It’s the little things that can trip us up, you know. Grand passions and grand purposes notwithstanding, when we get caught up in everyday life, that’s when we step off the track. That’s when we get caught by our power plays and forget everything we’ve learned. We’re at an interesting juncture—we have the timing and opportunity to step beyond the physical limitations we take for granted on a daily basis, but our lives are so crazy-busy we react, rather than act. We take the closest turn, and call it intuition, rather than reach inside ourselves long enough to find the connection, the power cord (or power chord, perhaps ), look for the synchronicity and the signals that Divine guidance is waving at us. We ignore the coincidence of meeting just the right person at the right time, wave it off as “a sign, but I don’t know of what.”
So our daily practice—meditation, energy clearing, energy raising through the kind of music we listen to, the people we surround ourselves with, etc—is the practice ground for this. Meditation trains us to step back and shut up, even if it’s just for a moment. Energy clearing makes the voice of God sound just a bit stronger—and working through our old crap makes it a bit easier to contemplate the non-limits. But it is a daily practice. And while I say “even if you can only do this for five minutes,” that isn’t an excuse to leave it at five minutes while you go off and watch TV for the rest of the evening. That’s another trap of the times, I think—and reminds me of the Genie in the Aladdin movie, saying “limitless power, itty-bitty living space.” That’s us—limitless power, but it’s easier to spend our time in a cozy living space than to do the work needed to evolve.
Which isn’t to say it’s all difficult. Sometimes the hardest part is just letting go…because once you let go—really let go—it can be amazingly easy. We’re just going to shift the energy.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
What’s next?
So from Doctor Dad, you’ve got a bent for science. From Artist Mom, you’ve got a flair for color and proportion and a love of beauty. Now what?
Well, here’s a quick example of where your path might be leading you: what if you discovered through practice that the more beautiful a garden was, the stronger its healing properties? Or what if you found that color therapy helped abused children heal their trauma? Or that Reiki, combined with appreciation, caused plants to become more nutritious by enhancing their mineral impact?
What if everything you dreamed, was real?
That’s the beginning of finding your path, of waking up, of creating a new dream for living. The next step is to create a vision from that of two things: the larger purpose, and the next step. The larger purpose is the grand question you’ll hold before the Universe so when you aren’t quite sure what to do, where to go, what choice to make, you go back to that, and you look for the signs, the synchronicity.
Expect it. Expect to be shown what you need to see. And follow your hunches, the path that glows brighter than the other when you get to the fork in the road. Do this while maintaining your vision, while keeping your energy clear, while maintaining connection with the Divine (this is why I say the Insights Redfield presents aren’t consecutive—there’s kind of this loop that you have to stay in/on etc. Sometimes it looks like a Mobius strip, but keep at it, you’ll be upright again soon!). The more layers you peel away from your armor, the more open you are, the more you cultivate the open heart of a spiritual warrior, the LESS you rely on Fear and its protections, the clearer the Vision is, the brighter the synchronicities, and so on.
If you can do this for five minutes at a time, you’re way ahead of most of the gang!
Well, here’s a quick example of where your path might be leading you: what if you discovered through practice that the more beautiful a garden was, the stronger its healing properties? Or what if you found that color therapy helped abused children heal their trauma? Or that Reiki, combined with appreciation, caused plants to become more nutritious by enhancing their mineral impact?
What if everything you dreamed, was real?
That’s the beginning of finding your path, of waking up, of creating a new dream for living. The next step is to create a vision from that of two things: the larger purpose, and the next step. The larger purpose is the grand question you’ll hold before the Universe so when you aren’t quite sure what to do, where to go, what choice to make, you go back to that, and you look for the signs, the synchronicity.
Expect it. Expect to be shown what you need to see. And follow your hunches, the path that glows brighter than the other when you get to the fork in the road. Do this while maintaining your vision, while keeping your energy clear, while maintaining connection with the Divine (this is why I say the Insights Redfield presents aren’t consecutive—there’s kind of this loop that you have to stay in/on etc. Sometimes it looks like a Mobius strip, but keep at it, you’ll be upright again soon!). The more layers you peel away from your armor, the more open you are, the more you cultivate the open heart of a spiritual warrior, the LESS you rely on Fear and its protections, the clearer the Vision is, the brighter the synchronicities, and so on.
If you can do this for five minutes at a time, you’re way ahead of most of the gang!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Why am I here?
If we are to do the necessary practice of shifting energy on a large scale, the first place we want to start is with ourselves, and getting clear of the psychic crap we pick up every day, as well as the crap we’ve been carrying with us as karma, trauma, or just habits.
The next step, which actually involves lots of pieces, is to be clear on where you’re going in the highest sense. Your spiritual purpose, or your role in the process of human spiritual evolution. The “why am I here.”
This is an answer we begin to come to by looking at our past—more particularly our families—with curiosity instead of judgment. We start with the premise that we chose our families—that this was not a cosmic accident. (Actually, we’re starting the whole thing with the premise that there are no cosmic accidents.) Think about your parents, about the kind of people they were. You can bring siblings into the equation, too, although that gets a bit complicated, because you’re working with the thought that they too chose your family for a purpose. Hmmm ... might be interesting to know what your siblings thought of your parents in this scenario, too—do they see the same things you do? But I digress.
When I look at my parents, I realize that over the past several years my understanding of their part in my spiritual placement (if you will) has changed somewhat, and gotten a bit more nuanced. That’s okay—you start where you are and as your understanding grows, I think you get simply more information to push you along. So…Redfield, in the Celestine Prophecy, suggests four paradigms of power that we all engage in: interrogation, intimidation, aloofness / withdrawal, and “poor me” or victim. All of these are used as ways to manipulate relationships to draw as much energy / power to ourselves as possible. He suggests the we develop these power paradigms by observing our parents and reacting to their power paradigms, and that this serves also as a base for us to grow from.
The danger in this, though, is in letting ourselves get trapped in the simplicity of this four-part power model. I see myself, for example, reacting differently to different people when I get caught in a power play. Still, it’s a useful tool for learning to observe power manipulation and for walking away from it. Of course, it's also important to focus on the part where you learn to walk away, instead of using it as an excuse!
A huge part of what we learn – or can learn – from our parents comes from observing—again, with curiosity, not judgment—who/how they are in the world in terms of providing sort of a base from which we gain tools to create our paths. For some people, this may be easy: my dad was a doctor, I’m a doctor, etc. But for this new goal of conscious spiritual evolution, or conscious sanity, I think it’s important to go beyond that. And for those of us whose parental lessons may not be so obvious in the sense that following their mundane path isn’t what we’re aiming for. In my case, at one point in my life or another, both my parents were teachers. I don’t think that how they approached teaching is necessarily a model from which I should draw—although I could be wrong. In fact, it took me years to understand that what I think is the biggest synthesis for me is how they each approached/approach spirituality and spiritual exploration. From my mother, I get a huge helping of curiosity, and willingness to explore new things. My mother is one of those people who, when her attention is caught, is just as likely to dive headlong into the pool as she is to check the temperature with her toe in the shallow end. My dad was much more cynical (possibly because the idealism was crushed at a young age, but I’m not trying to defend or explain him, just observe). He frequently would make statements that would leave you wondering why he wasn’t an atheist—and by the time I was a young adult, he and my mom were pretty much at opposite ends of spectrum when it came to trying “new,” although I still describe him as a perpetual seeker.
So from Mom, curiosity and willingness to explore. From Dad, a desire to explain, debunk, and ground in logic and experience, rather than taking what I see at face value. And probably, I really shouldn’t forget the teacher thing—there’s definitely a need to discover (from both of them), but for the sake of sharing.
So for you…what do you see in your parents’ lives, in their way of being in the world, that was important to you as you engage in this process?
The next step, which actually involves lots of pieces, is to be clear on where you’re going in the highest sense. Your spiritual purpose, or your role in the process of human spiritual evolution. The “why am I here.”
This is an answer we begin to come to by looking at our past—more particularly our families—with curiosity instead of judgment. We start with the premise that we chose our families—that this was not a cosmic accident. (Actually, we’re starting the whole thing with the premise that there are no cosmic accidents.) Think about your parents, about the kind of people they were. You can bring siblings into the equation, too, although that gets a bit complicated, because you’re working with the thought that they too chose your family for a purpose. Hmmm ... might be interesting to know what your siblings thought of your parents in this scenario, too—do they see the same things you do? But I digress.
When I look at my parents, I realize that over the past several years my understanding of their part in my spiritual placement (if you will) has changed somewhat, and gotten a bit more nuanced. That’s okay—you start where you are and as your understanding grows, I think you get simply more information to push you along. So…Redfield, in the Celestine Prophecy, suggests four paradigms of power that we all engage in: interrogation, intimidation, aloofness / withdrawal, and “poor me” or victim. All of these are used as ways to manipulate relationships to draw as much energy / power to ourselves as possible. He suggests the we develop these power paradigms by observing our parents and reacting to their power paradigms, and that this serves also as a base for us to grow from.
The danger in this, though, is in letting ourselves get trapped in the simplicity of this four-part power model. I see myself, for example, reacting differently to different people when I get caught in a power play. Still, it’s a useful tool for learning to observe power manipulation and for walking away from it. Of course, it's also important to focus on the part where you learn to walk away, instead of using it as an excuse!
A huge part of what we learn – or can learn – from our parents comes from observing—again, with curiosity, not judgment—who/how they are in the world in terms of providing sort of a base from which we gain tools to create our paths. For some people, this may be easy: my dad was a doctor, I’m a doctor, etc. But for this new goal of conscious spiritual evolution, or conscious sanity, I think it’s important to go beyond that. And for those of us whose parental lessons may not be so obvious in the sense that following their mundane path isn’t what we’re aiming for. In my case, at one point in my life or another, both my parents were teachers. I don’t think that how they approached teaching is necessarily a model from which I should draw—although I could be wrong. In fact, it took me years to understand that what I think is the biggest synthesis for me is how they each approached/approach spirituality and spiritual exploration. From my mother, I get a huge helping of curiosity, and willingness to explore new things. My mother is one of those people who, when her attention is caught, is just as likely to dive headlong into the pool as she is to check the temperature with her toe in the shallow end. My dad was much more cynical (possibly because the idealism was crushed at a young age, but I’m not trying to defend or explain him, just observe). He frequently would make statements that would leave you wondering why he wasn’t an atheist—and by the time I was a young adult, he and my mom were pretty much at opposite ends of spectrum when it came to trying “new,” although I still describe him as a perpetual seeker.
So from Mom, curiosity and willingness to explore. From Dad, a desire to explain, debunk, and ground in logic and experience, rather than taking what I see at face value. And probably, I really shouldn’t forget the teacher thing—there’s definitely a need to discover (from both of them), but for the sake of sharing.
So for you…what do you see in your parents’ lives, in their way of being in the world, that was important to you as you engage in this process?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Purpose, path, and evolution
Many scientists and others writing in the “new paradigm” genre (if genre is the right word, but you know what I mean) have suggested that the real meaning of our time, and of the changes predicted over the next couple of years have to do with our ability to evolve within our lifetimes. Not intergenerational evolution, but INTRA-generational evolution.
Certainly we are on the cusp of great change, sliding into the bowl of it, so…why not?
Over the past few weeks, the news has rocked with reports of revolution and change world-wide (or at least region-wide). The beginning of the bigger changes to come, it’s thought.
It’s interesting to step back and observe as Fear responds. Sometimes on both sides. It’s challenging, too, as an observer, to ascertain where it’s fear, or perhaps a necessary stand, in some of these scenarios—or even if what we see as change is perhaps a backlash from the old paradigm resisting change indirectly. (How you see that may depend on your personal view of “how the world ought to work.”)
This is where clarity on your path and the larger purpose of human experience is essential. Keeping clear on this is aided in part by those things we’ve discussed—the work you do to get clear yourself will help you maintain focus in the midst of the Fear.
Certainly we are on the cusp of great change, sliding into the bowl of it, so…why not?
Over the past few weeks, the news has rocked with reports of revolution and change world-wide (or at least region-wide). The beginning of the bigger changes to come, it’s thought.
It’s interesting to step back and observe as Fear responds. Sometimes on both sides. It’s challenging, too, as an observer, to ascertain where it’s fear, or perhaps a necessary stand, in some of these scenarios—or even if what we see as change is perhaps a backlash from the old paradigm resisting change indirectly. (How you see that may depend on your personal view of “how the world ought to work.”)
This is where clarity on your path and the larger purpose of human experience is essential. Keeping clear on this is aided in part by those things we’ve discussed—the work you do to get clear yourself will help you maintain focus in the midst of the Fear.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Four levels of seeing
When we look at clearing or shifting energy—for whatever purpose, but especially when it's part of our spiritual path (or is helping us walk that path), it's helpful to realize that what we can do easily varies with our level of perception. The shamans of Peru present four levels of perception that they say we function with. It's important to understand that these are only partly aligned with, say, a spiritual progression—that is, while we are here in these human forms, we're likely to move between all of them depending on circumstance.
The first level of seeing is that of serpent. You could roughly correspond this to the first two levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, since it's very simple: food, shelter, security. It's being very physically in the world, very concerned with physical needs.
The second level of seeing is that of jaguar. This is the perception of the mind and emotions. For example, take the breath. At serpent, we're only concerned with being able to breathe—in fact, we're mostly unconscious of it as long as it keeps going. At the level of jaguar, we assign meaning to the breath: quickening under excitement, perhaps stopping altogether with shock. We're able to manipulate the breath to purpose: deep breathing for trance work or to calm ourselves; a single deep breath to gain control, and so forth. In the words of Alberto Villoldo (The Four Insights) "We're aware that our experiences are influenced by our thoughts and that everything isn't necessarily what it seems to be in the physical realm."
The third level of seeing is that of hummingbird, where we are aware of bigger patterns, of divine purpose, that things are expressions of the divine. It is the perception of the sacred, of the soul. We are aware of our connection to the divine—a level of perception we might correspond to the 3rd eye/brow or crown chakra.
The fourth level of perception is that of eagle: this is spiritual perception. This is the level of creation, not simply awareness of the divine hand in creation. When we are in the realm of eagle, we are not aware of a connection to the divine, we are simply connected. We see everything as spirit and connected.
I believe it's at this fourth level—eagle—where we shift energy. This is where we embody prayer. Change, of course, happens at all levels: in serpent, instinctive reaction to enticements or threats will have us changing course: we're hungry, so we pull into the closest place that satisfies our need or our tastes. In jaguar, we can make conscious choices based on what we see beneath the surface: jaguar is the level at which we can begin healing our past, making choices about the use of power, and so forth. It's where we can be aware of the physical expression of energy and how it affects us: the things we learn from our past, from our friends, families, and lovers; from all our relationships. It's the point from which most of us begin our spiritual journey. These changes are emotional, psychological, and they encourage us to explore further. At hummingbird, we gain awareness of patterns of destiny, of past life karma and inter-life choices, of soulmates and soul groups. At hummingbird, we are aware of how interconnected we are, and how we connect to divine purpose and energy, and we begin shifting energy. It's slower here than at eagle, though, because in eagle we don't need reminders of how to dismantle barriers. We don't have to stay in trance to heal, or to shift energy because we simply are and do. This level is available to us no matter where we are or think we are in our spiritual practice—this is the level at which physical obstacles simply dissolve, because we drop ego (which is our awareness of being separate) and simply allow...twisting spoons, spontaneous healing, superhuman feats to rescue a child...just in case you thought this was reserved for monks or others who live lives of devoted spiritual attunement!
The first level of seeing is that of serpent. You could roughly correspond this to the first two levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, since it's very simple: food, shelter, security. It's being very physically in the world, very concerned with physical needs.
The second level of seeing is that of jaguar. This is the perception of the mind and emotions. For example, take the breath. At serpent, we're only concerned with being able to breathe—in fact, we're mostly unconscious of it as long as it keeps going. At the level of jaguar, we assign meaning to the breath: quickening under excitement, perhaps stopping altogether with shock. We're able to manipulate the breath to purpose: deep breathing for trance work or to calm ourselves; a single deep breath to gain control, and so forth. In the words of Alberto Villoldo (The Four Insights) "We're aware that our experiences are influenced by our thoughts and that everything isn't necessarily what it seems to be in the physical realm."
The third level of seeing is that of hummingbird, where we are aware of bigger patterns, of divine purpose, that things are expressions of the divine. It is the perception of the sacred, of the soul. We are aware of our connection to the divine—a level of perception we might correspond to the 3rd eye/brow or crown chakra.
The fourth level of perception is that of eagle: this is spiritual perception. This is the level of creation, not simply awareness of the divine hand in creation. When we are in the realm of eagle, we are not aware of a connection to the divine, we are simply connected. We see everything as spirit and connected.
I believe it's at this fourth level—eagle—where we shift energy. This is where we embody prayer. Change, of course, happens at all levels: in serpent, instinctive reaction to enticements or threats will have us changing course: we're hungry, so we pull into the closest place that satisfies our need or our tastes. In jaguar, we can make conscious choices based on what we see beneath the surface: jaguar is the level at which we can begin healing our past, making choices about the use of power, and so forth. It's where we can be aware of the physical expression of energy and how it affects us: the things we learn from our past, from our friends, families, and lovers; from all our relationships. It's the point from which most of us begin our spiritual journey. These changes are emotional, psychological, and they encourage us to explore further. At hummingbird, we gain awareness of patterns of destiny, of past life karma and inter-life choices, of soulmates and soul groups. At hummingbird, we are aware of how interconnected we are, and how we connect to divine purpose and energy, and we begin shifting energy. It's slower here than at eagle, though, because in eagle we don't need reminders of how to dismantle barriers. We don't have to stay in trance to heal, or to shift energy because we simply are and do. This level is available to us no matter where we are or think we are in our spiritual practice—this is the level at which physical obstacles simply dissolve, because we drop ego (which is our awareness of being separate) and simply allow...twisting spoons, spontaneous healing, superhuman feats to rescue a child...just in case you thought this was reserved for monks or others who live lives of devoted spiritual attunement!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Holding the Vision
The other evening I was at a meetup (group of people—often strangers—getting together to explore a common interest) that had been meeting to discuss things related to the Celestine insights (based on the book[s] by James Redfield). I'd attended a few in the past, but the approach wasn't entirely the way I was hoping to engage, and I'd fallen out of the practice. This meeting, though, was to discuss the 10th insight, "holding the vision," and because many of the themes that underlie that particular insight have been popping up lately, it seemed a good time to check back in.
A full understanding of this insight is, like so many of the others, complicated, and this is just my interpretation from my reading; still, I think we'll take a few days to go over it, and then maybe we'll backtrack and work in some of the things that made this all make sense to me finally, 15 or so years after I'd first read the Celestine Prophecy.
I've said before that it doesn't matter what your calling is, as long as you find it and are working that direction. For that matter, the important stuff has nothing to do with how you're making a living, although the more closely you can weld spiritual purpose to every part of your life—including the part that pays for what you need to pay for—the happier you'll be. But what's this "holding the vision" stuff about?
Well, it's about digging into why you are really here (the age-old question, right?). Finding out what your role is in human spiritual evolution, and playing that out. It's about not being distracted by fear, or the "wrong" vision, whether yours or someone else's. You get there by digging below the surface, below the path that feels good or right and finding out what the bedrock is made of.
One thing to understand is that the Insights (any insight, for that matter) is not a question of chronology; although coming to certain understandings is often necessary to better understand something that comes later, you don't have to put off studying or living something just because you haven't entirely figured out the first step. What I find is that very frequently, some truth that you uncover will send you right back to an earlier discovery with a new perspective that helps you grow back to that next one, which gives you a new understanding of THAT, and so on. So even if you feel like you haven't quite got here—still fumbling around with the basics—keep going. Incorporate what we've been talking about, the other things you've learned, and know that you're moving forward with every step.
One of the first steps that WILL keep you going back and forth, but in a spiral, not in a stuck line, is the energy clearing we've been discussing. Your energy gets clear, so you can face something you weren't willing to face before, but that brings more energy toxins to the surface, so you need more clearing, etc. And energy clearing will help you get more clear on the truth in your life, which means you (often) get to deal with the delusions next.
Once you've discovered your vision (the one we're talking about holding), that gives you a touchstone or focal point, but it most likely will NOT magically make everything better—because part of what you came to do is likely to include various facets of messy human existence. So you still are going to be working through whatever those experiences are: relationships, prosperity issues, right livelihood, right speech (to use some Buddhist terms), and—and this can be a fun one—other people's reactions to your growth. The closer those people are to you, the harder that can be.
Over the next few days we'll talk about the shamans' four levels of seeing, because it ties into this beautifully, then soul groups, and finally, how to set this into your daily practice and daily reality. Today, we're going to take a giant step back and talk about meditation and chakras for one moment.
Meditation is essential for quieting your mind and learning focus. The ability to hold a focus in meditation—whether on the breath, on counting, on a mantra or image—is key to holding your vision. Meditation, because it trains us to let thoughts pass through without distracting us, also trains us to hold a focus in the midst of ordinary reality—to allow those distractions of our mundane lives to pass through as the temporary forms they are, without pulling us away from our purpose.
Meditation also helps us peel away the onion layers of our armor. We build up these thick walls of protection, constructed of the stories we tell ourselves about right and wrong, of harm done to us, or of power plays we've pulled on others. We construct them out of the shoulda-coulda-woulda list, out of the "gotta do" list, out of bills to pay and people to please and houses to keep up as though those actions can protect us from the rug being pulled out from under us to disclose the oubliette of whatever it was we didn't expect. (I know, great metaphor, isn't it?) What we want to do, though, to complete this life-long journey of spiritual evolution is to be warriors without armor (did I mention it's life-long? Not for everyone, I suppose, but still....). To create a life of conscious spiritual connection and energy evolution. And we can't do it without peeling away the protections we've piled on. Meditation helps us see our stories for what they are, gives us the space to step back before reacting to the new stories – to become an observer – and to stop relying on them for protection.
Your work in clearing your chakras and strengthening the energy centers in and around you is one way to heal the wounds caused—and protected by—the armor. Those chakras that persist in gunking up can tell you where you try hardest to protect yourself, and/or where you're attracting hits, where the lessons you've chosen to learn may sit. Note: just because you've chosen to experience something in this lifetime, it doesn't mean you have to KEEP experiencing it. Learn the lesson, release the karma, and move on--because it's moving on (and up, and deeper) that's kind of the point.
Clear, strengthen, repeat. You're off to an excellent start. Where do you find it hardest to clear? Feel free to comment or email me privately, whether you've got "stuck" or want to share what you find.
A full understanding of this insight is, like so many of the others, complicated, and this is just my interpretation from my reading; still, I think we'll take a few days to go over it, and then maybe we'll backtrack and work in some of the things that made this all make sense to me finally, 15 or so years after I'd first read the Celestine Prophecy.
I've said before that it doesn't matter what your calling is, as long as you find it and are working that direction. For that matter, the important stuff has nothing to do with how you're making a living, although the more closely you can weld spiritual purpose to every part of your life—including the part that pays for what you need to pay for—the happier you'll be. But what's this "holding the vision" stuff about?
Well, it's about digging into why you are really here (the age-old question, right?). Finding out what your role is in human spiritual evolution, and playing that out. It's about not being distracted by fear, or the "wrong" vision, whether yours or someone else's. You get there by digging below the surface, below the path that feels good or right and finding out what the bedrock is made of.
One thing to understand is that the Insights (any insight, for that matter) is not a question of chronology; although coming to certain understandings is often necessary to better understand something that comes later, you don't have to put off studying or living something just because you haven't entirely figured out the first step. What I find is that very frequently, some truth that you uncover will send you right back to an earlier discovery with a new perspective that helps you grow back to that next one, which gives you a new understanding of THAT, and so on. So even if you feel like you haven't quite got here—still fumbling around with the basics—keep going. Incorporate what we've been talking about, the other things you've learned, and know that you're moving forward with every step.
One of the first steps that WILL keep you going back and forth, but in a spiral, not in a stuck line, is the energy clearing we've been discussing. Your energy gets clear, so you can face something you weren't willing to face before, but that brings more energy toxins to the surface, so you need more clearing, etc. And energy clearing will help you get more clear on the truth in your life, which means you (often) get to deal with the delusions next.
Once you've discovered your vision (the one we're talking about holding), that gives you a touchstone or focal point, but it most likely will NOT magically make everything better—because part of what you came to do is likely to include various facets of messy human existence. So you still are going to be working through whatever those experiences are: relationships, prosperity issues, right livelihood, right speech (to use some Buddhist terms), and—and this can be a fun one—other people's reactions to your growth. The closer those people are to you, the harder that can be.
Over the next few days we'll talk about the shamans' four levels of seeing, because it ties into this beautifully, then soul groups, and finally, how to set this into your daily practice and daily reality. Today, we're going to take a giant step back and talk about meditation and chakras for one moment.
Meditation is essential for quieting your mind and learning focus. The ability to hold a focus in meditation—whether on the breath, on counting, on a mantra or image—is key to holding your vision. Meditation, because it trains us to let thoughts pass through without distracting us, also trains us to hold a focus in the midst of ordinary reality—to allow those distractions of our mundane lives to pass through as the temporary forms they are, without pulling us away from our purpose.
Meditation also helps us peel away the onion layers of our armor. We build up these thick walls of protection, constructed of the stories we tell ourselves about right and wrong, of harm done to us, or of power plays we've pulled on others. We construct them out of the shoulda-coulda-woulda list, out of the "gotta do" list, out of bills to pay and people to please and houses to keep up as though those actions can protect us from the rug being pulled out from under us to disclose the oubliette of whatever it was we didn't expect. (I know, great metaphor, isn't it?) What we want to do, though, to complete this life-long journey of spiritual evolution is to be warriors without armor (did I mention it's life-long? Not for everyone, I suppose, but still....). To create a life of conscious spiritual connection and energy evolution. And we can't do it without peeling away the protections we've piled on. Meditation helps us see our stories for what they are, gives us the space to step back before reacting to the new stories – to become an observer – and to stop relying on them for protection.
Your work in clearing your chakras and strengthening the energy centers in and around you is one way to heal the wounds caused—and protected by—the armor. Those chakras that persist in gunking up can tell you where you try hardest to protect yourself, and/or where you're attracting hits, where the lessons you've chosen to learn may sit. Note: just because you've chosen to experience something in this lifetime, it doesn't mean you have to KEEP experiencing it. Learn the lesson, release the karma, and move on--because it's moving on (and up, and deeper) that's kind of the point.
Clear, strengthen, repeat. You're off to an excellent start. Where do you find it hardest to clear? Feel free to comment or email me privately, whether you've got "stuck" or want to share what you find.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
My life is in the way of my Life
Ayiyi....you know the old saying that life is what happens while you're making other plans? That's been the past several days—constantly on the go, and suddenly it's Wednesday and I haven't had time to even think of a useful blog post, much less write one (among other things). My life, as I said, is in the way of my Life.
Unh-unh. It's a great excuse, though, isn't it? Life, though, is just life—it's the stuff we do to fill the time until our real life starts, unless we wake up and decide to do it differently. When we let life "get in the way," we can take a step back and ask what's going on—what are we giving in to? Our fear of doing something bigger and bolder than we've ever done before? And what's with that crap? Weren't we past that?
We can, of course, accept that we are human, and there're going to be days when just being human is going to take all our energy. The important thing to realize is if those days are pulling us off our path—creating a new/old path for us, and whether the real problem is we're drifting back into the well-worn channel of our previous days, rather than doing the hard work of creating something new in our lives.
If I stay up too late—no matter the reason—and then don't want to get up at 5 a.m. to work out, or write, or meditate, or clear energy, or any one of the myriad activities I could engage in, it's time to ask why: do I need some downtime to process? (sometimes if you've been doing massive energy work, including clearings or some other type of energy shifting, you'll find you need more sleep for a few days, but that only works as a reason if you always stay up late and it's never been a problem before) am I avoiding working out, meditating, writing, or whatever it is I had planned for the morning? Depending on the activities of the evening before (heartfelt convo with your best friend vs. a Law and Order marathon) the question might be 'what was I avoiding last night?'
Life shouldn't be considered as "getting in the way." It's your life. It's either the stuff you fill time with, or it's the container for manifesting your purpose this go-round.
Unh-unh. It's a great excuse, though, isn't it? Life, though, is just life—it's the stuff we do to fill the time until our real life starts, unless we wake up and decide to do it differently. When we let life "get in the way," we can take a step back and ask what's going on—what are we giving in to? Our fear of doing something bigger and bolder than we've ever done before? And what's with that crap? Weren't we past that?
We can, of course, accept that we are human, and there're going to be days when just being human is going to take all our energy. The important thing to realize is if those days are pulling us off our path—creating a new/old path for us, and whether the real problem is we're drifting back into the well-worn channel of our previous days, rather than doing the hard work of creating something new in our lives.
If I stay up too late—no matter the reason—and then don't want to get up at 5 a.m. to work out, or write, or meditate, or clear energy, or any one of the myriad activities I could engage in, it's time to ask why: do I need some downtime to process? (sometimes if you've been doing massive energy work, including clearings or some other type of energy shifting, you'll find you need more sleep for a few days, but that only works as a reason if you always stay up late and it's never been a problem before) am I avoiding working out, meditating, writing, or whatever it is I had planned for the morning? Depending on the activities of the evening before (heartfelt convo with your best friend vs. a Law and Order marathon) the question might be 'what was I avoiding last night?'
Life shouldn't be considered as "getting in the way." It's your life. It's either the stuff you fill time with, or it's the container for manifesting your purpose this go-round.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Just breathe!
I realized after I published yesterday's (late!) post that the closing line was perfect to apply to today's comments. Another way to work on clearing and strengthening the chakra centers is to breathe into them.
I was first shown this exercise about 15 years ago by a friend who did chakra work as part of his therapy practice (he was the therapist, not the recipient). I loved it so much I've used it ever since as another--sometimes quicker--way to tap in and strengthen my energy connection to the chakras.
It's perhaps easiest to practice this with the natural seat of the breath (the heart chakra) or its close relative, the throat chakra. I say easier only because at first, there's a bit of visualization at play, and it's easier, I think, to visualize breath entering those areas than, say, the crown of your head or the base of your spine.
Close your eyes. No trance is required for this, by the way, but closing your eyes will help you focus, especially at first. With practice, it won't be necessary. For a few moments, simply breathe as you normally do. Gradually, though, bring your attention to your breath moving in your throat. Imagine that instead of breathing through your nose or mouth, you are breathing through the skin at the base of your throat, straight into your throat chakra. Visualize the blue of this chakra brightening when you breathe in. Perhaps it spins slightly faster, or with more stability. When you breathe out, perhaps it lightens, or stays bright, but becomes a clearer color. It's your chakra--don't take my description for anything other than a possibility! See what's really going on with you--that's the important part.
From the throat, it's probably easiest to breathe into the heart chakra in the same way, then continuing down until you reach the root. Then transfer your attention to the brow and crown chakras.
You may find yourself a bit disoriented after this, unless you're accustomed to doing breath work. If you are, give yourself a few moments to settle back into your body, then drink some water before you do anything else. And please, don't breathe and drive!
Have an amazing, blessed day, and don't forget to breathe!
I was first shown this exercise about 15 years ago by a friend who did chakra work as part of his therapy practice (he was the therapist, not the recipient). I loved it so much I've used it ever since as another--sometimes quicker--way to tap in and strengthen my energy connection to the chakras.
It's perhaps easiest to practice this with the natural seat of the breath (the heart chakra) or its close relative, the throat chakra. I say easier only because at first, there's a bit of visualization at play, and it's easier, I think, to visualize breath entering those areas than, say, the crown of your head or the base of your spine.
Close your eyes. No trance is required for this, by the way, but closing your eyes will help you focus, especially at first. With practice, it won't be necessary. For a few moments, simply breathe as you normally do. Gradually, though, bring your attention to your breath moving in your throat. Imagine that instead of breathing through your nose or mouth, you are breathing through the skin at the base of your throat, straight into your throat chakra. Visualize the blue of this chakra brightening when you breathe in. Perhaps it spins slightly faster, or with more stability. When you breathe out, perhaps it lightens, or stays bright, but becomes a clearer color. It's your chakra--don't take my description for anything other than a possibility! See what's really going on with you--that's the important part.
From the throat, it's probably easiest to breathe into the heart chakra in the same way, then continuing down until you reach the root. Then transfer your attention to the brow and crown chakras.
You may find yourself a bit disoriented after this, unless you're accustomed to doing breath work. If you are, give yourself a few moments to settle back into your body, then drink some water before you do anything else. And please, don't breathe and drive!
Have an amazing, blessed day, and don't forget to breathe!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Crowning moments
Wow! Today was largely an exercise in staying deeply connected. Workday: hectic, with one project replacing another before the first could be finished (I'm still in the middle of editing the same article I started the morning with!). Errands after work, a stop at the grocery story, a forgotten bill needing paid...and I got home, parked my car, walked to the mailbox, picked up the mail (including a replacement phone that I hoped to activate online tonight, but no, that will be another errand to run tomorrow), walked back to my apartment, walked to my car to get groceries from the trunk...uh, oh. Car was listing seriously to one side. Sure enough, I had a flat tire. Called the tire place (I'd just had work done on the car last week, so the phone number was handy.). They'd just closed, and I definitely needed a tow (they'd have stayed if I could have driven over).
So the point...sometimes, staying connected to purpose, to the divine, to the path requires conscious attention to the connection. Not just during meditation or energy work where we're focused on strengthening the connection, but in the middle of what-kind-of-crazy consciously stepping back, breathing, opening the crown chakra to balance the craziness with divine sanity.
This is the role of the crown chakra. No, not balancing the craziness, per se. But as a portal--it's kind of like the outlet in the wall. Plugged in, electricity flows. It connects us to the divine, to the bigger picture. The crown chakra is where Reiki practitioners draw in energy. It's not just being aware of connected, it IS the connection. Whewwwwwwwwww. Yeah. It's the deep breath you take in when you close your eyes and raise your face to the sun. It's finding the purpose, the seed of your sanity in the middle of other people's priorities. Enlightenment, transcendance.
The color associated with this chakra is purple. One way to strengthen a chakra in general is to bring more of the color associated with it into your life. I'm not sure that means you should be wearing all the colors of the rainbow at one time (a bit dizzying, perhaps?), or one for every day of the week (I've meditated that way, but I'm not sure about dressing that way...perhaps a bit too eccentric!), but perhaps adding more purple tones to your sacred space, maybe wearing more of it if you're going through an extra-stressful time.
For clearing, though, we'll still on visualization. Tomorrow (which post will be rather earlier in the day!) I'm going to give you a couple more clearing/strengthening exercises. Today / tonight: the visual. You'll cast your inner eye to the crown of your head for this one. You'll probably find the spinning chakra more visible just a half inch or so above your skull, rather than inside, simply because of your viewpoint. Purple, as I said, probably around the violet range. Purple is an interesting and beautiful color. If the color you see or sense is, say, eggplant, you're probably a bit blocked (this chakra generally doesn't get polluted in the way that others do, although I wouldn't rule anything out, especially given the things some people do...you just can't imagine their spiritual center to be anything but mucked up!...but probably 99.999% of the time, the energy flow is simply being choked off. If the color is light, it may be that you're very open, and if it's causing problems for you, the answer might simply be some grounding (isn't energy cool?).
For meditation/clearing purposes, amethyst is the classic choice to associate with the crown chakra. In geode form, it's a great tool for meditation for any purpose. Another stunningly beautiful choice is selenite. It's a form of crystalized gypsum, and kind of looks like a cross between those ribbon hard candies you used to see at Christmas time and blackboard chalk. Moonstone can also be used.
Just breathe!
So the point...sometimes, staying connected to purpose, to the divine, to the path requires conscious attention to the connection. Not just during meditation or energy work where we're focused on strengthening the connection, but in the middle of what-kind-of-crazy consciously stepping back, breathing, opening the crown chakra to balance the craziness with divine sanity.
This is the role of the crown chakra. No, not balancing the craziness, per se. But as a portal--it's kind of like the outlet in the wall. Plugged in, electricity flows. It connects us to the divine, to the bigger picture. The crown chakra is where Reiki practitioners draw in energy. It's not just being aware of connected, it IS the connection. Whewwwwwwwwww. Yeah. It's the deep breath you take in when you close your eyes and raise your face to the sun. It's finding the purpose, the seed of your sanity in the middle of other people's priorities. Enlightenment, transcendance.
The color associated with this chakra is purple. One way to strengthen a chakra in general is to bring more of the color associated with it into your life. I'm not sure that means you should be wearing all the colors of the rainbow at one time (a bit dizzying, perhaps?), or one for every day of the week (I've meditated that way, but I'm not sure about dressing that way...perhaps a bit too eccentric!), but perhaps adding more purple tones to your sacred space, maybe wearing more of it if you're going through an extra-stressful time.
For clearing, though, we'll still on visualization. Tomorrow (which post will be rather earlier in the day!) I'm going to give you a couple more clearing/strengthening exercises. Today / tonight: the visual. You'll cast your inner eye to the crown of your head for this one. You'll probably find the spinning chakra more visible just a half inch or so above your skull, rather than inside, simply because of your viewpoint. Purple, as I said, probably around the violet range. Purple is an interesting and beautiful color. If the color you see or sense is, say, eggplant, you're probably a bit blocked (this chakra generally doesn't get polluted in the way that others do, although I wouldn't rule anything out, especially given the things some people do...you just can't imagine their spiritual center to be anything but mucked up!...but probably 99.999% of the time, the energy flow is simply being choked off. If the color is light, it may be that you're very open, and if it's causing problems for you, the answer might simply be some grounding (isn't energy cool?).
For meditation/clearing purposes, amethyst is the classic choice to associate with the crown chakra. In geode form, it's a great tool for meditation for any purpose. Another stunningly beautiful choice is selenite. It's a form of crystalized gypsum, and kind of looks like a cross between those ribbon hard candies you used to see at Christmas time and blackboard chalk. Moonstone can also be used.
Just breathe!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The all-seeing eye
Chakra six – the brow, or third eye, chakra. The energy center of clairvoyance, of reception of divine communication. It's where we imagine—as I tell my creative visualization students, it's the movie screen behind your eyes. Open, the images flow. Blocked, we lose sight—literally—of our connection to the divine.
One thing you might be noticing about now is that although we usually talk about the chakras from the root up (an easy way to approach the clearing, too), the way the divine works is more like the top down: being a manifestation of the divine ourselves, we become an energetic channel for divine energy to flow downward from the Crown (and higher) chakra(s) into manifestation. The four lower body chakras are associated with the four physical elements: air (heart), fire (solar plexus), water (sacral) and earth (root) – in order of their physical density. The lower down we move, the more grounded we are. The higher we move, the less grounded and more clearly connected to divine guidance.
Anyone who's had a bad experience with traditional religious practices is probably going to find imbalance here, even if you've moved to a new understanding of spiritual practice because there's a good chance you're blocking any energy you associate with those experiences.
To clear this chakra, your visualization for the first time is going to move up (in your body), and instead of using your spine as a reference point, you're simply going to look at that place where you probably visualize or imagine most things—it's the same spot, in all likelihood, whether you're imaging the path you're on, and how that manifests, or imagining the scene in your favorite novel: the movie screen behind your eyes. Focus on that dark blue (indigo) ball of energy spinning in there. Sometimes this visual can be tricky, because we're used to putting all sorts of images there, but it can be done. To help you clarify, clear, and access the energy of this chakra, stones like iolite (my favorite: it's this gorgeous purply-blue with white streaks in it), lapis, sodalite, even moss agate (a lovely dark green-blue that looks like someone injected moss into clear quartz). Speaking of which, clear quartz works nicely here as well. Put a few around you, hold one in your hand(s) or even against your body. This chakra can present very cool experiences when you clear it, even as you're in the process. If you feel a little too open after, ground yourself and even eat or drink something to help center you in the physical.
Have an amazing and blessed day!
One thing you might be noticing about now is that although we usually talk about the chakras from the root up (an easy way to approach the clearing, too), the way the divine works is more like the top down: being a manifestation of the divine ourselves, we become an energetic channel for divine energy to flow downward from the Crown (and higher) chakra(s) into manifestation. The four lower body chakras are associated with the four physical elements: air (heart), fire (solar plexus), water (sacral) and earth (root) – in order of their physical density. The lower down we move, the more grounded we are. The higher we move, the less grounded and more clearly connected to divine guidance.
Anyone who's had a bad experience with traditional religious practices is probably going to find imbalance here, even if you've moved to a new understanding of spiritual practice because there's a good chance you're blocking any energy you associate with those experiences.
To clear this chakra, your visualization for the first time is going to move up (in your body), and instead of using your spine as a reference point, you're simply going to look at that place where you probably visualize or imagine most things—it's the same spot, in all likelihood, whether you're imaging the path you're on, and how that manifests, or imagining the scene in your favorite novel: the movie screen behind your eyes. Focus on that dark blue (indigo) ball of energy spinning in there. Sometimes this visual can be tricky, because we're used to putting all sorts of images there, but it can be done. To help you clarify, clear, and access the energy of this chakra, stones like iolite (my favorite: it's this gorgeous purply-blue with white streaks in it), lapis, sodalite, even moss agate (a lovely dark green-blue that looks like someone injected moss into clear quartz). Speaking of which, clear quartz works nicely here as well. Put a few around you, hold one in your hand(s) or even against your body. This chakra can present very cool experiences when you clear it, even as you're in the process. If you feel a little too open after, ground yourself and even eat or drink something to help center you in the physical.
Have an amazing and blessed day!
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