A safe harbor where beliefs are respected and kindness prevails.

The Brink Of Revelation

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Fotolia_28591994_Subscription_Monthly_MThe New Year, as we call it, is one of many man-made conventions for keeping time in order. It’s one of those things we invented so that everyone is able to speak a common language about time and, therefore, set appointments, make plans and stay organized in order to get things done. But is January 1st the best time to set a resolution of change for yourself?

There are other “New Year” celebrations throughout the year. The first day of Spring in mid-March is the start of nature’s New Year. It is when the energy of the planet in the Northern Hemisphere is ready to pop open new and fresh. Then there is the monthly New Moon which nurtures the ‘seed,’ which can represent our consciousness, or simply a new project. The seed starts the journey from the depths of the soil to emerge into the light of day. Or perhaps Samhain/Halloween, called Witch’s or Pagan New Year because the top part of the planet is going dormant to rest and gather strength for the next cycle of growth and expansion. Everything needs to gather strength before it can grow in a new and healthy way.

There are also other “New Year” demarcations throughout most religions and spiritualities that have nothing to do with January 1.

I believe every day is an opportunity for a new start, a new perspective, a step on a fresh path. Every day we are on the brink of revelation. But we have to go inside and listen to the silence. Many of us are afraid of the silence inside. But within the silence, we open ourselves up to hear the voice of our own inner guide. In Sanskrit it is called Atman, the inner guru, who knows us and guides us on our path of fulfillment and meaning. It guides us to find our purpose.

Any or every morning, when we wake up from our nighttime slumber, is an opportunity to ‘wake up’ from the slumber we are in during our waking hours. It is then, in that moment of awakening, we can make resolutions not only for our life but also for the present moment. We can open ourselves up to trying something different. The opportunity is there for us EVERY DAY and Every Moment.

I love January. It’s my birth month, and maybe for some of us, it is the best time to start a new resolve towards a path to be a better US. But it’s not the only time.

Most of us are searching for meaning and purpose in our lives, so we make resolutions to be a better person – whatever our concept of that may be. Have you ever thought “Who I am right now and what I am doing right now is exactly what I need to be doing for my growth?” “But,” you might say, “I am not happy as I am right now.” “I don’t feel good.” “I am over weight.” “I don’t like how I react to or judge people, etc, etc … ”

The thought that you want something better for yourself is “being at the point of revelation.” When your awareness lets you know or guides you to look at your life and shift your perspective, you are on the road to authentic change.

At that point of awareness, you might want to find ways to nurture this pathway of thinking by reading Simple Steps, Real Change daily; meditating or exercising regularly; hiring a life coach or someone to keep you accountable on your new journey. Or simply take steps such as practicing kindness, saying thank you and being grateful.

Our resolutions need to be about deepening our love for ourselves, not about doing what we think we are “supposed” to do.

The mind can sometimes be like an adolescent that is out of control.

Starting a daily habit of sitting quietly to tame the adolescent mind which rules our life can be a way to affect all the other changes we might want to see for ourselves. Many times it is our mind that talks us out of staying resolute. Look to see what is keeping you from truly being the incredible human being you want to be and resolve to work on that issue.

There is no greater journey than the journey to KNOWING your True Self.

DECIDE: “This is the year and the time for me to know myself to the core of my being, and from this point, I invite courage and strength to be my guides.”

Every day we are on the Brink of Revelation. Breathe fully into knowing each day can be your New Year’s Day. Be spacious inside and fly high and free.

4 Simple Steps To Balance Your Chi Energy

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Fotolia_63103632_Subscription_Monthly_MEach one of us is an extension of the universal mastermind I AM, only varying by one degree, and therefore we each possess the energy and power to experience miracles, if we are willing to apply our mind, heart and energy, with intention and purpose, toward the desired outcome.

We are powerful beyond measure, and with a little bit of knowledge, we can create miracles in our cherished lives. Here are a few simple steps to promote optimal healing within by immediately balancing your chi energy and enabling you to become a brand new you!

Connect with your chi energy: Rub your palms together very quickly for a few seconds to increase the energetic flow into your hands.  You will feel the increased heat of energy there.  Now, separate your hands slightly while in a prayer position and hold them there for a count of 3; gently pull them apart 2-3 inches and then immediately back together while leaving a space between to your palms.  As you repeat this exercise you will feel the energy build between your palms.  Begin to widen the distance between your palms while continually moving them back and forth several times.

With practice you will begin to strengthen your energy and promote healing as you place your hands on any area of your body.  This is what a Reiki practitioner does when doing energy work.

Increase your chi energy flow:   On both the front and the back of your wrists there are many meridians, also known as acupuncture points, where you can see the skin lines.  Place your wrists in a crisscross position with both anterior (front) wrists facing each other about one inch apart and hold that position for several seconds.  Then do the same with both posterior (back) wrists facing each other about one inch apart in a crisscross position or several seconds.  With practice, you will begin to feel your energy. Practice doing this several times a day.

This exercise connects the full circuit of your chi energy and clears away blockage along the main meridians throughout your body. It also increases the chi flow by balancing the yin and yang energy within.

To complete your energetic circuit, place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth in the dip behind the center of your teeth.  Hold it there for several seconds – minutes if possible – as this fully completes the chi energy circuit flow from your brain to your toes and everything else in-between throughout your body.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing: Most people breathe backwards by breathing in through the nose while pulling in the stomach, and exhaling through the mouth while extending the belly.  This is backwards!  To correctly breathe, take a deep breath in through your nose while simultaneously extending or pushing out your abdomen.  This enables the diaphragm to drop down and expand the lower lobes of your lungs which will clear, cleanse and circulate any stagnate energy there.  You then want to exhale by pulling in your tummy which will raise the diaphragm up by compressing on the lower lungs to move the stale stagnate energy up and out of your mouth.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing is essential in maintaining your life force energy at an optimal level.

My Judgment Is My Teacher

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Fotolia_52686024_Subscription_Monthly_MThere are moments when we judge ourselves. There is no right or wrong, good or bad in this experience unless we judge judgment to be bad and wrong. Making peace with our judgment moves us closer to living our oneness. Our judgment defines who we are, and it shapes the beliefs and values we represent in this lifetime – it is an inseparable part of our journey. As we grow to understand the natural function of judgment, we may release our guilt about it.

Some teachers disguise judgment as discernment; they teach us that it is wrong to judge but wise to use discernment. Discernment is simply a synonym for judgment, nothing more. In my judgment, teaching us to frown upon judgment is a religious tenet that promotes our habits of separation and internal conflict. Disguising judgment in the cloak of the gentler, more “spiritually” correct words such as discernment is manipulative. It does not support our growth, our awareness, and our awakening.

Using another word for judgment allows us to continue believing that judgment is bad while discernment has good intentions. What if we allow the word judgment to have equally good intentions? By treating our natural inclination to judge as a bad thing, we continue to promote the idea that there’s something wrong with human nature. Shameful judgment about judgment has been handed to us, without question, through religion and spirituality.

As an example, in the Christian community, issuing a judgment is considered wrong. Certain scriptures admonish Christians not to judge. There is wisdom in this teaching when the aim of the followers is to love one another unconditionally. Yet, included in the Christian faith there are many rules by which devotees judge each other as well as non-believers. Christians say that it is wrong to judge, while they engage in judgment. Teaching people that it is bad to judge is confusing. This is the moment, right now, for us to grow beyond the guilt and shame of our nature to judge and cultivate our awareness of oneness.

Yet judgment can become an obstacle on our path. When I forget that ALL of my judgment is an expression of who I am, I have fallen asleep and imagine that we are separate. Living our oneness, I remember that I cannot judge you, nor can you judge me. Every judgment made reveals only who I am; it’s not about you. My judgment tells me what is right or wrong for me – not for you. Your judgment is not about me, either.

Moreover, falling into a habit of pretending that I am judging you creates energy blockages in my expression of life energy. Pretending that I’m judging others blinds me to my whole self. Do I judge myself to be better than or lesser than another? Do my judgments block my compassion and empathy for myself and others? Do I permit my judgment to create “us versus them” energy in our society? Is my attention present or have I fallen asleep? When I am awake, my judgment is a teacher that I heed. I am grateful to my judgment for revealing my core beliefs.

Further, if I judge myself harshly, I invite feelings of guilt and shame into my expression of life energy. Feelings of shame and guilt are not good or bad either, yet if they become stuck in the energy body, these feelings begin to manifest as ailments in the physical body. All feeling energy is meant to be felt in the moment and released. Upon judging ourselves as guilty, we feel ashamed and tend to punish ourselves repeatedly. We attach to our judgment of guilt rather than accept the message within it and let it go. The path to letting go of my guilt is to forgive myself completely. Forgiveness is not about forgetting the lesson; forgiveness is about love.

There is value in remembering that just as I cannot actually judge another, I cannot be judged by another. Outwardly directed judgment is an illusion. I have discovered the humor in observing the judgment issued regarding the judgment of others. If someone points out that I am judging them, I own it. Also, if they are a student of oneness, I ask, who is judging you? I cannot feel judged by another unless I allow myself to adopt a feeling of guilt. I cannot judge another, and no one judges me but me. If I have forgotten this, I am grateful to be reminded. I understand that ALL judgment is self-judgment. Embracing our nature to judge frees us from imagined separation. All judgment is spoken into the mirror of reality. Do I listen to the voice of my judgment? What am I learning about who I am? How do my beliefs serve me?

I set the intention to let my judgment be my teacher. Judgment is a natural part of life, and I embrace the function of judgment without fear or shame. I notice when I am judging, and I let go of feeling guilty about my judgment so that I may listen closely to my inner guidance. I remember that my judgment is teaching me about beliefs held within my authentic self. In each moment, I have the freedom to decide if the beliefs I hold serve my well-being. I thank my judgment for bringing my core beliefs to my conscious awareness. I release feelings of guilt for thinking or speaking my judgment. I hear my judgment telling me who I am. Then, I gracefully let go of my judgment as I live my life true to who I am.

In summary, my judgment is my teacher, and I listen attentively. I look in the mirror of my judgment to see my whole self. I stop judging myself harshly for judging. I forgive myself completely. This is loving self-care. This is the journey into living oneness.

Getting Back to YOU

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Fotolia_68623817_Subscription_Monthly_MWith the New Year coming, many of us find ourselves in a state of reflection and evaluation. We reflect back on the past year’s joys and pains. We often set new goals for ourselves and set out to achieve great miraculous things in the upcoming new twelve months laid out before us.

Why is it that every New Year we come up with a new, or sometimes even repeated, list of what we feel we are not, yet long to be? There seems to be something cyclical in our nature. We find that the turning over of the calendar calls to our soul to reevaluate ourselves. We vow to make a fresh start, vastly improving on the “you” that existed pre-January? We vow to eat better, exercise more, pray more, meditate more, complain less, and stress less. So many things we want to do and be. So many things we long for. Many times we think achieving this list will finally make us happy once and for all.

I have a different philosophy on the upcoming New Year’s resolutions that you may be considering. Reflect on this a bit before you devote yourself to a full-fledged overhaul of all that you are.

What if, instead of feeling like we need to revamp the whole package, we focused on ways to broaden our core gifts?

We all have unique gifts we bring to the world. I believe we have been designed to be a unique combination of quirks, talents, jagged edges and soft tenderness that enable us to be exactly what this world needs right now, right here. So while we may wish we were thinner, kinder, healthier or more fiscally responsible … what are you to this world already, right now? What are your great gifts that you naturally exude, and how can you use those to shine a light that surrounds you?

Self-improvement is a worthwhile endeavor, something to help lead us to be better people. But let’s not sidestep or minimize what we naturally are at the fiber of our being. Maybe the way to improve our lives is to delve more deeply into the core of who we are instead of wishing to be something different.

We spend a lot of our time viewing and envying the light of others. We wish for longer legs, a happier outlook, a better job, a better relationship. What if their light is not our color? Do not ignore the shade of light that only you bring. What is the color of your special unique light and how can you better carry that out into the world?

Maybe you have endured an abusive or painful relationship? Instead of shunning that in shame and secrecy, ask what glory can be brought by your trials? How can that part of who you are bring light into the world?

Maybe you lost your job this year or, god forbid, your partner? You are suddenly in a unique position to have a void to fill? What can you best do with that void? Where does the world need your special unique set of talents, ability to love and the spirit in your soul that you shine?

Are you wonderful with children, but yours are gone? How can the core of you be used to better this wonderful world we live in? How can you connect more light in people through the joy only you can bring into lives?

Instead of feeling the arrival of the New Year as a call to reform and reshape all that you are, maybe this year recognize it as a chance to celebrate and deepen all that you already are. You were designed to be you for a very special purpose. I encourage you to embrace and share that role more deeply than ever before with the world.

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