Choosing Reflection over Reaction: Tools for Transformation

 

We are living in challenging times. Yes, times they are a changin'! Human beings are tranforming, whether we want to, like it, or not. Our global economy, climate change, their politics, our politics... the call for compassion, sustainability, human rights...

We Lightworkers have actively been working toward this moment for several decades, and now en masse, humanity's (panicky) collective consciousness is seeking ways to become pro-active rather than reactive to the changes in our lives lest we become totally freaked out!

Recently a client asked me how to best remain calm, focused, and relaxed in the midst of her financial life, relationship life, and spiritual life all in obvious transistions. As we talked, it became obvious that there's really one good answer. Reflect before you act. Expect and respect the unexpected. And, say  "thank you", no matter what.

I approach each day with the attitude that there’s going to be at least one aha moment that will challenge my beliefs or behavior, an important lesson, and probably plenty of teachable moments coming. So I look for them and welcome them as interesting oppportunities for discovery rather than fear or dread them as negative, embarrasing, or stressful.

I also feed my capacity for creativity and innovation by participating in inspiring moments and things I find JOY in doing. I find time to indulge in things that provide sustenance to my  creative soul and curious mind. And, I don't feel guilty about it.  I value play’s ability to keep my mind sharp, agile and open to unpredictable moments. The beauty of play is that the lessons I learned in childhood bubble up and remain valuable in every aspect of my life – communication, problem-solving, ingenuity, innovation, resourcefulness, and creativity – all useful skills to enhance my human potential to be calm, compassionate, and courageous in any given moment.

I believe that good, personal health habits are a must. I eat right, drink plenty of water, get the rest I need when I need it, and I find time to both meditate and walk at least an hour a day. It is a priority. Obstacles can become opportunities when approached with imagination, innovation, and a healthy body, mind and spirit.  A healthy lifestyle ensures that you possess the energy as well as the ability to overcome all things. Yes, we are what we eat. And, we are who we think we are.

You also need a daily commitment, passion, intention, discipline, honest and real effort, patience and belief that your soul's work will be rewarded in time. You gotta trust the process and be committed to your dream even when unexpected change happens. Pray, meditate, then get over it, turn the page. Release it to the Universe. Stop obsessing.

If that sounds unsympathetic, well I guess it may be. But no one serves themselves or anyone else a heaping helping of love and light by playing the victim. Remember: You have the capacity to be tremendously resilient. You possess an ability to be resourceful, creative, healthy, and joyful.
Just say, "thank you."
No matter what...

May you be blessed!

Tasting the Pepper... and learning to be present with discomfort

The Buddha said that those who are mindless are as if dead already. To me, mindfulness is the fullness of attention, the quality of immediacy, and non-distraction. It is being present, and truly alive no matter what is happening, no matter how unpleasant.

Mindfulness is the quality that allows us to observe without judging. Normally, we hear sounds, taste tastes, or experience emotions, and immediately make a decision around them based on a whole complex of conditioning that shapes, colors, and filters our realities. We like something, we don't like something, and instantly our mind has already jumped ahead, drawing conclusions based on those judgements.

An example of how our conditioning shapes our experience can be illustrated by a simple condiment. One day I was invited by my friend to lunch at the new ethnic restaurant his father had just opened. I bit down on a whole pepper and my mouth just caught fire.

I remarked to my friend that I didn't like the taste of chilies, and he said, "Well, we don't like the taste of chilis either, but we believe that the stinging sensation will clear the palate and that it's good for digestion and health."

We went on to talk about what the natural property of the chili is and how it creates a physiological sensation of burning, which is a direct experience. But the next aspect of that reality is what we make of the experience. And how a cultural belief system can be part of the experience.

So my friend bites down on a chili, feels the burning, and reflects, "That is a good blessing for my health."

And here I was thinking, "I've got to get out of this restaurant! Maybe I can go somewhere and get a salad!"

The experience of tasting the pepper can be a metaphor, for our way of being in the world.

In the normal course of our days, our judements come so quickly and so strongly, we're lost in them. Consequently, we're out of touch with our lives, and all life. I'm already somewhere else with my imaginary salad instead of here, in the moment, with the pepper. We can use mindfulness to create a space between experience and interpretation. In that space, we can open beyond our conditioning to new possibilities and new understandings. And maybe even find a blessing hiding in the event.

A simple way of practicing mindfulness is to make a mental label of sensations. If you feel sleepy, you might say to yourself, "sleepy." If you have a thought, you say "thinking." When I was first studying meditation, I was given the instruction to try to make mental notes all the time. Whether I was sitting or doing walking meditation, I was trying to make a mental note. I began to notice that the single most common note I made was "waiting." I was waiting for something more exciting, important, or spiritually significant to happen. Wanting something more, different, better.

When I paid attention to that note, to the "waiting," I could begin to let the waiting go and be connected with what was. I could taste the pepper. And say, "thank you."

May you be blessed!

Holding the Blue Bead, Affirming My Place in the Universe

By working with affirmations, we begin the process of changing negative and unproductive beliefs into positive life supporting beliefs, that with regular practice will create our desired futures. Affirmations focus the mind and clarify attention and intention.

I love the Journey Beads Crystal Affirmation Beads for prayer, meditation, and mindfulness as I navigate life's twists and turns. I love the way they play with light, each facet representing a moment of clarity, joy, and celebration!

Blue is the color of the spirit and relates to self expression - speech, communication, the ability to communicate our needs and requirements; the Spirit of truth and purpose.

"Everything I do is an expression of love.

It is now safe for me to express my feelings.

I love and trust my creative gifts.

It is now right for me to express the best of who I am now.

I release the fear and doubts which block the way to my creative expression."

Journey Beads are both tactile and visual. They help to engage all our senses as we work with affirmations to reach our desired goals. An affirmation is a statement expressed in the present tense and phrased in the positive. I have found it advantageous to see myself as already having obtained my desired outcome and while holding the image, I bring to mind the feelings I would have when accomplishing my goal.

By combining the elements of sight, light, and touch to visualize our objective it becomes real to our imagination and in so doing becomes embedded in our subconscious as a part of our reality. As an example; if I desire to sail around the islands this winter; I concentrate and tune in my senses. I feel the motion of the boat beneath yme as I smell the sea air, hearing the flap of the sails and the calls of dolphins and gulls. I hear the rustle of palms on the breezy beach. I taste the salt spray on my face as I enjoy the pleasure of my surroundings. All the while, I turn the bead in my fingertips.

The subconscious mind, being non-critical, will believe my visualizations as being real as my sense of touch anchors those images in the third dimension reality. As I meditate on my affirmations, my subconscious mind will raise images and sensations of my successes to my awareness.

By visualizing your goal your subconscious mind will work for you, behind the scenes, to encourage the manifestation of situations which will ultimately enable your goals to come true. The process of achieving your goals through the application of positive mental images will empower you to create a reality from your desires. Journey Beads will bring light to your intentions and anchor them for manifestation with the healing power of touch.

Journey Beads may be purchased on Bonanzle and also at Oshun Spirit Earth Friendly Goods. There is a Free Design Service if you'd like help in creating a set of beads and positive affirmations for your unique journey, or for someone you care about. Journey Beads also fit Pandora and Troll Jewelry.

Like words of encouragement, Journey Beads make a thoughtful and personal gift for someone facing challenges, celebrating a personal triumph, and growing in spirit. Each bead arrives wrapped in scented silk rose petals with an affirmation tag.

"Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us." – Samuel Smiles

May you be blessed!

Views from the edge

“Nothing is given to man on Earth - struggle is built into the nature of life. The hero is the man who lets no obstacle prevent him from pursuing the values he has chosen.” –Andrew Bernstein

"Now after all this struggle, where do I go?"
I'm seeing some soul searching, finally.

I have been watching the "experts and chosen ones" deliberately taking advantage of the weary and down-trodden and leading them down a treacherous path to "success" that instinctively feels wrong, is most certainly self-defeating, and and could be financially suicidal. There was, by design, a ready following for these directives... And even as their own hearts were urging them to stop and reflect on the path, and find their own light, the self-proclaimed experts said they knew the way.

I agree, it might feel safer to trust the experts, at least for a minute or two. But it is safer to know who YOU are and trust your own instincts. Hold true to your own values. And make your own mistakes if need be.

It occurred to me that it is not the hard work, the perseverance, or the patience required to succeed that eventually turns the heart to weariness – and perhaps finally bitterness and resentment– but the grieving of the values that have been compromised along the way.

There is great power in accepting what is, rather than wishing for something different. If in the quest for transforming your circumstances, a sense of desperation and struggle has been born, or you've been lead to a place that doesn't feel right, I say, "Stop! Breathe. Think. Feel."

Re-connect with your values. Let those values be the beacon that lights your way. Align with them and you will work smarter, not harder.

Accept where you are in this moment, even if it's scary. It is a beginning point. Put aside the blame. I's not the economy, its not what has been done to you, or what hasn't been done for you. It's not what you expected. OK.

Accepting and blessing our circumstances is a powerful tool for transformation. In fact, this potent combination can work miracles in our lives.

What is acceptance? Acceptance is surrendering to what is: our circumstances, our feelings, our problems, our financial status, our work, our health, our relationships with other people, the delay of our dreams.

Before we can change anything in our life we have to recognize that this is the way it's meant to be right now.

Believe that you came to this edge to learn to fly, because there is no going backwards. Find your own wings in the closed eyes of prayer and meditation, perhaps even the quiet tears. Everything is going to turn out all right. This is simply part of the journey. Say it aloud. Write it down.

Over the years I have discovered that much of my struggle to be content despite whatever outside circumstances have arisen, is when I stubbornly resisted what was actually happening in my life at the present moment. But I have also learned that when I surrender to the reality of a particular situation – when I don't continue to resist, but accept, a resonance occurs.

Suddenly I am able to open up to receive all the goodness and abundance available to me because acceptance brings with it so much relief and release. It's as if the steam of struggle has been allowed to escape from life's pressure cooker.

What happens when we accept our circumstances? Well, first of all, we relax. Next we change our vibration, our energy pattern, and the rate of our heartbeat. Once again we're able to tap into the boundless positive energy of the Universe. Acceptance also illuminates reality so that we're better able to see the our own way...

"When you come to the edge of all the light you have known, and are about to step out into darkness, faith is knowing one of two things will happen; There will be something to stand on, or you will be taught to fly." –Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Today, have faith in yourself and in your own wisdom.

May you be blessed!

Great Spirit, Great Goddess, a simple prayer for understanding

This morning I've been mediating on the similarities of the teachings of Oshun, and the promise of White Buffalo Calf Woman, who reassured that she would indeed return to purify the world, returning harmony, balance, and spiritual awakening when the hearts of men were prepared.

I've been meditating on Earth Day celebrations and commitments, about three decades too late in our consciousness, but better late than never.

I've been taking an accounting of what has been lost in selfishness and corruption around me, and the lessons that remain unlearned. I've watched the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free given a new home built on sand. I've been watching time, cycle over itself, tripping over itself, for human beings unaware.

Today I pray...

Great Spirit, give us hearts to understand;

Never to take from creation's beauty more than we give;
Never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed;
Never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth's beauty;
Never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand
That to destroy earth's music is to create confusion;
That to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;
That to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;
That as we care for her she will care for us.

We have forgotten who we are.
We have sought only our own security.
We have exploited simply for our own ends.
We have distorted our knowledge.
We have abused our power.

Great Spirit, whose dry lands thirst,
Help us to find the way to refresh your lands.

Great Spirit, whose waters are choked with debris and pollution,
Help us to find the way to cleanse your waters.

Great Spirit, whose beautiful earth grows ugly with misuse,
Help us to find the way to restore beauty to your handiwork.

Great Spirit, whose creatures are being destroyed,
Help us to find a way to replenish them.

Great Spirit, whose gifts to us are being lost in selfishness and corruption,
Help us to find the way to restore our humanity.

image credit: www.thevillagenews.com/images/photos

Hang a prayer flag in your heart today

As the inauguration of Barack Obama takes place at noon today on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., as Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. oversees the changing of the guard by administering the oath, I will close my eyes and visualize prayer flags flying in the winds of change. And my heart will soar!

Prayer flags are colorful panels or rectangular cloths often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas to bless the surrounding countryside. The Tibetan word for prayer flag is "Lung ta", meaning "wind horse".

The prayers contained on the flags are carried by the wind, and your own mind, to all as a blessing. When I see a prayer flag flying in the breeze, I am reminded of the call to say a prayer for the welfare of all beings, to work to bring about virtue, goodness, healing, and happiness in the world around me.

Celebrate the winds of change! I hope that you will take a moment to to add your hopes and dreams to the prayer flags I’ve strung for today! Prayer flags are used to send blessings and prayers on the wind for the welfare of all beings, and to help us to be mindful to be kind, compassionate, and joyful throughout the day! Please leave your prayers and blessings in the comments box. Today is a good day to string prayer flags. I shall, from my heart to yours!

photo credit: www.johnharveyphoto.com

A Meditation for the New Year

In the New Year may we remember
Today’s decisions shape tomorrow’s outcomes

That living each moment the best we can
Creates a harmonious life.

May we remember
By holding fast to integrity
Others see we are trustworthy.

When times are rough
May we remember to turn in
To our close and ready Source of comfort.

On New Year’s and every day
May we remember that each new moment
Can be a fresh beginning.

And may we especially remember that
Personal peace preserved leads to
World peace, well deserved

- by Susan Kramer