IAI

Please note: The use of the terms "Spirit" and "God" in the following paragraphs is not meant to be misconstrued as an over-riding of your own belief system. The terms are being used generically. Feel free to substitute whatever name, term or phrase that resonates with you.

 

The letters IAI stand for three parts of a process that allows us to change the way our brains react to stimuli. The letters stand for, in sequence, Intention, Awareness and Intervention. It is strongly recommended that this process becomes incorporated into the practice the reader does the first thing every morning. These three components are specifically designed to achieve two objectives. The first objective is to start the practitioner of on their day centered in their Spirit instead of their Ego. This is based upon the belief that duality exists in each and everyone of us. There is a Native American tale that best sums up my beliefs. In it a grandfather is lecturing his grandson, telling him that each human being is made up of two wolves, a good wolf and a bad wolf. The grandfather goes on to explain that the two wolves are in constant battle with each other. At this point the grandson asks "Which wolf wins the battle?" The grandfather replies, "Which ever one you feed." I call the good wolf Spirit and the bad wolf Ego. In the Twelve Step community, there is an acronym for Ego that is "Edging God Out". The second objective this practice achieves is to focus the brain, both the cognitive and non-cognitive sections, on new ways of responding instead of old ways of reacting.

 

Prayer is a very personal practice and differs from one person to another. There is no wrong way to pray. As Rumi as once said, "There's a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground." What I believe this means is that each and every one of us are one with the Creator. Therefore everything we think, feel, say and do are transmitted immediately to the Creator. What distinguishes prayer from other forms of communications is having the intention of wanting the Creator to be addressed. There is one thing I have learned about praying that I would like to pass on to you. It is that all prayers should be an expression of gratitude and not a request. We should start each of our prayers with a phrase such as "Thank you God for" instead of "God, please give me". The expression of gratitude accomplishes two things. First, it doesn't presume that we know better than God what we need. The second is that it implies a state of Abundance as opposed to a condition of lacking. The following are the prayers I say on a daily basis, over the course of my morning. I recommend always starting with a prayer that affirms our Divinity. The reason for starting this way is that it immediately lifts us out of our default lower state of existence, Ego, and into our optional higher state of existence, Spirit. The following prayers are the ones I say each morning and are being listed as suggestions only. You are a Child of the Creator, create your own or feel free to use mine or some combination there of.

 

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Intention: Our actions create the reality of our lives. There are two powerful tools that we possess that guide our actions; our intentions and our beliefs. There are several ways we can state our intentions. There is prayer, affirmation, contemplation and just plain conversation. The key to any form of transmission is that it is intended as a message from ourselves to our Higher Power. I recommend always starting with a statement that affirms of our Divinity. The reason for starting this way is that we are immediately lifted out of our default lower state of existence, Ego, and into our optional higher state of existence, Spirit. After that I suggest starting with a couple of intentions that are demonstrations of the Divinity that we are acknowledging.

 

No matter what your chosen means of communication is there is one thing I have learned that I would like to pass on to you. It is that all communications should be an expression of gratitude and not a request. We should start each of our statements with a phrase such as “Thank you God for” instead of “God, please give me”. The expression of gratitude accomplishes two things. First, it doesn’t presume that we know better than God what we need. The second is that it implies a state of Abundance as opposed to a condition of lacking.

 

To start with I suggest setting the following four intentions. 1st. Acknowledge your own Divinity, in any way you are comfortable doing so. (example; I am One with God in Love and Light.) 2nd. Is a demonstration of your Divinity by intending to practice, as best as you can, unconditional love for yourself and others. (example; Thank you God for showing me how to be unconditionally loving of myself and others.) 3rd. Is a demonstration of your unconditional love by intending to practice, as best as possible, forgiveness for yourself and others. (example; Thank you God for showing me how to be forgiving of myself and others.) 4th. Intend to eliminate a behavior that is interfering with your ability to live a serene and joyous life. (example; Thank you God for removing the obsession and compulsion to act out in anger today.)

 

This is the minimal practice. Additional Spiritual practice after these four intentional prayers is encouraged.

 

Awareness: This means, as best as you can throughout your waking hours, being as aware as possible, of your thoughts, feelings and actions. Anytime your awareness shows you that you are going against your morning intentions, you go to third letter.

 

Intervention: When you become aware that you are going against your intentions, you need to intervene on yourself. You need to do this gently. If you are not gentle with yourself, not only are you going against your intentions, you are creating an atmosphere that will perpetuate the behavior you want to intervene on. An example of a gentle intervention is "Stop, this doesn't serve me anymore". After you state your intervention you then repeat the morning intention that you are not complying with until your thought, feeling and/or action is back in compliance with your morning intention. You may find yourself intervening numerous times throughout your day. This is alright. This indicates that you are becoming more aware. The need for intervention has always been there, its just you were so accepting of the ego chatter you didn't see that it wasn't serving you.