by Michael Manion

In 2008 I needed to get into shape after dealing with various health issues successfully so I started swimming in January 2009. While doing this I found it easier if I would concentrate on a theme or idea. I used this as a sort of mantra, repeating each concept during each lap that I took. I long ago came to understand that the levels or Systems of ONA are realized in every aspect of life; so it came as no surprise when I realized that the mantras I had made up, spontaneously, to help me focus on my laps in the pool, actually spoke to the energy of the Systems in a way that was beneficial to my goal of losing weight.

Chanting affirmations as one exercises is not a new concept. ONA's contribution is to call the energy of each System as one is chanting to support healthy weight loss.

When I first started using these, I had not yet put all of these into full perspective. I thought they just had something to do with me and what I was doing to support myself in order to reshape my body. But now that I realize they reflect ONA and therefore our shared reality, I thought that publishing them here might provide some support for others who are trying to manifest healthier bodies.

The chants I made up went something like this:

• Wonderful One
• Trimming Two
• Thriving Three
• Fantastic Four
• Fat-free Five
• Slimming Six
• Slender Seven
• Evolving Eight
• Naturopathic Nine
• Together Ten
• Efficacious Eleven
• Twilight Twelve

Let's look at each of these and examine how they relate to ONA, the Systems, and each of us.

Wonderful One

To me, "wonderful" means filled with wonder. It means:

1. Outstanding: as in a quality that excites admiration or amazement
2. Exceedingly pleasing: such as suiting somebody perfectly.

These express the concept of Foundation. Each new sense of Foundation reflects this quality when it is in balance and harmony.

All of a sudden, I started to see what I had known was present all along: that these mantras relate to the movement and workings of each system and chakra. In this we find additional information of this living energy.

Trimming Two

Trimming means to cut away the unnecessary, leaving a leaner form. I began to see that Acknowledgement is a big part of this concept. Every time this leaner form appears through the process of trimming or being trimmer, we have to acknowledge what is present and what the process was that manifested us in this new form. The more flexible we become (another aspect of System Two, Acknowledgement) the better chance the trimming process has of succeeding in revealing our true selves, previously hidden beneath unnecessary trappings.

Thriving Three

System Three is Livingness, and what better way to express that than "thriving"? It's not enough to be alive. We are here to thrive, to exult in health and perfection.Three is the first level of completed union as a creative process, where two have come together and a third point of reference emerges as their combined energy. By reducing excess body fat and thus becoming more muscular and fit, we have.the purest statement of Livingness. To be fit and healthy is to invite the process of Livingness on the physical level. This freedom allows each us to become unburdened by physical concerns so we can breathe more easily and find that what we reach for is more easily attained. When our concerns are at ease on the physical level, we free ourselves to look for deeper meaning.

Fantastic Four

A fantasy is something that is unreal, yet we use the word fantastic to describe anything that is so fabulous as to be hard to believe. This is a good description of the Mobility of life itself. To a stone, the growth of a plant must seem fantastic. To a plant, the auto-locomotion of an animal must seem fantastic. At any point in our spiritual growth, future points seem fantastic...yet they are real, and attainable; and when we do attain them subsequent points become the new fantastic.

In the musical The Fantastics, one of the longest running off-Broadway shows in history, all the foibles and pitfalls of learning and growing with self and others are addressed in very simple terms. It moves from the beginning of the cycle to the end, which is a new beginning. There are joys and hurdles to overcome and there is winning and the feeling of accomplishment through the movement and motion that is always occurring.

By acknowledging Fantastic Four, we acknowledge that the seemingly unattainable is, indeed, attainable and, indeed, part of our natural growth.

Fat-Free Five

What can I say about fat-free? Is it that being unencumbered and unburdened allows for a greater connection? When I was attending massage school I had a friend named Andrew. He used to call me “Buddha Belly”. This always conjured up visions of the happy little prosperous fat-bellied Buddha; so I didn’t think it was something I needed to change. It meant I was prosperous, right? And at one time, when food was hard to come by and many people were starving, indeed chubbiness indicated wealth and health and was a desirable state.

Today's world is very different. The modern, unhealthy diet of the industrial nations produces people who are obese yet deprived of essential nutrients and thus of health. Chubbiness and obesity are not the same. One is healthy; the other is not.

In physical terms, System Four, Aspiration, emanates from the solar plexus which is the power center. It is the area where emotional and spiritual issues balance each other in an ever spinning dance. It represents directed will and the ability to discern. What I discovered in this process is that having this area of my body plump or fat was covering my ability to discern more clearly and I found it harder to direct my own will center. Now that I am more fat-free in this area I more able to improve in my ability to discern and direct my will.

Slimming Six

System Six is Centeredness and emanates from the heart area. This is no area you want to have enlarged or not working to its optimum ability! This is the pump which delivers blood to all the various cells, tissues and organs of the body with its life-giving nutrients.

The concept of Centeredness includes the premise of balance. An obese person is out-of-balance in that the number of calories taken in is out of balance with the number of calories expended in exercise. Thus, slimming supports a return to balance and centeredness that brings us back into a proportionate size that is more supportive. When we do cardio exercises we increase the communication between the various areas that the heart pumps to and from. This assists in clearing these pathways. The progress in this shows in our slimming the size of our bodies because we are not holding all of that blockage and excess in place.

Slender Seven

System Seven is Communication and emanates from the throat. The throat is more than a stalk from which the head sprouts. As a structure is not only includes the larynx which produces sounds, but the ears which hear them. It therefore is entirely responsible for all physical communication. What's more, it is the throat that enables food to reach our bodies from the outside world, and ejects poisons inadvertently ingested before they can cause harm.

Our necks can manifest fatness when we do not speak our truth, when we refuse to hear truth, and when we take in more food than we need. Recognizing this, people have historically admired slender necks in swans and in women; and "fat-necked" when applied to men has never been considered complimentary. (No one referred to Buddha that way!)

So, by calling upon the word "Slender" in association with Seven, we encourage energies that open the throat, promote honest communication, and healthier eating habits.Not automatically--we still have to work consciously on these issues!--but having the energies on our side helps greatly.

Evolving Eight

Evolution is the process by which one form experiences Transformation into another form that is more efficient and appropriate for current conditions. Evolution is never complete or finished; it is a journey, not a goal; and Transformation is accomplished, not by actually changing anything, but by seeing it differently: By seeing the expanded and enhanced reality underlying the apparent manifestation all the time.

Put more simply, within any fat person is a slender person. The transformation from fat to thin is accomplished by acknowledging and supporting the slender person within so that he or she may manifest as the accepted reality.

An important component of any creation is seeing it, in the mind's eye, as done. To support System Eight, one should see oneself as having the body one wishes to have. That means, after every visit to to the mirror, editing the mental image of what was seen so that it reflects the inner truth: that thin person into which we wish to evolve.

While performing the lap or repetition that corresponds to Evolving Eight, I recommend you also envision the results you desire as having already manifested. You should do this all the time, of course; but especially on your eighth lap.

Through the process of seeing more clearly and coming to a greater sense of self purpose and understanding, we transform our lives as spiritual awakenings. We begin to see the glimmer of the divine operating in us and through our lives. That is what seeing is all about. It is seeing people, circumstances and situations as synchronistic and having a coherent purpose. This is the third eye area of the physical body. It sees the beginning of beyond. These are the lights that shine as if they were far away. They have the possibility of coming nearer and closer to be viewed. Clearly seeing through this third eye is what has been called clairvoyance. When developed properly this center assists us to visualize images which may including colors, symbols, forms, metaphors and literal as well as figurative pictures of events, people or ideas from the past, present or future. When developed further, a person can learn to be received in their sending messages, pictures or ideas as well. Most people who develop this area usually stay focused on current or future events and the possible outcomes. The unknowable has the possibility of sometime being known. It is the light of hope for a brighter future beyond self and the physical world.

Naturopathic Nine

to be continued..!