Guided Meditation • Visualization • Mindfulness

The meditation paradox is this:  While it is true that most of us take up meditation for a specific purpose (i.e., anger management, inner wisdom, stress relief, lowering the blood pressure etc…), using our practice as a means to an ends impedes true progress. This is because meditation is an evolution.  Your understanding of yourself, your environment, and your needs evolve as you practice.

 If you are focused solely on the outcome, for example inner wisdom, you will eventually become frustrated with your practice because you will be expecting “something to happen,” during your meditation.    In fact the more you want something the less likely you are to get it because when you are in a state of wanting, what you are really saying is, “I don’t have.”  Wanting something denotes future time.  It’s like saying, “I’ll be happy when…” or “I’ll be happy when I’ve achieved….” or “I’ll be happy when I have…”

A general Buddhist belief is that every human being has within them the potential for enlightenment.  Religious Scientists believe that since God is omnipresent, and God is perfect, whole and complete, then the human being is also perfect, whole and complete.  Ask a Hindu about the divinity of Jesus Christ, and she might say, “Well if one person is the perfect son of god, then we are all the perfect sons and daughters of god.”  If you believe that what you want already exists as a potential within you, then you have removed the need for future in your practice. That is, what you want is already there.

There is a paradox between having a destination and resting in the confidence that you will eventually arrive at your destination.  If you are always asking yourself, “How much further, when will I get there,” you may in fact become disheartened with the journey.  If however you decide to enjoy journey and the scenery then you are more likely to arrive at your destination in a timely manner.

Your practice is a living thing that needs room to breathe, to grow, and to evolve.  Come to your practice with an intention then let the intention go and enjoy the ride. 
 

“Live your passion and you’ll always have money in your pocket!”  That’s what I told my youngest daughter the other night while I was tucking her into bed.

Passion is a strange conversation to have with an almost seven year old at bedtime, but she’s searching for a way to express her unique, and I think audacious, point of view about life.  “We’ll go see Jerry at the Gymnastics studio on Saturday and take a cheerleading class,” I said.  She is really excited.

Passion is a gift. Passion tells us why we’re here and what we’ve come to share and to express with the people around us.  Passion doesn’t have to be about something big.  We can be passionate about flowers, or sunny days, or reptiles.  What’s most important is that we are able to express that passion with enthusiasm and then share it with others.  Passion is a great, good thing.

If you don’t know what your passion is then ask yourself, “If I had 20 million dollars, what would I buy and how would I live?”  Take your time and really let the answer come from within, let the answer fill your heart, let it create an energy within you.

But what if the answer both exhilarates you and makes you sad?  What if your answer is to buy a sail boat and sail around the world…but you remember the kids, and being the president of the PTA, and making sure mother takes her medications, etc…What if sailing around the world is too impractical?  Well, what about just taking sailing lessons and taking your mother and your kids with you.  Yes you can find a creative way to make your passion work for you right now. 

How much is your passion worth to you?  If you are always finding excuses why you can’t live your passion then maybe being happy, I mean really happy, isn’t worth that much to you.  Or, maybe that “thing” you dream about is just a fantasy and not a passion.  If that’s true, then ask yourself again, meditate on it, contemplate what would bring you the most joy in this moment, and invite passion into your life today!

With Love,
Krista 

Hello and Happy New Year!

What! How can we think of a happy new year when bad news is all around us? Recession, people losing their jobs and their homes, tax returns are delayed because California is broke, the Taliban is back in charge in Afghanistan, and so on. But communities are not things in and of themselves.  A community is a collection of individuals and the energy or mindset of the community is determined by the individual consciousness of everyone in it. 
 
Our thoughts are sneaky.  We may believe that we are thinking positively, that we are in charge of our thoughts, but the truth is, is that our thoughts are in charge of us most of the time.  For example, how often do you think about what you do not want, or how much you dislike your work, or your neighbor, or how much debt you have?  How often do you complain, criticize, judge, become defensive, or compare yourself to others?  How often does it happen that when you see a beautiful or wealthy person you think that their beauty is fake and their wealth undeserved?
 
To find peace in our body/mind and community we must rest our conscious awareness in the truth:   that because we are alive, and there is breath in our bodies, we have the awesome power of choice. 

Watch your thoughts closely this week, notice the thoughts that make you feel anxious, stressed, and fearful.  If necessary, take a mental health break and go on a news fast for the week.  Put off talking to your friend that likes to complain about everything for a few days.

When you change the way you think and feel about your life, the conditions of your life will follow.  We have been deluded into believing that in order to be happy, to realize health, wealth and wellbeing the conditions of our lives must change first, not so.  But only you can change the way you think and feel about your life.  This isn’t about “the power of positive thinking,” this is about affirming the truth that you are the beloved of the Universe, that you possess the awesome power of thought, and that you have the free will to choose and to create freely in your experience.

Know the truth and the truth will set you free!

Every breath presents us with an opportunity for renewal.  The leaves don’t regret the turning of the seasons and the birds don’t lament winters past.  Every thing in the natural world exists fully in this moment and is therefore always new.  Humans have this same ability to be renewed and live fully in the present moment for we are not separate from the phenomenal world we are integral to it. 
 
Numerologically 2008 was a year of new beginnings.  What did you initiate?  What seeds did you gather for harvest this past year?  Spend some time this week contemplating these questions, because 2009 is the year that we will be planting and nurturing these seeds.  Perhaps there was something that was initiated that you don’t want to bring to fruition this coming year.  Write those things down and burn them, release them, let them go.  You can do this; it is your birthright to be renewed and prosperous in this coming year.  Do you believe you can have that?  I know that you can.
 
May the coming hours, days, weeks, and months be a blessing to you.  Breathe deeply and live fully.
Love,
Krista

“When bad thoughts enter your mind, let them come through. Don’t resist them. Let them talk. Let them have the floor to speak .Then, when they’re done talking, talk back to those thoughts and correct them. Let them know that they have no power. They hold no weight. And most importantly–They’re not real.”
           —-Dr. Daniel Amen M.D.
      Author of: Making a Good Brain Great

Our thoughts create our reality. This is no secret. However, have you ever thought or imagined an event so crazy, that if it happened instantly, you would be in deep trouble? I know I have. In fact, I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t.  Have you ever thought about why those thoughts almost never happen instantaneously? I have. And what I’ve come up with may be just as crazy as the thoughts themselves.

The best way to explain my theory is this:  Your thoughts are like those school erasable markers, and your reality is like the dry erase board that you write on with those markers.

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New Year Clearing Ceremony
Saturday January 3rd from 1:00 to 3:00 PM

Together we’re going to create clear intentions, visualize a clear path for the New Year, and welcome 2009 burden free!
 
 
 
Cost:  Donation
 
Where:  The lovely home of Liz Ata in San Pedro, CA
please email me for Liz’s address and directions

“Why do you keep focusing your attention on what you do not want?” This question was asked over and over again at the seminar I attended a few months ago on *The Law of Attraction by Ester and Jerry Hicks. 

The Law of Attraction simply states that whatever you think about consistently you experience, so if you don’t like your life’s experiences then change your thinking.  That is, if you keep focusing on what’s not working in your life you’ll never be able to create what it is you really want.

Sitting there in the audience watching person after person go up on stage and have this same question posed to them, I became acutely aware of many of the same repetitive and negative thought patterns within myself.

 I left the seminar convinced that negative thinking is useless.  Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, repetitive negative thinking and haranguing about what is not working in your life, who did what to whom, what Mary should do about Bob etc…creates internal chaos which inevitably leads to external chaos. 

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The Law of Attraction simply states that whatever you think about consistently you experience, so if you don’t like your life’s experiences then change your thinking. 

This concept is very easy to understand, but the human being is a complex animal.  We are not just a thinking body, we have an emotional body, we have a past, we have genetics which affects our temperament, we have repetitive and ingrained habits, we live with aging (ungrateful) parents, we have (ungrateful) children, (outrageous) college tuition, and so on… 

However, implied in The Law of Attraction is the belief that YOU are not all of these things YOU are something infinitely greater than just your thoughts, your feelings, your temperament, and your experiences… and when you recognize a pattern of thought that does not feel good, you tap into that Source that is YOU and that Source is all powerful. So, Law of Attraction is a philosophy that puts your ultimate well-being in your own hands. 

Ester Hicks channels a collective energy called Abraham, so it’s not just “she” that is speaking but “they” that are speaking.  I like to think of “Abraham” as having an advanced masters degree in the field of Law of Attraction and Ester has a highly skilled teaching assistant. 

Many of us are new to this idea of “channeling” and perhaps the concept is a little weird (I know it gives my dad a bit of the hebi-jeebies),  but try and reserve your judgments for after you’ve read the article above and perhaps done some research on your own.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Love,
Krista