When Glen Hoddle, the coach of the English national football team, admitted that many of his players habitually consulted a spiritual healer all the newspapers reported the news. It was immediately thought that this was a new fashion. In reality, spiritual healing (sometimes called “natural” or “by suggestion”) is undoubtedly the oldest form of healing known to man. It has been practiced in various forms all over the world for thousands of years. Like many other ancient practices, it has been denied in the past century throughout the West. Only recently has it been rediscovered.

This healing energy is described as a mixture of “earth energies”, electromagnetic energy that is in and around us, and that is channeled into the healer from what can be defined as a Divine spirit, God or universal energy. The patient does not need to believe in a particular religion or spiritual healing to benefit from therapy. Those who are ready to die should try using the energy.

It is good to keep in mind that what is called spiritual healing is not in itself a cure. One of the fundamental beliefs of the operators of the sector, is that, for some people, the disease can be part of their karma (i.e. of their spiritual life plan). In some cases, therefore, even if healing can alleviate symptoms, it does not guarantee its cure. However, practitioners believe that hidden, emotional or other factors affect healing. There are indeed documented proofs of definitive “miraculous” healings.

Remote energy healing begins with a bio energetic test that investigates the functionality of the 7 chakra points, the Chinese meridians and the energy of the internal human organs. This is a real quantum checkup carried out remotely without the obligation, on your part, to have to move to undergo any sessions. Once the bioenergy analysis or screening has been completed, we will have identified all the points and all the areas in which energy blockages, excesses or deficiencies and energy transformation should occur. At this point we will provide you with an abundant number of targeted and personalized naturopathic advice, in order to balance the flow of excess, deficient or interrupted energy.

Illness is an external signal of an inner imbalance

Illness is an external signal of an inner imbalance. Spiritual healing acts holistically, involving the organism in its totality: physical, mind, emotional and spiritual sphere. All these parts interact with each other and often the real cause of a disease becomes evident only through its healing progress. The operators support the theory according to which in the body there are seven main “energy centers” (chakras), each of which responds to the vibrations of the healing energy with different speed.

The seven chakras are: base, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, forehead (third eye) and crown (it is not necessary to know exactly where these centers are to benefit from therapy). While the base and crown centers have only one exit (at the base of the spine at the apex of the head), the other centers have two, one behind, and through the whole body. Each center is correlated and infuses energy into a different part of the body and has different emotional, mental and spiritual functions. The base center, for example, is related to the adrenal glands, kidneys, bladder, spine, colon and legs.

When people are “with their feet firmly planted on the ground” or “balanced” it means that the base center is functioning properly. The chakra theory maintains that when the well-balanced base center the whole body works more effectively it supports stress better; this center gives vitality, stability and a healthy sense of self-preservation. If, on the contrary, the base center is unbalanced, feelings of fear, loss of self-esteem or shame emerge, even if the original cause cannot be understood. From a physical point of view, this is thought to lead to chronic spiritual tension among other things. All this is described by what’s called the remote bio-energy analysis.

Remote bio-energy analysis: How does it work?

The remote bio-energy analysis is based on the Integrated Palombo Method (IPM) method, thanks to which the holistic operator is able to come into visual and emotional contact with you. The physical presence of the person to be examined is important, but with IPM we are able to produce the same results even from a distance simply by looking at one of your photographs (possibly of the whole picture). The muscle micro-pulses picked up by the holistic operator properly read; give a clear picture of your energy status.

What is the Integrated Palombo Method (IPM)?

The IPM method is the method devised by Vincenzo R. Palombo during the successes achieved in ten years of bio-energy analysis. It is a method that integrates three important disciplines such as: Applied Kinesiology, Teleradiesthesia and the technique of the Blending learned directly by Dr. Nader Butto. This method allows the operator to know with extreme precision the blocks, the deficiencies and the energetic excesses of any biological entity that has a body, a mind and that is animated by energy.

The body

The body is the physical part, and therefore the most manifest, and it is through the common five senses (taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight) that it is possible to investigate the state of health and vigor. Conventional medicine takes care of this, that is, it evaluates a body based on the answers it gets after wisely stimulating it.

The mind

The mind is not detectable through the five senses, in fact the mind is not tasted, it does not smell, it is not touched, it is not heard or seen, but it can still be analyzed through the senses with appropriate stimulations and / or through an emotional involvement between psychotherapist and patient.

The energy

Finally we have the most subtle part of the human being, that part which many people conventionally call the spirit. Energy, or bio energy, invades both the body and the mind and flows as intensely as it is vigorous and healthy in body and mind; therefore the flow of energy is always proportional to the state of general health. To obtain higher awareness, several spiritual readings are needed, for example Clairvoyant reading. At first, you need to understand the definition of Clairvoyant.

Detecting energy for distance energy healing

The detection of a strongly vital energy such as chakra and meridians cannot be performed by a machine, because the receiver / therapist, besides being particularly sensitive, must be at least alive. A machine instead can only detect physically measurable data of biochemical, electromagnetic, physical, etc. Therefore it is not suitable for bio-energy analysis. This device is able to detect all the altered states of the cells that usually occur before the onset of a disease, however, as far as chakras and meridians are concerned, mechanical detection is not today a reliably viable practice.

Important scientific bases

In addition to the ten-year empirical experience gained with this activity, neuroscience and quantum physics have been able to confirm through experiments in the laboratory the existence of actual direct communications between apparently disconnected particles and placed very far from each other, thus proving that space does not represent any obstacle in the relationships between cells and living beings.

The experiment of twin photons: Experiment by electroencephalogram

Lastly, the experiment appeared in 1994 on “Phisics Essays” signed by Prof. Grinberg Zilberbaum and others, which demonstrated how two people monitored from an electroencephalographic point of view (EEG), isolated and placed in two different shielded rooms respond simultaneously to a light stimulus applied to a single subject. In these experiments the motivation and the conviction to want to communicate in a non-physical way and the cerebral disposition in a state of alpha waves, constitute one of the important variants for the phenomenon to be completed.

Finally…

A very important element to consider is that we do not recommend making a medical diagnosis, but we intend to give you the right advice to be able to take action before a medical examination is needed. Our goal is to promote prevention and the best way to do this is to work in the root.

Where To Find My Work On Elephant Journal And Rebelle Society

I am honored to have my writing on two incredible online publications recently. The biggest one getting attention is my post about my ayahuasca journey on Elephant Journal. In less than a week, it’s already had 24,000 shares! This is incredibly exciting to me, as ayahuasca has changed my life so much, that I am now helping the woman who leads the ceremonies here in San Miguel to give retreats. I would love more people to experience this life changing medicine and to know more about who they really are.

I wrote another powerful article for Elephant Journal about Victim Mentality. In it, I talk about how we often let the things that happened to us in the past affect our present experiences in a negative way. The article tells you how to change this and how to develop a creator mentality instead of a victim mentality.

I also had my writing published on Rebelle Society, a website that publishes stories of creative rebellion. They published one of my most popular stories, You don’t need to set yourself on fire to keep others warm. In it, I talk about how often we abandon ourselves to keep others happy. It’s impossible to have a healthy relationship with someone else if we lose ourselves in the process.

Another article, I had published on Rebelle Society was From breakdown to breakthrough: your brokenness is perfect.  The article explains how true perfection can be encountered only after we realize that everything is already exactly the way that it should be. It’s about accepting all of who you are, even the broken parts.

I also inspire others to take action on following their dreams on Rebelle Society’s, Don’t wait any longer — 5 tips for committing to your dreams. 

I am excited that the words I have written are reaching more people. If you enjoy my articles, I would be appreciative if you share them with others through Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

Have my words inspired you to live a more authentic life?

Do  you want more help getting started?

I can help!

Jump on Skype with me. I offer Skype coaching sessions to help you with creating and loving your life. 

Email me at [email protected].

Part of why I created Your Own Life is that I know it is possible to create anything in life that you want. People call me a Super Manifester. I use the power of my thoughts to create the life I want, and I want to teach you to do the same. I recently visualized my next apartment. I visualized that it would be a place of light with a great view. That is exactly what I found.

I just moved in, and decided that I would wash the floor to ceiling windows to show appreciation for the light that was flowing in. I live in Mexico, and I have a house keeper that came with the apartment, and guess what she did yesterday without me even asking? She cleaned every single window in the apartment! I also thought I would find a hummingbird feeder as love hummingbirds. Well, yesterday, as I sat watching the tree in front of my apartment, a hummingbird started flying in between its branches! There are no flowers on this tree, and nothing that would attract a hummingbird, yet there was a hummingbird. I knew that hummingbird was sending me a message that she would come visit as soon as I get the feeder. So, how do I do it? How do I manifest so easily? Here is what works for me.

The Secret To Manifesting The Life You Want

1. Recognize Your Power

You can recognize your power by realizing that you are worthy and that you deserve everything in life that you want. Many of us are afraid to actually get what we want and that blocks the good things in life from coming to us. You deserve to live a life of happiness and joy. Speaking of living in happiness and joy, that brings me to the next secret.

2. Live In Happiness Each Moment

We have been programmed to think that we need certain things to be happy, but happiness comes from within. If you don’t feel a sense of joy and contentment from deep within your being, nothing in this temporary world will make you happy. When you make your happiness dependent on another person or thing, you are actually giving your power away and lowering your vibration. When happiness comes from within you, you raise your vibration, which makes it easier to create the things that you want. When you take a moment to feel how beautiful and magical life really is, you won’t be able to stop yourself from feeling an inner joy that will light up not just you but everything in its path.

3. Concentrate On The Feelings That You Want Not The Things

Life will surprise you and give you far more than you ever asked for if you concentrate on how the things that you want will make you feel rather than the actual physical thing you want to see happen. For instance, I decided I wanted clean windows because I wanted to show gratitude and honor the light flowing in my home. Because I concentrated on the feeling of joy that having clean windows would bring to me, I managed to get clean windows without even having to clean them myself.

If you are wanting to be with a certain person, or have a certain job, or you want a certain dream house, concentrate on how having that thing or person will make you feel. And start feeling that way without the person or thing you want. You are then aligning your vibration with what you want. Also, the Universe knows what is best for you, so if, for instance, you want to be in a relationship with a certain person, concentrate on why you want to be with that person. It’s easy to put our own projections on someone and think they hold certain characteristics that they don’t. If you concentrate instead on the feelings you would feel, the way that they make you feel more open, yet safe, the way they bring out your own love, you may attract someone who is even better for you and possesses more of the characteristics that you want.

4. EWOP (Everything Is Working Out Perfectly)

In Hawaii, the shamans practice Huna. The main teaching of Huna is that everything is working out perfectly. There is a great website, EWOP Vision which teaches more about EWOP, and they will even send you a free pair of EWOP Vision glasses to help shift your view when you forget to trust life. You see life really does know what is best for us, and uses every experience to teach us what we need to learn. If you don’t get the job you manifested, it just means there is a better one for you.

If, however, you are in a place where you seem to be destroying everything in your life (being sick all of the time, struggling with jobs, relationships and friendships), this could be a sign that you don’t really want life at all. There may be a hidden part of you that doesn’t really want to exist. So, life is trying to get your attention to come back to it. It is still using the circumstances that you created to show you there really is a better way. Even the hard times are bringing us lessons that we can use to embrace life instead of turning away from life.

5. Show Gratitude

Show gratitude for everything in your life, even the hard stuff. When you feel gratitude, this also helps you feel the inner happiness and peace that is inside you. It also shows life you are thankful for what you have. Don’t you like to be appreciated for the things you do? Well, life does too.

Show gratitude for the water that flows out of your sink each day, for being able to see the sunset, say a thank you to the flowers in your garden that bring beauty to your day. Show gratitude for the fact that you are alive and have a body to be able to express who you are. Thank yourself for creating the things you have created in your life. Thank everything! Show gratitude for the things you do have rather than obsessing on the things you don’t. You won’t be able to not feel joy when you do this. It’s impossible to feel negatively at the same time you are feeling gratitude. Showing gratitude for what you already have is the biggest secret to manifesting.  If you are still struggling with finding gratitude, I would like to end with one of my favorite poems by Rob Brezsny.

I also want to offer a free 15-minute Skype session (1 per person) to anyone who wants help with manifesting the life they want. Email me at [email protected] for your free session today.

Glory in the Highest

excerpted from PRONOIA Is the Antidote for Paranoia

Thousands of things go right for you every day, beginning the moment you wake up. Through some magic you don’t fully understand, you’re still breathing and your heart is beating, even though you’ve been unconscious for many hours. The air is a mix of gases that’s just right for your body’s needs, as it was before you fell asleep.

You can see! Light of many colors floods into your eyes, registered by nerves that took God or evolution or some process millions of years to perfect. The interesting gift of these vivid hues comes to you courtesy of an unimaginably immense globe of fire, the sun, which continually detonates nuclear reactions in order to convert its body into light and heat and energy for your personal use.

Did you know that the sun is located at the precise distance from you to be of perfect service? If it were any closer, you’d fry, and if it were any further away, you’d freeze. Here’s another one of the sun’s benedictions: It appears to rise over the eastern horizon right on schedule every day, as it has since long before you were born.

Do you remember when you were born, by the way? It was a difficult miracle that involved many people who worked hard on your behalf. No less miraculous is the fact that you have continued to grow since then, with millions of new cells being born inside you to replace the old ones that die. All of this happens whether or not you ever think about it.

On this day, like almost every other, you have awoken inside a temperature-controlled shelter. You have a home! Your bed and pillow are soft and you’re covered by comfortable blankets. The electricity is turned on, as usual. Somehow, in ways you’re barely aware of, a massive power plant at an unknown distance from your home is transforming fuel into currents of electricity that reach you through mostly hidden conduits in the exact amounts you need, and all you have to do to control the flow is flick small switches with your fingers.

You can walk! Your legs work wonderfully well. Your heart circulates your blood all the way down to replenish the energy of the muscles in your feet and calves and thighs, and when the blood is depleted it finds its way back to your heart to be refreshed. This blessing recurs over and over again without stopping every hour of your life.

Your home is perhaps not a million-dollar palace, but it’s sturdy and gigantic compared to the typical domicile in every culture that has preceded you. The floors aren’t crumbling, and the walls and ceilings are holding up well, too. Doors open and close without trouble, and so do the windows. What skillful geniuses built this sanctuary for you? How and where did they learn their craft?

In your bathroom, the toilet is functioning perfectly, as are several other convenient devices. You have at your disposal soaps, creams, razors, clippers, tooth-cleaning accessories: a host of products that enhance your hygiene and appearance. You trust that unidentified scientists somewhere tested them to be sure they’re safe for you to use.

Amazingly, the water you need so much of comes out of your faucets in an even flow, with the volume you want, and either cold or hot as you desire. It’s pure and clean; you’re confident no parasites are lurking in it. There is someone somewhere making sure these boons will continue to arrive for you without interruption for as long as you require them.

Look at your hands. They’re astounding creations that allow you to carry out hundreds of tasks with great force and intricate grace. They relish the pleasure and privilege of touching thousands of different textures, and they’re beautiful.

In your closet are many clothes you like to wear. Who gathered the materials to make the fabrics they’re made of? Who imbued them with colors, and how did they do it? Who sewed them for you?

In your kitchen, appetizing food in secure packaging is waiting for you. Many people you’ve never met worked hard to grow it, process it, and get it to the store where you bought it. The bounty of tasty nourishment you get to choose from is unprecedented in the history of the world.

Your many appliances are working flawlessly. Despite the fact that they feed on electricity, which could kill you instantly if you touched it directly, you feel no fear that you’re in danger. Why? Your faith in the people who invented, designed, and produced these machines is impressive.

It’s as if there’s a benevolent conspiracy of unknown people that is tirelessly creating hundreds of useful things you like and need.

There’s more. Gravity is working exactly the way it always has, neither pulling on you with too much or too little force. How did that marvel ever come to be? By some prodigious, long-running accident? It doesn’t really matter, since it will continue to function with astounding efficiency whether or not you understand it.

Meanwhile, a trillion other elements of nature’s miraculous design are expressing themselves perfectly. Plants are growing, rivers are flowing, clouds are drifting, winds are blowing, animals are reproducing. The weather is an interesting blend of elements you’ve never before experienced in quite this combination. Though you may take it for granted, you relish the ever-shifting sensations of light and temperature as they interact with your body.

There’s more. You can smell odors and hear sounds and taste tastes, many of which are quite pleasing. You can think! You’re in possession of the extraordinary gift of self-awareness. You can feel feelings! Do you realize how improbably stupendous it is for you to have been blessed with that mysterious capacity? And get this: You can visualize an inexhaustible array of images, some of which represent things that don’t actually exist. How did you acquire this magical talent?

By some improbable series of coincidences or long-term divine plan, language has come into existence. Millions of people have collaborated for many centuries to cultivate a system for communication that you understand well. Speaking and reading give you great pleasure and a tremendous sense of power.

Do you want to go someplace that’s at a distance? You have a number of choices about what machines to use in order to get there. Whatever you decide—car, plane, bus, train, subway, ship, helicopter, or bike—you have confidence that it will work efficiently. Multitudes of people who are now dead devoted themselves to perfecting these modes of travel. Multitudes who are still alive devote themselves to ensuring that these benefits keep serving you.

Maybe you’re one of the hundreds of millions of people in the world who has the extraordinary privilege of owning a car. It’s a brilliant invention made by highly competent workers. Other skilled laborers put in long hours to extract oil from the ground or sea and turn it into fuel so you can use your car conveniently. The roads are drivable. Who paved them for you? The bridges you cross are potent feats of engineering. Do you realize how hard it was to fabricate them from scratch?

You’re aware that in the future shrinking oil reserves and global warming may impose limitations on your ability to use cars and planes and other machines to travel. But you also know that many smart and idealistic people are diligently striving to develop alternative fuels and protect the environment. And compared to how slow societies have been to understand their macrocosmic problems in the past, your culture is moving with unprecedented speed to recognize and respond to the crises spawned by its technologies.

As you travel, you might listen to music. Maybe you’ve got an MP3 player, a fantastic invention that has dramatically enhanced your ability to hear a stunning variety of engaging sounds at a low cost. Or maybe you have a radio. Through a process you can’t fathom, music and voices that originate at a distance from you have been converted into invisible waves that bounce off the ionosphere and down into your little machine, where they are transformed back into music and voices for you to enjoy.

Let’s say it’s 9:30 a.m. You’ve been awake for two hours, and a hundred things have already gone right for you. If three of those hundred things had not gone right—your toaster was broken, the hot water wasn’t hot enough, there was a stain on the pants you wanted to wear—you might feel that today the universe is against you, that your luck is bad, that nothing’s going right. And yet the fact is that the vast majority of everything is working with breathtaking efficiency and consistency. You would clearly be deluded to imagine that life is primarily an ordeal.

The view from my new apartment (I manifested this!)

Free your mind and your ass will follow.-George Clinton

George Clinton got it right. Once you free your mind, those parts of you that feel like an ass, that feel not worthy, that feel not good enough, all of those parts will be free, too. Here’s why.

Most of us live with part of our minds trapped within a cage. This is the part of ourselves that we reject. We have thoughts that go through our minds that we label as bad. We judge someone or feel angry or ungrateful, and we feel ashamed about it. We then reject that part of ourselves because that isn’t who we want to be.

When we reject these thoughts, we move them to a place that we can’t access. We put bars around them, label them as “bad”, and throw away the key. Yet, because we have locked these thoughts away, and haven’t let them flow through us,  they are still a part of us. So, they have more power than ever!

When our mind has become a storehouse of those negative thoughts (of which we are unaware of because we have suppressed them), we will attract negative experiences to mirror those negative thoughts that we don’t realize are locked away.

So, if you have had the thought that you are not worthy but have hidden that thought within you, you will continue to attract people and situations in your life that make you feel like you are not worthy. You will blame the other people for how they have made you feel, but, actually, they are a gift. They are only reflecting the idea that you have rejected and have buried in your mind.

If you want to free your mind, you have to let those thoughts surface. When they surface, you will realize you are not those thoughts. We often have to see what we are not before we can see what we are.

You can do this by becoming mindful of your thoughts when they arise. Sit with these thoughts you have about yourself. And instead of judging them as bad, try loving yourself in spite of what you are thinking. It is the feeling of completeness that your mind is actually searching for. That is what it needs to be free. But, it can’t be free if you are keeping parts of yourself hidden.

The secret to freeing your mind is to love yourself no matter what arises. Your heart is the only thing that has the ability to free your mind. Ask yourself why the negative thoughts or emotions you are having are arising. To give you an example, I recently got really angry with someone. This person judged my anger, and the old me would have done the same. But, instead, I went deeper. I asked myself, “Why did I get so angry?” The thing that triggered my anger was this person had criticized me for something nice I had done for them, but they criticized me because, in their eyes, I hadn’t done it “right.”

When I sat with my anger, I went deeper, and realized that I had unhealed pain in my heart. I grew up in a family where I was often criticized. I had many gifts to give as a person, but according to them, there was always a way I could do things better. I realized that this place inside of me was not fully healed. I grieved and let the tears flow as I realized this and gave compassion and love to this place inside of me that felt unloved and “not enough”. In this way, I had made never being “enough” part of my truth. And, I was continuing to attract people and situations that made me feel this way.

Once I saw this, I was able to let this belief go. I knew this wasn’t really true. I began to see all the wonderful gifts I have to give to this world. I began to see my true being. I saw that I was enough and that no one else had the ability to take that away from me. I saw that my anger was a gift for revealing these truths to me. But, if I had judged and avoided the anger, I would have never seen the true cause of the anger and that part of me would have been left unhealed. Instead, I let the love in my heart unlock the bars of my mind.

I encourage you to go deeper when you experience thoughts or emotions you want to avoid. If you are experiencing fear or guilt or anxiety, sit with it. Don’t judge it. Allow it, and you will start to see what is triggering these emotions. The same is true with sadness, worry, or any other thought or emotion that you are used to judging as negative. The truth really will set you free. Let everything else that’s not truth go. Let it out. Unleash it. The kingdom of heaven really is within. We just need to use our hearts to set it free.

It’s easy to let stress, our emotions, and anxiety affect our sense of calm, especially during the hectic holiday season. But when we let ourselves get carried away, we don’t just affect our mind. This stress takes a toll on our body and causes a sense of imbalance in our lives. We then become unable to cope with situations that we normally would have the ability to handle.

The first thing to do is to start checking in with your body throughout the day. Notice how you are feeling. Many times our sense of calm can be upset without us even realizing it. The time to start with these practices is when you first notice that you aren’t feeling calm. Once you notice this, here are my suggestions on how to calm down.

1. Breathe

While meditating has tremendous benefits in helping to bring a sense of calm to one’s life, you don’t have to do a full mediation session to bring a sense of peace to each moment. Try to set time for regular breathing sessions during the day. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through the Facebook feed next time you have a few minutes of free time, take a few deep breaths. Just for a minute, keep your mind on your breath. You will find that you return to the moment much more relaxed and centered.

2. Spend Time In Solitude

Even extroverts need time alone. When we are around people, our energy is affected, and if we don’t take time alone to recharge our batteries, we can find ourselves stressed without knowing why. If you don’t live alone, go out in nature and spend time with yourself. When you spend time alone, especially in silence, you will find that you can hear yourself and access your intuition better as well.

3. Listen To Binaural Beats To Calm Down

Binaural Beats cause a hypnotic response in the brain and can do wonders to calm you down instantly. They work best when listened to with headphones, and there are many free ones for a variety of symptoms available on YouTube. I listen to them daily when I am working on my computer. They are also great to listen to as you drift off to sleep at night.

4. Dance

photo credit: YanivG via photopin cc

The majority of us live only in our heads. We have an entire body, but we spend most of our time in our minds. When we move our bodies, we lose some of our obsession with being in our minds, and we will notice an immediate sense of calm. You can get this effect with any activity or exercise which forces you to be in your body, but my favorite activity is dancing. You don’t need to go out to dance. You can have a dance party in your own living room. Freely express yourself and let yourself go.

5. Use Essential Oils To Help You Relax

Most of us know the soothing effects that lavender can have on the body, but there are many other scents that can help with different types of anxiety. Frankincense is my favorite for calming a busy mind, while jasmine is great for anxiety. Vetiver is great for sleeping and for relieving jet lag. I prefer to get the benefits of essential oils by using a diffuser, but you can also get their benefits by putting them in a foot bath or mixing them with a carrier oil and wearing them as perfume. One of the most relaxing things to do is to put them in your bath water.

What ways do you use to calm down? Let me know in the comments below!

I also want to offer a free 15-minute Skype session (1 per person) to anyone who feels like they have issues in their life that they want help with. I can give advice and help you move through your life and its challenges with a sense of calm and well being and less anxiety. Email me at [email protected] for your free session today. 

featured photo credit: h.koppdelaney via photopin cc

This universe is not outside of you.
Look inside yourself;
everything that you want,
you are already that.”
― Rumi

It is so easy to rush through our days without really seeing the beauty they contain. We find ourselves waiting for Friday, wishing the day were over, completely stressed, tired, and worn out. We stop seeing the magic in the moment, and this makes it easier for fear and worry to tiptoe into our minds without us even noticing.

So many of us have visions of travel to faraway lands because we want to escape our own lives. We want that child-like feeling of everything we are experiencing to be brand-new. We crave the aliveness that comes from the enchantment of seeing the world though new eyes.

But, it’s possible to have that feeling without buying a plane ticket. We can bring this joy into our everyday lives.

How can we get that feeling? How can we make every moment come alive with wonder and see the sacred in the ordinary?

Just like we make a date with a friend or a partner to reconnect with them, I think it’s important to make a date with the world to remember the beauty of everyday life.

Photo Credit: violetz_85 via Compfight cc

On Your Date With The World

My suggestion for your date with the world is to turn off your phone and let intuition and the world guide you. Ask your body what it wants to do. Do you feel like being in nature? Do you feel like walking or being around people?  Do you feel like sitting in a park and watching the world dance by?

Let the world lead you. If you are driving somewhere and feel an urge to pull over in a field of flowers, then do just that.  On your date with the world, pay attention to where the world is pulling you.

The world is creativity itself, so make sure you add some creative activity on some of your dates. Dance (naked), or paint (with your fingers), bake something (with no recipe), sing (loudly). Have a conversation with a stranger. (Offer them candy.) Accept their invitation to tea. Give yourself to wild abandon and let your spirit soar.

We get so busy planning every minute of our days, that our days take control of us, instead of us taking control of them. We don’t take the time to let our bodies and minds tell us what they want to do. And we miss so many moments of spontaneity in the process.

We miss the moonrise in our backyard because we are sitting in front of the computer doing one last thing for the office.  We miss our friend’s silent cry for help because we are thinking about all the things we have to do later. We miss the poem that was waiting to be written by us because we didn’t stay still long enough for pen to meet paper.

We miss our very own lives because we forget to connect with the world itself. So meander, get lost, let the world speak to you, and follow her where she goes. (hint: she prefers skipping!) She has messages for you, if you will only answer her call.

Featured photo by Martinak15/Flickr CC

“I’ll tell you a secret. Something they don’t teach you in your temple. The Gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal, because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we’re doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.”~ Achilles

 

Do you get it?

This moment could be your last.

This could be the last sunset you see, her many colors lighting your sky.

This could be the last honey you taste. The sticky sweetness drenching your tongue.

This could be the last time you see her smile. The edge of her mouth reaching into the crinkle of her nose, illuminating her dark eyes.

This could be it.

But you, my dear, are missing it in a million ways.

You are letting your fears become louder than the sound of the birds that are singing to you.

Your worries are controlling your mind, so that you are missing the kind words being said to you.

Your longing for yesterday is clouding the hope that is in her eyes when she looks at you.

Your thoughts of tomorrow have missed the breeze that has come to cool your skin, the light that has come to warm your heart, the clouds that have come to bring your soul shade.

“Where are you?”, the moment cries. “I’ve missed you. I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”

Be in the moment. It is only this way that we can really get a glimpse of who you really are. When you are fully present, you get to fully enjoy life. The moment is presenting so much to you, but it is so easy to miss.

We let our thoughts and worries get in the way, and we miss the deep conversation the world is trying to have with us. So, how can we get there? How can we be in the moment? How can we practice mindfulness and make our lives a constant meditation to the present?

Photo Credit: Georgie Pauwels via Compfight cc

 How To Be In The Moment

1.  Pay more attention to your physical body

It’s easy to get so wrapped up in our inner thoughts, that we completely forget that we have a physical body. I find that when I tune in to how my physical body feels, it brings me back to the present. Do you feel a breeze or sunlight on your face? Are you feeling warm or cold? Hungry or tired?

Pay attention to the motion of your body as you walk.  Breathe deeply, and pay attention to that breath. Try doing your next workout or yoga practice by paying attention to how each muscle moves in your body. Give someone a massage and instead of worrying about doing it right, just feel the contact of your hands on their skin. Try being only present with what your physical body is feeling without letting your thoughts get in the way.

2.  Take time to savor.

Do you rush out of the door in the morning, cup of coffee in hand, frantic and in a rush to get to work? What if you woke up fifteen minutes earlier and gave yourself time to savor the morning? Savor the cup of coffee or tea you are drinking. Pay attention to the way it warms you and wakes you up. Pay attention to the feel of your favorite cup in your hand.

Put on soft music, and let the music move through your body. Eat fresh fruit, and appreciate the vibrant colors and the health it is bringing to your body. Reflect on its sweetness in your mouth. Try to bring the act of savoring to your whole day. Show appreciation for each moment you have. This is a way to take control of your days rather than letting your days take control of you.

3.  Be present when you are with others.

The reason people often feel lonely is that they don’t really connect with others when they are with them. When I traveled to both Bali and Mexico, I noticed something about the way people interacted with each other in these countries. They often just sit in silence together. They aren’t checking their phones or scrolling through Facebook while together. They are giving each other the gift of one another’s presence.

When you are fully present with another person, you stop projecting your stories onto them, and you truly see the other person. When you completely listen to someone else, or just practice being with someone, you are relating to that person more deeply, and this leads to more intimate and fulfilling relationships.

4.  Let Go

How many times have you been afraid to sing at the top of your lungs, cut loose on the dance floor, or make a total fool of yourself because of who was watching? Have you held yourself back from saying what you really thought because you were afraid of how others would respond?

If you really want to be in the moment, let your body express the feelings you are having. Unleash your joy. Release your passion. Express your true feelings. You just might inspire others to do the same.

5.  Surrender Open to the moment.

A lot of people will tell you to surrender to the moment, but to me, surrender sounds like defeat. I prefer the term open. Yes, there are moments we don’t enjoy being in. But if we open to these moments, we can ask what they are here to teach us. We can feel them fully, and before you know it, these moments, too, will pass.

However, if we remain closed to what the moment is trying to teach us, chances are, that moment will appear again and again until we get the lesson. Thoughts and feelings show up because they want to be heard. To be in the moment, acknowledge your thoughts, let them be heard, and then watch them transform.

Every day when I walk to the gym, I have to walk by several pet stores full of caged dogs. It hurts my heart every time I see them. As I did my workout yesterday, I pondered on why I was having such a visceral reaction (besides it being a terrible thing).

I realized that in my own life I have often stayed within my comfort zone which is in itself is a cage. Which is interesting because I hate confinement. 

For years, I let the world dictate how I lived my life. I did what you were supposed to do. I didn’t think about what my soul wanted to do. I thought about what I should do to make the most money. I had no time to think about my dreams or what inspired me. I had very little time to even try new things to find out what I was passionate about.

So, a year ago, I did something drastic. I decided to go beyond some of my “physical” cages. The cage that said I had to have a regular job, or a regular house, or many possessions. I used to identify myself with my job, my house, and the things I possessed. They made me feel secure.

Somehow, stripping away that security revealed other insecurities. The one of what will people think, the one that gave me thoughts that I couldn’t fully experience all of life.

You see, in this cage, I realized I had let the bystanders, rubberneckers, and picture-taking observers define how I felt about myself. I gave in to other people’s wishes about my life because I wanted to please them.

I gave my power over to people who had no idea about what path my soul should take. All because I wanted to fit in or be accepted. I realized I had often been afraid to tell people what I really thought. I was afraid to express myself freely.  I let the world shape how I saw myself.

You might have a different cage.  Maybe you are letting the cage of perfection surround you. Or maybe, it’s the cage of procrastination. You know what you are supposed to be doing, but you aren’t taking the steps to get there.

All of these cages are built by one thing. Fear. If you want freedom, you have to go beyond that. The funny thing is we are so afraid to feel fear. But decide today. You are going to do just one thing to start breaking out of your cage. Yeah, it’s going to feel scary. But, just decide you are going to let yourself feel that fear. Embrace it. Laugh with it. And, you know what?  One day you will find yourself doing the thing you always wanted to do. And that cage will be gone.

Sometimes, it’s easy to think because I have stretched myself that I am outside my cage. Beautiful experiences and following my dreams are a great way to decorate my cage, but there is more. I’m at a point in my life. A point where I feel the Universe is taking me by the hand and telling me I need to fully use my gifts and that there is something I have to offer this world.

So right now, I’m trying to go beyond. Beyond my edges. Beyond what I think I should be doing. To what’s happening now. I don’t want to just decorate the cage anymore. I’m ready to expand.

Photo Credit: AZRainman via Compfight cc