My latest work is called ‘The Guru and the Jerk’ and is the first of a new, emotionally honest trilogy

I recently completed the final edit for The Guru and the Jerk.   I had previously released this book only to find that I had neglected quite a few grammatical errors.  My hope had been to release this book as raw as I possibly could, but this approach backfired on me as it needed editing.  So, now it’s done!  The book will be available as a kindle ebook at first, and then later as a paperback.

In this work I bring a ‘no holds barred’ approach to spirituality and self help which I feel has been missing for way too long.  There is just too much misinformation and conflicting opinions and beliefs out there to let this go on any longer.  People are becoming scared of what they think and feel for fear that they are going to create a catastrophe for themselves.  A lot of people are trying to make spiritual bypasses and delve into the spiritual realms hoping that they can create heaven on Earth.  While that’s not a completely bad idea in itself, it does not lend to creating the life of your dreams if you are repressing your emotional states of being during the process.

Thus, The Guru and the Jerk is all about emotional honesty and a hard, behind the scenes look at the making of a spiritual teacher and self help author.

I hope you enjoy the honesty, the frankness, and the realism that I provide while describing my personal journey behind the scenes.

Chapter 8 Spiritual Sexuality

So, what is the difference between me and another guy sitting at Starbucks who is checking out the ladies? Why would I attempt to elevate myself beyond the status of just some dude ogling women at the Starbucks, you might ask?

Well, a couple of things separate me from this idiot.

First, I am emotionally honest about it. In other words, I will openly admit it to anyone who asks me. This, in itself, exemplifies an alternate state of consciousness. In other words, I am not trying to cover it up by either repressing it within myself or lying to someone else about it.

For example, there was a guy sharing my table the other day at the Starbucks in Walnut Creek. A beautiful Italian woman came in who had an extremely athletic build which I found fascinating. I admired the way she had crafted her body through exercise. Every woman is beautiful to me and wears her beauty in her own way. This woman had refined her body in an athletic kind of way. This guy sharing my table was pretending to be busy, doing some sort of work, but he was watching her too. So I said: “She has a nice athletic body, eh?” And, can you guess what his reply was? A slightly embarrassed grunt “umgh” as if he wasn’t really looking at her and who am I to even bring it up!? In other words, total unconsciousness. A person who is this unconscious might be the very person who cheats on his wife. He pretends that he isn’t staring at every single woman around him, but he is busy doing exactly that.

You do not have to worry about the people who put it out there. Emotionally honest people, even if they are rude, are in the light. Let me say that again: Emotionally honest people are in the light. Whereas, emotionally dishonest people (deeply unconscious people), are in the dark. Do you understand the powerful difference here?

One guy might say that he is checking out the chicks at Starbucks. Another guy might say that he would never do anything like that, but he is busy cheating on his wife with a woman he met at Starbucks.

This also applies to women. I’ve dated women who adamantly deny that they crave external validation only to find that they are secretly making eye contact with every single dude that walks by. When confronted with this they are in total denial.

Why?

Because anything that deeply unconscious cannot be admitted as a conscious act.

You might as well ask a gerbil why they are looking at somebody, as ask an unconscious girlfriend or boyfriend that question. The only difference is that the gerbil won’t become angry with you. We could also look at why it bothers you that your partner is looking at somebody or why you notice it or why you feel the need to confront that. This is sort of beside the point I am trying to make right now though.

Here is another way of speaking about emotional honesty: If you run into someone in New York City who doesn’t like you, guess what? They will tell say it to your face – and not in a nice way.

By contrast, if you run into someone in Los Angeles who doesn’t like you, guess what? They will smile at your face and shake your hand. But, you will leave that interaction with an ungood feeling.

Why?

Because anyone, even unconscious people, sense that something is just not right. That person who doesn’t like you gave you a cold prickly instead of a warm fuzzy.

Think of it this way: Would you rather have a cold prickly on the outside of you, where you can see it, and not take it too personally? Or, would you rather have a cold prickly somewhere inside of you, and not understand where this yucky feeling is coming from?

Are you starting to get the picture now?

Of course, you can take this to the extreme too, especially a lot of men whom I have observed. “Hey man, I love women, what can I say?” That phrase has been uttered by more than one man who rationalizes that he is emotionally honest as a way to basically try to sleep with as many women as he can. Now we have a dude who is basically unconscious and additionally manipulative. Big fun for women.

I consider myself to be a sexual being. But, what does that mean? By saying that, am I creating an excuse so that I can live my life in a certain way? I think it is new and important for us to address our assumptions about ourselves. More people are beginning to recognize core aspects of themselves, whether they use numerology, integral theory, or transpersonal psychology. Along with them, I am trying to become more aware of various aspects of myself; I am trying to categorize the various aspects of my ‘self’, as it were.

This powerful tool might help me understand myself, but could it become a handicap?

Consider this categorization: “I am a Type A personality.”

This is an example of a gross overgeneralization that permeates our modern day culture. So, you’re telling me that there are two types of personalities: Type A and Type B? That’s it? “Oh yeah, I’m a Type A for sure man.”

This is obviously ridiculous and cannot even remotely encompass the human experience. However, now we have spiritual people doing it with all manner of different types of personality charts. Ok, so in the beginning I would be inclined to agree that this can offer valuable insight into one’s own psyche in that you can potentially become aware of who you are and why you do what you do.

Got it.

But, what if I denote that I am a ‘sexual being’, so to speak? Do I then get to rationalize my behavior by going around sleeping with as many women as I can? Because let me tell you, I can. I could say, “Well, I am a very sexual being and being sexually intimate with women is something that my Soul yearns for. I feel energized and excited by being with different women. I truly love women and love being with them.”

Will you buy that for a dollar?

You can apply the ‘I am an xyz type of personality/soul’ to any scenario to rationalize and perpetuate any behavior. So, it can get messy. So it becomes important to understand the real meaning of ‘Integration.’

Christopher Pinckley is the author of Reality Creation 101, a ground breaking spiritual self-help book about healing your unconscious and learning how to become the conscious creator of your own experience. He is also a spiritual teacher, blogger, and life coach. Look for his break through coaching program at the start of 2011. http://www.realitycreation101.com/

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In the Pursuit of Consciousness: Relating to relationships

Here is an interesting question: Who are you within the parameters of an intimate relationship?  Do you understand this question?  I’m not always as clear as I would like to be, so I want to make sure that everyone is on the same page here.  The question speaks not necessarily to whom you are now, but who you will become when you engage in an emotionally dynamic relationship with an intimate, relational partner.  In other words, if you are like most people, then you will begin to transform and morph your behavior once you enter into ‘the relationship’.,…

It’s Not About the Actions But About the Energy Behind those Actions by Hemal Radia

It’s not about the actions that you take but the energy (vibration) behind those actions. It’s not about what you do, but your thoughts and congruency and alignment about what you do. You can take less actions and get great results, or you can take all the actions in the world and it not quite be how you want it. The factor is the thoughts about (and behind) your actions.,…

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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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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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What’s your first thought when you wake up in the morning? You’ve probably heard it said that you can choose to start your day with ‘Good God, morning!’ or ‘Good morning, God.’ It’s certainly true that the way you begin can set the tone for the whole day and once the tone is established it can be very difficult to change.

I invite you to try a wonderful and simple technique to help you start your day in a positive  and mindful way. When you wake up recite to yourself, either from memory or from a note by your bed, the following little verse, or gatha, from Thich Nhat Hanh.

Waking this morning, I smile.
Twenty-four brand new hours are before me.
I vow to live fully in each moment,
And to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.

Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that, as a young monk, he wrote this down and stuck it to his mosquito net so that it was the first thing he saw when he woke in the morning. It’s a wonderful way to begin the day with a moment of slowing down and setting a good intention.

I have found gathas incredibly useful for focussing my mind when I’m moving through my day and particularly during the more mundane activities of life. After all it’s at these times that we often allow our minds to wander down roads of worry and fear. In trying to live with mindfulness we attempt to prevent this from happening and gathas can be very helpful.

For example, when walking from one meeting to another replace the worries, false frettings and concerns that normally arise with a favourite gatha.

The mind can go in a thousand directions,
But on this beautiful path, I walk in peace.
With each step, a cool wind blows.
With each step, a flower blooms.

To focus on a gatha and prevent the monkey mind taking us down the rabbit hole of a thousand imagined and unlikely disasters is to remove a great deal of the worry and stress from the day. Try this simple technique and see what a difference it makes to you.

You can find a gatha for most daily activities in the wonderful ‘Present Moment, Wonderful Moment’ card and book set by Thich Nhat Hanh but you can also have fun making up your own. Good luck watering the seed of mindfulness in your life.

Many blessings and best wishes.

Namaste,

jacquelyn

Jacquelyn is a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher and Reiki Level Two practitioner. Yoga has helped her to overcome paralyzing fears and chronic pain and find her true purpose in life. Her focus is on encouraging those around her to have patience, kindness and compassion for themselves and the courage to stand, fearless, in their own light. Jacquelyn has studied meditation and mindfulness in the Shambhala tradition and with Thich Nhat Hanh. She teaches Gentle Yoga, Chakra Flow Yoga, EMpower Yoga, Beginners Yoga, Power Yoga, Learn to Meditate and a variety of workshops. www.balancedlifeyoga.ca

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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

There is a common fallacy that is undermining your journey into wholeness and authenticity. I’m a bit of a gunslinger in this territory, but it is important that you are empowered in this fundamental truth; when you are finally able to grab that brass ring of spiritual accomplishment, you are still going to experience sadness, depression, fear and anger.

I’m going to step out on a bit of a ledge here and conjecture that even the Dalai Lama and Eckhart Tolle get irritated now and again. Recently we watched Oprah up-close and personal in her series “Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes.” Oprah is an amazingly light on this planet and week after week we witnessed the full range of emotions she still experiences. While I don’t call myself a spiritual master, tens of thousands who have experienced vibrational transformation through me define me as such. And I still feel anger, sadness, and fear.

There is nothing wrong with anger, sadness and depression and your experience of them does indicate that you are broken or need fixing.

We are energetic beings. Highly subject to and influenced by the frequencies that are bathing the planet as well as the corresponding energies that are being lovingly stirred up within. The vibration of our planet is in an accelerated state of evolution. You have witnessed the tangible results of these shifting energies in wildly changing weather patterns, a sharp increase in catastrophic weather-related disasters, global instability, financial crises, and the collapse of global systems and structures. If this is how an entire planet responds, imagine the tug and pull on your sensitive being?

Vibrational change, which in reality is vibrational increase, pushes your unresolved vibrational density (the emotional and psychological blocks lodged within your being) into the light of day. Your sadness, depression, anger and fear are energies that are simply looking for release. Each emotion is an energy within your body wanting to be in motion and rise to the surface to be EMBRACED by you. But the number of years that you’ve shamed, ignored or stuffed them is the degree to which they’ve created blockages within your system, growing out-of-proportion to life’s unfolding circumstances, and eventually causing illness and disease.

As we navigate this time of accelerated evolution the truth of your energetic state (your sadness, worries, fears, anger and depression…) is being revealed to you so that you may consciously experience it, embrace it and evolve. Just as a mother lovingly burps a child to release the pent-up bubbles and gas in her baby’s system, the Divine is lovingly embracing you so that all that is stuck or churning within your energetic field may flow through you to be released. This is the true work of inner alchemy and ascension.

If what you desire is a greater level of authenticity within yourself and those you love, you have no choice but to embrace this process and feel what is inside of you. But you do have a choice as to how you experience it, and what you do with it.

One choice is to further suppress or repress your emotions or blame others as the source or reason for your state of being. Doing so increases your vibrational density and keeps you firmly stuck in victimhood with your stories, reasons and justifications while holding you hostage with the “could haves” or “should haves” of life.

Alternatively you may choose to be empowered through vibrational transformation, knowledge, and practice, and find peace with these emotional states by lovingly embracing them as a part of yourself.

Here are some steps to help you begin navigating your fear, anger and depression:

Breathe with Conscious Awareness: In the face of overwhelming emotion you cut the oxygen source to your body by unknowingly holding your breath or breathing very shallowly, keeping you in a heightened state of contraction. Completely relax your body and continue to breathe deeply.

Place Yourself In Present Moment Awareness: When emotion strikes, the stories and beliefs that keep old feelings in place roar to life. You are trapped in an old reality that most likely has nothing to do with what’s unfolding. Get out of your head and anchor yourself in the present moment. Focus on your feet and feel the connection with the ground. Wiggle your hands and feet to establish you in the present. Even the briefest break from the saga unfolding in your brain can disengage you from the past and allow your beingness to support you in the now.

Consciously Name and Acknowledge the Emotion: The instant you name the feeling and become aware that you are experiencing something, you are provided the spaciousness to remain open to the flow of the experience. “Wow, I’m experiencing my anger right now,” is a doorway to awareness as you flow with the energy of the emotion.

There is an End: Sometimes in the midst of emotion, you feel like it is bigger than you. Every experience is finite, it has a beginning and an end while your true nature is infinite. Don’t be afraid. Fully experience the feeling and know it will end.

Every emotion originates from source.  Oneness is inclusive of every feeling, emotion and experience – yes even anger, rage, sadness and depression.  Trust in this knowing.

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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Are you hard on yourself? The Practice: Don’t beat up yourself. Why? The previous JOT – admit fault and move on – was about our relationship with other people. This JOT applies the same practice to ourselves. Most people know their less than wonderful qualities, such as too much ambition (or too little), a weakness for wine or cookies, something of a temper, or an annoying tendency to rattle on about pet interests. We usually know when we make mistakes, get the facts wrong, could be more skillful, or deserve to feel remorseful.

Technorati Tags: anger, conscious awareness, depression, energy, internal harmony, mindfulness, panache desai, Panache Desai blog, Personal Growth, present moment awareness, sadness, spiritual teacher, Spirituality, stress, vibration, why am I angry, why am I depressed

It is that time of year when many people will decide to make a New Year’s resolution; as if the changing of one calendar page will magically bring them the power to achieve a goal or create something new.  The truth is, we have that power always, no matter the date or year on the calendar or time on the clock.  This year, I am resolving to be.

This is not a goal I intend to achieve, or something new to learn, or a fear to overcome, or a desire to manifest or an item from my bucket list (not that I even have one); this is my natural state, the natural state of all living things.  I resolve to be and from that find peace and joy in the present moment.  I will not be checking anything off my yearly list, for I no longer have one.  I will not celebrate when I accomplish my resolution, for it is always with me.  I will not be upset if it does not come to fruition, for there is nothing for me to create.  I resolve to be in doing so I will attain everything I ever need.

Aside from resolutions, I often hear people declare, as a new year dawns, that they are thankful the past year ended because it was not a good one.  Again, the turning of a calendar page will not magically change your life and end a bad cycle.  Only your willingness to change can do that and it can happen on any given date not just January 1st.  If your attitude about a certain date or year is negative, than you will only attract more of what you wish to avoid.  Focus instead on the positive things that happen for nothing is ever all good or all bad; it is only our perception that makes it seem so.  Where you attention goes, your life flows so if unpleasant things are happening, change direction immediately and do not wait for a certain date.

The Law of Attraction is present 24/7 and 365 days a year, not just on January 1^st.  While a resolution is a positive idea, why wait for year’s end.  Make them all the time or don’t make any at all and choose instead to make your intentions for your life a constant process instead of a yearly one.  That is why I resolve to be; no pressure, no judgment just the sweetness of the present moment to enjoy for this year and all the rest to come.  This is my lifetime resolution.

Gina Sendef is a independent Spiritual Self-Help Author and Angel Intuitive. Writing is her life long passion. Her soon to be self-published first book, “Truth Works, Divine Life Lessons for Kids of all Ages”, is a self-help book geared towards reading age children, teens and young adults. The premise for Truth Works is to undo harmful affects that exisit when our children are taught traditional life lessons like “life is not fair” or “money is the root of all evil”. The goal of the book is to undo this programming at a young age, ensuring the subconscious belief system for our children is optimistic, safe and secure. When we address these destructive beliefs in childhood and expose their false nature, they cannot reside in our subconscious minds for a lifetime as the basis for our beliefs. We are left with the pure, positive and absolute spiritual TRUTH. She created Angel Works as a means to work with the positive and loving energy of the angels to provide people with guidance that will improve their health, uncover their life’s purpose, enrich their relationships and enhance their lives.

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Technorati Tags: angel works, gina sendef, law of attraction, new year, resolution, truth works

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, how wonderful, I can see you are ready for the teachings. But, instead, he just smiled and said, ‘If we were together all the time we would quarrel!’

So relax, if the Dalai Lama can quarrel, so can we! Inevitably there are going to be times when relationship is not easy, when differences collide, when egos clash, when my needs seem more important than yours, or when your needs are not being met. For relationship creates untold problems. Sitting in solitary bliss with our hearts wide open and love pouring out of us towards all beings is relatively easy, but as soon as we come in direct contact with another person everything changes. Our ability to stay open and loving, our selflessness and generosity, all this and more is immediately confronted by someone else’s own wants and needs, by their capacity to accept and love or not.

Relationship is not just an integral part of being alive, it is also the most vital and challenging teacher we can ever have. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche said, If you can make friends with one person, you can make friends with the world.

Difficulties in relationship show us the many ways our ego-selves try to be right, which can be a cause for either conflict or laughter. Once we were sharing some of our marriage issues with our meditation teacher, and he looked at us quite puzzled. ‘Why not just laugh?’ he suggested. And he was right. Laughter really is the best medicine. When we see the absurdity of two ego’s knocking heads and trying to outwit each other it is very amusing. So often a disagreement is about seeing the same thing in two different ways: one sees a white ceiling, the other sees a flat ceiling, but it’s the same ceiling!

Sometimes, it can be healthy to have a good quarrel, if we can then just let it go and come back to loving. There are bound to be times of flow and times of discord but we don’t need to hold on to either. Difficulties arise because we cling to our own opinion as being the right one and it’s this holding on, with the ensuing shame, blame and hostile silences, that causes so many problems.

In fact, those people we have a difficult time with are really our teachers. For without an adversary—or those who trigger strong reactions such as annoyance and anger—we would not have the stimulus to develop loving kindness and compassion. So we can actually thank our exasperating relationships for the chance to practice patience. What a gift!

We are not alone here, each one of us—both directly and indirectly—affect each other; everyone and everything is dependent on everything else. As Mother Theresa reminds us: If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other.

*****

See our award-winning book:BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World, forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, with contributors Edgar Mitchell, Jack Kabat-Zinn, Byrone Katie, Jane Fonda, Marianne Williamson, and many others.

If there is one book you read about meditation Be The Change should be the one. Hear about some of the cool people who are doing it and why you should do it too. – Sharon Gannon, founder Jivamukti Yoga.

Deb is the author of the award-winning YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, Decoding the Emotional, Psychological, and Spiritual Messages That Underlie Illness.

Our 3 meditation CD’s: Metta—Loving kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi–Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra–Inner Conscious Relaxation, are available at: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of BE THE CHANGE, How Meditation Can Transform You And The World, with forewords by the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman and Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Gold Book Award. Deb is the author of the bestselling book, YOUR BODY SPEAKS YOUR MIND, winner of the 2007 Visionary Book Award. They are featured bloggers on Oprah.com/spirit, HuffingtonPost.com/Living, and Care2.com. They have 3 meditation CD’s: Metta — Loving Kindness and Forgiveness; Samadhi – Breath Awareness and Insight; and Yoga Nidra – Inner Conscious Relaxation. See: www.EdandDebShapiro.com

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Technorati Tags: appreciation, gratitude, Happiness, inspiration, love, Meditation, personal development, self-discovery, Spirituality

Are you hard on yourself?
The Practice:
Don’t beat up yourself.
Why?

The previous JOT – admit fault and move on – was about our relationship with other people. This JOT applies the same practice to ourselves.

Most people know their less than wonderful qualities, such as too much ambition (or too little), a weakness for wine or cookies, something of a temper, or an annoying tendency to rattle on about pet interests. We usually know when we make mistakes, get the facts wrong, could be more skillful, or deserve to feel remorseful.

Some people err on the side of denying or defending these faults ( a word I use broadly here). But most people go to the other extreme, repeatedly criticizing themselves in the foreground of awareness, or having a background sense of guilt, unworthiness, and low confidence.

It’s one thing to call yourself to task for a fault, try to understand what caused it, resolve to correct it, act accordingly, and move on. This is psychologically healthy and morally accountable. It’s another matter entirely to grind on yourself, to lambaste your own character, to fasten on the negative and ignore the good in you, to find yourself wanting – in other words, to beat up yourself. This excessive inner criticism tears you down instead of building your strengths; it’s stressful and thus wears on your mood, health, and longevity.

Nor does beating up yourself help others. Most of the time, they don’t even know you’re doing it, and if they do, they usually wish you’d stop it. Harsh self-criticism can also be a way to avoid feeling genuine remorse, taking responsibility, making amends for the past, and doing the hard work of preventing the fault in the future.

Further, the charges and scorn we throw at ourselves are often based on nasty scoldings, shamings, rejections, and humiliations experienced as a child: bad enough that they did this to you back then, and even worse that you’re doing it to yourself today.

How?

Pick a small fault – such as being a few minutes late, interrupting, or having too much dessert – and then try on two approaches about it. First, talk to yourself about it like a supportive but no-nonsense friend, coach, teacher, or therapist. Notice what this feels like, and what the results are for you. Let’s call this the encouraging approach. Second, talk to yourself about it like an alarmed and intense critic – maybe like your dad, big sister, or a minister or teacher talked to you. What’s this approach feel like, and what are its results?

Let the differences between approaches sink in. How do you feel inside when you’re “listening” to each one? What’s your sense of the influences in your life that have created each approach? What are the distortions or fixations on the negative in the critical approach?

Let a real conviction form as to which approach is better for you – and a real resolve to truly use the one that’s best for you.

Then, when you find a fault in yourself – no need to go looking, they appear on their own! – really try to use the encouraging approach. Name the fault to yourself and admit the facts of it unreservedly. Open to any appropriate remorse. Commit to skillful corrections for the future.

And then take a big breath and very deliberately name to yourself three strengths or virtues you have. Let the sense of them, and of your natural goodness, sink in.

And then take another big breath and move on.

* * *

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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What gets you stuck? The Practice: Admit fault and move on. Why? Have you ever watched two people quarrel, or otherwise be stuck in a conflict with each other? Usually, if either or both of them simply acknowledged one or more things, that would end the fight. Read On…

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Technorati Tags: Buddha's Brain, consciousness, contemplative practice, mindfulness, Rick Hanson, thoughts and feelings, wisdom