New Moon Monday

What I love about the moon is that every month we have the opportunity to begin again.  So, here we are at the new moon.  The energy is ripe for setting your intentions, planting the seeds, beginning the pattern of what we would like to manifest in our lives.

It's no accident that today also begins Day 1 of the 21 Day Chopra Meditation Challenge (although I do wish they'd change that name or explain it to me so I understand better why it's a challenge.)

For those who say things like, "It's that way." Or, "I'm like this." I ask you, why can't it be another way?  If what you do, or are, or say, is not serving your highest good, change it.  If it can be one way, it certainly can be another.  The beauty is, you get to choose.

So with this new moon energy, I invite you to look at what shifts you would like to make and go ahead and make them.  Set your intention, verbally, in your heart, your mind, in written word, in whatever way has the most impact for you.  Repeat your intention as we move through this cycle and believe.

I'll see you at the full moon!

Gently Please

Some weird energy has been creeping around the past week and I'm trying to get in touch with it.  I'm trying to understand my role in it and what it is I am to be learning from it.

After teaching last night and again today, the nag to go inside was too strong to resist.  The sun was just setting and the moon had risen.  I went to my yoga room, turned on my salt lamp, frankincense burning, set out my mat and my folded blanket and went down with the blanket supporting my spine, chest and heart open, arms splayed, soles of my feet together.  Looking out my window, there is the moon, flooding my room with clearing energy.

In anticipation of the next Chopra meditation series, I hit play on The Medicine of Love, one of the guided meditations from a previous series.  Settling in, I tune in.

Word choice is of particular interest to me.  When the speaker said, "Gently, close your eyes."  off I went.

How else would one close their eyes in preparation for meditation?  Is it necessary to request a gentle closing?  What would happen if she just said, "Close your eyes"?  Would the devotees hastily squeeze their eyes tight so much that their nose scrunched up?  

She mentioned surrender.  I'm pretty sure she was talking directly to me.  So I did.

Reiki

Sharing your energy to give someone Reiki is just as enjoyable as receiving it.  Maybe, maybe, even a bit more.

My table is set up in my room.  I have yet to name my room.  It is my yoga room.  My meditation spot. My space to read tarot.  My haven to give Reiki.  The view is to the east and it is so energizing.  So energizing that big energy shifts occur in my room.  For me and others.

I have my ritual of setting up my table as well as taking it down when not in use.  Many of you know, I use sage and incense probably more than deodorant.  Well, maybe you didn't know exactly how much.  But I know you know how good and earthy it can smell in my house.  It gives me peace.

Next on my list is a furniture adjustment.  That will create the flow I know exists but at the moment has to find the alternative route.

My angels are with me.  They reassure me.

What goes around comes around.  This time when you repeat that phrase, embrace the power of the positive effect rather than using it when someone does something to hurt you.

Send it out.  Send it strong.  Send it sincere.  Send it with love.

And all will be yours.

If Not Now, When?

When will we make decisions for the better of the greater good?  When will we step back from our stubborn and fantastic belief in our notion of freedom and realize how we are being held hostage by our own self-centered demands.

Are we so caught up in ourselves that we cannot sacrifice when the risk to the greater good is at stake?

I do not refer just to guns.  I ask about healthcare, about care for returning military with PTS, about assessing our well-being through social programs, prayer, meditation, schools, work, church, the grocery store.  I ask about opening our eyes and slowing down long enough to notice.

We must be the advocates of those struggling.  We must take care of our children and preserve their innocence, curiosity and their dreams.

Our job on this earth is not working alone.  Despite our own troubles, our job is to reach out, to act, think and speak on behalf of the greater good.  When we all show up for work, no one will be left for dead.

June 3: Peace

Life has been full of unexpected, not entirely, and surprising turns these past few months.  You could say that what was my life six months ago is nothing like it is now.

Truthfully, I am grateful for the major shift; it needed to happen.  I am at peace with the concept of the shift.  The details, hitches, twists and turns; however, leave me feeling less than at peace.  In fact, I am probably the most ungrounded as I have been in a very long time.  It takes a lot to get air between my feet and the earth.

There have been so many posts related to peace, healing, love, moving forward, transition, on Facebook lately.  Each one makes it sound so simple and easy.  I read the post, smile, embrace the content, nod my head in full agreement and then click "share" so maybe someone else can experience that refreshing clarity--as fleeting as it may be.

And yet, no sooner do I share that post than do I return to that previous state of uncertainty.

Today, as I do in the mornings, I reached over to read the inspirational thought for the day from my book Spiritual Diary.  I share it with you here.

"Live each present moment completely and the future will take care of itself.  Fully enjoy the wonder and beauty of each instant.  Practice the presence of peace.  The more you do that, the more you will feel the presence of that power in your life."    ~~~ Paramahansa Yogananda, SRF Lessons

I have read this multiple times today.  A year ago, I completely resonated with this.  This is where I spent my days.  How did I wander off so far?  I am an eternal traveler, but how could I leave such a secure space?

We know "things happen for a reason."  I do believe this.  More than that, I believe everything that happens in our lives, every choice we make and the ensuing consequence, is a lesson.  We are here to learn those lessons and whether or not we learn them is our karma.

I am making the most concerted effort every day to open my heart and mind to this current life lesson.  There is something mighty big in there for me to learn because otherwise, it wouldn't be this difficult.

That little paragraph above that I shared with you is my key.  Now to find the matching keyhole in my soul.

Peace.





 

Something Beautiful to Share with You

Go in and in.
Be the space
between two cells,
the vast, resounding
silence in which
spirit dwells.
Be sugar dissolving
on the tongue of life.
Dive in and in,
as deep as you can dive.
Be infinite, ecstatic truth.
Be love conceived and born in union.
Be exactly what you seek,
the Beloved singing Yes,
tasting Yes, embracing Yes,
until there is only essence;
the All of Everything
expressing through you
as you. Go in and in
and turn away from
nothing that you find.

By Danna Faulds

Wisdom Worth Pondering

"Your good habits help you in ordinary and familiar situations but not suffice to guide you when a new problem arises. Then discrimination is necessary.

Man is not an automaton, and therefore cannot always live wisely by simply following set rules and rigid moral precepts. In the great variety of daily problems and events, we find scope for the development of good judgment."

-----Paramahansa Yogananda, "Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda"

What Calls Your Attention

This one is dedicated to my mother who asked today.

It is worth noting what gets our attention. On a given day we may go about our business, routine or not, and only see what is put directly in front of us--what we have to see. Then there are the glory days when we are in touch with people and things not right in front of us, the not so obvious.

What are we doing, or not, that we do not always see the not so obvious?

This is weird, but an example. We were watching Paul Blart, Mall Cop (that is weird but not my point) and boy oh boy was I transported to the Burlington Mall in Massachusetts! I suddenly lost sight of what was going on in the movie, and sure as the hay is growing high, I knew that odd little misplaced ramp in the middle of the walkway that the mall cop slid down was in the Burlington Mall. I have walked around that ramp, up and down it, countless times wondering "why on earth would someone put a ramp here?"

In another scene, again being drawn to the Mall itself and not the movie characters, it was as if I was walking out of Lord & Taylor, passing the Rainforest Cafe and heading toward the center escalator to hit Talbots. Quick camera flashes, full of action, but I was standing in the Mall. So familiar. The last time I was in the Burlington Mall had to be some 8-10 years ago. Weird.

A week or so ago I woke up and my dear friend Milagros in Argentina was screaming in my head. Not literally. Oh, I could deny it if I really tried, but I paid attention. So I dropped her a quick note to tell her how much I missed making her salads and that I loved her. She wrote me back that just as my message had come in, she had lost a much loved uncle.

I had this very elaborate dream about my niece Jocelyn. Strange details. Left a message for my sister and she called me back. Yes, Jocelyn was behaving in these particular ways.

So what does it mean? To me?

There is so much going on around us all the time. With cell phones and texting and Bluetooth, it's nearly impossible to get away. I think we get so caught up in 300+ channels, immediate response and satisfaction and downright overstimulation that those delightful subtleties and intuitive callings can get overlooked.

I find so much joy in listening to my heart, sitting with my dreams for a bit in the morning and meditating while standing in the middle of a pasture. When I allow my emotions to get chaotic, all kinds of messages get missed. When I focus on being calmly active and actively calm, all kinds of messages get my attention.

It feels good. It feels real. I feel alive and grounded. I am connected.

And I know my malls.