Break Free to Honor Your Unique Wisdom

"Learning to trust our inner stirrings, our inner goodness, and our emotional and psychic impressions is essential if we are to fulfill our life purpose.  We need to muster the courage to step outside of conventional wisdom.  Many or us have been so intimidated or humiliated when we have shared these 'stirrings' or impressions, we carry enormous fear:  fear that we are crazy, fear no one will like us, etc.  Every time we give in to that fear, we move away from being authentic.  Every time we confront our fear and go with our inner truth, we empower ourselves to move closer to becoming the powerful beings we are meant to be."

We have created norms in our dysfunctional society that encourage us to be inauthentic and disconnected from Source; essentially to do the exact opposite from that which nurtures emotional and spiritual health and creates inner peace and well-being. Yet without continuous awareness the belief system behind those norms, which is usually passed down to us in childhood, can hold a powerful, unconscious and ultimately destructive influence in our lives. 

QUESTIONS to PONDER

1.  What signs or symptoms do I get that let me know I am not being true to myself?

2.  What inaccurate beliefs do I still carry from my childhood that tend to inhibit my ability to follow my intuition?

3.  What are my greatest fears of stepping outside of conventional social norms?

4.  What gifts have come my way when I've faced these fears and acted anyway?


VISUALIZATION
Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, close your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines repeating the process. OR, you can record this or share with a friend where you each read the visualization to one another.)

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax. Send loving energy from your heart to all the cells in your body.  Then focus again on your breathing until you begin to sense that place of utter stillness deep inside.  

Transport yourself to a beautiful meadow.  Take a moment to breathe in the fragrances.  Feel the bright sun warming your hair and skin.   Feast on the beauty of the colors and shapes before you.  Walk around touching tree trunks and stones, grasses and leaves noticing their textures and their energy.  Listen for the sounds in this meadow... birds chirping and cawing and singing, twigs crackling under your feet, perhaps you'll hear water somewhere in the distance.  Fully experience yourself in this beautiful place and then breathe even more deeply.

As you are ready, begin to walk through your meadow until you come across a structure which feels like a temple or sanctuary. It may just be made of logs and branches, or it might be a grove of trees or perhaps it is a more elaborate with walls and doors and beautiful symbols on it.  Just allow this to appear before you.

Spend some time looking at this sanctuary, experiencing it fully, and then when it feels right, enter into it and find a place to sit down.  Know that this is your sacred space and you are fully protected here.  Notice that as you take another deep centering breath, your sense of peacefulness becomes even more profound.

Now spend a few moments going inward.  Notice what you are feeling.  Notice the thoughts that move through your awareness.  Then ask what it is that Spirit would most like you to know or to do next.  Sit quietly and wait for your answer.  

Notice what comes to you and how it comes to you.  Notice too if any thoughts or feelings arise that want to contradict this.  If Spirit wants you to do something specific, notice any fears or concerns that arise.  Remember making fears and beliefs conscious takes some of their power away.

See yourself being able to act or resonate with the information you are being given, and notice how that feels in your heart.  Carry this wisdom back with you through your meadow until you come to the place you began.

As you go through the coming week, keep Spirit's response in your mind.  Do your best to take the actions most aligned with this as well as to notice any blocks and deal with anything that arises to interfere with this process. 
 

Sending you love and blessings on your journey, 

Judith

If you like the quotes and process presented in this blog, be sure to click the Amazon link below and click "like" next to the title, (if you have not already done so.)  Don't have the book yet?  You can order the kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit from this link and or wait for the new print edition that will be released in late Fall.)

 

 
To buy Empowering the Spirit for $2.99, click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q

Open Your Heart and The Blessings Will Follow

"I have learned that as soon as I am able to shift into a positive and appreciative attitude about whatever I am confronted with, the Universe will work with me to ease my way.  This has happened for me over and over again.  I know in my heart I am no different than anyone else;  this is available to all of us.  When we are living in inner harmony, when we are allowing our Spirit to lead, we continuously and consciously fill our lives with blessings."

It's always challenging to stay in alignment with our Spirit.  Our egos have been conditioned to be very powerful and we have been programmed to believe fulfilling our ego-needs will help us survive (and maybe that used to be true.)  So whenever we're not looking, our egos will jump back in bringing us our old insecurities and new ego-driven goals.  Our egos will do what they do best which is to separate us from Source and interfere with our well-being.  No big deal though.  Just remember to notice.  When you are feeling driven, overwhelmed or unhappy, it's a sure sign your ego has grabbed the steering wheel of your life.  Take it back, put your Spirit in the driver's seat.  Perhaps the following will help.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

1.  When do I notice Spirit is most active in my life?

2.  What conditions do I create that unconsciously invites my ego back in.  (For instance... do I get too busy?  Do I forget to take care of myself... forget even to take deep centering breaths.  Do I stop doing some sort of daily practice?)

3.  What blessings have occurred when I've faced challenging times in my life and have shifted into a positive and appreciative attitude, surrendering to the leadership of my Spirit?

4. What beliefs might I carry that keeps me from doing this more consistently?

VISUALIZATION
Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, close your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process. OR, you can record this or share with a friend where you each read the visualization to one another.)

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax. Send loving energy from your heart to all the cells in your body.  Then focus again on your breathing until you begin to sense that place of utter stillness deep inside.  

Transport yourself to a beautiful spot in nature.  To a place which through its very beauty will put you into a state of deep relaxation.  Spend some time looking at the vibrant colors and the physical beauty before you.  Breathe in the fragrances.  Feel the sun beaming down on you warming your hair, warming you skin.  Listen for all the natural sounds, the birds singing and chirping, the leaves rustling in the breeze, perhaps the sound of water lapping up on the shore.  Take a moment to touch the trees or the rocks or the sand, feeling their texture and their energy.

Find a comfortable place to sit looking out over this spot.  And now, call to you an image of the most difficult challenge you are facing currently in your life.  Let this image come to you in full force bringing whatever feelings it evokes in you.  Take time to honor all these feelings.  If you notice anger, see yourself stomping that challenge and stomping all those you might imagine are connected with it.  If you notice sadness, see yourself crying and honor the grief which is arising.  If you notice fear, take a deep centering breath, go into the fear and know that no matter how scared you may be, Divine protection always surrounds you.  After you honor and see yourself expressing these feelings, allow them to release, to move on for the moment.  

Take another deep centering breath and begin to focus on what is beautiful in your life.  Focus on your loved ones, your friends, your pets.  Focus on your garden or the beauty of the sky.  Focus on your heart and how you can breathe Divine love in and out through it.  Perhaps you will want to rub your hands together, place them over your heart, and notice as the tension begins to melt away.  

Now imagine that you can beam Divine love to those challenges.  Notice what happens to the feeling of challenge as the love arises.  Is it softening?  Is the stress beginning to melt away?  Are you aware that you can hold this current challenge with all the feelings it evokes and hold a joyful heart at the same time? 

Ask for an understanding of why this challenge is in your life right now.  Ask how this experience can help your soul development.  Ask what blessings might be hidden within it.

As you go through the coming week, notice your challenges and do your best to honor your feelings, to beam them with love and to remember to uncover the hidden blessings.

Sending you love and wishes for ease on your journey, 

Judith

If you like the quotes and process presented in this blog, be sure to order the kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit from the link below. (It will also be released in a new print edition in late Fall.)

 

 
To buy Empowering the Spirit for $2.99, click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q

En-Lightening Up

"We are made of light.  Light cannot be contained.  It beams itself everywhere.  The boundaries of our body are simply something we choose to create in order to work through our dramas on the Earth:  dramas that come from our experiences in other lifetimes or dramas that develop as our egos attach to our cultural belief systems."

Everything in the Universe is energy.  Energy is made of the same substance as light.  We are literally light beings who have chosen to incarnate into 3-dimensional bodies.  In these 3D bodies, we have the opportunity to work out issues that our soul has carried from other lifetimes.  Since we have free-will, we can also choose not to work out these issues, which creates more of these dysfunctional patterns. The choice is truly ours.  The more we can identify both the dysfunctional patterns and/or beliefs we came into this life with, and the patterns and beliefs we have attached to as we have gone through this life, the more we can make these choices consciously and increase our potential for En-Lightenment.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

1. What patterns keep reoccurring through out my life to cause me pain?

2. What beliefs do I hold about myself and about my world that feed this suffering?

3.  How will my life change if I fully transform those patterns and shift those unhealthy beliefs about myself and others? 

4.  What fears do I have about changing myself and my life so profoundly?

VISUALIZATION
Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, close your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process. OR, you can tape this or do this with a friend where you each read this to one another.)

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax. 

Send loving energy from your heart to all the cells in your body.  Then focus again on your breathing until you begin to sense that place of utter stillness deep inside.  

Imagine a beam of brilliant white/gold light coming down from the heavens and hovering just above your head.  When you feel ready, breathe this light through your crown chakra and allow the light to travel to every cell in your body.  Notice how this feels.  Notice the light massaging all your cells.  Let yourself luxuriate in this feeling.  Notice what is happening with your heart as you do this.

Now imagine that you can take this feeling and walk with it into every part of your life. You can feel this sensation while you are at work.  You can feel this sensation with any interaction you have.  You can feel this sensation no matter what is occurring in your relationships. 

Imagine too that you can feel this sensation as you drive your car, buy groceries, pay bills.  See yourself feeling this sensation as you drift off to sleep and as you wake up.  Notice how the quality of your life would change.  Notice how any negative judgments about yourself and others would seem irrelevant.  Notice how taking just a few minutes to pull that light down and through you can shift your entire experience of being human on Planet Earth.

As you go through your week experiment with this light, experiment with being the light-being you are truly meant to be.

Sending you love and blessings, 

Judith

If you like the quotes and process presented in this blog, be sure to order the kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit from the link below. (It will also be released in a new print edition in late Fall.)

 


Don't have your kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit yet? Click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q

Trusting your Inner Landscape

"Removing emotional blockages and transforming limited belief systems allows our vibrational field to pulsate at a higher frequency than ever before.  This strengthens our connection to our spiritual and creative abilities because we have cleared the blocks that create dense energy.  We become more able to consciously connect to our energy body and to honor the now freed-up intuitive flow within us."

We all have some emotional blockages and old limited beliefs which interfere with the expression of our full soul potential, but the more inner work we've done, the more in flow we are able to be in our lives.  Still, when it's time for new growth, the old patterns often resurface to get cleared at a deeper level.  Perhaps you are finding that they are "up" for you as you read this.  I've seen a few of mine arise lately and have been amazed how easily they release when I simply "let go" and keep my opening my heart.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1. What beliefs or old emotional patterns tend to arise for me when I step out of my comfort zone?

2. What strategies do I have to shift those beliefs and release the old emotions?  Are there places or patterns in me where my strategies are not effective?  If so, what resources do I have (people, books, etc.) to help me change this?

3. How in touch am I with my intuitive flow?  Am I able to trust the inner wisdom within me pretty consistently?  Or do I tend to second guess myself, and talk myself out of following my heart?

4. Take a look back through your life and ask yourself "What unfolded for me when I followed my intuition?"  Ask too, "What outcomes did I create when I ignored my intuitive awareness?"


VISUALIZATION

EXERCISE: 
(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, following the suggestions, closing your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process. OR, you can tape this or do this with a friend where you each read this to one another.)

Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax. 

As you deepen your breath, focus on your body.  Notice where you are tense and ask that those places of tension "let go."  Notice where you are in flow.  Send loving energy from your heart to all the cells in your body.  Then focus more on your breathing until you begin to sense that place of utter stillness within.  

Ask yourself "What does Spirit want from me right now?"  Then quietly wait until your answer comes.  You might hear the answer.  It might come in the form of a symbol.  You might just feel a sensation and have a sense of what that sensation is telling you.  Just pay attention to whatever arises.

Next notice how you are responding to the messages you've received.  Are you excited?  Are you disappointed?  Are you scared?  Are you calm and clear?  Notice if you feel empowered to carry out what is being suggested.  Notice if old beliefs or emotions arise that want to impede your way. Create an intention to attend to whatever healing may have to be done in order to free you to stay in your intuitive flow.  Create an intention to carry out that next step Spirit wants of you.  

As you go through your week keep paying attention.  Notice if you are remembering to follow your intentions.  Periodically focus within and how aligned you feel with your Spirit.  If you are out of alignment, do what you need to in order to reconnect.

Sending you love and encouragement. 

Judith

If you like the quotes and process presented in this blog, be sure to order the kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit from the link below. (It will also be released in a new print edition in late Fall.)

 


Don't have your kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit yet? Click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q

                                                                 

As We Go, So Goes the World

"We really are the world.  We are part of the great collective force of existence.  We are the Creators.  The quality of our energy is totally in our hands.  When we beam our loving Spirit-directed energy into the world, we transform our families, our communities and ultimately, our planet."

Because we are human, it is impossible at this point in our development, to always be filled with loving energy.  Still, to realize how the quality of our energy affects not just our own life, but the life of everyone and everything on our planet is important.  This awareness can serve as a strong motivator to help us stay conscious and ultimately to take charge of the energy we are emitting.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

1.  What is the quality of my energy right now?  It is loving and harmonious?  Is it stressed and choppy?  Is it angry or irritable?  Is it anxious?  Is it depressed?

2.  Can I be loving and accepting toward myself when I realize that I'm running negative energy?  Do I realize this is just part of the human journey?

3.  What tools do I have to help shift my energy?  Will music help?  Yoga?  A walk?  A hot bath?  Writing about what I'm feeling?  Being with my children, grandchildren, animals?  (Make a list of the things and activities which help you move back into your heart and therefore into a loving space.)

4.  When I'm in a loving place, what tools do I have available to help keep myself from getting more negative or ego-attached?

VISUALIZATION

EXERCISE: 

(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, following the suggestions, closing your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process. OR, you can tape this or do this with a friend where you each read this to one another.)

Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax.

Think of a time when you were feeling wonderful.  It may be right now or it might be a month ago or even longer, but allow an experience to arise in your mind's eye when a feeling of peace and well-being flowed through every cell in your body.  Breathe into this image and notice if the feeling can begin to flow through you now.  If so, put out some gratitude, and if not, do your best to appreciate yourself for trying.  Know that everything changes and what might seem unattainable right now might always be at your fingertips as time goes by.

Do your best to breathe in Divine love whether through your crown or your heart or both.  Just keep breathing and calling in that love and remembering a feeling or image of feeling in harmony with all of life.

If you can feel this love pulsing through you, take time to send it out to your family, friends, pets, to all those you love, and to all those that may be hard to love... just beam them with loving energy.  The begin to send that energy out to your community and your state, your country, your continent and around the entire globe.  Perhaps out to the cosmos and beyond.  Know what a powerful and important act this is.

As you go through your week, pay attention to the quality of your energy.  Be gentle and honest with yourself.  If you find negativity, notice if you go to your list and use your tools to begin to shift it.  Notice you can beam it with love.   Notice if you can beam yourself with love.  When you feel open-hearted and loving, beam that out to all you meet and notice how it feels.

Wishing you a powerful and creative journey until we meet again.

Judith

If you like the quotes and process presented in this blog, be sure to order the kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit from the link below. (It will also be released in a new print edition in late Fall.)

 


Don't have your kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit yet? Click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q

                                                                

To Be Perfectly Imperfect

"We move toward harmony, not through perfection, but through love.  The more loving our inner and outer talk, the more harmonious our energy field becomes.  This creates the loving resonance which will interact with all beings and truly transform our world."

Our culture holds a belief system that we can only be worthy if we are perfect.  It also holds a belief that we have to be worthy in order to deserve love.  This has kept us in a pretty constant state of dysfunction and dissatisfaction, and certainly has contributed to the insanity of our ego-driven world. As we break through these beliefs, as we learn to open our hearts whenever we see our own imperfections or the imperfections of others, deep healing and transformation occurs.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

1.  In what areas of my life am I hard on myself?

2.  What do I say to myself when I have made a mistake or in other ways have screwed up?

3.  In what ways do I judge others when I see they are imperfect?  What words do I use?  What feelings arise in me?

4.  What would change in my life if I could hold myself and all others in my heart, in compassion, whenever I saw imperfection of any kind?  What would change if I could send love to myself and others every time I noticed a judgement arising?

EXERCISE: 

(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, following the suggestions, closing your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process. OR, you can tape this or do this with a friend where you each read this to one another.)

Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax. 

As you do let an awareness arise of a judgement you've been holding about yourself or about someone else.  Put that judgement into words and notice how that feels in your body.  Ask yourself if there is anything that feels good about keeping that judgement?  And just notice.

Now focus on your heart. You might want to rub your hands together and place them over your heart area so the warmth can help your heart relax and open. Imagine that you can draw Divine Love down through your crown chakra and pull it all the way to your heart.  Notice as your heart becomes more and more relaxed and open.  

Think of someone that you love: a spouse, a sibling, a child, a pet. Place that being in your heart feeling how easy it is to shower them with love.  Spend a few minutes letting your love permeate them.

Now put an image of yourself in your heart, and shower yourself with that love.  Breathe deeply and just feel this.  If this is difficult, love yourself for trying.  Know that you deserve all this love and more, no matter what.

Go back to the judgement you were holding.  If it was about yourself, put a image of yourself doing whatever you are judging into your heart.  Shower that image with love.  Notice if it is easy. Notice if it is hard.  Love yourself either way.

If the judgement was about another, do the same.  Put an image of that person in your heart, and just notice if you can begin to melt that sense of harshness with the warmth of your love.  Notice how good it feels for your heart to be open.  Notice how free it feels to be able to hold yourself or others in compassion no matter what the behavior.  Notice if you can put the entire planet into your heart and just hold it in love.

As you go through your week, do your best to notice when judgement arises.  Love yourself for noticing, and then take a minute and put whoever you are judging in your heart best you can.  

Wishing you love and blessings as you wander through the next several days,

Judith



Don't have your kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit yet? Click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q and for $2.99 it can be yours.

Become Yourself to Align with Your Soul

"The more our Spirit leads the more fully we become ourselves, embodying the vibrational frequency of our souls. As we do this each of us becomes free to make our contribution. Still, we are likely to find inner resistance to stepping fully into this power and the role it will bring us."

 Questions to Ponder:

 1. In what areas of my life and with what people in my life, am I fully myself?

 2. In what areas of my life do I still find myself still pretending?

 3. What are my fears or concerns about stepping into the full power of who I truly am?

 4. How will my life change once I do this?
EXERCISE:
(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, following the suggestions, closing your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process. OR, you can tape this or do this with a friend where you each read to each other.)

Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax. And as you do let yourself be in some beautiful place in nature. It might be the mountains or the ocean, a meadow or by a river... whatever appeals to you... allow the image to arise. Notice the vibrant blue sky and feel the warm sun beaming down on your hair and skin. Listen to the birds. Walk around and touch things with the palms of your hands feeling the texture and the energy of anything you touch. Breathe deeply and notice the fragrances in the air. Then find a comfortable spot to sit where you can look out over the beautiful scene before you, and as you do, realize that in front of you hovering in the air, is a screen where you are able to see yourself.

You see you are standing at a podium on a stage in the middle of an large auditorium. The seats are filled with people. There's a person standing next to you waiting to give you an award for the contribution you have made to humanity. Notice how relaxed and confident you look. Notice how easy this is for you. Pay attention to what you are being honored for... Have you accomplished a certain task? Have you helped others in a particular way? Have you shared expertise about relationships or child-rearing or education or gardening? Or any other subject that interests you? Have you helped others improve their health or feel more connected to their creativity and/or their own Spirit? Have you blessed the world and yourself with your open-heart and generous spirit? Notice how the people in the audience are happy, excited for you and appreciative of what you have offered.

Now imagine that you can put yourself in that picture. Breathe yourself into that image of you on the stage. See all those people looking at you. Notice how you feel. Notice there is peacefulness within you. Is this different from how you generally feel? Notice the joy of having lived in alignment with something greater than yourself and having this recognized. Notice what has changed to allow you to make this full contribution with such ease.

Let whatever you would most like be honored for arise in your consciousness... And then allow yourself to accept the honor being bestowed on you. Notice how that feels.
Spend some time thinking about what you are wanting to share with the world, what you feel most passionate about. Think about what changes you would have to make in your life for this to happen. Ask yourself if this would fulfill you at a soul level. Remember how relaxed and peaceful you seemed when you were looking at yourself. What is it that would have to shift in your life for you to bring this sense of well-being and authenticity to all that you do? 

As you go about your week, notice when you are feeling connected to yourself and sharing from your Spirit, and notice when you feel out of sync with yourself. Pay attention to when you are feeling vibrant and when you are feeling bored or disconnected. Notice what tasks or ideas excite you and think about how you can increase this in your life. And, notice when you back off, hide or in other ways avoid operate in the full force of who you truly are. And through all your observations do your very best to send yourself love.


Wishing you love and blessings as you wander through your week,

Judith



Don't have your kindle edition of Empowering the Spirit yet? Click http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LW7H4Q

                                                                 

And We're Off

This blog has been a long time coming.  I first published Empowering the Spirit at the end of 2005 right after I returned from a 3 week Shamanic Journey in Egypt.  I had been working on the book and working on living from the wisdom within it, for 10 years. Now, 7 years later I've re-introduced it on Amazon's Kindle where more people will have access to it should their Spirits' lead them in that direction.

In order to increase awareness of this book and to share ways to grow that are part of the process it offers, I am publishing this weekly blog. It will begin with a quote from Empowering the Spirit. Then I will ask you some questions to help you connect your individual process with the theme of the quote.  And lastly I will suggest an exercise to help deepen your growth and self-awareness in the area being presented.  Sound interesting?  Read on:

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"Collectively we stand on a precipice, on the edge of an evolutionary leap, poised and ready to jump into the Unknown.  This leap is about becoming "Spirit-directed" rather than ego-directed. The old way has taught us to live by the dictates of our ego:  to operate out of a survival paradigm, which keeps us seeking love, acceptance, material security and approval from others.  This new ways asks us to empower ourselves so that we can align our lives with our spiritual nature.  It asks that we trust our intuitive guidance, open our hearts, and make a commitment to being mindful.  It asks that we free ourselves from societal expectations and from the opinions of others."

QUESTIONS to Ponder:

In what parts of my life do I feel most in harmony and therefore most Spirit-directed?  (Make a list and do your best to not overthink this...just write down whatever pops in.)

In what parts of my life do I feel heaviest, most worried, drained or powerless?  (Again make a list using the same process as above, and realize these are areas where your ego has its greatest strong-hold.)

Journal on the following:

When do I find myself giving my power to others because I want their love, acceptance or approval?  

What scares me most about the Unknown??

EXERCISE: 
(You can do this for yourself by reading a few lines at a time, following the suggestions, closing your eyes until you can see or feel what is being suggested, and then open your eyes and go through the next few lines, repeating the process.  OR, you can tape this or do this with a friend where you each read to each other.)

Find a quiet comfortable place where you know you will not be disturbed.

Begin by taking some deep centering breaths. Breathe until you begin to let go of your day. Breathe until you begin to let go of your thoughts. Breathe until you begin to feel your body relax.  

Imagine you are on a beautiful hillside.  The sky above you is a vibrant shade of blue.  The sun beams down and warms your hair and your skin. You can hear birds chirping and singing, and perhaps water is flowing somewhere in the background.  There is a fragrance in the sweet crisp air, breathe deeply, notice and allow yourself to melt into the scene.  Pay attention to its beauty and peacefulness.  Touch the earth and the trees and the rocks and the flowers and just notice how they feel to your fingers and the palms of your hands.  Then find a comfortable place to sit back and look over this beautiful place.

Next see, as if projected before you, images of you at your most tense, at your most contracted, when you are feeling most powerless or most driven.  Just let those pictures and/or feelings arise in front of you and keep using your breath to stay centered and calm. Notice what is going on with your heart in that picture.

Then look in a different direction and allow images to come when you feel most connected to your Spirit. Perhaps you are doing Yoga or petting your dog or digging in your garden.  Perhaps you are eating a sumptuous meal or making love.  Again breathe deeply and notice whatever comes for you.  See how content you are and how open your heart feels.

Still staying in your relaxed mode, team up with the Spirit-connected part and just shower that tense part of yourself with love.  Pull in Divine love from your crown chakra, let in settle in your heart and then beam love to that part of yourself.  Let her or him know that it is fine to be tense and driven, but that it's okay and safe to let that go, to relax, to receive the love that you are sending their way.  

Notice what happens.  Whenever you are ready, bring yourself back to where you are sitting and breathe yourself back into the present.  As you do, make a commitment to keep sending yourself love when you notice you are tense or stressed or driven.  Pay attention, change may well be afoot.

As you go about your week, do your best to notice also when you are Spirit-connected and when you are not.  Notice when you are free of others' opinions and when you are not. Whatever it is you notice, give yourself credit for noticing and continue with your day.

I send you blessings and love on your journey.

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