Tuesday, May 22, 2012

READ: Why Resolutions Fail and How You Don’t Have To by Shasta Townsend

Happy 2012! There is something wonderful about the turning of the calendar into a new year. It is that feeling that anything is possible. It is that feeling of getting a second chance. It is the feeling that this year finally I will get it right.

So many people make New Year’s resolutions just hoping that maybe this year they will make the changes they want for themselves and their lives. And so many people will fail.

I love New Year’s but I know resolutions don’t work.

Resolutions are based on the idea that there is something wrong with you and your life – that there is something you need to change and if you can change then and only then will you be happy. Resolutions require a lot of hard work and this hard work is often based on the idea of unworthiness, self-loathing and lack. If only you could lose that last ten pounds or stop smoking or eat better then you would be worthy and happy. Resolutions don’t work for you because ultimately they make you feel bad, they are overwhelming AND they are not based in an uplifting energy. No one wants to feel bad or overwhelmed so you get gung-ho for a while (like a week) and you don’t smoke but then it feels hard so you have just one cigarette and then you feel bad and overwhelmed which only makes you want to smoke more so you do and then before you know it you are smoking a pack a day and it is only January 15. Whoo.

Rather than resolve how about you use the new year to REMEMBER…

Remember your truth…You are an infinite, powerful, amazing creator who is supported by an infinitely loving Divine Source. In other words there is nothing wrong with you. This doesn’t change because you smoke.

Remember your value…You are a wonderful person whose smoking, over-eating or whatever action you don’t like does NOT determine your value. Live a great life based on your value. Quit smoking because you want to feel good not because someone says smoking is bad.

Remember your joy…Life is not about being perfect. It is about having purpose, joy, love and ease. So maybe it is time to find deeper purpose and joy so that you don’t even want to smoke.

Once you REMEMBER then ask what is my intention?

For me when I REMEMBER my truth and I begin to let go of the voices, ideas and thoughts that keep me small and contained. The same voices that tell me something is wrong with me and I need to change. We all need evolution and expansion but what if we sought it from a place of possibility rather than self-loathing?

When I remember my truth I say, YES, anything is possible. Then from this standpoint of possibility I ask myself what do I INTEND to create this year? What do I want to step into? What fun do I want to have? What do I want to gift myself and the world with this year?

THEN…I have a clear intention.

THEN…Actions follow naturally and not because I am forcing it.

Feel the difference in these statements:

I need to lose 10 pounds so I will force myself to go to Yoga everyday and put over 5 kilometres on the treadmill each day.

OR

I intend to feel alive, whole and at peace in my body so I will commit to healthy practices that help me do this such as daily Yoga practice, eating more alive food and walking over 5 kilometers everyday. I use these tools to help me celebrate my body.

So what is your remembrance, intention and natural actions?

For me…

My remembrance is anything is possible because I am Divine.

My remembrance is life is about play, joy and expansion.

My remembrance is I am a creator who seeks to BE love and light here now.

My intention is let’s see how far we can take all of the above in 2012 and truly be possibility!

Stay tuned for the actions. I know it will be a great year and a great ride!

Wishing you all deep remembrance and love,

Shasta

Remember to tune into Shasta’s Vivid Life Radio Show Possibility 101 every Wednesday at 4:00 pm eastern standard time on www.vividlife.me.

A celebrated transformational leader and a leading pioneer in embodied spirituality and Yoga, Shasta has inspired hundreds of people through her breakthrough methods for awakening and empowering your inner voice and divine power. Director, founder and senior teacher with Balanced Life Yoga, she delivers public talks, seminars and trainings on evolution and empowerment. She draws on a wide variety of techniques including Yoga, Shamanism, meditation, energy healing, coaching and the Law of Attraction. She is especially appreciated for her passionate way of allowing individuals to make sense of their world and embodied, holistic means to become the change they wish to see. As early as in her teenage years, Shasta embarked on her journey as a spiritual explorer which led her to India, where she studied yoga, meditation and energy healing. She has studied with many remarkable mentors and she has undergone thousands of hour’s intense practice of meditation and spiritual studies. Shasta has taken every opportunity to become adept in her field through her own practice as well as through extensive training in yoga, group dynamics, meditation and spiritual counseling. www.balancedlifeyoga.ca

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Do you ever find you are just keeping quiet to keep the peace? I try to practice a high level of self-responsibility and sovereignty. I try to be present to my emotions and thoughts so that I am not reacting but responding. I don’t want to have temper tantrums or take everything personally. I want the freedom to decide how I will

READ: Tantra ~ How to Express Emotions in a Conscious Way by Sarita

Human emotions are an inherent part of being alive. We may try to control them, repress them or manipulate them in some way. In spite of this, they are ever present in many unpredictable ways. Emotions are a tremendous blessing if we can understand and learn from them. In a sense, they are like weather, changeable and sometimes volatile, yet ultimately seeking a dynamic balance in our life and relationships.

Candice Pert, a scientist who has studied the relationship between mind body and emotions has discovered that as human beings, we are “hard wired for bliss.” Emotions are part of the bio regulatory system to support us in achieving a free-flowing state of well-being.

In Tantra, whatever state we are in can be used as a portal into conscious equilibrium. If you feel anger, it is easily possible to express and release this, in a way, which does not dump negativity on someone else, but rather frees your energetic system. As the anger is released through a method of meditation, one magically discovers spontaneity, which was hidden behind the anger.

Likewise, if we own and move consciously into our fear, it transforms into trust. If we move with awareness into the experience of sadness and grief, it is revealed as inspiration. When we dive into our stress and confusion with awareness, we discover harmony of opposites.

According to Chinese medicine, each emotion is connected on the physical level with a group of organs. Fear & trust is linked to Kidney and Bladder. Anger & spontaneity is linked to Liver and Gall Bladder. Sadness and inspiration is linked to Lung and Large intestine. Inner division / stress and harmony of opposites is linked to stomach spleen and pancreas. The emperor or empress of all of these organ groups is the heart and small intestine. This organ group is linked with love and joy, which is truly the heart of all of life. When we are able to accept our emotions and learn the lessons they bring in their wake, we become more and more sensitive to the ever-bubbling spring of love within us, calling us home.

There are many methods for accepting and expressing emotions in a conscious way. These include breath therapy, bio-energetics, primal therapy, Osho active meditations, or the techniques used by Brandon Bays in ‘The Journey.’

In the 5000 year old Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, there is a marvellous technique described in one of the 112 sutras: “Lie down as dead. Enraged in wrath, stay so. Or stare without moving an eyelash. Or suck something and become the sucking.”  This meditation indicates totality. When we go into some action with our totality, it gives rise to a transcendental state where we become inclusive of the whole of life.  By learning to embrace our emotions instead of shrinking from them, we become total and therefore whole. And when we are whole, we are in tune with life, with love, in harmony with all that is.

NEXT WEEK:

Tantra and the Divine Masculine

Sarita is a world renowned Tantra master and mystic offering courses and retreats across the globe. Having received a direct transmission from Osho, she is true to the spiritual essence of Tantra and leads us on the path to self realisation. At the same time she takes care to help us transcend the psychological blockages that we carry as a result of our cultural background and past experiences. She is also a master healer, author and consultant. website: http://www.tantra-essence.com

 

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