Getting Serene, a Story

My friend Dr. Alexandra Gayak of the Science of Being Well website wrote this lovely story about getting Simply Serene. Read on -

 

Yesterday I was having a rare bad day. Really bad. But I had promised my dear friend William to let you know about his book give-away. That meant I promised myself to re-read the book I remembered loving when he first wrote it three years ago, and write a fresh review. 

To my intelligent side, this would be an obvious solution to the state I'd gotten myself into. 

To my emotional side, there was no way it could help. 

I wasn't in the mood. Too attached to feeling miserable. 

It got me anyway. 

Tenderly, William's gentle writing pulled me completely out of my painful, sad, angry state.  

The book, "Simply Serene" promises to teach four skills to bring you to a thoroughly serene state.

 

The title doesn't hint at the dozens of tools beyond the basic four. It's more like a whole course than an ebook, yet you can read it in an hour or two. 

 -> http://www.on2url.com/lnk?RjYy4SAkPnQ%3D  

 

I felt peaceful just by reading about the skills. I found I couldn't resist practicing them as I was reading.  

My tears had dried up before I finished the introduction. This, despite all my resistance. (Have you ever had that irritable reaction against help just when you need it most?) 

It's 12 hours later. I went to bed feeling peaceful.

 

Had nice dreams. Woke feeling better than I've felt in a long time. Maybe you will have this experience, too. 

What is it about this book? 

For starts, there aren't any "shoulds" to resist. No long lists of things to add to your already overloaded life. No big secrets. Nothing hard to learn.  

Just very simple different ways of doing some basic things you already do. 

You're invited. 

And, for the next two days, until midnight Pacific Time, March 13, this priceless little book is free.

After that, it's a bargain at any price. 

 -> http://www.on2url.com/lnk?RzYy4SAkPnQ%3D  

 

Enjoy! 

To your peace and serenity,

 

Dr. Alexandra Gayek 

P.S. Who is William? 

William Wittmann is my dear friend and colleague of many years who understands my excitement at the magic of lightning bugs in the meadow on a summer evening, why I could spend all day sitting on a log by a frozen lake in the mountains watching the snow melt off the trees, or what it meant that Guatemala beckoned me like a big luscious red flower beckons a hummingbird. 

He's the bodyworker who can pull on my toe and make my neck stop hurting, help me see my right path by the way my whole body lights up when I talk about it. He was teaching people about the works of Wallace Wattles 25 years ago. Takes a sabbatical for a week every month to visit beautiful wild places.  

He's an artist, writer, wise friend committed to the journey. 

Even if you've read any of his books in the past, please give yourself the gift of reading this one again. 

 -> http://www.on2url.com/lnk?SDYy4SAkPnQ%3D

At midnight PDT, March 13^th 2013 the free download giveaway of Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace will end.  People from all over have taken advantage of it. 

Go for it.  => Simply Serene 

Missed the free download?  It’s still a huge value. 

Get Simply Serene. 

: )

 

Walk in beauty,

 

William

 

 

The Reader Bonus Giveaway of Simply Serene Is Live Now

Get Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace now. 

And tell your friends, please. Let's get the book out there.  

They have until Midnight, Pacifica Coast Time, March 13th 2013 to get it. 

Find out more HERE .  

Or send them straight to Simply Serene's Amazon download page.  

Walk in beauty, 

William 

P.S. Go for it. Obviously. Amazon download page.  

P.P.S. Please post to Facebook, et. Al., and pass on to your friends.

 

Reader Bonus: I’m Giving Away Simply Serene

I want you to have my Kindle book, Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace. 

It will help you to live a life you love wholeheartedly – body and soul. 

Why am I giving this to you?  First, it’s a reward for reading my newsletters and blog posts. 

Second, it will give the book more visibility on Amazon.   

More visibility means more people get to live a happy life.   

More people living a happy life makes the world a better place for you and me and our children. Right?

 

For five days only… 

For five days only, you can go to Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace and get the book for free.  It’s easy. 

Just click the BUY link on March 9^th 2013.

 

Here are the dates: 

From midnight west coast time on Saturday, March 9, 2013 to midnight, Wednesday, March 13^th, it will be FREE.

 

Heads Up: Be sure the price says $0.00.  Otherwise, you’ll be paying of the book.   

Obviously,at the usual list price. it’s a huge bargain, so no problem.  And, of course, if you have Amazon Prime, you can borrow it for free, anytime.

 

Simply Serene Has It All

 

When I wrote Simply Serene, I filled it with everything I could think of to help you.  So it’s packed. 

You’ll find a great description of how to employ Owl Eyes and Owl Ears. 

Why would you want to employ those things?   

Because for a moment at least, you will be able to experience enlightenment.  Is that enough for you?  

No kidding.  It’s truly remarkable. Even after decades of meditation, this method changed my life.

 

Simply Serene includes the first versions of The Magic Formula: How to Magically Attract the Life You Most Want and Foolproof Relaxation: How to Relax Your Mind Anytime, Anywhere.  Although I expanded both of these into their own books (you can click on the links above to see them), the version you will find in Simple Serene gets the job done for you. 

And it has three other ways to be Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace.

 

Please Be Kind and Write a Review 

Please write a review.  It only needs to be 20 words.  Your review will help others, and it will help promote the book.   

As a big favor – you could get the book now and review it.  I’ve lowered the price as far as Amazon allows for just this purpose.  Get it.  Read it.  Review it.  

Your review will help the book get seen. 

Can you imagine how much better the world would be if this information and inspiration got out to people?  Can you imagine how much better your commute would be surrounded by serene drivers? 

And of course tell your friends, post this blog post on Twitter, and Facebook etc.  You can find some of the links in the right hand column.   

Give your friends permission to pass this on as well. 

Go for it. 

Simply Serene: How to Calm Down, Reduce Stress, Deal with Stress, and Be Instantly Alert and at Peace 

Walk in beauty, 

William 

P.S. You may not know, but you don’t need a Kindle to read a Kindle book.  You can read them on almost any device – iPad, laptop, tablet, desktop, etc. 

My daughter, Sasha, uses her phone when she’s not near her Kindle reader.  

You can get the software for your device HERE.

 

THIS IS HOW IT IS

THIS IS HOW IT IS
Another 50 -Word Story

There is a time in autumn when the leaves on the sycamores
start to dry, the wind blows. Listen to the rustle sweep
over you. Soon, your body sings, you rustle. You blow
through the trees across the meadow. You hear. If,
perchance, the flicker calls now, you will disappear.

What grabs you and pulls you deep into the present?

What bird song or bird call does it for you?

What animal always makes you pause and draw a quick breath when it crosses your path?

When were you so moved? How long has it been?

Go outside. Today. Get some Sacred connections.

Blessings,

William

P.S. SIMPLY SERENE - Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace -- will serve you well if you want some guaranteed ways to become present. I talk about the famous Owl Eyes in depth in this one.

Go for it = > http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x


P.P.S. You have my permission to share this story with no more than three people.

The Sky Is Falling?

Do you remember the story? An acorn falls and bops Chicken Little on the head. She panics and dashes around shouting, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” She vows to tell the king and sets off on her journey.

One after the other, she convinces her friends that the sky is falling. She tells them she has evidence that she has heard with her own ears and seen with her own eyes and even a bit of sky hit her in the head. And off they go to see the king who will certainly help them. Along the way they meet Foxy Loxy who offered to show them the way to the king…

He showed them into his den and ate them all up.

In times of scary news reports, what do you do?

I rely on clear headed friends and mentors who show me the BIG picture. I want a perspective that lets me see a bigger, longer term picture clearly. In the financial crisis of 2008, when the news was screaming, “The sky is falling!” The CEO of Vanguard Funds did just that in a little video.

He showed a graph of the single day loss of 20% that occurred back in 1987 (I think). Can you imagine? It’s a terrifying downward spike. Then he pulls back and shows the BIG picture. You can hardly see a blip on the graph. The sky didn’t fall.

You can have a life you wholeheartedly love -- body and soul. Really.

I can help you.

Become a member of Body & Soul Mentor the next time I open the doors for $9.97/month. You can get on the no-obligation waiting list and get a cool podcast that will remind you of what’s truly important.

Go for it => http://www.bodyandsoulmentor.net/journeybegins.html



IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

Go for it => http://www.bodyandsoulmentor.net/journeybegins.html

Blessings,

William

P.S. In times of fear mongering media I recommend my Life Giving Manual – Simply Serene -- Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace

Go for it = > http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x

Oh, I See Your Problem

“Oh, I see your problem,” Zen Master says, “The trouble you have is that you think you have time.”

Woof!

Who’s the “you” Zen Master addresses? To which “you” does the master refer? It’s not your Buddha mind, now, is it? It’s not the wise inner sage. It’s your personality, your ego identity, your ego mind.

Your ego has a couple of jobs, at least.

One: Always be right. Justify if you need. Be delusional if you need. Be right by being wrong if you need. Just be right.

Two: Keep the knowledge of your certain mortality at bay.

I have written before about using the phrase – today is a good day to die. Today’s quote is another take on this wake up call.

How can you use it to wake up? How can you use it to be joyful in this very moment? Instead of waiting for some event in the future, as when I win the lottery, when I marry/divorce, when I get the promotion, when my parents, spouse, boss, best friend apologizes or they approve of me.

It might be instructive for you to look inside and discover the circumstance for which you’re waiting. What needs to improve before you get to be wholeheartedly happy in this very moment?


And What Pray Tell Would Be The Best Use Of Your Limited Time?

Obviously, I recommend you use any strategy you have to become present, to become conscious of this present moment. Right here. Right now.

· Meditate
· Practice taiji
· Be still
· Watch your breathing

You can find wonderful suggestions in my books
SIMPLY SERRENE (http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x) and LOOKING DEEPLY INTO PRESENCE (http://tinyurl.com/os966) including the guaranteed Owl Eyes method.

FOOLPROOF RELAXATION (http://tinyurl.com/6zotq9) offers another way. (Note: SIMPLY SERENE contains an early version of FOOLPROOF RELAXATION.)

All three carry satisfaction guarantees. Go for it–

Simply Serene => http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x
Looking Deeply into Presence => http://tinyurl.com/os966
Foolproof Relaxation => http://tinyurl.com/6zotq9

Byron Katie’s book, LOVING WHAT IS can be very useful. More later.

Blessings,

William

Presencing

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
-William Blake

Zen and the poets have been addressing presence for centuries. What’s new is that everyone is paying attention to presence now, not just a handful of monks.

Presence lives outside of language so I find it hard to talk about. Blake’s poem points to it brilliantly.

Let me take a stab at it, too.

You travel into Presence often, but perhaps you don’t fully grasp the importance of this. If you’re like most humans, you don’t even notice it.

When you are fully present, the chatter in your mind goes still. You experience this as the peace which passeth understanding.

When you start to notice you are having these experiences of peace and stillness, you can begin to learn to encourage them.

When your mind quiets, your mind’s obsessive concerns and fears no longer drive you. You may even feel at one with all.

This is good, right?

You can think of your frightened, controlling mind as your ego. Yogis and eastern traditions call it the “monkey” mind, which is short for “a drunken monkey who has just be stung by a scorpion” mind.

Have you been there? Of course, you have.

Another name for this mind is the competitive mind. I like this one because it points to the fear that underlies and drives the competitive mind. Yet other names for this are the survival mind and the lizard brain. (See Related Article below.)


What Do You Get When This Mind Is Silent?

· You get the peace which passeth understanding.

· You get a small tastes of enlightenment that gradually become huge tastes and last for ever longer periods.

· You feel one with all.

· You live in the pleasures of flow. (See Related Article below.)

· You feel safe and supported by the whole. There is no need for faith. You become faith itself.

· You get “heaven in a wild flower”.

· You “hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”


How, Then, Do You Still the Mind?

You still the mind by being present. When you become present, the mind is still. It has no choice.

“But William, I thought that when I was still, I got to in presence? Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”

“Probably… Hmm…

“Let me see, the confusion comes by using the very similar and related words, Presence with a capital P and present with a lower case p.
“Presence is sacred and although you are part of it and it fills you absolutely, you don’t control it. Being present – being right here, right now – is something you have some control over.

“When you become present, you become still and you enter into Presence or more accurately, you experience Presence directly.

“Does that help?”

You can use silence as a doorway to stillness. Hang out in the silence of nature. Even amongst roaring rivers or melodious birdsong, you will experience this silence and the stillness underneath it.

I have written two books that will show you easy methods to explore Presence. Obviously, they will be of immense help to you.

· Simply Serene – Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace
· Looking Deeply into Presence


Here’s the Cliff Note Version for Becoming Present

· First, get some silence.

· Go outdoors – somewhere peaceful. It needn’t be a national park. A city park will do – anywhere you have a spot of nature.

· Practice Owl Eyes – Lightly gaze at something in the distance. Keep your eyes resting there while you taken in as much of your peripheral vision to the right and left as you can.

Slowly, deeply breathe in your belly. Now, while maintaining all of this, take in your peripheral vision above and below. Do this for a few minutes. Your mind has quieted. You’ll notice you have moved into stillness. Yes?


What did you notice when you tried this? More peace I hope.

Practice every day.

Invest in Simply Serene and Looking Deeply into Presence for the full versions.

Smile.


Flow

Although Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the guru of flow, doesn’t talk about Presence in his books, his observations imply that you be present to get into the lovely state of flow. All of his strategies for experiencing flow, therefore, would be good for becoming present.

Being in flow may be the most important goal of my personal practices. When I am in flow, everything, well, flows. I live in Heaven.

You love flow, too. You’ve been there often.

I want getting into flow to be high on your list of things you want from your Deliberate Living Program.

(Read my article, The Delightful Magic of Flow, below.)


Resources to Guide Your Way

1. The Scent Of Green Papaya – I saw this film in the theatre when it came out. The first five minutes into it were some of the slowest in my movie watching life.

Then I got it, “Oh, this is about Presence.”

This Vietnamese film takes place in French Saigon.

With almost no dialog, a young servant, by simply cleaning and cooking, models how you can move in your world fully awake. It’s lovely. You will emerge from the experience as after a lovely meditation.

2. Eckhart Tolle has written several wonderful books on the subject and I recommend them as a starting point on the subject of presence.

1. A New Earth
2. Stillness Speaks
3. The Power of Now

Find them here.

3. Again, I recommend my two books Simply Serene and Looking Deeply into Presence for working with Presence vs. talking about it or explaining it.

4. Obviously, you can read books on Zen to get a feel for it.

See Fun Resource on Spirituality.


5. The poets have visited Presence often and written beautifully about it.

Mary Oliver is my favorite. Invest in her books so you can dip into them when you want. Her books plus The Sound of Water, a book of haiku, reside by my bed. Find some books here.

Google Mary Oliver Poems – read some. Then invest in her books.

Browse the poetry books and poems I have posted in Poetry and Cool Ideas section.

Also here – Poetry of Life for titles.

Sacred Intervention

You’re riding your bike at a good clip through the early fall grayness and suddenly, you glance a swath of glorious green, sun light illuminating the ridge, just there…

“Wow…”

For a moment, you’re speechless, everything stops and you’re in heaven. You feel deep serenity. You experience the peace which passeth understanding.

“Oh this is cool, I should tell people about this…” your mind is back and chattering again.

But even with the renewed chatter that inevitably comes, everything has changed by this intervention of the Sacred upon the mundane.

Your ego mind can’t let this peace stand too long. It will reassert itself with its familiar chatter. But for this brief moment, the veil between you and Heaven drops and you see clearly.

You look upon everything with a renewed eye, perhaps, for the rest of your life. Maybe just for this morning.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

How often does this happen to you? Daily?

Want more? I aim at experiencing this Heaven multiple times a day. It is part of why I do the work I do.

Want to know how to have these experiences on demand?

You can touch Heaven any time by utilizing spiritual practices that bring you into the present.

Painting, Taiji, drawing, making love, and meditation are all ways to get there. Cooking and gardening work for clients of mine. Drinking a cup of tea in silence will do it.

SIMPLY SERENE has four beautiful and easy ways you can do it.

Get some Heaven => http://tinyurl.com/mbd4x

Blessings,

William

P.S. Pass this blog on to anyone who you think would enjoy
these wonderful insights.