in the United States, it would maybe have been of interest to me. In this case it was just another example of the media setting the agenda for the day’s mood.

Motivational Quote That Will Inspire You to Be Successful. Words that inspire your heart, motivate your mind in life, creating success, achieving your goals, and overcoming your fears.Don’t get me wrong. The mass shooting in Las Vegas was a terrible tragedy. But the event has absolutely no impact on the daily lives of people living some 9,000 kilometers away and doesn’t belong on the front page of  my local newspaper. The media is feeding us constantly with blood and gore and the shadow side of humanity, knowing that its human nature to look first at the negative before seeing the positive.

Its part of our reptilian brain, our instinctive behavior and survival instinct to stay alert in case a tiger comes crashing through the woods. But in today’s globalized world of mass media, the constant feeding of the subconscious mind with negativity has an extremely detrimental effect on our health.

Stress, triggered by negative news, negative emotions and toxic thoughts, affects your immune system. When you read negative news and your mind is occupied with negativity, you release a stress hormone called cortisol. Prolonged exposure to cortisol leads to damage to the hippocampus part of the brain, causing in extreme cases anxiety attacks, depression or other mental illness.

This is why its so important to stand guard at the gateway to your subconscious mind. What do you feed your mind with before you go to bed? The worst thing you can do is to watch a horror movie or the evening news. It will program the way you dream and in what mood you wake up the next morning. Reading a spiritual text or listening to soothing music will have the opposite effect.

It takes constant training to shield the mind from negativity. But the more aware you become through mindfulness training the more effective you will become in empowering that guard at your doorway. I’m practising all the time.  Its not easy. Being a former newsman myself, I have to be more circumspect than most others not to fall prey to the tentacles of the mass media.

You create your reality with your thoughts!

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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by | September 15, 2017 · 1:37 pm

Our greatest challenge: The environment

There is something happening to our world, telling us with stark reality that the greatest challenge of our time is  the environment.  The natural catastrophes of the past months with the elements of fire and water wreaking havoc to the lives of millions of people, should be a wake-up call.

hurricaneBut we cannot be hoping for action from governments or politicians with “empty-speak” words. Every individual needs to question lifestyle habits.

Volcanic eruptions, floods and earthquakes have always been part of human existence, yet scientists have warned for decades that the frequency and intensity of such natural catastrophes would be increasing with the rise of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 40 per cent. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at over 400 ppm (parts per million) in 2015!

This level is higher than at any time for the past 400,000 years where the average was about 280 ppm. The reason: The burning of fossil fuels coupled with unprecedented deforestation. The world’s rain forests form an important equilibrium in the balance between emitting oxygen and the absorption of carbon dioxide.hurricane.2

Rain forests and the oceans harbor much of the diversity of life. Large parts of the ocean however are ecologically dead because of plastic garbage pollution and coral reefs dying as a result of pesticide pollution and the warming of the oceans. Scientists estimate that 150-200 species of plant, insect, bird and mammal become extinct every day. This is greater than anything the world has experienced since the dinosaurs disappeared nearly 65 million years ago!

In the ancient Chinese Philosophy of the Five Elements,  the events in the external world cannot be separated from what is happening internally with human consciousness. I go into this in more detail in my book: Yield and Overcome

On the micro-level all of life is interconnected.  And, in terms of the law of nature, the elements seek to balance what is out of kilter. This can at times be very disruptive both for a physical human body as well as for the environment. In this analogy the burning of fossil fuels, or the overheating of the earth with the fire element, requires the counterbalance of the water element. On the emotional level overheated, reactionary and fanatic emotions, preoccupation with consumption  (fire element) and the emotions of fear and withdrawal (water element) are predominant. In a balanced state the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water would be nurturing each other.

I am convinced that how we are treating our immediate environment is closely connected with our own self worth and how we treat our own physical body. Its the sum of small things that make a huge difference. By simply avoiding the purchase of cosmetic products containing palm oil, you will be helping to curtail the clearing of rain forests in Asia for palm oil plantations. And, how about avoiding the use of plastic bags to prevent them from landing in the oceans?

What we eat, how we exercise and how we program our mindset resonates into our immediate environment.  One of Mahatma Gandhi’s most famous quotes is:

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

The challenge in the raising of human consciousness is to change the way we think. A positive mindset will change how you think and feel. Controlling your emotions will open the gateway to new thought and awareness into what needs to be done. As we become more aware we should be realizing how much we need to adapt to the natural laws of nature in order to survive as a species. Those species that have survived for eons are  those plants and animals that have learned to adapt within the continually changing matrix of existence. Seeing himself as a separate entity to the environment has been the biggest fallacy of modern man.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

 

 

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by | July 31, 2017 · 3:27 pm

Feeling stressed out?

Mankind is living in its best era yet, experiencing better health, peace and higher standard of living than all generations before. So why do so many people suffer from stress and chronic fatigue?  Has the “comfortable” life made us less resilient? Other generations experienced war, famine, disease and all sorts of challenges that we do not have to deal with.

Businessman pushing hard against falling deck of domino tilesMy take on this is that stress is not really the problem but that a host of factors come into play, especially the lack of recuperation in today’s fast track world. Here are some tips to make you more resilient in riding the storm during those tough times. We cannot avoid stress. It is part of life, but we can learn to deal with stressful situations differently.

 

  • Body movement: When you are under stress your body is flooded with a stress hormone called cortisol. The more cortisol in your system, the more your adrenal glands on the kidneys become fatigued. Try body arts that relax you both mentally and physically and bring your entire body metabolism into balance. Yoga, taiji, qi gong, pilates and meditation are ancient proven methods that work. But even a gentle walk in nature and jogging at a gentle pace will help bring down your stress level.
  • Eating good foods:  Too much sugar and salts in processed foods is wreaking havoc in your body. White sugars rob the body of phosphates which are vitally important in almost every intra-cellular reaction. Too much salt interferes with the natural absorption of water in the body, causing constipation, accumulation of toxins and higher blood pressure. You can’t go wrong with a good mixture of fresh seasonal vegetables and fruit. The supplement spirulina is loaded with beta carotene, iron, magnesium and other trace materials which your body really needs during times of stress.
  • Healing rituals: When everything around us appears to be in disarray or collapse a ritual can restore balance and sense of belonging and connection. It could be a religious prayer, the lighting of a candle, a meditation or any other regularly performed daily action at a certain time or place of the day. Rituals have been part of human life and social interaction since the dawn of mankind but we seem to have forgotten the significance of them in the rat-race of modern times.
  • Friends and family: A typical symptom of burnout caused by stress is the withdrawal from social interaction. We are social animals and need to talk and interact with our fellow human beings, who give us important feedback, empathy, sense of meaning and comfort. Sharing and volunteering your help for a non-profit organisation, church, neighborhood initiative or any other group that serves a higher purpose often brings you “back to earth”.

If you can learn to ride the storm, change can positively enrich your life in many ways. The challenge lies in dealing with those defining moments of transition from a position of strength and power. During tough times we more than ever need time for recuperation, a time out and activities or hobbies that take the mind away from obsessive worry.

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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by | July 24, 2017 · 3:10 pm

Flying cars and plastic hearts

Could anyone have predicted in the world of 1997 the profound effects that social media and the digital revolution would have on the world of today? Then think ahead of what our world might look like in two decades.

flying carsSome years from now it will be quite normal to have flying electric cars as a mode of transportation. Food might be grown in greenhouses in city skyscrapers and human organs and body parts produced by 4D technology.

Technological revolutions always have cataclysmic effects on whole industry sectors with winners and losers on both ends. But it also changes society on many levels, the way we live, our relationships and state of mind.

Is it something to embrace or something to be afraid of? Depending on your mindset it could be either of the two, depending on your willingness to adapt. Do you accept the inevitability of certain changes as an opportunity or do you prefer to reject anything that you perceive as a threat to the status quo?

The point is that it is an inevitability of life that nothing remains static and that change is part of life like the seasonal changes of the year. Life is an a constant state of flux and evolution. Those species that accept the change and adapt to the new situation the fastest are the ones that survive.

We humans are very much animals of habit.  How we exercise, the foods we eat, where we work or live and in what relationships we remain committed to, is mostly determined by habit. Even if we know on a rational level that some of those habits are not doing us any good.

The choice is simple: Do you bear with the pain in an increasingly difficult comfort zone of the status quo or do you take on the pain that comes with change and adaption to new circumstances?

Embracing change is embracing opportunity of growth,  constant learning, self-development and evolution of human spirit. So lets go for it!

Reino Gevers – Mentor for Leaders and Achievers – Your Health Matters

Awakening the Fire Within – key principles of health and success. Enrolling now will give you a 25 per cent discount.

NEW RELEASE: “Walking on Edge – A Pilgrimage to Santiago” available both in Kindle and paperback.

http://www.reinogevers.com

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