What if you could harness the miraculous energies of a small group of people to bring about healing of yourself, others, and the world? What if you could do this in about 20 minutes a week? That is what Lynne McTaggart calls the Power of Eight.
Sending altrustic thoughts of healing in a group setting is a “fast track to the miraculous” or "passport to ecstatic oneness.” ~ Lynne McTaggart
Before Christmas, a couple of friends and I started up a Power of 8 intention group. We’ve only been going for 5 weeks, but the results have been so delicious that I wanted to share them with you. The group came about, like so many things in my life these days, with a touch of synchronicity. My friend, Maggie, and I met on a Friday morning for coffee to chat about collaborating on a workshop for small groups. That afternoon, I met with another friend, Kathy, who handed me McTaggart’s book “The Power of Eight.”
Power of Eight is filled with meticulous research data that shows how group intention can heal long-standing conditions, mend fractured relationships, reduce violence, and even rekindle a sense of purpose in one’s life. As a reiki teacher and energy healer, I wasn’t a bit surprised by her data. I’ve witnessed wonderful healing happen in group settings. But what did surprise me was that the results were felt as strongly (or even more strongly) by the people who were sending intention as by the receiver. McTaggart calls this the mirror effect. It turns out that when we altruistically focus healing intention for someone else, that intention is mirrored back to us. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive. If you want all the details, I recommend reading the book. If you’d like a good summary, check out McTaggart’s hour-long lecture
So it was absolutely a no-brainer to start our own Power of 8 group. McTaggart is a little skimpy on specific instructions for conducting the group, but the key takeaways are:
If you took a picture of the Sun every day, always at the same hour and from the same location, you will see a figure 8. How cool is that?
A small group of 8 is ideal.
The actual intention setting lasts about 10 minutes. It’s helpful to listen to the same piece of music while setting intention. We decided to ask the receiver to choose a 10-min selection.
The group can be virtual.
Plan to set the intention at the same time each week. (We have found, however, that if someone can’t make it, she can still tune in before or after.)
We decided to commit to 12 weeks, as a start. Some of McTaggart’s groups go for a year.
We created our own template for the receiver to fill out. We rotate through the group roster to select the receiver for the week.
For our kickoff, we met in person. I nominated my husband, Chris, to be the receiver. Our template is divided into four sections: a photo, 3 intentions expressed in positive language, 3 elevated emotions, 3 activities.
We sat in a circle and sent intentions to Chris. It was moving and powerful. We all felt a connection to each other and to Chris. I wished that I had written down the descriptions from the other members of the group. What I remember is feeling so much love flowing to Chris, even though most hadn’t met him. We each had different impressions appear during the 10 minutes of intention, but each person saw Chris laughing, skiing, and hiking, filled with energy and vitality. Chris later reported to me that he felt very relaxed and peaceful during and after the intention setting.
Going forward, we planned to meet virtually on Sunday evenings, and to use a phone app called Voxer to coordinate and communicate. A member of the group nominated her daughter, Jessica, to receive our intention the following week. We were in touch via our phones and had received her intentions. Even though each of us was sitting at home, we once again felt connected to each other and to Jess. It was as magical as the first time. This is some of the feedback recorded in the Voxer app:
“She came in with a huge smile on her face! She was joyfully working on an art project. Then I saw her at an event and really feeling heard. It brought tears to both of us. So lovely.”
“Every image of her was with a huge smile. I saw her teaching and practicing yoga vividly and repeatedly. I felt more than saw her loving and finding comfort in her new home. I also saw her racing down on a snowboard, smiling and laughing with a friend. She must be swimming in love right now.”
“I watched Jessica move slowly and mindfully and peacefully through yoga poses. After a forward bend, she rose and lifted her arms. She was surrounded in a gorgeous white and golden light which I understood to be good health. It was beautiful and moving.”
“I could feel a sense of groundedness about Jessica. Joyful, teaching and sharing her gifts with others. And, I could feel all of you as well. I have a sense of swirling and light that was golden and fiery. Very cool. ”
Jess’ mom reported that she felt oddly energized during and after the intention setting, even though she was getting over a cold. We discovered that several of our group members felt very energized after the session and had trouble sleeping. We decided to move our time to Sunday morning for the next week.
What was especially interesting in the third week is that our receiver didn’t choose peaceful, meditative music. Instead, she chose a rock song by Phish because it was especially meaningful to her on her healing journey. Her response to the intention “Wow wow wow. this feels goooooood. I love to fly!!!” Our feedback:
“You are going places Lindz with joy in your heart, a smile on your face. That was fun!!”
“I felt us all join hands and create a trampoline and bounced Lindsey higher and higher. We bounced her to Europe and all over and then on a high bounce she turned into a bird. Then I turned into a huge golden eagle and flew free right along with the lyrics. Thanks for the experience!”
“I’m not sure what it’s called... the attention getting tall skinny air filled dancing person in front of stores... you became one after getting called up on stage at a Phish concert in Europe. Then you flew to Scotland, England, and Portugal to the excitement of your friends. Lots of flight today.”
Well, you get the picture…as we go forward, the intention setting sessions continue to feel rich and powerful, connecting us into a community of love. We aren’t measuring the long-term impact to our receivers - not sure how to do that. We did set intention last week for rain in Australia to help out with the raging fires. And, guess what? It rained the next day! Who knows? Maybe our prayers helped give mother nature a tiny nudge in that direction.
How do we measure the impact this weekly practice is having on us, the intenders? Not sure. Maybe time will give us more insight. For now, though, I love starting my Sunday mornings off with sense of connection to infinite possibilities.
If you’d like your own passport to “ecstatic oneness”, it’s pretty easy to start your own group. Or, you can check out my upcoming workshop Chakra Balancing with the Power of 8 that will harness the Power of 8. For the first week, we’ll meet virtually to set daily intention to clear and balance our eight chakras. For the next eight weeks, we’ll send a weekly healing intention to a member of the group. The workshop will be limited to- you guessed it - 8 people.