Creation and Vision

Fundamentals of Emotional Freedom is on Playaway!

As I generally favor process over outcome as the content of this blog,  I wanted to share this launch with you because it taps into the process of visioning - and of recognizing the moment when a dream has come true.

It is said that we often see what we need, or desire, or have a longing for.  

It is also said that we are just as often aware of what we DON'T want, or desire, or have.

In the midst of this, do we always actually recognize when a vision or desire has become real? 

Do you??

It is a funny thing - we humans continue to progress toward our desired outcomes and it is rarely a straight line. As we move and grow and new desires appear, with inherent new challenges, how often do we really stop and recognize the appearance of our previous goals and creations?

I notice that for the normal person the answer is - not often enough.

 

Years ago (September 11, 2001 to be exact) while in NY, I witnessed the surreal chaos of the towers going down, and I observed a clear and present vision on the inner screen of my mind.  At the time my spoken word CDs were just taking off - the variety of topics expanding by the minute - and my routine thoughts about how to do business were inventive and creatively practical.  

Yet on this day, I saw something in my mind's eye that was a future of sorts - my voice recordings in self-contained players I wasn't even sure existed, that would be available in airports, healthcare facilities and hospitals.  It seemed a natural result to my own inner longing asking "what can I do with my own particular skills and talents to add a measure of healing to the world?"

I had no plan per se - nor did I immediately put one into effect - just noticed the vision of these little audio players as having already occurred.

Life has progressed in the decade since these events, with opportunities, losses and gains no one of us could have imagined, but here I am today with one of my visions made manifest - a spoken word program on a self-contained player being distributed through various channels all throughout the world.  

Time has passed. I see my vision in present time.  It was not without effort of course, nor was it a big surprise, for many steps and preparations got us here.  More to the point it has been a series of synchronistic events and choices moving in a direction that felt right so that the eventual outcome matched my vision - almost a surprise - and now I am called to notice it. 

 

This is the ah-ha of visionary and vision meeting up.

You can find many such stories if you study Napolean Hill ("Think and Grow Rich") or listen to the work of Ester and Jerry Hicks (Abraham and The Law of Attraction.

This happens all the time - but do we notice?

We are so apt to notice what we have failed to create - literally - that we loose our ability to recognize, validate and celebrate what we do !!

How often have you heard someone say "boy I just realized my headache went away" when they were totally aware they had it but somehow missed the occurrence of it departing.  Or when you yourself mourn the "having" of a relationship, a job or a bank account, all the while sitting in the vision of what you have created without ever really noticing how it all managed to get there.

You are a creator!

I am a creator!

Today I am celebrating the awesome appearance of one of my creations, from vision through birth, even as the process itself was not as conscious at all.

Think about how this occurs for you.

What can you celebrate about your own creations?

Blessings on you and them, and thanks for taking the time to share mine with me.

What say you?

Namaste,

Gael

Growing Away

 

Today I'm thinking about how really hard it is to change the places of hurt and confusion that stem from our childhood and the ways we relate and care (or don't care) for each other.  The processing area for this kind of relating is found at the 2nd chakra, and we can spin and spin and spin at this level for a lifetime.

 

Eventually each of us needs to grow to be our own true Self in order to progress. We actually demand a new processing area in our bodymind to handle the information that can transform the wounds of relating. 

 

This is 3rd chakra movement. New territory. New rules. 

 

The 3rd chakra demands self awareness, self reflection and self esteem.  

 

The key phrase is "I let go of all that is not that into ease."

 

Let go of all that no longer serves your growth. Grief may appear.  Done well, grief WILL appear. 

 

That's ok.

The 3rd chakra area of the bodymind is the solar plexus, so breathing deep and stretching out can be a great help.

Eventually you'll find that what comes next is a true heart opening at the 4th chakra and your actions will move from fear into faith.

May you have many blessings on the journey.

What Can We Leave to Those Who Follow?

I have entered the stage in life where a clear, persistent awareness has arrived: I am the future. I hold the answers. I am looked to - and for - by the young ones of our human tribe, and I am responsible as best I can be for the insights I offer.

Perhaps you too are at this stage with me - perhaps you are only now seeing the glimmer of truth that one day you will be. Always we have needed the voice of insight and experience to guide us. Forever into the future we will continue to grow through the contributions of those that came before us.

The Elder - The Statesman - The Wise One.

It has been about a year now since I noticed the gentle turn in the road to this new territory in my own life journey. No longer the Seeker myself, the questioner who opens infinite arms to new teachings and experiences, I have been pressed into service to honor the wisdom that I already hold.

The young ones among you have done it.

A phone call here, a "remember me?" there...the ones I taught when they were perhaps too young to really understand are letting me in on the oh-so-holy moments they have had as a result, and now somehow affected, are returning to reach out, to ask deeper questions, to connect. They are in their 20's and 30's, and filled with earnest longing to understand life and improve their conditions. Piling up around me I see that they, not I, are the Seekers with open arms to new teachings and experiences and that the Elders must take their place.

I must take my place.

I accept the honor, and I invite you to do the same. The World needs you.

Observing the role, there are landmark choices that light the path:

Admit your age.
Be proud of it.
Speak of the joys, not the sorrows - the accomplishments not the aches.
Be a renegade and try something new everyday.
Get friendly with technology and use it wisely.
Appreciate the laugh lines.
Be sensual.
Be sexy.
Stop being so "nice" and if you're being mean, stop that too.
Be willing to share what you know.
Be willing to know something different.
Look people in the eye - especially the really young ones who might automatically think you are judging them. (and if you are judging them - don't)

There is so much more than meets the eye that lives in the heart of man.

Be trustworthy.
Extend your helping hand.
Be optimistic.
Be the change you wish to see.

Forget about "when I was your age" and get real with "now that I am wise..."

Talk about them, not about you.
Listen.

Lastly, if you want to leave a lasting testament to the generations that will follow, you can do it now by living a life that will earn the right to be admired.

BE PEACE NOW.

Whatever it is and wherever you can, create peace today right where you stand. In your family. With your neighbor. Through your green purchases and recycling efforts. Make peace with your body image, your IQ and your age. Live peace inside your own heart.

This is the possibility of wisdom made manifest. This is the possibility of truth we leave for our young ones.

May you have many smiles along the road!

oooooohhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm
Namaste

God Holds You in the Palm of His - Her? - Hand

I have had the privilege of hearing the deep and true stories of peoples' lives in my coaching practice. Lately, for many of you the challenge is growing. Divorce, loss of love, fear of the current economic picture, feelings that life is leaving you alone and abandoned, stories of what "should be," what was "supposed" to be, what isn't and what wasn't...

In my journey through the ecstasy of living I have found that my most revered teachers often shared something so profound, so vastly embracing, and so enriching to my soul as to take only one sentence to impart the deepest of truths. Consider this...

"Once one is committed to Wholeness, all that is not that will step forward to be healed."

(Mind says "and I thought it was going to be easy, you know, like once I decided to have it all and reach for my bliss things would get better...")

No?


Bummer.


When your soul needs to grow beyond it's present limiting circumstance that's when it's time to bring out the fan and watch the slinging begin.

Your own, that is.

Everything that stands in the way of your greatness will appear out of thin air, rising to the surface like some bad joke. Only here's the thing..."all that is not that" simply needs to go. The one who needs to let go...is you.

"BE the change you want to see" is not a new idea, yet it can seem so hard to apply when we are hurt, angry or scared.

The great meditation teacher Thick Nhat Hanh advises this simple mind body spirit routine:

Breathing in, I calm
Breathing out, I smile.
Present moment.
Wonderful moment.

Simply put, he is giving us permission to be in charge of the moment - every moment.

If you can't change your life, change your mind.
If you can't change your mind, change your breath.
If you can't change your breath, smile...

You are a gentle soul, says the Mystic, waiting to be reborn.

Know that when we address life difficulties, all of our decisions involve bodymindspirit as one - each time - every time. We cannot create change on one level and expect that it will not affect the other levels significantly.

You are ever and always in charge of something you can do to create a positive outcome in any situation.

Where to begin?? The way we feel, think and act naturally follows a sequence of energetic motions that travel through the system of our energetic body - the system of energy anatomy we call chakras.

If you follow the awareness that each chakra invokes, your road map will be clear and the work you need to do on yourself for yourself will become evident.

• 1st chakra - facing the challenge when the structure of our beliefs about what "should be" are getting tested. Facing our own limiting beliefs as well as the limiting beliefs of others in our environment and in our tribe. Going it alone and accepting the necessity of aligning our personal belief with the choice to take a stand. Growing up.

• 2nd chakra - moving from apathy and argument to caring action. Finding the ways to care properly rather than shutting down. There are tools to help us through this area of creation that are related to the care and nourishment of our body. Eat well, exercise, rest, visit nature. These are not options if you want to stay healthy and spiritually awake.

• 3rd chakra - grief and the subsequent arrival of ease. We need to address our feelings of self-esteem and self-realization. Where are we responsible for our own experience, like it or not? We address the VICTIM and acknowledge the gifts of the true Self who actually does know what to do and how to do it. How does grief feel? Why is it necessary to grieve if you are to ever truly let go? Why feel at all? What's the upside? Letting go is the work of a healthy 3rd chakra.

• 4th chara - fear. How do we convert the energy of fear into faith? We are renegotiating "that to which we were wedded" at this level of interaction. This is emotional and spiritual as well as physical.

• 5th chakra - anger transformed into healthy boundaries. The necessity of finding your voice resides here. Make it real. Keep it true. Release blame. Transform aggression. Maintain protection. Say what you mean and mean what you say - and don't be mean.

• 6th chakra - insight comes when the pain subsides. We practice meditation to help us recognize the difference between insight and the chattering of the monkey mind. Peace is the answer. Listening is the skill. Develop ways to listen. A 10-minute daily meditation practice is invaluable.

• 7th chakra - love is all there is. Keep the best for all concerned in sight. God holds you in the palm of hir hand...

This is the barest of outlines on how the incredible energetic information system you were born with operates. There are many ways to fill in the blanks of the outline so find your teachers. Attract support. Make your stand. Look at yourself and improve, improve, improve what you see. Stop being a victim. Start taking responsibility for the life you created and if you need to change it, then change it.

Whatever it is you must begin, begin it now. There is greatness in that.

Expecting someone else to change so that you'll have it easier is a blame game that is a waste of your spiritual energy and a false reason for living. Don't give up on yourself...the best is yet to come.

Stay strong dear ones, and breathe deep...

Namaste

ooooohhhhmmmmmmm

Tweet the Good News!

I've been looking at the surge? upsurge? tsunami wave of interest in social networking lately. The numbers are growing exponentially every single day.

At a previous stage of life I might have said - well I would have said "hooey!" to such vast amounts of time spent sending inane messages to friends far and wide every time I took a sip of coffee.

On the other hand, is that what you or I are actually doing it for these days? Of course not. I'm actually wowed at the loving kindness I receive every day from my facebook and newly emerging twitter groups. I can't tell you how many times I've posted something and watched just the right person step forward with just the right kind of support. Sometimes it's as simple as a thumbs up.

You matter. I matter. We all matter to each other.

Whether we are giving shout outs, smiley faces, comments or "follows", we are giving...and I do believe we can never give too much.

Like the breath, there is always more. Like the exhale, we can go long and deep, and in the giving we enlarge the circle of return.

Now who doesn't need that?

If you twitter I invite you to an experiment using a new application that creates tribes, or "twibes" as they are called. (Twitter w's everything if you haven't seen that before. Kinda cute - kinda silly - but always recognizable.) I just created a new one at http://twibes.com/PracticalSpirituality.

I wanted to create something else out of my presence there - another out breath - that can make a difference to someone, somewhere who can use some of that cumulative knowledge we all carry within. Tweet your favorite authors, titles, practices, thoughts, prayers, and everyday keys to successful living in 140 characters or less. Another wonderful way to give what you've got and spread the good word.

Thank you for your support.

Big hugs to you,
oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm

;)

Isn't Self Care Selfish??

I remember one of my teachers saying "so you think you're going to fight the good fight now, eh? Go heal the world and make all the difference you came here for? How do you think you're going to do that if you don't think highly enough of your self in the first place?"

Well then. There's some heavy pondering going on there.


I don't believe I thought badly about myself exactly...just that I was being lots of things to please others. I was a good wife, a good daughter, a good student, a good friend. Isn't that what you're supposed to be?

When I had thoughts of doing for myself, especially when it collided with what others wanted or needed, it seemed selfish. Not only that, I got satisfaction from the results of my successful "other care!" Most healers do. And most women. And most good men.

I gave it my best shot I suppose, but didn't really understand the true implications until I studied Energy Anatomy...and recognized the desire to find Self as the software of the soul.

How then does caring for self rise above ego gratification to land at the top of the heap of positive Mystical traits?

The Mystic embraces the quality of self that resides within, and in his gentle support and listening care hears the truth of his own beating heart and the rat-a-tat-tatting of Self-awareness, Self-worth and Self-esteem. He stops denying and starts expressing Self as a vehicle in service to the Divine genius within.

Now he is strong enough - finally she is ready - at last we are honed through the realization of our power to take up the journey and carry our weight, not based upon other's approval, but on the strength of our own higher truth.

There's a beautiful poetic book called There's a Hole In My Sidewalk by Portia Nelson in which she describes the moment of recognizing the difference between loving the man she has lost and realizing the truth that they were both hiding inside the relationship.

"If I just pay enough attention to you, I won't have to look so hard at myself..."

In this territory we often experience grief - an ill-at-easeness that signals the emotion of letting go. If we are to be authentic and powerful then let go we must.

Marianne Williamson quotes from A Course in Miracles "It is not our darkness we fear most, it is our light...you are a child of God and your playing small does not serve the world."

In this way our Self care becomes Other care of the highest degree.

May you have ease releasing all that is no longer needed in your life and move gracefully into the life that is waiting for you to embrace...

...and may your choices always reflect the best possible result for all concerned.

Carry-on now!

Till next time,

ooooohhhhhhmmmmmmmmm

BEST Remedy for Allergy Season

I used to live with allergies. A lot. Sometimes they defined me.

I had the sort of reactions that went from a little itchy-eyed nose run with discomfort to a full blown version of Niagra Falls for days on end. Dust, pollen, perfume, candles, mold, mildew, even the cats I love would send me into a frenzy.

Wouldn't you know, being the holistic health care goddess I am, research into natural remedies became my holy grail and the day I wound up canceling patients because I couldn't stop blowing my nose was the final straw. Wanting neither a life sentence on Claritin nor any replication of the boy in the bubble, living without a cure was simply unfathomable.

That's when I ran into Gary, my former yoga student who said "you know I thank you every day for turning me onto the Neti Pot. I haven't had any allergy symptoms since I started using it daily!!"

WHAT?! Me?? The Neti Pot?? I said that??

And here, my friends, is a perfect example of someone (well, me in this case) having knowledge enough to teach this stuff but skidding right past it in my own life. I just didn't connect the dots.

Anyway, it's been several years since seeing Gary again and I've Netied every day. I still get triggered if I visit with cats for too long, but allergy season is no more and the difference is profound in my quality of life.

I learned a couple of things here that I'll share - the first is sometimes you already know what you know...you just need to remember, and the second is don't give up and don't give in. You have the ability to attract what you need to know and it may come in the most unlikely of packages.

Now I feel to be fair in my total assessment of complementary healthcare that not mentioning changing your diet, getting enough rest, moving yourself AWAY from the cause of irritants, and going green in your household are significant factors in improving the life of an allergy sufferer, I'm keeping it simple for the moment and passing along the good news.

Go get yourself a Neti Pot.

Click here for a video of what to do.


Have fun!!
oooohhhhhmmmmmmm

Mindbody Fitness is My Saving Grace

A client recently asked me to share something of my journey in Mindbody Fitness. Like many of you reading this right now, I have had somewhat of a close relationship with pain. For me it was an ordinary but unrelenting form of back pain…the lower back sort of thing that makes you hold on when you try to get up from a chair, and squiggle around a lot when you’re forced to sit still. Doctors said "surgery" as I winced and rallied to find any other option. I had heard that yoga could open a person up to some life altering experiences. I also knew that there was a mental component to the practice… I just didn’t think I’d get to the pain-free zone by standing on my head or drinking herbal tea.

Skeptically, I began my journey with a weekend workshop. The first of my teachers was from India and he – was – masterful! As he invited the class to breathe, he said to me (off handedly, mind you) that the breath I was taking was called survival breathing. Yup, just enough to keep me from dropping dead when I took my mind off it!

Now, there’s an interesting thought…it felt reassuring on some level to have the awareness that I had a choice in the matter. It dawned on me that the practice of conscious breathing, ”pranayama” as I later learned, was actually the relationship we have with life energy, and that I had the possibility, indeed the invitation, to become a conscious, awake and aware partner with LIFE itself! At the time, the very idea of such a point of reference was a completely unique experience.

Over time I began to stretch out and breathe in, and as I released resistance, the most amazing thing happened. The pain began to shift, to pulse, to dim, and then fade. It was a quiet transition, a light, gentle breeze, but I recognized it when it happened. I was hooked! That moment of realization changed my life direction. I found the study of infinite possibilities to be inside of…ME! I switched my area of study from mind, to bodymind and set out on a journey learning how to live.

My life work has changed dramatically since that first introduction. I took bold steps into the unknown and created the career of my dreams. I had to let go of people and beliefs that stood in the way. I had to look crazy to some, unrealistic to others. I certainly had to withstand the tests that were planted firmly on the path, but my pain is gone, my children are safe, and in 30 years of practice, I’ve come up with some interesting insights from a life that continues to be well lived.

1. Wherever you go, there you are (you’ve heard this before) and there is nothing more important in life than getting to know yourself.
2. Breath IS life! Take in as much as you can, and let go with ease.
3. Your thoughts are a choice. So is what you do with them.
4. Make time for miracles. It’s always easier to just open the door than to have it beaten down.
5. Listen to your body. Feelings of peace and well-being will show up as health. Negative or conflicted feelings will manifest in “symptoms.”
6. You each have your own unique genius. You can best access its’ wisdom in the quiet moments, so learn to meditate, and listen up!
7. There is no better than Here - just different.
8. Being is different than Having. You can BE whatever you desire when you simply choose to be.
9. Release your need to understand. You can use technology before you understand how the circuits are wired. It’s the same with yoga. Just do it.
10. Yoga is a practice. Practice makes perfect. Without practice, it’s just a thought, so get in gear and begin your practice now.

Till next time, you can visit me and see my creations at www.yokibics.com. All of the Yoga CDs can help you learn to relax, and my Yokibics Mindbody Fitness Video which takes you from simple movements through a complex series is now available on DVD.

May the road rise to meet you, and the wind be always at your back!
Namaste

Dance Me to the End of Love

I recently fell in love (again) with the voice and presence of Leonard Cohen. Singer/songwriter extraordinaire, he is now in his mid-70's and going back out on tour. New generations of listeners will be introduced to the gritty sound of his kindness. Old memories will return for many. For me, his voice draws me to listen over and over again.

I've been called of late to think, to muse, and to write on the meaning of love. It seemed only fair to add Leonard Cohen to the list of my admirations.

I have come to know some things for certain, and one is that sharing the things we love is worth the effort. I watch as we go about our day somehow thinking that our vote - our say - and our revelations don't matter to others - but they do. How is it that something so longed for can be so difficult for so many to achieve? I decided, like Leo Buscaglia (famed for his "Love 101" college course) and the many mystics before me, that love is a practice.

Like most practices, the doing itself leads to greater ease and expression. You know, the old "practice makes perfect" is also true for love.

Not always as easy as it sounds though, eh?

Perhaps we can increase the scope of our practice by finding ways to share in fleeting moments that might normally seem too small or insignificant to matter.

I guarantee that you will see over time, it is not the moment that is insignificant...it is the assessment you have made of your own value in it.

The world doesn't need to agree with the things you love, but we sure can benefit from the demonstration itself. Nudge the person you're with next time you see a sunset. Become an ambassador for love.

Today my share with you is Leonard Cohen, rising like the Phoenix to be heard again and again. His concert tickets are a little pricy, but for the cost of a click you can hear his Live from The Beacon Theater concert on NPR right now.

Hope you love it!
http://www.npr.org

oooooohhhhhhhhmmmmmmmm
"The Spirit in Me Salutes the Spirit in You."
Namaste

Are our Prayers our Promptings?

I was reading a blog recently and the writer mentioned interviewing someone who used the word "promptings" as a noun. He spoke of having promptings, like things to be cared for and responded to - or not - but things nonetheless. He said that the speaker also used the word to communicate within his group.

There was some talk of the value of creating a language of ones own for ones group - in order to bond in understanding through the use and meaning of these terms. This is something groups routinely do (even down to passwords and secret handshakes.)

Given today's world, I've been learning the ins and outs of Twitter, and boy is that a great example of new language that bonds a group. We tweet messages to each other, our tweeps receive them on their PC or cell phone, and we organize it all on our tweetdecks. It's great fun! It's also a meaningful shift in the way we humans communicate.

I've been through this before. As I watch the world slowly becoming more aware, more in tune and more in sync with the language of the "club of new age nuts" that I've long been a part of, my heart feels light and my smile broadens! Who knew that yoga would be all the buzz at the local Y, and that health food and whole grains would be so chic that even garlic-loving Chef Emeril Lagassi would eventually go green with his "bam!".

I began to think about the "promptings" conversation, and in the world of meditators, healers and intuitives, it would immediately be understood that "a prompting" is "an action called for stemming from an insight or intuition."

I once went to see a great yogi, spending quite a bit of time and effort to finally sit in his presence. He looked very young (although he wasn't,) and energetically vital with sweet rosy cheeks and a terrific smile. Speaking of the powerful value of prayer, he was asked if he could have only one prayer what would it be, and he answered immediately:

"let me not measure what I own, nor seek to hoard the riches of the earth,
but give to me instead the ability to create moment by moment
what is actually needed in any situation."

I love this answer!

But boy, talk about a trust walk...and how do you know you're doing OKwith it once you've been bestowed with this special gift?

I think this is the best reason I've seen for a valuable lesson on "promptings."

They come in the quiet.

They demonstrate in peaceful surrender to what is and what can be.

They show you the way - though it may not be your way.

They demand that you listen...to something besides yourself that is. Really.

That means learning to get over yourself already, and just follow the leader - the song of your soul - the promptings. Now you're on to something! Listen. And once you hear, really hear, you will know the truth...and then you must act.

No sissy-mary half-baked no-I-cant's allowed. You want to get good at this? Then take action.
Act in kindness. Act on faith. Act with courage, but do act.

Promptings. May we have them aplenty.

Blessings to you today and everyday!

I'd love to hear some of your stories...

oooooooohhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm...

Getting Closer to Fine

Listen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY1Bl4nfpdA&feature=related


...to a great 4 minute video of the Indigo Girls ...a wonderful 'time out' for you no matter how busy you are talking - sharing - doing - performing - clearing you inbox- working - parenting - serving others. Great mystics always ask "how can you refresh yourself if all you do is give? Is there no time for listening?"

I have a coaching client who's been pretty sick these past few years. In her mid 30's with a couple of kids and a drat diagnosis that "isn't getting better" so she's been told.

So she brings me one of her favorite albums and says there must be some mistake with the lyrics in the song Closer to Fine.

"I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains.
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain.
There's more than one answer to these questions,
pointing me in a crooked line...

and the less I seek my source for some definitive,
the closer I am to fine.

yeahhhhh


The closer I am to fine..."

Wait a minute...the less I seek my source for some definitive the closer I am to fine??

How can that be when almost all we've been taught to know says we must find those answers to the questions of life - and we better 'get it right' too!

"A+ for you young lady." (Don't want to fail now, do ya?)

This is 6th chakra territory where insight and pain sit side by side - and only the trusting dare enter.

My question to you is can you go inside yourself and find your way, even when "they" say you can't, or you'll never make it, or worse??

I won't coach you here, but refer you instead to Rainer Maria Rilke when he says...

I beg you...to have patience with everything
unresolved in your heart

and try to love the questions themselves as if
they were locked rooms or books
written in a very foreign language.
Don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now,
because you would not be able to live them,
and the point is, to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps then, someday far in the future,
you will gradually, without even noticing it,
live your way into the answer...

May you find the spirit of adventure in your own journey today, no matter it's contents...

Smile-on!
oooooohhhhhhhmmmmm

Day of Love?

I'm sure if you're living anywhere outside the high Himalayas you're not blind to the fact that today is Valentines Day. Hallmark sentiments and Kodak moments abound. Tokens of love are necessary - yes necessary! - in order to feel complete.

So what happens if you are single today - or between relationships - or on a rocky road with your special loved one? Is this a day of failure?

When we look at the seven chakras lining up in the name of love (the energetic anatomy centers that runs our circuits) we recognize some very important items:

• Your first chakra of security will require a good look-see at your beliefs. Let's just take "am I lovable?" as the question of the day. Now that's a good one to review! If you're anything like the rest of us you'll probably bump into some of the places, people and memories that might have you believing otherwise. Time to check out your beliefs. My advise? Keep the ones that support your lovability and just can the rest. They were never true anyway, just someone else's idea that you weren't enough - and you bought it. Time to hit refresh.

• Your second chakra of intimacy will be ringing like a doorbell. "Does he really care?"... "Is she really the one?" ... and if you hang your hat on relating as your measure, some days you'll be up, and some days you'll surely be down, down, down.

• Now the third chakra view invites a different measure altogether. Who are you anyway? Are you your personality - your education - your job title - your stuff?

This is the question for Valentines Day!

Who am I?

...and as we look at the essence of Self underlying the personality, the education, the job title and the stuff, we hit pay dirt. Good digs here!

You are the possibility of all possible human expression.

You are infinite creativity and divine opportunity.

You are the observer and the observed...the lover and the beloved.

You are you in all your glory.

Can you love this person? Can you accept and heal and delight in who you find?

The Mystic finds the essence of love in the clear, complete and total expression of Self. Give this to the world and how can you go wrong? The wonderful poet David Whyte http://www.davidwhyte.com/ guides us regularly to know that we are each unique in what we have to offer life - as long as we do offer it. "Noone can fail exactly like you can fail!" he exclaims and chides us to "fail spectacularly!"

Music to my ears and Medicine for the soul I do say.

So carry on-loved ones! Go be you and give, give, give.

Your self-esteem will sky rocket and your sense of purpose will shine.

Let Valentines Day be the reminder of your 'meet and greet' with the value of your own true self.

Go share now! And enjoy your day.

till next time...

oooohhhhhmmmm

What a Wonderful World

Did you ever notice the synchronicity of some small thing regularly showing up in your life during important times, or trying times, or times when you were calling out with your soul "Hey! Are you UP there?? Send me a sign, and I'm talkin' NOW!"

I have. Bigtime. For me it's a song.

I asked that it be added to the ritual celebration we gave some years ago for my parents at their 50th wedding anniversary - that alone was a miracle of fits and starts. So I had an established relationship that this particular song was significant - sort of my own secret remembrance that life is good.

Like any of you who've lived long enough to have the juice of life spill over you, I've had my share of traumatic events too. The first time I noticed that the song was part of them, I was sending a heartfelt prayer for guidance out to the place where my heart might meet the cosmic genius - and the song came on the radio.

Months later, I'm near to shock in that awful moment standing next to the hospital bed...looking down, aching...wondering..."will life ever be the same..?" and the music therapist stops by -"just making my rounds!"- and begins to strum the song on her guitar.

Oh it feels like the heavens are alive.

It went like that several more times - enough for me to know the difference between coincidence and life showing up to meet me where I stood.

Now I'm looking for an expert medical advisor - I have a tricky question few can answer. I'm at a cocktail party and meet a new friend. He happens to be a Doc. I mention my quest. It winds up he's not just any Doc - he's an expert in the field.

WOW. All righty then...

...and as he opens his laptop to give me the longed for information - the song is part of his background start-up. It issues forth like a trumpet, and I know that all is well.

Keep you eyes open kids - and your ears!

The answer to your prayers might not need a golden chariot shooting lightning bolts to find you, but rather it could be the very thing you are looking at now, right in front of your nose.


A Hawaiian Story: THE STARFISH

Once upon a time, there was a wise elder (kupuna) who went to the sea to contemplate. One day, while walking along the shore, the elder looked down the beach, and saw a gracefully dancing human figure. He wondered out loud,"Who would so joyfully greet this day with hula?"and began to walk faster to catch up.

Getting closer, the kupuna saw that the dancer was a keiki (child), who was not dancing at all. The keiki was reaching down to the sand to pick up something, and was very gently throwing it into the sea.

The kupuna called out to the keiki, "Aloha! What are you doing? "The keiki paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the sea...the sun is up, the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they will die."

"But, don't you realize, " asked the kupuna, "that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You can't possibly make a difference!"

The keiki listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it gently just beyond the breaking waves, and exuberantly declared, "It made a difference for that one!"

"My" song, this rendition in the beautiful voice of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAl1JBruK4Y&feature=related

To Share or Not To Share? Here Lies the Question.

My good friend Jan wrote "Your blog is wonderful, so insightful and informative. I never understood the reason for a blog, and why I would visit it over and over, but yours gives me many good reasons to come back again and again..."

ahhh - music to my ears. I responded to her that my hope was 'to blog not blather' - though I can tend to go on if asked...

So I'm following Guy Kawasaki through his blog and on Twitter (hey, I'm hip, you knew that!) and I feel he is 'my own.' Less than two years ago when I began formulating my new business plan I encountered his work through some relatively obscure comment he made somewhere and thought WOW! I've found something here!

I was sure I was like Columbus in the New World - me just me...ahhhh.

Little did I know this guy is renowned as a major communicator, with posts and blogs and tweets galore...so many that one of his many accolades includes "among the top twitterers!"

(Ahhh - makes a mother proud...)

So what does the ever present Mystic have to do with this?

Well... just that the Mystics share.

They don't say "two for me and none for you."

They pass along the good news.

They help others succeed.

They share.

My generation grew up in a world that valued competition. The secret kind. As in "don't tell your competitor what you know..." and "you've got to stay ahead of the competition..." Hey, I played DODGEBALL in high school for heaven's sake!! (that's where your classmates put you in the middle of a circle and try to kill you with the ball.)

Anyway, things have really changed - at least in some quarters.

Now "winners" are "sharers."

Which is why I love Guy Kawasaki. He shares.

Why not jump in, if you haven't already kids?

Share whatever and whenever you'd like. Share your favorite movies, blogs, websites, songs, ideas, quotes, moods, friends. Share laughter. Share your skills. Share in your neighborhood. Smile! Share YOU with the world and BE who you are.

There. I've said it.

(Just remember when you're doing this online, we do all have filters, and most of us know how to use them.)

So mystical rule #1 trumps all:

Say what you mean.
Mean what you say.
Don't be mean.

One of my first mystic teachers told me if you wish to HAVE something, try giving that very thing to someone else. If you wish to have help, then give help to others. If you want prosperity, then help others be abundant in whatever way you can.

So here I am, giving Guy his due. Besides sharing the fact that he's good - really, really good - I can give to myself by sharing him with you.

See how that works?

(BTW - even if you don't think "they" need it - or even deserve it - give what you wish to receive anyway, and just watch the transformation.)

What a concept!

Now sign up on the right column of this page if you'd like to follow my blog.

And may prosperity find you wherever you are.

love and blessings,
gael

Mystical Organizing

Being organized...I'm a fan. A big one. Ever since I realized I was swimming in missed opportunities (and late fees) when I was in my 20's, I made it my business to slooooly - but surely - learn the fine art.

Today I'm reading "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity" by David Allen. whoa...

I really thought I was pretty close to good systems management. And I am. Well, mostly. Ever hear the saying "a place for everything and everything in it's place?" Me too, but not like David Allen.

So what am I doing right now? Posting this, then taking up some of his good advise.

What does this topic have to do with the ever present question "What Would a Mystic Do?"

Right in the beginning of his book, the author declares that whenever we carry our "to-do" list around inside of our head (instead of finding a method to list/document/file/organize or remove it from said head) it will take up residence and bother us until some resolution occurs.

Ohhh. Bother us until resolution occurs...

The very same issue that leads any average seeker to say "I just can't meditate!" Why? Too much mental chatter trying to resolve.

I say do your outer work! Get in there and clean up those files. Get your to-dos out of your head and onto your "next action list", throw out those useless piles, and for heaven's sake stop worrying.

Could it be that cleanliness actually IS next to "Godliness?"

If Godliness includes a still mind at rest, and the experience of all things at peace, then indeed I do believe so.

It sure makes it easier to sit down to find it anyway.

So go clean your room!

...and happy meditating.

oooooooohhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm.

love and peace to you.

The Everyday Mystic in "today's recession"

What does a Mystic look like these days anyway??
He or she will be living their highest ideals daily - even in the midst of the ordinary and the mundane.

He or she will create their reality as an outgrowth of their spirits' hunger to create rather than caving in to circumstance.

He or she will look just like you - and me - and the guy across the street as we go about our day "pulling roots out of mud ruts" centuries deep. We are everyday mystics changing the world from the inside out, person by person as individuals, one small step at a time.

Answering a recent question... "what can a woman do to stay centered in today's recession?"

At the age of 57 this is my second recession... and I feel quite expert in some weird way.

In the early 90's I was a divorcing suburban Mom with two kids and a house soon to be in foreclosure. Today I'm a successful entrepreneur/woman business owner who still finds benefit in doing the very same things I did way back then, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

1 - Protect your credit. Protect your name

2 - Take care of your health and fitness. These are priority goals necessary to combat stress.

3 - Appreciate what you have - every day in every way. Relish relationships and sunsets and raindrops and fresh air. Use the good dishes.

4 - Allow that even when you can't see the forest for the trees...the forest is still there. The fabric of your life is winding it's way toward your own fulfillment. Create community and share.

5 - Honor the simplicity of everyday possibilities. I have had more great times at my own dinner table with friends and pot luck than all my wonderful restaurant memories put together (and I've been fortunate to have had plenty of those too!)

6 - Last - and not least - have faith. Practice for yourself whatever that means - but DO practice. Find time every day to meditate, pray, journal, breathe, commune and/or whatever keeps you in touch with the part of you that is infinitely safe no matter what.

Till next time!

Smile-on