8 Manifestation Tips Via Miklautsch's "Inner Voice" Method

I took part in an intensive retreat that combined Kabalah, Alchemy, and other mystical traditions at Villa Gaia a while back. The focus of the retreat was visualizations to help activate and manifest positive thoughts. In keeping with what some call the “Laws of Attraction,” “The Inner Voice” was a refreshing departure from hyperbolic, infomercial-driven approaches to manifestation a la brands like "The Secret." At worst, it brought a greater awareness to the process of how thoughts become reality, at best it contributed to improving my life in certain areas.

International spiritual advisor and conflict-resolution expert, Patricia Miklautsch, led the group through a number of visualization "journeys" and empowerment techniques like embodying and integrating the elements (earth, fire, air, water), and simple, practical observations like how time is spent on a day-to-day basis as clues to what stops us from making our dreams a reality.

We followed up with a couple of meetings that aimed to put into practice what was shared at the retreat.  At the time, each of us went round-robin with our visualizations and received support and feedback from the collective. Here are some manifestation pointers from my impressions of the follow-up meetings:

1. Being there is everything. One common misconception about visualization is that you ask for something as if you don’t already have it. Try to support a perception shift, by employing a visual as if it is already in effect. “Be in the moment of having it happen,” instructed Miklautsch.
2. Visualizations benefit from a natural state of harmony. If experiencing fear, phobia or doubt, clear the mind by redirecting concentration on the details and results of what's to be visualized. The fear on its own can become a source of negative attraction.
3. Note how your body reacts. Relish the moment in which you are creating the vision, be present to your body’s sensations and note your reactions to them: are you experiencing joy? duress? physical pain?
4. Be as clear and simple as possible. Specificity in the mental visualization itself, down to the last detail of your surroundings and the sensations felt, helps with realization. Put a finger on what you would like to happen. 
5. Avoid asking for dollars. Rather than asking for money, ask for abundant resources to support the vision—consider what money can provide instead of asking for hard cash.
6. Don’t get carried away by the story behind the vision. This can dilute the energy of what you are trying to achieve. Focus on the fundamentals of what you see rather than the logistics.
7. Keep developing your vision. Often, once a visualization becomes more clearly defined, it will shift and refine itself. A written log containing revisions of the manifestation in progress is an important part of the process.
8. Put service first. Finally, I experience that those visions linked to service and support of humanity tend to have stronger momentum and provide greater long-term rewards. Some masters believe that service-oriented visualizations can improve longevity, and repair “bad karma” which may have built up over generations.      

Patricia is currently in the process of establishing a silent retreat center in Bali. To contact Patricia, go here. For more information about the Inner Voice, read an article about the retreat:

Yoga Meets Shamanism: Danny Paradise

At the BaliSpirit Festival this year, I met my first yoga master who openly incorporates shamanism into his yoga practice and instruction. With 35 years experience as a yogi, American Danny Paradise is also a gifted musician, philosopher, political commentator and practicing shaman. He believes “yoga is shamanism,” because “both are about healing and awakening the body.”

Danny is an advanced master of Ashtanga Yoga, which is among the most physically demanding forms of yoga around. He balances out Ashtanga’s intensity by encouraging “a sacred, safe, meditative, healing, joyful, expanding, and pain-free,” practice for himself and his students.

A YOGI AND SHAMAN?
Danny's shamanic experiences draw from the wisdom of various indigenous cultures including those of Hawaiian, Mayan and Native North and South American cultures. “It’s the same exploration all over the world,” he says, “we’re all part of nature, so we’re all part of Spirit.”

Danny links yoga and shamanism especially because of the underlying spiritual lineage of both, calling shamanism “the root of all religions,” and describing yoga as a way to “allow clarity to increase, and to step outside the regular order of things.”

“They have a crossing over point,” Danny says, “they both explore deeper levels of consciousness… These are sophisticated practices.”

While yoga is normally more physical in nature than shamanism, Danny talked about the inextricable link that unites both, “You can’t separate spirituality from humanness. If you start with the bones, human breath, your intuitive nature, then you are in tune with the shamanic realms,” he affirmed.

ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IS YOGIC
Paradise also devotes time to expanding his knowledge of history, power politics, self-development and other fields. He promotes community activism and personal education as well as spiritual and physical practices in his classes too, which may start with a group discussion about spirituality, yogic and shamanic values, philosophy or the current world order.

During his class sessions he may also cite authors, share his definitions of shamanism, or give his students a reading list handout, which contains his favorite texts on shamanism and yoga.

BODY-MIND-SPIRIT
Many of us in the West start practicing yoga strictly as an alternative physical fitness exercise. Danny Paradise reminds us that doing yoga is not just about getting in shape or even closing our eyes and meditating—there’s something special about synching both. The ancients likely realized this.

It’s the movement-meditation, body-mind combo that is integral to Yoga, Qi-Gong and other similar physio-spiritual practices that, I believe, make them significant doorways to the creative realms/Spirit worlds.

Could growing interest in these forms be related to a blending of the body-mind in a way that supports a more direct experience of the divine/shamanic? Yes, I think so.

By emphasizing shamanic awareness through yoga, I believe Danny Paradise is signaling to us that making contact with our bodies in a mindful way creates a potent opening to energy, power, and information.

The benefit of mainstream yoga in this age is that Spirit can be accessed more readily by larger numbers of people—sometimes intended; other times not. Either way, yoga supports an expanded state of mind, which, in my view, and perhaps Danny’s too, can be the gateway to a deeper and more fulfilling co-existence with our inner and outer worlds.

For more information on Danny Paradise, visit his website at: http://www.dannyparadise.com/