Archive for the ‘conscious evolution’ Category
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010
Sand Spirit Insight card #1
It doesn’t feel at all like fall yet in Tucson, but they tell us that the fall equinox is Wednesday, September 22. This marks the beginning of fall in the northern hemisphere. So I drew a Sand Spirit card, asking the question in the title: how do I best get ready for fall?
I drew card #1, which looks to me like a being who is very still and focused inside. I see the hands in prayer, and I see another being or energy in the lower right hand corner–perhaps another person or issue that is in the outer world. What do you see in this image?
This being tells me this is a good time for me to be focused inward, to remain calm and remember who I truly am. What does your image have to say to you?
Fall is a new beginning for many of us who grew accustomed to school beginning, and thus entering a “new year.” I used to buy day timers that went from September to September. Does a new chapter begin for you in fall?
I’ve recently gotten a little more interested in numerology and how it relates to the Sand Spirits. #1 is all about new beginnings. And September, being the 9th month, is all about completions, prior to October, being a #10, which reduces to a #1. So the message I get is, focus inside and find that still place, that place of reverence and prayer and solid ground–so that you can be calm as you complete things this month and prepare for new beginnings next month.
Finding the still place resonates with me, because I’m finishing the editing of the first of the seven lessons in my book, Flying Lessons. The first lesson is “Know Where You’re Going to Land.” It’s all about finding solid ground inside.
What is your safe landing space in life? Do you look to relationships? To your job? Do you have a still place inside that is there despite outer circumstances? Surely we all need this in times like these.
I wish for you that you see something inspiring in this message and that you use it to get yourself ready for fall, for new beginnings, and for strengthening that place within you that represents solid ground.
Tags: autumn equinox, centering, centering techniques, consciousness, Flying metaphor, inner landscape, inner peace, meditation, Photography, Sand Spirit Insight Cards, transitions
Posted in centering techniques, coaching, conscious evolution, consciousness, Flying, Imagination, inner landscape, managing change, meditation, nourishing ourselves, Photography, returning to essence, Sand Spirit Insight Cards, self-healing, shifting how we see, shifting paradigms, spiritual practices, Tools for seeing ourselves | No Comments »
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
I love using the Sand Spirit Insight cards to reveal a personal myth that might give you insight into a theme in your own life.
Choose three cards from the pile face down, or just think of three numbers between 1 and 36 and pick those. I chose #33, #16 and #11.
From a completely intuitive place, use the three “illustrations” to stimulate a story that pours out with the least amount of thinking possible. Here’s mine:
One day a mother was thinking hard about how to juggle all the activity and all the dynamics in her family. She had a very colorful, very vibrant family, but sometimes they all were confused and troubled by the changes among them and in the world. They were looking for signs about the Divine path they all might follow.
At times the mother despaired, feeling the grief that surrounded her own helplessness, and wondered if all her experience counted for anything.
Into her dreamtime flew a strange and comical bird, who in his serious form showed her how hunched over she might become if she took all the weight of the world upon her shoulders. Another way, he pointed out, would be to take it all lightly, like a sweet and funny story that was really based on love and on how alike we all are.
See how this story might have helped me? What do you see in the three cards? What story would you tell? Myths, especially when they come from ourselves, give us the gift of the big picture, the universal. This takes us out of the small world that entraps us when we forget that we are all connected and part of one Creation. The spirits from the sea evidently want us to remember that while we are all drops, we are part of the great ocean!
Tags: consciousness, Flying metaphor, inner landscape, living today, managing change, musings, perception, Photography, Sand Spirit Insight Cards, transitions, ups and downs
Posted in bringing out your gifts, coaching, conscious evolution, consciousness, creative imagination, creativity and empowerment, Guided imagery, happiness, healing, Imagination, inner landscape, managing change, nature as mirror, Sand Spirit Insight Cards, seeing oneself, self-healing, shifting how we see, shifting paradigms, Tools for seeing ourselves | No Comments »
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Sand Spirit #13
Today I drew this Sand Spirit, and had this dialogue with it. First, I asked, “Who are you?”
And I “heard” it answer, “I am a reflection of your essence, which is similar to the essence of every human, but also unique.”
“And why, out of all the images I could have chosen, did I choose you today?” I asked.
“Well, because this is a day when it would be good for you to remember your true essence and to recognize the true essence in all others. That way you can forgive your own limitations and the limitations of others, just by remembering who we all really are.”
“Thank you!” I say back. And then I ask, “Do you have any other message for me?”
“Yes, I think it would be great to concentrate most on the gift you see me holding in my left hand. This is a reflection of the unique gifts you have to offer the world, and the unique gifts everyone has to offer. Keep asking yourself what yours might be, and what each person’s might be also.”
“I will, Sand Spirit. Thank you for your wisdom.”
And what do you see in this Sand Spirit? What would your answers be to the questions? I would love to hear some.
Tags: beauty, Essence, inner landscape, Photography, Sand Spirit Insight Cards, Self, spiritual practice
Posted in bringing out your gifts, conscious evolution, creative imagination, Guided imagery, Imagination, inner landscape, loving ourselves, nature as mirror, Photography, returning to essence, seeing oneself, self image, self-healing, shifting how we see | No Comments »
Thursday, July 29th, 2010
Blue Morpho
This is my favorite Costa Rican Butterfly, which I got to see again at a Butterfly farm, where the trained guide held this one in his hand for us to see and appreciate. The butterfly facts of life he shared were stunning to me, and made me think again about the subject of transformation.
Did you know that caterpillars have within them “imaginal cells” that carry the blueprints of their future lives as butterflies? I think of these almost like photographic negatives, and also like the luminous field that surrounds us all. This energy carries a blueprint of what we might become as well, and that’s why it’s so important to “clean” this field as often as possible and to keep gathering light energy around and within us. We want those blueprints or negatives to carry the highest and best possibility that we will then manifest in form.
Are we like imaginal cells in our society, who all carry blueprints of transformational possibilities for the planet? I like to think so. What do you think?
I found it amazing to hear that caterpillars also have wings! They aren’t visible, but they are incorporated into the caterpillar’s body. During their stay in the chrysalis, the wings begin to unfold so they can be available when the chrysalis breaks down and the butterfly emerges.
Perhaps we too have wings of sorts–forgotten angelic parts that are within us. When our time come to break out of this form, I like to picture those wings unfolding and presto! Flight!
Finally, one more fact about the Blue Morpho delighted me. The wings are not really the beautiful sky blue they appear to be; they are transparent. From ground level, one can look up at the morpho and see that the wings are transparent. But the top part of the wing reflects the sky, and so appears to us to be exactly the sky’s color.
So we too may not be the “color” we appear to be to others. We are really light beings, and so we reflect what is around us. In reality, we are transparent, light-filled. And all our colors, though beautiful, may be illusions.
And so how is all this butterfly stuff useful? Well, for me it helps me to remember that there is “more than meets the eye” in every person and every situation. If much of what I see is illusion, then I must continue to train my inner eye to see the invisible, and to bring that vision into my life that I might see more clearly and use that vision to become a wiser, clearer, more loving human being.
Tags: beauty, consciousness, Flying, Photography, The Beauty Way
Posted in bringing out your gifts, conscious evolution, consciousness, creative imagination, death and new life, Flying, Imagination, inner landscape, nature as mirror, seeing oneself, shifting how we see | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Maggie just had her “happy” and she is two. What did she have to say about that? “My happy June.” Yes, her birthday was in June. And on the day, she just kept saying, “My happy.”
It is her happy. She has every right to have “happy.” None of us would want to deny a two-year old as adorable as my grand daughter her “happy.”
And as for the rest of us? Do we know as certainly as Maggie that it is natural and right for us to have our own “happy?” If so, why does it seem hard to hang on to sometimes? Why are we so affected by outer events that we forget about that birthright? Why do we just hand over the power we have to claim “happy” for ourselves?
This is a simple wish for you to find your “happy” right now, independent of any challenges or sadnesses happening in your life. It is still your “happy” and it doesn’t even have to be your birthday, or June.
This is your moment.
Tags: birthright, challenges, consciousness, happiness, inner peace, musings, perception, Photography, ups and downs
Posted in children as teachers, conscious evolution, consciousness, happiness, loving ourselves, new life | No Comments »
Friday, June 4th, 2010
This is Sand Spirit Insight Card #26. I “drew” it for today by just picking a number and clicking on it without knowing which image would come up. This one has morphed over time. I used to see a woman in it, offering a gift to the heavens. I still can see her today, but more often now I see a face of a male figure who appears to be a wizard. He tells me he can see the invisible, see below the surface. He is warning us about the necessity for humankind to move away from the personal and the ego into the realm of greater consciousness and responsibility to the earth. He is talking about the tragedy of the oil spill as the most recent example. His left eye (his more feminine or intuitive side, connected to his right brain) is his more active eye. His right eye is focused on the heavens. This is his doing side, and he has surrendered to divine guidance for all his decision-making.
This is serious stuff, but how else can we respond to all that is happening now? A volcano erupts in Guatemala, followed by floods and the appearance of a giant sinkhole in the capital. Oil threatens our ocean, our sea animals and a whole way of life on the southern coast. Whatever actions we must take, this looks like the time to begin them.
The card I drew coincides with my finishing Craig Hamilton’s course in integral enlightenment and moving beyond the ego. The shift we must make requires a new kind of effort–one that begins with surrender to forces greater than ourselves. We live within the Great Mystery, and it looks like it’s time to respect it again.
How will we each begin?
Tags: consciousness, living today, managing change, musings, new life, Photography, Sand Spirit Insight Cards, transitions, ups and downs
Posted in authenticity, caring for the earth, conscious evolution, consciousness, death and new life, shifting paradigms | No Comments »
Monday, May 10th, 2010
Today there is a new wave of opportunity for women who want to become empowered, conscious, evolutionary leaders who make a difference. Teleclasses abound. Just google Integral Enlightment or Feminine Power or Conscious Evolutionaries and you’ll see. In the meantime, here are 3 principles to think about and practice:
1. Nourish yourself. This means on the level of mind, body and spirit. These are not times for wimps. We need to be strong. Gentle warriors, standing in our truth. If we don’t take care of ourselves, what good will we be for anyone else? So what is your premium fuel? Fill that tank.
2. Ride the wave. The wave in the photo is a wave of light, a photo projected on the wall of an imaginative San Diego restaurant. Light is nothing but energy. You are nothing but energy and light. So ride the big wave of light, the one other “en-lightened” beings ride. Jump on. Meditate, pray, do yoga, eat spinach or do whatever else helps you stay on. Ride the wave of light.
3. Bring out your soul’s gifts. If you don’t bring them out, what in the world are they for anyway? They are your “original medicine” and if you don’t bring them out, they could disappear forever. This is the moment. We are the ones. We need whatever you can offer. Remember what Jesus said (according to the Gnostic gospels): “If you bring out what is within you, what is within you will save you; if you do not bring out what is within you, what is within you will destroy you.” Sounds dramatic, but think about illness, crime and other tragedies. Could be as simple as this. Out. Into the world. Now.
The Dalai Lama said it best recently: “The western woman will save the world.” I guess it’s up to us. Let’s get started!
Tags: centering techniques, consciousness, empowerment, feminine leadership, meditation, new life, perception, Photography, spiritual practice, women leaders
Posted in authenticity, bringing out your gifts, conscious evolution, consciousness, divine feminine, feminine leadership, loving ourselves, meditation, new life, nourishing ourselves, self image, self-healing, spiritual practices, women's empowerment | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
Allow me to introduce my mother-in-law, Margaret, the weekend after her 99th birthday. That’s right–this is the new 99! She has just walked down the steps on to the the lawn where her granddaughter will be married to the groom (on her right), in a service officiated by the woman on her left. Doesn’t she look like she’s dancing? Isn’t her outfit smashing? Can you believe her smile? You should hear her conversation. She is alive and vibrant. This is my definition of health. This is my dream for old age.
What might happen if we hold such an image in our consciousness right now, and ask to be informed about decisions we might make that will help this dream to come true? If we were consistent about it, I think that would have a tremendous influence over the result.
What do you think? What is your experience about the link between vibrancy, setting intentions and your health? Please comment!
Tags: consciousness, grandchildren, health, living today, managing change, perception, Photography, spiritual practice, vibrancy
Posted in conscious evolution, consciousness, creative imagination, Guided imagery, healing, health, managing change, nourishing ourselves, Photography, seeing oneself, self image, self-healing, shifting how we see, shifting paradigms, spiritual practices, women's empowerment | No Comments »
Friday, April 9th, 2010
What do you look like to others? And how do you try to present yourself?
Each of us deals with the real fact that how we see ourselves may be different that the image others have of us. How do we begin to project a more authentic “look” that reflects who we truly are inside? Or is that even important?
In today’s culture we are so surrounded by invitations to be inauthentic and to conjure an image that is young enough, thin enough, glamorous enough…or just enough…that it can get exhausting. So how can we work on allowing our clothes, our makeup, our choice of hairstyle and the complete way we present ourselves in public to be just a natural celebration of being ourselves?
I love the days when I am going to an event and instead of struggling over “the right thing to wear,” I simply reach for the color that will nourish me, the necklace that will make me feel happy, the shade of lipstick that brings a smile to my face…and walk out the door just glad to be joining a community.
What if women all over the world rose up in protest of fashion tyranny and used fashion in this way: just a celebration of who they are. Certainly I know many women already accustomed to approaching their image in this way. But if we can encourage girls and young women to take a deep breath, maybe they will allow their “image” to reflect the celebration of being themselves, rather than one more thing to try to get right.
What do you think? What is your relationship to fashion and to the concept of your image? How would you like to be a leader in this area?
Tags: beauty, consciousness, Essence, fashion, inner peace, living today, musings, perception, Photography, Self, self image, The Beauty Way, women leaders
Posted in authenticity, conscious evolution, consciousness, feminine leadership, loving ourselves, nourishing ourselves, Photography, returning to essence, seeing oneself, self image, shifting paradigms, The Beauty Path, women's empowerment | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Are you a woman leader looking for affordable, practical tools for women at a crossroads? You already have a tool you can teach them that is absolutely free and accessible by birthright. Surprise! It’s the creative imagination!
You want tools of hope for women facing the gravity of life’s challenges, and what I’ve seen is the best approach to that is to show people how to let the creative imagination take flight. When you learn how to speak the language of metaphors, symbols and images, you are learning the language of the soul. When the woman who feels victimized by outer circumstances connects with her soul’s true power, a door opens. Are you willing to help her open that door?
The creative imagination has so many benefits, both for you and for those you serve. Not only is it free, but the more you use it the more powerful it becomes. And, it’s easily accessible. Just try accessing it by looking at the photo above and then closing your eyes and seeing if you can “see” the image. Now allow the image to change. The woman with white hair appears to be helping the other woman open the door. Does she succeed? What happens next? What is inside that door?
The stories we tell in our creative imagination determine our reality. When we can expand what we see and shift the lens we use, our lives expand and change. This is a practice everyone can learn.
The final benefit is for you as a leader. People spend a lot of effort trying to step into a greater role as a woman leader, when often they could be better served by focusing on embodying their soul’s true power. That way they not only accelerate their progress, but they end up being authentic and able to connect in a deep way with others.
How do you open the door to your creative imagination? Nature is one great portal. Guided meditation. Poetry. What are your favorites?
Tags: consciousness, creative imagination, Flying metaphor, inner landscape, perception, Photography, poetry, practical tools for spiritual leadership, Self, shifting paradigms, soul, spiritual practice, women leaders
Posted in authenticity, conscious evolution, consciousness, creative imagination, feminine leadership, Guided imagery, Imagination, inner landscape, nature as mirror, Photography, self-healing, shifting paradigms, spiritual practices, women's empowerment | No Comments »
