We have all heard of vicious cycles—when negative behaviors seem to feed on one another, replaying the feelings of greed, envy, bitterness, jealousy, blame, judgment, or anger, as though they were engrained in our very natures, and we were powerless to stop reaping their ill-fated effects. The vicious cycle of negative emotions depletes our energy, stifles our creativity, and, if unchecked, leads us to the dry desert of depression, choking the flow of spirit between our heart and mind.
There is also the virtuous cycle that generates the positive outcomes of living from the heart in all dimensions of one’s life. The when-which-how practice is the power generator of the virtuous cycle as it applies to the individual living from the heart. One of the core features of this practice is providing it an energy source just as you would need to provide a power generator its raw source of energy like the wind, water, or sun.
One of the sources of energy that supports the when-which-how practice is the virtuous cycle technique, and it requires that you invest ten to twenty minutes of your time, as frequently as you are guided, to perform a simple energetic inflow. This is an effortless exercise of breathing in a calm and alert state of mind and body, and then repeating aloud the six virtues in the following order:
• Appreciation
• Compassion
• Forgiveness
• Humility
• Understanding
• Valor
When you say each name allow it to echo or reverberate inside of you as though your internal state consisted of a vast canyon. As you continue to repeat these words in the sequential order of appreciation, compassion, forgiveness, humility, understanding, and valor, think about their energetic meaning; feel them, and let this feeling fill you, expanding into every cell of your body. The more you perform this technique you will begin to see how the six heart virtues thread together, remaining distinct yet interconnected like a mosaic platform. Each word energetically carries a frequency that becomes increasingly grounded into your body-mind consciousness as you perform this exercise.
Like any cycle that repeats, there is a momentum path that refreshes the cycle and keeps it moving through the gravity of distractions that we all encounter in our daily lives. The virtuous cycle is maintained through this simple exercise, so I recommend, especially at the outset of your journey into the application of the when-which-how practice, to use it as a means of generating the virtuous cycle.
Over time, you will be guided by your inmost self to shift this technique from internal contemplation and energetic assimilation, to expression—or sending the energetic codes of each word outward. Initially this usually takes the form of radiating the energy of each word to loved ones, friends and family, spirit guides, and those whom you have a special connection to. This expression can also be directed to events and the people and/or animals enmeshed in them.
For those of you that have been ensnared in vicious cycles of emotional disarray, this technique is particularly helpful in breaking out of the “quicksand” of the vicious cycle. I realize, as techniques go, it seems very simple and therefore, you might ask how it could have a profound effect; but the repetition of the words have a power unto themselves because of the deep and layered meaning contained in each word. Before you start the technique, read the appendix to this paper where a preparatory definition for each of the six heart virtues is offered.
