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Put Your Phone Down, And Start Living!
I was blessed to be born before the arrival of the Internet and smart phone technology. It was a time when kids were playing outside all day, and we often did not want to go home, because we were having too much fun. It was a time when people still connected with each other in person, and on a deeper level. It was a time when we lived life in a much simpler way.
Since then the rise of digital technology and the Internet seemed like it happened overnight, and everyone was instantly hooked, including myself! It was exciting, because information was now just a click away. Communication was faster and easier, and you could ‘connect’ with just about anyone, anywhere, anytime.
But then social media and smart phones came along, and before we realized what hit us, it began to gradually cripple our ability to focus, to truly connect, to be present in the moment, and to be in touch with our spiritual nature. To make matters worse, we started comparing our lives to others: friends, enemies and idols… only to diminish our sense of self-worth.
Last weekend, I was playing the board game Monopoly with my teenage son and his best friend. His friend seemed unable to put his phone down and pay attention to the game. I asked him why, and he said it was because he was addicted to knowing what others were doing, and that he didn’t want to feel “left out.”
The Miracle Power Of Music
Last night, my friends and I went out to see a performance by the blues artist, Shemeka Copeland. What a great show that lady put on! The music made the audience feel the love and joy, young and old alike, happily singing along and feeling the vibes.
Looking around me, I saw many people with smiling faces moving to the beat, doing the chair dance, clapping hands and happy feet. People of all walks of life came together as a community, any and all differences forgotten, because of a shared love of the music. The miracle of music!
All living things respond to sound. It’s the vibes that just touch us, because music is after all nothing more than vibration. Music has been known to inspire, soothe, calm and heal. I have heard, for example, of a group of harpists who play at hospitals for the benefit of patients.
When my daughter was young she said to me, “Momma, if the teachers only had music playing in class, all the kids would pay attention and understand what they were teaching.” On the flip side my parents always said, “Turn that music off!” How can you study, learn and remember what you are reading with that music on, they asked.
Awakening Soul To Soul
Awaken Soul to Soul, a 2012 spiritual documentary explores how the current global shift and our personal crises are an impetus to awaken to oneness. The film asks us to examine our deepest levels of connection as a solution to the problems we all face. We can’t possibly begin to solve the common ills of the world unless we realize our shared humanity and spirituality. But how to begin this journey, to awaken our own souls?
One step we can all take is to discover our own spiritual gifts and use them in constructive ways. Intuition, or ‘knowing without knowing,’ for example, is a quality we all have to some degree. Learning to listen to our intuition, or inner guidance, through practice and meditation, will connect us to our own soul, as well as that of others.
This process may involve distancing ourselves from toxicity, including people, places or things with negative energies, as well as the hectic pace and sensory onslaught of the modern world (social media, television news). The psychic part of us, like any other part of our body and soul, does not function at full effect if it is unhealthy.
Becoming aware of our own healing ability, as well as our metaphysical creativity, is also part of the awakening soul. Learning Reiki, or aura reading, for example, will develop extra-sensory gifts, while sharing them with others. Something as simple as creative journaling or free form poetry can be a spiritual release and an awakening of the subconscious.
Your Sacred Center Of Self-Love
We all thrive on being loved. This is natural, of course, if you look back at humanity in history on an evolutionary level. Ancient people came together in tribes, families, and groups, to cultivate a place of safety, security, nurturance, and love. If you were different or stood out in any way, or even left the tribe, you were literally putting your own life at risk. This topic can be viewed from so many arenas, including psychological, spiritual, scientific, and psychic.
I often wonder how and when did we start defining ourselves by how others felt about us, and why did we believe that other’s thoughts about us were true? At what point in time did we allow others to define us? It’s as though we as humanity went into a deep trance.
We all know the phrase, “Love thyself first”. When did we forget this vital piece of information? There are many ways we can come back in touch with this essential truth, but for the most part, our society does not support a lifestyle that would naturally lead us back to our sacred center of self-love. How often do you take a moment to look in the mirror, or tell yourself, “I love you?” Most of us feel silly doing this, but it is very healing.
The Energy Worker And The Air Bender
My spiritual healing work is based on pulling in energy from the Source, raising my vibration and transferring that energy to others, and the planet. I have been doing energy healings since I was a child and I have been doing it professionally for about 20 years. I am also a certified Kundalini Yoga instructor and spiritual teacher. A few months ago, I was mentoring a 15-year-old air bender. Air benders manipulate the energy of the atmosphere to help the planet, or people to heal. He had prayed for a mentor to come a few months before we talked about me mentoring him.
At the same time I started working with the young air bender, there were horrific fires in California, close to my home. Everything was chaotic. Cell phones and the Internet were not working properly, because of the fire. The air was so thick with smoke, you could barely see a few yards ahead of you.
Reunited With Crochet Friend In Spirit
I like to frequent a well-known, local bookstore. It is my way of having peaceful fellowship indirectly with others. I don’t have to talk to anyone, but the feeling of others around while I’m reading is a pleasant feeling. I always sit on the same chair, which is almost like a comfy love seat with others sitting nearby.
One day, while sitting there and reading, I noticed in my peripheral vision a lady to my left. She sat down on the sofa next to me.
She then looked at me and said, “I’m so sorry I didn’t want to disturb you, but I think you may have known my grandmother. She attended the same church you went to.”
I asked her which church she was speaking of and then confirmed that I had indeed gone there for a few years, but no longer attend. Continue reading
Saying Thank You Is Good Karma
Karma can be witnessed by looking back on one’s own life and experiences, or by observing the lives of others and how karma affected them. If you are close with someone you can see their karma unfold if you’re paying attention. Sometimes we don’t see it until much later in life.
A less obvious kind of karma, which I have started to notice over this past year, relates to saying two simple words: thank you. Why is saying thank you so very difficult for some people? I have never understood it, until recently.
One of the most common reasons people don’t say thank you, is because they were never taught to do so as children. Usually we are taught these things early on. But some people are brought up in dysfunctional homes where there is the lack love, attention and connection between parent and child. Continue reading