Living In The Flow
Michael Blair Schleyer, Ph.D.

Everyone lives in the flow of life to some extent. To what extent is the important question, for the more one is in the flow, the more life is magical and adventurous – not a problem, or a series of problems to be solved.

The flow can be likened to a river, the river of life. Everyone swims in it, moving toward a more enlightened state of awareness. This state is brought about by experiences, each containing one or more spiritual lessons to be learned. The quickest, most direct route to this enlightenment is found in the center of the river, in the center of the current. In that space, the water moves toward its destination the fastest.

Of course, the center of the current is the most frightening for most people. There is nothing to hold on to, and as those who have traveled there know, you cannot fight the current. If you do, it causes havoc and panic. You must move with it, in total surrender, with faith that you will survive the trip. You allow it to carry you to its conclusion. You trust that this greater energy will bring you to where you most need to be.

Nearer the shore, where the rocks and boulders and tree branches are numerous, it is easier to slow down, grabbing on for safety, controlling your life out of reason and fear. However, you get battered more, and the trip is rougher and less exciting. You feel ‘stuck’ much of the time, and end up in the same place after a much longer journey, anyway.

The spiritual path begins with small tastes of the flow. Sometimes the flow is experienced through drugs (which make them so seductive). However the flow is experienced, most people want more. They feel more alive.

Most of your time at first is spent out of the center of the flow, dealing with problems and frustrations, fighting for things, ideas, or ideals to which you are attached. You begin to wonder why this state of flow exists, and how to get connected to it in a more permanent way. You experiment with your life. This brief will give you guidelines which will save much experimentation and time. It will help you move to the center of the flow more quickly. Be aware that it takes much courage to live there.

3 Definitions

Flow: A particular energy field or way of existing where events happen without effort, as if magic were in effect. Change in all aspects of life is experienced more quickly. The world seems more adventurous and mystical in this space.

Intuition: A message or feeling coming from your deepest self, as a form of guidance. If you do not follow this guidance, you end up ‘paying for it’ in some way.

Energy: An opening, an increase in aliveness that brings attention and clarity. There is evidence of more peace and awareness of what truly is. It is important that you have faith that life’s process is a totally supportive experience. No matter what it appears to be, this is the case. Events that appear negative are caused by karmic consequences of past experiences given for a spiritual lesson, or as a test of a lesson previously learned. How you respond to them are lessons in themselves, and an indication of your current state of awareness. When you are experiencing an event that seems negative, truly ask why, and you will learn.

The Process Of Moving In The Flow

1. An idea comes to you and carries energy with it, bringing it to your attention.

2. The idea and its energy persists, usually over a few days or more. (Exception: when the energy is strong and a move must be made immediately.)

3. As the doors open to manifest this change, each step must be taken.

4. You must also surrender totally to the possibility that the doors may shut at any time, and the experience may not happen.

Spiritual Timing

It is God’s timing (or the timing of the One, or the timing of the most inward Self), rather than our own, with which we must learn to live. God’s timing puts us in the flow, and brings us always to the right place at the right time for our spiritual growth. Spiritual timing is a difficult discipline to practice, and it takes dedication and awareness to master.

Make plans, but be flexible enough to do what you intuit when the time arrives.Be responsible by letting others know if the flow takes you away from a previous appointment.

Get used to following your internal guidance in deciding when and where to go.

Do something only if it feels right. Stop immediately if it doesn’t.

Do not rush or go too slowly. If you get the sense of rushing or going too slowly, you are out of spiritual time. Bring yourself back to center. If you have rushed, or moved too slowly, you may find yourself in an alternate time frame, experiencing things that you hadn’t counted on. Accept this new time frame and bring yourself back to center within it.

I have learned to move in this manner over the years. If you don’t move when the time is right, when the move is apparent, all kinds of things seem to go wrong. Your world becomes confusing and is wrought with all types of emotional explosions.

I have moved to new cities and new situations based only on internal guidance, with no guarantee of the outcome. This tends to be frightening at first, but intensifies the sense of adventure and exploration in your life. And things always work out for the best, for the highest good. When you live this way, you are living in true service.

Concentrate on the present. As your thoughts wander to the future or past, do not become involved. As soon as you become aware, re-focus on the present – what you are doing, seeing, hearing and experiencing.

Do not wear a watch. Consult one as little as possible. Use you intuition to know when and where to go. Learn to follow your own inner energy without question. There are no vacations in the flow. You live and experience fully wherever you go with no definite plans to return. Buy one-way tickets, except when round trip prices are equivalent.

You must develop your ability to be patient. When the flow doesn’t seem to be working in large ways, it still is, in smaller ways. Make note of these ways when you get weary. Sometimes you must wait long periods of time (short in other people’s minds) until a major change happens, sometimes several months or longer.

There is always a reason behind these periods, usually providing a time for rest, or for spiritual lessons to be learned. You always get what you really need in the flow. Try not to worry about this. If you’ve acted in a manner to move you away from the center of the flow, it may take some time to karmically re-align before the flow fully kicks in again.

All anger, impatience, greed, and insensitivity, things that take you away from the center of the flow, can be traced to attachments of some kind. As you become aware, let them go, apologize as quickly as you are able to for your inappropriate behavior, and move back to the flow, where you are happy and feeling more alive and well.

Pull nothing from the flow. Simply let everything come and everything go.

Michael Blair Schleyer, Ph.D., is a spiritual teacher whose areas of specialty include spiritual healing, spiritual lessons, and living in the Flow. He is also a gourmet living foods chef and teacher, working with people who have weak immune systems.

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