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Half Way Through My Fast

  On February 1st I announced on my blog that I would go on a February Fast cutting out political news from my daily diet and taking my own energy back. I would meditate from 5 to 6 pm instead of watching Chris Matthews and re-direct my energy toward that which I value. I want to share with you what I’ve observed. When a plane makes a very small, microscopic shift in direction it will end up in a different country. In fact, most of the time pilots are flying they are adjusting course. Flying is a series of mini-course corrections until the desired destination is reached. I should not have been surprised by the impact that this one small change could make in my life, but I was. By giving up political news, reading, and radio, I regained time. Probably 10 to 15 hours per week. The past three months I have had extensive leg, groin, and back pain. Metaphysically this means an inability to move, feeling unsupported, and...

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A New Year Meditative Message

Today we begin 2018! A New Year. Each year I begin my year with long meditation and a cleansing prayer. Today was no different. During my meditation, though, I received some beautiful Soul musings that I captured in my journal. I typically don’t share my intimate inner conversation; yet today is a new day so I will. These words are powerful read out loud. There is a Power and Presence that lives inside of me and It is Eternal Love — not dependent upon anything other than Itself — Pure and Total 100 percent Love. This Love is available to lead me and guide me. I say YES to this guidance. It comes not from my mental structure of mind; but from my Being which operates from a feeling tone. My spiritual practice includes leaning into this tone I often refer to as A Field or The Field. I get quiet. I breathe deep and slow and become One with my breath. Then I witness the marriage of the...

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Self Soothing Practices

    When your emotional body is overstimulated or out-of-whack what actions do you take to soothe yourself? If you aren’t conscious of your behavior, now may be the time to give yourself a look-see. I have my standard practices: Ground, breathe and become present. Meditate. Sit in affirmative prayer. Chant. Take a walk. Call a friend who loves me and reminds me of who I am. And, today I added a new one. Adult coloring. I know, I am late on the coloring train; yet I want to say that there is brain technology that supports my new-found self-soothing practice. Check this out…according to an article by Dr. Nikki Martinez in the Huffington Post there are seven benefits to adult coloring: It works with the subconscious to access information and become more self-aware. By concentrated focus it helps with many mental and emotional disorders. Returns us to a simpler time in our life. It utilizes advanced brain functions like organization and problem solving. Calm down parts of our brain that...

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How to Have the Holiday of Your Dreams

I have a confession to make. I LOVE the holidays. I mean LOVE the holidays. So much so that I celebrated the New Year with my Jewish friends in September; I hosted an early Thanksgiving dinner last week; I listened to my first Christmas music in August and I put up my bubble gum pink Christmas tree with Starbuck cup ornaments in the center of my living room picture window in mid-October. I just couldn’t and can’t wait for the season to begin. As a culture, we are given permission to celebrate and be corny during the holidays. We are subject to lights, decorations, mushy music of love, redemption, a fat man in a red suit, and opportunities to give and receive. This year, more than any year, my Soul has yearned for the holidays to arrive and to be blatantly, openly, grateful for the life I have and the people I love (Thanksgiving). I crave the celebration of birth, newness, miracles and light in the midst of what appears...

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Watching the Seahawks Play and Thinking About Meditation

The Seahawks game just started in Minnesota as the third coldest game to be played in history. With ten seconds into the game, watching the signs of cold evidenced through exhalation  clouds, I am grateful. Grateful for meditation. The Seahawks meditate. There are many fabulous articles written about how Pete Carroll, the coach, has created a different culture with the team by introducing meditation, yoga, mental health services, and holistic practices. As I sit in my warm living room grateful for meditation, I think of the monks who through meditation are able to raise their body temperature. From the Harvard Gazette in 2002, “In a monastery in northern India, thinly clad Tibetan monks sat quietly in a room where the temperature was a chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a yoga technique known as g Tum-mo, they entered a state of deep meditation. Other monks soaked 3-by-6-foot sheets in cold water (49 degrees) and placed them over the meditators’ shoulders. For untrained people, such frigid wrappings would produce uncontrolled shivering. If body temperatures...

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