Moving into a Heart-Consciousness (Part 1)

We are just beginning to understand the importance of paying attention to the inner Self as well as the outward self. One is merely a reflection of the other. Being able to listen to the inner voice, is something that we are born with; but unfortunately as we grow, if this ability is not nurtured and practiced, hearing the whisper of that inner voice fades, and after awhile, we forget altogether that it’s even there.

Being quiet enough to hear it again is the key to really being able to care for the body, mind, and spirit. We so often need to slow down, be quiet, and sit still with ourselves; but with the pressures of living in modern society, the stresses we have adopted as routine occurrences are only shockingly astounding when we allow ourselves to step away from the daily demands of life and are able to look objectively at where we are, and how we are living.

Once we recognize the need for change, then we can act.

We are not our bodies, our emotions, our thought patterns, our addictions and cravings. We are not our flesh and blood. We are not our problems. We are spirits cloaked in humanity!! The longer we spend time forgetting this, the farther down the slippery slope of imbalance we can slide. It doesn’t matter how far you or I have slid. What matters is coming back; being able to rebalance the body, the mind, the emotions, and come back to knowing the true Self. When we realize who we are, and can hear the Self speaking to us, we see the connectedness of all things, all beings, and all energy, and we will always know how to BE. Balance returns easily. It won’t require any thought. We will act in accord with nature and be at peace with ourselves and with all beings!! We will be enlightened beings and will not harm ourselves, others, or the planet.

We need to start somewhere. The hardest but the most effective is the self. For ultimately each of us has to take responsibility for the condition of our world today. Once we accept responsibility for everything that we see outside of us, we can begin making inward changes that really will make a difference. The solution is individual. When we calm the body and still the mind, we will begin to understand the need to allow a change to happen, first within, and then it will naturally manifest without.

There is no separation between the inner life and the outer life. But to really be able to understand and believe this, we must move our focus from a mind-consciousness to a heart-consciousness. We move from a mind-consciousness to a heart-consciousness by quieting the self and listening to what the heart is telling us. We act according to the heart not the mind.

We cannot redeem our physical environment without restoring our relationship to the sacred.

I put the question out there "If our thoughts become our reality, then where do we go from here?" And I think this is a pretty good answer.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee writes in the Huffington Post, and has his own online blogs about
Green Spirituality, Nature, and Spiritual Ecology and Environmentalism. I recently found this article of his about our planetary crisis and our own inner spirit crises particularly relevant and articulate.

I just got turned on to him by a friend.

He Writes:Spiritual Ecology is an exploration of the spiritual dimension of our present ecological crisis. At the core of Spiritual Ecology is an understanding that our present outer ecological crisis is a reflection of an inner spiritual crisis. Recently many people have been made aware that we are at the "eleventh hour," or even a few minutes before midnight, of a global ecological situation that could result in catastrophic climate change or other irreversible global situations. However we are less aware of the inner spiritual crisis that underlies this outer crisis -- that a lack of awareness of the sacred within ourselves and within all of life has created an inner wasteland as real as any outer landscape. The interconnection between the outer and inner is foundational to life, both our individual life and the life of all of creation, as has been understood by indigenous peoples since the very beginning; therefore we cannot address our outer ecological crisis without a real consciousness of the inner situation. We cannot redeem our physical environment without restoring our relationship to the sacred.

Our collective pursuit of materialism and our disregard for the sacred within all of life has had a devastating effect. We have dismissed our ancient role as guardians of the planet. As a result, the sacred fire that we were supposed to keep burning, the light of the sacred that nourishes all of creation, is slowly going out. We can see this in a culture that is increasingly soulless and fractured. We may feel it in an underlying collective anxiety that can easily become anger, projected onto outer situations. We may sense it within our own soul as if something is becoming lost. And we are responsible. We vitally need to become conscious of what is happening to this sacred light. We need to recognize this growing darkness which is a forgetfulness of the sacred within our own souls and within all of creation. Only when we are aware of what is happening can we begin to change our world.

Those of us who have been given a knowing of the sacred within ourselves and within the world have a responsibility at this time. We may ask ourselves, "What can I do?" but the inner world primarily requires consciousness rather than action. It is the lack of an awareness of the sacred that is at the root of this crisis. Therefore we first need to bring the light of our spiritual awareness into the present predicament. We need to recognize what is really happening within the inner world as much as the outer, within our own soul and within the soul of the world. Only then can we begin to redeem the sacred and open the door to any real change or transformation. Only then can we begin to heal the world and bring it back into balance.

Send me your comments!!
OM Shanti and Many Many Blessings.

The Strength of Bear

My boyfriend told me the other day - (finding himself in a particularly difficult time of his life), that "when we see a bear, ...Everything will be okay".
I forgot about what he said, until I saw a bear yesterday. It is not often that I see a bear, and that was the first bear I've seen since I've been up here in the Chico Canyon!!
The Native Americans see 'Bear' as a symbol of Introspection.
Here's what Jamie Sams and David Carson say in the 'Medicine Cards' book for animal energies,

"In the winter, when the Ice Queen reigns and the face of death is upon the Earth, Bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate, to digest the year's experience."

Sounds good to me. It sounds like this is perfect timing for all of us to take Bear's message to heart, and enter the 'cave'. Many tribes have referred to this space of inner-knowing as the 'Dream Lodge' - where the veils of illusion of physical reality can drop away. In India, this Dream Lodge space (what we know to be located in the center of the four lobes of the brain - literally the Pineal Gland) is called the Cave of Brahma. It is said that here, our ancestors sit in Council and advise us regarding alternative pathways that lead to our goals.

"For eons, all seekers of the Dreamtime and of visions have walked the path of silence, calming the internal chatter, reaching the place of rites of passage... "

We've all been invited to enter the silence and become acquainted with the Dream Lodge, so that our goals may become concrete realities. This is the message that Bear brings!!

Love and Affection

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

She said she learned to 'Mop Dance' Today

How'd I ever get so lucky.??!!

Finding Beauty in all things, we reflect the divine within and outside of us!!



I think we are born knowing all the answers!! The secret's of longevity, the key to happiness - plain and unadulterated; we carry this knowledge with us at the time of our arrival here.

I'm certain the trick is - - not accumulating baggage along the way, and not forgetting the secrets to the great mysteries of the universe.

This little angel still knows!! What a blessing to have children. She reminds me every day how to trust in the divine order of things, and how to make lemonade out of life's lemons!! She mopped the floors for me and Dulcy, and learned how to dance with the mop. She's beautiful!!

Birthday Blessings

Repairing the Spiders Web

Right in the Midst of Fall. I am so thankful for the abundance she brings us!! I love the reminder of the 'slowing down' that the cooler weather and shorter days bring.

I've been reading Return of the Rishi by Deepak Chopra (one of his earlier books). He talks about returning to innocence as the key to re-connecting and repairing the broken world. Traits of trust, simple belief, and devotion are lost from us either in childhood, or somewhere along the way, and recapturing these is difficult and often seems impossible.
He refers to the process as being as delicate as repairing a torn spiderweb. Deepak quotes Emerson from his essay Nature:

"The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is because man is disunited within himself".

How do we learn to trust again??
How do we learn to forgive??
Look within. That's where all the answers lie!! And how do we look within? By being still - by being quiet with the self. Stilling the mind, enough to hear Great Spirit - the Self - God, speaking to us!! Start with the breath.

• Listen to your inhales and get in touch with the quality of your exhales throughout the day.
  
• As you work, as you play, and as you create, pay attention more and more to your breathing. Notice how it changes.
  
  You can only stay TRULY, 100% focused on the breath when the mind is not thinking. The Yogis call it no Thought Breath.

Looking within is a beginning to repairing the delicate spider web of individual and collective innocence in each of us. I'm curious to know what other people think about this idea of restoring trust, and finding innocence once again.
Send me your thoughts, personal experiences, and comments on this topic or anything else.

For me:
Restoring my innocence took a gradual acceptance of myself simply as I am, and learning to be okay with that. Being able to see the child in everyone, helped me regain trust. How does the saying go?.. "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves"...??

Sacred Medicine Bird

I prayed and asked Great Spirit for guidance.


Owl came to me and told me to use my powers of keen, silent observation to intuit my life situation. Owl brought me messages in the night over the past two weeks through my dreams and meditations; telling me to pay attention to the signals and omens.

- For the truth, no matter how hard it is sometimes to accept, brings further enlightenment, I am told.
Tonight owl befriended me in a very personal way, and helped me in seeing the total truth.


I got to be part of a team of researchers studying the saw-whet owls (we think) just passing through this area. This is the first year, that they have been able to put radio transmitters on the owls and track them to try to find out if these particular owls are sticking around for the winter, or are heading farther south. Hopefully their diligent studies will shed some light on the topic about these darling little beauties. They seemed so magical, calm, and very intelligent, as I got to watch the research team carefully bag the birds from the nets, collect all the data necessary, and then release the birds again; which I felt so privileged to participate in.
Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, had a companion Owl on her shoulder which revealed unseen truths to her. Owl had the ability to light up Athena's blind side, enabling her to speak the whole truth, as opposed to only a half truth.
"Owl is called Night Eagle on several medicine wheels used by Amerindian teachers. Traditionally, Owl sits in the East, the place of illumination."

"Owl hunts its prey at night. Not only can Owl see in the dark, it can also accurately pinpoint and identify any sound. This gives it a great advantage when seeking food. Owls are the night hunters. Some Native people are fearful of Owl and call its feathers "deceiver feathers." An Owl feather is silent. You cannot hear owl when it flies, but its prey definitely knows when it strikes, for its beak and talons are razor sharp." (Medicine Cards - Jamie Sams & David Carson)

I found looking into owls ears, when the feathers were pulled back, was the most amazing thing about these particular birds. The eyes and ears are asymmetrical (the owl expert told us) so they can pick up depth perception and pick up on slight movements from far away. The ears looked like large gills on the sides of the head, under the feathers, and you could see the back of the eye ball. Really cool looking!!

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.'" (Goethe)

(I like this Story from From A Third Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen:)

The Secrets of Heaven and Hell

The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation he sat.

Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"

At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more agitated with each passing second.

"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"

The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high over his head. His face turned to crimson, and the veins of his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.

"That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent.

In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.

"And that," said the monk, "is heaven."

The Magic of White Sage

Together may we be protected
Together may we be nourished
Together may we work with great energy
May our journey together be brilliant and effective
May there be no bad feelings between us
Peace, peace, peace

(From the Kato Upanishad)

White sage is considered sacred by many Native Americans ; it is used to make smudge sticks, a type of incense. White sage is believed to cleanse a space of any evil spirits or 'negative' energies that may be present, while also bringing in 'positive' energies. This power is said to be released from the plant by the burning of the leaves, which are typically bundled into a wand or stick. Today many Native American tribes still use the stems and leaves for smudging as part of purification ceremonies.

I spent the day yesterday making sage wands for puja. Much of what I rolled up yesterday I trimmed on Friday under the Full Moon. It's much like pruning Bonzai. A very meditative process that really requires patience and care to not break the delicate, brittle branches. This time of year they have gone without water for awhile now and are fragile. Because the sage grows in big, thick bushes, it's a full-yogic practice of bending, stretching, and reaching into awkward positions. Long legs definitely help!! : )

As I packed and wrapped the sage into rolls to dry, I chanted a peace invocation - A prayer for peace and harmony. It is my hope that these prayers unravel and get carried by the sacred smoke as the sage wands are burned. May the prayers be sent in all four directions to the ends of the Earth, so that whomever the smoke finds and touches instantly feels a greater peace and harmony come upon them!!

Here's the prayer:
OM Saha nav avatu, Saha nau bhunaktu, Saha viryam karava vahai Tejasvi nav adhitam astu ma vidvisha vahai
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Be well!! Many blessings of great Abundance and Beauty!!
OM

Healing with Sound workshop with Blanca at Ziva Yoga Studio (downtown Chico, Ca)

Healing with Breath and Sound Workshop - Ziva Yoga Studio, with Blanca - October 10, 2010
The floor was smooth and polished beneath my feet as I entered the tranquil space just a few minutes late, tip toeing to the open space where a blanket and bolsters were set up facing the teacher. Serene and beautiful she looked; regal and official on her pile of cushions with a small table beside her lit with a ghee lantern, a picture of her guru, and a picture of her guru's guru, a vase of flowers, and a hand bell for beginning and ending the chanting sessions. In front of her was a low set podium holding her notes and in front of that was an iron easel with white paper board sheets propped up, the top card displaying a hand-written mantra in big letters: Shantipathah: A Prayer for Peace & Harmony for our studies. We were given a hand-out entitled: "The Practice: Bija-Mantra Sounding- Expanding Your Vocal Power", and the other side of the page read: "The Inner Sound of the Human Voice", and showed a diagram of the energy of sound flowing through the chakra pathways in the human body.
To open, we each tested our solar (right side) and lunar (left side) breath to see if it was balanced and which one felt more activated. We were then shown how to properly balance the breath by placing the fist of our most active side under our opposing armpit, and then performing a special breathing exercise, described as alternate nostril breathing, which took us about 5 minutes. I personally came out of the exercise feeling very relaxed, calm, and energized.
We were offered hot tea, which totally hit the spot, and sitting up straight, in lotus position, in a single, straight line, we students faced our instructor ready to begin.
She first introduced herself as Blanca, and gave a brief history of how she was brought into the world of Ayurveda and particularly healing with sound vibrations.

She walked us through the chakras in the body, using the diagram on the handout and explaining carefully the position and the movement and meaning of each chakra, and the particular stage of life at which each one is usually developed and potentially mastered. She described how the human voice is a divine human instrument and the most powerful healing tool we have. She said "Sound brings harmony and clarity into your life".

We now knew the locations of the chakras in the body and were now ready to learn what sound to put with each area. We started with the root chakra and worked up through all seven chakras. We learned that these sacred vowel sounds were called the 'bija mantras'.
"The bija sounds reverberate in the body and balances the viatl prana (life force), intuition, mind, health, and the breath as well" Blanca told us.
We worked through several rounds of the bija mantras and then sat quietly for several minutes, becoming aware of the subtle changes that had transpired in our bodies.
The sounds of the chakras starting with the lowest and working up to the highest are:
Lam
Vam
Ram
Yam
Ham
Om
and the seventh chakra in the center of brain is silent

By reciting seven rounds for seven minutes for seven weeks you can "gradually cleanse and harmonize your inner vibrations and bring them into alliance with your personal sound". (The Practice - handout)
Find a tranquil place in the early morning and sit facing the rising sun to practice this powerful healing with sound exercise.
A couple participants reported that their stomachs felt entirely more relaxed after we finished the sound practice. I felt incredibly calm, clear, and alert - almost like I was buzzing.
I highly recommend Blanca's Healing with Sound workshops to everyone. There is no experience necessary, or even any introductory knowledge. Sound truly is the most powerful healing instrument that we have. We should use it more often.
Thank you Blanca for sharing this wonderful knowledge with the community. I hope to see more workshops offered, and this particular practice expounded on and offered in a more advanced series.