Concentrated Coaching
  • Home
  • Writers' Block
  • Career Shifts
  • Stuck?
    • Entrepreneurs' Block
    • Executive Presence
    • Phobias
  • Client Stories
    • Case: Bringing Leadership into Focus
    • Case: Dissolving Creativity Block
    • Case: Asking for Money
    • Case: Overcoming Freeway Phobia
    • Case: Coaching for Writers' Block
  • Training
    • Workshops
    • Professional Trainings
    • Testimonials
  • FAQs/On Mark
    • What to Expect
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Blog
    • Resources
  • Contact

Powerless or Overwhelmed by Recent Events? Wisdom I Received from Mayan Shamans

3/2/2017

17 Comments

 
Powerless, alienated, and off-center is how I felt returning to the U.S. from Guatemala recently. Many of my friends were overwhelmed by the state of affairs too, prompting me to explore root-cause-level solutions. I'd like to share what I've learned.
Picture
Prior to my return, I’d spent 17 days in Guatemala with shamans learning Mayan ritual, indigenous ways, and the impact of our entitled culture on others. I'd made a similar trip to the Amazon last fall.  I came back on January 27—not only my first day in a country with a new leader, but also the first day of a newly restrictive US immigration policy. 

Lines were long. The energy was strange. I’ve made several hundred international trips, and this was the first time I felt profoundly bad about returning. I wondered how to respond to the immigration officials, who almost always say, “Welcome home.” No need to worry. They were silent.
 
My malaise extended into February, and I decided to apply what I'd learned on my trips to this paradox of feeling powerless in a nation of so much privilege.
 
And I learned that most of what we do to combat powerlessness actually feeds it:

  • When I felt powerless—i.e., it felt like someone “with power” was trying to force me to do something—my reaction was to try to grab the reins of power in some way and wield them myself.

  • That attempted power grab fed the powerlessness cycle in two ways. First, I’d put all the energy outside myself, so my focus was increasingly on something outside my control.

  • Second, it wasn’t really power I found myself trying to manipulate, it was force, which is oppositional. Feeding polarization is ultimately a losing strategy, because it creates winners and losers who combat each other.

  • “Power” comes from connecting to who you are and what you value, and building allies around that, NOT winning arguments!
 
Yet, in parallel with this malaise, working with the shamans had unveiled another kind of resource. Although to my Western mind it seemed strange, I found something fundamentally healthy about practices that asked for permission from the earth before (for example) erecting a house, and also making physical offerings in thanks for gifts received.  It made me more aware of energy and connectedness—to the planet, each other, and the divine.
Picture
​And this metaphor occurred to me. Do you know what a carrier wave is? When you listen your car radio, let’s say WINS in New York City, the station is sending an enormous amount of energy on 1010 KHz. But although you tune your dial to 1010 on the AM band to listen, THAT CARRIER WAVE IS NOT WHAT YOU HEAR! What actually produces sound is “modulating” that carrier wave, which causes it to vary up and down in level. Circuits in the receiver translate that modulation to sound.
 
And it occurred to me that we work this wa in life, too. It’s the modulation that we attend to, almost unaware of the life force carrying us. That life force wave is harmonized with the planet and all beings on it. But our “receivers” only pick up shifts in the life force, so it’s easy to lose track of its basic existence and our larger connection.
 
So how does that insight lead to root-cause remedies for feeling powerless, alienated, etc.?
 
Well, simply the awareness that there IS a life force carrier wave made me more attuned to it. I found myself feeling stronger, more centered, and more connected regardless of what was going on. (And curiously, as that happened, what was going on seemed to have more synchronicity with my intentions as well.)
 
And when I felt “off,” sometimes it became easier to stop, open myself to see what was going on, and reconnect to that sense of life force again simply by inviting its presence. (In IFS terms, as if it’s a guide with the power to reconnect us to Self energy. Simply going inside, inviting guidance, and being open to what comes helps.)
 
I also found myself reconnecting to a phrase that popped up in earlier work about my own core intention: “to preserve the expression of all beings.” That work—helping people connect to their gifts and their reason for being—is particularly important now.
 
So in view of all of that, how am I recovering my sense of centeredness and power, and how might some of those tools work for you?

  1. Remember to attune to your life force (the carrier wave), and not the noise!

  2. Know what you stand for—who you are at your core, your gifts, and who you want to serve. One way to amp these up: check out my Core Intention work, especially an intensive professional training starting April 13, and a one-off workshop in Chicago on April 1.

  3. Once you know your values, orient around people and causes supporting them. Avoid trolls, “trolling,” win/lose scenarios and defining yourself by what you oppose.  Save your energy for constructive enterprises.

  4. Monitor your energy: this is a marathon, not a sprint. “How to Stay Outraged Without Losing Your Mind” captures great wisdom (although I'd prefer the word "energized" than "outraged" in that title).
    ​
  5. Remember this is a team effort. You don’t have to do everything. Find a group that supports your efforts, and concentrate on what you want and what you can do, including unsubscribing from groups that distract you with manufactured outrage. I follow Citizen’s Climate Lobby (especially because of its focus on bipartisan union around a carbon fee and dividend, vs. being “against” something), and Daily Action (one text a day, with easy links to make phone calls that actually count).
 
I hope that’s helpful, and welcome your additional suggestions in comments below. (All parts and parties welcome--please just be kind and respectful of all in whatever you have to share!)

17 Comments
Greg Johanson link
3/3/2017 02:58:29 pm

Thanks Mark. Nice to be thinking of alternatives to the perpetual force-counter force cycles that never end.
Grace & Peace,
Greg

Reply
Karen Phelan link
3/4/2017 11:34:10 am

Great article, Mark! My way of keeping sane is to see what's currently going on as creative destruction, tearing down the old so something new can take its place. Hopefully, this is the egg breaking stage of making an omelette.

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/6/2017 11:24:55 am

Thanks, Greg and Karen. It's good to see both the potential for something better out of the current environment, as well as aspire to something less cyclic/more connecting. I guess that's one reason why I appreciate the increase in activism...and encourage activity be directed toward common aims, vs. making others wrong. That's easier said than done, though!

Reply
Connie Seligman link
3/8/2017 01:00:22 am

Thanks so much, Mark! Once again you blow me away with your ability to think out of the box and grasp the macro picture. And to pull the genius of IFS into the world writ large.

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/8/2017 06:18:31 pm

Thanks, Connie. I can see why clients appreciate you: in addition to your IFS skills, your comment reminds me of your gentle genius for noticing the positives around you in an encouraging way. It actually helps co-create them. (Now, of course, I'll have to do even more of what you're attributing to me.)

Reply
Jackie Sloane
3/8/2017 04:37:26 am

Thanks, Mark! A great reminder to reach within and continue to operate from the heart, be as kind to yourself and everyone else as you kind. Follow your instincts and protect yourself from hostile actors. At Lake Street, we have a new interim, and she read a great passage from William Bridges' Transitions I have been reading daily, in part: "as we long for external signs that point the way to the future, we must settle for inner signals that alert us to the promiscuity of new beginnings....its hallmark is not a logical sign of validity but a resonance that it sets up in us."

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/8/2017 06:21:39 pm

That brain to heart journey is a long one, isn't it, Jackie! And you illustrate that it benefits not just from insight...but practice. (Like your daily reading.) A good way to instill our own positive flooding, too!

Reply
Charles H Green
3/8/2017 05:25:14 am

Nice piece, Mark. I always appreciate your take on things. What i most take from this is the importance of getting straight internally when things mess up externally.

Thanks muchly,
Charlie

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/8/2017 06:25:19 pm

Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between being centered in your Self, and being self-centered--especially in the face of seemingly compelling external distractions. "Getting things straight internally when things mess up externally" might be a line I re-use. Thanks, Charlie!

Reply
Todd Vriesema
3/8/2017 02:28:41 pm

That was very well articulated, and reminded me of my need to meditate to open that connectedness not only to myself but to the world around me

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/8/2017 06:30:25 pm

I didn't mention it in the blog, but part of what helped get things clearer for me was an ancestor practice I started on my return, inspired by the Mayan's reverence for "the grandfathers." You just helped me realize that that was a form of meditation connected to the outside world and our human lineage through it. Maybe that's an important thread that could be woven in other patterns, too.

Reply
Maria Alamo
3/9/2017 10:02:29 pm

Great article Mark! Thanks for sharing. Love your wisdom and grace. I am reading The Twelve Powers by Charles and Cora Fillmore. Cora writes, "Jesus Christ promised that we shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. The Holy Spirit is God in action, Since the actiity of Spirit gives us power, we must logically conclude that power is a force generated from God through the activity of our words and thoughts. We receive added power when we set into action deeper realizations of the love, the wisdom, the strength, the life and the zeal of the Almighty.
May your upcoming workshops be very successful!

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/10/2017 05:27:12 am

What a complementary perspective, Maria! You know, depending on my audience, I sometimes call this kind of work "Soul Intention." There is an element of the divine in it, I think, and I appreciate the words "love, wisdom, strength, life and zeal" in that context. This is our birthright!

Reply
Earl Berkson
3/13/2017 12:22:48 pm

Your Guatemala trip & words echo and confirm issues I struggle with. The last year have been overwhelming with relationship issues, the election, moving and more - and yes, have led to some initial feelings of powerlessness. Seeing all this as negative to fight against vs. focusing on myself and values has been the key to not only maintaining the status quo, but have added positives to my life. Risk-taking, more connections with people and tweaks in my daily routine have been huge. Belonging to groups that both offer different perspectives and allow me to share my own experiences have also been a major boost. Lastly, I try and allow myself more, softening my old guidelines and concentrating more on what feels good and true to my values.
I appreciate you sharing your trip and post trip thoughts; communicating the tough stuff helps us rethink our usual actions & style and teaches us new ways to reach our potential. Thanks!

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
3/13/2017 12:51:03 pm

It's interesting, isn't it, that moment of "shift" when what's felt like adversity reveals its gift? I can't prove it, but think there always is one. Thanks, Earl, also on adding to the list of ways to restore power--community is a big one!

Reply
Rebecca Kaiser
4/13/2017 02:42:03 pm

Earl - I’d like to respond to your comment, especially the part about different perspectives.
I’ve been reading DILBERT creator Scott Adams’ blog since March 2016. In it he describes two hallucinations occupying the minds of many Americans. In one, people see Donald Trump as a racist dictator, someone to be despised and maybe feared, and, in the other, people see him as an aggressive businessman leading the country to prosperity. (Very simplified descriptions.) I like to do experiments so I’ve been practicing stepping out of my hallucination. I’ve found that, when I’m not hallucinating, I’m free to play around with intention statements. Here are some of them:
Every day I feel more open to interacting with people who think differently than I do.
I ask them to help me understand how they feel.
I wait.
I listen.
I hold them in my heart.
My heart protects them.

Gratitude to everyone.

Reply
Mark Hurwich link
4/17/2017 06:49:51 pm

Becky, thanks for that comment. Of course, most of us think we're living in the real world and others who disagree are hallucinating. Opening the potential that we're all hallucinating, and the courage to explore it, is a great step. I hope you'll expand this exercise into something bigger, and add a link to it when you do!


Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Portrait of Mark Hurwich

    Author

    Mark has over 40 years of experience in strategy, and sales/marketing — from startups to multinationals.

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    July 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    April 2014
    November 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Contact Mark

Pick up the phone: (267) 629-2189
Drop me a line: mark@concentratedcoaching.net
Learn More! Schedule a
Complimentary Discovery Session
Click to Schedule an Appointment
Subscribe ​to get insights and resources from Mark — no spam, no more than six a year.
GET THE NEWSLETTER