Dr. Kathie Black CYA-E-RYT500
19 yrs.
“Please, don’t tell me your idea”, my husband exclaimed!
“But, why? It’s such a great idea?” I replied, surprised at his response.
“Because if you tell me, I’ll have to build it for you,” he explained.
He’s right. For the past 35 years we have been working together as a team. I seem to have the crazy ideas, he has the vision along with me, and he then turns around and helps that vision become clear, real, and physically tangible. Today I want to share with you some of the wonderful crystallization of some of my own personal intentions.
“But, why? It’s such a great idea?” I replied, surprised at his response.
“Because if you tell me, I’ll have to build it for you,” he explained.
He’s right. For the past 35 years we have been working together as a team. I seem to have the crazy ideas, he has the vision along with me, and he then turns around and helps that vision become clear, real, and physically tangible. Today I want to share with you some of the wonderful crystallization of some of my own personal intentions.
Heat to Heal Retreat & School
Our current Heat to Heal™ studio was originally a piece of dirt with a side hill. It first became an addition to our rather large home complete with a six-car garage and workroom for the boys and a master bath on the second floor. For many years that garage was the place where manifestations of projects were realized. The boys (we raised three sons and had one living at home at the time – when I refer to the “boys”, I’m talking about my husband and sons), built trucks, kayaks, more trucks, motorcycles, Christmas presents, ATVs, more trucks in that space. At one point the workroom became an exercise room for my son when he married and suited our downstairs for his new wife, and soon to follow baby. The space was full of love even if it was full of grease and noise. When our son, wife, daughter, and soon to be new son made their move to work for Blackstone in the Vancouver area, the space was now ours to intend. My husband had a large shop at the top of the property and for years my intention had focused on turning this space into what is now our amazing Heat to Heal™ Studio. My thoughts of the space began while sitting in a particularly stressful Faculty Meeting at work, and I started doodling on the back of the agenda by drawing out our house. A year or so later while in Mexico at a Yoga Teacher training, I drew the space again with the entire lower floor as a therapy centre and the space for the studio with windows all around, beautiful floors, and a space dedicated to healing. I saw this in my head over and over. I explained my thoughts to my husband and through his efforts, the crystallization of the building became even more clear and sharper than what I saw in my head. Throughout the project I kept repeating to myself, “If you build it, they will come,” taking the intent even further past the building stages onto the wonderful times with students to come in the future. The result of our final building is an amazing manifestation of our intention.
YOGA STUDIO
Fast forward to the communication at the beginning of this article.
We held a silent retreat in November at Heat to Heal™. It was a wonderful 24 hours being completing unplugged from technology and other trappings of our every day life. The only thing is, how on earth do you meditate and keep your mind calm when it is not a usual part of your life? I focused on renovating my home. In my head. After each meditation, I pondered each and every room of my space and completely redesigned my space from the floor to the ceiling. Utilizing existing rooms, changing some walls, removing some rooms, heightening ceilings, thinking, “I wonder if this is possible? Will the roof trusses allow this change?” Then thinking, “well pretty much anything can be done in construction”. When my house became completely crystal clear in my thoughts, my breath slowed, my mind settled and my silence was complete. It may seem like a silly way to pass the hours, but in between the prayers and meditations, my mind had to go somewhere, this is where I let it go. When my husband finally let me tell him my ideas, he said, “yes, you are right, anything can be done in construction, but honey, I think this time we aren’t going to crystalize your ideas.”
We held a silent retreat in November at Heat to Heal™. It was a wonderful 24 hours being completing unplugged from technology and other trappings of our every day life. The only thing is, how on earth do you meditate and keep your mind calm when it is not a usual part of your life? I focused on renovating my home. In my head. After each meditation, I pondered each and every room of my space and completely redesigned my space from the floor to the ceiling. Utilizing existing rooms, changing some walls, removing some rooms, heightening ceilings, thinking, “I wonder if this is possible? Will the roof trusses allow this change?” Then thinking, “well pretty much anything can be done in construction”. When my house became completely crystal clear in my thoughts, my breath slowed, my mind settled and my silence was complete. It may seem like a silly way to pass the hours, but in between the prayers and meditations, my mind had to go somewhere, this is where I let it go. When my husband finally let me tell him my ideas, he said, “yes, you are right, anything can be done in construction, but honey, I think this time we aren’t going to crystalize your ideas.”
Husband & Wife
Throughout the years my husband and I have built many homes together – never once from the ground up – always renovating existing structures, but improving and moving these spaces onto wonderful works that others now enjoy. Together we have built businesses, completed university degrees (me), raised three sons (together), fostered over 55 children, and now revel in grandchildren. During my careers and daily life my intentions for curriculum, classes, papers, books, projects for gifts and more have all begun with one idea. This idea turns into an intention, and when I fill in the details for the intention, it becomes crystallized in my head and eventually becomes a reality. It is not a quick process; it takes hard work, patience, loving thoughts, and accepting the risks along the way. Last month a friend shared a great article in the Huffington Post called, “The Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself Today” where Mark Manson, (Nov 2013) talks about the suffering you must be willing to accept on your chosen path. This article gave me many moments of pause and encouragement. We have been willing to sacrifice over the years to reach our goals. We are not wealthy people; we are abundant people. We plan and work toward our goals determining what is possible through understanding every detail of the intention we have. Do we have to forgo things and activities in order to achieve our final goals? Usually, however our final efforts are, in fact, more beautiful and peaceful than we intended. We have always gone forth with the idea that the spaces we have are just material spaces. They do not belong to us; they are a gift that can disappear in a moment – or natural disaster. Everything we have belongs to the Lord, and in his infinite wisdom, through our efforts, we have succeeded in crystallizing our intentions into wonderful amazing blessings. At this point, I must give great thanks for having an amazing partner to have shared these wonderful experiences together. I realize that not everyone has a partner along their life path, but we all have our “villages” and our “people” – those who help us along the way. We are all in this together. Find your support group and help them help you achieve your intentions.
My advice to you to help crystalize your intention: Fill in all the details, don’t overlook anything. Weigh the pros and cons, make the decision, and then pray about the decision. Meditate upon it and listen for the answer. You’ll know if it’s not the right answer because the idea will float away or you will have a “stupor of thought” meaning you wont’ remember what you were planning. The right answer will burn within you, or give you a peaceful feeling, or you will see the way clearly. When you receive the answer that your intention is the right path, then set your feet solidly on the ground and trust that your dream and intention will find the realization through your hard work.
My advice to you to help crystalize your intention: Fill in all the details, don’t overlook anything. Weigh the pros and cons, make the decision, and then pray about the decision. Meditate upon it and listen for the answer. You’ll know if it’s not the right answer because the idea will float away or you will have a “stupor of thought” meaning you wont’ remember what you were planning. The right answer will burn within you, or give you a peaceful feeling, or you will see the way clearly. When you receive the answer that your intention is the right path, then set your feet solidly on the ground and trust that your dream and intention will find the realization through your hard work.