03.28.07
Posted in Gratitude, Paths to Bliss
at 11:53 am
My computer is working and I have had time to decompress! I’ve been cooking and exploring some creative pursuits that I would have shied away from in the past. The energy is flowing in my direction and I’m feeling really good. As promised, I thought I would share my experiences about how I’ve been handling the shift to different paradigms.
Paradigm shift is not a particularly new experience for me–in fact my world view has been changing dramatically over the past 8 months or so, somewhat over the past three years, and progressively since I graduated with my undergraduate degree 9 years ago. It has helped, I suppose, that my recent shifting perceptions have gone from feelings of lack and aloneness to a life of joy and prosperity, but I would be lying if I said it hasn’t been a painful, stretching experience.
The two tools that have been most helpful in pulling me out of dark days into bright ones are trust and gratitude. That sounds a little glib to me, but I mean that from the deepest part of who I am. When things are changing around me and I’m not sure of my footing I must get in touch with trust in myself and the universe and gratitude for everything I have and everything that is coming into my life.
Read the rest of this entry »
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03.20.07
Posted in Preview
at 9:42 am
I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks! First, I took some chakra clearing/exploring the body and the feminine classes that really brought me in touch with some things about myself that needed a conscious witness. A few days later, my husband and I went on vacation to a city much larger than the one we live in now. When we got back, we began the upgrade process for my laptop to Microsoft Vista (and during the upgrade process liquid was spilled on my keyboard and now my enter key is rebelling). 
All three of those major events had some fun shaking me up!
All of these things have served to pull me out of my current perspective and reflect upon my life and where it’s going. This reflection has been a roller coaster for me because although I’m working on happily anticipating and celebrating the change that comes into my life, there’s a large element of home-body there that really likes consistency and routine. I discovered some themes running through these experiences, however, that I thought I would share over the next couple of posts (hopefully my technoliciously gorgeous husband will have the keyboard issue resolved by this evening which will make typing paragraphs a much easier proposition).
Here’s a preview of things to come (in no particular order other than how they are extracted from my head): 1) How environment impacts our ability to feel open and have abundant experiences; 2) The importance of treating our bodies as friends and listening to the messages they are sending us; 3) The different ways to handle shifting to new paradigms; 4) Working on reaching for a better feeling.
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03.16.07
Posted in Discovering the Senses, Paths to Bliss
at 10:30 am
Speaking of reveling in the senses, here’s a lovely description of truly experiencing taste and food.
Try to imagine all of the sexy things that happen in your mouth. Now try to imagine a food that embodies these sensual experiences. You are imagining the Indian street food golgappa, unquestionably one of the most exciting things you can do to your body with food in public, a molecular gastronomic snack avant la lettre.
Eating golgappa is like a sweet and salty deep kiss exploding in your mouth, inside out and in slow motion.
Wonderful!
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03.07.07
Posted in Discovering the Senses, Paths to Bliss
at 8:00 am
Tickle Your Senses
How often do you really think about what you’re eating? I mean really think about it. How many of your meals involve throwing something together or grabbing a bite to eat and then eating while you do something else like watching the tv? How often do you savor a particular smell or the way something feels on your skin? How often do you tune out the sensory experiences in your life so you can run on to the next activity or project?
Today’s Trick
Spend one day this week or one hour tomorrow really appreciating how things taste, smell, feel, sound and look. When you take a shower, notice how the water feels on your skin. Decide what temperature would give you the most comfort and ignore what’s good for your skin or hair color. Choose shampoos and soap that smell wonderful to you. When you eat a meal, choose something that appeals to as many senses as you can. Enjoy every bite. Stop a moment to savor the feel of a breeze on your skin or sounds that bring you joy. Take everything into your body by breathing consciously.
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03.05.07
Posted in Paths to Bliss
at 4:39 pm
I used to be afraid of confrontation. I would start out by being upset that someone was mad at me and then get really defensive and say things I’d regret later and/or get so overwhelmed that I couldn’t think of the right thing to say. I began this habit where I would replay the conversation in my head and say all the things I wanted to say–and to be honest most of these conversations in my head were not very nice. I even began to have conversations in my head when I was anticipating a confrontation. “I’ll say this… and he’ll say this…and then I’ll come back and say this” replayed over and over in my head. I wanted to make sure I could control the confrontation when it happened by saying all the right things and blowing the other person away.
I now realize that this was one of the most self-destructive behaviors I ever engaged in. By having these conversations in my head I was spending a lot of energy having an imaginary conflict. I was maintaining a high level of negative energy and letting it feed a lot of destructive emotions. By anticipating confrontation, I was fueling energy to a situation that might not even develop. I was projecting a worse case scenario. The reality was that in some cases I was getting worked up over a situation that didn’t exist or if the confrontation did happen, it never went the way I had planned because there was another person who I was not in control of involved. Often, the confrontation was a lot worse than it needed to be because I was so pumped up about the situation.
Confrontation is Sometimes Necessary in Life
One of the key points in the film The Secret is that by giving energy to the things we are upset about we strengthen them rather than resolve them. When we brace for confrontation, we are feeding the confrontation. Obviously, confrontation is a key skill in managing our relationships with other people. The word has a negative, in-your-face connotation, but confrontation doesn’t have to be a negative experience. It takes a lot of energy to hide from or rail against things–energy we could be sending to the things we actually want in our lives. When we face fears or situations that are harming us and ask them to go away, we are sending out a message that says we deserve a life without fear and harm. We deal with the situation and then cut off the energy supply towards it.
So how do we diffuse a situation while still standing up for ourselves? The first step is stop imagining unpleasant or angry confrontations. If we find ourselves getting angry or upset when we think about dealing with a certain situation, it’s important to interrupt ourselves immediately and redirect our thoughts towards a peaceful resolution. Keep in mind that we don’t really know how another person will approach the situation and give them the opportunity to react in a positive way. Once we’ve interrupted negative thoughts, direct them instead towards a happy outcome. Imagine the situation either dissipating on it’s own, or coming to a mutual conclusion that benefits everyone involved. Picture yourself satisfied and what your day would be like if the situation were not a problem for you. Surround everyone involved (including yourself!) in white light and wish for everyone’s happiness. Finally, if we do find ourselves in a confrontation, it’s important to be flexible and respect the unexpected. Things may take a turn that we could not anticipate, but if we stay positive the outcome will be for the highest good of everyone involved.
I hope you are just as pleasantly surprised as I was that expecting positive outcomes instead of preparing for negative ones will dramatically improve your relationship with the people around you and your ability to handle all sorts of confrontations.
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