Been reading more intention studies results as I gear up for the “meeting tonight” (9:00PM EST) and I’ve found it fascinating that the healing reported is not a one-way street. In all of the experiments it is not just the object of intention that has some sort of change/healing, but the surrounding environment and people involved do too. 

Some of the findings have been remarkable. People reporting that issues in their life have been simultaneously solved when sending intentions for another. It could be some placebo effect, but it has been repeated so many times that it is challenging to refute. And meditation has been proven through MRIs to show changes in neural activity leading to better integration between the executive part of the brain and the limbic system, which leads to better decision making. This is not such a far fetched finding it seems. By helping others, you are really helping yourself.

This is a GOOD DEAL! 

Everyone benefits. Jacob, you, and humanity benefit.  Or as Michael Scott puts it, it’s a WIN WIN WIN. 

A social psychologist from NYU, Jonathon Haidt, calls it the “hive hypothesis.” This hypothesis states that people reach the highest level of human flourishing by losing themselves in a larger group. I swear that has been my experience. I have notes to prove it!!! 

But the part I’m stuck on is losing yourself. 

I believe he means feeling so in the moment that you lose your sense of the physical environment and your inner monologue stops. I’ve struggled with this.

That’s an understatement. I suck at this. 

I’ve read the research and the best practices. I promise I read the directions with p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e and I’m trying. I try and try. I try and picture NED. I try and picture Jacob running and swimming without cords. But confession I fail. Every time.  I think I’m so caught up in my thoughts, my fears, my anxiety or something that I can’t feel lost.

I was thinking that maybe I’m not the type who can do this EVEN with science and everything I’ve experienced telling me that this is real.

HOWEVER,  I recently found success. I did it! But the object of intention was not my own (Jacob), but you. 

In the last three weeks, I’ve gotten countless letters and emails where you have told me things going on in your life. Hardships for sure.  It’s funny that I’ve been friends with many of you for years, but until recently I’ve gotten to really know you and for many of us we haven’t even physically seen each other. Isn’t that weird?! And you tell me about your own searches and traumas. Some serious traumas and some personal life searches for meaning. I’m in awe of you all and honored to be trusted with these experiences. 

And I was doing my attempt to send intentions to Jacob and then all of a sudden I’m thinking of all of you. Thinking how grateful I am and then NOTHING. My inner monologue stopped and I felt this enormous feeling of love radiating out of every pore.

It was Cray Cray for sure.

So I tried to repeat it with Jacob as my intention. Failed again.

 How can I not do this for Jacob? Why doesn’t it feel the same?

 But then I realized I didn’t need to worry about that. 

That is what community is about. And that is exactly what it is for. It is hard to send positive intentions that benefit yourself. It is hard to push all of the facts or inner fears that present as facts. How can you “lose” them? Or maybe it is just me. BUT, if we all just worried about our neighbors then we never would have to worry about ourselves because we know someone has us covered. 

So night from 9:00PM-9:10PM

I got you covered.