Insightful Inspirations

Gurus, teachers, yogi, monk, etc. these are all the titles of people you might go to for some spiritual help. Someone to show you the path to enlightenment. This week I was reminded to remember the true helpers in our life often don’t come from the likely sources. They aren’t always the ones you want to say “thank you” to and aren’t always obvious gifts.You might find more enlightenment in facing a chain reaction of events brought into your life through an encounter with a person, than from a spiritual master.

For example, lets say you get a job that you need VERY badly. In this job you are unhappy, but it pays the bills. Part of the reason you are unhappy is because you have a boss who is just awful to you. Finally one day, this boss is so awful to you that you snap and tell them off, causing you to loose your job. Then you face finding a new one, financial struggles and anything else that comes along from the chain reaction of events.  In the end you find yourself a job you love, pays better and supports who you are. You gained wisdom about your strength through the struggles to get there. Lessons yu couldn’t learn any other way.  

Can you thank that boss for being the catalyst for your growth? Can you see the wisdom in their involvement in your life?

This isn’t a sugar coated avoidance technique to make every one and everything seem good in your life. This is about having awareness of the wisdom that is constantly around you working with you and for you. This is about noticing the gifts rather than denying them.

Insightful Inspiration of week

Become aware of your catalysts. Who is your life has caused a chain reaction of events that you find unpleasant? Who do you have trouble with because of all the struggle they bring? What are they a catalyst for? Maybe they are just showing you how you don’t want to be. Maybe they are making you reevaluate your life rather than just going through the motions. See if you can find the gift in the chain reaction they have set off for you. Decide if you want to learn your lessons or keep the chain going until you do. You want the lesson or you wouldn’t be there with it. Send them gratitude, forgiveness and love and then do the same for yourself.

I was getting a massage the other day with the intention of releasing some energy that I felt stuck in for awhile. I started to feel the therapist work on me and feel the places that were tense and tender and that they related to this stuckness I feel. Recently I have been looking at moving out matches with things I feel are no longer serving me. However, I was struggling to do so. I was having trouble seeing why. I can move other people’s energy around so easily, yet I am struggling with my own. “Healer be healed!” I was saying to myself.

Then it came to me as I tensed under the pressure of the massage. Like the body clenching under the pressure of a sore spot, my energy was clenching. But why? One reason is that like a massage it hurts to let it go or at least somewhere I perceive it to hurt. But as the therapist worked on me I realize it is sore and tender and then it releases and feels light and wonderful. It helped me to see I want to push through the sore and tender to allow it to release. I can’t just continue to avoid the spot. Touch it with the intention to release, observe the struggle and then just by observing it lets go. Just by continuing to observe. Doing nothing else but that very thing.

This is so true with everything. Just by observing it you change it. Sometimes we avoid facing something head on because we are afraid of it, but once we do, it releases and no longer controls our thoughts.  It is instinctive for our energy to clench up and protect what we think is ours. It won’t just let it go, it much first have a gentle reminder of what is a balanced state, then it will return there willingly while releasing what it thought it needed.

Insightful Inspiration of the week

What sore spot are you guarding and not releasing? Why are you guarding it? What are you telling yourself about that thing you don’t want to face? It hurts only for a moment to face it and then it softens. You can see why you are where you are. Notice any resistance in your body and mind about letting this go. Just notice, without judgement, this resistance.

by Freeman Mester

As you observe this resistance you can begin to see the wisdom in it, with love and trust. Once you see that, you can let it go and make room for whatever you need next. You can open yourself up to the light and the possibilites now available to you. You may not have been ready to open up to it before, which is why the guard was there to begin with. But now it is there for you to open to and be nourished by.

If all else fails, go get a massage and see what you learn about yourself from the experience.  Have a releasing week!

Everyone has had a song stuck in their head at one point or another. These songs even seem contagious. Someone mentioned a line from a catchy tune or sings it under their breath and the next think you know it, it is stuck in your head. It is referred to as an earworm, here is where urban dictionary defines it. There are all kinds of interesting studies about this and the brain. Dartmouth University found out that our brain will even fill in the gaps, energetically, even when the song stops playing. There are all kinds of things you can read about this topic. Here is a New York Times article about it.

But if our brain will fill in the gaps on songs, where else is it filling in the blanks. My observation is that our energy systems will try and predict things in order to save energy in creating a new response. So if you get triggered in this behavior, even if it is different than the last time you experienced it, your body and mind will go to the path it has already traveled first, unless it is required to change course. This means that if you normally are defensive when receiving feedback about something, you will tend to always turn there first, before hearing the feedback.

Have you ever stressed about something you have experienced as bad in the past, expecting it to be bad again as this similar experience approaches? Then you stress, prepare and try and control your response to the upcoming badness, only to find out that there was nothing to worry about?

Awareness to these stuck energies is key to changing your experiences with the world. Just because it was bad once, doesn’t always make it bad. That bad song is just stuck in your head. See if you can attract different experiences, just by becoming aware of that stuck song.

Insightful Inspirations of the week

Do you have a mantra stuck in your head about something or someone? “This always happens to me.” or “I can never get paid what I am worth.” or ‘Men or Women are always so ____.” That song is stuck in your head and you will fill in the blanks by attracting those experiences that validate that tape. See if you can replace that tape with something else. That is what Louise Hay of Hay House always tries to do, give you new mantras to say over and over. Replacing those tapes.  See if you can identify a tape that you want to replace. Put a new mantra on a sticky note where you can see it and use it in place of the old one. Then see what shifts.

I just got back from a visit with my father. Every time I spend time with my parents it gives me new insights on myself. It reminds me what subconscious tapes are playing in there that I have yet to uncover. My mother and my father divorced when I was very young and quite frankly are the most opposite people you would ever meet. Who am I most like? If you ask me I am exactly like both of them while not being like them at all. How is that for a paradox. I have taken parts of what they believe and made it my own. I have also gone in the opposite direction of some of their beliefs (to their dismay), but still by their influence.

The mention of a person’s parents is bound to evoke an emotional response. Be it good or bad, we feel something about these people responsible for bringing us into the world. But the bottom line is, the way they view the world has a lot to do with how we view the world. People either try to be similar to their parents or not make the same mistakes, but either way you can’t deny the power of your parents on your energy.

Insightful Inspiration for the week

For good or for bad spend sometime reflecting on what your parents have given you. What belief systems did they influence you with such as ideas about money, relationships, the opposite sex, etc. ? Did you take on what they believed or did you go the opposite direction? It was still their influence even if you went against what they think. See what you can honor from them as part of you. See what you can and can’t make peace with. Keep in mind the concept that actions speak louder than words. What your parents did and didn’t do, matters more than what they told you. Explore this topic and what it means for your personal awareness and growth.  As always I encourage you to share.

Send gratitude to those people who gave you life. Honoring them honors you and the universal power of creation.

Thank you mom and dad.

As promised, there were a few topics requested that I add for the Oracle deck. So this is the last one. Completion.

We have all heard the saying “every end is a new beginning”. But what does that mean exactly? There are some things in life you can’t have until you have a free hand, which means you have to let go of something else. Things like relationships, jobs, and home, typically (for most of us) runs in ones and twos. So you can’t have the next house until you sell the old house, or you can’t have the next relationship until you end the current one.

Seagull taken by Freeman Mester

We often resist change because we are so wrapped up in the loss of letting something go and we don’t yet know what it will be replaced with. We fear it will never be this good again. We are afraid of the possibility that this is as good as it gets and it can only go down from here. When we allow ourselves to dream of the future and trust miracles are coming, we open ourselves up to the gifts of the universe. When we fear we close ourselves off and keep ourselves trapped in a cycle of loss.

It is like a bird flying for the first time. The nest is cozy and safe, but letting go of the nest is important for the bird’s survival and eventually, they just take off and fly.

Insightful Inspiration for the week

What phase is coming to a close for you right now? Are you letting it end, or are you clinging to like a lead anchor? What can you do to support yourself in letting go of that phase and coming into the new phase? What are your fears behind this end? What are your hopes and dreams? Let yourself imagine and expect the best. You are ready for clarity and new adventures.

This is the next suggested topic from the reviewer of my Oracle card guidebook. I am writing this blog in advance because I am on vacation this week. Hopefully this isn’t a topic I will be needing as this publishes.

Sometimes in life we just need to survive. Just settle in and wait for the storm to pass. There are moments in life where there is nothing left to do other than protect yourself and survive it. The phrase “this too shall pass” comes to mind. You aren’t safe to jump out into the storm and try and control it. You are just meant to stay safe and out of the way.

Insightful Inspiration of the week

If you are feeling like you just can’t stand up any more, that is okay. Take a step back with the people you feel the most love and support from and just settle in. Shelter yourself from the opinions, struggles, and chaos of the world. Let things blow over and return to a calmer state.  You will survive and if you don’t you will get another chance in the next life.

I am writing a guidebook for an Oracle deck. Something I was doing as a fun project. I sent the book to someone to review and she suggested a couple of cards to add in. And as with all the other cards in the deck, the inspirations were first born on the blog. So I am going to do the same for these topics. The first one being savoring things.

As we rush through our lives we often don’t stop to notice and enjoy the good things in life. We are rushing ourselves through the experiences to hurry up to the next one. What are we rushing to? Something we would find more enjoyable than this moment. We are seeking  moment in time where we feel fulfilled, full and happy. But if we never stop to savor where we are, we never find the things that help us feel that way. This is basically like running on a hamster wheel.

If we stop and enjoy the tastes, the smells, the moments, we will begin to notice we are already full. We are already the exact experience we need to  and there is nowhere to rush to. When we savor moments it slows things down, softens them and makes them lighter. Go ahead, give it a try.

Insightful Inspiration of the Week

Savor the moment. Find something really good about today and hold on to it. Relish in it. Feel it in every cell of your body. Let yourself be nourished by the gifts around you. Calm your energy with this pause and notice how it clarifies and tones your perspective, not just about what you are savoring right now, but about everything else as well.

If you are into any metaphysical stuff, you will often hear about the ego. Most of the time the ego is pointed out as something to let go of, something NOT to live your life through. But I personally think that is impossible for most of us. It isn’t the point for us yet.

I read this book called “The Rascal’s Guide to Enlightenment” by Mat-zo the unleavened one. You can tell by the title and author’s name it is a funny one. Anyway in his book he has a “I love my Ego Rebuild Kit”. It says something along the lines of if you have ruined your ego through too much enlightenment work, use this rebuilding kit to fix it up. It is a pretty funny book. I recommend it to anyone.

My point is that everything is about balance. As I watch children grow, I see their ego forming. It is part of development. Without it, we would miss an important part of our lessons in life. As always it is just about balance. We don’t want to run the world with our egos out of whack because then we forget that we aren’t the center of the universe and right about everything.

Sonia Choquette, one of my favorite authors and psychics said this about the ego in an interview. “Every human being has had some experience of guidance. That is not our challenge. Our challenge is: Will our ego humble enough to acknowledge that there is more than the ego running the world and the experience of the human journey through life?”

I don’t think it is about blowing the ego away. But it is about using our consciousness to bring it all into balance. I believe when we aren’t in a body, our ego goes away, so just like our bodies, we have a limited time to experiment with it.

Insightful Inspiration of the Week

This week, check in with your ego. What state is it in? Is it bruised, defensive, puffed up? How much say does it have in your life? Is it balanced with everything else you do? Can you tell the difference between your ego and your higher self? Are you able to have humility and see things differently than before?

As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts.

What is the first thing you do when you hurt your hand? You shake it and rub it. That is your natural response to disperse the excess energy that caused the pain to begin with. Shaking actually helps release energy and restore you to a more natural state.

You can use this concept for other things in your life. If you are struggling with a situation that hit you quickly and you felt unprepared, give it some time and think about healthy ways to shake off the energy. Some examples of how you might shake off the energy include exercise, talking to a friend, meditating, or expressing emotion. If you don’t shake off the energy, it piles up on you and makes the next situation feel all that more overwhelming.

Insightful Inspiration for the week

Shake it off. For the situations that are impacting you this week, consciously shake off the energy in a way you find enjoyable. You already do this naturally, but by bringing awareness to it, you are enhancing its healing affects. Try this visualization. Visualize a tree that represents you, covered in snow, representing the energy of the situation.  This tree has so much snow on it that its branches are bending and are overwhelmed. Now imagine shaking that tree. Allowing all the snow to fall off those branches, popping up the branches back into their strong, unburdened state.