What is the ONE thing you can do to invite more presence, pleasure and peace into your life?
That’s right! Just as the title explicitly states, “sit your butt down!” Meditation. Just the word brings up so many feelings for people. It sounds nice, but what does it really mean and do I REALLY have to let go of ALL my thoughts? Impossible, right?! WRONG. I’m not going to take this time to tell you the thousands of benefits of meditation, the different kinds or products, apps and novelties you can use to enhance your sitting meditation practice. Here are some links for those who are interested: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070 http://www.mindvalley.com/blog/announcements/the-greatest-innovation-in-meditation-in-3000-years/ http://noetic.org/topics/meditation/ I AM going to give you simple steps that anyone can do no matter rich or poor, stationary or mobile, ridiculously busy or perfectly balanced. Here is a short simple guide to sitting meditating: 1) IMPORTANT: Give yourself permission to just sit. This is crucial as our western mind is always coming up with better things to do with our time before we’ve even fully experienced what is right in front of us…what we are doing right now. So trust you inclination to just sit and that all good things will come from it! It sounds something like this in your head – “All I have to do for the next 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes is sit and breathe.” Then if your mind still needs a reason – “I am doing more good for myself, my family and the world in these 5 minutes than I am rushing around like a like a crazy person for two hours not really accomplishing anything of meaning!” 2) You guessed it! Sit your ass down! Here’s the kicker – it doesn’t’ matter where! You can make a “sacred space” or alter or find a beautiful setting for sure, but I can tell you I wasted years NOT meditating looking for the perfect spot! I used to sit under our fig tree but since we moved into a 700 square foot apartment, I now wake up, put my butt on the pillow my head was just laying on and sit criss-cross-applesauce first thing in the morning. You can sit on your patio, on the floor, next to your kids as they drift of to sleep…. it doesn’t matter, just SIT STILL. 3) Sit as tall as you can, spine towards the sky. If this is uncomfortable, then screw it! Just sit. :) 4) Close your eyes. Um, yeah, that’s it. J :) 5) Breathe. In and out. Inhale and exhale. You do NOT have to breath any particular way! If your mind needs something to do simple say to yourself, “I am breathing in” (yep, when you are indeed breathing in) and “I’m and breathing out” (you guessed it, when you are exhaling). That’s it. 6) ***EXTRA CREDIT FOR YOU OVER ACHEIVERS*** SMILE! :) Do it once a day for a week and I would love to hear about your experience in the comments below! Do you think anyone could do this? Too hard? Too easy? Just right? Thanks for making the world a better place by sitting yo’ ass down!
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I’m making some bold claims…not for the weary!
"Let me put it this way...it is foolish and arrogant of us to think that we could ever DO ANYTHING to upset the almighty creator of everything that was, is and will ever be!!! I believe all experiences we have in life are just leading us closer and closer to oursleves! You are blessed and that God and the Universe are deeply and madly in love with you! We all have our own journeys s to travel and you are traveling yours perfectly! I believe that God/Source looks at us like little children and if we are on the wrong road the Universe/Souce will gently guide us back to the path that is for our highest purpose. If we don't listen to the gentle whispering it gets louder and louder but NOT in the form of FEAR based beliefs of other people or a society saturated in sacrificial doctrine. It tends to manifest in our bodies and makes us sick or we have an accident or unfortunate coinsidence that is like a slap in the face! Either way, we need to listen and start tuning ourselves into the whispering so we get "slapped in the face" less and less. :) Your only job is to LISTEN and TRUST (then of course act)! Listen to what the Universe is telling you! How? What makes you FEEL alive and whole? What excites you? What is fun and makes you feel...expansive? Likewise, pay attention to the times when you are feeling constricted, life-less, and you are NOT enjoying what is going on. Those feelings are your key! How did you feel at the work? School? With a certain person? At a specific religious service? That is your clue about whether or not that choice was right for you. If it was FEAR that you are doing something wrong or are not going in the right direction it is definitely the not the right choice for your life! Pay attention to that first subtle clue in your body….don’t wait until you get sick! That is FALSEHOOD and the opposite of LOVE and expansiveness. You can always choose love!!! You are right where you need to be. If there are things in your life you are questioning...pay attention to how they feel in your body...then have the courage to trust yourself and move forward whether it is in alignment with these things (whether it's a relationship, living situation, or job) or without. The Universe will rise to meet you as you move into being more and more...well...you! :) Trust the love inside of you! Let's build this foundation of love (not fear) together!!!" It has been quite the month! Between the eclipse sandwich (2 solar and 1 lunar), my birthday and the powerful solstice energy in June I have felt A LOT of shifting as I try to live my life more presence, pleasure and peace! For me it has felt like I've been coming in for a "landing." I've been feeling the Earth's energy draw me close and closer. It's been calling me to live from my lower chakras (of rootedness, creativity and power) to balance the "floatier" energies of heart, head and beyond! I've been feeling a call to "anchor in" (whatever that means). ;)
Maybe you have felt it too?! Or maybe you've been feeling the urge to let go, allow, to "fly!" So today was "landing day" for me! I have never felt so grounded and in my body EVER...and it feels really good! I can feel my feet on the ground (literally) for the first time and there is a pleasant heaviness to my mass of of cells and organs that lets me know I am even MORE fully alive than before. One of the main things I stress in sessions with clients is to trust their own instincts and inner wisdom. So today, my body, my wisdom is calling me to enjoy, relish and be present to this transition and integration of more of me. Although there are many things to do...I am going to joyfully listen. This means going offline until Monday (at least) and just being very present in my body! Neat - huh? :) I'm excited to dive into the new space we just created for messiness and art with my two amazing daughters and really get my hands dirty. I'm excited to be amazed at the way my clothes feel on my skin and the way my hair brushes against my shoulders...all things I have never really felt. I feel like I am home again and I want to be present to it, extract every ounce of pleasure from it and rest in the peace of knowing I listened...really listened to the wisdom of my body and soul. I look forward to sharing more of this journey with you. Until then, please let me know how you have been experiencing your own life. Have you felt a shift? Are you feeling more open...expansive? Have you constricted any areas of your life? Please leave a comment below and I look forward to connecting next week! Last week I blogged about Alignment #1 for living a more authentic life. These are rules I "officially" lived at Eden Unplugged in a small community of evolutionary entrepreneurs for three days and nights. They also represent the genuine feeling of self-awareness and community that was the real education students received in my classroom as a teacher of young souls...solving equations was secondary. :) I'm so excited to share them with you and have already received amazing feedback about peeps actually applying these principles to their lives and seeing results! Woo hoo!
Alignment #2: Don't Do What You Don't Want To Do! Now I was thinking to myself, this is the same as the first alignment and I really like to keep things positive rather than tell people what NOT to do. But there are a few important distinctions I would like to highlight here. Those of you who have ever said to yourself... I have to... I should... I'm supposed to... I always get roped into... I hate doing this but... I don't really want to but... then you are doing things that ARE NOT serving your highest interset and robbing you of more PRESENCE, PLEASURE and PEACE right now! No more obligations! Here's the subtlety - Alignment #2 is about you CEASING from doing the things you don't really want to do and Alignment #1 is about CREATING the things you DO want to do! So now CEASE and CREATE! (but only if you want to:) I have hit my limit...literally! I overdrew my checking account for the last time yesterday! That's right folks, I'm laying out there for everyone to see because I'm so sick and tired of living this way (and I know many of you are as well)!
I have spent the last decade meditating, learning, reading and writing about...honing and shaping my internal world and the last year helping others to do the same...BUT, I have strategically neglected, ignored, and straight up refused to look at my inner workings and beliefs around money! Why? Because …
And here is the hilarious thing…I overdrew my account at the one time during the year I had and have PLENTY of money to pay for all bills plus some! And still, I miss managed, ignored, neglected and refused to LOOK at my finances because as we all now know by my internal money thermometer…money (according to Leslie) is the root of all that is evil and wrong with people! Well all I can say (and this was my big aha! this week) is THANK YOU! Thank you for moments of poverty for teaching me about what I really value in this life! Thank you “pay check to pay check” for teaching me to consume responsibly and to live simply so other may simply live! Thank you for the jobs that paid me a small percentage of what I and the job was worth, for you led me to search my soul for my true worth and passion. Thank you to my parents and generations before them who unwittingly transmitted these beliefs, for they provided me with many opportunities to empathize with, acknowledge the dignity of and genuinely communicate with people no matter how rejected and alien they may seem to society. Thank you…and I now officially release all the struggling and scarcity! I am ready to FULLY embrace a world of abundance and unlimited potential…not just within my soul but on the outside as well, in this incredibly beautiful, exquisite earthly realm! I’m ready to be able to
Now, don't worry, this hippie soul still looks forward to a the day (hopefully in my lifetime) when our gifts and talents are exchanged equally in community and we are valued just for being human! A time when everyone has more than enough and enjoys enough inner and outer freedom to embrace the cycle of giving and receiving effortlessly but... until that day I will honor the place and time I was planted and accept any and all outer (and inner) abundance the Universe would gift me! I’m all in for love AND money $! Having been raised a Roman Catholic, this week marks the beginning of the holy season of Lent. If you celebrate Lent you may be giving up something (like chocolate or coffee) for 40 days and 40 nights and abstaining from meat on Fridays. Some of us even attend a service, get ashes swept across our foreheads (a sign that we will return to dust) and listen to readings about how we should foresake all things religious? Huh? lol
As a child, Lent always kind of rubbed me the wrong way. It’s like the season went against the very truth of who I was! As children we are naturally drawn to celebrate...everything! I don't know a child that comes to sacrifice very naturally. Lent is a time for repentance...for sacrificing to God and many people interpret this as sacrificing worldly pleasures...as if worldly pleasures were bad! And all this at a time when the flowers are beginning to bloom, the birds are singing and the energy of the Universe is "twiterpated!" It's like the world is just beckoning you to indulge! So whether or not you’re frying fish up on Fridays or not, I wanted to leave with just a few things to ponder… 1) Yes, we are dust... AND stardust ! You are the Dark but you are also the Light! And that’s okay…it’s perfect! 2) What if…just what if nothing you could do in this life time would EVER offend, hurt or shame the Ulmighty God of All…or this All Loving Universe! Just what if? 3) If you integrated these two thoughts, how would that change your life? How would you FEEL? How would you interpret the things that “happen” to you or others? Would it change the way you live your life? I for one will be enjoying the pleasures of this amazing realm we call Earth. After all, we have chosen to be an intimate and integral part of it…I hear my fair trade, sustainably harvested organic dark chocolate calling now! :) Ashes to ashes…stardust to stardust…smile to your heart that carries both! |
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