How do you handle surprises?

After finishing a delightful semester at Palmer Institute of Massage, I was surprised to find out the school was closing at the end of the semester. At first, I was quite disappointed. However, I decided that this could be an opportunity for something even better so I'm keeping myself open to wonderful opportunities. How do you handle unexpected changes?

Here's a wonderful suggestion from Kasha Ritter about how to take the unexpected in stride:

It would be a great gift if we could teach our children the gift that chaos brings. That when you get a flat tire and you have to be somewhere, that life just gave you a nice pause in your day. Not that life hates you and is out to get you. This is your gentle reminder that you are not in control, that someone is looking out for you, wanting to get your attention - and, most importantly, that when life does not go as planned, it is, always is a good thing. It has changed your perspective; it has given you an open door to meet someone new, let someone help you and reconnect you to life. So, next time your day "falls apart", pause, say thanks and enjoy the ride. - Kasha Ritter

Trying to stay in control of things that really aren't in your power to influence just creates stress. Letting go of stress, anxiety and tension during times of change will shift your perspective and start attracting positive opportunities and relationships into your life.

Compassion as a route to abundance

There is a very simple Buddhist technique for developing compassion, which also happens to have the side effect of training the body to relax deeply while experiencing uncomfortable emotions. Use this technique first for developing compassion for yourself - for any difficulty, ill-health, frustration, pain, worry or concern that is weighing on you. You can also use this technique for forgiving yourself or others, to release the emotional hold of a trauma or betrayal on your life.

Find a place where you can sit comfortably without being interrupted for about 20 minutes. Take a few deep breaths in and out slowly to relax and center yourself. On an inhale, bring to mind what is painful or uncomfortable for you, any fears or losses haunting you. Imagine bringing it into yourself fully, keeping an open mind and open heart about whatever you feel. Just allow yourself to feel without judgment. When you exhale, send out the intention of relief from pain or discomfort, send out the intention for peace and happiness, send out the intention for abundance. Repeat for as long as you can, or until you feel peaceful.

You can take this practice one step further in developing compassion for others and helping to shift global vibrations towards positivity and abundance. On your inhale, breathe in that which is painful and unwanted in the world with a sincere wish that others can be free from suffering. Keep an open mind and heart, and allow yourself to experience your emotions without judgment. When you exhale, send out the intention of relief from pain and suffering, send out the intention that you and others experience peace, happiness and abundance. Repeat often.

Spring Cleaning

Greetings!

I don't know about you, but this time of year gets me very excited for sunny Spring days and warm breezes. I know there is still snow on the ground, and my dreams of blooming flowers are still a number of weeks away. After a long winter, and boy has it been a snowy one here in New England this year, you may find yourself feeling sluggish and fatigued. It's easy to fall into a late winter gloom as you pine away for warm, sunny days, but don't give in! Use these last few weeks of indoor weather to do some internal Spring cleaning!

The wise woman tradition says that our bodies know how to take care of themselves, but it is up to us to provide them with the most nourishing ingredients possible. Nourishing yourself - with good foods, good company, laughter, exercise, meditation, Reiki, yoga, relaxation, and sleep - will bring your body, mind and spirit back into balance and re-energize and rejuvenate you.

In this spirit, I have a designed a very exciting energy cleanse workshop for all of you interested in doing some internal spring cleaning. It's going to be held on March 8, 2009 from 3-5 pm in Salem, MA. Space is limited in the Spring Cleaning for Your Chakras workshop, so hurry up and save your spot by registering now.

Do you know how powerful you really are?

Here's a reposting of an article I wrote in the Fall of 2007. It is so relevant to how you choose to participate in world events right now:

Yesterday's post quoting Caroline Myss explored how emotions are stored in the body, and today I'm going to talk about the power you have to change your body and your life using your mind.

Thoughts and emotions are information represented by chemical signals in the body and brain. What inspires, directs and shapes them? We don't know that scientifically, but there is a theory that consciousness (or spirit depending on your worldview) exists on an energetic level beyond the firing of neurons in the brain or signals traveling down nerves. From this perspective, the driving force behind all the activity in your body comes from the energetic (mind or spirit) level. Do you realize just how powerful you are in shaping your life, your health and your body?

Through your attention and intention, you have the power to organize events and circumstances in your life. What you pay attention to manifests in your body and around you. By choosing positive thoughts and emotions, and by focusing your attention on peace, vitality, wellness, calm, balance, health or other desireable states of being, you can cultivate them in your life. You can grow them like flowers in a garden.

Or conversely, if you focus on what you do not want, unfortunately, you may accidentally manifest exactly that because the subconscious mind is too primal to understand the concept of "not". Rather, it experiences the world through images, associations and symbols. What you pay attention to is what it seeks out to create and find. It is not enough to decide you no longer want to be this way or that way - to change your life you must decide how you want to be and focus on that instead. Therefore, the key to making mental and emotional changes is by using carefully constructed positive visualizations and images.

For example, if your desire is to no longer be anxious, you must focus on how you would like to be peaceful and calm with a visual of yourself looking content and collected. In addition to the visual, the intention becomes more powerful when you use verbal affirmations to replace the negative associations in your mind. In this case, repeating the affirmation "I am at peace and calm in all situations" along with your visualization has a deep impact. Images engage the subconscious, and words engage the conscious mind - so it's a powerful combination when used routinely.

So let me pull this all together here. You can live your life at the mercy of your emotions, letting past traumas, current concerns, and anxiety about the future suck the energy and joy from your life. Or you can use the power of your mind to create a positive, fulfilling life by focusing your attention and intention on how you would like to feel physically, emotionally and mentally.

Abundance is a choice.

I have a really smart life coach. She keeps reminding me a basic truth - there is plenty in the universe for all of us. Of course there are things wrong with the way certain things were handled by the last administration of this country, but that does not mean that you need to participate in the Fear Economy. You could spend your time anxious and worried about losing your job or losing your clients or losing whatever it is that's most dear to you, but that's not really very pleasant is it?

You have another option. You can choose to appreciate and embrace the abundance in your life right now. You can do this by being grateful for the wonderful people in your life, the amazing opportunities that keep coming your way, your health, the gifts you receive from the sunshine, fresh air, good food, doing something you love and enjoying great company. No matter how much you don't have or are afraid of losing, there is an equal or greater amount of wonderful things you do have if you take a moment to pause and count your blessings.

To give you an example from my own life - I lost some significant things in 2008 and was stuck at home for a number of months due to chronic excruciating pain. The Fear Economy started to eat away at me as I focused on what I didn't have and what other people didn't have, and it made me feel pretty awful. Then a few smart people rallied around me and reminded me to count my blessings. When I started to pay attention and account for the amazing people still in my life and the opportunities available to me and remember the things that I'm passionate about, everything shifted. Suddenly my life was overflowing with abundance. Despite the losses and the challenges, some pretty amazing things started to happen.

This may be a pretty bad time economy wise for the United States in a very long time, but this moment in time is one of the best, most productive, and profitable times in my life. How can that be? It's that way because I opened myself up to the abundance that's available in the universe and refused to continue to participate in the Fear Economy. You have a choice too, and I encourage you to opt for abundance and blessings.