Dr. Gail Brenner

Sacred Space for Awakened Living

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You Can Change the World

“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render to the world.”
~Ramana Maharshi

In some ways, it’s a dark time in the history of the world and humanity.

It seems easy to look around and find a lack of compassion for human suffering and our planet, war and conflict, and desperate, disenfranchised people just trying to survive.

The news is full of stories that highlight the violence, death, and despair that result from choices people make based on fear and delusion.

It’s not too difficult to get sucked into a feeling of helplessness, resisting the world as it is and wanting it to change for the better. Can’t people just come to their senses and be kind to each other?

Staying stuck in this story of resistance, if you’re like me, you’ll feel a knot of tension inside that sits there, unmoving, every time you read another report of struggle and misery somewhere in the world.

So what to do? Do we wait—and hope—for things to change?

Certainly, if you feel moved to take action for the betterment of humankind, then do that. Volunteer, join an organization you support, donate money, and use your vote wisely.

But there’s something more essential that is possible, and that is to realize that every single choice you make matters.

Can you control how those in power govern? Can you end a war or feed those who are starving? For the most part, no.

But what you absolutely can do is turn your attention inward, shine the light of awareness on your own conditioned patterns and confused thinking, and live in the world as a beacon of clarity and love. By doing so, you’re ending the inner war with your own experience.

This is what heals division and brings the objects of the world—including you—to be more in alignment with their natural state of peace and love.

You might feel helpless about the challenges in the world. But do what is available to you: be an activist for your own freedom.

Commit to waking up out of the dream that makes you believe you’re wounded and small. Bring open and loving presence to what’s happening in the world and your reactions to it. And reflect back acceptance, compassion, wholeness, and possibility.

This is what changes everything.

When you’re freed up from the trap of the conditioned mind, you naturally become open and generous. No longer caught behind self-imposed barriers, you see love everywhere, which informs your every action.

All things in form are an expression of the underlying fabric of universal consciousness. That’s why what you do matters to the whole—your actions and way of being bring about either more suffering and fear or more surrender into love.

This is the fierce choice that you’re actually making in every moment of your life.

Stuck in mental stories that take you away from the present moment, you’re self-focused and resistant, believing you lack what you need to be happy.

But as you see through this distorted fear-based thinking and move beyond it, you become an open vessel for the free flow of undivided consciousness. You’re available to welcome everything unconditionally in love.

The ills of the world are created by people, just like you, who make decision after decision from personal pride, need, lack, and fear. This is what glorifies the belief in the separate self.

Know that you are born of love, just like every other being in the universe. Live consciously as this love—as much as possible—and you are doing your part to change the world.

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The Magic Is in the Moment

“The discovery that peace, happiness and love are ever-present within our own Being, and completely available at every moment of experience, under all conditions, is the most important discovery that anyone can make.”
~Rupert Spira

Many of us long to awaken to our true nature, and we have ideas about what that will be like.

We think that if we’re awake, we’ll be in a state of bliss forever, life will always flow smoothly, or we’ll never again experience difficult feelings.

And here’s the truth: bliss doesn’t last, life presents challenges, and the range of human feelings arises.

But what’s absolutely amazing is this. In this moment and any moment, it’s possible to find our way out of suffering and into peace.

That’s why the magic is in the moment.

You don’t need to be concerned with changing who you are or figuring out how to solve all your problems. You can’t erase your painful past. These goals will keep your mind busy forever and won’t bring you the happiness you long for.

The way out of suffering is much simpler, and it boils down to the moment.

The only time you’re suffering—is now, and the only time you can let go of the turmoil of personal stories—is now.

Right now in this moment, you can relax away from the stressful mind and lean into the open, loving space of being aware that is completely at ease with things as they are.

Right now, without any thoughts, you’re not broken and there’s nothing wrong. You discover that you are present, whole, loving, and peaceful…

And this is what’s true in any moment.

Remembering that the magic is in the moment, when you wake up to realize that the conditioned mind has taken you over, it’s cause for celebration. Now you are aware of yourself again!

Here is your golden opportunity to stop and recognize what is present for you.

  • Instead of feeding the story of lack and limitation for one more second, you become aware of the breath;
  • Instead of embellishing the drama of your emotions, you expand your attention to be aware of physical sensations appearing in your body;
  • Then letting go of the breath and physical sensations, you rest in presence, coming home to the peace of your true nature.

You may have this opportunity hundreds of times a day, and that’s perfectly okay. Just do it…in this moment…and the next…and the next…

This is how problems and habits change. There’s nothing to analyze, nothing to solve or figure out. And it takes no time at all.

Realize that you’re suffering, right now, because your attention has grabbed onto personal thoughts and feelings. Then, unhook your attention and let it rest here in presence, unattached to any personal concept.

Your mind will tell you that finding freedom in the moment isn’t enough. It will say that you should always be peaceful and that these mental habits shouldn’t recur. It will scold you for not practicing enough or doing it right.

The mind is running on the assumption that if you were truly free then painful and stressful thoughts would never again visit you. But none of this is true.

Conditioned programming recurs—that’s its nature. It pulls you into ruminating about the past and worrying about what might come.

But enter the timeless now, and you’re home. It’s eternally here, the all-encompassing, naturally welcoming field of presence that holds everything with love.

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Feeling Inadequate? Living Beyond Mind-Made Limitations

“If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.”
~Lao Tzu

“I feel like a loser.” These were the words of a friend of mine, as we sat over coffee, and it just didn’t compute. Before me was a lovely woman with the kindest heart.

As I listened to her story, I became aware of the impressive power that comes with believing our thoughts.

Every time she showed excitement or clarity, in a split second these thoughts derailed her. “I can’t…” “It won’t work…” No wonder she felt like a loser. Her thoughts were constantly pulling her into limitations that she couldn’t find her way out of.

These beliefs telling us we’re inadequate and flawed are painful. Somehow they end up inhabiting our minds, living there for decades, stealing our happiness, creativity, and well being.

These thoughts are so familiar that we automatically believe them without questioning them. Then they unknowingly become our living reality, influencing how we show up in our relationships, our choices, and our ideas about what’s possible in our lives.

If you want to continue living the painful belief of your personal inadequacy, then read no further. But if you want to live in the truth of who you are, if you’re tired of feeling the weight of not living fully and freely, then bring your attention inward to your own direct experience.

That’s the beginning of the work that sets you free.

Inquire into Your Thoughts

The simple act of inquiring into thoughts is revolutionary because it invites you to reflect on well-worn assumptions and habits of mind.

Bring awareness to thought patterns you take for granted, and question if they accurately describe you. Are you really damaged, insufficient, or incapable? Or are these old labels that no longer apply?

Then go deeper to feel into the impact of these thoughts. How do they make you feel? Do they bring you peace and happiness? Notice the sense of lack and how it propels you to relate to others.

Be aware of how believing these thoughts shrinks you into a limited space…and begin to consider what’s possible outside this space. Who are you if you’re free of these thoughts that define you? What is most alive in you that wants to be expressed?

Turn Toward Your Feelings

Defining yourself as inadequate is also experienced as feelings in your body. What emotions are present—fear, rage, disappointment, grief? Go beyond the stories to recognize and welcome the sensations and energies that arise in your body.

Breathe with how the feeling lives in your body.…letting go of the story of not being good enough and being only with sensations. Have this be a lifestyle so the body has time and space to unwind.

Then practice letting it all be. Relax your attention away from sensations and into the openness in which these sensations arise. Here, everything is held exactly as it is with no resistance. Feel the liberation in all parts of your being.

Experiment with Living Free from Inadequacy

Now that you’re open beyond the story of inadequacy and you’re kind toward your feelings, you get to experiment with living from your essential wholeness.

Stand in your brilliance full of possibility. The thoughts may come, but you know they don’t define you. The feelings may appear, but you meet them lovingly so they’re not in charge.

What are you moved to do? How is it to show up unencumbered and free…in your fullness? How would things change for you?

Expand beyond habitual thoughts. Breathe new space into your body. Then see how life wants you to shine.

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How to Be with a Busy Mind

“One has to watch the fluctuations of the mind without touching anything. By remaining as a neutral witness of thoughts, sensations, and perceptions, one comes to know that which is prior to the mind.”
~Swami Atmananda Udasin

What is it like when we’re caught in a busy mind? We’re flooded with thoughts that doubt, compare, judge, worry, and ruminate.

And what do we do with all these thoughts? Repeat the same stories over and over, engulf others in unnecessary details, and compulsively share our self-doubt, seeking advice from anyone who will listen.

I was once in the courtyard of a yoga studio waiting for a daylong training to start. I struck up a conversation with a young woman near me who proceeded to ask questions nonstop. How many people will be here? What will the teacher be like? Will we have any breaks? How hard do you think this will be?

My answer to all of these questions was, “I don’t know.” And I felt compassion for the anxious reality she was creating for herself.

Isn’t this how many people live their everyday lives? Attached to thinking, swirling around in the contents of the mind, trying to know what can’t be known, trying to control what can’t be controlled.

Would you like to know why you’re not peaceful and happy? You’re somehow believing the thoughts in your mind. It’s as simple as that.

So let’s open to discovering that there’s a whole other relationship you can have with your busy mind—and it’s available to you now and in every moment.

It’s a way of relating to your mind that frees you from stressful thinking. It’s kind…and supportive of your peace and happiness. Sound good? Here’s how:

  • Experiment with turning your attention away from what your thoughts are telling you—because they’re limiting, false, and mostly unnecessary;
  • Lose interest in your thinking—because it undermines your well-being;
  • Feel into what’s happening in your body as a way to reconnect with presence here and now.
  • Rest in the open space that remains—once you stop engaging with the content of your thoughts.

Your attention is a precious resource, and what you pay attention to is what becomes your reality.

The beauty of losing interest in your thinking is this: you’re not resisting your thoughts or trying to get rid of them. You’re not efforting to make them more positive.

You simply stop giving thoughts your attention.

A peaceful mind is not muddied by excessive thinking. It’s infinitely curious, unendingly open, fundamentally unattached, and at ease with not knowing.  Thoughts come, but they’re not given the time of day.

Turn your attention away from your mind and into the lived reality of this moment. What is here right now? What is fresh and alive?

You’ll discover the peace you long for, outside of your busy mind, right here waiting for you…

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A Trauma-Informed View of Conditioned Patterns

“Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.”
~Nisargadatta Maharaj

Do you find yourself getting stuck in the same thought patterns, emotions, or behaviors over and over?

  • You keep ruminating about your life purpose;
  • You’re sad because nothing goes your way;
  • You’re relationships feel unsatisfying and you can’t figure out why;
  • You carry around your feelings about things that happened in your past.

Then perhaps a trauma-informed view will help you.

“Trauma-informed” is a phrase I’ve been hearing a lot recently. It offers an invitation to view our human lives through the lens of early trauma—how the unresolved feelings from our experiences when we were young show up in our life situations now.

“Trauma-informed” is wide-reaching. It can apply to ourselves, others, our relationships, our choices…and includes how conditioned ways of being were passed through the generations in our families and appear in our culture and society as a whole.

Are you interested in understanding the root of wars, political problems, climate change, and social issues? Consider the trauma-informed view, and a lot will be illuminated.

Some people say that it’s not what’s wrong with you…it’s what happened to you. And I would go further to add that it’s not just about the facts of what happened…it’s your reaction to them…how what happened back then still lives in your body, mind, and emotions. That’s what gets triggered now.

Years ago, I worked with someone who was trying to quit smoking. When we started untangling what was behind the urge to smoke, his whole history around the stress he lived with as a child was revealed.

If what you feel now is loneliness, exhaustion, persistent problems in relationships, a tendency to feel hurt or rejected…if you engage in any compulsive behaviors…these are all indicators that a young part of you is activated. What’s happening now is triggering a reaction to similar events from the past.

From the trauma-informed view, there is no such thing as an overreaction. It might look like someone is reacting way too strongly to the current situation. But once the roots of the reaction are unearthed, the way the feelings are expressed makes complete sense.

Why is it useful to include early trauma in our exploration of awakened living? Because any emotional reactions we have are opportunities for greater freedom.

  • We notice them with curiosity rather than ignoring them or playing them out unconsciously;
  • We turn toward ourselves which means we stop waiting for others to change so we can feel whole;
  • We bring loving acceptance to the young parts of ourselves that have been activated;
  • We have the space to be fully alive in the present, including all that appears, rather than being driven by our unexamined emotions.

If we want to know the deepest peace that is the foundation of every moment, then we need to understand how we’re taken away by longstanding conditioned patterns appearing now.

And if we don’t, we’re engaging in spiritual bypass, where we use the idea of spiritual awakening to overlook our need- and fear-based tendencies.

Opening to everything, we get to be curious about our present moment experience. Become familiar with the signs of stress in your nervous system and the cycling thoughts that won’t leave you alone. Be aware when you feel unsafe, shut down, or needy.

Then let these experiences be here…as they are…in the loving spaciousness of your true nature. That’s how these inner knots gradually become free.

Digesting early trauma is a rich path that takes time and skill. Don’t hesitate to reach out for a therapist or join a healing community that feels welcoming and safe.

And when you’re committed to this path, here’s what’s in store for you. Little by little, your life force is released from the emotional hooks from the past.

Now you’re available to live fully—your birthright—with creativity, inspiration, gratitude, and love.

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