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7W thoughts

Do you pray for specific things?

benefits

In Sufism, we are shown that all problems arise out of an error of perception - and from this it follows that we really do need to make sure that we see things properly.

Without exception everything...

management
relationships
personal development
spiritual development

...can be seen as having seven aspects - and they are all made more comprehensible by bringing them into their 7 parts.

The 7 Words method quickly allows us to find the full picture - no omissions, no fuzziness - and so move from confusion to clarity, from problem to solution.

In personal development the three aspects of growth are these:

a) identify exactly what you don't want

b) specify exactly what you want instead

c) change from one to the other.

Of these, by far the most challenging is the first, without which any attempt to resolve matters tends to bring us back full circle to another reiteration of the same unhappy old habits.

7 Words can break this pattern very easily.

books

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7 Words Principles and Practices Extracts from the Workbook:

For many of us, life is beyond our understanding. It is too fast to contemplate, too complicated to understand and often emotionally overwhelming. Yet it is the practice of humans to try to grasp what it's all about, so we have created religions, scientific laws, myths, psychological frameworks, encyclopaedias and TV soap operas, all of which offer glimpses of the underlying patterns in life that show themselves in all aspects of human behaviour.

Seven categories are enough to study personality at a very profound level - it's almost unthinkable that you will meet another person in your lifetime with exactly the same profile of strengths and weaknesses. So we can see that we are simply expressing our uniqueness in a simple codified language and as a stepping-stone towards greater self-awareness.

This particular system is a very simple way of looking at life and how we live it.

The central idea of the 7 words profile is this: seven simple words are enough to codify all of life. These are among the first words we learn in childhood and yet they are not understood or used particularly well, despite their simplicity. By renewing our focus upon these key words we will simplify and deepen our attitudes to how we choose to live.

You can buy 7 Words Principles and Practices from Lulu

Management Mastery in 7 Words Management Mastery in 7 Words

7 Words can be applied to every aspect of life. Here it is applied to the process of management, focused on business, including how to make meetings effective.

James Burgess, himself a successful businessman, shares his knowledge and insights from more than 30 years experience of setting up, managing, supporting and advising a wide variety of enterprises.

If you are someone who realizes there is always more you can learn, there is much here from which you can choose and decide to try in your own work. Whatever your vision, an intention to always do your best will be well served by time invested studying Management Mastery

This book can be shared with associates, customers, suppliers, everyone involved in your business, including your competitors. While you may not agree with all that is proposed, permit the ideas that you find strange, or about which you have doubts, to percolate for a while, for these are likely to be the areas where the greatest learning and benefit reside.

Then, consider joining and sharing with others on the journey towards “Management Mastery”

Richard Grey

You can buy Management Mastery in 7 Words from Lulu

e books

From No To Yes ... 7 Words Basics

Personal Development

Deepening Your Relationship

Management Mastery

involvement

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7 Words: Life Management Technique

history

The 7 Words originator James Burgess was prompted by John Stabler to record his thoughts, and so in the opening months of the new millennium he began writing down his take on the Sufi message of his teacher Nigel Hamilton in the more analytical style given by his NLP training with John Seymour.

The skeletal structure of 7 primary words which affirms 7 archetypical energies is a direct interpretation of Sufism’s 7 planes of consciousness, and the explaining of them in 28 keywords was achieved with the help of Basira Ward. By the close of 2000 the basic form was set and the first writings begun, including the workbook “7 Words Principles & Practices” and psychological questionnaire Q21. More...
Daniel Johnson established the system truly into 21st century by designing the website that delivered Q21 and captured the research data, which later was analyzed by a master statistician Brian Mistler of Florida University, who pronounced it good, and submitted his findings to the American Journal of Psychology. Teaching of students began at UK’s Unicorn Camps and progressed later into New Zealand, Russia and the Baltic States attracting various supportive helpers until it became feasible to create the 7 Words Associates.

Richard Grey and Margie McCalllum were key people in the formulation of the terms of reference for associates, including the criteria for membership and election as certified practitioner and guide - an outcome of the first training course that also included Julie Dacombe, John Howlett, Emma Relph, Dominique Sakoilsky, and Louise Bennett. The first annual gathering was hosted in Dorset UK at the Osho Leela Centre, and subsequently outreach gatherings have touched further afield – reaching distant shores around the globe.

the genuine articles

Here are some articles offered by associates who have found the 7 Words method useful in their lives and work.

The 7 Words and Birth

Dominique Sakoilsky

A good friend of mine once said “we birth how we live”. In preparing for birth then it may be wise to have a good awareness of “how we live”!  Open
The 7 Words system is the best means I have come across of raising our awareness of how we function. In its thorough journey through all 7 states of being it covers all bases. A good place to arrive at before by birth is Yes since surrender is always (and in all ways) going to help for a loving and easier passage. The 7 Words offers a point of inquiry, helping us to get clear about where we are in the scheme of things.

We have put together a Training for Birth Educators and Doulas which is organised around the 7 Words, since we had over 20 years of experience working in this field and had gathered tools and ideas, but lacked a structure to organise this learning. My journey with the 7Words to date led to a feeling that it is a truly holistic system and engages every part of me. It shows up my strengths and my weaknesses, my clarity and passion and my foggy areas. It is my belief that what I am foggy about in life I will most likely be foggy about in my birthing. Similarly knowing my strengths helps me to access my resources. In preparing women for birth, the 7 Words has proved to offer a way through the hugeness that birth is. This process doesn’t seek to control the picture or form of birth, it offers no value judgement on “how birth should be” but it is my intention to raise consciousness about birth in all her guises, finding joy and love in the miracle of conception and birth.

The 7 Words offers a way through the choices, preferences, hopes and baggage that gets in the way of us actualising our vision of birth. With 'No' we get clear about the choices we make, taking care of what is truthful to us, in 'Hello' we get to communicate and exchange with the world around us and baby, with 'Thanks' we get to appreciate and value the journey and those who support us, taking us into the heart; in 'Goodbye' we get to wake up to what is real in us, making time to resolve those bits of us which stop us from moving on to this new part of our life; in 'Please' we get clear about our vision of birth, and with the help of cooperation and prayer we make this intention come to form; in 'Sorry' we have to take responsibility for that which gets in the way of realising our vision, the baggage that hampers our freedom, and in 'Yes' we drop into the freedom of love, of surrender, giving up control and that place where we know that “all is well” however that may show itself.

Taking our trainee teachers on this 7 weekend journey was one of the most profound journeys I have been on and confirmed for me that 7 Words can be applied to anything, since it is a system that knows no limits; such is the potential and depth of application. Indeed it can be used in a very practical way or be as profoundly spiritual as one would choose. Birth also works with “all of us” in our human state and beyond, challenging our beliefs, fears, hopes and dreams. It touches on the density of being (from the physical challenge of can a pin sized cervix really open to accommodate a baby’s head) to the lightness of being where we experience one of life’s miracles and mysteries.

For the “control freak” culture that we often inhabit in the west it offers us a tangible structure to work through the layers, releasing limiting ideas of the mind, allowing a fineness and gentle flow into a greater sense of being. Because it does not have any interest in judgement it brings forth an easy curiosity which facilitates profound change and transformation (all helpful for the journey towards birth). I am passionate about the depth of this system and see it as a very real tool of its time, easily applicable, though at times deeply challenging, but always offering rather than pushing. Birth needs to be brought to the light, for she has suffered under the fog of fear and control, so it is our intention to do just that, bring her to the light with the helpful guidance of the 7Words, setting her free to be there in all her myriad of ways, bringing forth new life, celebrating the miracle within.

Living a Clutter-Free Life

Margie McCallum

The ‘No’ of a clutter-free life is about having firm, clear boundaries and choosing to live with deep authenticity...  Open
No  We can begin by saying No to more activities. Each additional interest, organisation and responsibility we become involved in adds its clutter at various levels. I’m not saying lead a boring or limited life. Anything but! I am suggesting we think carefully before taking on anything new. Does this thing really resonate? Is it really me? We can feel a need to have or do it all and end up feeling dissatisfied. Make some hard choices about what you’re involved in so that what you do you do well, and enjoy. Pare down to the truth of who you are in the world.

Begin by saying No to more stuff, too. When something waves to us from a shop window or catalogue there are two questions to ask: Do I really need it? Where will I put it when I get home?

Hello  The ‘Hello’ of a clutter-free life is about paying close attention to people who model the kind of life you’re after.

Hello can be the enemy of living a clutter-free and simple life. It can mean constantly paying attention to the new; taking on more and more in an indiscriminate manner; spreading yourself too thinly; disappearing under stuff.

But there’s another Hello that serves our purpose here; giving attention to people who live as we hope to. There are some wonderful people living and writing about the joys of simplicity. An openness to doing life differently will bring people and ideas into your life. Exchanging ideas in a Simplicity Group can assist the process and lead to real communion with like-minded people.

Thanks  The ‘Thanks’ of living a clutter-free life is about appreciating what we’ve got rather than hankering after what we don’t have.

This has the affect of helping to shift our focus to valuing the non-material aspects of life – health, friendship, family, nature, creativity to name a few. As we loosen our hold on our belongings, we find ourselves more available for belonging -to our deepest values, to the human community, to the natural world community, to the Oneness. Ultimately we find ourselves falling in love with life.

Goodbye  The ‘Goodbye’ of living a simpler, clutter-free life begins with the realisation that we no longer want to live a pressured, complicated life; that it isn’t serving us or those whose lives we touch. The next challenge is the decision to act on our realisation.

The process of completion may be a long one. In fact in one sense the task of creating a clutter-free life is never complete, but an ongoing tuning-in to life on every level to check that it is serving our needs and purpose. But the initial process will involve sorting through every single piece of stuff we own, making decisions based on whether we truly like or genuinely use each item. It may take several rounds of sifting and sorting, which can seem daunting, but the magic of the process is that once we break through the fears around letting go, it tends to produce its own motivation. Some experience of living more lightly makes us want more – by having less.

Then come the other aspects of life. We need to ask ourselves: am I keeping alive relationships that no longer serve me? Do my finances need de-junking? Am I truly fulfilled in my work? Somewhere along the way we realise that we are ready to move on, to become more of who we essentially are, to realise dreams, to fulfil our real purpose.

Please  The ‘Please’ of a clutter-free, simplified life is first about envisioning what it will look like, feel like, sound and taste and smell like. Perhaps I’ll choose clear, open spaces my living room; a sense of peace and quietude on stepping into my home; time to stop to smell the roses because life has slowed down; the joy of tasting the proper dinner I’ve cooked and shared; the delight of more music, and fewer arguments about things we can’t find?

It’s good to write down your vision of a clutter-free, simplified life. What is it like physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually?

A vision is only a dream unless we have the intention to act on it. But it doesn’t all have to be done at once. It’s best to break it down into small chunks based on manageable goals, and allot a time span for each as we go.

Cooperation is an important aspect of Please. We can consider who might you be able to help; a friend who loves to sift and sort or a favourite aunt whom we can trust to help. Professionals can be found through the Association of Professional De-clutterers and Organisers, UK, or I would be happy to help.

The ultimate Please is prayer, requesting assistance from the higher realms. Archangel Jophiel loves to assist those who want to clear their space and let fresh air flow through their lives. And Jesus lived the ultimate in clutter-free simplicity. If you can’t connect with ideas like this, just get very clear about what you choose and it will unfold.

Sorry  The ‘Sorry’ of living clutter-free is about being aware of the affect on others of the changes we are making. For a start, let me say loud and clear, we are only ever responsible for our own stuff. It is never alright to dispose of things that belong to those who share our lives or spaces. (Children are an exception, depending on their age, but far better to involve them in the process and have them make and live with their own decisions.)

In my experience as a clutter clearer I find different members of a household often blame each other for the clutter. When we stop blaming and just take full responsibility for ourselves and our possessions we may see a spin-off in other members of the household making changes, too. But this mustn’t be our motivation. We need to de-clutter our space and life because it’s what we want and need to do.

There is a real need to be sensitive to what these changes mean to those closest to us. Let’s walk in their shoes for a bit and feel their fears. We need to hold to the changes we choose to make, but at the same time smooth the way for those affected. It all seems good to us, so we may expect others to welcome it, but change can be threatening and challenging. When we feel remorse by wearing the shoes of the other, and make repair by easing things as much as possible, only then are we ready to release, to know that we have truly taken responsibility for the affect of our changes on others.

Yes  The ‘Yes’ of a clutter-free and simplified life is about permitting such a life and the changes it will bring. A choice to life simply and with less emphasis on material possessions and the trappings of affluence is not easy in the milieu in which we live. We need to accept this challenge, to reach an agreement with ourselves that it may have its uncomfortable times but will be worth it. Only then are we ready to surrender to the beautiful simplicity of a clutter-free life.

There is a very strong link between de-cluttering and trust. Often we gather clutter because we fear not having what we need when we need it. As we learn that we get what we need, that what comes is what we need, we can travel much more lightly through life, responding to its calls and prods with a trusting Yes.

Website: Margie McMcullum

7 Ways to Inner and Outer Beauty!

Julie Dacombe

A different way to look at beauty that touches the truth of what beauty really is.  Open
No

Where do you finish and others begin? Are you clear about this? Do you sometimes feel that others get what they want more than you, and you go along with this? It’s time to stop, get to know yourself more, what you like and dislike, not just because others do. What clothes make you happy? Find hairstyles and make-up that suit you and that you feel comfortable in, so that you are truly you. You don’t have to go along with ‘the crowd’, you can choose to be you!

Hello

Ooh! There are so many choices, so many people to hang out with. This is a chance to really look around and spend some time deciding what is worth looking in to. It could be anything from body cream to boyfriends. How do you know what suits you best? You need to spend some time looking and sometimes look at things in a different light. Shine a spotlight on something and see whether it sparkles or withers. See if you get something in return that is useful which leads you on to something deeper. Commune with your body scrub!

Thanks

What do you really feel good about in your life? What is important to you? Is it your family, your friends, your work, your clothes, etc.? The things you value the most can give you the greatest pleasure, especially if they touch your heart. With loved ones you may show that by giving love or some token gesture of love. With work you give your time, if you especially ‘dig it’ you give your enthusiasm and commitment. All this helps you to feel good about your life.

Goodbye

Sometimes life gets so confusing, there are so many possibilities. Once you have decided there is something you wish to pursue – a job, a room to rent, a friend to get to know better, a dress which you saw in the first shop you looked! – you need to say “bye bye” to the rest. When you have the perfect dress, why would you buy all the others you have tried on? You cannot live in ten rooms at once, you have to decide on one and stick with it, at least for a while. You cannot move to the next stage without saying goodbye to the other options. Once you become more practiced at valuing certain things in your life, it will be a lot easier to cut away the things that are not useful.

Please

Where is my life going? Do you ask yourself this often? Are the things you are doing in your life leading to something? Do you feel on track? Or are you going off the rails? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that everything we do in our life fits in to our own puzzle and that all our puzzles fit together to make an even bigger one? When you can see a bigger picture for yourself you can do something about it by asking others to help. We could all help each other. Now that’s a novel idea!

Sorry

What about all those things you have done or experienced that you feel bad about? Wouldn’t it be good to be able to be free from your own guilt and not blaming other people for things? Hey, if you ‘own’ the bad things you have done and really feel the ‘wrongness’, you can do something to make the situation better, either by apology or a gesture of remorse. You will be surprised how much relief you will feel.

Yes

What happens when you are faced with something you are not sure about? There are certain stages to go through before you can really say “Yes!” whole-heartedly. Wouldn’t it be great to feel OK about everything in life? Sometimes though, we go along with things even when we have only the smallest degree of ‘yesness’. It’s like saying “I will allow this to happen.” Even “I accept that this will happen.” What about “I agree with this, and whatever the outcome, it is absolutely fine for me”? What a way to live!

Life Partnership in 7 Words

James Burgess

Any philosophy, any spiritual teaching, must address our real life questions if it is to become workable as a life technique...and who of us has not had to deal with issues of relating? Open
There’s a big difference between a casual love affair and a relationship where both are hoping to be together in the long term. Life partnerships are much more committed, serious involvements that touch upon all aspects of our lives. We share much more than just the occasional night together; usually we share a home, our big decisions, money and friends; we share our hopes and fears and we offer care and support for each other and our children. It is often the foundation upon which we build the whole of our lives. And yet, are we really sure that both parties want the same thing?

Previously the stereotypical man would want someone to do his washing and to accommodate his sexual needs, the woman focusing more on her need for emotional responsiveness and fatherly support. There may well be a lot of this still underlying the interaction between partners, yet times have changed and now other ways have been found that our grandparents would have found truly bizarre. A love relationship is now seen as a very special form of life experience, which is challenging and requires us to learn skills to cope well with the issues that arise. This can so often be difficult and confusing, so it’s helpful to have some kind of guidelines to navigate through the stormy waters.

One model that works well is based on the idea that there are seven distinct aspects of relationship, and all of them are important to get right; none are avoidable! Some of us are strong with one and weaker with another—you may recognize yourself—and each of the lessons relates to a very simple word. The words are: No Hello Thanks Goodbye Please Sorry and Yes. Here’s a quick run-down of the basics:

No is first and foremost. Unless we draw the line somewhere we constantly feel in danger of being invaded. We have to tell our partner what is absolutely out of bounds, to draw these boundaries clearly and enforce them consistently.

Hello is to do with being open to consider new ways of living, having a healthy curiosity, trying something that may have seemed scary or boring before, looking for something of interest in every aspect of our partner’s life and friends.

Thank You must surely be said often if we want our partner to feel appreciated and not taken for granted. Little tokens of love can be given—flowers, sweets, words and touch—because it softens the hearts to do so.

Goodbye moments are the watersheds in life—and either we take them together or we separate. Life is always about moving on and we often have to make important decisions, always there are some very big and challenges in every long term relationship—so perhaps we can learn to see them as examinations that test our level of commitment, tests that make us ask ourselves about whether to move together or to move apart.

Please Relationship is essentially about cooperation—a sharing of visions and intentions. Actually we all need help to fulfil our life goals, whether this is ‘making a million’ or creating a joyful home, so it is crucial to learn how to win cooperation. This is achieved to a significant extent by blending visions together.

Sorry. So much could be softened in life if only we could all learn to say Sorry more convincingly! It is inevitable that we will hurt each other because we’re all sometimes insensitive—and yet this doesn’t have to lead to resentment and the resultant bitterness. That can be easily avoided with a sincere timely apology. Saying Sorry is not admitting guilt or worthlessness; it’s just to do with acknowledging a degree of insensitivity.

Finally, Yes. It’s true that we have every right to expect to get what want out of life—and yet it’s truer to even to say that it won’t always happen. Being able and willing to accept whatever comes is a secret that can lead to a much greater sense of relaxation, and this enables us to adopt a more tolerant attitude with our loved ones.

So. Look at the particular areas of your partnership where you experience difficulty with one of these words, and give it some careful thought—ask yourself what? how? when? where? who? and why? It is worth the effort because it’s so very important. Remember too that it is probably a lot easier to change things in yourself than another—and anyway as soon as you change yourself in a real way, then it’s almost certain that your partner will too. You can begin to see your relationship as a series of life lessons that show you how to progress in life and in love from No to Yes; from rejection to acceptance; from the tight pessimism of contraction to the unlimited optimism of expansion. It’s better that way!

7 Steps of a Tarot Reading

Nesta Burgess

This process is based on the 7 Words system which states that all things in life have 7 core aspects and any development has to include all 7 of them for a healthy outcome and full manifestation. These 7 stages are represented by the 7 primary words. Open
1. It is very important to create a clean and safe atmosphere for the reading. Make sure you choose the right time and place where you won’t be disturbed by loud noises or other interruptions, and tidy up, so that your attention wouldn’t be distracted by items that are not related to the reading. Switch off your mobile phone, light a candle, and maybe some gentle incense to purify the space. An invocation or a ritualised announcement of the beginning of the session will draw boundaries of protection in other than material planes of reality.

2. Don’t hurry to reach for the card deck – think carefully first, what is it you are trying to achieve. In your mind go through all the possible questions that are relevant at this point in your life, come up with possible layouts for different topics and make sure that you remember meanings of tarot cards, or have your notes of keywords nearby.

3. After thinking through all the possibilities for a question, now try to “switch off” your mind and feel them. Notice your body sensations in reaction to each of them and choose the one that touches you the most. There is no place for logic and reason here – some seemingly insignificant detail can suddenly arise into your consciousness. Follow your heart.

4. Having realized the preference of your heart, choose the most appropriate layout for it. Make sure, that every card’s position in the layout is clearly defined and that you now have only one question in your mind. The more specific is the question, the easier it will be for you to interpret a meaningful answer.

5. Do the layout in a sacred and ceremonial way. Slowly shuffle the cards imagining the deck filling up with energy flowing through your palms. Try to keep your mind focused on the question that you have earlier defined. When you feel ready spread the cards in front of you and pick a single card for each position of the layout. It might be useful to drive your hand a little above the cards trying to feel the right one. When laying tarot into their positions, voice the meaning of each of them.

6. Having finished the layout, spend a moment in silence remembering the question and preparing for the answer. Free yourself from any judgements of a good reading and a bad reading, good cards and bad cards. All tarot deck cards represent archetypical energies, neither good nor bad in their nature.

7. One by one open the cards, trying to notice your first reaction and impression, spend some time consulting your feelings, for they express slower than our thoughts. Counsel your notes and personal knowledge, but don’t be attached to words and phrases. Let the keywords awaken your intuition which is the guide to a deeper understanding.

One Layout for Divination

Place out the seven cards and let each of them represent one of the major aspects of your life:

1. Material world - health, income, capital, diet, accommodation
2. Interests - friends, activities, education, entertainment
3. Nurture - home, love, security, comfort
4. Involvement - work, challenges, tests, projects
5. Direction - vision, plans, goals, ambition
6. Conscience - consciousness, guidance, meditation, retreat
7. Attainment - joy, enthusiasm, daring, talents

More Articles

There are more articles about the understandings and applications of 7 Words: link

Astrological Relationships

aries aries | aries taurus | aries gemini | aries cancer | aries leo | aries virgo | aries libra | aries scorpio | aries sagittarius | aries capricorn | aries aquarius | aries pisces | taurus taurus | taurus gemini | taurus cancer | taurus leo | taurus virgo | taurus libra | taurus scorpio | taurus sagittarius | taurus capricorn | taurus aquarius | taurus pisces | gemini gemini | gemini cancer | gemini leo | gemini virgo | gemini libra | gemini scorpio | gemini sagittarius | gemini capricorn | gemini aquarius | gemini pisces | cancer cancer | cancer leo | cancer virgo | cancer libra | cancer scorpio | cancer sagittarius | cancer capricorn | cancer aquarius | cancer pisces | leo leo | leo virgo | leo libra | leo scorpio | leo sagittarius | leo capricorn | leo aquarius | leo pisces | virgo virgo | virgo libra | virgo scorpio | virgo sagittarius | virgo capricorn | virgo aquarius | virgo pisces | libra libra | libra scorpio | libra sagittarius | libra capricorn | libra aquarius | libra pisces | scorpio scorpio | scorpio sagittarius | scorpio capricorn | scorpio aquarius | scorpio pisces | sagittarius sagittarius | sagittarius capricorn | sagittarius aquarius | sagittarius pisces | capricorn capricorn | capricorn aquarius | capricorn pisces | aquarius aquarius | aquarius pisces | pisces pisces |

 solution: tmo & homemade        associated sites: james burgess / unicorn camps / 7words life management technique /