Please click onto each link to read the corresponding article.
In Search of Happiness - Mark Taylor & Nicky Kennedy
My Journey Home - from HIV to Light Grids and Beyond - David Rabone
Ways to Manage Stress Better - Linda Hall
A Different Kind of Kindness - Joanne Ross
Another Year Older Another Year Bolder - Paul Wilson Bonner
A Loving Welcome to 2012 - Pennie Munslow
Guru-U: Maintaining Balance & Maximising Potential - Paul Wilson Bonner
The Mid-life Crisis or something else? - Mark Taylor & Nicky Kennedy
Change your world, one breath at a time, with Transformational Breath® Andria Falk
Create the life of your dreams, by becoming aware - Fiona Maguire
Are accidents really just random coincidences? - Joanne Ross & Robert Waghmare
Circle Work - Joy Hicklin-Bailey
The New Crystalline Rainbow Heart School - Alexander & Monika Comberti
A Message of Hope - Sarah Page, Helper Angel
The Silence of the Mind - excerpts from the book by Ilie Cioara
Spiritual Energy Release - Barbara Toovey and Sue Hulme
The Creative Genius of Your Dreaming Mind - Davina MacKail
It's time to reach the top of your mountain and co-create Heaven on Earth !
The Magnificence of Birth - Louise Claire-Pardoe
Creating abundance through your website - Sian Morgan
Miracle or Method? - Sandy Newbigging
Compassion vs Judgment - Sarah Page
Miracles are everywhere - Sarah Page
Finding Peace in Times of Change and Uncertainty - Sarah Page
The City of Light Community, Glastonbury - Anthony John
The Kids are alright ..... story of the Indigo Children - Sarah & Michael Feeley
Meditation - the stress solution - Mary Pearson
Your Biography = Your Destiny? - Louise Claire-Pardoe & Jason Psil-Claire
Take responsibility for yourself, don't expect someone else to do it for you
Past Life Regression Therapy - Paul Tromans
Signposts - A NEW AND EXCITING Transformational Energy System - Ros Taylor
Colour-code your diet - Lauryn McGuiness
Get Positive! - Sarah Smith
Learn to be more spiritual - Louise Claire-Pardoe & Jason Paul-Claire
In Search of Happiness
It's interesting that when we speak to people about what they want from their life; what it is that they would really want to have achieved when they sit in their rocking chair when they are 95 years old and look back on their accomplishments; often the response is Happiness.
This is a perfectly understandable response, as we all want to be Happy, don't we?
What is interesting is that Happiness is an emotional state and in theory, we can all have Happiness at any time. Yet, we have a tendency to link achieving happiness to future events. 'As soon as I meet the right person, I'll be Happy...' 'If I could just earn more money, I would be Happy...' 'I will be Happy when I can afford a new car.' and the list of things that we equate to obtaining Happiness may go on.
So what is it that causes us to look outside of ourselves for Happiness? We often see other people who we perceive have the Happiness that we want and we form ideas that it is their good job, giving them more money to buy the things that they want which makes them Happy. This is a very linear, conscious minded way of solving problems, i.e. 'If C is desirable; A leads to B; B leads to C; so C can be achieved by way of B and C. But does this way of thinking lead to Happiness?
How many people do you see or read about that have good jobs that are unhappy? How many people do you see or read about that have money and are miserable?
We will all have been surprised to discover at some time or other friends or someone we know who, on the surface, appear to have it all and yet are extremely unhappy. So if we can't use a linear problem solving process to achieve what we want, how do we find the solution to Happiness?
When we are looking outside of ourselves for the answers, we have a habit of changing our environment, thinking that this will be the solution. We change our hairstyle; go shopping (even if we can't afford it); book a holiday and even go as far as changing our homes, jobs or even our bodies. Unless we address what is going on inside us, we can find ourselves feeling the same discontent and dissatisfaction in the new environment.
How many of you have changed jobs because you are unhappy with how you got on with colleagues, only to find that in your new place of work you come across the same type of people with different names and faces? Is this because we project those feelings of being unhappy on the inside of us onto others? Just think about how much more colourful the world appears and how much better people seem to react to you when you are feeling Happy inside, why is that? We can keep changing what is going on outside of us yet the way we feel inside will remain the same and if we keep doing the same thing, we get the same results.
Two Presuppositions of NLP are that 'People have all of the resources that they need' and 'People do the best they can with the resources available to them at the time'. These Presuppositions mean that we have everything we need inside of us and only need assistance with the connection to those resources.
So in practical terms, how can you find the happiness that you are looking for? The place to start is by asking yourself, what stops you from being Happy now? When we ask our clients this question, once we get beneath the initial response of material possessions, we discover that it is often around feelings of unfulfillment and not realising potential.
The next question that we usually ask in these situations is, if you could achieve anything and couldn't fail, what would you do? The response usually gives us the person's real goals and ambitions and we can then work with them on the obstacles that they believe stand in their way, such as confidence and limiting beliefs that they have about their capabilities. You can ask yourself these same two questions:
What stops you from being Happy now?
If you could achieve anything and couldn't fail, what would you do?
If you are honest with yourself, it will allow you to work on the real obstacles which stand in your way and it will show you the things that are really important in your life.
Also make Happiness your habit. Practice feeling Happy inside at least three times a day to begin with and increase this as you feel Happier and Happier within yourself. Notice the things around you that you enjoy, the simple things such as seeing the sun shining when you open the curtains or spending time with the family and friends who are important to you. Focus on the things that already have. Do things which will change your internal feelings such as laughing and smiling. As you become more and more Happy with yourself, choose to be around people who are also Happy with themselves. Happiness inside breeds Happiness outside.
.. and what about happiness itself? We will end this article with the quote from Hugh Downs - 'A Happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.' Think about where you are looking for your own Happiness...
By Mark Taylor and Nicky Kenedy
www.opt2xl.co.uk
My Journey Home
From HIV to Light Grids, and Beyond
There are pivotal moments in your life, events that change who you are, and the direction in which you are headed. I have had many of these occurrences, but none more powerful or profound than the moment I was diagnosed with HIV. At that moment, through the shock and shame of what was happening, I could feel a little flame of destiny being fanned. Through my despair, and there was a lot of that, I knew that my life had, at last, begun. I was 32 years old at the time. Somehow, deep within my heart, I knew that I would survive this trauma, that I would heal, and someday be an inspiration to many others and to myself. I didn't realise that I would need to completely change who I thought I was. I couldn't have known that the adventure that followed would take me to the depths of my humanity, and all it's seeming faults; that I would have to face my darkest self. I didn't realise what a healing journey really entailed.
My adult life, up until that point, had been one plagued with disappointment. I just couldn't seem to get onto the right path, no matter how hard I tried. Of course, the path I was walking wasn't the one I thought I was destined to travel. Or was it? As I look back, I can see the perfection of all my seeming imperfections. They were like wonderful gifts wrapped with a barbed wire bow. It turned out I just needed to receive a few cuts and bruises before I reached the prize.
At the time of my diagnosis I was living in London. I had moved there from Scotland when I was 22 years old, straight out of university. I thought I was headed for the big time. You see, I wanted to be a star, a world famous singer but I soon realised that having talent wasn't enough. It seemed I lacked the self-belief, the energy, confidence and star quality, and this affected me badly, as each rejection was like fuel being added to the fire of unworthiness already burning inside me. Life wasn't turning out the way I had envisaged. My childhood dreams were turning into a lonely nightmare.
I had a lovely childhood. Being the youngest of four children meant that I received a lot of love. I did really well at school, top of the class, and so I had huge expectations for my life. But there was a deep pattern of sensitivity, shyness and fear that really made some days horribly painful. I remember crying myself to sleep on many occasions throughout my teenage years, wishing that I could just be taken home. Even at that age, with no spiritual teaching, I knew that home was somewhere else. I felt a lot of love from my family, but I felt there was something lacking within me. At the time, I didn't know what it was. From the vantage point of today, I know it was a chronic unworthiness, a deep sense of disconnection and rejection.
So, my journey after the diagnosis led me to serious ill health, leaving London to go back home to my parents in Scotland. I had always said that the only way I would return home would be if I were dying or dead. I guess this is a really important lesson in being careful what you say, and wish for. The day after I returned home, I told my parents of my diagnosis. I had kept it hidden from them for two years, but it was obvious that I was seriously ill. Of course, the news hit my family like a tornado, destroying everything in its path. I felt so ashamed that I had devastated them in such a way, but I had to journey on, and be strong.
A month or so before I left London, synchronicity had brought John of God to my awareness. John of God, for those who are unfamiliar with him, is a healer in Brazil. He channels very high vibrational beings, who work through him to heal those who visit. I have seen such beautiful and miraculous things there. Within two months of returning home to my family, I found myself standing in front of John of God, shaking, ashamed that he could see me, and everything that had led me to this point in my life. As I stood there, baring my soul, I asked him to heal me. He said that he would, but that it would take five years. I was devastated. I had it in my mind that I would be healed within the month. I was naïve , to say the least. So, I resigned myself to the fact that my journey to health would take longer than I had originally thought. I have now visited John of God's healing centre eight times, each visit a new chapter bringing greater insights, inspiration and healing. When I returned from my first visit, I deteriorated really quickly. I developed pneumonia and other viral infections, and spent almost a month in hospital. Only recently, I discovered that there were two occasions when I had an opportunity to pass over, but some deeper part of me must have decided that my work was not yet done, that I had more to do in this incarnation.
My recovery, when I left the hospital, was swift and within a few months I was back at work. I decided that I wanted to learn as much as I could about healing and self-development so over the next few years I studied to be a life coach, learned NLP, hypnotherapy and Theta Healing. This was a wonderfully empowering time of my life, as I peeled back layer after layer, discovering so much about myself. I was becoming more whole, but deep down I knew that I had to go further, to get to the core of my issues, to surrender to my Spirit. I knew that I wasn't fully on my path, that it felt just like a practice run, a warm up session before the race.
On my seventh trip to Brazil, I experienced another of those moments when everything changes, when you set a new course in life. I met someone called Damien Wynne. At first, there was a little awkwardness between us, but we soon connected and, since, have become good friends. Damien is the founder of an amazing healing, and life transforming, technique called Light Grids.
After returning home from that trip to Brazil, Damien invited me to learn his technique. It was different at that point, but it soon developed into what we now call Light Grids. To say that this has changed my life is the biggest understatement of the century. I soon put Theta Healing into the background and dedicated myself to the practice of this new technique. I felt like I was being invited back home, after years of wandering the desert. Don't get me wrong, all the other healing and transforming techniques were amazing, and they helped me immeasurably, but now the time had come to finally walk my path. My warm up session was complete and I was ready.
It seemed to me that to truly heal, I had to change the focus of my journey from one of healing to one of awakening. Light Grids has given me this. It has helped me move from a place of wondering, "when will I be healed?" to a place of "I am becoming more of my true Self" The need to be healed of the virus is secondary now to the calling of my Soul to return home. And from this mindset, I feel the polarity between 'Am I healed? Am I not?" is becoming less and less. A sense of balance is growing within me, a harmony that is peaceful, and yet immensely powerful. And that is healing!
So I want to describe Light Grids to you but, to be honest, to truly know it, you must experience it. I can only relay my experiences to you, in the hope that it ignites a flame in your heart and soul. I can honestly say that this is my path, and I feel privileged to be able to share my insights, my experiences and the gifts I have received over the last two years. One experience that stands out above all else was at an activation workshop Damien held in Dublin last year. After the activation I felt totally aligned with my purpose and totally at one with my Spirit. It was a huge shift in my consciousness. When I returned home from that workshop, I remember sitting with my mother, my excitement overflowing as I discussed the weekends proceedings. All of a sudden, I felt a power that I had never felt before. I knew that I was experiencing an alignment with my Divine Self, and that my Spirit was in the room, reaching out to my mother, soothing her, reassuring her at some level that her son was in good hands. She then felt dizzy, as the room seemed to fill up with a hazy light. We were both gifted that day with a blessing from Spirit. My mother's gift was faith, my gift was being able to watch her faith transform in front of my eyes.
My Light Grids journey continues day by day, as I move forward on my path of awakening. I give healings, and hold workshops, sharing the light of this amazing technique, and intend to do more of the same as 2012 progresses. I feel humbled and blessed that I can share this beautiful gift from the Universe with all those who feel its truth within their soul.
Looking back over the last eight years since my diagnosis, it is very clear to me that I created all of my experiences. I have made peace with that, and take full responsibility for all the choices I have made. I see the perfection in all my imperfections, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that life has laid before me. Am I healed? In the sense that I am more aligned with Spirit, and living from the heart. Yes! In the sense that I no longer feel unworthy. Yes! To me, that is healing. The virus was the alarm call that woke me from my slumber. So, I'm waking up, and that is healing. The rest of the journey is yet to unfold.
www.lightgrids.co.uk
Ways to manage stress better
Turning that inner intensity dial down
by Linda Hall meditation teacher, audio author and psychology practitioner
Stress comes in many forms, from a sudden crisis to the slow drip-drip of life's daily demands and, whether acute or chronic, the tensions and imbalances it creates within the body, bring a level of intensity to the way we engage with everything. The autonomic nervous system's stress response (known as 'fight or flight') affects the way we experience things. For instance, everything may feel bigger, more important and 'in your face', and the imprint of stress remains in our cellular memory and neural pathways long after the crisis has passed. Stress, quite literally, shapes the body and mind, which in turn perpetuates the vicious cycle.
We can reduce the effects of stress by learning how to modulate the fight or flight response in our nervous system. A simple way to do this is to become more aware of how we engage our attention and energy in everyday activities, then to turn that 'inner intensity dial' down a little. Just taking a step back and softening the level of intensity when we're engaging in something, (be it thinking, talking on the phone, interacting face to face or working at our computer), allows our nervous system to begin to relax and rebalance itself.
There's another aspect of stress worth looking at if we want to manage our stress levels better. Contemporary psychology tells us a major cause of stress is our own, internal stressor: that inner voice that keeps telling us we "should do better," "must get things right" or "have to keep going at all costs". As well
as using up vast amounts of nervous energy, this anxiety provoking self-talk prevents us from deep, recuperative rest. At some fundamental level, in order to really rest we need to give ourselves permission to. Internal beliefs usually drive habitual thought and behaviour patterns, so it can be really useful to examine our own beliefs around rest, and explore what gets in the way of allowing ourselves to rest properly.
We may need to re-evaluate our relationship with rest: for instance, do we see it as time where nothing useful happens, or do we feel it's a luxury we don't deserve? The truth is, rest is the body's natural growth and repair state and is essential to optimum health and well-being. In order to benefit from rest we need to engage with it fully rather than spending too many of our leisure hours on computer games, networking sites, internet browsing and television. They all tend to stimulate the nervous system rather than allow it to rest fully. Here are some tips to help you use up less nervous energy, manage stress more effectively, and get the most out of your rest.
- Soften the way you engage with people, ideas and things. Turn that inner intensity dial down again and again throughout your day.
- Notice every now and then if you are putting more energy than you need into what you are doing. Pause for a moment then put in a third less.
- Get into the habit of drawing your mind back from being so close up on everything. Let it soften and sit back a little.
- Regularly step back from situations to get the bigger picture so that you don't get lost in detail and drama.
- Learn to set healthy personal boundaries by keeping in touch with what doesn't feel 'right' or comfortable for you.
- Check in regularly with the set and posture of your body, allow it to re-organise itself (change position, etc) and let the parts of you that were holding tension begin to soften and relax.
- When resting, really give yourself permission to rest - let every part of you know that it's ok not 'to do' for a while.
- Ask yourself if you are constantly on-the-go as a distraction from any unmet inner needs you may have, and take appropriate action to address these needs.
- Build rest time into your daily schedule and commit to it.
- Recognise the difference between leisure time and rest. Leisure activities can sometimes over stimulate the nervous system and thus load more pressure on it. It could be said that rest is the absence of stimulation.
- Learn to listen to what your body is telling you - there may be an underlying feeling of exhaustion that you've learnt to override. If you're feeling 'wired but tired' it's a sure sign you are running on empty and it's time to stop.
- Pause in your thinking/doing for a moment
- Soften
- Step back
- Breathe out
- Feel the ground beneath your feet
- Turn that inner intensity dial down
by Linda Hall. Linda's meditation, relaxation and self-help CDs and Mp3s are available from her on-line shop www.AudioMeditation.co.uk. Linda also runs meditation classes and offers one-to-one tuition from her practice in North London.
Email linda@ResourcefulnessMeditation.com
Telephone (00 44) 020 3286 6478
A Different Kind of Kindness
A META-Perspective By Joanne Ross
At the end of a lovely yoga class last week, our teacher told two stories during the relaxation session. The moral of the first was to notice others, as everyone is important. The moral of the second was to transcend prejudice and act with kindness to others. Simple but powerful messages.
As we walked in the woods later that day, I mentioned the stories to Rob. 'Ah', he said, 'but there's a much more important message that's missing from these types of stories'.
There's a bigger, more pressing need for kindness in our lives. This need is shared by almost all of the clients who come to us, whether their focus is stress release, career change, relationship issues, developing confidence or overcoming anxiety.
This is the need to be kind to ourselves. We're so busy running around trying to please others, that we can forget our own needs. Not only can this lead to feeling stressed, frustrated or resentful, it also has a negative impact on our health.
META-Medicine provides the evidence...
META-Medicine demonstrates that most of our health issues stem from a variation of one theme: lack of self-acceptance and self-love. Using either the basic diagnostic process or the Emotional Pattern Elicitation Process, we can trace the majority of health issues back to this core theme.
The most obvious connection between self-worth issues and physical symptoms is in the organs directed by the Cerebral Medulla.
Issues such as arthritis, osteoporosis, muscular pain, clicking joints, musculoskeletal stiffness and tension are all directly connected to self-devaluation.
Symptoms in other Medulla-directed organs are caused by different forms of self-devaluation. With the myocardium, for example, the feeling of being overwhelmed comes from taking on too much and trying to prove oneself.
Even more interestingly, we can also take this theme beyond the Medulla. On our last Introductory Weekend, we did a demonstration on a student's rosacea-like symptoms (red spots on the surface of the cheeks). The SEE (significant emotional event) preceding the appearance of the spots had been a feeling of social humiliation.
However, this worry about others' reactions and the resulting symptom were secondary: the reaction wouldn't have occurred if there hadn't been a deeper self-devaluation preceding it. Not valuing himself fully led to an over-concern about others' perceptions.
Subjective perception
Still, it's true that a lack of kindness can lead to treating others badly, and the moral behind the yoga stories remains important. How does this fit with the lack of self-love we've been discussing?
One of the least emphasised of the 10 Core Principles behind META-Medicine is subjective perception. The official IMMA materials state that 'our environment and our bodies are a reflection of our inner reality'. Add to this our behaviour, and we see that how we treat others is actually a reflection of how we treat ourselves.
If, for example, one is constantly irritated with others' behaviour (resulting in sinus issues or frequent colds!), we can ask 'how forgiving am I truly when it comes to myself and my own behaviour?'
How can we be kinder to ourselves?
Some of the simple changes made by our clients, students and ourselves to begin to develop self-kindness include:
- Letting go of regret, self-punishment and feeling overly responsible for others' thoughts and emotions
- Allowing ourselves to feel, accept and express our whole spectrum of emotions, including those we've labelled as 'negative' and tried to lock away
- Giving ourselves permission to enter into the Second Phase, rest and regeneration, without feeling lazy or guilty
- Spending time doing something we love on a daily basis to nourish our inner sense of wellbeing
- Letting go of 'shoulds' ruling our lives
- Taking care of the body through good nutrition, breathing and movement
- Taking care of the mind and freeing ourselves from our chastising mind chatter through meditation such as Holosync and therapy
Joanne Ross META-Medicine Master Health Coach & Master Trainer (IMMA)
www.metamedicineuk.com
Another Year Older, Another Year Bolder
This is the time of year when we tend to look back at our efforts and check our 'tick list' for the year.
At the beginning of this year I read a wonderful book called 'The War of Art' by Steven Pressfield which has left a lasting impression on me and certainly shaped my year. In it Steven outlines describes what he terms 'resistance' - the things that get in the way of any creative, or otherwise, endeavours. They include laziness, watching too much TV, food, chocolate, sex and drugs and rock'n'roll etc etc. All of those things that we do that keep us away from our 'work'.
He goes on to explain that resistance is in fact good for us and the greater the resistance, not only the greater the reward, but also the proof that we are actually doing something worthwhile, otherwise these obstacles to our progress would not be put in our way for have you ever noticed that when we are attempting to fulfil something worthwhile (study, raise a family, raise our life state) 'things' always seem to get in the way? In short, if it's easy to do everyone would be doing it and it's only the brave that attempt something difficult.
I like to think of resistance in terms of weight training. The smaller the resistance the smaller our muscles are but when we increase the weight the stronger they become!
He also talks about the difference between an amateur and a professional, and no it's not that the professional gets paid. The difference lies in the simple act of turning up. The professional shows up, day in, day out. Hopefully we have all had jobs, and what is the basics requirement of any and all jobs?…We show up! We then have to put the effort in to be called a true professional. And this too is the basic requirement of any and all of our endeavours - we turn up and we put in the effort.
So, if your check list is missing a few ticks then consider the above and ask yourself the question 'Did I show up?' If you didn't then there is no point in blaming someone else or situations and circumstances as we know who it is that is ultimately responsible, don't we? And if you did but still did not reach your preferred destination then give yourself a break, at least you were there. You showed up and therefore made all the right causes which is, let's face it, the one thing we have got some degree of control over as the effects tend to look after themselves.
Enjoy setting yourself even greater goals for the coming year. Yes, you'll have resistance but you'll also become stronger!
www.guru-u.me
Or to read our blogs guru-u.me/wp
A loving welcome to 2012 by Pennie Munslow
Christmas is over. All the presents have been given, the food eaten, the alcohol drunk and now everyone has returned to their daily lives. Even New Year's Eve with its parties and celebrations have gone for another year. All the decorations have been taken down and the houses and streets look dull, dark and uninviting. No wonder this is the time of year when the animals hibernate.
Some of you may look back over the festive season and remember what a happy and joyful time you've had, others may have had an unhappy time full of disputes and money concerns and some of you may have been very lonely - the outsider as others got on with their lives leaving you in the shadows.
And now with the arrival of the New Year people are making New Year's resolutions, most of which will have fallen by the wayside by the end of January. It is a strange time of year when most of us focus on our shortcomings and decide energetically that we will become a new person and this will improve our lives for the better. As our energy wanes affected by the dark, damp and cold we remain who we are and feel keenly that we have failed ourselves. We then encourage ourselves that when the weather improves, becoming warmer, lighter and sunnier - why then we can make those changes successfully.
What I would suggest that you do, is instead of making New Year resolutions that you are very unlikely to keep why don't you start looking at yourself in a different way. "What do you mean?" I hear you say. "There is only one way to look at myself and that gives me the reaction I feel when I look in the mirror." Well I don't agree. The mirror only shows you part of the story - in fact it's only a very small part but the worrying thing is that that's what most of us appear to base our entire life around. I want you to consider that there are two parts of you. Firstly there is the You inside your body and secondly there is your body along
with the continually nagging voice in your head that never seems to go to sleep - the "monkey mind" the Buddhists call it. The You inside your body is the You that is infinite and lives for eternity. The reminder of you has a sell by date and therefore is limited not only by time but also by attitude. The eternal You is soul and heart which equates to love, the remainder is your ego which is continually
trying to protect you but whose programming is long out of date.
So start by looking at yourself in the mirror but in a different way this time. See that this body of yours is housing your soul, your heart, your love centre. Recognise that it is a thing of beauty and without it you would not be able to have the earthly existence that you need to have not only to progress your soul's experience but also to help Mother Earth, the Divine and your fellow souls at this
very important time in our Earth's history. Flip your thinking from one of criticism to one of appreciation, gratitude and wonder. Look at what your body does without you ever having to think about it - it breathes whether you are asleep or awake, it digests your food and drink so that energy is provided for you to do whatever it is that you need to do, your heart pumps your blood around your body and the coming together of sperm from one body with an egg from another body creates a new human being for a soul to inhabit.
So now look at your body again and recognise the marvel of its creation and continuation of its existence. Open your heart up to looking at your physical form through eyes of love. Feel the warmth within you radiate outwards to every part of your being. Look into your eyes in the mirror and see them turn into pools of love for who you are. We all have challenges along our pathway so release your judgments not only against other people but most importantly towards yourself. What people show on the outside is very rarely who they truly are inwardly, including you.
There are only two New Year's resolutions that you should be making this year and they are both interlinked. The first one is GET TO KNOW YOURSELF BETTER and the second one is to GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK FROM ALL THIS NONPRODUCTIVE CRITICISM and love yourself as you are.
This doesn't mean that you can't make changes but recognise that in every moment you are perfect exactly as you are and then from this basis you can decide what you can do to become even more perfect. For instance a lady may buy a lipstick and it looks stunning because of the colour of her hair, her skin, what she's wearing and the level of her vibrancy on that occasion. However at another time it may be that due to one of the above changing, a different lipstick would be more enhancing.
If you are carrying more weight than you feel comfortable with it could be that you are wearing it as a protection. Are there any issues in your life that are troubling you, that need changing? Look at yourself with the eyes of an observer and if the answer is yes set about resolving it. Depending on the issue you may not be able to clear it on your own - you may need some professional advice such as a solicitor, accountant or doctor or you may need the support of a therapist and have energy healing, reiki or massage, to name but a few. It could also mean that you are ignoring the body's needs for not just food, drink and sleep but also for exercise especially the upliftment to the heart of being out in nature, breathing in the fresh air and feeling your limbs moving the way they should.
Don't worry if you can't do very much initially, if you make it an enjoyable part of your day you will soon feel the pleasure of your body moving as it was meant to.
A gentle meditation for you to participate in at this time of year when we are all suffering from sun deprivation is to sit quietly in a special place - it can be a corner of a room or an entire room where you feel comfortable. Over time you can add special belongings to this space such as a candle, incense, crystal, music - whatever feels right to you. When you have sat down close your eyes and take 4 or 5 deep breaths. Then visualise your heart start to glow and feel warm. Watch as it expands and the golden glow begins to spread outwards until it fills every part of your body. Watch it as it expands further to fill every corner of your room, your house, your garden, and eventually the world. Sit there in your beautiful warm loving glow which will be as bright as the sun could be for as long as you have the opportunity and then just let it go asking for it to give love and healing to every living being including yourself, wherever it is needed. Slowly bring your attention back into your room and open your eyes knowing that you can bring the sunshine into your life whenever you want, whatever the time of the year. Remember that everything comes from you - that deep wonderful connecting love that you have for yourself. Keep making that connection with wonderful you and watch how your life changes.
LOVE YOURSELF!!
www.thecircleoflife.co
Guru-U: Maintaining Balance & Maximising Potential
Guru-U: Maintaining Balance & Maximising Potential: is quite unique in the world of 'self-help' in that it reflects the Buddhist perspective. Guru-U takes a look at Personal Development going right back to the basics of what Self-Help is all about, helping oneself, rather than relying on some external guru.
Hopefully everybody has had those times in life when things are moving along just fine. We are balanced; we are productive and we have a deep sense of purpose and fulfilment. And we have all certainly had those days where nothing seems to be working out for us and, no matter how hard we try nothing seems to be going right?
Guru-U explains that when we balance our three essential aspects - Physical, Emotional & Spiritual, in perfect harmony we have the opportunity to maximise our true potential and to realise all of our ambitions with a real sense of purpose and meaning. Paul Wilson Bonner is the author of Guru-U, a book that combines over three decades of learning and seven years of writing. Paul's professional background is in Training Facilitation and Coaching. He also has vast experience in Martial Arts, Motor Racing and the Military (which is quite unusual considering he has been a practising Buddhist for over a decade) which has given him a unique perspective on how best to balance our three essential aspects from a variety of disciplines.Guru-U, and indeed the basic premise of Buddhism, states that we are all responsible for our own actions and outcomes, rather than externalising to a separate person or being (which is in reality the complete opposite of self empowerment). Most 'self-help' books tend to rely on the experience of the 'guru' rather than empowering the individual, where as Guru-U takes the completely opposite and refreshingly different stance; we are the guru's. No single person knows us better than ourselves. We know what motivates and makes us bored. We know where our strengths, as well as our weaknesses lie. No single person has spent more time with us than ourselves and therefore it is ourselves that know the best ways of getting the most out of us.
From Paul's years in training and development he has learned many things but one that he repeats often is that we are all built differently and what motivates one will frustrate another. When people are asked to choose a task, they will always choose a task which they enjoy doing. People rarely volunteer for something that they would rather not do and/or something that they feel they are no good at. So called 'self-help formulas' that state 'you must do this (or else)' are in fact self defeating and ultimately futile. Paul has found from his years in Coaching that a list of actions is only useful when the 'coachee' has chosen them, rather than someone else imposing them, no matter how good intentioned. When a person who wants to improve is willing to take the necessary steps as opposed to having those steps forced upon them, progress is inevitable.
When first writing Guru-U, Paul discovered after reading a whole plethora of 'self-help' books that most of them had one thing in common; the 'my way or the highway' approach where various 'formulas for success/winning in life/creating abundance' were based on a strict sets of rules or steps that one had to adhere to regardless. Pauls martial arts training and teaching taught him that there are invariably different strokes for different folks (some are tall, some are short, some overweight some light, some old and some young). How can what works for one person work for the next? So long as the end result is the same it doesn't matter how we go about achieving it. This is the very essence of Guru-U - you find what works best for you (which is usually something that you also enjoy doing) and then do it over and over again until we master ourselves and our lives.
Guru-U takes as its most basic premise that we are first and foremost human beings. Much has been written and understood about basic human needs, wants and desires. Taking into account Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and The Human Givens, both state that we all have a number of basic human needs; food, warmth, shelter and clothing through to meaningful relationships with individuals, families and communities alongside a sense of higher purpose, meaning and self expression. Guru-U expands on these points by explaining that we have three essential aspects; Physical, Emotional and Spiritual, and that by balancing these aspects we have the opportunity to maximise our unique potentials.
Each of the aspects is covered in detail, expanding these essential aspects into three other points.
The Physical aspect explores; Diet, Exercise and Prevention.
Diet explores such topics as; Diet not Dieting, Choosing your own weight and Nutrition.
The Exercise section covers; Choosing your exercise programme and examples of light, moderate and heavy exercise.
The Prevention section covers such topics as; Stress Management, Acupuncture and Relaxation.
The Emotional aspect breaks down into; Expression, Balance and Control.
Expression covers; Appropriate/Inappropriate, the importance of good humour and explodes the myth that men should not cry.
The Balance section includes; Ego, Love and Money.
The Control section covers such topics as; The Illusion of Control and Perseverance.
The Spiritual aspect looks into; Faith, Wisdom and Hope.
Faith covers examples of; Finding a Faith and Faith, not Blind Faith.
The Wisdom section covers; A Higher Purpose, You were meant to be Happy and Self Empowerment.
The Hope section covers; The Difference between believing and knowing and Trust in Guru-U.
Guru-U is available in various formats both electronically and in hard copy, as a complete book or in three parts, for those who are more interested in creating balance in a specific area. Someone who recognises that they need greater emotional balance can purchase a standalone book. If they recognise that their spiritual life needs attention they can take a look at how they can do this. Or
indeed if they need reminding that their physical aspect needs work on.
Who is Guru-U designed for? Paul explained that "Guru-U is meant for anybody who is looking to create balance in their lives, getting back to those days when everything we do seems meaningful and when we are functioning at our best. Let's face it, we've all had those days where everything we do seems pleasurable and those days when all we do if feel like we are walking trough treacle but all we have to ask ourselves is a simple question; which do we prefer? This is certainly a rhetorical question as the former is the obvious answer. We all prefer those times when we are firing on all cylinders don't we? We'd sooner be functioning at our best rather than the reverse. Therefore Guru-U answers the question as to how we create that essential balance, but more importantly, how we maintain it!"
Guru-U gets us to take a really good look at ourselves and to trust that we possess all of the solutions to our most pressing challenges. It enables us to recognise that the answers to our questions lie at our own feet. It's also a matter of trust as in this excerpt from the book;
The very essence of Guru-U is all about you the reader taking action and experiencing the benefits yourself. It is not about blindfaith or 'Guru worship', where you literally take somebody else's word above your own for the solutions to your challenges, as well as the causes, that lie within you and invariably with you alone. It is in a very real sense like having your own personal Guru who is always there for you, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week at hand to offer the best advice possible. The Guru within you that has experienced all that you have and consequently possesses the best insight into what makes you tick. What you like and dislike. What you are unable to do and what you have convinced yourself that you will never be able to do. This internal Guru knows far more about you than any external Guru ever will. It can propel you to take action towards creating outcomes that you never dreamed you were capable of. This may at first sound a bit fanciful and far-fetched, but as you progress and begin to suspend your disbelief (in yourself)and widen your horizons, it will become apparent and obvious and in time you will wonder why you have never done it before. Initially it's just a matter of trust. Trust in yourself and trust in your inner Guru, for you are the Guru, Guru-U.
For more details about Guru-U please visit Paul Wilson Bonner's website
www.guru-u.me
Mid-life Crisis or something else?Have you ever wondered why people suddenly make drastic changes in their lives, often without any warning of what is about to take place? For example, the person who appears to be in a happy stable family environment bringing up their children, obeying the law, following the rules, a good upright citizen who then decides to take up with perhaps a work colleague, several years their junior, using their 'rainy day savings' to buy a sports car and head off into the sunset to travel the world.
Likewise, you may know of other people who have spent their entire lifetime working hard to build their career, suddenly making the decision to leave their job, sell their house and all of their belongings and almost choose to opt out of Society in search of their inner self, meditating and mixing with others who are on a spiritual journey. These types of drastic changes in lifestyle are often referred to as 'the mid life crisis' or maybe even a calling to find one's self. Have you ever wondered what really drives such changes? The 1996 book Spiral Dynamics, by Don Beck and Chris Cowan, builds on the work of psychology Professor Dr Clare Graves and the model that they propose within the book, provides insight into what the 'mid life crisis' and other life defining moments really are.
The model is based on a number of core Value systems which are applicable both to individuals and entire groups/ cultures. No one value system is better than another and all have advantages and disadvantages within different contexts. Individuals transcend through each Value system according to their environment, neurology and where they are in their thinking. Each person will be a mixture of Value systems, some of which are more intense than others and this will show out in their thinking and behaviour. People can be at different Values Levels in different areas of their life, for example their thinking may be at one Values Level at home and another Values Level at work, each Values Level has its own attributes; the main problems occurring where the Values Level in the neurology and thinking are in conflict with the person's environment.
You may be asking how this information fits with the drastic changes that people often make in their life. This is in simple terms can be viewed as someone simply transcending or having a large awakening in a new Values Levels. The explanation that follows, giving a summary of what each of the Values Levels represents, will help you to understand this further.
The Values Levels are numbered from one to seven and alternative between the odd numbers i.e. one, three, five and seven for a person acting as an individual and the even numbers two, four and six, where someone becomes part of a group. We will explain this further.
Values Level One is the person who lives on their own, almost as an animal does; survival is their only purpose. Values Level Two is people living together as part of a group for safety. This Values Level represents tribal living where the people worship all that is mystical, for example, praying to the Gods will secure a healthy harvest. Sacrifice self to the ways of the Elders. This is also seen in things like carrying a lucky charm or strong family values. Values Level Three is an individual acting on their own again and it is about instant reward with complete disregard for the consequences. If you are going to tackle a Values Level three, you better do it properly, because they will come back twice as strong. This is about the law of the gang, fighting to gain control at any cost. Values Level three doesn't understand or feel guilt, although they do feel shame and it would be unwise to bring shame upon a Values Level three unless you are prepared for the consequences. Our prisons are full of Values Level three people, which is interesting as our judicial system is based upon guilt and remorse, which this Values Level just does not feel.
This brings us on to Values Level Four. This is the Society that we all currently live in, it is rules driven and being an even number is about people belonging to a group. This Values Level represents working hard now in order to receive reward later. Sacrifice self now and your turn will come as seen in bringing up children and religion. This explains why the proposed changes to the Pension system are currently causing so many problems, as it is challenges the very foundation that Society in the UK is based on, i.e. work hard all your life and you will receive your pension when you retire. This Values Level is all about fairness and getting what is due. Playing by the rules and obeying the law. This values level does respond to feelings of guilt.
Values Level Five is again individual and is materialistic. You can often recognise this Values Level as the person who loves status symbols, the designer watch, the expensive pen, the flash car. This, similarly to Values Level three is about self gratification, having moved from the self sacrifice of Values Level four, the phrase you may hear this person using is 'what about me, it's my turn!' yet this Values Level is prepared to wait to get their gratification as long as the end result is worthwhile, otherwise they will move on. This person will only be associated with you while you have something that is of interest to them. This is the Values Level of industry and business and is motivated by profit and gain usually at the expense of the environment.
Values Level Six is about groups again. It is about sacrifice now to get acceptance now. This is where someone sells all of their belongings to live in a Commune, sharing resources amongst all, they believe in freeing mankind from greed and the rules of Society, exploring the inner self. Decisions are made by consensus. Values Level Six people rule by committee and decisions are rarely reached. They will never make any money as money is just not important to them.
Values Level Six people will think that Values Level Three people are just misunderstood and if they were listened to and given more hugs there would be no need for crime. Values Level Three people would take full advantage of someone taking this approach with them probably taking their wallet as they were being hugged!
Values Level seven can only be reached when someone has truly transcended all of the previous values; this is where our current world leaders should be. This individual will harness all that has been learnt from the previous Values Levels and use it to achieve their purpose, which is self interest without harm to others or the Planet. They will see the bigger picture and understand and promote continuous development in all.
Movement can be forwards or backwards between the Values Levels and can be caused by significant emotional events in a person's life, such as divorce, illness or perhaps the death of someone close to them as change happens at the extremes. Someone resisting the changes that such events may bring can feel stuck and unable to progress in life. Yet someone who is familiar with the Clare Graves Values System can coach a person through this 'stuck' phase of their life, satisfying the needs of each Values Level in order to transcend it, without resorting to the drastic changes in the person's life that they may feel compelled to make.
We have given you a taster of how this knowledge can help people understand what is happening in their lives and how this is a priceless Coaching tool which we use regularly in the office with our clients. As you will appreciate we have only been able to give you a summary and there is much more information behind this summary. As part of our NLP Master Practitioner Training we also certify graduates in Dr Clare Grave's Value Systems at the introductory level, which as you can see is an invaluable tool for Coaching. Qualifying in this subject gives the Graduate exclusive use of a fully tested questionnaire that can be used as a basis to Coach people in all areas of their lives.
Think back to the two examples given at the beginning of this article, can you work out which Values Level each of the two people we describe are transcending to and from? How much easier would their Values Levels awakenings be if
they knew about this?
Mark Taylor & Nicola KennedyOpt2XL
One Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1BD
Tel: 0121 632 2120
Mobile: 07974 562830
email: info@opt2xl.co.uk
www.opt2xl.co.uk
www.opt2b.co.uk
Change your world, one breath at a time,
with Transformational Breath®
Would you like more energy, vitality and more joy in your life? Transformational
Breath® can give you just that. It enables 'an internal workout', clearing toxins efficiently and increasing the take-up of oxygen throughout your body. From an early age, we unconsciously alter our breathing to help us manage stressful situations. It can then become a habit to breathe in this way, resulting in our using less of our respiratory capacity than we need to live life to the full.
Transformational Breath® helps you both to find your natural breathing rhythm
and also allows you to gently clear emotional memories imprinted in your cellular memory. This leaves you feeling lighter and clearer. Many people experience
a profound sense of peace towards the end of a session and an enhanced connection to their higher self.
Transformational Breath® uses a connected breath and harnesses your entire
respiratory system. Sound and gentle movement are also used, as well as affirmations. A system of 'body mapping' points, similar to acupressure, enables the gentle opening of the places where your breathing may have become closed
down. You will normally breathe lying down or comfortably propped up,
depending on your particular pattern of breathing and your mobility. Music is
usually played throughout a session to aid relaxation. A session usually lasts
11/2 - 2 hours
In a Transformational Breath® session you are supported by a facilitator; this
can be in a group or one to one. Your facilitator will analyse your current
breath pattern and advise you throughout the session. After a few sessions, you
will be able use this technique on your own to maintain your wellbeing.
People with a wide range of physical and emotional needs are looking to Transformational Breath® to support their healing, as well as people on a spiritual journey, from a variety of traditions, or none. People of all ages and
abilities are able to benefit from Transformational Breath®, including babies
who may have experienced a challenging birth. Many people are experiencing
great benefit from Transformational Breath®. Here in the UK we are looking at
ways of enabling research that confirms this.
Transformational Breath is now practised in over 25 countries worldwide. In the UK there is a national organisation, the Transformational Breath Foundation UK that promotes good practice and enables the supervision of practitioners. Its training programme has been moderated by the Institute of Complementary and Natural Medicine.
Here in Birmingham, we have a new organisation: 'Birmingham Breathes', a
partnership of three practitioners: Jane Upton, Valerie Jenner and myself. We together run groups and workshops and are able to offer taster sessions to
special interest groups. We each offer 1:1 sessions, tailored to your needs. You can find out more about us and Birmingham Breathes on our website:
www.birminghambreathes.co.uk.
For the names of practitioners in other parts of the UK or in other countries you
may like to consult one of the following websites.
UK: www.transformationalbreath.co.uk
International: www.transformationalbreathing.com.
Happy Breathing!
Andria Falk, is a Transformational Breath® Trainer and Facilitator. She is a partner in Birmingham Breathes and Development Officer of the Transformational Breath Foundation UK. She trained with Judith Kravitz and Angela Leake in the UK, the Netherlands and the United States
What do you want to create in your life?Create the life of your dreams,
by becoming aware.
Before you can create the life that you want, you need to know
what you are doing? and what you want to do?
People often struggle to answer these questions because they are unaware of how their unconscious mind is affecting them. Our unconscious mind contains all the programming and conditioning that we have collected from our parents, family, loved ones, advertising, the media and society. Basically there is nothing in the world that does not feed us with information that we store in our unconscious mind and are then directly or indirectly influenced by it.
There are a few people in the world who are "blissfully" unaware that they can have an impact on their own life and they put up with whatever "life throws at them". This is not to say that these people are necessarily happy, or unhappy, they probably do not even realise that they have options.
You are probably not one of these people. You probably sense that there is more to life than what you are presently experiencing; otherwise you would not be reading Health and Happiness. Sometimes you may feel that this is not true and doubt your ability to create a more fulfilling life for yourself. These self doubts and self sabotaging thoughts are likely to be the result of how you are viewing the world at the moment.
Are you:
- Stuck in your head replaying events from the past over and over again like a broken record?
- Stuck in fear or worrying about what will happen in the future?
- So busy planning for the future, you are not paying attention to what is happening right now?
The trap of today's modern way of life is that we become stuck on the treadmill; that is, we are constantly in 'doing mode'. You are programmed to believe that happiness, contentment, peace of mind and … (insert whatever you yearn for) is found outside of yourself, in something you buy, a level of status or at some future point. There is no future point where you are going to suddenly think and feel 'this is it - I've arrived, I'm happy, I have everything I want'.
What you are yearning for and the truth of who you are, is only to be found in awareness in this moment and every moment.
What is Awareness?
Awareness is fundamentally noticing your thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions; what is happening inside you, and what is happening around you. You then allow yourself to accept them.
Awareness is needed to get to know yourself. Acceptance is needed to enable yourself to develop and change the parts of yourself and your life that you would like to. Awareness and acceptance work best together.
This means that you allow yourself to feel and think what ever it is that you are feeling and thinking in any moment; no matter if these emotions and thoughts are about being angry and fearful or happy and extremely joyful.
People often have the misconception that aware people either do not feel or think 'unhelpful' or 'bad' things, or if they do, they definitely do not allow themselves to express them. The perception of most people is that you are only aware or awake if you are like what they perceive the Buddha to be - calm and serene all the time. Trying to be this way just leads to built up tension and unease. Which often results in the person finally exploding at the 'wrong' person and or at the 'wrong' time. I have fallen into this trap myself and for me it led to depression. I have also experienced it with many other people.
It is healthy to experience a whole range of emotions and, even more importantly for your health, to be able to release your emotions. Therefore if you feel angry notice that you are angry and accept it. If you have already started to express the anger also bring your awareness to how you are expressing that anger. Jumping up and down and shouting, if you are by yourself, may be at this moment the best way you have of expressing your anger and the quickest way you have of releasing it. However, if you are with other people learning a different way to express and release your anger may be a better option.
Being aware of yourself and what is happening around you gives you more options in how you express yourself and more options in life in general.
Awareness is not a passive way of being:
Awareness is more than just noticing that you are doing something. Once you have noticed that you are doing something, become aware of your motivation for doing it. You do this by noticing what thoughts and emotions you have before, during and after the action. If you choose to keep doing the activity and having the same thoughts and emotions about it, remember this is your choice.
I have heard people say that I cannot help it, it is just the way I am; at least I am aware of it. This is just a poor excuse and they are not aware, they have just simply noticed that they often repeat the same behaviour. If this reminds you of yourself or someone you know the good news is that repeated behaviour that is not positive for you and / or the people around you is probably motivated by conditioning.
Benefits of Awareness
As you become more aware of your thoughts, emotions and actions, you will come to realise that they are there to serve who you believe yourself to be. These beliefs have come from your 'conditioning'. Conditioning is what you have been taught to do by your parents, family, friends, groups you interact with, the media and society in general. You can only change and break free from your conditioning by becoming aware of what your conditioning is.
Being in awareness you will realise that you are not the conditioning and you will begin to let go of it.
Awareness enables you to be present in the moment; being present in the moment enables a deeper awareness. In awareness you become present to your inner guidance and you will intuitively know what to do and how to do it; there is no need for thoughts / decision-making as your actions flow from within you and out into the world.
Awareness is a process that develops in you as you listen and act upon your intuitive knowing.
Benefits of Awareness
• Break free from conditioning
• Release unhelpful thoughts and emotions healthy
• Express yourself clearly
• Have more choice in life
• Be happy
This article has been adapted from a book I have written about the "Key to Awareness" process.The book has been written so that people can follow the step by step guide to Awareness by themselves at a much reduced cost than attending a workshop.
Fiona Maguire is a Facilitator for change: an Energetic and Intuitive Life Coach, International Speaker, Author and creator of "Key to Awareness" process.
"I get to the heart of the issue to help you make changes quickly and easily in your Life, Relationships, Business" - see www.RealEnergy4All.com for more details.
'Choose how to Act, rather than reacting' a practical guide to Key to Awareness'
by Fiona Maguire
"If you always do what you have always done, you will always get the same result. This most likely means that you will continue to experience the same chaos and suffering in your life over and over again". Fiona Maguire
Written in practical, easy to follow steps, this is a manual that teaches you to become aware of your thoughts, emotions and actions, and as a result of this 'awareness', act from your intuitive knowing.
Are most people 'aware'? In my experience, most people are - they just don't know it! This practical step by step manual teaches you not only what it measn to be aware, but also explains how you can achieve a state of 'awareness' as you live your everyday life.
What can this book help you to achieve?
For those who are interested in more than just the humdrum of life, this book teaches you how to become more aware of the true meaning of life, which in turn helps you to:
- Discover who you really are
- Overcome stress and anxiety easily
- Feel less frustration and anger
- Become more intuitive and decisive
Are accidents really just random coincidences?
A META-perspective
One of the questions we're often asked on our talks and courses is 'Can META-Medicine explain accidents?'
The official IMMA (International META-Medicine Association) materials state that the origins of a dis-ease can be traced back to significant emotional experiences, except in cases of poisoning, malnutrition and accidents.
While the majority of health issues (those labelled idiopathic or self-causing by modern medicine) are the bio-logical response to specific negative emotions, there are times when physical trauma creates stress on the body. For example, when we consider accidents like falling from a height or being hit by a vehicle, the impact in itself can cause broken bones and other injuries.So far, so good. 'But does this go deep enough?' participants ask us. Why do some people come out of dangerous situations miraculously unharmed, yet others sustain significant injuries from minor incidents? What's the difference?
A meaningless coincidence?
Before we answer those questions, let's look at the usual explanation - accidents are just unfortunate coincidences, a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yet co-incidence actually means two or more events coming together. It doesn't have to be random.
It's an assumption that there's no connection between these coinciding events. This assumption is based on the prevalent belief in our time of randomness and a chaotic universe. We use chance to negate the possibility of meaning in every encounter, which means we don't have to take responsibility for our role in every experience.
There is another way of thinking: that the universe and everything in it is a highly structured, orderly and sophisticated system which is guided by intelligence. From a quantum physics point of view, we don't live in a quantum 'coincidental' universe, but a quantum causal universe. The concept of entanglement explains why seemingly unrelated aspects come together.
Putting META-Medicine to the test
On one of our very first courses, we decided to test two hunches about accidents.
We know that straight after an injury, the body will go into healing mode at the affected site. META-Medicine gives us an understanding of the Two Phases, and we know that healing symptoms occur in the Second Phase, that is, after a period of stress. As accidents literally force us into the Second Phase, does this mean there is a period of stress preceding the event?
META-Medicine reveals that each organ and body location has specific emotional correlations. So does the site of an injury and organ affected also have a meaning?
Our student had a small burn on his dominant hand. Through the META-Medicine diagnostic process, we uncovered that he had had an argument with his wife and resolved to let go of his frustration and reconnect with her - right before burning his hand with the iron. Interesting, we all thought. It could fit...
Two weeks after the course, he contacted us with even more interesting news - he'd banged his hand on the corner of the table, bruising exactly the same place, after another argument. The real issue behind the accidents was feeling unable to grasp the issue (hand) and feeling disconnected (outer skin) from his wife (dominant side) when they argued.
A new way to uncover core issues
Since then, we've done many explorations with accidents, and they've always led to core issues. There has always been a related stress before an accident occurs. The timing of the accident and location of the injury are clues to the deeper meanings.
More recently, we've also discovered a connection with the Sensory Cortex, as accidents are often preceded by temporary lapses in concentration. This too can pinpoint what's going on with clients - what's on their mind or what are they avoiding?
This understanding brings us right back to where we started - rather than seeing ourselves as victims of random occurences that happen to us, we can be at cause, becoming more present and using accidents as a guide to deeper self-awareness and self-healing.
If you've already done some META-Medicine training, you can start using the diagnostic process to explore the meaning behind accidents. For those who want to see how it works, we're happy to demonstrate how to use an accident to get into a core issue on our forthcoming courses.
Do you have questions, comments or ideas for articles? Let us know through our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/metamedicine
Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you soon,
With love, light & wellness,
Joanne Ross and Robert Waghmare
META-Medicine Master Health Coaches & Master Trainers (IMMA)
www.metamedicineuk.com
www.facebook.com/metamedicine
www.twitter.com/metamedicine
Circle Work by Joy Hicklin-Bailey
I have been working in the shamanic circle for over eighteen years, it is a place I love to be, a place I love to share. What we uncover in the circle is our shared humanity and as our heart opens in compassion for the sufferings of others so our heart opens more to our own wounding, so that we do not deny it and yet ultimately we come to embrace ourselves, all of our being, so tenderly that the separation and limitations dissolve. We do not construct an identity out of them any longer. We learn to trust our NATURE, not our conditioned self.
A willingness to BE human and to open to receiving the love that is always here can be learned. As can a willingness grows to nurture your tender child aliveness, love the woundedness in the little boy or the little girl in you and equally nurture and express the extraordinary, shimmering, creative child spirit in you and live him/her too!
We have all been wounded. A wound that we cannot bear to be with (that we feel we have to shed, or process away, or that we feel we shouldn't have been given by whoever we think gave it to us) is much more dangerous than a wound held tenderly, with consciousness, with gratitude even for its hidden gifts. And, with a choosing to be happy ANYWAY even when life is impossible and your heart is breaking.
Being friendly with our fear gives us courage to act and choose. Fully acknowledging our anger allows forgiveness. Welcoming sadness we open to surrender to life and its wisdom. Joy embraced is naturally generous. Finding compassion allows us to love and serve highest potential in our being, life or another.
Sometimes you may need to move deeply into your body and your volcanic sexual energy in order to increase the energy available to you, sometimes you need to feel more deeply the feelings and sensations of your woundedness, sometimes you need an intellectual context to understand your human nature more deeply, sometimes the need is deep diving into the past to loosen its grip and the automatic responses you go into when threatened, sometimes you need to constellate an old family situation in order to resolve it inside us, sometimes you need to be held and nurtured, seen and heard in a way you have never received before.
Sometimes you may need different elements of your nature to be in freer dialogue with each other, sometimes need arises to pay attention to what works in life and achieve mastery over emotional wounds, sometimes see that the story and identity you have invested in isn't really true at all in the realm beyond duality. Over and over the circle finds its way into love and truth.
In essence Circle work is LOVE unfolding and a surrendering of demands and judgements layer by layer, through relationship. And discovering acceptance and enjoyment of the stories (especially the ones we think we don't like) is just one way to bring more love into our being. So when you hear and feel others in their stories and aliveness - are you loving them or resisting them? That's why circle work is so profound - we begin to see beyond easy judgements and assumptions and drop into love and connection and compassion for shared humanity. And real life can
show us this too.
In the circle we can love and nourish, learn to skilfully parent and celebrate ourselves on our journey and find connection and intimacy along the way. We learn how safe it is to open, and to love to be full-bodied, to breathe, and to feel and to make mistakes. Spirituality is otherwise a tool for the ego to avoid dealing with these wounds, a way to judge others and separate. This work is truly the way to materialize or embody, the spiritual, to integrate body and soul. As you acknowledge the past with friendship, we are more and more fully present, here, now, alive in this body, this man, this woman that we are. You learn that your simplicity, your humanity, is enough, that fighting yourself is not required, that deep self-honesty is helpful. You learn how to treasure and care for those who enter your life and see the gifts.
Life is no longer frightening or lonely or tragic or a chore. Thus we grow, integrate, deepen our capacity for joy, openness, health, passion, fulfilment even on a very ordinary day! And our beings, our radiance and positivity, our deep sense of life's safety, and exquisite beauty, is there in service for creation to use as is required. We can learn how safe it is to open, and to love to be full-bodied, to breathe, and to feel and to make mistakes. Spirituality is otherwise a tool for the ego to avoid dealing with these wounds, a way to separate from ordinary life and even judge others. Secret Garden is a way to materialize the spiritual, to integrate body and soul. To acknowledge the past and be more and more fully present, here, now, alive in this body, this man, this woman that we are. Life is no longer tragic or a chore, frightening or lonely.
A Secret Garden circle is intended and held as a very strong satsang field. The unfolding is held very safe by the energetics. It is so often a blessed oasis, a cosy refuge, a beautiful blossoming of life's joy and creativity. And sometimes it may be scary when old wounds or limits or judgements come strongly into awareness. So is life sometimes. The circle raises awareness and allows more opening and freedom and trust in ordinary life, more friendship with all that is in existence.
Circle work
The rewards are joy, true community, authenticity, sanity, spiritual discernment, integrity, love and fulfilment, whatever we choose to spend our time doing on the planet (footballer or executive, mother or drama student, healer or artist, father or carpenter) For those who wish it, here is the art of living happily, whatever one's apparent personal circumstances. This work is natural and profoundly humane. As a by product, the rewards are greater freedom, ease, effectiveness, joy and happiness in relationship, work, life.
However the message is that there is nowhere to go, nothing to get, nothing to become. And to love what is, love yourself like your own best lover. Love what you feel right now. Let what is, be. Rest in the silence beyond stories and time and discover that you are endless joy without reason. Give up the fight with yourself, with your responses, with your nature. Working on yourself doesn't work!
Secret Garden circles offer a direct invitation to let go into the love and aliveness that you are, into the truth of life, the essence, the aloha, the joy, the endless love, in manifest creation. This way of being grows compassion, and at the same time, freedom to be in all the facets of our humanity. Old patterns are seen clearly and dissolve gracefully. Spiritual kinship becomes a delight we wish
more of for ourselves. We become love in all its ways of expressing, and let go of trying to get love and joy from outside.
The unfolding life of a circle, its laughter, tears, awe, its absolute coherence and intentionality to support consciousness and soul growth is an awesome mystery. What a gift to be able to be so friendly with all the life in ourselves and others that everything is simply an invitation into awareness, wholeness, joy, interconnection and presence ! Secret Garden is at the leading edge of our evolving humanity, and is for you if you are wishing for nourishment, for connection, maybe for tender space to heal your heart, handle transition or enquire about a question. It is for you especially if you value love, truth, silent awareness that embraces all (aloha), celebration of soul and enjoy good company.
Let the circles give you space to explore how to live a spiritually awake life that is also an embodied happy, authentic, earthly, natural one. Enjoy!
In endless gratitude to all my teachers and guides
Aloha, Joy Hicklin-Bailey
joy1@secretgarden.eu.com
The New Crystalline Rainbow Heart School
It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we are wishing to share with you the opening of the New Crystalline Rainbow Heart School - an inspiring vision of a new path in education where we are committed to truly nurture the highest divine potential in our children and ourselves,. It is a vision of a school where children and adults co-create together in mutual co-supportive learning, honouring profoundly the wisdom of each child.This school is not a fixed point in a child's development, but rather a journey supporting the whole family growth. We recognise the responsibility we hold for every stage in the child's development, before conception even, as we teach couples in our capacity of conscious conception, and how we are able to have phenomenal transformative effects on our babies (ourselves) in their formative and pre-formative stages! This is of particular importance at this time with more and more sensitive children being born, some with developmental conditions such as autism and ADHD, which could be greatly assisted as we as parents understand the changes we may be affecting in this as we take complete charge of our health and well-being. It has become recognised (also through modern scientific studies) that many of these children are in fact of particular gifted nature and are in esoteric circles what are being termed "The New Children" (indigo, crystal, rainbow children etc.). These souls bring greatly advanced gifts and teachings and may assist us as humanity powerfully to create a new harmonious way of being on the earth. Honouring their wisdom and specific requirements, we wish to co-create with them in our school an environment of unity and connection to explore and discover the wholeness of who we all truly are. Sound and movement are fundamental means in this as we have come to comprehend the depth of their power as intuitive, multi-dimensional forms of communication that allow us to attune to and share higher creative parts of ourselves that in our modern society have often become somewhat neglected in our day to day verbal/mental interaction.
The foundations of our vision in sound and movement
Our project began from the roots of a dance training (!). In early 2009 we met in the study of a fascinating movement called Biodanza Vital Development. It is here in the supportive nest of the dance group that we began a journey into the exploration of the world of silent communication. In dance we realise we are exploring a complete non-verbal language, a language which through our intuitive movements we are opening up to a communication with the whole of our multidimensional selves. We are learning to connect not just through our minds but with our whole energetic bodies.
Extending this connection with one another to one with all of our environment, we can see that through dance or movement we are offered a beautiful pathway of exploration of our multidimensional connections with all of creation, our bodies as vessels for the exploration of consciousness, tapping in to information from the universe in a holistic way directly. During our spiritual expansion over the last two years we have come to understand now that movement indeed is fundamentally a form of sound vibration itself, expressed in a visual form. All around us all is sound, our thoughts our feelings, and even our physical structures, too: all information that comes to us are just forms of transposed sound frequencies. All children come into this world with naturally open senses including our higher senses such as clairvoyance clairaudience and clairsentience.
As we explore sound we have the ability to notice our resonant bond with all forces of creation, enabling our connection with a primal form of learning that is powerful, direct and intuitive.
We as children come into the world with complete receptive openness. Our whole structures are sponges to absorb information from our surrounding environment. As we are supported in an environment of total womb-like devotion, we allow children the freedom to explore freely themselves and their environment with an inner joy and confidence.
The creation of a space of complete nurture is at the core of the vision of our school, creating a space for the children (and adults) to unfold in their highest divine potential, a space where we as adults can learn from them, too. And this creation for us is more than a physical space of learning. It is a whole journey for parents and children starting as early as pre-planning before conception, devoting ourselves to the conscious cocreation with our children from the very moment of conception of life. Within that we will offer a whole support system, where in stages we will co-create the children's life journey.
Our school as a journey
The first four stages are shared mainly with the adults, where through talks, community groups, workshops and consultations we will assist the journey of conscious parenting as the foundation of the unfoldement of our children's true gifts.
In the first stage of the school, the preplanning before conception, we will assist parents to truly embrace their responsibility for a conscious, expansive upbringing of their children, preparing as vessels for the creation and birthing of a new generation. The healing and expression of our own inner children plays an important part in this and assisting adults to open up their sound and movement can work true miracles here. We will also offer channelled meditations and attunments, as well as talks and lectures to raise an in-depth awareness of
the needs and gifts of the new generation.
Conception in its highest (stage 2 of our school) is a mightily powerful act of creation where the love of the couple unites to form whole new life. With the conscious union of love focused upon the creation of a child, all movements and touch of a couple are a devotion to conception, where love making transcends the desire of the body, creating a divine energetic field of oneness that invites new life to incarnate in its human divine form.
Anastasia, a Siberian visionary with extraordinary gifts and perceptions, describes this conception as a process of co-creation where the physical union of the bodies is simply a natural extension of the loving cocreating thoughts of the couple wishing to conceive-very unlike what we generally understand as sex (the
animalistic procreation). With conception becoming a loving devotion to the child, an alchemy of love occurs that allows the full entirety of consciousness of the child to ground into the body.
We will offer meditations, spiritual activations and sound and movement work to open up this expanded state of consciousness to enable the miracle of conception in this way. The use of sound and movement in the forming of the child's body during pregnancy (stage 3 of the school) allows a co-creation of the parents with the soul of the child to form a high frequency bodily and energetic
structure that supports the full expansion and grounding of the child's frequency. When the parents of the child in the womb are utilising sound and music, they are utilising a primordial primary communication that attunes the child with life, connecting the inside and outside resonances, feeling for themselves physically
and on all levels the formative power sound has on the making of physical matter. For both parents and child, the use of sound and singing will create a deep intimate bond from the very early stages of development and will allow the parents to communicate with the child more deeply before birth. The soothing and transformative qualities of sound and movement can also support the mother (and father!) through the journey of pregnancy, assisting her to find equilibrium within all the changes that her body and being experiences at this time, thereby raising the vibration of the thoughts and feelings she (and the father) transfer to the child. With the use of sound comes an enhanced sensitivity and ability to listen, allowing us/the parents to receive the subtle signals that the children send to us perpetually and thereby adding a new level of consciousness to our evolution at this beautiful time.
We wish to support future parents during pregnancy with regular sound and movement groups/workshops, meditations and spiritual activations to open up an in depth communication with the child in this way.
After the wonderful journey of growth during pregnancy, birth and the very early years of life (stage 4 of the school) now bring into the external world the crystallized energies (in the form of a whole new being!) that were shared during the time in the womb. The child will have taken into his/herself an embodied recognition and familiarity of the sound frequencies of creation, which now, with the nurturing assistance of those closest to them, can feed their development as self-empowered, creative beings from the very beginning of their life, enabling them to listen and connect naturally to all that is.
This also is a time when touch and affection become prominent means of communication and support with the child, as natural physicalisation of the sound frequencies. This positively imprints encodements of love on the body memory of the child to raise the vibration of their physical structure, thereby assisting further the grounding of their multidimensional nature and the consciousness they hold. With the parents' enhanced capacity to respond to the signals of the child after pregnancy, the child can communicate much more instinctively what they need for their development. Our support system will continue with workshops and activations during this time and we wish to offer our service in particular in personalised consultations together with the child.
A true space of love: The Community School for children (and adults)
With the use of sound and movement throughout all stages of life, children are growing up with a confidence to learn for themselves, integrating information as truly embodied knowledge and understanding. This method of empowered experiential learning gives the child a supremely expanded and accelerated speed of learning, in which the teaching and learning is for the large part the instruction, and guidance of the children themselves:
"Through the use of sound (and movement) children will naturally ground their frequencies, they will ground their heart connection with all things. It is from this space that they can tap into the universal library of knowledge, drawing from source directly all the skills that they need. The school will provide a multitude of
inspirations to support and focus the information they are channelling (through their sound): gardens, buildings, arts, science and healing; all the co-creation of the children themselves." (channelled by Monika)
The Community School will be built within a spiritual eco-community setting in the potent learning environment of nature, connecting with the "City of Light Project". The school will be open to children of all ages, both from within and from outside the community. We wish to welcome children from all backgrounds and facilitate the joining of the school journey at all stages. For parents and children joining the project at this later stage of the school's journey, we will hold personalised consultations with the parents and the child(ren) to ensure their harmonious and rewarding integration into the group. We can foresee in this context should the need arise, a transition group to fully nurture and support the children into getting used to this new way of multidimensional, self-responsible/self-directed learning.
Fully aware that visions expand as the project grows, what were shown in our vision is of a spacious central cob roundhouse with a geometric glass dome with a loft space in the dome (!) as the central learning space, surrounded by six smaller round buildings as well as shelters and tree houses in the surrounding outdoors.
All of these will be built by the children, parents and community members.
The day starts with a communal sound and movement circle for the children, parents and facilitators, cocreating the energetic space of love and connectedness to open up to the learning experiences of the day. The expansive state of attunement and listening arising from this practise is taken into the activities to come as the children gather in groups of all ages. Most groups will begin to go off to the smaller buildings and into nature to explore different activities of their choice: making music, moving and dancing in and with nature, art and crafting, scientific experiments and inventions, gardening and food preparation, downloading from the library of creation directly, and many others, which we will discover in time from the children themselves.
Parents and adults will hold space for these activities, assisting in the background and opening to learn for themselves.
A seventh roundhouse in the woods, slightly bigger than the others and in similar built as the main house (with a simple geometric glass dome without loft), will provide an abundance of books on many subject matters (including those taught in conventional education) for the children to ground their discoveries and study in a more traditional sense. (With these resources they can choose to acquire qualifications like GCSEs and A-Levels if they wish to join the more conventional path of society at a later age.)
The children will return to feed their discoveries back into the main space, cross-fertilising and sharing each others learning experience. This space is held in very high energy for the children to integrate and exchange their experiences in their multi-dimensional presence through intuitive communication of moving, sounding and playing together in unity consciousness with each other and the greater whole. The loft space of this building is one of very special energy, created by the children specifically to receive nurture and communion from the higher angelic realms. It is a space of resting and dreaming, where they can
lie down and even sleep to be nourished deeply in their frequency and connect powerfully to the inner planes.
After midday all children and adults gather for a joint outdoor activity, including regular gardening, nature walks and building activities (both within the school premises and the main community area). From here the children will disperse into their own exploration once again to then all gather to share their experience and
complete the day in sound circle.
Regular school councils will be held to give children a space to share their findings with the adults and wider community, who will be able to ask questions to expand their own views and truth (similar to the children's councils that Anastasia describes in her teachings). These will also provide a space to keep regular records of the school's developments.
We have already first plans to create a first teaching space on a 5 acre piece of land in Glastonbury in a collaboration with the "City of Light Project" (www.cityoflight.co.uk) where all our activities can be held as a first small scale blueprint for our future community school. We are starting to look for funding for this and to acquire money for sacred instruments (a number of drums and singing bowls) for the first children and parents groups we will be running in coming year.
To get in touch and find out more about our school's events and activities, please contact us either Alexander or Monika Comberti at xanderandika@gmail.com or call 07813 813618. We are in the process also of setting up our website and facebook page. If you send us your details we will keep you updated with this.
A Message of Hope Sarah Page - Helper Angel
In my work I have been seeing many more people who are "waking up" and experiencing huge shifts and changes in their lives, many are seeking to live from a place of more purpose and meaning, where they are realising that it is not just about them or their immediate family, but serving the greater whole, to co-creating a better world for all.
Also many more are having deeply spiritual experiences not encountered before, including visions, clairaudient messages and seeing with their own eyes (not just clairvoyantly with their third eye) orbs, lights and sparkles and spirit manifestations. In many ways the veil between worlds has continued to be thinning, and what was once dimensionally out of the remit of most people's awareness, for many more is just part of their everyday experience.
It is pretty much what happened to me starting over 8 years ago now. For me however, it was my own longing and desire to help humanity that mainly arose, I did not know how I was really meant to do that .. I just knew that from the kindness I was being shown in hours of my greatest need, and seeing how amazing an effect this had on my life and the ensuing changes, that I wanted to help people too - to pass it on, to help empower and inspire them, as I had been.
My sixth sense abilities grew and grew and I had already been receiving visions and messages that helped and assisted me, and all the studying, personal and spiritual growth work I embarked upon has led me to where I am today (and I continue in my journey of growth and consciousness expansion).
In January 2011 I posted a channel received from spirit, with a line that sticks with me relating to the overthrow of dictators and those that lie and deceive working to their own ends and not for the greater good of humanity. It said that they would be either be publically challenged, or come up against their own personal challenge. Well let us just say that what has come to pass speaks for itself.
I am currently following with great interest (and at times interacting with the participants) the 99% Movement and Occupations in our own towns and cities and across the world. Yes some of those protesting have their own personal agenda, but the overall aspect that I and many are seeing is to bring back fairness, justice and better human rights and freedoms, with a message of peace and love, as the desire is to keep the protest occupations peaceful and democratic, and to help raise awareness in the hope to bring about change as to how things are run fairer and better for all.
Yes times are changing, there is a definite consciousness shift occurring in many. Sadly many things are still being misreported in the media and indeed, with a definite decision by those powers that wishes to control and dominate, by keeping the masses in the dark or giving mis-information, in order to continue to serve their own desires and agendas.
Do not be fooled however, also know that an awakened person is a very powerful person ... the more aligned to truth, integrity, what is right and good and morally beneficial for the whole, is an integration of consciousness that vibrates very high. As is acting from the highest most loving will, and being with compassion and kindness. It is in these consciousness states of awareness that you can actually feel and see when lies and unethical things are taking place too. After all when your agenda is peace, love and freewill, you can spot very quickly sense when someone else's intention is the very opposite, at least that has been my own experience.
Yes, your true power lies in peace, in non-violence and holding to truth and justice in what is right for all, as indeed, if it is not good for all, then it is not good at all. This is the method that will help to heal a broken world. One of my favourite quotes is that "shooting for peace is like screwing for virginity ... it ain't gonna happen!
How can violence create peace? It just perpetuates fear (which weakens) and creates anger (which weakens) and retaliation, which only serves to create more violence, death and destruction.
Peaceful intentions help to create a space for growth, expansion, for something wonderful to break through. It strengthens you as a person, and helps you to live a life of more meaning as you are a beacon for hope, this raises the chance to also help and inspire others around you ... indeed the very energy you emit has a power that can energetically help transform those around you ... just by your very beingness.
Of course for us to come to that place it requires often much and continued self healing, personal growth and self-realisation - but many who have been working to heal themselves and their lives, are now the very ones who are ready to hold the light and intentions for a better world, from a place of compassion and understanding, and have been doing so for quite some time often too.
I am blessed in that I have people around me who understand this, some are monks, some are holistic therapists and healers, doctors, some are solicitors, office workers, actors, shop workers etc... they are everywhere, in all parts of our society and world.
Knowing this, the message is also that the time has come to reconnect with each other more as well, after many (including myself) have had to spend much time alone to truly find themselves and connect deeper with their own soul self and indeed, to the greater expansive consciousness of God or Source, or whatever you wish to call that infinite loving intelligence that is omnipresent and omnipotent etc. So that they could truly excavate their authentic selves, and become better containers and vessels their more recognised "divine" selves.
I am also encountering more and more of what I call "special children", who seem already very awake, their true nature shines though, and they seem to me to be enlightened and even avatars. Yes I know many of us are indigos, starseeds, earth angels etc.... but these new souls that are being birthed appear to be vibrating at such high levels already, and connecting and communicating with us in wonderful ways. I often end up having some amazing telepathic conversations with these souls, sometimes communicating pre-birth too, when their mothers come and visit me for psychic readings.
This is so very exciting, not only to feel and experience, but to also interact with and see ... but knowing it is part of the divine plan of the true consciousness awakening on the planet. Yes, it is part of our evolution to the Golden Age, the Aquarian Age that I am told begins on 11/11/11 - itself a powerful date, a "oneness" date.
Knowing we are all one, as energetically there is no separation..... If you are reading this, know that you are indeed my brother or sister, no matter your colour, creed, beliefs or even deeds ... there is no separation. Moreover however it is a soul resonate knowing and a feeling that we are ONE - not just a theoretical or scientific, quantum mechanical known.
I pray for all to be awakened to this knowing, but it is not for everyone to awaken at this time .. and all have a part to play in whatever way their soul decided before they incarnated into their current physical body, and have their own path to tread.
The message is all we can do is the best we can, acting from the best place we know. If you are more awake than most, you probably realise most of what has been written here, and more besides..... So you know how very precious and amazing you are too, I hope.
We are the trailblazers that are helping to not only map out the blue print to a new and better world, but also those that have to walk the talk and be the beacons of the possibility becoming a reality. We are the magicians, the manifestors, the co-creators, and the visionaries, the prophecy fulfillers etc. that have been, and are continuing to lay the foundations for a Golden Age, right now, today, tomorrow, and continuing.
Together we can help change the world, to help make it more peaceful, fair, loving and caring, where compassion and kindness are just the traits that are the first most natural reaction to each other ......well I can dream ... but so can you... SO CAN YOU!
After all, everything that has become a physical reality was once just a thought or a dream. We are the ones we have been waiting for ... and spirit are telling me "its time - get out there!" And as I offered a long time ago to help and assist as best I can, it is with my soul pledge to God that I surrendered. I hope and intend that I can do the best I can, for the highest and best of intentions for all concerned.
Sending you love and peaceful blessings.
Sarah Page - Helper Angel xxx
If you would like to know more about having a psychic reading, mentoring and life guidance sessions with Sarah Page, or attend a workshop or the Soul Evolve weekly group, please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Page - www.helperangel.co.uk or email helperangel@hotmail.co.uk Thank you
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The Silence of the Mind
Experiencing the Mystery of the Present Moment
In the whole Universe, there is nothing static, dead or frozen. Everything, but absolutely everything, is in eternal movement. Even within the so-called still nature reigns the same intrinsic law of movement.Movement and newness, in perfect interconnectedness, affirm themselves as uniqueness. In this context, the moment represents the hand of the clock, used by Infinity in order to record the movement of Eternity. It is always new, as well as creative and transformative, in an ascending manner, progressively.
In order to be able to encounter the newness of the aliveness in its movement, we must come out and greet it the same way. Thus, we don't return to the past, to what happened, nor do we project ourselves into the future, in pursuit of an imaginary purpose or ideal to fulfill.
With a completely empty mind, we simply watch life as it unfolds. Nothing comes between us and the movement of life, in the form of images, opinions etc. Such a simple and direct meeting with the moment transcends us spontaneously from the finite world into Infinity.
And just as quickly, like lightning, we detach, in order to be free again, and therefore completely available to encountering the next moment. Nothing is anticipated and nothing is accumulated from the lived moment.
The purity, innocence of the mind is our constant companion, as each moment becomes an opportunity of creative "being". Through this way of "being" - as pure Consciousness - we ourselves create a new world in which Love, beauty, compassion and kindness become a reality positively influencing the whole of humankind.
******
The Power of Emptiness
The "void" or "psychological emptiness" is a strange phenomenon,
It appears spontaneously, in the pause between two thoughts;
As the old thought ends its course and disappears,
Its end is the gate, natural silence ensues.
Insist in being with it, as much as you can,
The mind is completely silent, we are attentive - a clear consciousness,
All meanings, boundaries disappear - us and the Infinite are "One";
Practically, we have a new mind - always fresh.
Being in the pause - I become infinite!
It separates two worlds. I leave the limited world
And enter Boundlessness, through total melting;
The whole being is calm - a constant sparkle.
There is no time, no space - just everlasting Eternity;
I move in direct contact with life, in a permanent present.
I am Pure Energy, without motivations,
The simplicity of existence integrates us completely.
******
How can we free ourselves from the past and the future? It is all very simple! With a lucid, all-encompassing Attention, we will watch every reaction of the mind, without pursuing any purpose or goal. Everything we encounter in such a manner disappears; in the void which appears spontaneously, an unlimited energy is available at our fingertips and we are able to understand the absolute Reality through a direct experience.
In this state, we acquire a great sensitivity and everything that life brings forth in its natural flow is being regarded and appreciated with love and kindness.
Man is truly wise only when, detached from his selfish "self", united with Infinity through non-action and an aware passiveness of the mind.
This mysterious encounter is accompanied by simplicity. Once the past has disappeared, we are integrated in the now and, with a clear and lucid mind, we watch everything that comes as constant freshness from one moment to another.
********
Creation is constant movement, eternal newness and absolute freshness. It never repeats itself, it is never static and it is never caught in the trap of time and space.
The individual mind, no matter how cultured, has no access to the phenomenon of creation and cannot understand it, because the mind is always old and outdated. Each movement of this particular mind separates and limits. Thus, with such a mind, we will never, in any circumstances, be able to discover the mysteries of the movement of creation.
Therefore, this ordinary mind must be silent! But how can we make it become silent? Only in one way: when we encounter it simply and directly, with the flame of Attention, without having any motives or ideals to accomplish.
If the meeting happens in the right way, the mind becomes quiet - it becomes completely silent - and in that moment our whole being is detached from the known. From then on, the vessel of consciousness, thus emptied, is able to encompass and understand the newness brought forth by the movement of life.
Therefore, a new mind, without limits and without knowledge; in its stillness, it is creative and through it, the person is always new and active. Such a mind, in a state of Pure Consciousness, creates radical changes in the structure of the ordinary man by its simple presence.
********
Perfectly conscious, I see the emptiness of this world directly and my mind becomes silent. I have no choices, not even at the level of understanding of this limited mind. In the silence that ensues, the mystery reveals by itself its secrets to us.
The whole being expands to infinity. A light such as we have never experienced before envelops us and heals us. Out of time and space, we have a pure consciousness - in perfect union with the Supreme Being.
All of these demonstrate that the alive within us is, in its essence, immortal. It has no beginning, no end, it never sleeps, being therefore always awake.
********
Calm and Relaxed
To everything that comes from inside, as well as outside,
As turbulent reactions, as imaginary forms,
Just be relaxed - watch, listen - in a perfect way;
Neither past, nor future. With a lucid Attention, you encounter Truth.
There are no memory residues present in this meeting;
"Psychological emptiness" is the gate to infinite Love.
The Calm comes about indirectly, not by wanting nor through imagination,
But by simply watching the turmoil of the limited "ego".
********
How could this small shell, which is the human mind, embrace and comprehend the immensity of the ocean of Cosmic Energy?
Nevertheless, this audacious "ego" persistently affirms that he knows what God is, what is creative Love, immortality etc.
More so, it states and even offers solutions to tackling and solving the great problems that challenge humankind.
Yet this "ego" is not aware of one thing: that its own presence creates the whole tragedy and suffering on the entire surface of the Earth. It is the human being's main and only enemy. Its fictitious, chaotic and misleading movement generates and maintains the human misery and suffering.
But when a ray of light, emanated by Pure Consciousness, pierces the limited shell of the mind and exposes its whole fiction, this mind becomes humble and silent.
********
I was 55 years old. One morning, waking up from my sleep, I noticed that, psychologically, I was functioning differently from the night before. The mind had lost its usual turmoil. In a state of serenity I had never felt before, I was functioning in perfect communion with my whole somatic structure.
Only after a couple of hours I realized what had happened to me, without pursuing this 'something' as an ideal to accomplish. I was, to use a simile, in the situation of a man blind from birth, who had just gained his sight after undergoing surgery. Everything around me was as new. I had an overall perspective on things. A silent mind allows the senses to perceive things as they are.
The mind in its totality had become, through silence, an immense mirror in which the outside world was reflected. And the world I was perceiving directly through my senses revealed its own reality to me. My fellow beings, close friends or complete strangers, were being regarded indiscriminately, with a feeling of love I had never felt before.
If any reaction of the mind surfaced, it disappeared immediately in contact with the sparkle of impersonal Attention. A state of quiet and all-encompassing joy characterized me in all circumstances, whether pleasant or painful. My behaviour was that of a simple witness, perfectly aware of what was happening around me, without affecting my all-encompassing state of peace.
Excerpts from The Silence of the Mind, Published by OBooks
Ilie Cioara was an enlightened mystic who lived in Eastern Europe. His writings in 16 books describe the experience of meditation and enlightenment, as well as the practice of Self-knowing using all-encompassing Attention. Like Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, Ekhart Tolle, his is a simple message of discovering our inner divine nature through the silence of the mind.
The Silence of the Mind is the first in a tetralogy by Ilie Cioara to be published by Obooks. Soon to follow: The Wondrous Journey into the Depth of Our Being, Life is Eternal Newness and I Am Boundlessness. website thesilencebook.blogspot.com
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The Creative Genius of Your Dreaming Mind
By Davina MacKail
Dreams have fascinated us for millennia and with good reason. Every sleep of our lives presents this unique opportunity to access a fantastical, mystical world where quite literally anything could happen and generally does. This is the world of our dreams. Moments of truth that, reveal something of our selves.
The definitive purpose of dreaming remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of life. The worlds of science and psychology both have their views but no one has the absolute answer as to whether dreams are purely a physiological or psychological necessity. Dreams are many things, often all at once. Science has so far proven that they are ways of seeking solutions; maintaining our mental health; improving performance and maintaining sleep.
From my own experience of dreams I believe they play a more fundamental role in our lives than we have thus far given them credit for. For me, their purpose is threefold; they are a process of re-organisation of the self, a means to understanding who we truly are and an infinite source of creativity and inspiration.
This latter idea, of exploiting their creative potential, is the most unexplored and potentially evolutionary way of using our dreams. The idea that dreams are sources of creative genius is not new. Our world would not be as it is without dreams, from Einstein's' Theory of Relativity to Paul McCartney's Yesterday dreams have exerted their magical influence upon us. However, the process of proactively engaging the dreaming mind to seek solutions rather than purely responding to random dreams has received little attention. Yet everything in our biochemical and biological make-up entirely supports this active engagement with the dreaming mind. Not only that but we give it credence in our language. We know thing's will seem better if we "sleep on it" even if we have no idea as to why that might be other than the restorative benefits of a good night's sleep.
During the REM (rapid eye movement) dream part of sleep all the rational, logical chemicals in our brains are switched off and all our most creative chemicals are switched on. We truly are solution seeking missiles whilst in dream sleep. I believe we're missing out on a massive, chemical opportunity by not utilising this entirely natural nocturnal activity.
For me, engaging with the dreaming mind is about a way of being, a fundamental trust and belief in the interconnectedness of all parts of our human spectrum. Our dreams teach us to trust our own inner wisdom rather than knowledge. Wisdom is the source, the knowing, without knowing, and knowledge is the attempted interpretation of that knowing. In my work I use these fundamental principles as a basis for accessing wisdom directly from Spirit and using the information I receive to work with the client in resolving whatever their issue may be. I work with clients across a wide spectrum of both business and personal issues. Wisdom is not biased or judgmental as knowledge can sometimes be and is always available to harmonise personal and community issues.
The issue with dreams is less to do with their occurrence and more to do with their interpretation. We tend to dismiss them because their meaning isn't immediately apparent. But we don't consider what's spoken in Chinese to be meaningless just because we don't understand Chinese. It's the same for dreams; they have their own language which, when we learn it, allows dream meanings to become abundantly clear. In my book, The Dream Whisperer, I address this aspect in depth through a myriad of different techniques that enables you to discover the language of your dreams allowing you to unlock the creative and healing power inherent within them. There is also a double CD of the same name that guides you directly through dream techniques and relaxation experiences to help you analyse dreams and incubate new ones. One of the simplest ways to start unlocking your dreams meaning comes from the father of modern dream interpretation himself, Sigmund Freud. Whilst we have moved beyond his dream theories his interpretation technique of free association is as valid today as it ever was. To practise this method take a dream and underline all the symbols e.g. large tree, blue house etc and then taking each in turn simply mind map what immediately seems obvious to you about this symbol and any associations that spring to mind. You will get the best results by relaxing first and softening your mind so you can access the associations more easily as the answers always sit in that space just on the edge of awareness of your conscious mind.
If you're one of those people that doesn't remember your dreams the good news is you can easily train yourself to have increasingly improved recall. I've done this myself and share how to do it in the book. I wasn't what I would call a "natural dreamer" yet I've trained myself to remember a dream on a specific topic when I need to. Mostly I remember a clear dream. However, I've noticed that even if I don't remember a specific dream if I immediately act on the issue I asked about the problem seems to magically resolve itself. As if my mind has worked the problem out whilst I've been sleeping, which in effect it has.
The fundamental requisite for training your dreaming mind is desire. If the part of the brain that governs REM sleep is removed we still dream. Yet if we remove the part of the brain that controls desire we cease to dream. Desire governs the world of dreams - both the waking and sleeping ones! If you have a desire to work with your dreams and a strong desire to seek solutions and inspiration from them then that is what will start to occur.
Desire is also relevant when programming your dreaming mind to seek answers. What you seek to know must be worthy of your search. This is of course entirely subjective, it is what is important and valuable to you that counts. That may be very different from what is valuable to someone else. You must also be prepared to act on the information you receive. For example if you asked about a relationship yet know if your dream told you to leave that relationship you'd remain in it then don't ask the question. Wait until you're ready to hear the answer. One of the easiest ways to programme your mind is simply to focus on an issue as you're drifting off to sleep and ask "What do I most need to know about x, y or z?" E.g. what do I most need to know about my direction in life? For big questions the answers may come over two or three nights of dreaming. Remember to write the dreams down in a journal solely saved for this purpose and see how their meanings start to bear relevance on your question. If you get stuck use The Dream Whisperer to work out the meanings. Be aware that the answers may not come in the dream itself instead, you may wake with a simple "knowing" of what action to take. Which was how I found my father from a dream - he never knew I existed so he wasn't going to come looking for me. That was an event that has completely changed my life simply by paying attention to the messages of my dreaming mind.
It is the mystery and simplicity of dreams that I love. One moment they're nonsensical fantasy the next they offer their "aha" moment for the dreamer. A moment of deep truth passed from our unconscious to conscious mind for action and resolution. The more you work with your dreams the more astonished you will be at what you discover about yourself, your issues, your inspirations, insights and creative solutions. It's all there waiting to be discovered simply by listening to the whispers of your dreams.
The Dream Whisperer, by Davina MacKail. Published by Hay House Publishing £9.99 (May 2010) Also Dream Whisperer Double CD set published by Hay House Publishing £11.99 (May 2010). For more information visit www.askdavina.com
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It's time to reach the top of your mountain
& co-create Heaven on Earth!
In September, I was fortunate enough to go to the South of France, to the Pyrenees Atlantiques. Nothing startling about that you might think, yet for me, it had been nearly seven years since I'd ventured out of the country; suffering throughout the mid 2000's from agoraphobia, claustrophobia, anxiety and depression as a result of ill health.
For those of you who do not know me, I have had a colourful medical history. All of the challenges that I faced were perfect, placing me firmly on my spiritual, physical and emotional healing journey to arrive where I am today, flowing with the Universe and knowing deep within my Heart that 'All Is Well'.
In October 2010, my husband Jason Paul Claire, and I, had our first book - The Serenity Code - published by the HotHive. Writing the book was an integral part of our healing journey, sharing with others our story of ill health and how we discovered our healing path, awakening to the truth of our own divinity deep within us.
The last twelve months since publication have been even more spectacular as the Universe pulled out gem after gem, helping us both to conquer even more outdated fears one by one.
In May this year I finally felt strong enough to move beyond the boundaries of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, (my old second home!), to Evesham. As I did so, I was asked to become a partner in the HotHive, and even felt confident enough to drive myself around in my car on my own for the first time in almost a decade.
Since then I have caught trains to London, a plane to the South of France, and if that wasn't enough, last week climbed a mountain.
As I stood at 5,500 feet up in the Pyrenees, having just completed the most physically and mentally challenging, yet spiritually rewarding climb of my life, I looked up to see the most awesome sight that Mother Earth could ever provide. Soaring just above my head were the most graceful creatures - Griffin Vultures effortlessly riding the thermals with their 9 foot wing span clearly visible.
The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, and stretched out all around were awesome mountains for as far as the eye could see; with merely the gentle cry of Vultures piercing the silence. (In ancient cultures, Vultures symbolised protection, strength and the preparation of Earth for new life to come).
In that moment I knew that every experience that I'd ever had in my life had brought me to this place; Heaven on Earth. I had climbed my physical and spiritual mountain, and I knew deep in my Heart and Soul that there is absolutely nothing to fear.
Now humanity is being called to climb to the top of its spiritual mountain and reconnect to its divinity. There is absolutely nothing to stop us all achieving exactly what it is that we came to the Earth to do at this awesome time on the planet.
Reclaim your birthright, work with your Soul Purpose, follow what makes your Heart sing, and help to Co-Create Heaven on Earth. The time is now!
See you next month,
With much love and blessings
Louise Claire-Pardoe
www.thehothive.com
Email: louise@thehothive.com
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The Magnificence of Birth
August has been the most amazing month; following the synchronicities of the Universe, and meeting amazing people who are full of passion and enthusiasm about their wonderful books. I feel very privileged and honoured to be able to do the work that I do every day, supporting people to birth their words into the world packaged in the most beautiful way; a bit like a mid-wife, but for books!
It was during a meeting with an author at the beginning of August, that this concept really began to make sense to me. Pennie Munslow, a dear friend of mine, and soon to be published author of the most energetically powerful book I have ever had the privilege of reading - The Circle of Life - also likened her book to a baby.
"I can't let my baby go into the world without holding its hand and looking after it with all my heart as it grows," said Pennie.
I looked at Karen, my business partner, and we both smiled, because we had just been speaking about the privilege of birthing books earlier that week. What a synchronistic moment!
It struck me that when we look at the world like this, and honour everything that we 'birth', be that a baby, a book, a new project, planting a seedling, etc, it is so important to honour, love and nurture the seeds that we sow. For with love, and the appropriate care and attention, the most perfect gifts can grow and become part of the world for all to enjoy and learn from.
See you next month!
With much love and blessings Louise Claire-Pardoe
www.thehothive.com
Email: louise@thehothive.com
Our Vision: To birth heart-centred, authentic, impeccable words in beautiful books that will awaken consciousness and change the world.
Our Values: Impeccable Conduct; Authenticity; Transparency; Passion; Working from the Heart; Kindness
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The Acceptance of Acupuncture
Acupuncture has undergone a recent surge in popularity, and is finally beginning to win respect and acceptance within Western medical circles. Here, two women talk about the remarkable impact it has made on their lives.
Greater numbers of patients, disillusioned with Western medicine's reliance on drugs, are turning to traditional eastern medical practices. This has resulted in a mass of converts to acupuncture, the popularity of which has grown so great, that patient demand has led to the treatment being offered on the NHS.
Developed by the Chinese, acupuncture is one of the oldest healing processes in the world; treatment centres on returning balance to the body through the application of fine needles to key points around the body; these then release the body's energy or qi, which is believed to flow through 14 invisible channels or 'meridians', around the body, each one linked to a different organ. Blockages within these meridians can lead to an imbalance within the body which results in illness.
Tracey Watson, a keen sportswoman, is a recent convert to the healing powers of the needle. Two years ago, Tracey, 39, trapped her sciatic nerve after landing awkwardly during a gym session; the following day, she was unable to move. Although sports massage dramatically improved pain levels, the sciatica frequently returned over the following 18 months with crippling effects.
Tracey quickly lost faith with the western approach to medicine after doctors told her there was little that could be done to improve the situation, and recommended that she give up sport.
She says: "I was prescribed various pain killers of increasing strength and muscle relaxants which, given my active lifestyle, was not a serious option. I was particularly unhappy with the side effects of drowsiness and nausea." Tracey made the decision to forgo the drugs and "live with the pain" and devised an exercise regime to strengthen her back muscles.
The low point arrived in June 2010 when, after a holiday spent cycling and running, the sciatica returned with a vengeance. It was at this time that a friend recommended an acupuncture therapist. She confides: "I was initially extremely sceptical and I don't particularly like needles, but at this point, I had nothing to lose."
Tracey spent time researching acupuncture and the recommended therapist and was reassured by his extensive credentials. "I needn't have worried," she says. "I had immediate relief from my symptoms, and felt incredibly relaxed. I was also particularly reassured by the fact that the practitioner explained thoroughly what he was doing, which muscles were affected, and why I was having problems."
Tracey made a remarkable recovery after just four sessions and claims: "Would I use him again? Absolutely! My husband has since been to see the same therapist for knee pain and found his sessions hugely successful as well. My only regret is that I was initially so narrow-minded about alternative treatments."
Eleven months later and Tracey has just completed her first marathon, and concludes: "I couldn't have even contemplated doing this last summer."
And yet acupuncture, like many aspects of Chinese medicine, have been victim to western scientific cynicism with claims that its success could be due as much to the patient's belief in the therapy - the placebo effect - as the treatment itself. A 2009 American study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine carried out trials on 638 patients. The results of the study revealed that although acupuncture was successful in relieving back pain amongst those taking part in the trial, simulated acupuncture also produced significant improvement amongst sufferers.
Greater numbers of studies are being carried out into the area, and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the process doesn't simply rework the mind's perception of pain; recently, researchers affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital, the Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School, and the University of Hull in the United Kingdom demonstrated with the use of MRI technology that placebo treatments and acupuncture do not work through the same brain networks, but activate completely different pathways in the brain.
Karen Primmer, 42, wholeheartedly refutes claims that acupuncture works purely as a placebo and views herself as proof of its success. Ten years ago, Karen miscarried her first child. Feeling utterly drained by a combination of the miscarriage and work related stress, she turned to a combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, having heard that both were an effective aid to fertility.
"Western medicine normally demands you try for up to two years before embarking on IVF," Karen explains. "I'd often used natural therapists and homeopaths and had great results so I thought I'd give acupuncture and Chinese herbs a shot rather than wait a year or two."
Karen's treatment began with an initial consultation during which the practitioner questioned Karen on her lifestyle, her menstrual cycle, energy levels, sleeping, and stress. Karen recalls: "She then gave me my first acupuncture treatment. I was a little squeamish at first, but then I just felt totally relaxed."
She began regular sessions of acupuncture and a twice-daily prescription of Chinese herbs, and says that she "noticed results within a fortnight, with increased energy levels and a general sense of well being. Then with each visit I felt more energised and was sleeping better."
Karen fell pregnant with her first daughter, Holly, two months after her first session. She continued treatment during and after her pregnancy, and conceived her son, Will, 22 months after Holly's birth. She confesses: "I have no idea what the practitioner does, but it works, and I particularly like the fact that it is not chemically based."
Karen concludes: "I've recommended it to friends, and friends of friends, who are having problems conceiving. To date they've all fallen pregnant. One friend was so impressed with what Chinese medicine did for her that she's now studying it at the University of Technology, Sydney."
Reconciliation between Eastern and Western healing does seem to be moving forward as hospitals begin to place greater trust in Oriental medicine's ability to work alongside western approaches; in Australia for example, a pilot study at Queensland's Mater Adult Hospital is combining conventional medicine with acupuncture and massage to help reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. And in Sydney, plans are well underway to open a hospital in 2012 which combines TCM with Western medicine and which is supported by both the Australian and Chinese governments.
In the UK, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence openly supports the use of acupuncture for treating patients who suffer from continuing low level back pain. Coupled with a general tightening in the regulation of the safety and quality of Chinese herbs, this ancient practice of healing has shaken off its taboo and is playing an increasingly important role in every day treatment of medical conditions in both the East and West.
Lydia Davis
Freelance Writer and Editor
Tel: 0065 96534045
www.lydiadavis.co.uk
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Deep Listening
When was the last time you sat and really allowed yourself to just "be"? To observe without comment the sounds around you, allowing yourself to be open, accepting, without question, judgement or desire ... just pure peaceful acceptance of what is?
Deep listening comes from this place, a place where you are just observing the comings and goings of the thoughts in your mind, the sensations of the body, or indeed, the greater expansion of yourself, however being in this stillness of mediation can also offer you a deeper connection to the greater infinity of the cosmos and the super consciousness of all that is, where if you listen attentively, answers may be heard and found.
However, with daily requirements needing to be met, possible daily stresses, and all the ideas, thoughts and "doing" that occurs in our lives, the only times we perhaps really allow ourselves to just "be" is when we are aiming to go to sleep, but this is not the same.
"Why?" You may ask.
Well the offering that sitting upright has, with a straight spine, and with no back support (if you can manage it), is that it helps to keep you alert and present in the now. It opens you to be able to listen to that quiet voice within that is often ignored, overlooked, and drowned out by everything else.
This is where deep listening is most powerful. Imagine you are plugged in to the cosmos, and somewhere amongst all of that is the answers you are seeking to find, the keys to the universe, the solutions, ideas, inspirations and all encompassed with divine loving energy.
My experience is by going into a space where deep listening is possible, you open up to a communication and connection that can be so transformational, so helpful and guiding, allowing your consciousness deeper access to the greater expansion of all that is. Now if that isn't powerful, I don't know what truly is.
With conscious present alertness, stillness and quietness, you are truly allowing for all this and more to potentially be available to you. The key is to keep with the practice, and if you have them, gently ask the questions of which you need answers.
I truly believe that a door that is knocked will always receive an answer, although don't expect to have an idea of what you want that answer to be or how it must arrive, as all so often it will also come in unexpected, and surprising ways.
However, if you are still wishing to open up to deep listening, another key is to spend more time in the here and now, in all that you do, spend as much of your waking moments being observant, open and present, noticing what arises. Aim to be the master your reactions, emotions and feelings.
The major key of being in life in a powerful transformative way is to observe without attachment or judgement, to be with peace and acceptance. Something which for most of us can arise momentarily, however, our aim is to have it be more of a constant way of being. Certainly something one can work on attaining.
Peace is in everyone, and although we may experience fluctuations in our emotions and feelings, with chemical responses only adding to the reactions as they fire in our bodies creating changes in the physical. When you do question what is really going on, when you become all of a sudden the observer of your life, and not just blindly experiencing everything, then you can get a clearer picture, a better handle on how to deal with things as they occur, and indeed become less stressed in the process if you find a technique that works for you.
I find conscious deep breathing also helps, as often when we are busy and stressed we rarely breathe properly, as we tighten up, and restrict breath flow, and this can cause negative chemical reactions in the body, which can affect your health if continually falling into this state of being.
As a whole it has to be said, we are now heading into times of more love, peace, harmony and caring - and to that many may say ...... "Are we!?"
Well yes we are. You see more are opening their hearts, many more are seeing the oneness, many more are seeing through the illusions, and good will overcome the negative, it always will, as it is so much more powerful, and the more of us that open our hearts and recognise we are all brothers and sisters, who also need to help care for mother earth and all her inhabitants, then this love will conquer all the negative, and allow for a greater expansion of a new way of being, living and caring for each other and ourselves.
Deep listening is the doorway to your truth, your answers, your keys being used to unlock your deepest secrets and the mysteries further revealed.
Wishing you peace and blessings on your journey
Sarah Page
Helper Angel - Assisting you with the wings to fly
www.helperangel.co.uk
I hope you have found this article helpful, but if you would like to find out more, and practice more deep listening with me or have a psychic reading for example, just contact me, Sarah Page, Helper Angel - 07980 413 507.
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Miracles are Everywhere!
There is a saying that there are two ways of looking at life, one is that everything is a coincidence or chance occurrence, or even an accident, the other that everything is a miracle.
For me, miracles are everywhere. I see the poetry as to how my own life has got to where it has, the good and seemingly bad perhaps, brought me to the place I am now, and I just see the miracle in all that has occurred, the people I have met, and the synchronicities that helped dreams come true and can recall many memorable life changing incidences that all seem miraculous to me.
I believe that we are all part of the miracle, as each of us has the capacity to be a miracle for another. You could be the person who helps to facilitate a miracle to me having my dream of an eco village community come true for example. I could be the answer to your miracle to spur you to your next great adventure etc... who knows? All I know is I am open to being the miracle for you too, and put my faith and trust in something greater, that it knows what it is doing in order to help bring us together in whatever way that will be, to help facilitate such a thing.
In my dictionary a miracle is defined as being "an extraordinary event that is attributed to divine intervention, or a remarkable example or instance of something".
I have recently been on a lovely trip to Wales over the Easter holidays. The weather was glorious and a dear friend and I travelled up beautiful vistas of mountains and green pasture, high waterfalls, dense woodlands and witnessed lots of sheep and their new baby lambs frolicking in the sunshine. If this alone isn't a miracle anyway, I don't know what is.
However, during this visit we had an incident where her car wouldn't start and due to the mountains and the location, there was no signal for the mobile phones to work either. We had been visiting a church called Saint Melangell, which is home to the oldest shrine in Britain, and a beautiful place, known for healing miracles, but much out of the way of anywhere really. With no signal on the phone and the nearest house whose door we knocked on, unanswered, we were at a loss as to what to do, other than walk back to the caravan site which was some three miles away, and return for the car the next day with hopefully a mechanic to assist us.
However my friend decided to see if there was anywhere else we could ask for assistance and went off walking up the road, as I remained standing by the car. In the meantime I checked in with my intuition and psychic abilities to see if they could help me give an insight or solution to what was happening. Saying that we both had prayed to the angels for assistance, and I did this again, however I had a feeling that I should not be concerned it seemed for one minute, just enjoy this amazing view and place, as it was going to be solved in a miraculous way, and I remained trusting, knowing all would be well.
Eventually I could hear a vehicle approaching, and watching the road I saw a blue car with four passengers inside it, and a gentle inner voice said "a person in that car could help us as he knew all about jump starting cars". In the distance I then heard a discussion out of sight of my vision, but my friend's voice was distinct in the discourse.
A minute later she returned and said that she had just stood in the middle of the road and stopped a blue car, and the driver said he was just dropping someone home, but would return to assist us when he had done so. It was indeed the driver of the blue car that I had seen, and he was as good as his word as minutes later he returned. But I guess the miracle to all of this was that he was a mechanic, and better than that, the last job he had which he had just finished working for, was as a car rescue mechanic for the RAC.
He looked under the bonnet of the car, and started to hand pump some fuel which had not been able to get through, to get the car going. This got it working in seconds.... and the time between us realising the car was not working, to it working, and by a trained mechanic, in the middle of nowhere, took around 5-10 minutes tops - in fact that car was the only car that passed us the whole time we were waiting there.
He was our miracle and answer to a prayer that my friend and I gleefully acknowledged as we drove back to the caravan. Now as I first mentioned, some may say well it was a coincidence or chance incident, but I believe that was just another bit of evidence that proves that miracles do and can happen ... in fact they happen all the time - but do you notice them, or do you just think it's a coincidence?
There have been many miracles in all of our lives, but how often do we really see it that way. If you think of all the processes that your body goes through just to function, many would agree it is a miracle.
So be open to the miracle, be open to the fact that there is a higher knowing, a higher intelligence doing something, knowing something that can help and assist us.
The power of prayer is very much "a power". When we mix our intentions with our prayer, when we ourselves offer up to be part of the flow, the channel for which miracles can happen through - then we are helping and assisting the divine to help bring more miracles on earth.
How many of you have received a spiritual healing treatment, or indeed been a channel for the energies to flow through you to another? When you couple the prayer and intention for this to occur, for the highest and best of intentions for all concerned - it is indeed a mighty power that can flow forth and heal sometimes instantly that which was once causing suffering and pain.
Yes miracles are not just some bible story you may have heard Jesus perform, or something that is a rare occurrence, miracles are everywhere. You are a miracle, all that you see around you is a miracle, and sometimes what you may consider a small kindness to another, could for them be a miracle, as you flow with divine energies acting from a inner knowing or intuition to sometimes performing an act of kindness or creation, you may not always know why, but trusting in the feeling of it, and from it a miracle occurring for someone, perhaps even you.
So if you so wish to do so, I invite you to affirm: I am welcome to experiencing and being part of the miracle that brings goodness, joy, healing, prosperity, to not only myself, but for all .... And so it is.
Wishing you peace and love on your journey
Sarah Page
Helper Angel - Assisting you with the wings to fly
www.helperangel.co.uk
helperangel@hotmail.co.uk
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Creating more abundance:
Have you Dedicated or Re-dedicated your website?
Spring has arrived & so many have been asking me lately how they can start to create more abundance with their website.
The most important thing you can do, whether you already have a website or are thinking about creating one, is to start with the basics.
Have you dedicated your website to a purpose?
We often dedicate our lives to something - especially people in the fields of healing & teaching. We dedicate books, healing sessions, crystals & spaces. So it seems crazy not to actively, consciously dedicate your website to a specific purpose too. The clearer the intention you have for your website, the easier it is to create it, shape it, decide what goes on it, what doesn't go on it, what to spotlight etc.
When I say dedicate your website I mean start with a clear intention & purpose of what you actually want that website to do or achieve for you & other people. If you haven't done this & already have a website it's a great idea to re-dedicate it & then look at your website to see if it aligns with its dedicated purpose.
Often people will approach a web designer & say this is what I want, this is what we do or sell & it turns out that's not what they do at all. It was what they did 10 years ago! Things change. We change. Our methods change, our purposes & paths & dreams change course (sometimes slightly & sometimes radically!). And sometimes it's good to take stock & think, 'yes, what is my purpose' & then 'how do I want my web purpose to serve that?'
If you dedicate your website to a purpose & keep reminding yourself of what that is, everything flows from that. Logos flow from that, what you write flows from that, what you choose to put on your website flows from that, the images you choose flow from that, how you organise your website flows from that, what you chose to highlight flows from that & with ease.
In my experience if people don't have a clear purpose for their website then it tends to become quite a confusing space for people to visit & they have a sense of feeling lost. A bit like us in our lives if we haven't quite found our purpose yet & aren't sure what to do with ourselves!
If you haven't got a website already, what purpose would you love it to have?
If you have a website already, what was your original purpose for it when you created it & is that still the same today? Do the images & words & still reflect the purpose? Have you gone in a different direction since it was built & the site doesn't quite reflect that yet?
If you visit the resources page on our website www.spiritoftheweb.co.uk/resources/resources.html you can download a FREE copy of our complete little booklet called 'Have You Dedicated or Re-dedicated Your Website?' to help you.
Happy Spring!
With love,
Sian X
Sian Morgan
Author, Psychologist & Specialist in Designing Online Resources
Bio:
Sian Morgan is one of the only psychologists in the UK to specialise in designing online resources. She has a Bachelor of Medical Science (Hons), a postgraduate diploma in psychology, a postgraduate distinction in designing online resources & a Masters degree in psychology & research methodology. She was a specialist in the NHS, has worked in Education & the private sector. She is a published author & has advised various TV shows, pilots, video productions & radio shows over the years. As well as a more traditional medical & psychology background, Sian has also been interested in the ancient frameworks of health & wellbeing like Shamanism for years. She successfully managed to blend Western & ancient frameworks in private practice & now combines this with her web knowledge - & a team of fantastic web gurus - to help people harness the power of the web to create the best possible websites.
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Finding Peace in Times of Change and Uncertainty
Change is happening at double quick speed it may feel these days. I often joke and say, "Well this is what I am doing today, but tomorrow - who knows". Often this statement is so true, as miracles often occur that mean an unexpected work offer comes in, or an unusual invitation arrives and takes me out of my "everydayness" as such.
This was not always the case, as going back some nine years ago my life was pretty staid and routine, and from one week to the next I could generally predict how most days were going to be, with very little variation to life in general. Although back then I doubt I would have been as happy with something called uncertainty, as I am now.
Uncertainty seems to be something that we are surrounded by more than ever these days, and events can come out of the blue to totally knock out of kilter that which we thought and presumed our lives were about.
Many are finding that they are in a place of work or job uncertainty, or their close personal relationships just all of a sudden seem very changeable as we ourselves are experiencing quantum shifts in our thoughts, beliefs and desires, and all of a sudden we move out of resonance with those we once felt closest to.
Financial and resource uncertainty and changes on a global scale even seem to affect us more now, as we realise we are all connected, and as most of us saw those scenes of devastation in Japan recently, we also know that what we can almost (if we are not careful) take for granted as certainties one day, can be swept away from us in seconds in events so out of our control, within moments.
Yes, I believe we are all at some level experiencing a wake-up call to the fact that what we think is something we can depend and rely on, can change, and do so very quickly. This can leave us with a sense of uncertainty which for many can be very unsettling and make life a place of fear and anxiety if that is not something you are not able to handle very well.
So how do you find peace with uncertainty?
Well firstly look at the bigger picture of life, recognising that things will not change without sometimes events that alter that which once was, as it is often the only thing that forces one to evolve and grow, and if we are to create different and good things, often the old has to be swept away before something new can arrive. You cannot solve a problem in the same consciousness that it was created; indeed as we ourselves are going through change, so is our outer world reflecting that.
Secondly, breathe, find acceptance and allow for some flow and trust of events, knowing that there is some grander vision and plan occurring which means that all of this is happening to push us often to some greater expansion, growth, co-creation and potential. This can often feel controversial to some depending on the event that has occurred. This is where we have to see the blessing in "all" events that occur, not just the seemingly good things. It is a huge spiritual growth lesson and one that often needs the most thought and attention to understand in order to be in peace and acceptance with it. Perhaps sometimes needing to find forgiveness in a situation or openness to a solution that may be out of your comfort zone initially.
Although I invite you to reflect upon something that once happened in your life which at the time felt like the end of the word, but that now you can see the divinity in it, that it has put you in a better place in many ways? Like being made redundant meant you either got a better paid job, or finally went self-employed and are so much happier for being your own boss.
When we understand to trust and go with the flow, recognising that as events occur, it is how we choose to handle and react to them that is our key to all things. Our own self-responsibility, trusting in the process, and putting ourselves in a place of power and strength, self managing our emotions and reactions, not going into (or staying in moreover) fear and victimhood, are what is important during times of great change and uncertainty.
I feel it also gives us the opportunity to come together, to build a greater union, where kindness and compassion to others is further cultivated. Remembering that compassion to the self is also key in these times if you are struggling. In fact growing pains through change is often a given, as we must also be allowed to grieve and let go of that which has now gone. Surrender and release it, being open and embracing of the new and potentials that are now becoming available to you.
In fact uncertainty has been something I have evolved to accept more, and even see the excitement in, rather than the dread. I now feel the potential, the expansion, the opportunity for growth and experience, and life's lessons to create something better, and in that my own holistic evolution of mind, body and spirit.
Yes, we have always lived in uncertain times, but more than ever it is in finding the deeper meaning for yourself and for coming together to help and assist the whole, realising we are all one, that what we experience on a personal level, is a universal experience also.
I believe that there is so much possibility for growth and change that is positive, good and expansive, that an embracing of the uncertainty is one that will free us from the fear and anxiety of the unknown, putting us in a place of power, acceptance, peace and love for the arrival of a new dawn.
Wishing you love, peace and blessings on your journey
Sarah PageHelper Angel - Assisting you with the wings to fly
www.helperangel.co.uk
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The City of Light
an Eco Community based on Spiritual and Ethical Values.
The City of Light is a social experiment which has the objective of being an example of a new way of living and being. It is the life purpose and vision of Anthony John.
Anthony, and his wife Nicki Vee, chose Glastonbury as the most synchronistically perfect place to begin. Anthony wrote a vision many years ago of a place where people could come to understand all of what is possible and to heal their unconscious behaviour. From this vision he created, with Nicki, a beautiful retreat in Austria where hundreds of people attended Intimate Relationship seminars to learn more about love.
More recently he has studied and enjoyed his own journey towards his multi dimensional self and his attunement with Mother Earth. From this he created a new and even larger vision for his life, 'The City of Light'.
Anthony is now connecting with other like minded people in the uk who wish to live the very important purpose of bringing light and love to our planet.
The first community is moving into a home near to Glastonbury and their combined wish is for the family to grow to between 15 and 20 people. The family would like to invite those interested in this project to come to their home to connect and share ideas and ideals.
The family has two projects.
The first project is to open a 'Visitors Centre' to bring a heightened awareness of this experimental project to the Glastonbury community and its many visitors. The Visitors Centre will have space for learning, meditation, healing and socializing; all will be provided for donations towards the 'City' project.
Secondly, the family will be giving their full attention to creating the 'City of Light'. This is to be a very special place where all are actively involved in the sharing of their gifts and the creation of a new way of being. The desire to live in total harmony with each other, the oneness of mankind, and Mother Earth herself, is paramount. Together the residents will continue to co-create a system which benefits all people. The vision is to work towards a self sustainable lifestyle and a moneyless society with a high vibration of unconditional love.
At the very core of this shared vision is the building of 'The Temple of Peace'. This is a sacred space of healing for those who work within it and for those who visit. The temple is based on an Atlantean Temple and fully embraces the traditions of bathing, cleansing and healing.
If this project inspires you in any way feel free to join the website www.cityoflight.co.uk where you can download a pdf of the vision which is less than an hour to read or you can listen to it on mp3.
Prior to the Visitors Centre opening the City of Light family would love to share time with you for learning, meditation, healing and socializing each Thursday at 8pm at the Archangel Michael Centre, 1, George St, Glastonbury.
If you would like to connect with Anthony John please email him on anthonyjohn2012@gmail.com or call him on 07971 606487.
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THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT…
It's very easy to have a gripe with today's kids, especially teenagers. It seems all they can be bothered to do is play on the Xbox or hang around on street corners causing trouble, making themselves a nuisance to society! I speak not for every kid of that age range of course but this seems to be the attitude generally.
We seem to have given up on these 'no hopers' as we think they have squandered away opportunities in favour of being a pest or a menace. But is this really the case??
Absolutely one hundred percent not.
You see, these kids from childhood are mostly extremely clever and are a blank canvas of all possibility. It is unfortunate that many of them are misguided and instead of being encouraged with their special gifts and abilities, they are suppressed or un-nurtured. They are being deliberately targeted and distracted by the highest 'authorities' and this isn't by accident.
So what gifts and abilities am I talking about? Well, there's a generation of people on this planet today with a specific life mission. They started being born around the seventies and continue up to this day. They have become known as 'the Indigo children', literally due to the colour of their aura and their very nature. These are just some of the traits they possess: They are sensitive souls, often psychic, often feel like they don't belong or don't fit in, feel different from others, have an innate feeling that they are here for a specific purpose, can't stand old structured, backwards and senseless systems, not keen on authority, truth seekers, often see a better way of doing things and are often labelled as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as they are so clever that they can see what they are being taught in school as pointless and boring.
The 'mission' of the Indigo is to bring down old, non-serving and unjust systems of control and authority. Not to cause anarchy, but to make way for a new and better way. They are symbolically hacking away with a machete at anything that is no longer serving or right for humanity. This in turn is making way for another new generation of Human being known as the 'Crystal children' who are also very sensitive, highly psychic and telepathic as well as extremely loving and very clever. They work mostly from the right brain which is the connection to the 'out there', to the Universe and the all that is, as opposed to the left brain which is structured and rigid and keeps us very much in this three dimensional, unmalleable world.
When way has been made for these new, fair and humane systems the generation that is incarnating now will be the ones that show us how to live in it. How to be at Peace with one another, how to Love one another, how to respect one another, how treat everyone and everything as equal, how to exist in Harmony just like we did many millennia ago before the great fall.
In truth, many of us may well fit the description of these generations but what we need now is for even more of us to wake up to this fact and start living out our purpose. We are so powerful and this power will be used for the good of all.
As I said, these generations especially, are being targeted by the highest 'authorities'. Why? Because these self appointed 'authorities' are threatened by this generations very existence. The 'authorities' stand to lose their control over mankind as this major global awakening continues and inspires those who once lay dormant to suddenly make a difference in their own way.
It is happening and whether you call them Indigos, Crystals or whatever, they are playing a major role in the whole thing. They are inspiring those who have long forgotten who they really are and why they are on the Earth, back into action. It is a very exciting time to be alive and believe me, together we are bringing it about.
So if you feel that maybe you or your child are part of this influx of positive energy, remember to nurture and not supress. Find what makes your heart sing and encourage these gifts to be outed in a positive, helpful way!
The kids of today are alright. They just need our guidance out of the pattern of destruction they have been duped into. The time is NOW…
SF & MF :-)
Love, Light & Lots of Laughter.
The EarthShine Team
Past Life Regression Therapy (PLRT)
Past Life Regression Therapy (PLRT) to give it its full title. Essentially, Past Life Regression is a process where you are guided into hypnosis and then encouraged to explore the details of a particular life or lives.
Whether you accept that this experience is the recollection of a real past life or not is immaterial. The great aspect about PLRT is that you do not have to change your beliefs, religion or idea of the world in order to gain benefits from this experience. Sometimes a present and persistent issue or problem that has not been resolved by other means, can yield to PLRT.
Many people are simply just curious to undergo a past life regression session to discover the diversity and detail of the life, or lives that they may recall. This is considered to be Past Life Regression for recreational purposes. Despite this, you can still gain more insight and a better understanding of the person you are today.
During the session, you will be helped to enter into a very pleasant state of relaxation in which you will be more able to access the memories/experiences that are important to your particular problem. There is no need to be afraid of this altered state of consciousness. You will be in control at all times, although you will be guided through the process. You will recall the experience afterwards. Everyone has a different experience. Some people have a total and vivid recall of a particular life, whereas for others, it will be the recall of a particular event or experience, and yet others will have recall of just fragments. Whatever it is, it will be special and relevant to you. A minority of clients may not have a regression experience the first time. This can be for a variety of reasons. Often, it can be because the client is too nervous, or too excited to relax properly. You might need to go through an initial relaxation session to allow you to become comfortable with the process. In any case, I try to take plenty of time with the relaxation and induction phase, to ensure that the client is guided gently into a deep state of relaxation that will facilitate the regression process.
Sometimes clients will worry about experiencing traumatic or upsetting events. These can happen, and are part of the therapeutic process. However, I would ensure that you did not become unduly distressed or upset, in this event.
In the final analysis, I do not control what the client experiences - that is personal to them. My job is to guide you through the process, to help you see what is there, and find what is relevant to you.
I do not put a time limit on a session, it takes as long as it takes. Typically, though a client could be with me for an hour and a half. Often, people need to talk about their experience afterwards, and I always encourage that, it is part of the therapeutic process. The fee for a session is £45. As to whether it is successful or not, well, this as I commented earlier, may be because the client needs to become more familiar and comfortable with the process of relaxation. In such a case, and this does not happen often, I would just enable them to experience the relaxation and induction phase on the first session, and charge a nominal amount for that familiarisation process. The second session would be a full regression, for the full fee. I usually write up a confidential report for the client afterwards, summarising what came up, and trying to see how it may relate to their present life.
In addition, I also practise Hypnotherapy. I am also a Tera Mai Reiki Master, and an experienced Dowser.
Please contact Paul Tromans, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
Tel: 01902 764368
Email: dpaul.t@hotmail.co.uk
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Signposts - A NEW AND EXCITING
Transformational Energy System
A spiritual person has a conscious awareness of both the physical and the non-physical dimensions, knowing that beyond the five senses there are other senses we can use to experience the world, and knowing that he / she is never alone in the universe. It is someone who is comfortable with the idea that we are souls with bodies, not bodies with souls, and therefore believes that the Higher Self, the eternal part of ourselves, is always available for guidance and help.
THE HIGHER SELF
The Higher self is the part of us at the centre of our being, the part that cannot be destroyed. It is also called The Essential Self, The Inner Self, The True Self, The Soul.
This system is not here to do the hard work for us, but to support and guide us on the way. However, there is no substitute for common sense, no matter how high the ideals. The message is always good ! Any rituals are just to keep you mindful of the moment.
Signs of spiritual progress:
- You become less serious and you begin to experience more synchronicity
- You are who you are, understand it, accept, it and do not try to change it
- You do not look at why, but what is so
- You know that friendship and love have a basis in the acceptance of people as they are
- You avoid at all costs: should, could, would, wish, might. There is no inner authority here. Truth comes from within yourself
'The only constant thing is change' in your internal environment as well as your external one. The extremes themselves have no power - the power is in between the polarities, moving in spirals between balance and wholeness. Humans are inherently mutative as a species. If you expect the environment to take responsibility for you, you will encounter pain.
There is a saying that real life is what happens to us while we're planning other things. Somewhere along the journey we allow ourselves to be hi-jacked, either by circumstances or other people, into going in a different direction, and then, once we realise we're lost, have to spend the rest of our lives trying to 'find ourselves' again. We don't have to look far - the real self is there all the time under the mask of defence mechanisms and conditioning we have manufactured over the years to avoid being hurt or seen to be 'different'.
The basis of being human is to be invited to respond as yourself in the now. Changing is not up to you - it is about non-interference in your own process. It is simply a potential that exists in your own genetic possibilities. You cannot go and get initiation or go and find awakening - but you can be fooled into thinking it is a possibility, and that you have found these things.
THE CARDS
SIGNPOSTS is a three-tier system. There is a SOLAR, LUNAR & STELLAR pack, each designed for the purpose of guidance for a particular part of the journey. A journey to be undertaken is a distance to travel, a pilgrimage, a sacred obligation or trial of faith, towards self-transformation. This involves slow growth through many shifts and changes.
As you travel this cycle of perpetual renewal, you become conscious of the essence of your personal myth, and integrate new energies and flow into whole ness. A Pilgrim is a wanderer with a purpose - Know thyself.
If used on a regular basis, the Signpost system will provide you with guidance on the journey. We all have our own unique 'inner landscape', where we can liberate our inner guides and keepers via our own imagery. To locate your inner power, look at this landscape and see how you move through the environment and take note of who or what is there.
If you keep walking this landscape and singing its song, it will go on existing and become enriched as your own tribal message. Do not focus on dysfunction, but pour good energy into it, & this will animate your landscape with your personal message.
The way permeates, supports, moves and changes everything in the world, seen & unseen. Different times require different approaches - you may have to wait a while on the way , or hurry the journey along in places, or just enjoy the scenery.
For further information, please contact
Ros Taylor at Frog Hall, St John's Chapel, Weardale, Co. Durham. DL13 1RF
TELEPHONE: 01388 537534
e-mail: ros-froghall@tiscali.co.uk
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Colour Coding Your Diet
By Lauryn McGuiness
Food is not colourful by accident. There is a reason apples are red, carrots are orange and peas are green. Believe it or not, it is the colour of food that determines its beneficial qualities more so than the type.
We all know we need to eat certain amounts of fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, dairies, and meat and legumes to maintain optimum health, but which of these foods is best to eat to target particular ailments or to feed a lack of a certain vitamin? By colour coding our diet, determining this has never been easier!
The pigmentation in food is created by a group of highly beneficial antioxidants called carotenoids, which eliminate harmful free radicals in the body. The particular colour of different types of foods indicates the unique job various antioxidants perform in the body. And, regardless of what colour a particular food is, the deeper the hue, the higher the nutrient value.
When we consume foods of one colour we ingest one type of vitamin or vitamins which target only one ailment or prevent one from occurring. However, when we consume foods of varying colours the mixture of antioxidants is most effective. And, it is better to eat a diet containing all the carotenoids rather than taking vitamin supplements, as supplements will never provide the same amount of protection as fresh food will.
The ideal combination of colours to look out for includes foods which are red, orange, yellow, blue/purple, and white. Consuming a mixture of foods of each of these colours on a daily basis, and at each meal, is strongly advised. We should aim to include green and orange foods as often as possible and try to eat a variety of foods representing each colour group so the body is ingesting everything it needs on a regular basis.
RED coloured foods indicate the presence of carotenoid lycopene, a cancer fighting antioxidant commonly found in foods such as tomatoes, watermelon, and pink grapefruit. Particularly effective in the battle against prostate cancer and cancers of the digestive tract, stomach, and lungs, lycopene works by inhibiting the formation of harmful LDL cholesterol. This fat-soluble substance is more readily available from cooked or juiced tomato, and can be absorbed more efficiently if eaten with some olive oil.
GREEN foods such as cabbage, spinach, bok-choy, broccoli, peas, artichokes, and asparagus contain isothiocyanates, which cause pre-cancerous cells to destroy themselves. Especially useful in the treatment of colon cancer, this anti-oxidant gives broccoli and Brussels sprouts their distinctive smell. But, don't be scared away. The more pungent the food, the more isothiocyanates present, and therefore the healthier it is for you. Also high in folic acid and sulforaphane, green foods can prevent birth defects such as spina bifida, so is an essential ingredient in the diet of any pregnant woman. The most chlorophyll-rich green foods are those which are leafy with a dark green hue.
ORANGE foods contain perhaps the most widely recognised carotenoid, beta-carotene. Found in foods such as carrots, oranges, mangoes, pumpkin, apricots, rockmelon, and sweet potato, this major antioxidant is known for its ability to lower cholesterol and convert it to Vitamin A. Also essential to the protection of the skin against free radical damage and the repair of damaged DNA, beta-carotene is an immune-booster aiding in the treatment of many ailments. Containing high levels of vitamin C, orange foods can assist in fighting colds and flu, cystitis, and skin problems, and eating the skins of orange foods is beneficial as they are nearly always packed with nutrients. Like lycopene, beta-carotene is fat soluble, so using a little olive oil will help your body absorb it.
YELLOW foods are very specific in their purpose. Targeted specifically at being effective in one area, yellow foods such as corn, bananas, honeydew melon, and yellow capsicum contain zeaxanthin and lutein. Working together to help maintain healthy eyesight, these two carotenoids are utilised in an area of the retina called the macula, the centre for excellent vision. Protecting the eyes from long-term light damage, zeaxanthin and lutein are required on a daily basis to maintain adequate eyesight protection. Eating yellow foods whilst young can ensure healthy eyesight is maintained through adulthood however, those with suffering vision will still benefit from the effects of eating yellow foods.
PURPLE and BLUE foods contain the carotenoid anthocyanin, which has remarkable antioxidant properties. Found in blueberries, dark cherries, prunes, blackcurrants, cranberries, red wine, red apples, strawberries and figs, the anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory effect of this antioxidant is useful for tackling urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal upsets. Purple or blue foods also help to prevent the deterioration of nerve cells in the brain, and can potentially assist in guarding against the effects of ageing. It is also suggested that anthocyanin might have beneficial effects on heart disease by inhibiting blood clots.
WHITE foods such as onions, garlic, celery, pears, white wine, and chives contain flavonoids and allicin, which has been known to inhibit abnormal cell growth. White foods also contain sulphur compounds which assist in raising levels of beneficial HDL cholesterol and lowering dangerous levels of blood fats called triglycerides. Another benefit of white foods is that they can ease the inflammatory response of asthma and can break up catarrh secretions caused by colds and flu.
'Lauryn McGuiness is a freelance journalist specialising in writing for the health and natural therapies markets. Published in 5 countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Lauryn also provides writing and editing services to companies around the world.'
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Get Positive!
Researchers in the USA have now established that having a positive attitude is so powerful that it can even extend your life!
A positive attitude helps you to cope more easily with the ups and downs of daily life. It brings optimism into your life which makes it easier to avoid worry and negative thinking. So how do you start the process of becoming a positive thinker, rather than a negative thinker?
Firstly you need to identify whether or not you have a negative attitude by answering these simple questions.
I don't feel in charge of my own life I am an under achiever I often say 'I can't, I couldn't, I shouldn't!' I feel like an outsider I don't feel confident
If this sounds like you then you have low self-esteem and tend to look at the negative rather than the positive aspects of your life.
What is the face of true self-esteem and how can it be achieved?
When a person truly esteems himself or herself, they take full responsibility for their own lives. Life lived right is a delicate balance, and we all need help maintaining this balance from time to time. If you really want to change your outlook on life it may be useful to take a good look at your self, from the outside in. This may sound difficult but as long as you are totally honest with yourself this should become an easier task.
Start by keeping a journal, for one week and each day document how you feel. This is a great way to identify those things which make you feel annoyed … sad … happy … depressed … irritated … frustrated … self sufficient … critical … and most importantly it helps you to identify the areas in your life where you feel undervalued. Research shows that when a person feels undervalued, their self-esteem plummets. So here are ways to help you develop a more positive attitude, therefore raising your self-esteem.
1 Each time you have written a negative thought in your journal, re-write it in a positive way on the following page. Practice doing this in your mind until it becomes a habit. For example "I never finish anything by the end of the day" could become "I will probably get most things finished by the end of the day".
2 Learn to communicate effectively. Many people do not voice their true opinion for fear of an argument or for hurting another's feelings. Not saying what you feel can lead to frustration, hurt, anger or anxiety.
3 Help someone out. The simple act of helping others helps us to feel good. Volunteer at your local hospital, help out a neighbour by picking up groceries or spend time chatting to an elderly neighbour. If you are unsure of how to help out in your community call your nearest volunteer centre. Also the internet or your library has loads of information on local volunteering services.
4 Get back to the simple things in life. Look up old friends, go for a walk in your neighbourhood (it's so easy to become isolated from your local community these days), or when was the last time you visited an art gallery, or just sat back and listened to your favourite music? Or read a great book … it's the simplist things in life that bring the most pleasure.
5 Find your spirituality. Again, research has shown that people who have a spiritual belief or faith in any religion and also those who meditate regularly lead happier, more contented lives and live longer. The secret is practicing those beliefs, either through organised spiritual associations or simple meditation in a quiet place.
6 Have a good laugh! Learn how to find humour in simple things. When is the last time you had a real belly laugh? Laughter is a powerful mood elevator. If you are feeling down. Watch a funny film or just act silly now and again!
7 Join a new club or get a new hobby or interest. Participate in a new activity either mental or physical. Make new friends, boost your confidence levels and enjoy the feelings of discover that we often lose after childhood.
8 Learn to have a 'holistic' approach to life. Eat healthy (visit a nutritionist if you're not sure what constitutes a balanced diet. Or seek out a holistic therapist who can help improve your physical body and you mental attitude to life.
9 Avoid the news. Find other things to do with your time, such as read an uplifting book or magazine. Do the things that you enjoy. The media (be it TV or newspapers) tend to focus on the negative things going on in our world (it makes better news!) but this can make you unnecessarily frightened or depressed. If you start to take responsibility for your own life and yourself - remembering that no other person or situation can make you truly happy - no one but yourself and your inner being, then maybe you can find true happiness and contentment. Only you can make the positive change so … go read a self improvement book … search your true spirituality … take a class … find a support group or life coach. Start by reading this website. There is loads of help out there. It's up to you to find the right path for you!
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Learning to be more spiritual
What does being spiritual mean?
Do we all have the capacity to be spiritual?
In New Age circles spiritual development teaches that there is more to life beyond our basic five senses, that there is a divine guidance at work pointing us in the right direction to find greater meaning in life. Developing spiritually can realign your sense of self to something that you may not even have imagined was in you.
Think of a time in your life when you surprised yourself at how you handled a situation; maybe the words simply came to you, or you felt inspired or guided to act in a certain way that produced wonderful results. Spirituality says that even if you think you are limited and small, this simply isn't the case - you are greater and more powerful than you ever imagined.
A divine light exists inside each and every one of you. If you think that you are limited to just your mere existence as a human being, spirituality is there to say that 'there is more than this'.
Steps to becoming more spiritual:
- Sit in regular quiet contemplation at home or in nature. Take time to appreciate the wonderful world around you - sights, sounds, smells, etc.
- You have the power to change your world. Trust your intuition and know the answers are within you.
- Allow yourself to be filled with inspiration, love, joy, wisdom and peace on a regular basis.
- Each morning think of 10 things that you are grateful for in your life.
- Look beyond outer appearances to the deeper significance and soul of everything.
- Love and respect everything - yourself, friends, family, etc.
- Find a class or course that provides the time and space for spiritual development - learn a therapy, take a psychic development class, Reiki, yoga, etc. Spirituality connects you with the powerful and divine force present in this universe. Whether you are looking for success, peace, or enlightenment, becoming more spiritual and developing a deep understanding of the divine forces at work in your life will help you achieve greatness.
DiscoverSerenity Holistic Solutions runs development courses throughout the year including Crystal Therapy, Psychic & Spiritual Development, Reiki, Tarot. Gentle and relaxing therapies also available including Crystals, Reiki, Indian Head Massage. Psychic and Tarot readings also available.
Please visit www.discoverserenity.co.uk or ring 07982 028765 for more information.
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YOUR BIOGRAPHY = YOUR DESTINY?
Ok, so you are a product of all of your life experiences to date, but do they really have to dictate who you become?
We have pondered this question for quite some time, and over the course of the last ten, extremely challenging years we have come to believe that whilst our experiences have certainly shaped us, we do not have to be held to ransom by them in our future.
For example, had we given into our perceived negative experiences of ill health, depression and agoraphobia and accepted them as 'our lot' in life, we would never have challenged them and recovered to become Directors in our own holistic therapy and training business.
Society is very good at labelling experiences as 'good' or 'bad' as a result of choices made, yet there is no denying that each of them has taught something along the way and none of us would be who we are right now without having gone through specific events in life.
The key to freedom is to become more consciously aware of your reactions and subsequent choices as a result of your experiences. In the Western world, as we progress through life, we paper over earlier experiences without really being 'present' with them and slowly begin to build them up, layer upon layer.
Can you think of a time when you chose to react in a negative way? Or when you reacted angrily about something that happened to you?
By reacting differently and consciously, from a place of love rather than fear, your future can be changed just by the way that you view it. Those experiences were always going to happen, it was how we dealt with them that was the key to our wellbeing, or not at the time!
Exactly who and where you are right now on your journey is ok; so why not take the pressure off yourself, discard any labels and judgements you may have about yourself and allow yourself to 'be'? Tell your story and get to know yourself again by identifying what specific events shaped you in life and the default decisions that you make today as a result.
The pathway back to health and wellbeing and the magnificent you that you are, is to gently peel away those layers like an onion, until you uncover your true self by telling your story. Remember, your biography does not have to mean your destiny. You have the power to choose a different reaction and as a result change everything in your life connecting you to your full potential, inner serenity and wellbeing, if that is what you so desire.
Louise Claire-Pardoe & Jason Paul Claire run DiscoverSerenity Holistic Solutions, inspiring people to rediscover their own health and wellbeing through personal development workshops, professional diplomas and therapies. Their first book about their own healing journey is being published later on this year. To find out more visit www.discoverserenity.co.uk or call 07982 028765.
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Spiritual Energy Release
We are all energy beings, living in a world of energy which is full of many other types of energy beings. Energy in its pure state is perfectly balanced and we attract to us energies that mirror that balance.
However, various kinds of experiences such as physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual traumas can cause our energies to become out of balance. These may be self-produced thought forms, earth-bound souls who have passed on but not moved into the Light, current or past life traumas, spirit being attachments, friendly or unfriendly, curses, vows and agreements from other life times, energy memories of past traumatic deaths etc.
Energy blockages, disturbances and imbalances in the human energy field can eventually manifest physically as health conditions and diseases. All physical conditions have their causes and roots in energy imbalances, as we are primarily energy beings first, using a physical vehicle for life experience.
The emotional residue of past traumas can also remain within a property or surrounding areas and affect people negatively. Time, as we work with it in this physical world, is not effective in other dimensions, and so, an experience undergone in another century can still have effects in our present time. For example, when linking in and talking to a person who has left the physical world, not moved on, and so is 'stuck' within the Earth's atmosphere, it is always found that for that person, it is still the year that they passed in, as their linking with Earth time has stalled because they are neither within the Earth's system, nor have moved on to another.
There are many ways of working with releasing unwanted energies, the kindest and most effective is carried out remotely, not in the presence of the person needing help, and links directly with the energy being/cause/problem and highest consciousness of the person involved from whom permission is always sought before working.
A wide variety of energies are to be found including;
- adults and children who have passed from this world and become 'stuck'
These usually do not know the host with whom they are sheltering; they are there due to compatible energy frequencies and are in a semi-aware state. When we pass out of the physical body/dimension, we are met by loved ones and various spiritual helpers. This link is made by becoming aware of the Light, and/or a feeling of peace and deep love. If the mind/brain is not operating in a clear way, we do not connect with these energies, and so we remain semi-tuned into the earth's atmosphere. Those who wish to meet us are operating on a higher frequency and cannot directly link in with the 'disturbed' consciousness of the stranded one.
Mediums who carry out rescue work, make themselves the link between the stranded one and the helpers/loved ones waiting to meet them and talk them through the process of making the link.
Reasons for becoming stuck include passing out of the body very suddenly or traumatically; (but this does not always give problems) passing out of the body when in an intoxicated state from substances, or when the mind/brain is affected by heavy prescribed medications, such as psychiatric drugs, (again, this does not always cause problems); having deep regret or guilt about actions taken in that life, and/or fear and anxiety about divine retribution or being made to explain their actions. Orthodox religions in the past have taught, and a few still currently teach, that sin, punishment, suffering etc is awaiting those who carry out misdeeds in life. This is profoundly inaccurate and has it roots in ignorance of the spiritual framework that supports human evolution, and in a desire for power and control by religious groups. Spiritual balancing in all circumstances is voluntarily carried out within the wider awareness of being out of the earth's physical frequencies.
- separated soul fragments due to past trauma;
In traumatic experiences, parts of our energy field can become detached and remain at the scene of the trauma. If this has happened in other or past lives, each field self-created for a life experience will continue to have the missing aspect. Inner child work can involve a missing aspect of the child, who is still disconnected in the adult life. All disconnected aspects are linked to the energy field by an energetic cord, so following the cord will reveal the missing part. Sometimes, unresolved physical limb difficulties can be resolved by locating a missing limb, perhaps lost in battle/accident during this or another life experience or old injuries can be balanced by removing the energy pattern of the object which caused the injury, from the energy field.
- negative energy beings, with a remit to cause imbalance and upset.
The energetic rule for this type of attachment is 'like attracts like, so we are not all vulnerable to this type of problem. Those who abuse substances; or are involved in 'dark energy' rituals; or play with Ouija games, or who carry within their energy field a lot of hatred, jealousy, and/or those who enjoy causing suffering of all types, are vulnerable to this type of energy attachment. However, in serious cases, this can be a 'chicken and egg' situation, as it may be that the attaching being is using them to experience all of the above. But, as always, there needs to be very low frequency energy in the field to enable the attachment in the first place.
- beings from other planets and dimensions.
They do not normally cause difficulties; they are in 'observer' mode but are asked to remove themselves anyway! The universe is teeming with unknown numbers of a wide variety of wonderful energy beings. Unlike humans, they mostly seem to follow rules and laws about not harming or interfering with other life forms. Linking with such beings confirms that we are all part of one huge family, and one day, maybe soon, we will be able to acknowledge that.
Release at this level involves working with non-physical beings, usually of the St. Michael frequency, who exist on a very high level and can remove, redirect and transmute all unwanted energies. Therapists working without such support need different methods and usually take several sessions to help with a difficulty.
All beings and energies seen in a remote scan of the energy field are linked in with and a discussion is set up, during which the various approaches to remove/redirect them on are explained. Distance is irrelevant, as this work is linked through to higher frequencies and is not subject to the physical rules of this dimension. The beings linked in with hear the therapist's voice, but cannot see anyone. This can offer unintentional humour, such as one elderly gentleman who hesitantly asked if the therapist was real, adding 'you know what they say about people who hear voices'!
Results of clearing are almost always permanent, with some exceptions. People who use Ouija boards without a strong medium being present, those who practice dark rites/magic, or who take illegal substances/too much alcohol may open themselves back up to negative attachments after clearing if they return to such activities. All of the above reduce the frequency levels of the human energy field and can make it brittle or can produce tears or holes, which help unwelcome attachments to enter.
This approach to energy clearing is extremely satisfying, very educational and gets to 'parts that other beers don't reach', as the old advert used to say!
Barbara Toovey and Sue Hulme www.spiritualrelease.co.uk
email: barbarajoyce28@yahoo.co.uk
Meditation - the stress solution
It is probably fair to say that the vast majority of the us, have at some point in our lives, felt the emotion of stress. With little prompting, we could also immediately identify what is causing, or caused, our stress reaction; fear for the future, working in a job we dislike, money worries, family conflicts, to name but a few.
When in a stress response, it is very hard to relax because the mind is usually full of anxious thoughts and the body filled with cortisol and adrenalin - stress hormones. If this emotional state is allowed to continue for long periods of time, both the body and mind can become ill.
One effective way of overcoming stress is learning to become more relaxed, and meditation is one way that has been proven to support the body and mind to unwind, letting go of stress from the mind and tension from the body.
Mary Pearson, author of 'Meditation: the stress solution' (Hot Hive Press, December 2010) is totally passionate about her work and a living testament to the benefits of practicing meditation to calm the mind and body; radiating health, peace and youthful vitality.
In her own life, Mary has had direct experience of the positive effects of meditation. Beginning her career as a secondary school teacher in Liverpool and Greater Manchester, and later training in holistic disciplines with a view to opening her own business, in 1997 she suffered a traumatic series of events which led her to become dependent on alcohol. A chance meeting opened her world to meditation, which subsequently changed her whole life.
Through these life-changing experiences, Mary believes that the inner stillness to be discovered through regular meditation can over time help people to:
- Reduce stress
- Sleep better
- Have better health
- Give up bad habits
- Look younger
Benson, a professor at Harvard's Medical School, was one of the first scientists to research into meditation. He is responsible for developing the 'relaxation response', a mechanism of the body that can neutralise 'the fight-or-flight' response to stressful situations. He found that this mechanism could be triggered through meditation, and that when triggered, the relaxation response reduces the body's heart and breathing rate, blood pressure as well as muscle tension. At the same time, the level of alpha waves in the brain begins to increase. Thus, the relaxation response shows the typical characteristics of physiological relaxation. Benson was able to show how many traditional meditation techniques trigger a measurable relaxation response. Thus he provided scientific evidence for the many health benefits of meditation including reducing stress and high blood pressure.
In our modern society we live in extremely stressful times and appear to be surrounded by bad news at every turn. It is now proven that stress takes a toll on our lives, our health and our relationships. Each year more and more working days are lost because of stress-related illness. In 2008, for instance, approximately 13.4 million working days were lost at a cost to the British economy of £3.8 billion. As many as one in five people are suffering from high levels of work-related stress at any one time; and some five million of the working population endure too much stress in their daily lives.
'The very essence of meditation is to do with quietening the mind', says Mary. 'Buddhists call our busy minds the monkey mind. Dr Wayne Dyer, in his book 'Getting in the Gap' suggests that we have up to 60,000 thoughts running through our heads every day - a truly mind boggling statistic. Our minds are crammed full of things to do, work, relationships, worries, the past, the future. We juggle all these thoughts on a daily basis and it is no wonder that we often feel exhausted'.
A great many of these thoughts aren't new; they are tired old thoughts that we rethink over and over. We re-run conversations in our heads, 'why did I say that?'; 'what if that happens?'; 'how will I cope?'; 'why did he say that?' Anxious thoughts run around and around in our heads, preventing us from sleeping properly or being able to fully relax.
When we learn to meditate we can become aware, possibly for the first time, just how much is going on in our heads. When we begin to pay attention we notice how busy our minds are and often just how unproductive much of that thinking can be.
Learning to focus our attention in meditation helps to quieten our minds and eventually to still our thoughts. The focus of our attention can be on different things; the breath, or a mantra (a word or phrase repeated over and over silently or out loud).
Mary's basic recipe for meditation
- Find a quiet time and a quiet space
- Sit in a comfortable position that you can maintain for 15-20 minutes - for most people this is sitting on a straight backed chair, with both feet placed firmly on the floor
- Relax into your position
- Begin to focus on an activity or an object, e.g. your breath, a mantra, etc.
- If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the object of your focus
- Let everything else go
Mary truly believes that meditation is the antidote to the stresses of 21st century living, and in her book cites evidence showing that meditation is so much more than 'posh napping'. The evidence compiled over the past thirty years is so compelling that regular meditators discover they look younger, feel fitter, sleep better and even lose weight.
Mary's direct, easy to follow and humorous style has helped many people to find calm and regain control of their stressful lives. Not only this, but with other side-effects including weight loss and radiating a youthful glow, perhaps we should all be discovering the gentle benefits of meditation.
Mary runs meditation workshops and classes in the Cheltenham area. The book, priced at £9.99 with a free CD of guided meditations, is available from www.mary-pearson.co.uk, Amazon and all good bookstores.
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Compassion vs Judgment
I know I have just headed this article with a strange title perhaps, but this is a place I find myself in often.... don't you? When you should be respectful for where a person is on the journey and not judge their behaviour or actions.
To be fair, I did hesitate a little before putting forward this article to Health and Happiness, espcially as it is such a wide ranging subject in many ways, and how can I tackle that in the following paragraphs, but it seemed myself and many of my like-minded friends knew exactly where I was coming from, and the energy lately has been very much that of looking around us and not only questioning it, but of course giving it judgement as a consequence.
However when I have found myself getting rather judgmental over things lately, for example I have recently found that those who I know to be offering spiritual services, or holistic healing, if I encounter the fact that they are still very much drinking large amounts of alcohol, but then offering to do the work, or having a spiritual gathering where there is healing work and meditations being offered, but also alcohol at the event, then I will confess and say that for me that is just not ethical or correct. But then a voice in my head will say,
"Have you never been there?"
"Is there not something in your life which could still be considered a potential negative impact on your own body as a vessel for the work?"
"Have you never done something similar, or done spiritual work during or the day after a night on the "pop"?
Each time that judgement arises, I look further into what is really in question here, and in this instance I can definitely say yes I had, admittedly it is not something I would do now, but there was a time in my life that yes, I did, and although perhaps not in the last year or so, it certainly was done so before on occasions. So how could I judge them - and was I so pure as to still not have my own so called "sins", like that of eating too much ice cream, chocolate or crisps sometimes? Is not my own desire for sugary things when I could just as easily reach for an apple or bag of mixed nuts and raisins, be as much of a perceived sin and toxification of the body temple, potentially blocking the full purity of spirit working through me in my work?
In fact a shopping trip with me presently makes me look bi-polar, if you look at the polarity between healthy foods and the perceived, not so healthy, residing in the basket.
So where do I draw the line for me on that one? Where do any of us? After all, we all have a discipline or choice as to what we do with our intake of any substance or known drug, should we choose, but I believe when you are choosing this path of spiritual practice or healing work, where you are seeking to help others, your choices are even more important.
I am also aware of a shop that sells spiritual items and holds workshops for psychic development and healing etc. , but also makes a lot of its money from selling legal highs mostly in tablet form (until they are banned often). It is another area where again have a surge of judgemental thoughts and accompanying sad feelings .
However, it is not so much that I am judging or trying to take a righteous higher ground in any of these cases, and the fact that these things exists and we all no doubt at some point in our lives either chose to partake or not, or probably still do, is all part of the journey we are taking to feel something, to feeling connected, to feeling like we are "back home", back with source, back to God etc.. to feel a fuller feeling of light, that a substance/chemical and any other add on to life, can become a substitute for, and when we are in it, we are probably totally unaware of that.
It is however our connection to the light or to source, or God (call it what you wish) that is the truest sense of that fulfilment (like coming "home"), which is what I have come to realise more within myself, that has resulted in me no longer having the alcoholic drink that at one time in my life may have given me that buzz, that the feelings I now have of connection and love within me, with the awareness of the divine as a more constant state of consciousness, far surpasses.
It was the lack of that connection that made me at times feel empty and wish for something to give me that feeling of fullness. Something that I am sure food still gets substituted for with me, and when I am going through occasional periods where even now, I may feel a slight disconnect within myself, (in fact being on this path, and the processes of healing and becoming a clearer channel, offers itself to days where one could be considered a bit blue and out of sorts), it is no doubt times like this where I still turn to something comforting and sweet, as a pick-me-up.
However, more consistently do I now knowingly connect to source, and I have also learnt to better accept and love myself. All this results in less sought experiences outside of myself to help me feel different and feel fulfilled, because that has become more apparent within me. Thereby the alcohol which I may have used before to give me a different feeling, now would only serve to take it away, in fact now it just serves to make me feel toxic and unwell.
The truth is we are all on the path, some knowingly, and doing as much as they can to be consciously making not only the right decisions and taking the right actions, but in such a way as to be an excellent vessel for the work of transformation, and higher conscious awareness, through their known connection to source as the doer.
However, it all of course depends on where on the awareness scale you are, with the more you become aware that the thoughts and actions you have, do come with them a cause and effect, and as much as you may fool others, authorities and even close partners and family members, it's your own conscience that you really have to live with at the end of the day.
I am often heard to say, "It's between me and God", but what I am really saying here is I realise that there are some things I just don't want to be part of in my life anymore, as it doesn't sit right with my integrity. Not that I am aiming for a sense of perfection perhaps only achieved by the most spiritual and pure, like that of an angel, because I know I am far from perfect (in fact what is perfection anyway?). No it is not about that, and no doubt like you, I will continue doing what I can, aiming to show up as the best as I can be, in each moment that I am aware, with the best intentions for the highest good for all concerned.
So where does that leave us in terms of compassion vs. judgement? Well it is so easy to point the finger and blame our upsets on other things if we are not coming from a place of self-responsibility to begin with. So when we realise we all share the same consciousness, that we are all one, of course we realise that which I put the focus on in judgement or distain in others, is actually also part of me.
Therefore I give it compassion, for the same reason that until it is no longer causing disharmony in me, it is something I have to accept and see it without my needing to judge it. A challenge too often to do at times, but as was once purported to be said by a famous prophet "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone".
An excellent book I once came across is called Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping (www.radicalforgiveness.com). It suggests that any situation you find yourself in, where disharmony, friction or upset is occurring, is indeed your own soul seeking growth and awareness, which should that situation or person etc, not be giving this experience to you now, you would not have this opportunity to learn and grow from it, moreover, at a soul level you agreed on this.
These situations/relationship problems/obstacles etc.. are giving you exactly what you asked for at a soul level, even though it may be a bitter pill to swallow on the more physical level, but with the compassion, understanding and forgiveness you give it, turns it into the sweetest sugar pill of upwards growth and touching more of the pure utter divinity that you are, but that all of these things only serve to obstruct, should we allow ourselves to swallow them as an anger and unforgiveness, and then letting them fester.
Buddhists give a definition of compassion as being wanting others to be free from suffering. So compassion is the definition of the highest scope of motivation. It is said that to generate genuine compassion, one needs to realise that oneself is suffering, that an end to suffering is possible, and that other beings similarly want to be free from suffering.
A quote from quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from The Compassionate Life, states - "Compassion without attachment is possible. Therefore, we need to clarify the distinctions between compassion and attachment. True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Because of this firm foundation, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change even if they behave negatively. Genuine compassion is based not on our own projections and expectations, but rather on the needs of the other: irrespective of whether another person is a close friend or an enemy, as long as that person wishes for peace and happiness and wishes to overcome suffering, then on that basis we develop genuine concern for their problem. This is genuine compassion."
I know there is so much more I could write on this, and I am sure you may read it and have your own thoughts and ideas too. For now however, can I just plant the seed, or prod that part of you that knows already, that anything we judge is merely a reflection of that which is in disharmony within ourselves. By seeing the bigger picture, by allowing for compassion to come fourth, you too are not only healing that part within yourself, but that very action due to our shared consciousness is also helping to heal the whole.
Wishing you love, peace and blessings on the journey.
Sarah Page - Helper Angel
Assisting you with the wings to fly
www.helperangel.co.uk
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Miracle or Method?
By Sandy C. Newbigging, author of 'Peace for Life: Freedom from Problems for Better Health and Happiness.' (Sept 2011)
Advance copies available: www.sandynewbigging.com/books_peace4life.php
A few years ago I was invited to work as a therapist on a detox health retreat in Southern Spain. With no idea of what to expect (at that time I thought detox was only for drug addicts!), I packed my bag and headed off for a week in the sun. It rained, heavily, the entire time! I'm not sure if it was the lack-of-sun that week or what, but my therapy schedule quickly became fully booked.
In more ways than just the location, I found myself in unfamiliar territory. Many of the detoxers were investing in their health because they were suffering from physical problems. That week I was to meet people suffering with migraines, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), infertility, bulimia, obesity and psoriasis. This meant that not only was I suddenly working in the field of 'health', but due to my schedule, only had a couple hours with each of them.
A fortunate coincidence
Two weeks prior to going to Spain I had been invited to a talk by a specialist in the mind-body connection called Dr David Hamilton. During that inspiring talk (come to think of it, on another very wet day, this time just outside Glasgow), he shared many scientific studies that have investigated the power of the mind, including the mind's ability to heal the body.
With his message springing to the forefront of my own mind that day in Spain, I knew I had to update my therapeutic approach, fast. I suggested to my first client that we explore whether there might be any mental or emotional issues from their past that could be causing their physical problems today. With their agreement we proceeded.
Hmmm, to my next question…
I had no idea what to ask! I remember looking down at my blank notebook and then up again to meet the expectant eyes of my client. I decided to keep it simple by asking if there was an event in her life that might be causing her health condition, such that if we were to resolve it, the body would heal.
To both of our amazements, she immediately had an answer; a specific event had just 'popped into her mind'. With only a few more questions, we could see a possible link between the past emotional event and the current physical condition. Once we had established the possible cause, we worked on releasing any negative emotions associated with it and the session was done.
The healing power of peace
Time after time, in session after session, this happened with great success. Over the coming months I regularly witnessed instantaneous remissions from health conditions; I saw skin conditions clear up, chronic pain vanish, and digestion problems disappear to name but a few. Along with the healing of many other emotional issues and life problems too - all from helping people to get peace with their past.
Lucky break
News about my method, which by this point was becoming known as 'Mind Detox', then spread internationally when I was shown on three separate television series documenting people going through a mind-body detox retreat. The TV exposure and subsequent book deals lead to the opportunity of working with hundreds of people at my clinics, workshops and retreats around the world.
It's a miracle! (Or is it?)
Over time I became curious. Was I bearing witness to miracles? Was I some kind of gifted healer? Or had I simply stumbled across a method of healing that could be transferable and used by others? For the next year I started using the same therapeutic questions when working with clients at my clinics and retreats. Very quickly it became clear that the power of the method was the method itself, and the possibility of training others was real. Soon after I ran my first Mind Detox Masterclass and Practitioner Certification Course and started training people from around the world via my Academy.
Reality check
Everything was going great. I was achieving all my goals, and was living what I thought was a successful life. But then, out of the blue reality hit me. Despite my life being exactly how I'd always wanted it to be, I realised I wasn't happy yet, nor was I experiencing much peace either. I was shocked to realise that irrespective of all the work I'd done to change my mind, I was still experiencing negative thoughts and emotions on a regular basis. What made matters worse was noticing it was the same experience for my clients. Although we'd healed a physical condition or improved their life, they weren't necessarily experiencing true peace of mind yet either.
My rock bottom wake up call
Feeling hopeless, not to mention a complete fraud, I realised I could no longer rely on my future to fulfil me. I knew continuing to work so hard to accomplish bigger and better goals wasn't going to relieve my eternal itch that there must be more to life than this.
To make matters worse, my increasing frustration led to a rocky time in my relationship, which inevitably ended with my partner leaving. Along with the beautiful child I'd been raising, the great house I was living in, the fancy car I was driving and the pile of money we'd jointly secured as projects fell away too.
Rock bottom, needing peace, I started exploring alternative ways of thinking, being and living. It was around about that time that I met a group of meditation teachers that changed my life. I saw in their eyes a peace I had never seen before. And the more I spent time with them the more it became obvious to me that their inner peace was permanent. Hungry to experience the same, I packed my bag again and headed off to meditate with them for a few months. I spent 10 weeks on the island of Patmos in Greece, followed by a further 14 weeks in the mountains of Mexico.
A total turnaround in thinking
I discovered the real cause of my problems had never been my failings at 'thinking positively'. Instead, my habit of thinking was the cause of my problems. When I was thinking I was missing the peace that's always present. And by learning to think less and be present, life became much more enjoyable. Since being shown this enlightening truth, I've experienced levels of peace, happiness, love and contentment beyond what I ever thought possible. With the mind detox and meditation work I do these days it is my hope to help you do the same.
Freedom from problems for health and happiness
Ultimately, when it comes to you enjoying life-long inner peace and happiness it's how you relate to your mind that matters. If you have to stop your negative thoughts to be at peace, then you can end up remaining victim to the random movement of your mind forever. However, the moment you become aware of what I refer to as your Real Self, you notice there is instantly more peace than a moment prior. What's more, resting in your Real Self gives you the power to choose for a life lived in a state of permanent peace, unconditional happiness and constant contentment. Amid an ocean of what can be best described as pure, deep and unbounded Love.
A genuine new beginning.
Call +44 (0)131 208 4828
www.sandynewbigging.com
BIO - Sandy Newbigging is the creator of the Mind Detox Method (MDM), a teacher of meditation, and the author of four books including 'New Beginnings' (2005) 'Life Detox' (2007), 'Life-Changing Weight Loss (2008), and the brand new, 'Peace for Life: Freedom from problems for better health and happiness' (2011). Sandy's work has been featured on television around the world on channels including Discovery Health. He runs clinics, courses and residential retreats that take a mind-body-soul approach to health, peace of mind, happiness and life success. He also trains people to become Mind Detox Practitioners at his Academy. Visit www.sandynewbigging.com to join his free online club.
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