A simple touch, a gentle kiss, a warm embrace, sitting silently while holding someone’s hand or a loving smile from across the room can all bring peace and calm to a troubled stranger or friend. Just think of when you were a child and how magical it felt to have someone kiss away your “boo-boos” after you had fallen and hurt yourself.  Anyone who has had pets can relate to their instinct in knowing when to come and curl up on your lap or lay beside your bed when you are not feeling well.  Love, whether it comes from another person or animal can bring balance and healing into our lives faster than any medicine or ritual. Oh, but let’s not forget the love sent to us through nature! Can anything be more calming than an orange and purple sunset as it casts its reflection upon a glass-topped lake? Or sitting under countless stars on a full moon lit night?

It is all too easy to by pass the simple things in our lives and brush off the necessity for the feeling of connection with one another, the universe, nature and the Divine.  Isn’t it easier just to make the excuse that you don’t have the time, energy or money to reach out and touch someone, take a walk or to pray? After all, wouldn’t it be safer not to love in order not to feel rejection or hurt feeling? But in reality, what are you really saving?  In fact, you are depriving yourself of the very thing you came to this earth to experience – the joy of life itself!

Take a moment and look around you.  Really look at the people you meet, the buildings you pass on your way to work, the colours of the leaves of the trees or hear the laughter of the children playing in the yards.  When was the last time you read the name tag the check out girl in the grocery store was wearing and then took the time to call her by name? How many times have you passed an elderly person who was sitting alone on a bench, not even taking the time to send a smile their way? Those people you pass and choose to ignore may be going through something upsetting in their lives and your kind word could make all the difference in their day or even their life.

Random acts of kindness are not things you should have to think about and plan but rather come naturally to you throughout the day.  So I challenge you during the course of the next month, make it a point to do give something to everyone you meet, give something back to the earth and make a point to put aside time for your connection with Spirit. No money needs to be spent and very little time will be taken from your day.  Passing along a smile, encouraging words, or even silently sending another love and positive energy can all be done so easily.  Thinking about the products you purchase and their effect upon our earth, going for a walk, breathing in the fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun upon your skin are simple ways to give thanks to this planet and the universe.  Above all, allow yourself a few minutes each day for solitude and meditation because it is during these moments of silence that you find your inner peace and connection to Spirit.  Here in this time where you “just be” you will experience the oneness with everything and find yourself being rejuvenated and your love replenished a hundredfold.

What are you waiting for? Close your eyes, breath deeply, exhale slowly and allow the love of the world around you and the unconditional love sent from Spirit to completely envelope you. Now imagine sending that love to all the people you have crossed paths with today…. whether you know them or not, like them or not and regardless of what they did or did not do towards you today.  Send this same feeling of love to all of nature and the universe as it too must heal and grow through our positive thoughts and actions.  Now, wasn’t that easy?  You have just taken the first step to truly becoming love and opening yourself up to receive the many blessings you too deserve.

Janice Chrysler: Through Hypnosis, Reiki and Spiritual Coaching Janice assists others in awakening their inner strengths and connection of Mind-Body-Spirit. Once this spark is ignited they are able to make changes necessary for their personal growth. Practicing from her Marmora office, Janice provides private and group sessions and workshops along with weekly meditation classes. She is also a wedding officiant providing unique ceremonies for weddings, namings and funerals. In all areas of life, her goal is to bring individuals closer to Spirit. “Life is a learning field for all of us and we are all on a journey. Throughout the trip we cross each other’s path for a reason. I am grateful for all my life’s experiences as I feel it has taught me to become who I am today and I know, the trip is far from over! Who knows when and where we will meet. Namaste, Janice” www.mindfuljourney.ca

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Are you Spiritually Stuck?

As you know, each one of us has psychic and healing abilities.  Like all other endeavors in our lives, if we choose not to use them we will forget how to use them.  Perhaps there has been a time in your life when you were very intuitive but it frightened you and you wanted to shut it off.  You would still receive messages, have a feeling but now instead of paying attention to it you likely brushed it aside, allowing your ego to convince you it was all your imagination.  You may have wanted to open up more,…
What is Love? by Panache Desai

If you’ve found your way here for advice on love, then I can only assume that you are still searching for this elusive experience. And you’re not alone. Globally, more than 225 million searches are conducted each month on the Internet for advice on what is love? For those who have been less than lucky in love and are trying to do it better, healthier, or wiser this time, you have my love and support,…

Technorati Tags: gentle, inner peace, inspiration, Janice Chrysler, kiss, love, nature, Relationships, Spirituality, touch, vivid life

If you’ve found your way here for advice on love, then I can only assume that you are still searching for this elusive experience. And you’re not alone. Globally, more than 225 million searches are conducted each month on the Internet for advice on what is love? For those who have been less than lucky in love and are trying to do it better, healthier, or wiser this time, you have my love and support.

Over the last decade, no two people that I’ve counseled have shared the same definition for love. For some it comes packaged as a tall, beautiful companion with the perfect smile, the perfect pedigree, and the perfect earning capacity. For others it shows up as an intelligent, quirky, best friend who makes you laugh until you pee yourself. I’ve heard grandparents extoll the virtue of perfect love the first time they hold a grandchild. I have seen little boys melt into the pure experience of love as they navigate their world with a new puppy by their side, while little girls hold out for the fairytale promise of prince charming and a happily ever after.

Such diverse examples perfectly illustrate a singular point; love is a completely subjective experience that makes it one of the most challenging to seek out and sustain. What are you really looking for? And most importantly where are you hoping to find it?

The Foundation for Lasting Love Love is an internal experience, emotion, or feeling that arises within your being when you are in harmony with yourself, your life, or another. It evokes a profound sense of completeness, harmony, peace and joy. To find lasting love is considered one of the greatest blessings in life. But to have it, you must first source and then ground love within you.

A Road Map for Love. There is a harsh truth about love. If you are searching far and wide for that perfect partner to kindle the exquisite experience of lasting love without first resolving all of the emotional and psychological blocks that keep you from unconditionally loving yourself, you are looking for love in all the wrong places. The path you are traversing is a slippery one that can only end in heartache.

Your roadmap for finding love begins and ends with you. Love cannot be nurtured or sustained while you are unresolved in your relationship with yourself. In all relationships, once the hormonal rush abates, or the newness of the experience begins to tarnish, you will find yourself tangled in an emotional jungle of judgment and blame of your love interest. It’s a naturally occurring default position that you go to in order to protect yourself… when things go wrong it’s always the other person’s fault.

The truth is that until you truly love all aspects of yourself – the good, the bad and the ugly – you cannot BE FULLY PRESENT to love another nor will you ever be able fully receive their love in return.

The Gift of Acceptance Are you shocked yet?  Loving the good in yourself is easy, but the bad, and the ugly? Right now you have the capacity to begin this process of self-love. Acceptance is the magic bullet. With the consistent practice of acceptance, regardless of how you are showing up, you can begin to introduce spaciousness into your daily experience and lay a strong foundation for love.

It looks like this: I accept myself when I’m being short-tempered and unreasonable. I accept myself even though I’ve gained 20 pounds. I accept my shortcomings when I fight with my partner and won’t give in to his wishes. Acceptance opens up an inner doorway that leads into internal harmony. When you are in the acceptance of yourself, just the way you are, love of self spontaneously begins to arise from within.

Vibrational Change and Shattering Emotional  Content

We are vibrational beings and hold onto unresolved emotional and psychological traumas within our bodies that I have come to call vibrational density. Vibrational Transformation shatters the emotional content that keeps self-acceptance distanced from you and blocks your ability to fully experience self-love.

Vibrational change, which in reality is vibrational increase, begins to break-up the vibrational density that is lodged within your body clearing the way for the deepest experience of self-acceptance.

We are living in accelerating times. You are being vibrationally supported to experience the deepest levels of love possible. These states are your birthright.

You are empowered to choose the path you traverse as you search for the greatest experience we can have in life – true love.

Panache Desai is an inspirational visionary and contemporary spiritual master whose gift of vibrational transformation has inspired and shifted the lives of tens of thousands. He shares eternal truths, inspirational insights, and vibrational tools to create the life of your dreams. Panache is a modern-day avatar who acts as a direct link to Divine consciousness empowering people of all ages, economic and educational backgrounds to transform their lives by connecting them with their limitless Divine nature. Young, hip and funny, Panache brings his global community together weekly via LIVE webcasting.  http://www.panachedesai.com/

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Don’t Put Anyone Out Of Your Heart by Ed and Deb Shapiro

The story goes that, at the time of the Buddha, a group of monks wanted to do a quiet retreat away from the crowds of followers, so the Buddha sent them to a glade in the forest where he said they would be undisturbed. The monks found their way there and settled down to meditate. But what they didn’t know was that this particular glade was inhabited by a gang of tree spirits who were really upset that the monks had come. And when tree spirits get upset they can be extremely scary, ugly, very smelly and unbelievably noisy,…

Technorati Tags: advice on love, panache desai, Panache Desai blog, perfect love, self love, self-acceptance, the foundation of love, vibrational change, vibrational density, vibrational transformation, what is love

“The secret of life is in art.” – Oscar Wilde

There was a time in my life when I had not considered myself an artist. Sure, I played with paints and crayons, etch-a-sketch and playdoh in childhood and the sight of an oversized t-shirt splashed with color brings me right back to kindergarten when we wore them as smocks to cover our clothes. As I grew up, I became more self conscious, hesitant to color outside the lines literarally, if not always symbolically. I admired people who could take the images in their heads and put them on paper or cavas, sculpt them into clay or some other material, bend them into metal, weave them into fabric. Like my dancing, my forays into the world of art, has been improv at best.

Being a lover of art in all forms, I delight in surrounding myself with friends who are artistically talented.  Among them are painters, sculptors, clothing designers, metal workers, printmakers, weavers, mosaic tile designers, greeting card designer, musicians and photographers.  That way I can vicariously feel like an artist myself, imagining myself doing what they do so magnificently. Then it occurred to me that art is far more than what we do with a paint brush, camera,instrument needle or blow torch. In its truest form, whatever the medium, it comes from the heart.  As a writer, I have been told by readers that I ‘paint word pictures’. I like the idea of  taking images that dance around in my mind and share them on paper, so that folks can come along on the ride with me. And join me they do, which is alot of fun for me, since often we creative types feel like we work in a vacuum.

Offering these gifts to the world is a work of he(art), coming from the deepest places within us, where we are inextricably connected to our Source. Seems to me that we are all unique creations of the Divine Artist who conceived us in Its Mind, so what better way to celebrate that than immerse in creativity soup?

Even if you have never considered yourself artistically skilled, how can you be a true he(art)ist?  Could you do sidewalk chalk art or dance barefoot to your favorite music on your living room floor or in a just after it has rained puddle, looking for the rainbow?  Perhaps you could gather twigs and stones (asking them first if they want to be part of the project) and sculpting a unique design. How about opening a fresh page in your journal and letting the words pour forth without editing or censoring as you engage in automatic writing? You could join friends in raising the roof in a group sing along or drumming circle or serenade the soap and shampoo in the shower.

The ways with which you engage with the world is an he(art)istic endeavor. They might take the form of cooking a favorite meal that is flavored with love, creating order out of chaos by cleaning a room, growing a garden of outrageously wild flowers, dressing yourself in fabrics and colors that have you smiling with delight, making yourself the canvas.

I invite you to….

Color With Your Creative Juices

When you were born, you were given an entire box of brand new crayons and an unlimited imagination with which to paint a rainbow design on the landscape of your future. Remember to color outside the lines.

Some of my favorite he(art)ists whose work serves to make the world a more beautiful place:

Deb Chamberlin www.debchamberlin.com

Creative Communication Builders www.creativecommunicationbuilders.com

Kathy Davis www.kathydavis.com

Jim Donovan www.jimdonovan.com

Lew Doty www.lewdoty.com

Karen Drucker www.karendrucker.com

Enchanted Makeovers www.enchantedmakeovers.com

Jody Kessler www.jodykessler.com

Barry Goldstein www.barrygoldsteinmusic.com

Cynthia Greb www.cynthiagreb.com

Peter Moses www.petermoses.com

Moving Creations www.movingcreationsinc.org

Music In The Moment www.musicinthemoment.com

Deva Premal, Miten and Manose www.devapremal.com

SARK www.planetsark.com

Denise Shardlow www.shardlowdesigns.com

Elaine Silver www.elainesilver.com

The Moment Photography www.themomentphoto.com

Transformational Resources www.transformationalresources.com

Deva Troy www.devatroy.com

David Wilcox www.davidwilcox.com

Annabella Wood www.annabellawood.com

Phyllis Wright www.phylliswrightart.com

David Young www.davidyoungmusic.com

Amy Zerner www.amyzerner.com

Rev. Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a Renaissance Woman and Bliss Mistress who delights in inviting people to live rich, full, juicy lives. Edie is an internationally recognized, sought after, colorfully creative journalist, interviewer and author, a dynamic and inspiring speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, offering uniquely designed spiritual rituals. In addition, she is a PR Goddess, promoting events and transformational teachers, healers, writers and artists. She speaks on the subjects of wellness, spirituality, sexuality, creativity, time management, recovery, body image, mindfulness, self esteem, stress management, re-creating yourself, caring for the caregiver, loss and grief. She is a frequent guest on radio and TV. Edie is currently writing her first best selling book entitled The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming the Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and is offering a workshop for women who want to re-create their lives, based on those concepts. A 20 year old journalistic vision came to pass in July of 2008 when she interviewed His Holiness The Dalai Lama. It was a potent reminder to never, ever, ever give up on our dreams. Over the years, Edie has written for mainstream and transformational publications. She has interviewed hundred of notables in the transformational fields, including Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Debbie Ford, Leonard Peltier, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Beckwith, Jonathan Goldman, Gregg Braden, Neale Donald Walsch, Mary Manin Morrissey, Dan Millman, Alan Cohen, Ram Dass, Jack Canfield, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Patch Adams, Ben and Jerry, Donna DeLory, James Twyman, Elizabeth Lesser, Michael Franti and Jean Houston. Her website is http://www.liveinjoy.org

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Naked to Yourself by Gangaji

In our long human history of storytelling, there have been great beings with awe-inspiring stories that reveal the victory of self-discovery. What inspires us about these great ones is that somehow their lives turned toward and then reflected the sublime discovery of everlasting truth. In Hidden Treasure: Uncovering the Truth in Your Life Story (Tarcher Penguin, 2011)  I invite you to let your story be a contribution to the universal revelation of self-discovery, expressed uniquely as you.

How Your Thoughts and Emotions Can Affect Your Body by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Ed remembers having an upset stomach when he was a child and his grandmother asking him if he was having a problem at school. What she knew instinctively we are at last beginning to prove scientifically: that there is an intimate and dynamic relationship between what is going on with our feelings and thoughts, and what happens in the body. A Time Magazine special showed that happiness, hopefulness, optimism and contentment, “Appear to reduce the risk or limit the severity of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension, colds and upper-respiratory infections;…

Technorati Tags: Amy Zerner, Annabella Wood, art, Barry Goldstein, Creative Communication Builders, creativity, Cynthia Greb, Dancing, David Wilcox, David Young, Deb Chamberlin, Denise Shardlow, Deva Premal, Deva Troy, drumming, Elaine Silver, Enchanted Makeovers, Etch-a-sketch, Jim Donovan, Jody Kessler, Karen Drucker, Kathy Davis, Kindergarten, Lew Doty, Miten and Manose, Moving Creations, Music, Music In The Moment, Oscar Wilde, Peter Moses, Phyllis Wright, Playdoh, SARK, The Moment Photography, Transformaitonal Resources

Do we need permission to love?  Ask the heart and the answer will be a definite NO, ask the mind and the answer may not be so clear.

I believe at the core of our being we love from only one place, our heart.  If you’ve been fortunate enough to experience a loving relationship as child to parent or parent to child then I need not say more, you understand unconditional love.  A love, that exists within our heart deep within our soul, with no terms and conditions to be played out by the mind. We expect nothing yet offer everything.

So why is it then when it comes to romantic love or the possibility of romantic love that this is so hard to apply?  Why do we allow the mind to become so involved when we should just let the heart lead? If we allow the heart to lead then we come from our feeling place of existence, our soul.  The heart feels what it feels, it doesn’t set conditions for how it feels, it doesn’t ask for anything to be reciprocated and with that is willing to risk being denied.

It’s when we lead with our mind that we can find ourselves in trouble.  Confused, surprised and even embarrassed when we find out the other person has feelings of love towards us when our mind is thinking I didn’t give this person any reason or better still permission to feel love towards me.  It seems to me that when we proceed with our mind we create the how, when, why and where of our feelings about love.  We set conditions, define the rules and in this same vane decide outcomes our heart would never agree to.  We decide that love is a choice.  Perhaps to somehow protect us in the event that love breaks our heart but here again I believe if we listened deep within, the heart would tells us that love will change us but it need not destroy us.

Not every love will or is meant to develop into a long lasting relationship.  Romantic relationships of love at best can be complicated but to whatever degree we create our relationships of love, be it short term, a lifetime or a mere deep friendship I believe that we should be open to letting our heart dominate and letting our over thinking mind take a backseat.  Allowing feelings of love to exist, as they should.  If we stop and simply let ourselves enjoy being in the moment we’d find ourselves in a place of expansion and understanding of the capacity the heart holds for love.  If we are willing to open ourselves up, shine our heart in truth, kindness and empathy to another then at minimum the only possible expression back would and should be love.  We need not be so cautious.

However large our love grows into is the beauty of the journey of our many or few romantic adventures we’ll experience in this lifetime.  At the core of who we are I believe that love is not a choice but a gift given to the soul to treasure.  In loving someone there is goodness and in goodness we find our most powerful magic.  And a soul filled with magic will sing forever.  Love is simply creation’s greatest gift not meant to be taken out on special occasions but to be experienced as often as the day is long from the moment we wake till we close our eyes and begin again.  If we are to live this life to our fullest expression shouldn’t we desire to experience love from the core of its existence, our heart.  From my heart to yours, I love you always, no permission required.

Susan is the Founder of “Concepts for Inspired Living” by Saass. Saass was created with the desire to provide an environment for healthy living in our body, mind and spirit. We are committed to being experts in the newest trends on nutrition, health, personal and interior style to ensure we continuously provide value to our Clients. We are a source of motivation and support for health and wellness. We lead, support and educate on how to have a positive holistic approach to lifestyle. To be healthier in our body, mind and spirit and how to feel good about ourselves inside and out and how to express our personal and interior style as the unique individuals we are. www.saass.ca 416-923-9840 sasunmaa@saass.ca

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As we think so we become by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Most of us tend to think of our bodies and minds as separate entities and treat them as such: we feed and water our body, take it for walks and give it exercise; we feed our mind with ideas and amuse ourselves with various kinds of entertainment. If anything goes wrong we go to someone to sort it out, such as a doctor to fix our body or a therapist to treat our mind, Read On…

LOVING A WABI SABI SLOPPY JOE by Arielle Ford

Technorati Tags: insight, inspiration, love, Permission to Love, Relationships, Susan Asunmaa, vivid life

G. Brian Benson (www.gbrianbenson.com) is a multiple award-winning author, award-winning filmmaker, actor, speaker, musician, entrepreneur, workshop facilitator, finisher of over 50 triathlons (including 4 Ironman distance races), cross-country bicyclist, inspirational poet and committed advocate of helping others be the best that they can be. Brian currently finished a movie project that he wrote, produced and acted in called Guitar Man that was filmed in downtown Reno, Nevada. The movie was written by Brian with the idea of sharing the messages ‘that we all have a lot in common’ and ‘that our true gifts reside within ourselves.’ It recently won an honorable mention prize in the 2011 Los Angeles Movie Awards. Brian is the author of five books, (Brian’s List and the eBooks The Art of Balance, Onward and Upward, Cave Man No More! and Discover Your True Self). His first book Brian’s List – 26 1/2 Easy To Use Ideas On How To Live A Fun, Balanced, Healthy Life! was the winner of a 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Self-Help category. It was also an Award-Winning Finalist in the Self-Help Motivational Category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News” Brian considers himself an everyman who has learned how to trust his intuition and listen to his heart which has led him to follow his goals and dreams and make them reality! A graduate of Oregon State University with a degree in Worksite Health Promotion, as well as CTA (Coach Training Alliance), Benson lives in Reno, Nevada. In his free time he enjoys hiking, creative endeavors, acting, improv, sports, movies, travel, writing, hanging out with his son and playing the delta blues on his guitar.

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Now is the Time by Panache Desai

Now, humanity is at a time like no other. Planetary changes, social changes, personal changes ~ we are being served with a great opportunity… This film is made and offered to bring about a more loving world.

Tony Samara’s Third Eye Meditation

The meditation is very easy to do. Just simply find a comfortable space, take a few deep breaths so that you are able to let go of any thoughts, any feelings of any situations that you may have in your mind, in your consciousness. Simply come back to a space that is more peaceful, a space that is more free. As you breathe in and breathe out and feel this space,…

Technorati Tags: Brian Benson, inspiration, law of attraction, Personal Growth, Power, self actualization, visualization

“To forgive does not necessarily mean to forget. Sometimes to forget is not wise, but to forgive is wise. And it is at times not easy. It can, in fact, be quite challenging. It will come as no surprise that one of the most difficult people to forgive can be yourself. Yet with patience and gentle determination, it can be done.”

We’re going to look at one of the perfection practices known as the paramis (see below). It’s the practice of nekkhamma, which we translate as “renunciation” or “relinquishing.” It means letting go: letting go of material things as well as views, concepts, ideas to which we may have been clinging for years, things that cause us stress, suffering, dukkha.

A simple action that can be helpful in terms of relinquishing is this: on a regular basis—perhaps once or twice a year— choose something to give away. Not some old relic you don’t care about any more, but something you do care about, that has value to you. There’s no need to go overboard by giving away something that will change your lifestyle or will make the kids resent you for the next twenty years. Give away something you like yet are willing to relinquish. During the entire process of selecting and relinquishing, be mindful of your feelings. This can be more challenging than it may at first appear, but it can help us prepare for the day when we must relinquish all that we hold dear.

Now, what about views and concepts? Relinquishing is the ground for practicing “beginner’s mind.” It helps us see things anew, as they really are; to be willing to listen to the thoughts and ideas of others with an open mind. So the relinquishing of thoughts and ideas about which we have been adamant can give us a sense of freedom, joy, and spaciousness. It can feel as if a weight has been taken from our shoulders. However, this also may be easier said than done. We might wonder, “Am I giving up something that I should believe in?” So relinquishing offers an opportunity to look more deeply at our beliefs.

Sometimes we have been holding onto anger or bitterness related to a particular person or event. Something to think about is: What would I have to give up in order to free myself from this bitterness? We might think, “Well, yes, but what he or she did was absolutely unforgiveable.” Consider the possibility, and I am only saying consider the possibility, that maybe nothing is unforgiveable. Maybe there is a way to find forgiveness even for what we have believed for so long to be unforgiveable. Explore this mindfully.

To forgive does not necessarily mean to forget. Sometimes to forget is not wise, but to forgive is wise. And it is at times not easy. It can, in fact, be quite challenging. It will come as no surprise that one of the most difficult people to forgive can be yourself. Yet with patience and gentle determination, it can be done.

Parami (Pali), Paramita (Sanskrit): literally, perfection, or crossing over (to the other shore).

The paramis are practices that can lead one to the perfection of certain virtuous or ennobling qualities. They are practiced as a way of purifying karma and leading the practitioner on a path to enlightenment. In the Theravada tradition, the ten paramis are dana (generosity), sila (morality), nekkhamma (relinquishing), panna (wisdom), viriya (effort), khanti (patience), sacca (truthfulness), adhitthana (determination), metta (lovingkindness), upekkha (equanimity). In the Mahayana there are six paramitas: generosity, morality, patience, effort, concentration, and wisdom.

It is interesting to note that the parami of generosity comes first, before the other practices, even morality. Some commentators suggest that the list begins with the easiest practice and becomes progressively more challenging. Another view is that until one sees the interconnected nature of phenomena and has a heart open to the needs of all beings, the other paramis can remain beyond reach. With practice, the virtuous qualities become stronger and support one another. Generosity supports relinquishing, which supports morality, which supports truthfulness, which supports wisdom, which supports equanimity, and so forth.

The paramis are seen as the heart of our true nature but greed, hatred, and delusion cause them to become somewhat blurred. Practicing the paramis is said to help us see in a different, more beneficial way. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, “These deeds, called the perfections, constitute the essential and comprehensive path to enlightenment, combining method and wisdom.” Thus the paramis are important practices for one who seeks to become an awakened being and to end the cycle of samsara, or cyclic existence. The key point to remember is that the paramis are offered not as philosophy but as practices. To be effective, practices need to be practiced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ALLAN LOKOS is the founder and guiding teacher of The Community Meditation Center in New York City. He is the author of Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living and Pocket Peace: Effective Practices for Enlightened Living. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Tricycle magazine, The Huffington Post, Beliefnet, Back Stage newspaper, and the anthology, Audacious Creativity. He has taught at Columbia University Teachers College, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Marymount College, The Rubin Museum, New York Insight Meditation Center, The New York Open Center, Tibet House USA, and Insight Meditation Community of Washington. http://www.cmcnewyork.org/

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Do you find it easy to forgive people who have hurt or abused you in some way? I didn’t until I started to understand that I was hurting myself more by maintaining a tight knot of resentment and anger towards the people who had wronged me. As I learned to love myself, and make loving myself more important than hating the other person, a profound shift happened within me. I felt more loving not only towards myself, but towards everyone and all situations in my life. This shift in perspective produced  a feeling state of relaxation, ease, and trust that all was right with my world,..
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Technorati Tags: Allan Lokos, Buddhism, forgiveness, inspiration, Meditation, Personal Growth, Relationships, vivid life

What could you offer?
The Practice:
Make the offering.
Why?

One of the strangest and most meaningful experiences of my life occurred when I going through Rolfing (ten brilliant sessions of deep-tissue bodywork) in my early 20′s. The fifth session works on the stomach area, and I was anticipating (= dreading) the release of buried sadness. Instead, there was a dam burst of love, which poured out of me during the session and afterward. I realized it was love, not sadness, that I had bottled up in childhood – and what I now needed to give and express.

We can hold back our contributions to the world, including love, just as much as we can muzzle or repress sorrow or anger. But contribution needs to flow; it stagnates and gets stinky if it doesn’t. Thwarted contribution is the source of much unhappiness. For example, the wound of loneliness and heartache is about not having others to give to as much as not having others to get from. And one of the major issues with adolescence in technological cultures is that there are few opportunities for teenagers to make a real difference, to matter and feel a sense of earned worth.

Now, “contribution” covers a lot of ground. It includes big things like raising a child, inventing the paperclip, or composing a symphony. But mainly it’s a matter of many little things. You give or receive hundreds of small offerings each day, such as doing the dishes, treating customers with respect, picking up a gum wrapper, encouraging a friend, having good intentions, or staying open to feedback. You contribute with thought, word, and deed, and both by what you do and by what you restrain yourself from doing.

In addition to the offerings you already make, you may sense other things inside that want to be offered. Can you open to these and let them flow? It does not matter how large or small they are. As Nkosi Johnson – a South African boy born with HIV who became a national voice for children with AIDS before dying at about age 12 – once said:

Do all you can, with what you have, in the time you have, in the place where you are.

How?

Appreciate some of the things you already contribute through thought, word, and deed. Let yourself feel good about this.

Moving through your day, try considering your contributions as offerings – particularly the little things that are easy to overlook, such as the laundry, courteous driving, or saying thanks. When you relate to everyday actions as offerings, you feel an intimacy with the world, more kindness, perhaps even something sacred.

Also try on a sense of being unattached to the results of your offerings. Sure, it’s OK to hope for the best. But if you get fixed on some outcome, it’s a set up for pressure and disappointment. I got a good lesson about this from my friend David, who was becoming a priest in an urban zen center and preparing for his first public talk. I asked David if it bothered him to work hard to present something precious to people who might not value it. He looked at me like he could not understand my question. Then he made a gesture with both hands as if he were setting something at my feet, saying: “My part is to give the talk as best I can. Whatever they pick up is up to them. I hope it’s helpful, but that’s out of my hands.”

It’s alright to make offerings from enlightened self-interest. When you give, you receive. Which helps you keep giving. To be benevolent to others, you must be benevolent to yourself.

Also listen to your heart for additional offerings calling to be expressed. Maybe it’s the offering of never speaking out of anger, or really starting that novel, or determining to give love each day. It could even be an offering to your future self – the being above all others you have the greatest power over, and thus the highest duty to – such as regular exercise or taking steps toward a better job.

Help yourself sustain this practice by feeling good about your contributions, regarding actions as offerings, staying focused on a key new offering, and holding self-criticism at bay. As Leonard Cohen sings:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in

* * *

Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and author of the bestselling Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (in 20 languages) – and Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time. Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom and Affiliate of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he’s taught at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and in meditation centers worldwide. His work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, Consumer Reports Health, and U.S. News and World Report and he has several audio programs. His blog – Just One Thing – has over 30,000 subscribers and suggests a simple practice each week that will bring you more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart. If you wish, you can subscribe to Just One Thing here.

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Technorati Tags: altruism, Buddha's Brain, consciousness, fellow humans, friendship romance, Happiness, love, mindfulness, Positive Psychology, Rick Hanson, thoughts and feelings, wisdom

Candy Danzis refers to herself as “The Mainstream Mystic” and that she is, as she bridges the worlds of the mainstream and metaphysical. For most of her career, she worked in the world of finance, making sense of dollars and cents. Now she works with senses of a different type….clairaudience (the sense of clear hearing), clairsentience (the sense of clear feeling), clairvoyance (the sense of clear seeing), and claircognizance  (the sense of clear knowing).  In front of a room, she radiates warmth and humor, ‘rock star’ microphone on her ear, perfectly coiffed blond hair across shoulders usually draped with a vivid color; today it was ‘hot mama’ raspberry pink. Her husband Brian Danzis is, as she refers to him “The brains” (the techno-dude who makes sure that the sound system works)  behind this one woman road show that on this day, brought them from their home near Hershey, PA to my interfaith community called Circle of Miracles, outside of Philadelphia. He is also known as “Mr. Candy” and as someone else joked today “The Candy Man”.

Besides being a savvy business woman and angel communicator, she is also a cancer survivor. Healthy for most of her life, this stealth condition took her by complete surprise and brought with it a chance for huge emotional and spiritual growth.  In 2008, as she was planning the annual Claim Your Power Conference, she received the diagnosis, which put the event on hold. At first, she viewed the treatment she was to receive as toxic. Then a friend suggested that she shift her perception so that she saw the chemotherapy as being divinely inspired.  In the many months that followed, not once did she feel ill from side effects. Today, she stood before us in in radiant good health.

Her message was clear and simple, and that is that each of us has a guardian angel assigned to us at birth whose job it is to guide us. They, along with a host of various Divine messengers are just waiting to be asked to help. In fact, she stated that by our acceptance of their assistance, we are doing them a favor. As she shared those words, which I have heard many times before, tears sprung up and I really got it.  I had this image of a row of cosmic cheerleaders with pom poms waving, kicking up their heels as they rooted for my transcendent touchdown.

She spoke of the grand opportunities she sees in 2012 which flies in the face of the mainstream media view of the cataclysmic end of the world

Candy sees it as a chance to experience positive shifts with dynamic outcomes. She invited us to engage in five specific practices that would enhance our lives.

1. Practice Joy, making it our ‘new normal’. What if you could truly live in joy, immersing yourself in its bubbling over essence? Joy attracts more joy, pleasure, more pleasure. It is contagious and draws into our experience, other people who live in that juicy way as well. I’m all for that!
2. Accept what is. The past is over and unless we can invent a time machine to return to it, it serves no valuable purpose except as a teacher of what to continue doing that worked and what never worked in the first place and we ought not to do THAT again.  Once you take stock of where you are, consider whether you want to stay put, or move ahead.
3. Raise your vibration. Her statement that “the planet is moving to a higher vibration”, calls for us to join in and amp ours up as well. She talks about “feeding our spirit” with loving thoughts, positive people, meditation, energy work, affirmations, exercise, being in nature and restorative sleep. Like attracts like, once again.
4. Trust you Gift of Creation. Candy invited us to move beyond the gloom and doom mass consciousness mentality and into conscious creativity of what it is that we do want, rather than what we may fear.
5. Take Guided Action. She sees this as a beyond expectation time to manifest from our heart’s desires.  Calling on the angels, our spiritual tools and this transformative statement:  “Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”, coined by Emile Coue’  When used through the day, she shared, that it made a huge difference in the way she felt.

I felt a hardy YES! resonating through me as she reinforced “Everybody and everything is conspiring for my Highest Good.  How about them apples?

www.candydanzis.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvz8AMvZKGo    There’s A New World Coming by Mama Cass Elliot

Rev. Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a Renaissance Woman and Bliss Mistress who delights in inviting people to live rich, full, juicy lives. Edie is an internationally recognized, sought after, colorfully creative journalist, interviewer and author, a dynamic and inspiring speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, offering uniquely designed spiritual rituals. In addition, she is a PR Goddess, promoting events and transformational teachers, healers, writers and artists. She speaks on the subjects of wellness, spirituality, sexuality, creativity, time management, recovery, body image, mindfulness, self esteem, stress management, re-creating yourself, caring for the caregiver, loss and grief. She is a frequent guest on radio and TV. Edie is currently writing her first best selling book entitled The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming the Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and is offering a workshop for women who want to re-create their lives, based on those concepts. A 20 year old journalistic vision came to pass in July of 2008 when she interviewed His Holiness The Dalai Lama. It was a potent reminder to never, ever, ever give up on our dreams. Over the years, Edie has written for mainstream and transformational publications. She has interviewed hundred of notables in the transformational fields, including Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Debbie Ford, Leonard Peltier, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Beckwith, Jonathan Goldman, Gregg Braden, Neale Donald Walsch, Mary Manin Morrissey, Dan Millman, Alan Cohen, Ram Dass, Jack Canfield, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Patch Adams, Ben and Jerry, Donna DeLory, James Twyman, Elizabeth Lesser, Michael Franti and Jean Houston. Her website is http://www.liveinjoy.org 

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Shortly after we were married we went to India and spent our honeymoon in monasteries and ashrams. We also had a private meeting with the Dalai Lama at his residence in McLeod Ganj, in the foothills of the Himalayas. As Ed recalls: After some thirty minutes of talking with him I was feeling so moved by this gentle and loving man that I didn’t want to leave! I was completely in love with this delightful being. He was so ordinary, sitting between us and holding our hands. Finally, I said to him, ‘I don’t want to leave! I just want to stay here with you!’ I knew he would understand my sincerity and would say yes,…

Technorati Tags: Angels, Brian Danzis, Candy Danzis, Circle of Miracles, Claim Your Power Conference, Clairaudience, Claircognizance, Clairsentience, clairvoyance, Hershey, Mainstream Mystic, Mama Cass Elliot, PA, philadelphia, There's A New World Coming

There are some people that are experiencing greater challenges than ever before in their lives. Others are experiencing spiritual awakenings that are awe inspiring. The news tells us that our culture is in a crisis mode and spiritual teachers tell us that this is a transformative moment in time. The question becomes; through what personal lens are you viewing life and the world around you? How are you framing the hard moments of feeling disconnected and afraid?

Most of us are clear that the setting of powerful intentions puts something in motion in the universe that can support a dynamic unfolding in our lives. I would like to suggest that we look beyond intention and see where we are placing our attention. Where we place our attention grows. What decisions are we making based on perceptions of lack and limitation? What behaviors are being activated out of fear and doubt? Are we seeing the potential for growth and personal expansion? Are we excited to open to the grand opportunities that are available in every moment? In other words, are we looking at the world through a glass that is half full or half empty? If it is half empty, we feel victimized by our circumstances. We feel helpless and overwhelmed. If we see life as a half full glass, we become enamored with the possibilities that are available in every moment. We begin to stand in a place of expectancy of good that will fill our cup to overflowing.

Here are some questions that may support placing your attention on powerful possibility potential:

1. Does my heart feel closed or open?
2. Am I afraid in this moment? Is the fear real or imagined?
3. Am I focusing on the past?
4. Am I worried about the future?
5. How is this fear serving to keep me feeling small and inadequate?
6. What is available for me to shift my thinking right now? (prayer, meditation, journaling, etc)
7. What ignites me and brings me joy?
8. If there were no obstacles, what would I be doing? Now do it, even if it is in a small way….there are no obstacles.

I encourage you to journal around these questions and then make a list of action steps that you will do to focus your attention on what you want. You do not want to place any energy on what you don’t want.
Take a moment to remember this:

I declare in this moment, that I am a space of pure potential. Bad news has no power over me. I enthusiastically choose my thoughts. I consciously choose my behavior. I joyously choose love over fear, harmony over discord and peace over pain. I am the captain of my ship and I sail the uncharted waters of expanded living.

Cynthia James is a transformational specialist guiding thousands of people to make changes for lasting healing in their lives. Ms James is a speaker, teacher, performing artist and the award winning author of “What Will Set You Free”. Cynthia has facilitated hundreds of workshops, and keynotes; including Celebrate Your Life, Woman Arising, the Gift in Shift, Colorado Behavior Healthcare Council, the Women’s Success Forum, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Detention Facility, and many others. She is the founder of the Cynthia James Support Network; an online support community. Cynthia’s newest book, “Revealing Your Extraordinary Essence”, offers practical tools for self empowerment. www.CynthiaJames.net 

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Technorati Tags: attention, challenge, Cynthia James, experiences, Focus, inspiration, spiritual teachers, Spirituality, thoughts, vivid life

This week I felt the impulse to share a very simple practise I use to lower fear and be with any anxiety that arises. First, a little background.

One of the things I appreciate about the writing of Jungian analyst James Hollis is how direct he is about the challenges of being human. In Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life (as well as in his other books) Hollis tells us that in order to find and fulfill our purpose in life, in order to really grow up, we have to expand our capacity to tolerate anxiety, ambivalence and ambiguity. Why? Because, given the unpredictable and every changing nature of life there is going to be anxiety, ambivalence and ambiguity. When we were children and relatively powerless we understandably developed strategies to lower or distance ourselves from the discomfort of anxiety: some of us tried to earn safety by attempting to do things perfectly (me!) while others sought to escape through fantasy or whatever numbing substance/activity was available, (food, television, computer games) while still others became combative and rebellious. The problem is the anxiety management strategies we developed as children don’t work well for us as adults if we really want to be present, live our lives fully and co-create meaning in the world.

On the surface, this can be a hard sell: read this book or do this work and you’ll be able to tolerate more anxiety? May not be the catchiest marketing method. But the truth is we cannot experience and be fully present with joy if we are armoured against or busy trying to outrun the anxiety that’s part of normal human experience.

And there are moments, even when we are fully committed to being present with whatever is, that can simply feel like more than we can hold, moments (or days, or weeks) when our anxiety goes through the roof. Our palms sweat, our hearts pound, we can’t articulate a complete thought and/or we are racing around doing a thousand things to avoid feeling the anxiety. In those moments, it’s helpful to have a way to ground and strengthen our capacity to be with what is. I want to share one such practise here.

This method for being with anxiety without letting it paralyze or send us running from the room is deceptively simple. It comes out of my experience participating in and leading sweat lodge ceremonies. Now, if there’s anything that can and sometimes does raise anxiety it’s going into a small, dark structure filled with hot steam and other people you may or may not know, to do a ceremony designed in part to help you send out prayers from the heart centre of your being. And in ceremony there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no distraction, no way to use old strategies. So, one of the things I have often done myself and have instructed others to do when anxiety arises is- breathe through the soles of your feet.

I know, it sounds crazy, but try it. Wherever you are reading this, put your feet flat on the floor and imagine the earth below you. It may be several stories below you, but wherever you are, it is there- same earth as the one that’s there when you’re sitting on a beach or hiking in the wilderness.

Then, imagine that you are breathing through the soles of your feet, inhaling up from the earth through the bottom of your feet into your body, and exhaling back down through your body and out the soles of your feet into the earth. The beauty of this method is that although it grounds and calms, it does not take us away from what is happening within or around us. It just helps us lower our fear enough to be with what is. And you can do it anywhere: in the middle of a business meeting or at the dinner table with relatives. The more you practise it the more you can develop what is called split attention where a small part of your awareness is imagining your breath flowing in and out of your body through soles of your feet, while you are clearly and calmly answering a question in a job interview or explaining to a relative why you don’t have a “real job.”

So take this along with you today. Give sole/soul-breathing a try, because the soul really can hold it all.

From The Green Bough blog (c) Oriah Mountain Dreamer 2010

Oriah is the author of the international best-selling books: The Invitation, and The Dance, and The Call (published by HarperONE, translated into eighteen languages.) Her much loved poem “The Invitation” has been shared around the world. Trained in a shamanic tradition, her medicine name Mountain Dreamer means one who likes to find and push the edge. Using story, poetry and shamanic ceremony Oriah’s deeply personal writing and her work as a group facilitator and mentor explore how to follow the thread of our heart’s longing into a life where we can choose joy without denying the challenges of a human life. www.oriah.org www.oriahsinvitation.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/Oriah.Mountain.Dreamer?sk=wall  

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Technorati Tags: anxiety, breathing, fear, grounding, inspiration, Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Reflection. Self Help, Soul Breathing, Spirituality, stress