Skating Through Work & Life

An ice skater, in a beautiful, flowing white, silvery, sparkly kind of outfit, moving gracefully across the ice.  That’s the image that surfaced for me when a friend asked me for a metaphor of how I wanted my December/January to feel.

An ice skater works on so many levels for me.  I’m in the midst of developing a new product I want to release in January (I’m totally excited about it!), yet there is still quite a bit of work to do.  My new product needs to look pretty, become accessible through new web pages, entered into a software program so it can be purchased, and marketed, of course.  There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that must happen to launch a new product.

In figure skating the “long program” is all about demonstrating the skater’s skills, grace and athleticism.  There are changes in rhythm, jumps, spins, long graceful movements and short bursts of fancy footwork, all of this while maintaining a look of grace, ease, effortlessness and balance.  It takes practice to create this sense of flow.

My practice for the past ten years has revolved around how to work in ways that don’t feel stressful, overwhelming and out of balance.  I’ve learned, and utilize, a number of tools to do this, sometimes successfully, other times not so much.  So, with this new product development I am once again focused on my “long program.”  I intend to demonstrate not only my skills for writing and coaching, but also, at working within a state of grace as I change rhythms, jump, spin and glide my way through the myriad of tasks associated with this new product while also participating in holiday cheer.

Which way is the dancer turning when you look at her?  It’s said that in whatever direction she’s turning is the side of the brain you’re using to see her.  Turning clockwise? You’re in your right brain.  Turning counter clockwise? That’s the left brain.  Can you shift your perspective and see her turning in the opposite direction? Can you change the speed of her turn?  Can you do this at will? All of these are possible!

I use her to remind myself that I can shift my perspective at any time I want to if I’m “skating” in a way that doesn’t feel good to me.  It’s my practice for creating grace, ease, effortlessness and balance.  What’s your practice?

 

Want to Create Your Own Metaphor?

• Sit quietly, close your eyes and take a few deep, centering breaths.

1. Now pose the question to your Higher Self, “What image will best serve to remind me of my deepest desires for how I want to ‘be’ as I move through these next few months?”
2. Allow the answer to float up from your depths, without forcing or trying to make it happen.
3. Be open to it showing up as an image, phrase, specific color(s), metaphor, story, archetype, or any number of ways your Higher Self can communicate with you.
4. Journal about the image you received; why is it perfect?
5. Draw the image or find a facsimile that you can post to remind yourself of your deepest desires.
6. Most of all, have FUN with this!!

 

• Here’s a resource from my friend, Renee Trudeau, about intentional living during the holidays. http://www.reneetrudeau.com/htmlemail/LifeBalanceNewsNovember2011.html

Cosmosgenesis, I AM the Story of Conscious Evolution

Be Still.

I received this in a meditation last week when I asked, “What is most wanting to emerge from me?”

Be Still and you will Know.

And now I Know.

I just returned from sitting with a group (always so powerful to synchronize energies with others) whose intention is to sit in the middle of the city for 40 minutes of silence and then to share about that experience.  The first thing I experienced was a deep appreciation for the luxury of having 40 minutes of stillness ahead of me.  It felt very expansive, so much so that the loud noises of traffic, trains, horns, and people moving around us became part of that expansiveness, included and welcomed in that expansiveness.  That was cool.

But the coolest thing was as my inner stillness deepened even as it juxtaposed to the loud hum of the city, I felt the story of “cosmogenesis” become me or, I guess, I became it, I AM it.

In the Conscious Evolution Circles we teach the “Three C’s of Conscious Evolution” based on the works of Barbara Marx Hubbard.  The first “C” is “cosmogenesis,” the story of evolution over the past 13+ billion years.  This is the story that out of nothingness consciousness (God, Source Energy, Nature, Universal Love) occurred.  From that moment forward, the natural process of consciousness was to evolve by quantum leaps, always to higher consciousness, more complexity, greater freedom.  From no-thing, to a the universe, to an earth, to life, to animal life and then human life, the inner impulse of consciousness is to continuously seek higher consciousness, more complexity, greater freedom.

In this moment of sitting, I felt the non-dual state of being formless and the timelessness of the beginning of consciousness TOGETHER WITH the impulse to evolve to higher consciousness that is encoded into our DNA.  I felt myself TO BE the successful evolution of these 13+ billion years of evolution still excited and motivated to seek higher consciousness, more complexity and greater freedom.  The vast awakening that is occurring throughout our world is the turning on of this DNA encoded switch that NOW is the time for our next evolutionary leap.

What are the possibilities for that leap?  Saturday, October 15, you have an extraordinary opportunity to hear 14 leading Conscious Evolutionaries talk about their vision of what’s possible in this unique time of planetary transformation.

BIRTH 2012 Convergence Day!

and others form the “Welcoming Committee” to our Birthing of Universal Humanity

Live Virtual Event, 12:00 – 2:00 Pacific Time

Register Here

 

 

Even if you can’t attend live, register anyway to receive the recording of this extraordinary gathering of visionaries creating intentionality around global change.  Most important of all is that YOU are invited to give your own unique gifts to this co-creative planetary shift.  Are you game?

 

How to Feel the Story of Cosmogenesis within Yourself:

1. Begin by connecting deeply with your Essence, who you really are.  (Listen to a guided way to do this on my Higher Consciousness Coaching page.)
2. Observe first the field of energy that is you that is timeless, formless, peaceful and infinite, yourself as pure awareness.  Soak in this state for as long as you wish, it is delicious.
3. When you are ready, allow this request to sit in your heart space, “Show me what the evolutionary impulse feels, looks, sounds like in me.”
4. Observe any thoughts, feelings, images, colors, sounds, “downloads,” or impressions that surface within you.  Notice the sensations in your body as you do this.  You are in touch with the DNA of cosmogenesis!
5. Write about your experience in your journal to anchor this awareness.

 

Inspired to Passion

Who inspires you? Last night my ears perked up when I heard Diana Nyad’s name mentioned on the news about her upcoming swim from Cuba to Florida.  Diana was one of my first mentors for physical fitness as a lifestyle.  Her book, Basic Training for Women, was written in such an inspirational, motivational and personal way that I found myself thinking of Diana almost as a personal friend.  This was 30 years ago!  I think my desire to be in partnership with my body - to honor it, respect it, to find joy in moving it, to feed it well, to learn from it – can be traced back to Diana’s motivational reverence for the mind/body/life connection.

So here I am 30 years later inspired once again by Diana’s persistence to live out a dream. She attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida in 1978, and also intended to complete this swim last summer in celebration of turning 60.  In both cases, weather, something beyond her control, stopped her.  Diana is once again on the brink of realizing this dream.

One of my primary intentions while participating in the Youthening Program (energy downloads channeled through Wendy Down) is to feel the passion of my younger self, the me who believes she is here to make a difference in this world. Listen to Diana as she also steps into the passion of daring to follow through on an earlier dream, to feel herself as the collective energy of her aging cohort who are unwilling to be defined by conditioned beliefs about aging.

THIS is the time in our world to step fully into your passion, giving your gifts to the world.  My passion is being stimulated around consciousness transformation.  I just found out this week I have a place to begin leading Consciousness Evolution circles!  More about that in August, but for now, if the idea of playing a role and giving your gifts to our planet’s evolution is tapping you on the shoulder, I encourage you to attend or listen to the recording of the Activation Call led by Barbara Marx Hubbard this Saturday, July 23.  Or, become an Agent of Consciousness Evolution (read more) and join me in creating your own local evolutionary circle.

Gestating FREEDOM

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m in a gestational period.  I’m incubating the next phase of my vocation, though I do not yet know what it looks like.  I do, however, have the full support of the Universe as I am receiving many synchronous signs about what this next phase feels like – FREEDOM!

A couple of weeks ago I was walking home from the gym where I am a personal trainer, thinking about client hours, cancellations, income, the time oriented nature of this biz, and retirement.  The question I raised for myself was, “If you retired, what would you want to do with your time?”  Well, I treasure the physical training I do with others and would want to keep a few clients; I enjoy playing with energy, consciousness expansion, and sharing these kinds of resources with others; I get pleasure from writing about living from a connection with your Higher Self.   A huge wave of recognition flowed through me and I just had to laugh out loud!  I am already living in a way that reflects what I want to do when I “retire!”  I am already experiencing the FREEDOM I imagined for my future.

Last week I confessed to a friend I had wasted too much time lately playing Angry Birds (really? it’s embarrassing!).  She told me that when she was pregnant she had the most delicious feeling of being continuously productive, regardless of whether she was “in action” or not.  She was producing a baby when she was taking a nap, watching mindless TV or working; the most important thing was that she was gestating. There it is, FREEDOM to follow whatever is calling to me whether it is strategic games to entertain my mind, or bike rides to fuel my body, or sharing my professional skills, the real productivity of gestating my future is happening 24/7 and it needs the time, space and FREEDOM to do that.

One last example is from the Agents of Consciousness Evolution training.  Our focus the past few weeks is around allowing our compass of joy to bring forth our unique skills and gifts so that we each can use these in service to the transformation of our world. As Agents, we see ourselves as the pioneers modeling a co-creative community that honors every ones’ strengths and gifts, providing the FREEDOM for people to self-express in ways that empower their highest contribution to the community.  It’s the FREEDOM to be who you really are, abundantly supported on all levels, to joyously evolve our world through your own full self-expression.

Integrating More Freedom Into Your Life:

• Where in your life do you feel the most restricted or stuck? Now take the opposite view and “make a case” in your journal how this part of your life actually reflects some aspect of FREEDOM.  What insights or inspired action steps come from this?
• In your quite time, ask yourself, “What is growing in me that wants to be shared with the world?” You may not receive a specific answer, but you may receive a feeling, an image, a color, a thought, a scenario. Just notice what shows up and allow this new information to incubate. Check in again after a few days to see what else is present. How is this information moving you toward experiencing more FREEDOM of self-expression in your life? Check out programs (many are free!) by the Shift Network to support you in your journey toward full self-expression.
• Whenever I lead clients to experience themselves as their most expanded Self and ask, “What are you feeling?” invariably I hear “FREEDOM.” Listen to my meditation, “The Mental Gap,” which leads you through the experience of feeling yourself as pure energy. You can download this for FREE using the promotional code FREEDOM. Share your experiences HERE of feeling your Mental Gap!

Opening to the Feminine Field

This week’s full moon is in Scorpio.  Molly Hall says this moon is about “catharsis. . . . It can illuminate what’s stuck, hinting at reservoirs of old wounds, resentments, and unfulfilled desires.  At the deepest levels, there can be a release, a sense of greater power and a deluge of fresh feelings.”

So much energy is swirling in me, surfacing “stuff” I thought I had already completed, yet also firing up fresh awareness and passions (watch my video about choosing physical form).  An old neck injury is causing pain, tightness, numbing and tingling all through my left side.  The left side represents feminine energy and the message I’m receiving from my body is that it’s time to cultivate a deeper sense of my feminine nature. Not surprisingly, everywhere I turn I’m directed toward feminine energy.  In very synchronistic ways, I’ve been guided to download specific meditation music focused on Ishwari, to listen to an Inspiring Women Telesummit, to add Shakti rituals to my daily routines, and to notice that every thing that draws my attention these days is actually some reflection of “the feminine field.”

Here I am in my 50’s and in a womb being nurtured for my birth into fulfilling my commitment to play a significant role in the transformation of our world.  Just last night in the Agent of Conscious Evolution (ACE) training (that I’m loving!), Barbara Marx Hubbard talked about building the feminine aspect of receptivity within us in order to join with the masculine aspect of genius that is also within each of us.  It’s an “inner procreation” that will then birth my capacity to fully participate in outer co-creation for world transformation.

It’s heady stuff, but in alignment with a quote I’ve heard was from the Dalai Lama, “The world will be saved by the Western Woman.” He is reported to have said this at the Vancouver Peace Summit in September 2009 along with his view that “we are seeing the rise of the feminine energy globally as we move toward compassionate, empathetic and nurturing global society.”

Men are not excluded, however, from this shift in our way of relating to one another.  Each of us has what to date, traditionally called masculine and feminine characteristics.  In the ACE training, and also in a local networking discussion I attended about this very subject, the consensus is that as we raise our consciousness levels, duality in all its forms is blurred, and an enlightened “Universal” human arises to embody the highest forms of both the masculine and feminine energies. (Do not fear, it is NOT a genderless society, rather a juicy, creative, cooperative, sexual society.  But, that’s a whole other post!).

As you raise your vibration, you come more into alignment with your true “universal” nature, and with the natural order around you.  Use this Scorpion moon’s energies to “[transform] again and again, to stand on a sense of real integrity.  True confidence emerges when there’s nothing to fear within or without.”  Molly Hall

Integrative Action Steps to Utilize Scorpion Energies:

• It’s time to go deep, purge what no longer serves you, and find a firm footing on your foundational beliefs.  Grab your journal, find a quiet space with sufficient time, and allow yourself to move inward.  Drop your mind into your heart by placing your hand on your heart and focusing your breath and attention there.  Ask these questions:

1. What dream, goal, desire is ready to emerge from me?
2. Scan your body and notice if any contraction occurs.  If yes, ask this specific body part, “What is your message to me?  What are you most afraid of?”
3. Imagine you had complete freedom to drop this fear, or limitation that surfaced, and ask, “Will you show me a vision of my life without this fear/limitation?”
4. What insights, new awareness showed up for you?  What inspired actions do you now feel called to take?  Write about this experience in your journal.

• I have been pleased with my experiences with programming through The Shift Network.  For resources around shifting your consciousness, take a look at http://bit.ly/tsnch

A Birthday Gift from My Higher Self

One of my intentions of playing with “youthening” is to completely lose awareness of my age. But, birthdays are still fun to celebrate and this year I received a wonderful gift from my Higher Self.  In a flash I was moved from melancholy to a powerful appreciation for our ability as humans to create in the physical world, and I felt deep in my core, this choice I made to be here NOW!

Soon after I received this gift I heard and downloaded a beautiful musical meditation from the group, Sacred Earth.  It’s called “Shine” and one of the repeated lines is,

Step out from behind the darkness to the Light
‘Cause it is time for you to Shine

I listen to this group during my morning cleansing ritual and get juiced for the day, allowing the question, “What is wanting to emerge from me today?” to be present.  Then, I feel inspired to take action, such as making the video above.

What is emerging today from your choice to be physical?

Ideas for Stepping Fully into Your Choice to be Physical:

• Connect with your physicality daily through movement such as dance, yoga, running/walking/swimming/cycling, strength training, gardening, etc.  Practice loving and appreciating all of the many ways your physicality supports you, saying kind and gentle things to your body.

• Contemplate or meditate regularly upon the question, “What is emerging from me to share with others in support of the transformation of our world?” Step outside the chatter of your intellect and allow your inner compass of stillness, excitement, joy, curiosity, or passion to guide you into taking inspired action.

• Seek guidance/community with others who are also excited about creatively playing in our earth’s (and our own) transformation such as The Shift Network, Crimson Circle, The Consciousness Playground, and TUT’s Adventure Club.

Living From Your Heart’s Desires

Watch this video! If it stirs in you the yearning to be a part of something bigger, to know yourself as THE UNIQUE PART of something bigger, you must visit Blooming Humans.  The 42 day email series begins NOW (whenever that is for you) to nudge, nurture, support, guide, inspire, reward, distill, and clarify your place in this world to “Show Up and Shine!”

You might have heard of Stacey & Ken in 2005 when they initiated the One Million Go Gratitude project.  Their gratitude symbol took on a life of its own, sparking multitudes to awaken to the deeper essences of themselves through beautiful prose, poetry, images, art, music, sound, and much energy embedded in their emails.  I feel quite sure magic and miracles are in this Blooming Human series as well.

One other special element that is in total alignment with their consciousness of appreciation is your ability to register for this series and set your own level of financial appreciation for their work, beginning with $0 if you are in need of their inspiration, but without extra funds.  I love the level of trust this displays.

Christian Pankhurst Update

If you haven’t already watched the free video series teaching “heart intelligence” with Christian Pankhurst, you’ll want to make sure you do so soon.  He opens his Accelerated Awakening coaching program on Thursday, March 10 at 10:00 a.m. PT, and once this fills those videos will probably come down. His video series is well worth watching regardless, but  he will make special offers for those who resonate with his work and you’ll want to get in early on the registration process if you want these.

The Simplest ? Accesses Immediate Guidance

How do you know if you are in connection with your Higher Self? The simplest, most direct path is to ask yourself, “What am I feeling?”  And simply put, if you are feeling good, excited, enlivened, appreciative, passionate, happy, peaceful, or any other emotion that feels yummy, you are in alignment/connection with your Higher Self.

To notice what is happening in your emotional energy body is a simple way to begin to recognize communication with your Higher Self. Feeling good indicates you’re in alignment with your divine guidance system and headed in the direction of your highest good.  Feeling ornery, frustrated, angry, jealous, bitter, resentful, or any other emotion that doesn’t feel “good” means the guidance from your Higher Self indicates you’ve veered off your path.

Esther Hicks, who channels “Abraham” (a collection of non-physical beings), explains the importance of using this inner guidance system that is so present in every NOW moment.

The past several months I’ve been paying close attention to my emotional energy body to observe its guidance around whether I am engaged with life from my authentic self, or if I have fallen back into a core illusion of powerlessness.  Prior to the Feminine Power course I took in the Fall, I was clueless that I ever felt “powerless,” yet there in the behavior list were many recognizable traits. Some of these traits I had “worked on” for years, but apparently not at the root cause.

Then right on cue the book, Spiritual Partnership by Gary Zukav, synchronistically came into my hands.  The focus of this book is learning to recognize emotions that stem from powerlessness, and those that indicate authentic power.  Emotions of anger, fear, jealousy, feeling inferior or superior to others, entitled, vengeful, resentful, or needing to please are all associated with powerlessness.  Feeling content, appreciative, caring, loving, non-judgmental, joyful, and other good feelings are associated with authentic power.  (Sound familiar?)

And one more synchronous piece dropped into place.  Using an exercise from the New Knowledge for the New Age (studied in the Consciousness Playground), I experienced myself while in deep meditation as my “first born cell” taking on the game (the illusion) of powerlessness as a means of hiding my divine self from my human self.   Wowie Zowie! Interestingly, the emotion that surfaced was deep grief, not for the losses that powerlessness wrought, but because I would no longer be able to play that game and not recognize it as a game.  It was the grief of believing something so strongly (like believing in Santa Claus!), then discovering the illusion and wanting desperately to turn back the clock and “not know” again.  Our core illusory games are so seductive because they are so comfortable and familiar.

In the awakening journey, one can’t go backwards, only forwards.  And so I move forward by letting go of the biggest game I’ve every played using my emotional energy body as a direct line to my Higher Self who is guiding me through the complex playing field I have created.

What is the illusory game you are playing to hide your divine spirit from your human self? You can begin to deconstruct your illusion and reconstruct deep recognition of your core self with your emotional guidance system and one simple question, “What am I feeling?”

Want to play with your emotional energy body?

• Set your watch to chime on the hour and when it does, ask yourself, “What am I feeling?”
• Observe as many emotions flowing through you as you can notice while considering a specific situation.
• What emotions support you in feeling your authentic power?  What emotions are indicative of your illusory game?  Can you recognize when each is present?
  
• You have a choice as to which emotions you pay attention to.  Make your choices moment to moment.

Imagination is Your Simple Access to Higher Guidance

“If I only knew then what I know now” is often used looking back with regret at past choices.  But, what would show up in our lives if we did the opposite and brought forward the innocence and energy of our youth, and coupled that with the wisdom of our current maturity and beliefs?

Recently I played with just that sort of reversal and imagined, “If I could feel the way I felt then, knowing what I know now, what would be interesting to me?”  I asked this question of myself in response to a grand new experiment happening in the Consciousness Playground where we are beta testing the “youthening quantum information packets” delivered energetically by Wendy Down.  I wanted to gain clarity on my underlying intentions for participating in this experiment.

Easy to think that it would be nice to look younger!  However, to get beyond this conditioned response and see what my Higher Self had to say about the matter I tapped into my mental energy body.  One of the best ways to circumvent the “thinking” mind, which is our lower vibrating mental energy body, and move into its higher vibrating expression is to use imagination. An easy tool to shift into deeper communication is to simply imagine the best possible outcome. When you use your imagination, you typically soften the resistance of your thinking mind, which then allows your Higher Guidance to flow in with ideas, images, colors, new stories, and feelings that create the foundation for manifesting your future experience.  If you are inspired by your imagination, then that’s your Higher Self.  If you feel fearful (worst case scenario thinking), then you are engaged with your egoic mind.

Here’s what showed up for me when I played with imagining what “youthening” would bring me:

Do you want to play in the quantum field of moving beyond the thoughts and beliefs that “everybody” agrees with? You’ll find plenty of other co-pioneers in the Consciousness Playground that enjoy pushing the boundaries of both our individual and culturally conditioned beliefs.  And the best part is that we do this in ways that feel natural and easy, using our own daily lives as our lab.

How You Can Tap Into Your Mental Energy Body for Communication:

1. Begin with an easy topic, one that you would like some guidance around, but it doesn’t have a big emotional hook in it.
2. Take a few moments to move yourself to an inner focus by breathing deeply into your low abdomen and back.
3. Now, let your imagination run wild around the “best possible outcome” for your situation.
4. Several stories might pop up.  Wait for the one that gives you a little zing, one that feels really good.
5. Now, build on those good feelings by including as many “best possible” specifics as you can.  Who is with you?  Where are you?  What does the environment feel like?  What emotions are present?  What are you doing?
6. Keep your thoughts moving toward those that inspire you.
7. When you’re ready, open your eyes and make some notes about your experience.
8. What action steps do you now feel inspired to take, if any, that move you in the direction of this outcome?

Body Template is Easy Access to Higher Guidance

Did you experiment with using any of your energy bodies to receive guidance from your Higher Self?  Check out my last post for these four powerful portals if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

I believe that Higher Guidance is constantly in flow to us at all times and it’s a simple thing to receive.  The biggest barrier I’ve seen in my clients, and probably for myself in the past, is an expectation that their Higher Guidance should look a certain way.  Usually the expectation is to hear a voice.  What I now know is that Higher Guidance comes in many forms and to have an expectation about what it might look like is to limit yourself severely from receiving the font of guidance that is constantly streaming to you in all sorts of ways.

Here is a short video about how I used my physical energy body as a resource for guidance.  Maybe you’ll be surprised by how I played with receiving this guidance.

Want to learn more ways to tap into your Higher Guidance? What I demonstrate in the video is but one of the many simple tools I share in Play 4 Guidance.  My workshop is full of playful and simple, yet very powerful, exercises to receive clear, concrete and action-oriented information.  While you build your multisensory skill set, you learn to recognize a wide range of guidance, all of it completely individualized because it is coming from your Higher Self.  Won’t you join me?

Play 4 Guidance Austin Workshop

Sunday, January 23, 1:00 – 5:30 pm, Southwest Austin

Post a comment about your experience with this tool and receive The 4 Cornerstones for Channeling Your Higher Self e-book.

Here’s how you can experiment with your physical body template:

• Move your body in some simple way such as lifting your arm or taking a step forward.  Now do it again, but this time don’t move your physical form, just let yourself notice moving your etheric form.  Fun, eh?  Practice this until it feels natural to notice both your physical form and your etheric form in movement.

• Want to improve something about your movement style?  Say, you want improve your coordination or reduce some physical pain that occurs with movement.  Ask that your etheric body guide you in the movement.  See if you can let go of your need to control your body with your mind, and relax into an allowing state that “pulls” you in a direction that feels more in sync with your desires.  Observe the shifts that happen for you when you “let go.”

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