Regeneration
Topics:
Session 201707141
“Regeneration”
"Longevity: Interaction and Interest"
“Inspiration”
“Power in Presence”
Friday, July 14, 2017 (Private/Phone)
Participants: Mary (Michael) and Linda (Ruthanna)
“How often do you genuinely laugh?”
ELIAS: Good morning!
LINDA: Good morning, Elias. It’s good to hear your voice.
ELIAS: And you also. And how are you proceeding?
LINDA: I’m doing well overall, I would say. One bump I want to talk to you about, but generally speaking, I’m really enjoying experimenting and having the freedom to play with the energy and different modalities. Occasionally I have a panic moment about responsibility, a panic moment about I should get a job and I should be looking to the future. And I seem to be able to recognize them when they hit and thus far just move back into what I'm doing in the moment. So, overall—
ELIAS: Excellent.
LINDA: Yeah. So, overall I think I am doing well with my experimental period. (Both laugh)
ELIAS: And what is important to remind yourself is that those moments that you might slip into being anxious or a slight amount of worrying or concern, that is very natural because it is considerably familiar. And not to discount yourself in relation to that, but rather to remember to acknowledge those feelings in the moment when they occur and then move forward.
LINDA: All right. And I can understand that, because I’ve experienced it some. I’ve had some hamster wheel nights, but (both laugh) it helps having made it through previous times. That experience is gradually building trust and a more automatic response to move into trust more quickly.
ELIAS: Yes. Congratulations!
LINDA: Thank you. I want to come back to the broader topic, maybe the third part of the session of individuals making the kind of transition I’m making. I want to ask you about my friend and it seems like it’ll kind of follow up on that, so I do want to come back to the subject more generally.
The real low point that I’ve had—and actually, I’d had it before we spoke last time and didn’t talk about it—it’s a physical thing, and just… I’m experiencing these… It’s not a moment. It’s enduring, the situation in which I look at my face in the mirror and I see this person that is not me. It’s not who I am on the inside.
I had a really dark moment at a beach trip with my friend. I looked at my face in the mirror, and it was just this startling recognition of this face that’s not mine. In fact, I took a picture of it (laughs) because I was like, “This is not me. This is not who I see and who I feel being. And where did she come from, just this sadness and sagging and lack of vitality or vibrance?”
And it’s related to skin and muscle tone, and I’m having trouble with spots, like age spots, really bad age spots on my legs and arms. And it was one of those moments in which it was just like, “Reviresco doesn’t work, I want to just die, I want to give up on this, this is silly." I’ve been down this illusionary path, and what I feel inside doesn’t match what is outside, and it’s just crazy-making stuff.
And I had this moment, the really dark moment. It was just this surrendering and giving up. And I was just like, “I can’t. I can’t force this. I can’t do this anymore.” And I felt somewhat of a shifting-ness that happened after that, but I think I’m still at that place a little bit in which I’m trying to struggle to understand some of what’s happening and maybe some of the shifting as well.
So, I don’t know where to begin to talk about this.
ELIAS: Very well. Let us begin with that. Let us begin with the idea of regeneration and how you define that. What is your idea of it? How do you define it?
LINDA: I think maybe in two ways, and I get them confused sometimes, but I think I have this outcome—you know, that problem between process and outcome—I have this outcome in which I think regeneration will bring me to this outcome. At other times, when I have a more broader perspective of the process and I step away from my identity with needing to get to this outcome, to have deservingness or whatever, when I can put that away, then I have a sense of regeneration that is connected to wellness. And it’s just rejuvenating and revitalizing the body, and it’s easier and it’s less forced, but at a deeper level I keep associating regeneration with this outcome. And the outcome is this thirty-six-year-old optimal age that I feel inside my body.
ELIAS: And in that outcome, that thirty-six-year-old that you feel, you are looking for that appearance also, correct?
LINDA: Yes. Yes. Yes, I think so. And it’s a little bit fuzzy, what that appearance is. But I feel it inside, and I know it’s NOT what’s in the mirror or what a camera projects to me.
ELIAS: I am understanding. But what I would express to you is that this is part of the problem, in a manner of speaking.
LINDA: Okay.
ELIAS: Regeneration is not moving backwards. (Linda laughs) Regeneration is not a process of repeat.
LINDA: Okay.
ELIAS: Therefore, when you are engaging regeneration—and even when you are engaging it considerably successfully—it is not process that moves you backward in time or [to] repeat chronological ages that you have already expressed. That is not what regeneration is. Regeneration is moving in a direction in which what you are doing is you are instructing and influencing the cells in the body consciousness to function in their natural capacity.
Now, what that means is the cells in your body naturally, automatically reproduce, and they continue to reproduce and continue and continue. This is what they do. They are continuously reproducing.
Now; in that, in a time framework as those cells continue and continue to reproduce, older cells, in a manner of speaking, die. They don’t actually die; they more accurately disintegrate. And in that, in that process, what they do in that disintegration is that they absorb back into the cell that is reproducing. Therefore, it creates a circle. And that is the natural flow and action of the body consciousness.
Now; let me also express to you that in this, as that continues, the body grows.
Now; growing does not always mean in height or girth. Growing means it changes. The body is continuously changing.
Now; in relation to what most individuals throughout your world do is you express in relation to influences of your beliefs. And in that, you incorporate very strong beliefs about aging. And without thinking about it, without knowing what the mechanics are or even knowing what you are physically doing, you automatically begin at a particular point—and that point varies for different individuals—but at some point you begin instructing the body consciousness to stop reproducing certain cells.
Now; let me express to you that this process is not as insidious in one respect as you may think, for there are other expressions that you begin doing also that are, in a manner of speaking, reflecting that piece that you are instructing certain cells to not continue to reproduce.
In this, your behavior begins to change, also. And it is a gradual change; it is not a change that occurs definitely in a moment. But at a particular point in each individual’s life they begin to change their behavior, which is a reflection of that change that they are instructing the body consciousness with. Some individuals generate this at younger ages, some at older ages—it is a very individual expression. But in that, your behavior begins to change in capacities in which you are to a degree less active, less interactive, slower, perhaps in varying degrees less motivated.
Now, that does not mean that you are not motivated or that you are not active at all, but you notice that you are not expressing in the same manner that you were when you were twenty-six or thirty-six. You are expressing differently in many capacities.
And for MOST individuals, another piece of that is that they slow their curiosity. It begins to dampen. They are not as interactive as they were when they were younger. They are not as curious or tremendously interested as they were when they were younger. Life does not appear to be the exciting wonder that it was at younger ages. This is all interconnected.
And that generates this aging process, in the capacity that you see in appearance and you don’t like, because your body is reflecting all of those changes.
Now; I will reiterate once again: your body is continuously changing. Even if you are successfully engaging regeneration, that does not mean you stop changing. That does not mean your body stops changing. It continues to change. It merely may not change in the manner that you would usually see in the usual expression of aging.
But there are more factors than merely the cell regeneration. And this is the piece that is exceptionally important and that most individuals don’t think about, because moving in the direction of regeneration and longevity, there are two pieces of that that are in actuality more important than any other piece.
Now, that is not to say that it is not significant to be aware of your diet or that it is not significant to be aware of engaging your body in activity—that is very important. But there are two other factors that are more important and actually overshadow the pieces of diet and exercise. And that is interaction, connecting in interaction—
LINDA: With other individuals?
ELIAS: With other individuals, with creatures, but yes, significantly with other individuals. And interest, meaning continuing to move in a direction in which you are exploring and you are reaching for more.
LINDA: I want to come back to those two points, but I wanted to insert a question if it will fit here. So then, the work that I'm doing with acupressure and qigong, where does that fit in those points?
ELIAS: I would express that it fits very well, if you are engaging it fully and properly. But generally, you don’t. You only engage it in a physical capacity.
LINDA: Oh, I see. And the other capacity would be more in terms of…?
ELIAS: Philosophical.
LINDA: Oh. Okay.
ELIAS: Any of these disciplines also incorporate a philosophy.
LINDA: Yeah. And I tend to (laughs)… Maybe it’s the social scientist in me. I tend to shy away from those components and move more towards the physical and the scientific component.
ELIAS: I am understanding, but I would express that it is important that you are continuously moving in a direction of that balance and harmony, recognizing that it is not about isolating pieces. It is about moving in a direction of the whole, your whole self, not only your body or only your mind or only your emotional expression. It is not about addressing to yourself in pieces; it is about incorporating the whole and moving in a direction as one being.
You are not the Holy Trinity. You are not three individuals in one. You are one complete being. And in that, it is important to incorporate that balance and to move in a direction in which the whole is always being engaged.
In this, I would express to you that if you allow yourself to engage some research—not in relation to regeneration, but merely engage some research in this present time framework about individuals that incorporate life to one hundred years or older. And although there are not many of them in your world today, there are enough, and there are groupings of them that you can actually discover. There are actual cultures in which individuals consistently generate longer lifespans.
And if you research these individuals and these cultures, it is not their diet, it is not their exercise that is the most significant in relation to their longevity. It is their connection and interaction, and their continuous movement in the direction of more.
LINDA: Yes. I have seen—
ELIAS: Think about when you were younger. Think about when you were perhaps in school yourself. Or think about when you finished your schooling and you were moving in the direction of teaching. A very strong component in that time framework was your interest and curiosity about moving farther, learning more, doing more.
LINDA: Yeah, and it was also a time of tremendous interaction with other people, and they kind of fueled it.
ELIAS: Yes.
LINDA: It was a symbiotic relationship. And I think I probably… I felt when I was commuting to Dallas I had never been more isolated in my life, and now that I’m no longer even doing the commuting to Dallas, I feel like I’m in the most isolated time period I’ve ever been in my life. And I think I’ve even told my friend that I could just feel my body was just withering. It was just like that joie de vivre, or something that comes from being a social creature, has simply drained out of my life currently.
ELIAS: Which is why you see what you see in the mirror.
LINDA: Yeah.
ELIAS: Because that is reflecting to you what you feel and reflecting what you are doing.
Let me express to you that it is important to involve yourself with actions that stimulate you and that encourage you to discover more and more. It is also significantly important that you generate those connections and interactions. You are correct: you are social beings.
LINDA: It’s interesting that so much of doing the first part—the following my explorations, I’m taking classes, I’m doing stuff on my own, I’m experimenting with qigong and acupressure—but all of the classes are online. You know, one’s online with someone in Santa Cruz, one’s with a teacher in Hawaii, and one’s a DVD class. And so in doing the first, it’s pulling away from the second component more and more. And I guess I don’t know how—I don't know if you would have advice on how to break out of that. Because it’s kind of hard to practice qigong when you’re not in a class. It’s not something I can just go practice in a public space by my—… Or I don’t feel comfortable (laughs) doing that right now. Do you have any advice?
ELIAS: What I would say to you first of all is that is only one avenue, --
LINDA: Okay.
ELIAS: --that you are thinking in a very narrow direction.
LINDA: Okay.
ELIAS: And in that, your physical activity in a discipline does not have to be the avenue you are interactive. You can be interactive in any capacity.
In this, it does not matter what you do or how you are interactive and connecting with other individuals—it matters that you do it. It matters that you are interacting with other individuals and that you are not only interacting with a small circle of other individuals, therefore that you are not limited only to your partner or your family but that you are engaging other individuals also.
The reason for this is interconnected with the other piece of the interest. Because when you allow yourself to be interactive with other individuals, they present different energies to you and different ideas. Your interactions are different, therefore they give you different experiences, and that encourages you in different directions of your own curiosities, your own interests, your own explorations.
Also, you are more likely to be engaging fun and lighter interactions and humor if you are broadening your scope of your interactions. Let me express to you—and this is not a question that you must answer now, but merely contemplate it.
LINDA: Okay.
ELIAS: How often do you genuinely laugh?
LINDA: Yeah. Not very often.
ELIAS: How often do you laugh to the degree in which you are actually fatiguing yourself from laughing so much? This is an interesting question, because when you present opportunities to yourself to be laughing, that is an indicator that you are genuinely allowing yourself to enjoy life. You are engaging it, you are enjoying it, and you are allowing yourself to perceive it from an angle of playfulness.
Even in relation to subject matters that might in themselves be serious or sad or irritating or anxiety inducing, even all of those types of subjects have a lighter side to them, that dependent upon the angle in which you are perceiving them, even something that seems tremendously serious can be perceived in a manner that can invoke laughter. And that is your indicator that you are allowing yourself those connections and to actually enjoy life, that it is worth enjoying, rather than being so serious that everything you do is about outcomes.
LINDA: Yes. I can see I have definitely moved into that place.
ELIAS: What I would say to you is give yourself a brief time framework to re-evaluate this subject of Reviresco, of regeneration. Not that it is not successful—it is. But there are other pieces that are involved that you have not been paying attention to.
And when you are not looking at the whole, when you are only addressing to pieces, generally you will not necessarily be satisfied with the outcome, because you are not addressing to the whole picture. You continue to be painting over and over and over one piece of the canvas, and the rest of the canvas is blank.
LINDA: Right.
ELIAS: The picture doesn’t develop much if you are only painting one piece.
LINDA: Right. Hm. All right.
Well, that is a nice expansion of my perspective. And it fits with that loss of joie de vivre—whatever that is (both laugh)—that I have felt for some time and have felt constrained by.
Well, I will consider it, but not too seriously. (Both laugh) I will consider it.
ELIAS: And in that, be involved.
LINDA: Yeah.
ELIAS: Move yourself in directions in which you CAN be interactive, in which you are doing with other individuals, that you are involving yourself and you are stimulating your interests in directions in which you will be motivated to pursue more.
LINDA: All right, I shall. (Laughs) I will.
ELIAS: Excellent.
LINDA: And I wonder if there's perhaps a connection—we talked about my partner and his experience somewhat. And his body did improve with the acupuncture and he’s still doing that, but it seems to have plateaued. And in his perspective, it seems to be leaving him where he gets offers of work or jobs that he can’t accept or do because of the limitations, the pain he still has to a degree enough that he can’t do the work.
And he’s expressed that he’s felt depressed, and I think somewhat confused and not knowing what this means for him, that he can no longer be a cabinetmaker. He’s always transitioned from one interest or focus, work, based on this passion and this pull. Whatever he’s moved into has felt compelling, whether it was his T-shirt business or moving and becoming a sea captain, a charter boat captain. And so he’s looking for, I believe, that compelling interest and answer to both the issue that he doesn’t seem to be able to continue to do what he’s doing, and yet he doesn’t feel an interest or a compelling passion for something different.
ELIAS: And I would express that he likely won’t, in that position.
LINDA: Okay.
ELIAS: I will express that inspiration comes when you stop dwelling on what you can’t do, and when you stop looking for something else. I would express that you yourself have experienced this. When you are so focused on what you don’t want to do or what you can’t do, and you are so desperately looking for the next replacement, what I should do, you give yourself no inspiration, because your attention is consumed with those two subjects, and therefore there is no allowance for an inspiration.
I will express in the same manner that I have with you: stop looking. Be open to what you present to yourself without looking for it. Be open to that inspiration can present itself in countless different forms, but you will miss it if you are looking for it. You will look past it.
And in that, the reason you look past it is because while you are looking for it, regardless of what you think, you have criteria. Therefore, what you are looking for, even when you think you don’t know what you are looking for, you have associations. And that creates a criteria list, which becomes very narrow.
And in that, the only expressions you see are what fits into that. And not much fits into that, and therefore you don’t see much, because your criteria list is based in what you already know.
LINDA: Right. (Laughs)
ELIAS: Rather than the possibilities of what you don’t know.
LINDA: And I think there are probably many people right now, from what I’ve seen and experienced, that there are many people that are in the circumstances I’ve been in or that he’s been in, and there’s sort of this pattern of wanting to engage more meaningful work and to feel inspiration.
And yet I think part of that criteria list is this ongoing need, this ongoing association with money, that… Even with me, where I have the freedom right now, I experience this ticking clock. Right now it’s a little bit muted, but there’s this ticking clock of how long I have the freedom to explore before my savings run out. And it’s time to find a way to disassociate or soften that influence on creating a rather substantial point on that criteria list.
ELIAS: Yes. But that is the point of being present.
LINDA: Can you expand on that?
ELIAS: Stop projecting. Stop worrying. Stop being concerned. Start acknowledging. Remember the basic principle: you always create more of what you pay attention to.
LINDA: Right.
ELIAS: Therefore, if you are paying attention in being present and not worrying and not being concerned, and paying attention to possibilities or what could possibly interest you today—not forever, not for a considerable time framework, not for a career, but what can possibly interest you today, regardless of what it is. It may be a video game. It may be sitting in a chair outside in the sun and watching what passes by. That may be what interests you today.
It matters not what it is. The point is, you create more of what you pay attention to, automatically. Therefore, the more you move in the direction of being concerned about money, the more you give yourself reason to be concerned about money. The more you move in a direction of being concerned or worrying about what you should do with your life, the more you don’t do anything with your life or you don’t do anything satisfying with your life. The more you move in the direction of what you can’t do, the more you immobilize yourself and you can’t do more.
Therefore, as simple as it seems—and I acknowledge that at times, as ludicrous as it seems (Linda laughs)—the more present you are, the more present you will be. If you are moving in the direction of allowing yourself in the day to do what interests you, even if what interests you is watching what passes by you as you sit sipping tea, the more you give yourself that allowance to interest you.
But you don’t present interest to yourself if what you are paying attention to is what you can’t do or what isn’t satisfying or what isn’t good enough, or if you are paying attention to what may or may not happen tomorrow or a year from now or five years from now. There is power in presence.
LINDA: I think, maybe more for me than others, but I think it’s paying attention to what I have to do or what I think I should do that’s more the motivating or the focus of what I do too much of the time.
ELIAS: I would agree. But I would not necessarily agree with the piece that you do it more than other individuals. I would express that perhaps you do it more than some individuals, but you do it less than others.
LINDA: (Laughs) Well, that’s good to know. (Both laugh) My responsibility bents can be rather strong, but I’m working on it. (Both laugh) I’m working on it.
ELIAS: This is also a significant piece. Stop working on it.
LINDA: (Laughs) Yeah. It is interesting that I would have used that word—
ELIAS: The responsibility piece of yourself is part of your guidelines. That is natural. Stop fighting with it. Stop trying to change it. But rather, accept that this is a significant piece of you and move with it. Use it in manners that benefit you, rather than manners that constrict you or discount you.
LINDA: Could you give me an example?
ELIAS: I would express that because you have such a strong sense of responsibility, that in many capacities moves you in directions that are organized and that are looking at the bigger picture, in many capacities. Those are benefits.
I would express that your sense of responsibility is expressed not only in what you are supposed to do or in your obligations, which is how you translate it most of the time, but that expression is rooted in you expressing in manners that are comfortable for you, that create ease for you, and that create a flow with other individuals.
Even in relation to paying bills, you expressing your responsibility--“Pay bills”—creates an ease for you because if you move in that direction naturally, you don’t have to think about obligations. You don’t have to think about what you have to do or what you should do. You merely identify, “I have this bill. I pay it, and in that, I am done with it.” It creates ease for you. And while it is doing that, it also creates a type of satisfaction that you are also participating in some type of an agreement with other individuals.
You don’t THINK about those aspects of responsibility—you merely do it. What you think about is the idea of not doing it,--
LINDA: Right. (Laughs)
ELIAS: --and the anxiety that that generates, because it is moving in opposition to your natural expression. You naturally move in a direction of generating agreements with other individuals. You don’t like conflict. You flow more effectively when you are allowing yourself to be responsible to yourself in the agreements that you have generated with other individuals. Whether those individuals occupy a bank or a utility company or some other type of company or establishment, it matters not.
LINDA: Yeah.
ELIAS: You move in a direction of being more at ease and generating ease for yourself when you are honoring yourself by honoring your connections with other individuals by honoring agreements. Not everyone moves in that direction.
LINDA: Right. I can see that.
ELIAS: Agreements are not important to everyone. They are important to you.
LINDA: Very interesting. I hadn’t thought about it from that perspective. Which is why I talk to you. (Both laugh) You’re my perspective broadener. (Both laugh) And currently I need that, and to laugh more. And I’m going to, I’m going to. I’m not going to put it on a list or anything, but I am going to laugh more. (Both laugh)
ELIAS: And you can, if you choose to. (Both laugh)
LINDA: Well, it has been very enlightening, as always. And I do appreciate the much broader insight and perspective that you always bring to view. I appreciate that very much.
ELIAS: You are very welcome, my friend. I am tremendously encouraging of you. And I shall be offering my energy to you in support and comfort.
LINDA: (Laughs) Thank you. Thank you. I feel it. I feel it. I feel it often and appreciate it very much.
ELIAS: I shall greatly be anticipating our next meeting. In tremendous lovingness to you, my dear friend, as always, au revoir.
LINDA: Much lovingness to you. Good-bye.
(Elias departs after 1 hour 3 minutes)
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