Introduction
The Story of the Three Bears
Once upon a time, a curly haired blonde girl named Goldilocks, happened across a cottage in the woods. The cottage belonged to three bears who prided themselves on creating a homey and loving environment. As they were good and responsible bears, they left their porridge to cool on the table while they went for their morning walk to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air of the beautiful day.
Goldilocks, on the other hand, was having a rough morning. She had not slept well the night before because her mother and father were up arguing all night long. When Goldilocks asked her mother for breakfast, her mother told her she was a very bad girl for always needing things that she didn’t have to give and kicked her out of the house for the day. Hungry and tired, Goldilocks went wandering in the woods, feeling rather defeated.
The three bears were rather trusting creatures and had left their door unlocked and their windows open. The smell of porridge coaxed Goldilocks into the kitchen where she found three bowls. She first tried the porridge in the largest bowl, which belonged to Papa Bear. It tasted nice, but she spit it out quickly as it was too hot. Then, she tried the porridge in the medium bowl, which belonged to Mama Bear. She swallowed that porridge with a grimace as it was too cold. The porridge in the smallest bowl, which belonged to Baby Bear, was just right, making her feel warm inside with every bite, so she ate it all.
Goldilocks ventured into the living room where she found three chairs. She first sat in the largest chair, and imagined herself as the king of the household. Although the chair made her feel bigger and stronger, she quickly got up because it was too hard. Then she tried the medium sized chair which made her feel gentle, but climbed out because it was too soft. Finally, she sat in the third and smallest chair, which was just right because it felt like the perfect balance between strong and gentle.
Goldilocks felt much better than she had when she left her own home that morning, and she ventured upstairs to the bedroom where she found three beds. Having had so little sleep the night before, the beds called to her. She first tried the largest bed. It was so large that it made her feel like she was important, but she found it too hard. Then she tried the medium bed, which was so cozy that it made her feel special, but it was too soft. Finally, she curled up in the smallest bed, which was just right. She quickly fell into a deep sleep of happy dreams.
When the bears returned from their walk, Papa Bear and Mama Bear sat down to their porridge and discovered it had been tasted while Baby Bear said, “Someone’s eaten my porridge all up! That’s okay, because I’m full from the berries I had on the walk anyway.” They retreated to their living room, and Papa and Mama Bear discovered their chairs had been moved. Baby Bear discovered his chair to have cracked slightly under the weight of Goldilocks and said, “Someone’s been rocking in my chair and broke it! That’s okay, I am about to outgrow this one anyway.”
Curious as to what else had been disturbed in their cottage, they went up to the bedroom. Papa and Mama Bear discovered their bedsheets to be disheveled as if someone had slept in them, and Baby Bear found Goldilocks still asleep in his bed. “Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, and she’s still there! That’s okay because I’m not tired right now anyway.” So, the three bears tiptoed downstairs to finish their breakfast and go about their day.
The Goldilocks Principle Definition
The Goldilocks Principle describes a situation that is “just right” rather than too much or not enough. This ideology is derived from the popular children’s story and has been applied to many disciplines, including astronomy, biology, psychology, economics, and more. In astronomy, a Goldilocks Planet, such as Earth, is one that is just the right distance from a star to be able to sustain life on the planet. In ecomonics, a Goldilocks Economy sustains moderate growth and low inflation. In education the Goldilocks Principle is observed when a task is neither too simple nor too complex for the learner to grasp. In medicine, the Goldilocks Prescription is the ideal dosage of a particular drug that perfectly addresses a patient’s physiological needs. In each of these examples, optimal balance “just right” is attained.
The adapted version of “The Story of the Three Bears” depicted above is a perfect case study of the Goldilocks Principle as it applies to overall health and wellness, both physiologically and energetically. Each item in the cottage symbolizes a situation in Goldilocks’s life that is operating within an extreme. The porridge provides physical nourishment when she is hungry, and energetic nurturing that she misses from her own parents. The chairs provide a sense of self-confidence as she “takes her seat.” The beds provide both physical rest as well as a sense of peace which is lacking in her own home. As she finds “just right” with the item, she discovers a state of “just right” within herself. Symbolically, the item serves as the medicine for a particular physical or energetic ailment in her life. Just as a doctor is considered on some levels a healer, the food, home, and energy of the bears in the cottage of this adaptation of the story is what heals Goldilocks of her ailments by bringing her to a state of equilibrium akin to The Goldilocks Principle.
Energy is Contagious Goldilocks learned that energy is contagious. Goldilocks left home that morning having contracted the energetic dis-ease of scarcity. She was hungry, tired, and defeated. The bear’s cottage held the energy of peace. The nurturing and loving environment left Goldilocks feeling safe, nourished, and supported.
The adage “misery loves company” supports the concept that energy is contagious. For example, if you are in a good mood and you walk into a room of people who have just received some very bad news, it doesn’t take long for you to feel the misery of the room without them even telling you the news. Or the opposite may occur, you may be in a really bad mood and walk into a room of happy people, and pretty soon, they are cheering you up and you are feeling better. Their energy is contagious to you, and you walk away feeling better and your mood may calm their giddiness.
Thus, through her ventures in the cottage in the woods, Goldilocks learned the valuable spiritual lesson of “be careful the company you keep” because the people and energies of the people with whom you engage is contagious to your own life. At this particular time of her life, the energy of her parents was causing dis-ease for Goldilocks, whereas the energy of the three bears provided necessary medicine to treat her dis-ease and bring her to a more optimal experience of life.
Everything is Connected
The reason energy is contagious is because everything is connected, constantly sharing the same energy. Perhaps on an unconscious level, all the characters in the story instinctively knew that all living beings are sharing energy all the time and thus made the circumstances available to share with each other. Goldilocks felt compelled to enter the cottage in the woods that housed all the things she needed. At the same time, the bears were trusting enough to leave their doors and windows open and available for her to enter. Goldilocks made herself at home in the bears’ cottage as if the items in the cottage weren’t owned or possessed by anyone, but were there for anyone who may need them. Just as many indigenous tribes do not believe in ownership or possessing of land or items, this story emphasizes the power of sharing and supporting each other because everything is connected. If you notice, in each case, Baby Bear isn’t upset by what Goldilocks has done. In fact, he is happy to share what he doesn’t need with her. On one level, all living beings share energy as a means of mutually supporting one another, symbolic of the ultimate balance of the universe. For example, when a predator kills its prey, the energy contained in its body is not destroyed, but rather it is transmitted to the predator and scavengers and serves as fuel for the living. Then, the carcass that remains decomposes into the ground and is fed on by various insects, worms, grubs and maggots. The excrement of all the creatures that eat of the corpse then gets absorbed by the soil and serves as fertilizer for plants to grow, which in turn feeds other animals and creatures on the planet, keeping everything in cycle. This simple ecosystem example just shows how energy is constantly moving and changing to support the balance and well-being of the entire system.
In the modern world, the same is the case within a community. Each person provides his or her talents to the rest of the community. The doctors, the teachers, the homemakers, the builders, the scientists, the historians, the mathematicians, the coaches, the politicians, etcetera, all mutually support each other, each giving something the others need, while at the same time having their own needs provided by others. The three bears were trusting and loving enough to leave their doors and windows open, and thus Goldilocks was able to be supported by them while they were out in the woods getting their exercise having their own needs met by the forest. In this version of the story, Baby Bear understood the needs of Goldilocks and surrendered to her willingly because he trusted that when the time came, his needs would be met somehow as hers had been.
On another level, everything is connected because it is all made up of the same stuff. On the cellular level, everything in the world is made up of a collection of particles. In high school chemistry classes, students learn to balance chemical equations by calculating how molecules are reconfiguring themselves. Put simply, molecules and atoms (particles) are constantly “jumping ship” from one to another. For example, when you exhale, the breath that escapes your lips is made up of various molecules that you carried within your system for a span of time. Then someone in your vicinity may inhale those same molecules, which then blend and reorganize themselves with the other molecules they carry around in their body. If you consider that molecules carry energy, then you are constantly sharing energy with all living beings that breathe air. Although unconsciously, perhaps the bears left their doors open to Goldilocks because had she knocked on their door in search of nourishment and support, they would have openly given to her because they hold compassion for any living being whose needs are not met. Whether they have gone hungry and needy before or not, their muscles and tissues are made of the same energy as hers and they can relate on a cellular level to the plight of being in need.
The law of physics known as “the law of conservation of energy” that was first formulated in the nineteenth century states that energy can change its location and its form, but it can neither be created nor destroyed. Thus, particles that contain energy may change their shape and their form and “jump ship” from one object or being to another, but the energy contained within the particles is never created nor destroyed, it just moves around and shape-shifts.
Goldilocks and the bears lived within walking distance of each other’s home, so it can be assumed that they were constantly exchanging energy, not only through the air they breathed, but through the molecules and particles in their food they ate that was harvested from the same plants in the woods. While Goldilocks had a home of her own, the bears’ cottage provided something energetically unseen yet vital to her equilibrium of health and wellness. She entered because her cells knew that what she needed was inside. Some things needed and provided within the ecosystem or community are physical and concrete, such as food and shelter, while other things needed and provided are energetic, such as love and nurturing. In this story, Goldilocks’s own home was not loving and nurturing at the time, and in the case of food, it did not provide nourishment either. On the other hand, the bears’ cottage had an abundance of love, nourishment, food, and warmth to provide, so it did. In fact, Baby Bear felt so supported that when he discovered Goldilocks in his bed, he let her stay there to get the rest she needed because he had already had enough.
On the surface, this story appears to depict how Goldilocks had her physical needs of hunger and exhaustion met by the porridge and beds of the bears. However, on a deeper level, she was also provided with non- physical needs of nurturing and love. The cycle of sharing of energy was maintained on multiple levels because where the bears received both physical and non-physical nourishment and support from the fresh air of the woods on their walk, Goldilocks received both physical and non- physical nourishment and support from their welcoming and inviting cottage.
The world consists of both a harmonious and natural physical world as well as an invisible energetic realm which are intricately connected. While the physical world includes all things you can see, feel, smell, hear, and touch, the spiritual world includes all things you can imagine, know, and believe. Just as your physical body has tissues and bones, your energetic body has thoughts and emotions. Your thoughts and emotions directly impact your physical sensations and experiences. At the same time, your physical sensations and experiences can directly impact your thoughts and emotions. For example, As Goldilocks physically felt hungry, the pangs in her stomach resulted in an emotional state of fear or anxiety that led her to trespass. On the flip side, the feelings of love and nurturing that Baby Bear felt from his parents and environment resulted in a physical feeling of nourishment and strength which meant he didn’t need more food or rest, even after a walk in the woods. The physical and the energetic are both part of the whole. Like the construction of a spider web, the empty space between the threads is just as important as the physical threads themselves.
Like the ecosystem or a community, your body serves as an interconnected system of contagious energy. You have a physical body and an energetic body that intertwine and influence each other. Your bones, tissues, muscles, organs, etc. make up your physical anatomy, and your chakras, nadis, and your aura all make up your energetic anatomy. The physical and energetic integrate to create the whole.
The Goldilocks Effect
When the physical and non-physical systems of your being integrate and work together, what results is the concept of finding “just right.” In the story, Baby Bear‘s system was supported physically and energetically, so much so that he could provide that energy to Goldilocks when she needed it. While The Goldilocks Principle is the concept of finding “just right,” The Goldilocks Effect is what results when “just right” is found. We’ve all experienced The Goldilocks Effect at various times in our lives. Although perhaps fleeting, these times are when we feel physically healthy and emotionally balanced and everything in life seems to work out “just right.” These moments may be just that, moments, like when you performed well at a task or felt “in the zone.” Sometimes, these moments may last longer, like when you are happiest in a particular job and home or most fulfilled by the experiences of our lives. Ultimately, The Goldilocks Effect is not something that is attained from external forces or outside environments or factors, but rather, it is a result of the internal balance of the physical and non-physical energies of your being.
Finding “Just Right” as a Collective
Although “Just Right” is an internal state of being, it can be influenced somewhat by the external, particularly by the contagious energy of those around you. The nourishment and nurturing provided by the bears’ cottage to Goldilocks impacted how Goldilocks ultimately felt inside herself. However, she had to be open to receiving the nourishment the cottage and the bears provided. If she had never entered the cottage and imbibed of its energy, her internal state may not have been altered.
Energy is contagious, and when you are surrounded by certain energies, they can affect you dramatically as a collective. If you practice yoga, you may have experienced this concept when you were part of a large class or were assisted by a talented instructor. In a large yoga class you naturally borrow energy from the other students and you may feel stronger and more flexible that you are naturally or when you practice yoga by yourself. The same is true when talented instructor physically assists you in a posture. You may find that you can perform a pose at a significantly deeper intensity of strength and flexibility with even a gentle touch of an instructor than you can without their aid because they are lending you their energy for the pose.
The childhood game often played at slumber parties, “Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board” is an example of The Goldilocks Effect occurs as a result of collective energies merging. It also demonstrates the power of energy and interconnectedness on the physical form, like an ecosystem. One person lies on the floor while several others gather around and insert just two fingers from each hand (a total of four fingers) under the body of the lying down person. On an initial attempt to lift the person with no more than their fingers, the group inevitably fails. However, as the group focuses their intention and chants together “light as a feather stiff as a board” they are able to easily lift the individual off the floor, and sometimes stand up and effortlessly levitate the individual to shoulder height or higher. More often than not, one of the people lifters has a very grounded energy while another one has a light and airy energy, like feathers, another one has a more flowing energy, while another is more still, and so forth and so on. Each individual’s energy is different, sometimes appearing quite opposite to the others, but they always blend nicely. While one person may provide the energy of earth through stability, another may provide the energy of water through movement, another may provide the energy of air through lightness, and so forth. The chanting unifies their energies, and they work as a whole team rather than separate individuals, and the levitation occurs naturally.
Earlier, you learned that energy is contagious. In this game, the energy of each individual in the group is contagious to each other. They share and blend their energies to create an optimal whole, creating the Goldilocks Effect of “just right” and proving that everything is connected. This small group of people has become an ecosystem complete with water, earth, air, fire, and more, mutually supporting each other in the whole. They are no longer separate, but one unit working together. If the being lifted, or any individual person in the collective is non-receptive to the energy transmission, for example they do not chant and maintain a skeptical attitude, the experiment is not as successful, and likely that part of the body will feel heavier. An ultimate Goldilocks Effect is not fully achieved. Ultimately, The Goldilocks Effect comes from within. In other words, everyone has to set the right intention (mind), put forth the right physical effort (body), and chant and breathe together (spirit). Mind + Body + Spirit = The Goldilocks Effect. It comes from within.
Finding “Just Right” as an Individual
While it is helpful and useful to borrow energy from others to get tastes and feelings of The Goldilocks Effect, ideally, you would not be dependent on others to provide the energy you need, but rather, you learn how to reorganize the energy within your own system to its optimal balance.
In “The Story of the Three Bears” Goldilocks was dependent upon the energy of the bears and their cottage to provide the balance she needed. If she continues to rely on them to provide what she needs, the situation could easily devolve into a scenario that can be likened to a drug addict’s (Goldilocks) relationship to her dealer (the bears). Like the proverb “give a man a fish, he eats of a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime,” the bears would be best off teaching Goldilocks how to ultimately nourish and nurture herself.
This book is a practical guide to understanding the interconnectedness between your physical body and your energetic system. After gaining an understanding of how the two systems intertwine, you will learn the characteristics and qualities of the different energy centers of your body (chakras) as well as simple and practical physical techniques you can apply to adjust and calibrate the energy within your chakras in order to find “just right” for yourself.
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