Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

Today!

Breathe into a quality that you want to embody. Something you want to invite more of into your life. Start with patience, non-judgement, kindness.  These are all themes that are front and center at the moment.

Which of these resonates with you?  Take a long deep breath and bring  that quality into your being.  Every time you forget, just breathe it in again. In the most challenging moments of your day lies the greatest gift, the opportunity to bring more patience, non judgment or kindness into that moment.  The only requirement is that your remember. Remember this: with an inhale, with an exhale.  Close your eyes and listen to the silence before you respond.

Those closest to you, most like you, dearest to you will ALWAYS challenge you in the most hidden places.  See this as an act of love.  Don’t try to stop or control them, turn your attention inward instead.  Here is where you will find freedom and the ability to shift patterns for real.  Nothing will ever change if you continue to lash out from a place of re-action.  You will only start a chain of negativity that unfolds into even darker places.  How many times will you travel down this well worn path of habit?

Instead, breathe into the clarity of the present moment.  Whatever triggered you already happened.  Moments, seconds, mili seconds ago.  Either way, it is literally over.  Let it go. Choose a new road.

Words of the Day:  Patience.  Non-Judgement. Kindness.

Song of the Day:  Blowing in the Wind by Bob Dylan

 

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Monday, June 27th, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

This Week!

Look out for the places you are getting hung up.  These may be physical, emotional or energetic and related to work, job, success or family.

Scan your body first.  Do you notice any places that are stiff, out of alignment, achy,  stuck?  Something that wasn’t there before or yesterday or last week?  Something that makes you ask “where did THAT come from”  or “what is THAT?”.  This is where you need to begin.  Breathe into those places with the mind of curiosity.  Bring your attention into the subtle sensations in these areas.    This is personal body work.  Learning how to breathe and listen and shift and recognize the (sometimes not so) subtle whisperings that your physical form  uses to tell you you need to take care of yourself.

There is no 1 solution because it is so personal and unique.  Your job is to become tuned into YOUR sensations.  As you notice more, try seeing what helps. Gentle movement?  massage?  rest?  warm water? Magnesium?  Try only one thing at a time to get a clear read on its effect.

Pay particular attention to the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. Keep this area limber, soft, relaxed and moving gently to aid mobility and prevent constriction.  ChiGong, Tai Chi, Yoga, Gentle Dance…. all these will help.  Make sure you allow the body movement its full extension and expression up the spinal column through the head.  Keeping the neck relaxed, the head gently lifted will help this.

Phrase of the Day:  “Don’t get sucked up”  (provided by Rilke, age 8)

Song of the Day:  Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

Fri, June 24 – Sun, June 26 2016

Energy Musings.  Here. Now.

This Weekend.

Family.  Friends.  Your flock.  Your tribe.  Your community. This Unity that binds us to each other. That reminds us we are all related.  We are truly all connected.  Separation is an illusion.  You can’t separate your bloodlines out and pick and choose which ones you want and which you don’t.  Its ALL in you. All in You.  To think of pulling apart the pieces, teasing out the “unruly” ones, would be like starting to pull of the fingers you don’t use as much.  Suddenly you will realize that each one is necessary to create the beauty and action of your whole hand. Don’t cut anything off!

In your own personal life, Stop the dissemination. Stop the pulling apart.  Stop the separation.  For this weekend at least, put that all aside.  Instead, look deeply at what acceptance, unity and connection would bring you.  Maybe you need to weave the threads together in a slightly different pattern?  Resisting and reframing the temptation to eliminate some altogether.

Family is at the heart of this work this weekend, so look here to find a way to apply these concepts to your life.  Then, with support, truth, acceptance and love…. Carry On.

sentence of the day courtesy my son Rilke: “carry on even in the darkest places” 

song of the day: Carry on My Wayward Son by Kansas

Full Moon Rattle

I hear the thunder rumble, low and irritated in the deepening grey sky.  Punctuated by fitful bursts of light slicing the darkness.  And I remember.

Awakening in the middle of the night.  Familiar sounds.  My dog whimpering to be let out. Licking me gently.  Wake up! Wake up!  he begs.  I peel an eyelid back and pierce the darkness with my gaze.  Its late.  Too late.  The middle of the night kind of late.  Do I REALLY have to get up Now?  Still, he whimpers, pleads, groans.  Yes.  I do.

Half asleep,  I manage to get out of bed, fumble in the darkness for his leash.  In my fumbling, I hear something fall, hit the ground.  Not exactly crash or break.  But a distinct sound nonetheless.  What is that, I wonder.  I look down.  In from of my feet,  lies a rattle.  A well used and loved wooden maraca.  Handle broken off at the end, the word “honduras” etched into its painted surface.  Really?  I think.  Now?    But who can ignore what is right in from of them?  Who can just step over what is at their feet?  So I reach down and pick it up, feel its weight, hear its song itching to be released.  My hand vibrates.

I put the leash on the dog and walk outside.  Into the midnight.  Into the woods.  The dog trots off and I am alone.  I look up and see the Full moon.  Round, crystal clear, illuminating everything.  I feel its light, like a a shaft from above, gazing directly at me.   As I ground through the soles of my feet into the earth, I notice just how still it is outside.  Totally still.  Hot.  Humid.  Not a breeze anywhere.  I take a deep breath and rattle.  timidly.  It is so still and quiet, that even the smallest sound reverberates in this climate.  I am careful.  Gentle.  I rattle big circles around me. I tenderly shake the night.

 I briefly wonder what the the neighbors think and remember Everyone is asleep.   I rattle with my breath, steadily, and let it go.  It is not a long and involved sort of thing.  It takes only a few moments of actual time.  But then, I really have no idea what time it is or how much has passed.  seconds?  minutes?  not hours.  The dog trots back to me, barks a low request.  Its time to go in.  I close this moment and settle my rattle.  I pull myself back and go into bed, falling asleep deeply and quickly.

Everyone sleeps well that night.  Wakes refreshed and happy.

Without knowing that I woke at midnight to rattle by the light of the Strawberry Full Moon.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here. Now.

Today!

Clear your Field.  Move the stagnant, the stale, the old, the suck, the debris.  Move it with sound, with wind, with smoke, with dance.  Move it until you feel it lifting off you and a cleaner, fresher sensation is in its place.

To do this, you have to find and feel your field.  Where is it?  How far out?  Where is its edge?  Where is your boundary?  Without knowing, you won’t know what you are clearing.  So start here.  Bring your perimeter closer in and you will have an easier time.

Where do you register the sensations in your energetic field?  on your body?  in your mind?  through your senses?   which senses?  Connect to this wisdom, this understanding.  If you clear your field properly you might feel lighter, cleaner, happier, more joyful, more relaxed… like you can breathe deeply again.  How do you register this change, this shift?

Focus here today.  On bringing your awareness to these sensations.  Clear your field and re-set your perimeter once it is clean.  Then feel a new spaciousness  around you and breathe into that.

Word of the Day:  Energetic Field

Song go the Day:  Clearing by Grouper

Monday, June 20th, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here. Now.

Today!

Start with Today.  The Full Moon and The Summer Solstice.  Two powerful alignments coinciding.  The Full Moon at its peak this morning and The Solstice transition moment this evening approximately 11 hours apart.  What then, does this day bring?

An opening, an opportunity.  In the light of the full moon what is hidden is revealed.  The light in the darkness.  It is a good time to look in those places that represent your darkness.  Know that the light is full today. In its fullness, everything is revealed. Everything.  Are you willing to see it All?

The whole day offers you this opportunity.  Take it in. Soak it up.  Be outside and stand in the Sun.  Warm yourself.  Fill yourself.  Fill some more.

Then at the moment of the Solstice this evening, the longest light of the year, gather it all in… All of it and find the Unity within YOU.  As you find the unity within, plant its seeds with your breath so that this unity may grow and spread.  In that moment of the shift from light to dark that the Solstice represents, a pivotal turn is being  made.  Now is the time to “let it go”  with a long deep exhale.  Feel yourself washed clean, after being bathed in the long light of the day.

Align yourself with this moment in time and space and receive its benefits and gifts.

Then sleep well this evening. Dream deeply.  Breathe softly.  Rest.  Rest. Rest.

Tomorrow is a new day.

Word of the day:  Solstice/Full Moon

Song of the day: Katrina & the Waves “Walking on Sunshine”  😉

 

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

Today!

Thoughts-Words-Actions.  They create a powerful spiral, continuously flowing into the world.  As we remain connected to this flow, we can bring more clarity into our thoughts, words and actions.  They are intimately intertwined in this spiral.  Without Thoughts, our words and actions are unsteady, unstable and potential dangerous.  Thoughts that are clear, are steeped in Prayer.  By prayer, I mean a quality of reverence and the capacity to open to whats greater than “you”; the willingness to listen to the whispers of the Divine.

Clear thoughts lead to clear words and clear actions.  Actions lead us back to thoughts or prayers, so that the spiral is continuous.  There is no real beginning or end.

Today, be mindful of your thoughts, be mindful of your words, be mindful of your actions, be mindful of how they flow from one to the other and be mindful of the ripple you create around you as a result.

Word of the day:  Ripple

Song:  Ripple by the Grateful Dead

Tuesday, June 14, 2016.

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

Today!

Listen. listen.  Listen to the wind.  Listen to the birds.  Listen to the sounds around you.  Listen to the airplanes.  Listen to the cars.  Listen deeper.

Open your ears and relax.  What can you hear?  Listen to your voice.  Listen to your breath.   Listen to your heartbeat.  Listen to your blood.  Listen to your body.  Listen to those around you.

Breathe deeply and let it go.  Now listen with your body.  Listen with every cell.  Listen holistically.  Listen from the essence of your being.  Just keep listening.

No words.  No explanations.  No reactions.  No triggers.  No defenses.  No justifications.  Deep deep deep listening.

How deep can you dive into your listening today?

Word of the day:  Listen

Song of the day:  Find the cost of Freedom by CSN “When everyone’s talkin’ and noone is listenin’, how can we Decide?”

Monday, June 13, 2016.

Energy Musings. Here.  Now.

This Week.

What is Prayer?

Prayer is powerful.  Prayer is serious.  Prayer is directed.  Prayer is whole hearted.  Prayer is Action.  Prayer is work.  Prayer is real.

When I “let go” and ask for divine guidance in prayer work, I am directed.  I am directed to do something, to take some form of action.  Many times, that action remains in the “invisible work”….. I light a fire, recite mantras, sing,  dance.  There is a lot happening in those private moments of prayer and action.  What I do is directed and specific.  It is in alignment with who I am and what is needed from ME in that moment.

“Letting go to God” gives me the space to see this clearly.  It doesnt mean I give up, or have no need to be involved.

Prayer, my prayers, show me very clearly the most efficient use of my being in the moment.  Sometimes that is also a direction to take physical action in the “real” world. Sometimes it is intimate…. reaching out to one person I know and asking them what they need.  All of it, ALL of it, is the result of Prayer.  Without prayer, I would be following one suggestion to another, bouncing around (since they all sound good!) and not really understanding MY role, MY place, MY contribution.

Prayer changes all of this.  Brings the communal down to the personal level.  Brings light to every, EVERY, situation.  If you listen as you pray, you know exactly what to do … exactly what to do.

Never underestimate the value of True Prayer.  Your true Prayer.

This week, Pray… and listen.  Listen deeply.  And be willing to hear the reply that is there for YOU.

Word of the week:  Prayer

Song od the week:  An American Prayer by U2 & Beyonce

Fri, June 10 – Sun, June 12, 2016

Energy Musings.  Here.  Now.

This Weekend!

Equanimity brings peace, healing and profound states of awakening.  It allows us the space and ability to not get triggered by our blind spots.

Blind spots are exactly this:  we are truly “blind” to them.  Once you see it, once you know it, you have the ability to shine the light there.  But true blind spots, by their nature, are not seen.  We even may stubbornly refuse to look at them when others point them out.  This is part of the difficulty in a lively debate over ideological issues or belief systems.  The inability to listen and see what another person may be pointing out as a blind spot in our own thinking.  Pay attention to this.

But all of that resolves if we can come into this graceful state of Equanimity.  Equanimity literally translates as  the combination of the Latin words: “aequus” meaning level or equal and “animus” meaning soul or mind. But it is more than just the combination of these words.  It is a blame free, trigger free state of discernment that allows one to see clearly through many layers of mist, fog and confusion.   Hostility, defensiveness and ill will are notably completely absent in this state of Equanimity.

Often we see anger and frustration as natural manifestations of what we call “passion”.  In fact, we almost expect them to give legitmacy to a persons words.  But Equanimity does not need or rely on these exuberant expressions.  It rests in a soulful, mindful place of awareness… what Buddhists call “the middle way”.

In a world, or in a time, when tempers flare, divisions are heightened, and dissatisfaction becomes the norm, it is extremely challenging (and quite unpopular!) to embrace this place of Equanimity.  However, it is in these times when it is needed most.  When the value of the vision created by Equanimity has the most importance and the most to teach us.

Listen. Listen.  and come into Equanmity as best you can .  Especially in a hostile, heated, argumentative debate or situation.  And just notice the affect this has on You and those around you.

Word of the Weekend:  Equanimity

Song of the Weekend: Equanimity by Ryan Stuart (piano composition)