In my last blog post, I shared some of the questions people ask me about my own practice – and how my thoughts and experiences with this work have evolved over time. I talked about how I’ve come to approach my practice from a place of pure curiosity, with the idea of “investing in the unknown.” If you missed Part I, you can read it here.

As often happens, another student came to me with some questions that are perfectly timed for the conversation we’re having. Here’s what she asked me in a recent Dr Joe Live session:

Dr Joe, which strategy of The Formula is most important? Intentionally doing something – or surrendering without expecting a result? What if we don’t see synchronicities? How do we know if we’re doing the right thing?

I think about this – the incredibly delicate balance between intention and surrender – often in my own journey. It comes up for us at all stages of practice.

On one side of the equation, we have our intention – a function of the brain. An intention involves getting clear about what we want. Imagining an outcome. Seeing a future. Becoming aware of a new possibility in the quantum field.

On the other side, we have surrender – a function of the heart. Trusting in the outcome we’ve imagined. Believing in that future – without getting in the way. Knowing it will happen – without forcing or controlling anything. We stop trying to predict the outcome. We invest in the unknown.

The challenge of balancing intention and surrender comes from our usual way of creating – matter-to-matter, in three-dimensional reality. We’re used to setting an intention, then trying to get it done. And if it doesn’t happen, we try harder. That’s because the material world is the plane of demonstration, so we have to do something to create an outcome.

When we “over-intend,” we naturally try. And I’ve been there. I’ve tried thousands of times – without getting an outcome. Because trying implies separation. As I said in Part I, that’s not how it works in the quantum field.

But – here’s where the delicate balance comes in – if we “over-surrender” to compensate, we become lazy, lethargic, or disengaged. We’re not making any intentional effort. We’re not connected to what we’re doing – or why we’re doing it.

There really is a tension between the two – a razor’s edge; a tight rope. We need just the right balance between the function of the brain – the intention – and the function of the heart – surrender. That’s where some type of order is needed. That’s where coherence comes in.

The more coherence we have in the brain, the stronger the signal we create in the quantum field. We send the signal out with clear intention. And trusting in the outcome is a function of a coherent heart. With an elevated emotion, we open our hearts. We surrender. We draw the experience to us.

I’ve found that many people understand the concept of developing a clear intention – a coherent brain – but struggle more with surrender – a coherent heart. Here’s the simplest way to think of it. To bring coherence to our heart means we’ve got to get really good at feeling those elevated emotions. We’ve got practice tuning in to what it feels like when we trust. When we open our hearts. When we’re in love with our creation.

And we need to learn how to feel those feelings ahead of the experience. We have no idea how or when it’s going to happen. We just know it will happen – and we’re so lost in the feeling, so deep into it, that we forget about ourselves.

And this, for me, is an essential aspect of investing in the unknown. It’s my greatest interest – to lose myself entirely in the immersive experience. Because when I synchronize the energy between my brain and my heart, that coherence in my heart becomes a magnetic field. And the more I feel the feelings of my future, the more connected I am to it. That means I’m not looking for it anymore. My body feels like that future is already happening. And I’m completely out of the way. That’s when I can trust.

So, once we’ve achieved that state – that delicate balance of brain and heart coherence – what’s next? What happens when we get up from our meditation – and we look for evidence of this experiment with the unknown?

This is where so many of us lose our way – because we default back to the person we were before we sat down for meditation. And this is why it’s important to get so good at connecting to the emotions of our future … so good at practicing with our eyes closed … that we can practice with our eyes open.

We need to be able to summon and sustain those elevated emotions in our daily lives. When we can stay in the energy of our intention, and keep feeling those feelings of our future, we’ll start to see evidence the experiment is working. That’s when our labor transforms … into fun.

We’ll start to experience unusual synchronicities. Serendipities. Coincidences. Opportunities. And – as I say to our community at our retreats – I’m not talking about a parking space magically opening up near the supermarket entrance. I’m talking about unmistakable events that confirm:

Yes. You are the creator of your life.

These are signposts on the path. And they’re telling us: this is the way.

This is part of the mystical experience I think of as communing with the unseen energy of the quantum field – the divine. I can’t wait to talk to you about that in Part III.

 

If you’d like to learn more about how to take part in monthly conversations with Dr Joe, visit our Dr Joe Live page. And, if you have a question for Dr Joe about your own practice, comment below.