The Dolphin's Dance
How do we free ourselves from the imprints of the past and deconstruct the false identities that limit our potential for joy, creativity, and self-expression? In essence, what I learned is that we do so by becoming consciously aware—by shining the light of consciousness on emotions, beliefs, and patterns of thought and behavior that have previously been unconscious. For me, moving into conscious awareness was a journey that began with an unexpected vision in the midst of a life crisis, followed by more than two decades of intensive seeking, learning, practice, and experimentation. I will be sharing some of my story in the pages that follow, but more importantly, I will be sharing the fruits of my journey so that you can use them to transform your own life.
My intention in this book is to pay it forward to the universe. I would like to give back the treasures that I have received in my life. I would like to demystify the big principles of self-awareness and make them accessible to whoever wants to make a change in their life and create the love, peace, and joy that we all aspire to have. Some of these treasures were handed to me through grace, and some of them have been the result of my lifelong journey of discovery. After many years of spiritual work, I now have an ability to change my thought process in the moment. I wish I had been in this blessed state of awareness much earlier in my life.
These are the questions that motivated me: Would I want my kids to wait until they are my age to discover these treasures? Would they ever discover them? Would they have access to this inner joy, serenity, and happiness that I have created? Would you, the reader, have the same chance I had? Would it be possible to create a simple method to help you access this inner joy? Can I offer you a program to shift and regain this state of being anytime life events swirl you into tumultuous and murky waters? The result of this quest is the process I will be sharing in this book—a comprehensive five-stage program to transform your life through conscious awareness.
The stages are easy to remember, as they spell out the word DANCE.
Stage 1: Discover Your Emotions
Stage 2: Awaken to Your Beliefs
Stage 3: Name Your Patterns
Stage 4: Cancel Out Your Polarities
Stage 5: Embrace Your True Self
This five-stage process is laid out in part two of the book, and each stage is illustrated with stories from my own life experience or from people whom I personally know. (In some cases, names and details have been changed to protect identities). In addition, each step of the process includes experiential exercises to trigger your own reflection.
The exercises in this book will help you explore your inner world and expand your understanding of your emotions, your beliefs, and the patterns that govern your behavior and shape your identity. Through this process, you will be able to create and live a more authentic life. You will start letting go of what does not serve you and make space within yourself to welcome the experiences you long for—all of this and more will unfold naturally as the layers of the false self are shed. Reading this book should trigger your process of transformation, but your individual journey will be one that you alone will be creating and experiencing.
Each movement into conscious awareness is like a step in a dance. This process is not linear; it is a beautiful ballet of connections to our inner life, to self-love, and to passion. Sometimes you may feel you are stepping forward, other times, you may feel as if you are stepping back—this is all part of the dance. Each stage is a module that interconnects with the preceding and the following one, mirrors the cosmic dance of life, and connects your inner light to the universal light of consciousness.
Above all, this is a book of practice and active self-inquiry. There is great wisdom and joy to be found in ideas, and I know many people who have built upon the ideas they have learned in order to become great individuals. However, for ideas like those in this book to be transformational, it is essential that we engage with them and put them into practice. Otherwise, their effects will be short-lived, like a painkiller. We can learn new ideas in our minds but still be stuck at a deeper level of our being, repeating the broken record of our patterns throughout our lives—from one partner to another, from one job to the next, from one country to a different one—and never finding peace. Some people even use great ideas as a bypass to escape the challenges of their reality. They choose to become righteous about principles because they are not able to dive deep within and heal their basic disorder. I was one of them at one point in my life. This incited me to create practical tools that have produced a permanent, positive impact on my life.
I am writing this book for those who are like me: obstinate, resistant, impatient, and tenacious, yet determined to break through life’s limitations and cause an immediate positive change in life. To you, I say: this is achievable, wherever you are on your path. Even if you are not interested in religion, spirituality, or psychology but you would like to transform your life’s journey in a simple way, I hope you will find the process of this book valuable and simple to follow. Above all, I wish you all the pleasure I derive from my awakening process every time I dive in.