2.  The Art & Science of Manifestation
      If we want to create, generate, and make stuff happen, then manifesting is the skill to cultivate.  That word is often associated with New Age woo woo but the root word simply means obvious.  When something is manifest, it is demonstrated or realized.  It lives in the world of IS rather than WANTA BE.
     Just to be clear, here's what manifesting ISN'T:  hoping and begging, whining and worrying, pushing and straining, comparing and resenting, bartering and manipulating, insisting and justifying.  Or building the case for why life is unfair (always good to have ready when faced with disappointment).
      Simply, manifesting is (1) having a clear vision of what you want (for yourself or for the world), and then (2) giving yourself fully to the experience of that already being so.  Meister Eckhart said "When the soul wishes to experience something, she throws an image of the experience before her and enters her own image."  Our modern day term is Act As If.
      It requires being willing to suspend judgment and doubt (not a small thing for the mind to do) and to operate as if the desired outcome is already realized.  Now that takes a bit of courage because, gee whiz, what if it doesn't come true?  So to be safe, we go half-heartedly toward our dreams and then wonder why we feel defeated and apathetic.  Would Nelson Mandela ever have lasted in prision if he had lived in defeat?  He acted as if everyday.
     The key is to engage every aspect of our being and to call on our senses to hear, see, taste, smell, touch the new reality we are claiming.  To get deeply related and intimate with this new reality allows us to slip the bonds of the old limiting reality.
     That brings us to life (rather than keeping us distance from it) and aliveness is always more compelling and generative than whatever we may be doing to deaden ourselves.  Jean Houston observes that many people live as posthumous versions of themselves.  Night of the Living Dead was a movie, not a suggested lifestyle.
       If you want to manifest certain things in your life, then jump in - like a dog jumps in the water after his ball.  Whole-hearted, unabashedly saying Yes to life, your life. 
          

3.  Practice of the Month     
      Confident Expectation 
      As tempting as it is to wait until it arrives and then experience it, that's not how manifestation works.  Claim it and live it now.
    How you claim it and hold it and inhabit it is key.  The more relaxed, the more effective.   Expectation is more potent than desire because we are unconflicted in our focus of energy. With desire, we may entertain doubt and grasping.  In fact, we're usually incredible hosts to them, building an extra wing on the house so they can live with us full time.  It would be incongruous to hold any tension or anxiety when we fully expect something.     
     Think about the color of your car.  When you walk out to your car the next time, how confident are you that it will be the same color it was when you parked it?  How much worry or doubt do you have?  That's the energy of confident expectation.  Not one ounce of hand-ringing or lip-biting.  It's a done deal.
     Yep, it may not manifest in a second so you get to keep living in the place of Already Is (which is so much more pleasant than What If It Isn't), fully confidence and fully relaxed.

         
4. Cool Stuff    
     There is still time to sign=up for Victoria's signature workshop, Living into Greatness, happening this month - both in Seattle (Sept 22-23) and San Francisco (Sept 29-30).  It's all about reclaiming your innate brilliance and fulfillment so you can manifest your purposeful life.
      Imagine investing 2 days in yourself and your future as you engage in the key embodiment practices that can literally turn your life around.  Click for more info or register now.  The course is for those feeling stuck and those itching to make a bigger difference in their world.  Don't wait to sign up, get it on your calendar and invite your friends and colleagues.  Enough with playing small!
     Calling all women leaders (aka us Alpha Females) - women who have big visions and can hold lots of responsibility.  I'm cooking up a retreat Re-Sourcing Ourselves, Finding a Different Way to be Strong.  It seems like the bigger the promises, the greater likelihood of burnout.  And the world can't afford that.
    If this sounds like your kind of gathering, email me soon as it's limited to 20 women.  The retreat will be in late Winter 07, someplace warm and sunny - maybe southern CA, AZ, or HI.  Your suggestions for location are invited.
     The Embodiment Practices from the book (read by Victoria with a little embellishment) are available in CD as well as audio download for $10. See ORDERS page where you can listen to a sample.
     The Group Study Guide for self-selected groups to study the book together is a complete 30-page guide of 8 structured sessions. Download the $12 guide from the ORDERS page (where you can read a sample).

5.  Links
Visit Victoria’s Blog for her latest thinking about the Trance and its overcoming.
Victoria regularly leads Programs and presents keynote addresses.
See the calendar for all Upcoming events.
To find organizations, books, and projects that support getting free of the Trance, visit the newly expanded Resource page.

6. Copyright | Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Written and edited by Victoria Castle © 2006. All rights reserved.
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Victoria@TranceofScarcity.com

IN THIS ISSUE

  

“An instructive, encouraging and delightful book that I believe can wake us out of our numbed state, where we’ve forgotten our true nature , our fundamental human goodness. Please read it!”
- Margaret J. Wheatley, author of Leadership and The New Science

“I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who understands that we must rethink who we are and how we relate to the world in order to create a healthy future for all beings.”
- Lynne Twist, author of The Soul of Money

"One of the best books I've seen for turning positive intentions into powerful practices.  A wise wake-up call, one we all should read."
- Richard Leider, founder of The Inventive Group and bestselling author of The Power of Purpose and Repacking Your Bags

“Of the two dimensions of money issues - the inner and the outer - Victoria Castle is dealing with the inner side in a masterful way. I recommend this book to anyone who feels that money is a concern in their lives.”
- Bernard Lietaer,author of The Future of Money

"The Trance of Scarcity is very strongly recommended to readers who are searching for a practical and instructive approach to creating a more innovative and satisfactory sense of self and a more flowing combination of reality."
  - Small Press Bookwatch