When you change the way you look at the world, you change your experience of life.
That’s a belief that lies behind many spiritual and personal development practices.

But How Do You Do It?
How do you change the way you look at the world?

You change the way you look at the world by changing the way you think.

But how do you change the way you think?
By allowing yourself to challenge your long-held beliefs, assumptions, excuses and habitual behaviours. It’s time to see whether they’re now out of date – then to allow yourself to try new ones on for size.

… by letting go of our preconceptions, habits and expectations; by living in the moment and choosing to see what really is; rather than what we perceive; by getting our Ego-mind out of the way.

I’m always up for pushing back the boundaries of my beliefs and clearing away Ego-baggage, which is probably why I’ve been so good at attracting suitable experiences into my life over the years

I believe (ooh – dangerous word!) that personal and spiritual growth depends on us looking in the mirror and stripping away what is no longer serving our highest good, like peeling off layers of the onion.

And I now feel I’ve reached a stage where I’m ready to undertake the project – or experiment – that I’m going to living for the next year.

I intend to “live” the Tao Te Ching.
For those of you who aren’t yet familiar with this ancient book, the Tao (pronounced “Dow” as in “Dow Jones”) was written by Lao Tzu (Chinese for Old Man) about 2,500 years ago and is felt to contain ancient wisdom and Universal Truths in its 81 verses.
Although it can be read in an afternoon, the real benefit comes from applying its wisdom to your daily life and allowing yourself to “try on” the meanings of each verse – even though they can appear somewhat mind-bending to Western thinking.
This is a truly challenging and stretching experience.

How Am I Going To “Live” The Tao Te Ching?
Each week – or so – I will be studying one of the verses, taking each in turn. I’ll be working with various translations.
I’ll be “living” each verse, as though it were truth – and seeing how it changes things.
I’ll be sharing my experiences of all this via the Beyond Alchemy blog. It’s not my intention to tell you what to think. I am not asking you to believe anything I write. Instead I am hoping that some of the insights might resonate with you and inspire you to take your own journey, deeper into experiencing who you really are and letting go of the beliefs and behaviours that have held you back.

My intention is to offer an interpretation of the Tao Te Ching for 21st Century concerns, bringing you tools to help you apply it in your life today, as transformational techniques.

If you’d like to join me on this journey or follow the progress, make sure you bookmark this link:
Living TheTao

See you there!
Clare x