Are You Living Through the Spout of the Funnel?

A Call to Expand Your Vision and Reclaim the Fullness of Life

Have you ever felt like your world has become small, predictable, or constricted? Like you’re moving through life with blinders on, only able to see what’s directly in front of you?

This is what we call “living through the spout of the funnel.” It’s a potent metaphor for a deeper phenomenon we see in many who come to the work: living life through a narrow lens that filters out possibility, complexity, and truth.

The Funnel Effect: A Metaphor for Consciousness

Imagine looking through the tiny spout end of a funnel. Your field of vision is tight, tunnelled, and restricted. The rest of the world—the vastness of being, the range of choices, the fullness of your soul’s vision—sits outside your awareness. You might not even realize that you’re looking through a device at all. The funnel becomes invisible.

Many live this way for decades. Why? Because the spout feels familiar. Predictable. Safe.

But safe is not the same as awake.

Why We Get Caught in the Spout

Psychological Patterns

In times of stress, trauma, or fear, the human mind narrows its focus to survive. This is called cognitive tunnel vision. We block out what feels too big or too painful. We cling to certainty. The brain’s filtering system—the Reticular Activating System—starts scanning only for what matches our pre-existing beliefs, especially fear-based ones.

Unseen Filters

This narrow perspective becomes self-reinforcing:

• We only see evidence that confirms our worldview (confirmation bias).

• We over-focus on problems instead of possibilities.

• We mistake control for security.

  
  

The longer we look through the spout, the more we believe it’s reality.

The Cost of a Narrow Vision

Living in the spout is like living in a hall of mirrors:

• You feel stuck in repetitive patterns.

• Life feels small and overly managed.

• Joy, creativity, and awe become distant memories.

• You view life as something to endure—not something to expand into.

  
  

We forget that we were never meant to be this narrow. We were designed to perceive expansively.

What Happens When You Widen the Funnel?

Turning the funnel around doesn’t mean abandoning structure or abandoning your life. It means reorienting toward the whole—toward the fullness of being.

From this wide-lens view:

• Life becomes interconnected, not isolated.

• You remember who you were before fear, performance, and pressure.

• Possibility returns.

• Healing becomes available.

• You move from survival to sacred vision.

  
  

How to Remove the Funnel

You cannot widen your vision with the same thinking that narrowed it. Here are a few practices that can help:

1. Awareness

Begin with this inquiry: “What lens am I seeing life through today?”

2. Breath & Bodywork

The body remembers how to widen. Breath, movement, and grounded stillness dissolve constriction.

3. Nature Immersion

Nature doesn’t live in a funnel. The forest, the ocean, the stars—all remind you of your belonging in the vastness.

4. Transpersonal States

Consciousness-expanding journeys—like guided psilocybin experiences—gently but powerfully dissolve the illusion of narrowness. They offer a glimpse of your true field of vision.

5. Seek Discomfort

Talk to those who think differently. Read books outside your beliefs. Welcome contradiction—it’s a doorway to expansion.

Daily Practices for Expanding Your View

• Morning Reflection: “If I were seeing life from a higher altitude, what might I notice?”

• Journal Prompt: “What am I not allowing myself to see?”

• Movement Ritual: Dance, stretch, or walk without agenda. Reclaim spontaneity.

• Gratitude Practice: Name what’s already here. Gratitude is a wide-angle lens.

  
  

 Living from the Wide End of the Funnel