As the week progressed, I became more aware of messages being given to me about my spiritual path and how I am to assist in the transformation. While I still do not know how or what this is supposed to look like, I do know that my deep connection to Spirit keeps bringing back to a simple, yet not always easy way to "see" each other, to "see" nature and animals as ONE. The vision that kept coming to me was archangel Gabriel.
When I looked up her symbolism, it became clearer to me that I am a messenger, as was she. I am but one small person on this earth moving through life with positivity and inspiration, yet this is my path.
While speaking with various clients this week, the theme kept arising - the hurt felt from another's action, the co-worker who was vying for a position of power. My response was to stand in a place of empowerment (tadasana pose is a favorite way to embody this state) and to see the other as equal, evening out the energy. For it is often a mirror of our own feelings of inadequacy that brings about this inequality of energetic exchange.
This brought me also to a personal experience during the prior week where I was the one re-learning this very lesson. I was in a situation where I had put so much stock in putting the person I was about to network with on a pedestal, seeing myself as less than, inadequate, yet hoping to make an impression. Of course, my overly eager energy was not enough to cover my internal feelings of inadequacy and I left feeling disempowered. Before processing the event, I had created the story that this person was entitled and I, genuine. Even if so, it was my energy that created this awkward experience in the first place.
Tough lesson to learn, but so worth the time and effort. If WE, the people of this continent, can begin to see each other as part of one system with a unified purpose, friction will begin to dissolve and people will begin to come together. There will be enough to share - food, love, shelter.
Take the time to connect the dots of your daily experiences and see the fruits of their meaning.
Namaste
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Sunday, October 15, 2017
It's All About Perspective
As I watched the amazing sunset along the beach in Santa Barbara, I ran back to grab my phone to take a photo of this pinky-orange color - something different from what I have been used to seeing back east. Not only did the sun appear huge over the horizon of the water, but it was moving swiftly towards disappearance.
I eagerly talked with others around me about this beauty and how lucky we are to be here in this time and place while things are swirling around us with challenge, despair, devastation. Somehow, the awesomeness of nature can bring about perspective and gratitude for what we have in this very moment.
I took my photo, excited to share with my family back in Boston, but somehow, the picture did not do justice to what my mind's eye had just captured. I sent it anyway with a description of just how awesome it really was.
As I walked back to the car, I felt a sense of peace, but also an acknowledgement of just how perspective shapes our lives. It coalesced some of my recent readings and reflections. In "Me Finally" by Mitch Tishler, he uses the analogy of the aperture on a camera and when the aperture is open, so are we - receptive, inviting, able to take in - and when the aperture is closed, we are more likely in a place of self-criticism and judgement, which then extends into the world as we see it - uninviting, adversarial.
These nuances in life - the photo on the phone camera not being what we really see, the look on the face of someone who may be in pain but is interpreted as being unfriendly and the voice in our head that keeps us small - are all opportunities to alter the perspective.
Open your aperture!
Julie
I eagerly talked with others around me about this beauty and how lucky we are to be here in this time and place while things are swirling around us with challenge, despair, devastation. Somehow, the awesomeness of nature can bring about perspective and gratitude for what we have in this very moment.
I took my photo, excited to share with my family back in Boston, but somehow, the picture did not do justice to what my mind's eye had just captured. I sent it anyway with a description of just how awesome it really was.
As I walked back to the car, I felt a sense of peace, but also an acknowledgement of just how perspective shapes our lives. It coalesced some of my recent readings and reflections. In "Me Finally" by Mitch Tishler, he uses the analogy of the aperture on a camera and when the aperture is open, so are we - receptive, inviting, able to take in - and when the aperture is closed, we are more likely in a place of self-criticism and judgement, which then extends into the world as we see it - uninviting, adversarial.
These nuances in life - the photo on the phone camera not being what we really see, the look on the face of someone who may be in pain but is interpreted as being unfriendly and the voice in our head that keeps us small - are all opportunities to alter the perspective.
Open your aperture!
Julie
Monday, October 9, 2017
Taming The Monkey Mind
It is Monday and I did successfully manage to alter the trajectory of my day yesterday. Sundays have always been a day of increased anxiety, except for the one to two hours of singing that I would do at church. Singing has always provided me a way to connect with my soul and my soul with others.
Since moving to CA, I have softened my "monkey mind" - the chatter in the background that effuses into the forefront of my mind, often increasing anxiety and decreasing focus. Years of conditioning coupled with a brain chemistry that shows rapid thought process (high glutamate levels - another topic another time!), have supported creativity and ability to multi-task, BUT overuse will create burnout and potential illness due to inflammation.
Voila, I have experienced the perfect storm, am moving through to the other side, and my continued persistence to find other ways, to create new pathways for myself and you, brings me such pleasure in the discovery process.
Scene One from yesterday: upon awakening, a flood of thoughts came about the weekly billing and balancing (my least favorite task!), preparing for the week ahead with seminars to provide (three to be exact), emailing confirmations to clients (this used to be my assistant's role), establishing new relationships in town for growing my two businesses - personal counseling and ClearMind, a new business focused on cognitive performance. How will I do this all? What if I cannot keep up? How dare I consider doing "fun" things today!
Ahh - that last one is the key to opening my new door and is the one that is so conditioned. In fact, part of my reason for my move is based upon learning to have fun, to practice a slower way of being and to really bring play into my life!
As you have read in my previous blogs, I AM doing all of this AND I continue to wrestle on occasion with these old ways of being. Bringing myself back to: "This is not me", "I am worthy of joy and peace", "The background voices will diminish as I practice giving to myself". Breathe into stillness and choose living in the moment.
I completed a few things and packed up to try a new adventure - Dance Tribe. Not only was it amazing, but I left feeling free, open and ready for a glorious day!
My message to you is to recognize these long established patterns and consider using the statements from above.
Live with Joy,
Julie
Since moving to CA, I have softened my "monkey mind" - the chatter in the background that effuses into the forefront of my mind, often increasing anxiety and decreasing focus. Years of conditioning coupled with a brain chemistry that shows rapid thought process (high glutamate levels - another topic another time!), have supported creativity and ability to multi-task, BUT overuse will create burnout and potential illness due to inflammation.
Voila, I have experienced the perfect storm, am moving through to the other side, and my continued persistence to find other ways, to create new pathways for myself and you, brings me such pleasure in the discovery process.
Scene One from yesterday: upon awakening, a flood of thoughts came about the weekly billing and balancing (my least favorite task!), preparing for the week ahead with seminars to provide (three to be exact), emailing confirmations to clients (this used to be my assistant's role), establishing new relationships in town for growing my two businesses - personal counseling and ClearMind, a new business focused on cognitive performance. How will I do this all? What if I cannot keep up? How dare I consider doing "fun" things today!
Ahh - that last one is the key to opening my new door and is the one that is so conditioned. In fact, part of my reason for my move is based upon learning to have fun, to practice a slower way of being and to really bring play into my life!
As you have read in my previous blogs, I AM doing all of this AND I continue to wrestle on occasion with these old ways of being. Bringing myself back to: "This is not me", "I am worthy of joy and peace", "The background voices will diminish as I practice giving to myself". Breathe into stillness and choose living in the moment.
I completed a few things and packed up to try a new adventure - Dance Tribe. Not only was it amazing, but I left feeling free, open and ready for a glorious day!
My message to you is to recognize these long established patterns and consider using the statements from above.
Live with Joy,
Julie
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Life Is Beautiful
Not even sure where to start this week, as life continues to unfold so beautifully. The few downsides - ant infestation, migraines, allergies - are so minute compared to:
1)watching young children frolicking along with such confidence and not a care
2)having Tammie jump up beside my head in the morning with her "happy to see me" look
3)eating my dinner on the beach under the full moon after a day of inspiring others during a corporate seminar on mindful eating
4)having a meaningful meeting with an architect about sustainable, eco-friendly tiny house building - my next chapter in life!
5)completing a challenging fitness class and seeing the marked improvement in my strength compared to post-surgery and chemotherapy two years ago
It's in choosing to see the gifts in life that bring us along the path toward gratitude and by fostering this within ourselves, we CAN influence the world, bringing peace wherever we go. I say this amidst the tragedies that occur all around us because these events remind us of the need to seek peace within and without.
May you choose peace and gratitude each and every day!
Julie
1)watching young children frolicking along with such confidence and not a care
2)having Tammie jump up beside my head in the morning with her "happy to see me" look
3)eating my dinner on the beach under the full moon after a day of inspiring others during a corporate seminar on mindful eating
4)having a meaningful meeting with an architect about sustainable, eco-friendly tiny house building - my next chapter in life!
5)completing a challenging fitness class and seeing the marked improvement in my strength compared to post-surgery and chemotherapy two years ago
It's in choosing to see the gifts in life that bring us along the path toward gratitude and by fostering this within ourselves, we CAN influence the world, bringing peace wherever we go. I say this amidst the tragedies that occur all around us because these events remind us of the need to seek peace within and without.
May you choose peace and gratitude each and every day!
Julie
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