Embrace your inner Mystic

  

Have you ever questioned what you're doing here or why you are alive? Most, if not all of us ask such questions at some point in our lives.  I believe these are some of the most important questions we can ask ourselves. These simple questions hint at the truth of who we are and start us on a journey of self-discovery. And whether we realize it or not, such questions have the potential to open us to something much bigger than this reality.

If we choose to really embrace these questions - to not only ponder them in our heads but to engage in practices that connect us more deeply with their legacy and align our lives with what they reveal - then we are in fact embracing our inner Mystic.

Did you know you are a Mystic? I believe we are all mystics. In my recent book, The Six Sacred Gifts: Everyday wisdom for the spiritual seeker, I wrote: "Basically, mystics are people who seek a higher truth about who they are and why they're here than the one society provides for them." Mystics sense there is much more going on here than meets the eye; they long to see beyond the veil and they have the courage to explore it.

Isn't this true of everyone on some level? Aren't we all exploring what life has to offer to the best of our ability and courage? If we stand still and quiet long enough, don't we all feel a sense of some lost truth deep in our bones, something we can't quite pinpoint? When we close our eyes and connect to the warmth of the Sun, the sound of the ocean, the tickle of the wind or the strength of a Sequioa, do we not tap into something much older, deeper and magnificent than our physical selves?

Embracing our inner Mystic means we are not afraid to explore the boundary between known reality and what lies hidden beyond the veil. There is not one answer to the questions of what we're doing here or why we are alive; there is just your answer - the one that is aligned with you and your existence here. It takes courage to ask such questions because there may not be a clear answer. Or even riskier, there may not be an answer that society supports or that you feel you can embrace.

In fact, there need not be an answer at all. The answer is found in the journey we make while seeking. What actually happens on our journey doesn't have to be some big tidal wave of experience. It can be as simple as a child's laughter or watching the Sun rise... anything that opens us to the truths we discover as we peek beyond the veil.

The gift in the journey is our becoming. When we embrace the mystic in us, we live with awareness. Living with awareness supports us in becoming someone or something closer to our true essence. That essence is the pure, infinite energy in us that is not born, does not die and never changes; it simply is. Yet we lose our sense of this aspect of ourselves early on in life as we get socialized into our families and communities. We can remember and reclaim the magnificence of our true essence. All we must do is embrace it.

So how do we embrace the Mystic and the wisdom that our journey brings? Someone asked me this question just yesterday. There is much that can be shared around this topic; this blog is but a preview. Here I offer you a few simple ways to begin embracing your inner Mystic:

• Own that on some level, you are a Mystic! Explore what being a Mystic means to you. If you feel resistance to identifying yourself as a Mystic, explore why. What hidden meanings, beliefs and fears are beneath that label? Are they true? Do they matter more to you than your personal evolution? What are you willing to hold on to and let go of to more fully embrace your journey of becoming?
• Go beyond thinking and reading about the questions; learn and engage in practices that connect you to the ancient wisdom found in their legacy. Then align your life with what those practices reveal to you.
• Find the courage to open your heart and explore what lies beyond the boundaries of known reality. Many have walked the Mystic's path before you; there are teachers, mentors and guides all around you. Open to what they have to offer. No matter how far you have already traveled, there is always room for more growth.
• Find your own rhythm along your journey. There is no hurry; rushing toward the unknown can be self-defeating. Take your time and move forward with the innocence of a beginner. If you decide you already "know" something so can skip ahead, you narrow your perspective, shrink your experience and close the gateway to the infinite realm of all possibility. Set your Ego aside and keep an open mind as well as an open heart along your journey.
• Let go of attachments you might have about what it means to be a Mystic. We are not Mystics to win a prize or get some reward; we are Mystics by our inherent nature. As I share in The Six Sacred Gifts: "This journey is neither hard nor easy; it is whatever you bring to it. There is no reward for making it; it is done for the doing." Pay attention to the whole of your journey, for therein lies the wisdom.

Happy Trails and Namaste'

Let Your Light Shine!!

December brings us Winter Solstice - the longest night of the year and for some, the true New Year's Eve - as the next day starts the journey into growing days and increasing light. Until the Solstice, cold Winter days and long, crisp nights call us inside, not only to stoke the fires of our hearths but also the fires in our hearts.

This month, we enter a time of introspection, reflection and integration. We reflect on our past and use the lessons we find there to make plans for our future. What does your deepest heart long for and how can you stoke the fires that burn there?

December's energy is aligned with organizing and readying yourself for what's next, even if you can't see it clearly. What preparation is needed to move toward your heart's desires? Where is growth needed? Surrender? Patience? Trust? Courage? Action? How can you best prepare yourself to be the person you want to be in the future? What skills do you need to sharpen? Are there foundational pieces to your dream that need shoring up so you can go the distance? These are questions to reflect on and tend to this month.

Despite today's very commercialized Christmas season, December is an opportunity to honor our inherent innocence and to celebrate the birth of our own light. Each one of us has a gift to offer the world, and we are the only ones who can bring that gift forward in our unique way. No one is excluded from owning the Sacred Light they bring forward.

These tips can help you make good use of December's opportunities:

• Shift your gift. Consider shifting away from commercial gifting and instead, create gifts that nourish the heart and spirit of your loved ones and others in ways that make the world a better place, such as: make donations to worthy world causes; make something homemade like art, ornaments or body products; write loved ones a special letter; take on a project to help someone; volunteer time to those in need; or just offer to be there for someone who is lonely.

• Learn from your year's harvest. Reflect on what worked and what did not. Release what feels complete or no longer serves and use it as fuel for your future successes, just as the fallen leaves become a warm protective blanket of nourishment for the tree roots beneath the ground.

• Notice your inner fire light. Does it feel strong or weak? What does it need to burn more evenly? What will sustain it through time? Make plans to bring this balance into your life.

• Honor your inner light. Use the colorful lights of the season as reminders that your inner light shines on, despite any darkness around you. All you have to do is allow it. Light a special candle in the evening and take a moment each night to sit and fill your heart with gratitude for the unique contributions of your inner light to this world.

Happy Holidays to you!

Take in and let go...

By now - November - we are deep into Autumn. Autumn calls for a celebration of the year's harvest so when Winter arrives, there is space for planning our next steps forward. Thanksgiving is just around the corner - a time of reconnecting with loved ones to celebrate and share the year's prosperity and abundance.

Each one of us has things to be thankful for; each one of us has a personal harvest. Some of our harvest has been a taking in; some has been a letting go. Neither is better or worse. November is a great time to reflect on your year and give thanks for all you took in and all you let go.

To have powerful flow in our lives, energy must move in both directions: in and out. Filling up brings nourishment, growth and fullness from what is; emptying out brings a clearing of what has passed and spaciousness for what's next. Both are aligned to the highest good. Honor both the times of filling up and the times of emptying out.
Whatever ways the flow has moved through your life this year, recognize it as a gift. Fullness and spaciousness both serve; you must empty out the old to make space for filling up with the new. This month, express your thanks for both the fullness and the spaciousness life offered you this year:

• Reflect on your year and notice where things flowed in and where they flowed out; observe how each fed your life in a positive way and give thanks.
• Celebrate the flow in your life in 2013; find a simple way to acknowledge the abundance you received this year. It may be financial, but it may also be in other forms. Give thanks for all kinds of abundance in your life (e.g., clarity, time, freedom, creativity, money, relationships, ideas, etc.).
• Share some of your harvest with loved ones; perhaps you serve up a big Thanksgiving meal, or perhaps you carry the year's lessons into your relationships in a positive way.
• Recognize that you live in a prosperous, abundant Universe in which there is plenty for all to receive and share. Notice where you feel lack in your life and explore what blocks your ability to easily and freely receive prosperity and abundance. Take steps to move beyond the blocks and into the bounty of what is available to you.

Death as Friend & Foe...

 

 

Beyond the fun of candy, crafts and costume parties, October is a time to honor Death. The last of this year's harvest is collected and by month's end, whatever remains is left to die. Death and its role in our journey through time is visible in October: seasonal flowers are spent, the leaves drop off of trees and the green grasses of Summer shift to a dormant brown. Nature is preparing for the "death" of Winter...

In modern times we celebrate a lighthearted Halloween but more traditionally, October 31st and November 1st are known as days when the veil between this world and the next are thin and the Souls of the departed wander the Earth. During this time, the breath of Death is believed to be close at hand and steps are taken to either trick Death away or treat Death with spoils to soften Her gaze or gentle Her grip.

This month, we take time to honor Death as both friend and foe - friend for claiming the bones of that which is spent, and foe for the same reason. We gratefully gather the third and final harvest of our year - the richest lessons we can reap in terms of our journey. This Third Harvest sustains us through the Winter. Then we  gratefully hand the remains over to Death, to cycle out of our lives and become fertilizer for whatever we choose to bring in to our lives next. Without appreciating and harvesting the year's gifts that escaped Death's grip, there will be no room for next year's dreams.

To take advantage of October's reminder of Death's gifts and to set up a future of prosperity, unity, protection and blessings in your life:

• Make time to honor your elderly, your ancestors and your beloved departed, for they commune in the Shadows. Consider setting up a special "Day of the Dead" altar or shrine in your home to show respect, appreciation and love to them. Some believe that during Halloween, those who dwell in the Shadows can see or influence your future and support you in achieving your dreams. Take advantage of this "window of opportunity" when the veils are thin and communication between you and those in the Shadows is more clear, to ask for support and offer gratitude.

• Collect your personal Third Harvest and make note of your prosperity from the year, perhaps financial but also in terms of your growth as a person. Recognize and appreciate that this harvest is Death's gift to you, for all things ultimately belong to Her.

• Build a fire and ceremonially throw into it the bones of all the things from your life that are spent and "dead." Write them on paper or burn some symbol of them so space can be made for what you choose to plant into your life come Spring. While you burn them, hold gratitude in your heart for all they gifted to your life. 

Have a spectacular Halloween!

BALANCE... Bring it!!

Got the end of Summer blues? Feeling a bit off? Have no fear, for September is here! This month offers the perfect opportunity to blow out the last of Summer's intensity and step boldly through the gateway into Fall's more steady rhythms. Although September tends to be a busy month in our industrialized society, from a more natural perspective it is a time to slow down, get reflective and take stock of our lives.

September gifts us with the Autumn Equinox - the time when day and night return to equal length, tempering and balancing the Sun's power. From that moment on, the Sun begins to soften as our days grow shorter and we move through the season of Fall toward Winter.

This is the month to honor the changing seasons, to celebrate the harvest, and to restore balance and harmony in our lives. On an energetic level, we shift out of Summer's high gear and into the lower gear of Fall. We stop fussing over our crops and finish harvesting them instead. We take stock of all we have gained and give gratitude for it.

September is a perfect time to bring balance to the forefront of your awareness, to wrap up the loose ends of Summer's activities, and to begin harvesting the gifts of your personal journey. The more you invest in moving through the changes happening inside and outside of you this season, the more you set yourself up for a cozy Winter!

Add harmony and balance to your life with these September tips:

• Sift through the bounty of your Summer efforts and harvest the internal and external fruits of your labor; take stock of any "loose ends;" do what you can to complete what feels unfinished.

• Honor and celebrate your personal gains during the past few months; make time to enjoy the abundance of your unique harvest.

• Take stock and identify the parts of you that feel out of balance; what is ready for change? List ways to begin the changes and move toward restoring a healthful balance to your life.

• Acknowledge and honor both the light and the dark aspects of yourself and of life; recognize that a healthy life finds balance in all things.

Take charge of your life!

All of us have times in our lives when we wish for change - when we realize that what we have is just not really what we want, or not all that we want. But how do we create the change we want? Where do we start?

The month of August is about being fearless. This is the last full month of Summer when you have easy access to the high power of the Sun-Fire energy. It is a great month to focus on building a deeper connection to the infinite and all that is available to you through it. It is a powerful time for renewal and healing. This month, be fearless in your sense of abundance, capacity and conviction to make the changes in your life that you dream of.

Use the energy this month to:

• dream about what you really want. Then focus your energy on taking steps to bring it into your life. What needs to change for you to have what you want?

• be fearless. Try something new. Break out of your routines by doing something fun and spontaneous! Experience the joy and inspiration found in changing the usual to the unusual.

• renew yourself. Go to your local farmer's market or grocery store and indulge in the bounty and abundance of healthy, organic Summer fruits. They are charged up with sensuous goodness to enliven your body's energy.

• energize your life. Spend time in nature hiking or soaking in a favorite swimming hole to awaken your chakras. This energizes you so you can make the changes you want.

• connect with available supports. Consider signing up for the next cycle of The Shaman's Way, Spirit Paths, Kundalini Yoga, or schedule a personal session. Following through with your dreams is much easier with the support of others by your side who understand...