Mindful Traveling

A week ago I returned home from driving approximately 6100 miles from Virginia to the Southwest and many places in between. I have traveled in the past with friends but this was a solo adventure. In fact, I do this Sacred Pilgrimage once a year. It is my traveling Spirit Quest. I have traveled frequently in my adult life and a major part of my motivation is because I often have Wanderlust! I truly must have some gypsy blood in my lineage for I know if I do not travel I would suffer tremendously.
Mindfulness , to me, is the principle of aligning one’s focused attention to experiencing what is occurring only in the present moment. My annual pilgrimage has afforded me more than just a few opportunities to go with the flow, honor my free spirit that is so much a part of me, to accept the unfolding of each journey regardless of my pre-arranged plans, to allow new experiences to further open my heart and mind, and to embrace connections with the land and its inhabitants of places I travel. I have become a mindful traveler and traveling alone helps facilitate that desire and need within my gypsy soul.
The first day of my adventure I always hit the road beaming with excitement and I can drive long distances easily because I am so psyched to be traveling! On this journey my first destination was Hot Springs, Arkansas, a mere 13.5 hour drive. I love this town with its mineral hot springs bathhouses lining Main Street, a gorgeous National Park filled with wise trees and walking trails, and a park located in the middle of town that has steaming, healing thermal waters pouring over beautiful plants and huge rocks. I always put my legs, feet, hands, and arms in that almost boiling water!
I stayed in Hot Springs two days which allowed me to mingle with the locals, connect with the Nature Spirits and natural beauty of the area, enjoy long, leisurely walking meditations, and to practice compassionate non-judgments toward those whose paths crossed mine as we engaged in heartfelt conversations and eye contact. I never know a stranger, and in my intention of mindful traveling I get the pleasure of engaging both with like-hearted kindred spirits as well as very conservative beings very different from who I am. Because I am in no hurry on my adventures, I have the choice which I fully embrace, to be still and simply observe the people and environment around me. It is such a peaceful, Zen way to travel!
My deep connection to nature and my love of humanity may not fit everyone’s idea of travel, but then again it might just interest some in trying a different mode of adventures, the Mindful Travel Experience. I have come up with some suggestions , if this appeals to you:
-Create a travel itinerary but be willing to divert from an agenda by adjusting to situations and changes that present themselves. Just chill out.
-Pack minimally. Consider leaving anything at home that you can not bear to part with should items get lost, misplaced, or damaged.
-Talk with people you meet with interest and compassion. Make connections with locals in the place you find yourself. When you open up and take the time to really listen to a stranger you may find out about that secret waterfall, a serene river, or a great hole in the wall restaurant.
-Journal about your experiences and things people say to you. You will then be able to reflect later on Divine Awakenings that occur.
-Travel with an attitude of gratitude instead of an agenda of controlling that things must go a certain way.
– Accept and fit in with the locals without a need to show off your wisdom, great mind, or a need to exert your opinion about how things should be in the town or even in the country.
-Unplug as much as you can from the internet except when posting those glorious pictures . I love to include my friends on social media who travel with me across all adventures!
Mindful Traveling is such a sense of freedom and exhalation from the pressures of daily routines and responsibilities! Let me know how you love it!

The Energy and Power of Words

     Not to blame astrological influences but to own who I am…being born an Aquarian with an Aries ascendant, and a Moon in Leo, I have been guilty more than twice in my adult life of speaking or hitting send before I take that ever so wonderful solution of “PAUSE”, and saying this prayer that I heard many moons ago: “May the Angel of God sit on my tongue” . I am less likely to voice aloud or send out any words I may (and at times later do) regret when I remember these viable solutions for what can be my fatal tongue or opinionated words…always fueled by thoughts…..for words always begin with thoughts.
Like some of us , I grew up in dysfunction junction where judgment, blame, shame, and guilt were frequently practiced. That is not to say that love and compassion did not reside in my family of origin for it definitely did!
I was clueless for a very long time that words carry energetic vibrations, and the thoughts behind those words carry powerful energies. These energies have POWER…power to heal, power to hurt, power to destroy relationships, and power to create compassionate love.
The thoughts we think which are transformed into the words we speak and write transmit vibrational energies that create our real life experiences. We manifest our experiences through the emotions, opinions, beliefs, and ideas that reside in our thoughts. Thoughts require energetic movements to be transformed into expressions. One of the greatest of these energetic movements is emotion surrounding what we believe, have attachment to, and have ownership of within our subconscious and conscious mind. These emotions pull in energy and as the energy sets or solidifies , manifestation begins!
Not only do our words have the power to heal and empower or harm and hurt OTHERS….but also our words are heard by aspects of our own bodies who are listening all the time. Our cells, tissues, muscles, and organs hear what we say and think. If we only had a thought of positivity or negativity once or twice manifestation backed by the vibrational energy would not be significantly affected. However, when we repeatedly use positive words such as beautiful, divine, love, fabulous, giving, harmonious, courage, happy, blissful, accomplished, handsome, talented, and delightful…or using negative words such as hate, ugly, failure, stupid, fear, peace, cannot, or dissatisfied we create a powerful catapult of energetic vibration that shifts eventually into a manifested experience. Add to this recipe of manifestation that unless we are practicing complete silence in an enclosed cave somewhere or atop a mountain, we are hearing, speaking, or reading words. Words and the thoughts attached to them follow us constantly.
Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese author, revolutionized the quantum physics idea that our thoughts and intentions impact our physical experiences with his study of exposing water to either loving, kind words or to negative, fearful words. This is documented evidence that words and sound have powerful energy elements that do manifest into real experiences.
Those of us who desire to hold Light, positive elements, and peace in the world, for ourselves, or others may wish to consider the energy that our thoughts and words transmitted vibrationally into the Universe impact.
I once read putting the letter “S” before the word, “word” creates the word sword. We may ask ourselves do we want to cut with a sword using negative , disempowering words or do we wish to fill the Universe and our own bodies with loving, compassionate , and empowering words?
Our thoughts and words are magical manifesting tools. Once emitted out of ourselves out into the Universe, words and their vibrational energies cannot be taken back. Of course we can attempt to be forgiven and to even change our ways, but the damage or the empowerment has already occurred .
I love this quote by Nikola Tesla: ” If you want to understand the world, think in terms of frequency, energy, and vibrations.” Tesla knew long ago, and now we can no longer deny that ENERGY is EVERYTHING!
     Change  your thoughts, and change how you express them . We do have choices.

Co-existing With the Healed and Unhealed

Being an observer of people, even while participating, I am granted opportunities in my co-existence as I move about the world. I have a belief that I, at various times, run into the same relationship with a different face. The relationship has gone through cycles , and when I am needing to grow and raise my vibration a little higher, a different face of the same old relationship shows up. 

In the past few months a couple of different faces showed up . Originally, I really enjoyed conversations with  both. That must be because of my theory that we immediately love those who mirror aspects of our own personality we love. Both showed me the compassion I love , and how important it is to help others. I do love these aspects of myself and loved it in them.

Almost simultaneously, both showed me this ugly side: each chose to attempt emotionally shaming me while wanting me to acknowledge what good people they are. Oooh challenging, my inner child was screaming to my adult head! My M.O. usually has the initial fight/flight response and wants to take my toys and go to another sandbox to play. My second or maybe third response, once I hit my PAUSE button was to tell my ego to step aside and to try to understand both people. I assure you my ego does not like being told to go to her room! 

During my pause time, I became surprisingly quite calm. Their attempts to shame me did not create negative emotions within myself. They did create my questioning: WTF? is going on with these people! Being a strong advocate of wanting to walk a mile in others’ moccasins, with the help of people I know I can trust engaging in solutions with me as I processed the situations, I had that light bulb moment: Both experienced traumatic experiences in their young lives, and both are adults with adult responsibilities walking around unhealed. It has occurred to me and the Universe has validated this truth: When the unhealed person with childhood or even adulthood trauma is triggered emotionally (and both people were recently !) they will emotionally attack and judge a person they trust! 

Furthermore, I began looking at the world and its inhabitants. There are those who attack each other emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. There are those who embrace each other with love, compassion, and tolerance. There lies the healed and the unhealed. Taking these  facts into reflection, I considered how to coexist in my world with both sets of people. I do not want to live in an isolated glass tower. Though I am a lone wolf, I am also a social being. 

    Long ago Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, The Five Agreements , taught me that it was best if I do not take things personally. I looked at my part…I do always have a part! I wanted to defend myself but that is so unnecessary so I resisted doing so . Part of my solution is to know who I am, claim who I am, and love who I am. The second part of that solution is my choices. I can, if I choose,  walk away after I have accepted the lesson the situation came to teach me. I can , at least in my head, thank the messenger for giving me the opportunity to listen with an open mind. I can offer myself more love. It always comes down to this: I and we just need to love ourselves more. I can forgive my “attacker”.  I can continue to understand “them” without needing to explain or defend me. Oh, and while I am processing all this, I can BREATHE. Holding the breath is something human -doings often do in midst of confusion and trying to figure it all out.

Learning to co-exist with the healed and the unhealed must be why I am a spiritual being having this human experience. Will I remember? Will you? Just maybe if we remind each other to love a little bit more in spite of the words and actions of others and to ourselves, we can co-create a little nicer world. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those Vibrational Frequencies Taking Us For A Ride

      As we continue to raise our vibrations into higher levels and frequencies several changes within our experiences occur. Situations, people, and more—almost everything familiar to us goes through a metamorphosis. We are taken from our egg stage into full fledged gorgeous butterflies, seemingly without our permission.
I remember the first time several years ago my relationships and work settings seemed to be ripped from me suddenly. I was mortified, thinking I must be doing something very wrong to be creating this! Slowly, I began to understand I was changing from the inside out, having an expansion of consciousness! I do not even remember asking for this evolution of spirit, but evolution of my very existence and being is what happened!
Looking back, I now see I had begun doing things very differently…without even making the decisions to do so:
I gave up alcohol and other substances (sugar, sodas, salt, etc.)
I ,who had been a meat eater forever, became a vegetarian.
I began meditating twice a day.
I not only stopped watching television, I got rid of all television sets.
I fully embraced and spent as much time as possible, in nature.
I took yearly a solo spiritual retreat.
It wasn’t even that I made a conscious decision to do even one of these things! After all, I did not view myself as much different from my peers—-although since childhood I felt I was always a round circle trying to fit into a square peg!
As a result of entering and continuing to raise my vibrations many changes came:
-My interests changed . I, who used to have to be surrounded with noise, such as television always on, car radio blaring everywhere I drove, always on the telephone, etc. I became and relished being very quiet.
-Long term friendships , especially those not going in similar rising directions, fell apart. Some were abrupt, unexpected endings. Others were that I and they just drifted apart from each other with no reason to do so.
-I began having increased sensitivities to any medicine I was given, foods I always tolerated I suddenly could not handle, was unable to tolerate strong emotions in others, felt strongly the energies of trees/animals/the earth/bodies of water.
-My already heightened intuition abilities increased dramatically.
– Colors intensified.
– When life lessons presented themselves to me instead of needing long periods of time to assimilate and process information and meaning, I processed all aspects at a high rate and quickly.
-More like hearted and conscious beings kept showing up in my life, reflecting who I was becoming!
-I began acting and voicing life events , circumstances, and interactions with others very differently. I was living more with intention, authenticity , and integrity and spoke from my heart instead of from my head. I was more self honest in seeing my thoughts and behaviors.
If and when you see any of these symptoms and changes in yourself, when it seems things you expect to always be present in your world are being ripped from your life——don’t freak out! Embrace the opportunities you are witnessing as absolute proof your Spirit and Human Experience is on the Highway of Higher Vibrations. You have awakened from a deep sleep.Do not try to figure it out or explain it to yourself or anyone else for you cannot! Just get out your vibrational surfboard and ride the waves and hang on as you keep soaring higher and higher. 

Choosing Compassion

Every action we take is based on a subconscious belief. What we choose to act out of and respond or react to is a choice. We each have free will and can choose fear or we can choose compassionate love. The question  we can ask ourselves, in any moment, in any situation , is do I desire to choose fear (masked as anger, blame, sadness, disgust) or do I desire to feel compassion ( understanding, love, kindness, empathy).

When I choose compassion over fear, it is usually because I am comfortable in my own skin, grounded, and emotionally balanced. It is also ,at times, because I have paused briefly before reacting , taken a few calming breaths, and even  mentally walked in the other person’s moccasins.

I was not always a non-reactor . It took much willingness to take out my proverbial shovel to begin deep inner work  to initially accept, become aware, and claim how my innermost self …the unawakened, clueless self ,directly created realities in my outside situations. Before getting gut level honest with myself, I pointed my fingers of blame, reacted by losing my cool, and was sure if everyone else would just act right ( I.E. live by my preordained set of unspoken rules) I would be happy!

After multiple painful and frustrating experiences and, finally awakening ,I took that long road from my head to my heart, and began choosing compassion over fear in various relationships ,partnerships, business re, friendships, social group settings, emails and social media interactions.

As I make the choice of compassion over fear, incredible gifts have revealed themselves:

– I view others,  even those who treat me with disrespect,   bullying, and snobbery differently , realizing their behaviors are about them, not me, as they are trying to go through their own issues the best that they can.

– I see my challenges as opportunities to embrace my own growth and cycles of transformational change.

– I focus on forgiveness of myself and others, surrendering what has happened in the past, walking away from situations and people no longer in my Greatest Good, and find joy in  living in the present.

-I have more self loving moments of speaking my personal truth and honestly ask for what I need without fears blocking my authenticity.

– I stop berating myself, accepting my and your humaneness, and show all of us compassion.

The more frequently I choose compassion over fear , even when my subconscious ego that only computes past fearful experiences and tries to convince me compassion is not valid, the more I feel safe in the arms of peace.

Choosing loving compassion empowers me to not only be present for myself but to also to be present in all relationships. All that is required to honor the peaceful choice is to align compassionate love intentions and thoughts in my subconscious. When those old, fear based beliefs show up, I can flood them with love, thanking them gratefully for serving my past, and continue to create more space for my new beliefs as I walk my talk in my shifted perspective.

 

Listening From The Heart

I learned from an early age to pay attention to the body   language and energies  of those around me. Like many of us I grew up in a dysfunctional world in households of mixed messages. However, I was clueless that what I thought were great communication skills on my part were only instinctual protective measures of reactions and mental judgements of what was being said in conversations. Instead of being present and truly listening to another I was projecting my preconceived opinions, “brilliant ideas” , defending arguments, and planning my communicative comeback statements.

When I became aware of how I truly listened…highlighted in patterns and significant relationships in which I never felt heard, I was shocked! After I accepted my truth and forgave myself for being a selfish, self-centered listener, I began re-programming my    ability and willingness to become an awakened, conscious, conscientious  listener. It took some time and intentions to change on my part.

I first had to cultivate a deep inner quiet atmosphere so I could turn off my mental chatter. Then came a desire to being openly humble to the person speaking to me, to not just hearing their words but to be in acceptance and understanding of their emotional state in the moment of their communication with me.

As I began viewing each person as my teacher, teaching me  only about myself, my transformation began unfolding. I was actually listening with my heart. The more I listened with my heart, the more often those same relationships with different faces whom before I felt never heard me, walked out of my life because I no longer needed their teaching me what they came to mirror!

When we allow our ego to step aside, when we become willing to open to the truth and feelings of another especially those different from whom we think we are, we magically open a Divine Connection with each other!

Connections are Heart Opening Blessings . I am so glad I am still teachable!

Why Don’t The Relationship Players Of Your Life Really See You?

We may not like to know this truth but here it is. We choose our partners, our bosses, our friendships, our advisors based on reflections of inter-connections. All our relationships are a mirror looking back at ourselves! 

We may express we want to be seen, and even express “ I see you” to another. Being seen is a deep desire for another to see all of us…the good, the bad, the light, the shadows. We want to be seen entirely , we voice, but what if we are not embracing and accepting all parts of ourselves? If our relationships are mirrors and we abhor and disrespect  the reflection we are seeing, how do we react? Sometimes we take our toys and go to another sandbox. Sometimes we create as many distractions as we can find to avoid looking at our complete selves. Distractions such as work, staying busy, television, social media, the gym, or addictions keep us from connecting on a deep level. We bury ourselves in a pile of quicksand, thinking we are escaping from those challenging relationships only to eventually find out, if we live to see the truth, that we are abandoning not just our relationships but abandoning ourselves!

When we finally through a myriad of walking away from those proverbial reflections of relationships that we have forever pointed our finger at the problem being THEM, and stop hiding from the parts of ourselves we have refused to accept for years, situations begin to seemingly,magically change. As we accept, honor, and even love the darkest elements of our personalities as equal partners with the radiant, compassionate aspects of ourselves, we see those relationships we struggled with start falling away,disappearing, and dissolving. We no longer need the mirror relationships of our hidden selves. 

We attract new mirrors who see us and we see them! We shine even when our mirror relationships see our shadowy sides because we have awakened to vulnerability and relish being seen! As they see us, we gratefully acknowledge we see them! 

If you have relationships who cannot see you, perhaps it is past time to see what part of you is being reflected to bring forth in illuminating light for you to love, accept, and even forgive. Thank that relationship for arriving to teach you about yourself….or keep pointing the finger of blame thinking the fault lies in “them” .

I see you and you shine!

Once A Week Water Fast

It seems the rhythm of my mind, body, spirit goes in cycles. The past few years when I have been about to experience a transformational change my body tells me it wants me to make a change in how and what I ingest. I happen to believe our body never lies and it holds much wisdom, so if we listen to what it really wants and what it tells us, we are able to make incredible changes that impact us significantly. Likewise, when we refuse to listen to our body’s messages, we get to pay dear consequences until we once again surrender and begin listening and following through with actions requested!

In 1995 I began remembering a series of repressed childhood memories that were quite painful, and after struggling to survive them (along with the help of a great therapist), my body decided it wanted to give up eating meat so I became a vegetarian. I suppose because of the horrendous year I had just walked through I was wrapped rather tightly emotionally so not only did I give up meat but I also became adamant killing animals for any reason went against my values so I gave up wearing leather, using any animal by products, and protested against the fur industry. Yes, wrapped tightly! I finally decided maybe I was taking this animal thing too far so though I remained vegetarian I did go back to wearing leather shoes and clothing!

 A few years later, I worked in a series of out of state temporary jobs and one of those places was in coastal Maine. I had a thought…gee in Maine on the coast…I should eat lobster. Then I thought other seafood would be good…then one day thought a pork chop would be great. Well, so I did begin eating fish, seafood meat, and of course at first was sick for I had cleared my body out from eating all meat, fish, and seafood. However, before long I was back to eating meat daily, not listening to my body. I did get to pay some consequences such as mild depression returned, I stopped listening to inner messages that always help me, my thyroid function changed , and my co-dependency that had been with me since adolescence returned in full force. Prior to this I thought I had worked hard on all my issues. Maybe I had, but it does not seem to me it was coincidence that once I began eating in a less than healthy way again that my inner world seemed to return to old ways of doing life.

Fast forward to a few more years ahead. It now was 2004. My significant other was diagnosed with a disease that would take him out of this world. My body told me once again it wanted me to be a complete vegetarian. I listened and gave up meat. Occasionally, maybe once a year, I ate salmon. I felt stronger in every aspect as I watched my boyfriend slowly deteriorate as he got closer to his death which did come in mid 2005. Another transformation preceded by another message from my body’s wisdom. I was seeing clearly the correlation.

At the end of 2012 my body insisted I do a cleanse/detox. I had gained 20 pounds and could not lose it. I was going to a gym 1-2 x a week, doing yoga, but kept this weight on my petite body. Hearing my body’s messages often is not enough, but somehow  the Universe provides people and actions to go along with the messages. I met someone at an event who shared with me a system of detox/cleanse that I “might want to try”. I did try it  and for 28 days I was sugar free, soy free, and gluten free. At the end of the 28 days I had more energy than I had experienced since I was 9 years old! I never to this day have returned to eating gluten or wheat. One main reason is the times I have mistakenly been given gluten/wheat I have gotten very sick instantly. I know I am ultra sensitive to its effects. The following year, 2013, was a huge transformation. I went to Chaco Canyon, NM for the first time(I have since returned there every year ) and had huge mystical experiences. That same year, 2013, I met two men who would become life long friends and two of my greatest supporters of the life I live. Following my new diet  I joined a gym and began working out daily.My body told me it wanted to receive a daily morning meal of green juice with protein powder, and I complied. At age 62 in 2014 I went to N. California to work temporarily, feeling the best I had ever felt in my adulthood. Three months into my work assignment 24 pounds fell off of me in a two week period! I figured it took that long for being gluten free, working out, etc. for it to catch up to my body. One month later I suffered what I call my brain opportunity…a major brain bleed that ended up with miraculous healing! I did not have to go to rehab and I healed in a few months with no complications or problems! No food/drink changes came with this event but a total life change came as I had to slow down almost to a halt while my brain and body healed/ repaired itself. I could not do yoga or go to the gym or even drive for a few months, but my whole body began giving me messages I was to do alternative healing work for others. I was already highly intuitive since childhood and a Reiki Master since 2006 , and it seemed by whole mind, body, spirit was telling me a secret: I had been denying for many years I came to this earth to help the planet and others to heal! Somehow I had not heard this message until a brain opportunity slowed me down so much I could hear nothing else but this message, and Listen I did!

During the past two years I have relocated to another state, and my mind/body/spirit began giving me not so much food/drink messages but messages that if I was willing to accept and receive joy that I could manifest just about anything that would bring me happiness! If I enumerated the incredible things coming to fruition right now, it would amaze you…as much as it amazes me. Blessing after blessing, incredible psychic and healing skills have appeared, friendships and opportunities of a great quality have shown up,  and I live in a paradise surrounded by magical trees, wildlife, and more.

Now comes the newest message from my body. In December, 2018 my body began telling me I need to once a week do a water fast. I wanted to resist! I had experienced one little change in my body. Still eating a very healthy diet, still drinking a green protein drink daily, still working out 3x a week, my stomach began being bloated. No logical reason..but enough change to get my attention…My body was talking to me again! So I decided I would try a water fast…not sure I could succeed. It sounded rather radical! I told myself I would start it in February and a dear friend told me she would partner with me in this fast. She lives on the opposite coast as I but we agreed on Wednesdays we would only ingest water for approximately 24 hours. So we began one week ago.

Changes during that first fast for me were interesting. One, I did crave crunchy food, my favorite craving , four different times. I drank more water during those times. I noticed I was very still all day and night, not wanting to fill my time with projects, writing, or even ideas! I have been a meditator for 33 years , do not own a tv, am relatively quiet, but the fact I did not want to distract myself for 24 hours was different. The following day it took me a while to drink my green drink. I did not really want to eat or drink, but eventually I did. My friend and I checked in with each other a few times during our first water fast and once as I was sharing about some emotional feelings, I noticed a craving for fried chicken and gravy (which has not been consumed by me for 15 years!).  I did have an hour during my fast day that I shook and cried deeply . I knew it was a release I needed and had no idea I even held it inside my body! When I wanted to eat on the fast day I could not tell if I was hungry or if it was the usual time I fed myself so my inner clock was dinging it was meal time! Or was I wanting to stuff a feeling or a thought? I am not sure yet.

So…tomorrow is another Wednesday Water Fast day. I will drink a cup of coffee, then  several liters of well water, and I may try a cup of hot tea with a small bit of honey and listen to my body. I know my body is getting re-set with each time I choose to fast. It is exciting that I can even fast all day/night with only liquids for I was not sure I could do it! I know my body is preparing me for something totally incredible that is going to reveal itself as a result of this change of eating/drinking by water fasting. Really, I can hardly wait to see how my life unfolds at this point! 

My main message to you, my dear readers, if there is one…is listen to the messages of your mind, body, and spirit. So much wisdom is there. I am very sure we have all the answers we need within us, if we will just listen and follow through. Even we do not follow through, our bodies give us a few chances to experience success and happiness . Then there are those consequences if we keep refusing to listen…but I am sure you are not nearly as rebellious as I can be! Happy Listening!!!

 

Closeup Glass of water on table nature backgroundContinue reading “Once A Week Water Fast”

Breathing Peace

I just returned from the place I go once a year for a  solo personal retreat. Each time I go I experience a deeper spiritual awareness yet it also is a validation of how simple finding inner peace is.

As I hiked alone through desert terrain close to spacious mountains I knew I was in Divine Partnership with the planet. Each footstep I took increased my connection to my innermost self and to the precious land. Thoughts of every other being whose feet had touched the same land in the recent and very distant past empowered me to embrace all time…my own personal history as well as that of humanity.

This sweet, yet passionately emotional feeling came over me. I knew in the depths of my soul no matter how high spiritually I travel the  secret for all who have passed through this world and for myself is this fact. Peace is attained when we each honestly accept ourselves for exactly who we are and who we have been in each precious moment. So simple! No need to analyze, to judge, or to search. Just living in between the inhale and exhale of each breathing moment is the answer.img_8578

There is nothing to fear, nothing to figure out. All we each need to do is just to BE…and let the magical life unfold as we witness the wonderment! 

I thanked the desert for reminding me once again the truth has always been within my heart… not in my brain as my ego wants to believe! Nature always is waiting patiently to teach me more of the same lesson….just breathe in the moment. That is where the peace exists!

 

 

Finding Harmony In Relationships

I have been aware for years that relationships offer me the greatest  opportunity to grow, and that being said, offer at times the greatest challenges. Recently I have been repeating this mantra to my heart and to my brain. It goes like this: “ When I consciously allow the other person to be who he/she needs to be in the present moment, without my needing or trying to change them, manipulate, or control them to live life according to my agenda, I am loving that person unconditionally.”

I have been applying this idea to ALL relationships, romantic partners, relatives, friends, co-workers, even clients. Taken further, I can apply this to myself by loving and accepting who I am in the moment without judging or treating myself in an unloving way.

When I am loving myself and taking loving actions for and with myself, I am more open to receive and attract harmonic relationships in all areas of my life. However….What if we cannot love ourselves? Believe me, I have known the challenge of looking deeply at myself in a mirror, trying to love what was staring back! The hardest love I have had to experience is self love.

I began the journey of self love a long time ago. The truth, I unearthed, was not that it was some impossible task as much as my fears about it overrided every piece of me! My biggest fear was that I had never been…and could never be ENOUGH! I further discovered buried under this Fear Animal were layers of guilt, shame, and feelings of unworthiness! I carried deep in my unconsciousness false beliefs of why I was unlovable…especially to myself! All this monkey mind self talk came from messages of others (who also did not love themselves!) and I bought into them hook, line, and sinker…and sink I did into self loathing for many years. I kept trying to find  love outside of myself—-alcohol, men, career, education,  nicotine, being skinny…anything to fill that hole in my soul. Problem was all were just temporary fixes of instant gratification. I even tried “ good fixes” like yoga, gym workouts, hiking, etc. I was still searching outside of myself for an answer to an inside job!!

Finally I realized , through much gut wrenching pain, that all these attempts with all these negative thoughts I was making myself feel terrible about..were life long patterns..patterns I had no control over. These patterns were controlling me! It was only when I really saw and began to comprehend what my internal chattering was doing to me and how it had been created, that I became willing to do deep inner work…and began to want to receive JOY!

Once I began receiving, accepting, and  experiencing joy, Lo and behold my relationships began to change! Those who had been my greatest teachers , the partners- friends- co workers,  all who were reinforcing my fearful self  loathing beliefs, began to fall apart, disappear and leave my life. The more I opened to receiving unconditional love in practicing more self love, the more new relationships showed up in every area of my life!

Still being a “human doing”, at times fears come up but now I know fears are only there to be embraced and transformed. They are only red flags to grab my attention and whisper “ psssst Are you loving yourself right now?

Finding harmony in relationship with myself, and with others is really simple….unless I choose to complicate it by forgetting the answer does not lie outside of myself, but lives within my own unique heart and spirit.