Living in the Moment

Living in the Moment

by | Energetics, Life Reflections

Excerpts taken from a seminar done at Natural Comfort in 2016

“You can learn from the past and imagine a beautiful future,
but you must live in the here-and-now”
Colette Baron-Reid

Whenever you set your sights too far ahead, you run the risk of losing your footing, for rarely do the Present and Future match up exactly in your life story.  The Future has no substance right now; it is a place that has no grounding yet.  You can’t live there, yet you can take measured steps toward a goal or a dream.

The same goes for Nostalgia.  You can look into the Past wistfully and remember beautiful moments or revisit lessons learned.  However, you can’t live there, nor can you change what was.  Yesterday is gone forever.  There is no point in longing for that which has already gone.

Live fully in the Present.  The “now” is the most powerful place to put your attention.  Its magic reaches out in every direction, further than the heart and soul can see.  Live one day at a time.  Each day is a new beginning filled with truth and beauty.  Find joy in what is present in your life today.

Here and Now is the only reality.  The past is a story we tell based upon hazy recollections.  The future is a daydream produced by our hopes and fears.  No matter how difficult the present may seem to us, it is inevitably richer than any fantasy of the future or memory of the past.  These are only virtual realities. They have no substance.  Here and Now is always preferable, because only here and now IS. This is where Life is really happening. 

 We are always Here and Now but our attention is often lost in regrets about the past and anxieties about the future. We must learn to be fully present in what we are doing and really hear, see and feel in each moment instead of being lost in our thoughts about life.  ….  If you need help learning how to do this, spend time with a young child.  They understand how to appreciate the magic of each moment.

It may sound silly to us when someone says, “Live in the Present Moment”  because we may think that if we are somewhere physically, how could we not be present?  In reality, many of us are rarely fully in the present moment, because we are always either thinking about the past or constantly planning the future.  When we continuously dwell on and live in the past, what happens is that we recreate it as part of our present experience.  Even though the people, places and things from our past experiences may have come and gone—in fact, even if they no longer exist—if we are perpetually reliving them in our present reality, they make up not just our past, but they become part of our present reality as well.

On the other hand, there are some people that always focus on the future by looking for the next thing to satisfy them. However, many of these people are rarely satisfied, because they aren’t able to enjoy their present experience long enough due to the fact they are constantly looking towards the next thing to satisfy them!

When we are present, we are at our most powerful.  It’s the present moment where we are able to manifest our desires the most quickly.  It is the present moment that is our reality.

“Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose, in the present moment,
with qualities like compassion, curiosity and acceptance.”
Shamash Alidina

Through being mindful, you discover how to live in the present moment in an enjoyable way rather than worrying about the past or being concerned about the future.  The past has already gone and can’t be changed.  The future is yet to arrive and is completely unknown.  The present moment is ultimately the only moment you have.  Mindfulness shows you how to live in this moment in a harmonious way. You find out how to make the present moment a more wonderful moment to be in—the only place you can create, decide, listen, think, smile, act or live.

Mindfulness is a translation of the ancient Indian word, Sati, which means
Awareness ~ Attention ~ Remembering

 IF NOT “NOW”, WHEN?

If you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always gotten

Quantum Physics has proven the energy within and around our mind/body/spirit

What we think, feel, and do right now
Sets the future we will find ourselves in.

In every nano-second, we can choose something else which will alter that future.This is why being in the Present is the most powerful place to be in.

Things to consider when committing to being Present and creating the most joyful life we can possibly imagine:

Aligning with our Highest Good and Highest Power
Power of Joy
Power of Love
Positive Intentions
Attitude of Gratitude and Appreciation
Blessings and Positive Affirmations
Miracles and Magic

JOY sets our blessings, miracles and dreams in motion
LOVE sustains them

How do we increase our daily experience of Joy?

Self-Love & Acceptance
Releasing Attachments not Positive Connections
Being Present—In the Moment
Giving & Receiving
Imagination & Creativity

ACTIVITIES TO HELP YOU STAY IN THE PRESENT

 

The more of these you do each day, the more in alignment with life you’ll become.  Then watch how your life becomes more magical and meaningful.

¨ Breath Work

¨ Visualizations such as Smiling Heart or Miracle Shower to bring in peace, joy and excitement with being alive

¨ Mantras and Positive Affirmations

¨ Offering Gratitude and Thanks

¨ Increasing Natural Elements in your environment such as flowers, colours, music, sunshine, aromas, crystals

¨ Releasing the Past with saying:  That was then; This is now;  And Now I choose  _________ for myself.

¨ Mindfulness Meditations

¨ Playing with Young Children or with Pets

¨ Feeling the Earth/Water under your feet;  the Sun/Wind on your body;  the Rain on your face;  really feel and appreciate your       ,       physical presence

¨ Paying attention to your Five Senses

¨ Use the word, NOW, to remind you to pay attention, be aware and remember your experiences in this world

¨ Be creative through art, gardening, tending others, music, writing, painting, dancing, cooking, sports, exercise and anything that     brings you JOY

Spring Flowers & Aromas

Spring Flowers & Aromas

by | Aromatics, Energetics, Psycho-Spiritual

As Winter leads to Spring, so our attention moves from what is inside to what is peeking at us from the outside world.  Gardens, forests, seaside grasses are beginning to awaken.  What glorious examples of rebirth and continuous life cycles.  There are a few Spring flowers distilled for their essential oils and absolutes that are used in aromatherapy blends.  To help welcome Spring, I present you with a few descriptions of them taken from authors Scott Cunningham, Felicity Warner and Valerie Worwood.

Hyacinth

  • Associated with the planet Venus
  • Element is Water
  • Magical influences are: overcoming grief; peaceful sleep; love

The Hyacinth personality is forgiving and trusting; their gentleness and good nature is apparent in everything they touch. They are mindful of other people’s feelings and love to be privy to their secrets. They don’t mean to pass those secrets on, but because they love to talk, it sometimes just slips out!  They have a fragile, delicate nature which can have a tendency towards tension, stress and stress-related disorders.

Narcissus

  • Associated with the planet Venus
  • Element is Water
  • Magical influences are: love; aphrodisiac; hypnotic state

The Narcissus personality can be mesmerizing, empowering and hypnotic to encounter. A person of closeness, clandestine moments and a seeker of truth.  Sometimes called “old souls”.  They are masters of camouflage, so as not to give away all their inner secrets and yearnings.  They have a highly developed precognitive faculty that can most often predict danger or mistakes.

Iris

  • Associated with the planet Venus
  • Element of Water
  • Magical influences are: love; psychic awareness

This plant was named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. The dried root is known as Orris Root and can be pounded into a fine powder to apply to clothing, linen or skin.  Its gentle, iris aroma is found to be alluring.  Both the root and powder have been used for centuries in love-enhancement rituals. The aroma can assist with psychic awareness if it is inhaled with intent and focus.

Although a wonderful Spring flower, this next one is not distilled commercially.  Should you find something on the store shelf called Lily of the Valley Oil,  you can be certain that it is a fragrance oil – made in a lab. There may be a CO-2 extraction out there, but it would not be available to the general public.  And if it was available, it would be very expensive.

 Lily of the Valley

  • Associated with the planet Mercury
  • Element is Air
  • Magical influences are: peace; conscious mind; memory

The Greek God Apollo is credited with finding this plant and presenting it to Aesculapius. Although dangerous if ingested, the aroma is quite safe. Using visualization while inhaling the aroma heightens one’s ability to recall old information and strengthen powers of memory.

Watching the Spring garden come to life brings true joy to the mind, body and soul.  Colour, aroma and life again – all wonderful energetic offerings to help bring us out of winter slumber and doldrums.  If you don’t have a garden, treat yourself and go to the local nursery or florist to get a few potted plants or cut flowers that can brighten and aromatize your personal space.  Notice how by adding just a bit of Spring Bling to your surroundings, your mind, body and spirit feel just a bit lighter and brighter.  Definitely gifts worth investing in.

The Blank Page

The Blank Page

by | Energetics, Psycho-Spiritual

At our last seminar, we explored some of the basic designs used in Sacred Geometry.  Although it takes basic forms such as the point, line, circle, spiral and ellipse to create all the other forms, everything must start with the Blank Page.  You may know this by other names:  Clean Slate, Blank Canvas, The Void, The Black Hole, The Great Mystery.  Call it what you wish, it is the place where everything must start.  It is the place of nothingness and deep silence. Yet, it is the place of pure potential – where anything and everything is possible!

 

In ancient times, it was the geometer who sat at the tracing board, waiting for inspiration to come forth.  Looking back at the geometer from that blank tracing board was a design, waiting to come forth.  But only the geometer could take that blank page and create the design.  Until that first point was made on the board, nothing happened.  Nothing was created.  Nothing came into being.

 

In those times, it was believed that the Earth was holy and that anything done upon the Earth must be done with great care and with the input of Spirit.  If the design was to be sustainable and enhance both the Earth and those living at that place on Earth, it was imperative for the geometer to have connected with a force far greater than human ego when creating the design. In order to achieve this connection, it was necessary for the geometer to “go within” – to “go to Source”.  And that place was complete stillness and darkness – complete nothingness.

 

A place that dark and still can be frightening.  It can create much anxiety, confusion, indecision, and resistance.  It can be so overwhelming that a person avoids it so as to not become unravelled or scared.  Much easier to stay distracted in the world around us than to wait to hear/feel/sense what Spirit has to offer.  But in order to understand the connection between the spirit of the design and the actual manifestation of that design, one must stay quietly receptive in that place of nothingness, silence and darkness. From that place, the “knowing” comes to us.  And with that knowing, we can connect our inner and outer worlds.  With that connection, we can now proceed with the design.

 

The Blank Page or Tracing Board can also be used to illustrate our journey in life.  Everyone has a Blank Page that is all our own. But in order to create the best design for ourselves, we need to go within first.  We need to find that place of complete stillness and darkness within us and become comfortable with staying there as we await input and direction from a Higher Source. As we come to understand our own unique life design and the part we play in creating that design, we can then sit at the Blank Page that is our life and begin to trace upon it the life we are meant to have.  The person we are meant to be.  The experiences we are meant to have.  These are the things we discover when we go within ourselves and listen for the answers from Source.

 

Life offers us many Blank Page chances.  It is not a one-time offer!  It requires work on our part to learn how to go within and understand what we discover.  Then we need to learn how to bring those discoveries back and apply them in our world.  As we grow and change, so does our unique design.  Nothing is static – including us!  So, what will your design look like today?

The Blank Slate

The Blank Slate

by | Energetics, Psycho-Spiritual

As the New Year begins, we have an opportunity to course-correct anything that we believe is no longer helpful, healthful or joyous in our lives.  “Course-correct” is a term used by Colette Baron-Reid to describe any decision or action we take to go away from something not for our highest good and go towards something that is better for us.  It is a term I like to use as it is an empowering description and action.  It is something that is under our personal control – not imposed upon us by some outside force, situation or person.  And we can course-correct at any given moment – in every second, we have opportunity to choose better for ourselves.

Traditionally, New Years is a time when we reflect back upon the previous year and assess what worked or didn’t work for us.  Then, we promise ourselves to be better. This is the idea of making “New Year Resolutions” so that we continue what works and change what doesn’t work.  Most resolutions go by the wayside by mid to late February – they are usually too ambitious or unrealistic for us to sustain.  But the idea of making a course-correction is more palatable. It can be as subtle or blunt as we want.  For most people, making subtle, gentle changes over a period of time does not overwhelm – and they help get us closer to the goal we had hoped for ourselves

We can look at the New Year as a Blank Slate.  It is a blank canvas upon which we can paint a new beginning for ourselves.  Or enhance what we already enjoy about ourselves and our life.  The Blank Slate is a place of Potentiality.  That is, anything is possible!  When we look at that Blank Slate we have the opportunity to imagine the best for ourselves.  This image helps us to decide what subtle course-corrections we can make, to help get us to that image of our best life.

 In Sacred Geometry, this Blank Slate represents the tracing board or working surface of the geometer, ready for use but not yet marked in any way.  In meditation practices, the Blank Slate could refer to the Great Void – that place of silence and potential, where anything can be birthed into reality. To utilize the Blank Slate, we must be still in thought and action so we can connect with our inner space and the outer space where potentiality exists. Knowing what is truly in our highest good is where we start on the Blank Slate.

For many, this place of deep silence is frightening; it is a place to avoid.  It is a place of nothingness, waiting for the spark of creation to put into motion the first mark on the Blank Slate. Most of us need the distraction of mental chatter, media and other people because the silence is too hard to handle. The busyness and noise keep us from truly understanding and connecting to our inner being. Yet without that silence and nothingness, we cannot connect with our personal dream and being.  It is in those quiet moments that we can hear and see what our mind-body-spirit are asking for.  And by doing this, we have opportunity to decide upon the first mark placed on the Blank Slate.  This first mark is the subtle course-correction that we believe will help lead us to our personal dream.

Sometimes, it is a habit that needs to be adjusted.  Maybe it is negative self-talk or self-sabotaging behaviour that needs to be addressed.  It could be the need to change expectations of others or situations so that we aren’t feeling hurt, responsible, angry or victimized by them. Only you know what would help move you into a state of greater joy, health and harmony.  It doesn’t have to be overwhelming.  Just one subtle course-correction at a time will help you arrive at your destination.  So, what would you like to place upon your Blank Slate?

A moment to reflect

A moment to reflect

by | Energetics, Life Reflections

The past few months we have presented several topics via our new Zoom seminars. From Heart Wounds and Rose Alchemy in September, to the Three Faces of the Divine Feminine throughout October and just last week, we looked at Navigating Transitions and Loss.  All very powerful topics and attended by the most amazing women who were willing to share their stories, opinions and concern for each other. So, you can imagine my absolute surprise when last week, a client presented me with a poem that she discovered when she was quite young and has used it ever since to help her soldier on with life, love and healing. As I read over the poem, I was immediately struck with how the Universe presents what is needed at the exact moment it is required! Life Lessons for everyone!  

The poem ties together many of the lessons in life that make us stronger, wiser and magnificent. There is some dispute about the actual author and origin date of this piece, although most authorities point to Veronica A. Shoffstall as the author and 1971 as its origin.  There will be some who claim it was written by Judith Evans in the 1980’s or by Jorge Luis Borges in the 1940’s who wrote a Spanish poem entitled, “Aprendiendo” and from which this poem is said to originate.  I am not going to judge who did or did not write this poem.  All I will say is that I’m thrilled that it was written and shared with others! The title of the poem I received is, “After a While”.  It has also been called, “You Learn” and “Comes the Dawn”.  Choose the title that works for you!  The message is e same.

After a While

After a while, you learn the subtle difference

Between holding a hand and chaining a soul …

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning …

And company doesn’t mean Security.

 

And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts …

And presents aren’t promises.

 

And you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes open …

With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.

 

And you learn to build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans …

And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

 

After a while, you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.

So … you plant your own garden, and decorate your own soul,

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

 

And you learn that you Really Can Endure …

That you really are Strong …

And you really do have Worth.

 

And you learn and learn …

With every good-bye … you learn.

Such powerful and insightful words and imagery. This poem also reminds us that our personal power is in the moment, not the past or the future.  Every thrill, every chill, every trauma, every drama, every win, every loss has given us the opportunity to learn, blossom and grow.  Knowing your own story, what is it you wish to create for yourself starting today?  Know you can!