Dr. Dain Heer envisions a world without judgement.
Inspired in part by his childhood struggles, the internationally renowned author and speaker first studied to become a chiropractor in hopes of healing others. Unfortunately, he felt more frustrated than fulfilled and found himself doubting if there was any point to living at all.
That was when he met Gary Douglas, the founder of conceptual technique, Access Consciousness, and decided that self-doubt and a limited perspective were at the root of his unhappiness. Ultimately, he created his own energetic transformation process called, The Energetic Synthesis of Being (ESB).
Since then, he has written nine books, including the most recent, Being You Changing the World. He also hosts a regular radio show entitled, Conversations in Consciousness.
Now, Heer shares why, without self-criticism, there is joy:
Live The Process: How did your early experiences shape your path?
Dr. Dain Heer: I was raised in a ghetto in LA, where I was literally the only white kid for miles. I experienced a lot of abuse, of all kinds—mental, physical, sexual—growing up, but, all the while, I would look around me and think, “It doesn’t have to be like this. We don’t have to be unkind to each other; we don’t have to experience so much pain, anger, sadness and wrongness.” No matter what abuse I suffered, I knew there should be some way we could all live with greater kindness, nurturing and gifting.
I remember being in a chiropractic clinic one day and there were all these books in the room about the miracles you could create in people’s lives and bodies, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I studied Network Chiropractic and other modalities too—just about everything you could think of—in search of creating these miracles. Ultimately, I became frustrated, though, as they all seemed to provide only temporary relief and change. I knew that more should be possible, but I started to doubt if it actually existed on this planet.
By the time I was 30, I was dying inside. I had everything that was supposed to bring you happiness (job, beautiful girlfriend etc.), but I had no sense of inner peace or joy. I had decided I was going to commit suicide. I even chose a date. I gave the Universe six months to change my life, or I was done. About a week later, I came into contact with Access Consciousness, which involves these tools and techniques that seem so simple—and even a little weird—but created so much change for me that I, thankfully, chose to live instead of die.
My unique take on energy and healing came about when I started playing around with these tools and met the founder of Access, who is now my best friend and business partner, Gary Douglas.
The first time Gary came into my chiropractic office, he told me the first two levels of Network Chiropractic didn’t work on him. He wanted me to go to the next level of care, but I had no one in my office at that level yet.
When I explained that to him, he asked me to do something no one had ever asked for before. He asked me to, “trust my knowing.” When I started to work on him, I was in a completely different space. I understood what to do. Not cognitively, not in any way I could describe at the time. But I just knew. And, in that moment, I stepped into a space of being I didn’t know existed. In that space, I had access to me, to my knowing. What I learned that day was the beginning of what I call the Energetic Synthesis of Being.
That capacity to create a life you truly desire by claiming, owning and acknowledging that you know is what inspired me to write my book, Being You, Changing The World. When I was willing to let go of the judgment that I was limited, that I was wrong, that I had nothing to offer or that I couldn’t create the change I knew was possible, my life became so much more joyful. The difference I could create in my life and other people’s lives became infinitely more dynamic and miraculous. And the thing is, we all have that gift; we just weren’t told that we are the gift. That being who we are, trusting what we know, is exactly what will bring about that change.
LTP: Why is self-judgment so dangerous?
DH: We spend so much time in judgment of ourselves, like 24/7! The thing is, when you judge yourself or anything else, you lose the sense of adventure, the sense of possibility. Judging takes that joy out of living. Basically, whatever you judge kills any gratitude or peace that would otherwise be available there.
We are taught to go around thinking, “I don’t want to step out of line. I don’t want to step out of the box,” as if that is valuable. But, actually, when let you be you, when you step out of judgment of yourself, when you say, “Enough, I am not doing this to myself anymore,’ you begin to create your life from a different space entirely.
What I’d like to see is a world where none of the judgment matters. What if your life could feel the way it does when you’re out in nature? What if you could bring that energy into your daily life? What if embracing that energy was the key to having the things you’ve always wanted, but didn’t know how to create?
LTP: Can you describe the healing process that you have developed?
DH: The ESB (Energetic Synthesis of Being) is so hard to define because it’s unique to each person. For me, it began as this energy that I stepped into that day in my chiropractic office with Gary Douglas, and has since become so much more.
Essentially, it is a way of using the magic you had when you were a kid to change everything you want as an adult. It’s creating a connection between your body, your being and everything around you in such a way that you can start receiving contribution from the world. And, in so doing, you realize that you’re not wrongness; you are not this limited and finite thing. As a result, you can change many of the things in your body that you want to change.
It’s really this unique way of transforming limitations into possibilities and healing yourself, the world and the planet. It’s you tapping into all the energies you can be and using them to create phenomenal change.
My book is really an invitation—with so many tools and techniques for creating change—for anyone who desires to be the magic that is possible, but who doesn’t see that it’s possible right now. If you have ever, for a moment, judged yourself as wrong in anyway, and you would like to give that up, this is the book for you.
It’s the information I wish I had been given when I was born. This book is my way of saying, “You can be joyful, happy, magical. You already are; you just bought some crap people told you along the way. Here’s a bunch of wonderful tools that can help you go beyond it and embrace being you.”
LTP: What comprises your own current wellness routine?
DH: My life and my body are different every day, so I don’t have a set routine for what I do, but there are questions that I ask myself and my body each day to choose what will be joyful and nurturing. Our bodies require and desire different things at different times. So, I ask my body questions: What would it like to wear? What would my body like to eat? Does my body even require food right now or something else? What kind of movement would be fun for my body today? Is there anything my body requires that I haven’t considered? I try different things all the time, but that’s what works for me.
I do make sure that—for at least an hour a day and one day a week—I do something that is really nurturing for myself. When I am kind to my body and honor myself by giving myself the space and things I need, everything in my world becomes easier and more joyful.
LTP: What does happiness look like to you?
DH: Well, it’s this sense of peace that emerges in my world when I know that I can change or create anything I truly desire. I realized a few years ago that happiness is a choice we have in the moment. We can choose to be happy, sad or angry, or whatever we like. No one makes us choose. So, no matter whether I am out riding my horse, on a jet-ski, on a plane, in a class, talking to my friends or in a meeting with my accountant, I get to choose how I feel about that moment, that day. And, if I don’t like what I am creating in my life, I can change it.
LTP: What does it mean to you to “Live The Process” and how do you do that every day?
DH: Living the process for me is being able to live beyond judgments; it’s being able to choose what I desire for the joy of it! It’s never being stuck with a point of view that change isn’t possible. It is about knowing that I am not wrong, and that I am a gift on this planet. It is about being grateful for what I have created in my life—all of it, good, bad and ugly—and knowing that there are greater possibilities at my fingertips, always! It’s just a matter of asking for what I desire and being willing to have it show up in all kinds of magical and unexpected ways.
When I live my life from a place of curiosity and kid-like exuberance, when I choose the joy it brings me and acknowledge that having my own reality is a contribution to my life and the entire planet, that’s me living the process—well, that’s me truly living.
This world requires and desires a different possibility from the anger, rage, fury and hate that is so prevalent. So, if you are willing to choose to have a different point of view, you can begin to truly live. And that is an energy that the planet desires and requires of us all.