Guided Meditation • Visualization • Mindfulness

Usually when people speak of oneness and unity what they are really talking about is sameness.

Look for the sameness and that’s where you will find the oneness. But is it true that that sameness leads to Oneness?

Sameness is safe. Sameness means that you are just like me, that you love just like me, digest just like me, that you are human just like me.

Looking for sameness means that I don’t really have to look beyond my own self concepts to find you.

People are afraid to disagree with each other especially when it comes to “important” matters like religion, politics, or raising children because they believe that have to agree in order to be friends. When we agree then we are the same.

But where there is agreement there is no growth. Where there is sameness there is no God in multiplicity.

As a culture we need to learn the art of allowing disagreement and difference.

As long as we listen to one another, disagreements are beautiful. In fact, one of the most powerful phrases in the human language is, “I hear you.” The other is, “I see you.”

I love to hold the energy of allowing people to be themselves, to have their own thoughts and opinions. I love not wanting to change anyone. I love it when I can love people just as they are. When I am doing that, oneness doesn’t matter.

Is freedom from judgement possible?

Is it possible to not feel pain when others criticize you, your ideas, or projects?

Is it possible to not to feel joy when others praise you?

Praise and criticism are two sides of the judgment coin. To let go of one, means you’ll have to get rid of the other.

I have a confession to make, I enjoy making others happy.

It feels good when my picky children say, “dinner was good mom,” and it feels bad when a project I’d spent hours on is rejected or criticized at a board meeting.

There was a time when my desire to please others kept me from saying what was really in my heart and mind. I would withhold the “truth” because I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but really I was fearful of their reaction, fearful that I would be rejected.

My desire to please others became a trap.

My desire to please others started to change when my children became school age. I realized that no one would advocate better for my children than me, and so their needs became greater than my insecurities. I have had to confront other parents, teachers, coaches, and administrators on their behalf.

My meditation practice has been invaluable to me in dealing with judgments and confrontation.

Meditation has not only helped me to stay calm and centered, it has taught me to recognize the “me” beyond my fears, doubts, and emotions. That is, the practice of sitting, breathing, and being while letting my thoughts and feelings go, has carried over into all other aspects of my life!

Freedom from the judgement of others isn’t about not feeling happy or hurt, it’s about knowing who you are beyond the noisiness of your doubtful thoughts and your elated or hurt feelings. Freedom from judgement is about following your truth.

Meditation heals.
Just Breathe,
Krista

“Connecting with the Still Small Voice Within,” 8 Week Meditation Class starts January 25th and January 26th.

I started my meditation later than usual morning.  As soon as I began, I heard both of my kids screaming at each other over the Wii remote.

Thoughts rushed in, “Why is this happening now?” “This shouldn’t be happening.”  “I should send them to camp.”

I felt anger radiate down the insides of my legs, my stomach tighten, and throbing at my temples.

I willed myself to stay conscious and not react by employing two techniques:

• Deep conscious breathing to allow myself to feel what was happening inside of me.
• “Positive Self Talk.”

(more…)

This weekend I went to a fabulous workshop to experience “The Point Zero” painting method with Michele Cassou.  Michele’s revolutionary technique of process painting teaches us how to respond to the creative impulse within.  She says, “Creativity knows what you need, when you let it through, it gives you what you need.”  Love that!

I went to Michele’s workshop feeling open and excited.  The first day I painted flowers, trees, and a cow.  It was fun but far from earth shattering.  I noticed too that my energy level during that first day was really low.  I was hungry all day and I couldn’t wait to take a break.  When I asked Michele about it she said “Fatigue is not  uncommon.  What it represents is that we are fighting with our creativity, with our intuition.”

The next day when I arrived, I found myself painting trees, again.  Then I started to paint some mostly trite and uninspiring words, “God, Love, Sad…”  When I asked Michele if it was okay to the words she reminded me that we were to paint images.  I immediately felt at a loss.  She then suggested that I stay with the discomfort of not being able to use words to express myself.

I went back to the painting, wordless,  and had it in my mind to paint another flower when suddenly I stopped, my brush poised just above the paper.  In that moment I realized that because I didn’t know what to do I went right back to what I already knew how to do!  By doing what I already know, I wasn’t allowing the unknown to move through me.

This is exactly what we discuss in the journaling and meditation class.  Instead of paint however, we use a method called “Free Writing,” writing prompts, and guided meditations to move our awareness away from our conditioned/thinking mind.  Through writing and being still we exhaust everything we know about ourselves and the unknown Self emerges.

Connecting with the unknown Self, our source of creativity, is addicting.  Once you feel the newness, the insight, and the love moving through you, you want more of it. However, it doesn’t have to happen through the painting process or even the writing process.  My feeling is that any method that keeps your attention focused and in the present moment introduces you the great unknown Self.  It cannot help but to emerge through us.  As Michele says, “It’s just waiting to come through you.”

Namaste

 Marriage as a vehicle for deeper self awareness, pleasure, enchantment, and perhaps enlightenment?  Why not?

You’re married, committed, at least for now, but you are craving something more from your relationship. You look at your partner and think that the moreness that you are craving should come from him or her.  You think,”If only he’d talk with me more, share more of his feelings with me, then I would feel more fulfilled.” Or,  “If she would take better care of herself, laugh at my jokes like she used to when we were dating, or just lighten-up, then I would feel fulfilled.” Really?

What if your marriage really is the key to a more fulfilling life, but you’ve just been approaching it in the wrong way?   What if what you most need from your partner is what you have been unable or unwilling to give to yourself? What if what you are really craving is already within you and is spiritual in nature?

Being married for spiritual practice means that you are willing to be your absolute best self, alongside your partner, for the purpose of mutual joy, love, and spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical fulfillment.  This is an intuitive practice of living and problem solving; it means looking inward first rather than looking to your partner as your source of pleasure or pain.  Marriage as spiritual practice isn’t a flight from reality rather it is a complete and total engagement with reality.

There are four keys to this practice and subsequently to a terrific marriage:

1. Getting in touch with your intuition.  Intuition is your partner and your guide through the windy road of marriage.  It is through the gate of your intuition that you’ll be able to see yourself and your marriage in a new revolutionary way.

2. Practicing Self Awareness through seeing yourself in your partner.  This is the most vital and challenging aspect of this practice and I’ll be talking about it more at a later date.  Of course meditation, contemplation, spiritual study, therapy, prayer… whatever you need to have a better understanding of who you really are, is also necessary.

3. Clear truthful communication. That is,  speaking and listening from deep within the body.  What is it you really need to communicate to your partner?  To find out, you will need to feel your way to the truth through the body and the breath.  Truth is not in your head, but in your heart. Listening too requires that you are grounded in your body.  This way you are completely present to yourself and your partner.

4. Having a clear and mutual vision for your marriage or having a big picture regarding your marriage.  What do you both want your marriage to look, feel, and be like? Has it changed?  Are you on the same page regarding your vision?

Your marriage is organic, unique, and alive. While you are in it, be in it consciously.  Use the challenges in your marriage and with your partner to deepen in empathy, patience, and love.  When you are not being challenged, take pleasure in one another’s company, don’t take the gift of a pleasant evening together for granted.
Be present, be mindful, breathe…

Nature is cyclical.  She demonstrates the natural law of cycles through the movement of the seasons, that is,  gestation (Winter), birth (Spring), growth (Summer), and death/change (Fall).

There is a hidden force that propels and perpetuates this movement.  We can see Its effects, and if we are sensitive, we can feel Its movement within and around us.  In the East this force is called Karma.

Karma means action in Saskrit, not just physical action, but the intention or the belief behind your action.  Thoughts, feelings, and doing all grow out of your primordial action or  intent.

Actions leave behind seeds, seeds that will germinate, be born, grow, and eventually ”die” leaving more seeds in your consciousness.  For example, I give my daughter a kiss and a long hug because I want to express my love for her. Giving affection is the action resulting from my intention to express love. She is a pre-teen, so when she responds in kind the love I feel multiplies immediately and when she is sullen, I comfort myself by knowing that the action will return to me at a later time and in a later form, like snuggling on the couch while watching a favorite TV show.

Although the action finished or “died” with the long hug, the act left seeds of love in my consciousness, seeds that can germinate and grow only if I continue to act from love. If however, I decided to withhold affection from her in the future because her response was not what I expected, then the seeds of love will not germinate and grow within my consciousness.  As a consequence there would not be snuggles, hugs, and unexpected kisses in the future. Do you see the cycle?

Karma is unfailing, a law unto itself, it just is. So if you want to experience more love in your life then you must act from love.

This week be very mindful about what you are thinking because your thoughts are manifestations of your primordial actions (intentions).  When you catch yourself thinking negatively, ask yourself, ”Is this the seed I want to germinate and grow in my experience?”  If not, then move your attention to a thought or image that you do want to experience.  Better yet, do something with the intention of planting seeds of love.  Pray instead of criticize, do a random act of kindness every week, give something of yourself everyday, meditate.

During this week’s class we are going to contemplate the seeds in our consciousness and work on creating a positive mental atmosphere.  Yay!

Everything begins with the breath.

Shallow breathing is an indication of stress.  Shallow breathing makes the spine rigid, the belly hard, and the face stern.  Shallow breathing is a confirmation that life is difficult and puts you in a state of mind that is resistant to Life. Your mantra is “No.”

When you breathe deeply, the spine is fluid, the eyes are clear, and the voice is melodious.  The belly becomes soft and life becomes softer. When you breathe deeply, your attitude aligns with the attitude of the Universe; “yes” is your mantra.

A deep conscious breath can change everything.  Done repeatedly, it will lower your blood pressure, improve your memory, release you from the burden of your past, and transform an enemy into a friend.

Do this:  Take a deep conscious breath all the way down to your toes and sigh it out.  Let the shoulders drop away from the bottoms of your ears.  Relax your forehead and your jaw.  Repeat the process, except this time close the mouth and exhale through the nose. Repeat.

During this weeks classes we discussed how we can move beyond our egos.  Some students, however, felt strongly that we need our egos.  The most common concerns were,  ego is necessary for human consciousness to evolve on this planet, without ego we would be too passive to create anything, ego is helpful in creating strong personal (and national) boundaries, and ego is what makes us unique individuals.

An argument can be made that without ego human consciousness would not have evolved as it is now.  However, the question is, is the ego useful to the continued evolvement of consciousness on this planet, and if not, can we let it go?

All of the hurt and dysfunction in our lives and the lives of others are the result of unchecked ego.

Your true nature is whole, perfect, and complete.  Ego is simply a condition that arises when humans are separate from their true, perfectly good, natures.

Ego is sustained by a wanting that can never be satiated. The ego wants love, power, and immortality.  The more divided we are from our true nature the more prevalent ego is in our lives.

We chase after love hoping to feed our emptiness.  We deny love to those whom we feel aren’t worthy of it.  Egoic love is conditional and conditional love is ephemeral and painful.

Poverty and hunger are the manifestations of the ego’s insatiable need for power.

Arguments and violent conflict in the home and between nations arise from our personal and collective need to be right, an extension of the need for power.

In the west we have an unhealthy denial of death, and as a result we are obsessed with youth and vitality and eschew the wisdom that comes with age.

The ego keeps us blind to the truth that we are an interdependent species; we thrive as individuals when we are harmonious in our communities.

Ego only serves me if I wish to continue to create suffering for myself and others.  Inner peace and ego are mutually exclusive. They cannot occupy the same space.

More next week

Shanti, Shalom, Salaam, Peace

—Read, “The New Earth,” by Eckhart Tolle

What you think about yourself is vital to your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.  What you think about yourself is proportional to how race, socio-economic class, gender, and  level of education are interpreted in the society in which you live.  Another very important factor is how well loved you were as a child.

All of this cultural and personal ”stuff” has created an unconscious image that you refer to as your “self. ” How you interpret this “stuff,” either as positive or negative, will determine your personal level of happiness.

Over-coming the belief that you are powerless in the face of external circumstances is the most difficult aspect of any spiritual or self-development path.

Perhaps you were not well loved as a child, you live in a culture where you are considered a second class citizen, or you are hungry for food, shelter, warmth, love.  Your external reality may indeed be a source of pain and suffering.

However, the question you need to ask yourself is this, “Am I going to continue to be vicitmized by being in mental agreement with what my parents, society, or circumstances say about who I am and what I am capable?  Or am I going to live an empowered happy life?”

Here are three things you can do today to change your thinking and empower yourself:

1. Listen to your thoughts and challenge your negative beliefs.  Ask yourself, “Is this thought serving me?”  “Is it empowering?” “Is it helpful?”  If not, then consciously choose another thought that does serve you, that is empowering, that is helpful.

2. Read a short story about a person who has overcome a similar circumstance.  Then tell yourself, “If she could do it, then so can I.” Keep this story handy so you can look at it when you feel unsure.

3. Take one situation that isn’t working the way you would like it to, and re-write it to reflect how you would like it to be.  In this re-write paint yourself as the hero, say what you  want, do what you need to, and be the person who triumphs!

Shanti, Shalom, Peace

I have been journaling on and off since my early twenties.  I have used it as a tool for stress relief and insight.  My journaling practice has been as valuable to my personal well-being and the evolution of my consciousness as meditation and in this article I’m going to teach you how to journal.

I employ two types of journaling practice:  The first is called free-writing and the second is called contemplative journaling.

Free-writing is stream of consciousness writing.  Many professional writer’s employ free-writing as a warm-up tool but I feel it is invaluable on its own.  The purpose is, is that if you write long enough you will by-pass “thinking-mind,” or conditioned thought, and enter into a new and fresh perspective.  Free-writing is therapeutic because you are able to dump all of the stress and mental chatter onto the page.   During every class, there is at least one student who is astounded by her own depth and creativity and you will be too.

Here’s how you do it:  Set the kitchen timer or your phone for 5 to 15 minutes (the longer the better) and write down the first thought, image, or feeling that comes into your head.  If you don’t know what to write, write, “I don’t know what to write…” If you think the assignment is too meaningless, write, “This assignment is meaningless, it’s…” During class, I will give the students a sentence to use as a writing prompt.  At home, take a book off the shelf, open it up randomly, and write down the first sentence you see.  This will also help to get you started.

The most important aspects of free-writing are:  write continuously, write exactly what comes into your mind no matter how absurd, and give yourself the freedom of misspelled words and poor grammar.  The point is not to over think what you are writing, just write, just be free.

Shanti, Shalom, Peace!