Chris Bourne: The Endorphin Effect… Our Saving Grace

Chris Bourne, Openhand Contributor | Openhandweb.org

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What brings you joy in life?

The world is moving through challenging times. Sometimes events and circumstances can get heavy. Whilst processing our stuff is positive, dwelling too heavily in it is counterproductive. It can drag us down. So how might we keep our heads above water? How can we stay afloat in the rising torrent of human emotion? Well one answer is ‘The Endorphin Effect’. Endorphins are chemicals we can produce in our bodies to block negative energy and make us feel positively uplifted and joyful inside. It is endorphins that create the feeling of being in love for example. So how might we generate a greater sense of internal joy and love in our lives?…

It’s all a question of choice

Is the glass half full or half empty? In actual fact the glass is always full – it’s half full of air! It’s just an example of choice – how we choose to see things in life and to experience them. We can choose either to attune to the darkness all around us or the light throughout it.

When we see only the darkness and allow ourselves to become identified with that, here’s when our internal trouble begins – although processing our inner attachments and releasing the pain is good, wallowing in it certainly doesn’t help us move through. If we allow negativity to dominate our experience then internally we reproduce chemicals in the brain which flood our bloodstream, invade our bodily cells and create the feeling of internal stress – yes we’re actually changing our very cell structure to become stress!

But we can easily prevent this from happening with practice and perseverance. When we confront and process out our attachment and identification with the negative, then we can actively soften into the lightness of life, which exists everywhere even in the midst of darkness. Then we begin to release other chemicals from the brain – endorphins – which prevent the invasion of negative energies into our cells. Our cells are pumped full of the sense of joy and love, which helps balance the playing field.

Recall fond experiences

I remember fondly a holiday I once took not so long ago after I woke up. It was on the island of Majorca, on the northern coast, away from the hubbub, in the picturesque and ancient tiny village called Deia. I didn’t have much money so I was camping in a beautiful orange grove overlooking the sea…

I’d visited Deia before when (as a businessman) I’d been financially more affluent and had stayed at one of the nicer hotels – one that had an antique villa type feel. The hotel had an amazing open air jacuzzi nestled into the mountain side overlooking a fabulous panorama. On this particular morning, I’d walked up to the village just before dawn and as I passed the hotel, although this time I couldn’t afford to stay there, I wondered if anyone would notice if I sneaked in and had a nifty dip in the jacuzzi.

So I did. Fortunately no one noticed me. And as I sank into the warming waters, I quickly began to feel joy and infinite peace as all tension dissolved away from my body. Around the pool were the soft colours of sandstone and as the sun came up over the mountains in front of me, the darkness of the sky began to lighten into a wonderful indigo and then golden orange.

My favoured almond aroma wafted in on the gentle ocean breeze and in the trees all around me, the birds began their morning song, piercing the quietness with their fragile beauty. I was quickly loosing any sense of separation; the healing effects of the water, the vibration of the birds song and the joy of the sun were becoming me and I was becoming them. All tightness quickly disappeared.

As I see it now, I’m looking upwards to the surface of the water and as the golden sunlight shines through, I can see my body becoming increasingly translucent, like a wafer thin film through which the water is gently rippling.

It was at some point after that, it could have been an eternity because sense of time had stopped, I felt what I can only describe as ‘liquid gold’ begin to flow downwards from the crown of my head and into my chakras. The sense of joy, love and upliftment was beyond words. Tears welled up in my eyes and flowed ceaselessly down my cheeks.

Needless to say it’s a fond memory that will stay with me all the days of my life. And now, if I find myself in darkness and difficulty, all I have to do is bring my attention to that experience and very quickly similar sensations begin to flood my system. They’re not as strong as the original peak experience, but they’re powerful nevertheless and they have a deeply uplifting, beneficial and healing effect.

Putting our minds to it

The mind can lead us into all kinds of difficulty, but it can be our best friend, too. I’m sure, with a little attention and focus, we can all put our minds to it and each recall an experience of similar joy and beauty that deeply moved us. Maybe it was also a favoured holiday? Perhaps its the first time we fell in love? or even our earliest childhood memories dancing carelessly through golden meadows? Why not just stop for a moment and reflect…………….

It’s all around us

There are many things in our daily lives that can generate such a positive endorphin effect. Exercise for example, deep breathing and making the choice to notice the simple beauty in life: the fragile innocence of a small child; the twinkle in an old lady’s eye; an autumn leaf wafting on the breeze. If we keep applying ourselves in this way, even the seemingly insignificant can help generate uplifting joy.

This is a form of meditation of course (who said it has to be about just sitting in silence?!). The experiences I had in the magical Deia inspired me to record this one as a gift to you all. It’s called the “Liquid Gold Meditation,” which you can play or download freely from our website. Go on, take a couple of moments, generate some endorphins, enjoy…
http://www.openhandweb.org/liquid_gold_meditation

In love and liquid gold!

Chris

PS – there is a book available called “The Endorphin Effect” by William Bloom, one of Britain’s leading spiritualists. I’ve not read it, but I hear is a great read and packed full of useful information on generating endorphins.