Spirithaven
This page contains inspirational messages for you to enjoy. Some I have written, some are from other authors who have inspired me and I would like to share them with you. I hope you enjoy! 12/14/2011 BREATHE One day last week I found myself so busy my mind was racing. In an attempt to do something new in my computer, something I barely understood, I had become frustrated, anxious and upset. I was rushing because I had a meeting to attend and, while taking a shower, I had one of those incredible AHA moments I would like to share with you. I thought of what I would do to relax many years ago and I knew I would pour myself a drink. Today I B R E A T H E. I took a few long, slow, deep breaths and felt myself immediately relaxing. I smiled. Actually, I grinned. A few breaths and I was calm. I had the ability to become calm at any and every moment. 12/1 A PAGE FROM MY BOOK LIVING LIGHT AS A FEATHER Lifting Our Thoughts One beautiful way of lifting our thoughts to a higher level and thus raising our energy is to tap into a stored memory of joy, love or self-confidence. It takes only a few moments to make this happen. Choose a time when you felt full of joy, love or self-confidence. You can choose another high-energy feeling if you wish. Close your eyes for a few minutes and picture how you felt at that time. Remember it with all your senses. As you breathe in and out, feel that experience all through your body. The HeartMath Institute suggests that you place your hand over your heart during this exercise. After a few minutes, you can open your eyes. Practice this a few times to establish this memory within you. When you feel yourself filling with emotions like fear or anger, place your hand over your heart and watch how the negative feelings are replaced by feelings of joy and love. Remember that everything begins with a thought. A thought of fear leads to a feeling of fear. A thought of resentment leads to feelings of anger. When you become willing to get out of your head and come from your heart, your feelings change to loving feelings. John Grassi, a teacher I had in graduate school, told me a wonderful story to illustrate this. At recess one day, two young students were getting ready to have a fight. A girl caught the attention of one of the boys and put her hand over her heart to remind him to come from his heart. In turn, that boy put his hand over his heart and stopped acting out his anger. The second boy saw this gesture, put his hand over his heart-and the fight was over. It is such a simple exercise but it works every time we have the willingness to change. Neale Donald Walsh writes, "The Highest Thought is the thought which contains joy. The Clearest Words are those that contain truth. The Grandest Feeling is that which you call love. Joy, truth and love. These three are interchangeable, and one always leads to the other. It matters not in which order they are placed." Here are some questions you can ask yourself that will help you begin the Heart-Lightening Process. Take plenty of time and remember, there are no right or wrong answers: Guided Imagery for Healing Here is a guided imagery that can help connect you with a higher frequency of energy for faster healing: Imagine that you have a cord connected from the top of your head reaching up to all the energies of the universe. You can feel it vibrating. See a glow of light all around you, expanding wider and wider until all you see is light. Feel it vibrating as you sit in the center of all this energy. Feel your entire body alive and connected to this higher frequency. Feel yourself surrounded by love. In this powerful place, say to yourself, All the energies of the universe are healing my body today. See this manifesting. Know this is a reality. Now give thanks for the manifestation of this affirmation. 11/24/11 THE POWER OF AFFIRMATIONS...A NEW TWIST As many of you know, I wrote CHANGE ALMOST ANYTHING IN 21 DAYS, a book on a new way to do affirmations. It has worked for many people as well as for me! Up until now I have recommended beginning an affirmation with God is guiding me... Or God gives me all the energy I need to... Or It feels so good to be "a daily meditator" for example. I recently discovered an addition to this that is very helpful: God is guiding me and I am doing the footwork to... Here’s what happened to me!!!! HOW THE STEPS CAN HELP US IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS I recently had an incredible experience on the workings of the 12 steps in all our affairs. I’m a firm believer in affirmations. When my new book was published I began writing an affirmation to promote it: God it guiding me and I am doing the footwork to do everything I can to make WRINKLES DON’T HURT a best seller. After I wrote this my head was spinning. I was suddenly bombarded with ideas. I began furiously writing a to do list and could hardly keep up with what was going on in my brain. I kept adding to my list. I asked God for help. I turned it over. How was I ever going to get this all done? I knew I had to work on each project separately. At the top of the page I wrote EASY DOES IT ONE THING AT A TIME ONE DAY AT A TIME BREATHE I added more ideas as they came to me and felt so much better. I had put it all on paper and did the 11th step, where I sought my answer through prayer and mediation. I also saw that I had done that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd step were involved. I saw that was was powerless over my mind and my anxiety. I felt insane. I knew that a power greater than myself could restore me to sanity. And I had turned my will and my life over to the care of God. Ahhh...peace. Ahh...Gratitude. THE CHAIR IN MY ROOM SOMETIMES SCREAMS AT ME. There's an old saying that says when something bothers you about someone else, take a good look at yourself and see if you nave the same characteristics. My partner has the habit of sometimes leaving her clothes on the chair in our bedroom. It really annoys me. The chair is right across from our bed. Every morning I usually spend at least an hour reading and meditating and sometimes writing, as I am right now. When I look up I see The Chair stacked with sone pillows and yesterday's clothes. I often want to say something to her. Other times I want to clean it up myself, it bothers me so much. Yet sometime ago I was introduced to another saying about cleaning up my side of the street. So I glance at the bureau and see everything I took from my pockets from the night before. And if I am truthful, the night before that and the night before that on many occasion. And I look at my night stand piled high with books. So I can't say anything until I clean up the top of my bureau and night stand. And then I think of my desk, with papers everywhere. In my mind I can see the floor next to my desk with a pile or two there as well, separated so I won't lose them in the mess above on my desk. I can't say anything until I clean up my office. And then, of course, there is the closet. And how about the couch in my office, where I put the mail when I am "too busy" to open it? The weeds in the garden? It will be a long time before I can say anything about the chair! (This blog is being made public with the permission from my partner, who is really being a very good sport!) 9/13/11 THE GIFT OF MINDFULNESS I filled up my gas tank at Walmart ths morning, using my Walmart credit card. The advertised price of gas was $3.48 but, since I was using my Walmart card, I was supposed to get a .03 discount per gallon. However, the receipt said I was charged the regular price. I could feel anger rising in me as my mind raced around the conversation I would have when I called Walmart to complain when I arrived home. I could actually feel my body tighten and my breathing become faster and shorter. And then it hit me...look what I was doing to myself over $.30, the amount I would have saved if the discount had been there. I laughed as I felt my body relax, my breathing get back to normal and my mind quiet down. If I hadn’’t been mindfully aware, I might have stayed in that mood for hours until I made a very angry telephone call to Walmart. As it turned out, it showed me, once again, the wonderful blessing that mindfullness offers. Since it is so easy to get upset over the slightest disappointment, no wonder we have so much violence and so many wars! 9/1/11 A WONDERFUL WAY OF LIFE
In order to be ordained into the Order of Interbeing, a Buddhist order created by world renown author and meditation teacher Thich Naht Hanh, one has to study and take a vow to practice the 14 Mindfulness Trainings. This is one of the trainings I would like to share with you as it is a wonderful way of life for all of us!
In process
I don't drink anymore.
In the years after I stopped drinking, I would have a cigarette.
I don't smoke any more.
I would have a cup of coffee.
I no longer drink coffee.
No longer did I have to reach out for anything outside of myself. I had what I needed inside me.
What a moment! What a gratitude moment!
I want to share a recent experience on my gratitide.
The Seventh Mindfulness Training: Dwelling Happily in the Present Moment
Aware that life is available only in the present moment and that it is possible to live happily in the here and now, we are committed to training ourselves to live deeply each moment of daily life. We will try not to lose ourselves in dispersion or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger, or jealousy in the present. We will practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. We are determined to learn the art of mindful living by touching the wondrous, refreshing, and healing elements that are inside and around us, and by nourishing seeds of joy, peace, love, and understanding in ourselves, thus facilitating the work of transformation and healing in our consciousness.