The sound I effortlessly found emitting from myself as I settled in to listen to Julie Dittmar and Matt Kahn give this presentation on the absence on the spiritual path was that of an extended “Ahhhh.” It feels so good to enter into the energy these two teachers emit and know that permission has been given to relax and simply “be.”

I first encountered Spiritual Teacher Matt and Yoga Teacher Julie at the 2011 YogaHub Conference. I found Matt’s teaching so different and so powerful that I sought him out afterwards for some of the one-on-one sessions he offers called “Direct Transmissions” — which can be done via Skype. The effects of my work with Matt, or simply being a receiver to his transmission of Archangel and Ascended Master energy and activation, are still unfolding. My awakened crystalline DNA and the shifts initiated by Matt only begin in the session. They continue to reveal themselves in the weeks and months to come. And so it was with happy anticipation that I entered in this YogaHub session with Matt and Julie, and I was not disappointed.

Julie began the session by explaining that what we were engaging in was the branch of yoga called Dhyana Yoga, a type of yoga that is contemplative. As we received the transmission of energy from Matt, we could also move into Bhakti Yoga that is a joyful, loving devotion in our journey to our true divine nature. She explained we were like flowers blossoming in the garden of humanity, with the ego falling away and opening up new fields of possibility. The result, this Bhakti Yoga, was reverent gratitude for what was there all along.

The excitement both Matt and Julie feel for this particular time on our planet is palpable in their voices. One thing I noticed was an unusual clarity of vocal quality, voice energy — something I’m very attuned to from decades in radio broadcasting and from my own acute clairaudient gifts.
There was what I would best describe as a crystalline quality to the sound of their voices. At the same time I was noticing this, I also experienced a kind of pulsating energy around my heart chakra as it seemed to open to encompass more space and allow more reception of loving energy to be received and flow back out in a kind of heart-breathing exchange. As Matt talked about the effortlessness of freedom in the spiritual path, the vibration was pulsing in such a way as to connect to my 5th, or Throat Chakra — and I was feeling the welling up of energy we recognize as welling up with emotion or tears. Sometimes we call that being “choked up” — but that’s really a misnomer. There’s nothing choking about this sensation — it’s the opposite, it’s the opening up of energy, not the choking off of it. It is simply because in our society we don’t like to be seen showing unexpected emotion or crying in situations where others might see us, that we’ve been programmed to “choke” it off, like restraining a sneeze! We do that, it’s not the energy doing the choking. My advice is — don’t choke it. Let the sensations that arise during these session with Matt’s transmission of energy simply flow and “be.” If tears well up, let them flow. If sensations arise in the throat, the heart or other energy centers, allow the flow. Energy is moving and healing and transforming in this safe, sacred heart centered space.

The central teaching that Matt presents here is that Truth — as in Divine Truth — can’t be pursued, is not something accomplished and does not respond to the effort or struggle of a practice. In fact, all those spiritual practices leave us exhausted and wanting for — Truth. If it can’t be found or maintained by effort, how do we explore the realm of Truth? Matt’s teaching is that it is by letting go of those efforts and following one tool — our INTEREST — that we will find the key to effortlessness. Gradually for some, spontaneously for others, he said, you will find yourself becoming interested in exploring effortlessness. You will become more attentive, and see beyond the story. Without expectation of success or failure, we can come to the joy of effortless freedom.

It was helpful that Matt didn’t make the teaching only about an exalted state of spirituality, but pointed out the sheer humanity and how all we need do is notice — notice our heart beats, notice our breath, notice how effortlessly an argument can spring up and how effortlessly the emotions around the argument can emerge. But then notice how effortlessly reconciliation can occur and all shifts. We all do this all the time, but now awareness increases. Notice the effortless joy and awe of looking on as the sun sets, or the joy of seeing a child at play.

Matt’s prescription for daily effortlessness includes getting a bunch of “Hoorays!” into our emotions and way of seeing. Stuck in traffic? Hooray! Frustrated? Hooray! Notice how effortless that frustration was! Be amused by it all, and hooray for that!

The essential ingredient for effortless freedom turns out to be — EQUALITY. And this is something taught by all the great spiritual teachers, something found in A Course in Miracles, and something made alive by a contemporary teacher like Matt: Equality is a sacred gift. Treat all these things as equal. Don’t discriminate between the annoyance of standing in line at the supermarket and the joy of a sunset. Welcome each experience equally. Hooray! It’s all the same. Or “same same” as Julie says, in her story of a cross-cultural experience in trying to convey she wanted a dress made — same dress, different color. “Same same.” They’re equal.

Have a spiritual garage sale, Matt suggests, and unload the old efforts and practices that have not yielded what you’d hoped. They may have some use to someone else at a particular time, but they are no longer useful to you.

Matt is urging us in this transmission of his energy and teaching, to shift allegiances — to align with an interest in effortlessness, equality, openness, simplicity and — hooray for this one — happiness!

I’m in.

And my heart’s still vibrating from the clarity of the transmission. A visit to this Dhyana/Bhakti sacred space is an effortless hour of joy with Matt & Julie. I only wish I was in Seattle for their in person satsangs!

Effortless Freedom: Julie Dittmar & Matt Kahn

Tags: Mary Ellen O’Brien, Matt Kahn, Julie Dittmar, effortless, freedom, direct transmissions, Dhyana Yoga, divine truth, emotion

Imagine waking up each morning with only a few things to be aware of…

As a dolphin you are aware, through telepathic and feeling ‘sensors’, of the other members of your pod swimming around you. You are aware of the ‘plan’ for the pod that reveals itself as each moment presents itself. You are aware that when required, you will decide to rise to the surface of the water and take a breath.

And actually, while you were sleeping, you were also in a state of awareness. You were being guided in the water by your friends and family, literally gliding beside you. The part of you that had some physical consciousness was linked with the ‘awake’ parts of the pod, so that as you rested, you also moved in constant companionship, safe and protected, at the side of others.

The integrity of the connection between each of you was intact, even when you were sleeping.

Oh, how amazing it would be to use our brains in the same way. Why don’t we? Oh, to be open to a new kind of ‘intelligence’, which we can be aware even when sleeping.

As a human, I used to like the feeling of ‘checking out’ that happens when I am in a deep physical sleep. I felt that, unless I had a deep and restful physical and mental sleep for a certain number of hours, I would be tired and not able to keep going throughout my day.

As my life has progressed, ‘sleeping soundly’ has become more and more difficult to achieve. My sleep patterns are varied. I wake, sleep for short periods of time, wake again, and then return to sleeping.

As I watched the dolphins glide by me, eyes closed, half of the brain asleep, I realized that perhaps this was what I was naturally moving into.

The dolphins don’t need to stop in the dark as we do. The spinner dolphins move offshore and fish with their sonar in the dark, deep waters of the night. During the day they rest for periods of time, always moving in their watery supportive medium.

I am getting the idea…sleep when you need to, eat when you need to, meet your needs as they arise. Having a plan as to how we are to manage our physical needs on a standard schedule (which may be suitable to some), makes us feel ‘crazy’ when we don’t get what we think we need. It makes us feel ‘wrong’ somehow if we are different. It makes us feel like strangers in a strange land when, let’s say, the ‘standard approach’ to sleep doesn’t suit us.

How natural to the human state of being are the standards of waking and sleeping, eating meals at specific times, or going to work on a unified global schedule?

Are these standards hurting us? I believe so. Some of the extended intelligence that we witness in dolphins exists because they live fluidly, in mind and body.

The dolphin system supports the individual needs of each pod member. One can sleep or be awake when one needs to be. And the rest of the group will always be there to watch out for you as you find your own way. It is uncomplicated.

Instead, as human societies, we try to conform to standards and expectations about how we will live our lives. Being so confined and rigid in this, I feel, strips us of the natural flow that we could live by. Our creativity is trumped by expectation. Our brains forget that they do have a connection through intuition to so many other levels of connectivity and knowing.

From now on, when I am ‘sleepless’, I think I will look to other sources of connectivity. I will reach out to everything else that is happening at that time.
And I will look for ways to sleep when my body needs it other than at night.

I am going to remember that I am always a member of the pod of people on the earth. I am going to remember that I am not creating separation by living on my own schedule. That instead, I am being guided and taken care of by all as I rest when I need to.

This feels purely delightful and Loving.
If I am awake in the middle of the night as others lie sleeping, I will guide them. I will watch out for them as they have the rest that they need, in the way and at the time that they want it.

And I will welcome naps in the sunshine during the day as I get the rest that I need.

Tags: Anatara, changes, sleep, connectivity, love, dolphin, Intuition, transition, flow, nap,

Talking about the Unseen

What is it about the dolphins that we find so irresistible?

They look so beautiful, they glide with such effortless grace, and they demonstrate their freedom simply by living wild in the sea. Dolphins live a life unencumbered by things or by written laws…the choices they make are based on that which is required by the moment.

How they communicate the truth of the moment to one another is the basis for the ease of living they indulge in. Dolphins feel everything. They feel each other’s need for food, for play and for rest. They feel the need of the collective, the pod, to greet a new friend, to swim to a new bay, to shy away from uncomfortable groups of people, to avoid loud noises, or to support a pod member in labour.

The essence of their communication and their interaction is through what we would see as heightened feeling. (There are other ways through which the dolphins communicate with each other and with us. I may mention them later.)

I mentioned that, when I first stepped into the water with the dolphins, I could feel peace and Love beyond what I usually feel on land. What I was feeling was the collective Love of the pod. I was feeling the state of acceptance and ‘caring’, that being Love engenders.

One day when I was with them in the water, I suddenly saw a vibration around them. I believe that it was the collective field created by the feeling of Love that they live by, and by the sum of their other energetic fields. It was a visible, active bubble, spreading out from each individual and joining into a bigger bubble as they swam together and apart. There were bubbles which surrounded small groups, and a large bubble, or field, which surrounded the whole pod. These bubbles joined and un-joined each other as the physical proximity within the group changed.

On that particular day, which I highlight here, I felt and then saw my field, my bubble, join theirs. I was an energetic part of the pod, we were inseparable energetically. We were pod members of the same collective feeling.

In this pod awareness, we were communicating many things both practical and spiritual in nature. Simple things, such as which way do we swim next or whether it was time to surface for a breath yet.

I had felt these “knowings” influencing me for many days in the water with the dolphins, but this was the first time that I had also seen it!

So, back to communicating… There was a lot of sharing going on, both on seen and unseen levels. It just happened that now I could ‘see’ the extent of the closest field around us. I was also finding that I could feel their presence, even though we were miles away from each other. I had felt the collective. The tap was open.

Dolphins rely on the unseen truths of the moment to inform them of the next moment. They ‘speak’ to each other in a constant flow of awareness and Love. They accept the moment for what it is, and seldom did I feel them question anything. Curiosity abounds in the waves with them…curiosity but not doubt about the validity of something going on around them. If it is, it is.

They are speaking through the language of feeling.
They are bringing us closer and closer to living this way ourselves.

When you ‘think’ about it, who needs to talk when we can feel?

Tags: Anatara, communication, connectivity, love, dolphin, Intuition, curiosity, heightened feeling

Learning from the dolphins is not like going to class…it is instead an experience of total immersion in a sea of oneness. The dolphins swim, glide, turn, spiral and breathe as one. They do almost nothing on their own, as individual entities.

They are a ‘being’ made up by many individual beings. Even when two are physically making love, there are others right beside them, sharing in the simplicity and beauty of it, accepting the joy as a shared pod activity.

There is no exclusion. All are welcome, including we human visitors.

Imagine the talk that would occur if two humans made love in the presence of a group of other people. What does this say about us, the human species?

What is it like to live in a pod? What does one have to ‘give up’ and set aside that we usually feel is so important, to live in pod consciousness? What is gained in absolute acceptance, between pod members, that they are united simply by being? What is gained by knowing that there is no one member more important than another? These are questions that flowed through me as I watched their world so intimately.

When one steps into the ocean to swim toward a pod of ‘wild’ dolphins, the first sensation, upon seeing them swimming below you in the blue or approaching you on the surface of the water, is a sense of awe. This first glimpse, for me, was also accompanied by an instant slowing of my breath. I was at once deeply peaceful. I felt that I was enveloped in the most profound Love that I had ever known.

I believe that the awe was inspired by their sheer beauty. Sleek bodies, glistening silver in the underwater sunlight, dancing together, flying under the sea without the restrictions imposed by gravity above the water’s surface.

They move lusciously together, each one’s movement mirroring the one adjacent to it. Rising in groups at the same moment to take a series of three breaths before diving again into deeper water.

If I really think about it, I can’t actually understand why we create such separation from each other in our human forms. What on earth, literally on earth, can be so threatening about another person’s being-ness?

Why are the dolphins here? What do they share with us about why we are here?

I was always amazed by how happy they were to see us. And by how happy they were to play with us…diving, spiraling in the water, blowing bubbles, and sharing their toys. With their fins, they pick up dead leaves, swimming along with them until they want to drop them for another friend, either dolphin or human. Many times I swam with a leaf in my hand, which was picked up by one of them swimming by.

Much is said about the telepathic communication that the dolphins use within the pod. I found that this exchange extends to us, as humans, to the earth and also out into galaxies known and unknown. The exchange is so simple. Based on feeling, which truly is a knowing that we can rely on.

When swimming with them, if they are moving a little bit faster than you want to go, you can simply feel that you would love them to slow down a bit, to your speed, and they will. If you are drifting on the surface waiting for them to arrive, you can call out with your heart, and they will soon appear beside you.

There were many more prescient things that we shared with each other. And those I will write about at another time…but I would like to make an offering about why they are here in our oceans…

The dolphins Love us. The dolphins are Love. They Love the earth and they Love all of the dimensions seen and unseen that exist around us. They want us to know these realities. They want us to accept and Love each other within the context of a pod. Knowing that the only thing required to live integrated, harmonious, joyous and Loving lives is to put aside the very energetic of competition, and swim into cohesive cooperation.

They want us to live without fear… they want us to be Love.

Tags: Anatara, cohesive cooperation, being-ness, connectivity, love, dolphin, Intuition, open heart, flow,

Participating in Sharan Ro’s presentation, “New Era Living: The World of And” turned out to be a wonderful Wizard of Oz-like journey into a land where instead of either/or answers to life’s options and pathways, the answers can be, well, why not both? Why not choose this AND that too? Why not, indeed. Another breakthrough in those walls of limited thinking that hold in so many of our lives. You see in this Wizard of Oz tale, Dorothy standing at the crossroads and asking the Scarecrow which way is to the Emerald City — city of dreams and hopes — gets a different kind of answer. In the New Era Oz, when the Scarecrow’s arms go this way and that, it’s because this road and that road can get you there — with different scenery and people and situations along the way!

Sharon was a bundle of what YogaHub’s friend Anatara Buckley would call effervescence, I’m sure. It’s easy to see why she’s in demand with all kinds of organizations for her inspirational directives to new ways of thinking. Whether it’s business or education or government or some other association, this Hawaiian born and bred visionary has the ability to motivate and shift the thinking and vision of the people she’s addressing.

In this session Sharan gave us a peak at her new book which is a series of imaginative guided meditations designed to lead us into a new era where we are not limited by the mistaken belief, the limiting belief, that we can only choose one way, one thing, one place or situation. The new era is bursting with possibilities because it is an invitation to give oneself permission to have, oh let’s say, a home in Hawaii AND a home in New Mexico. To have a vocation as a healer AND as a teacher. Get the picture? We so often think automatically that it has to be one or the other. Sharan’s paradigm shift is opening up an era where we can think much bigger — and live much larger.

The meditation process involves 12 Gateways that initiate the inner traveler into the next era. From imagining new possibilities with humanity to new possibilities with the worlds of mind, heart, emotions, nature, spirit and more — she guides her fellow travelers expertly through the mysterious lands and ultimately Home — just like Dorothy, but a home with new and expanded possibilities.

I’m so glad I attended! It was a process that helped affirm my own path and dreams and let me know I’m not alone in this shift. Be on the lookout for Sharan’s new book with this guided meditative process in it soon!

Tags: Sharan Ro, possibilities, guided meditation, and, expansion, wizard of oz

Miss the Live Session? The Energy is Still Transmitting!

My own meditation and energy work teacher said to me during one of my first meditation classes, “I don’t know if you know it, but you run a LOT of Kundalini energy. It’s probably hard for a lot of people to keep up with you.” That was about six years ago. I had no idea what that meant at the time, and as goes Kundalini, I’m still a beginner at understanding this particular type of energy, even if it was organically streaming through me long before I had a name for it. So when I saw the session by Steven Sadleir, Kundalini Master, I made a beeline for it in hopes of learning more. I wasn’t disappointed.

My real experiment with Steve’s session was whether his live meditation, which was a deliberate Shaktipat transmission — or the transference of energy from teacher to student, would even work listening to the meditation after the fact in its recorded form.

I’m here to report Steve proves the space/time continuum is indeed as flexible as we need it to be. The energy he worked with in his session was every bit as alive and present and transmitting to me when I sat down for it as it must have been for those lucky enough to tune in to the live stream.

Into Steve’s metaphorical hot-tub I went as he began the guided meditation, and soaked up the ambiance as well as a very definite hot-wired Kundalini charge. Water is an energy conductor after all, and rather than being shocked by Steve’s dipping of the live charge into the water, he kept us grounded while we raised our hands to receive the energy safely, but very noticeably. 

I’m used to working with energy so the tingles and substance I could feel while we played with our balls of energy between our palms were not new sensations, but they were far more intense than anything I’ve felt before. Yes, even in the recorded session, I had the spine-tingling responses as the Kundalini channeled, my third eye lit up like a camp-fire and my crown got that intense sensation of “something” or “somebody” is pressing on it.

If you missed the live call, believe me, you won’t be disappointed with the recorded meditation. The hot-tub treatment works because energy is not bound by time or distance. I never had any problem with understanding distance healing, for example, but finding a direct transmission from teacher to student works as well listening after the fact is really a revelation. On an energy level, all of Steve’s students WERE present — even those who have yet to listen. The Shakti is there, waiting for each one drawn to this to tune in. It’s that simple. And that profound.

Recalibration is what Steve called what he was doing, and I have felt a noticeable difference over the past couple of days in my energy level — which has simply “popped” to a new level. I slept more soundly but didn’t need as much sleep. I’ve been buzzing energetically as I look at decisions that have to be made and the actions of moving to a new place are before me again. If ever I needed a tune up, it’s now. By responding to the voice of the teacher, that’s all — his voice — we tune in to the transmission and get a boost that, as he says, is more powerful than years of meditation on our own could produce. We benefit from his years of meditation, teaching and his own absorption of Shaktipat from his teacher and the lineage that comes from.

Beyond the opening of chakras, especially the crown, to receive an enlightening connection to Source energy, this is a consciousness awakening meditation and as consciousness is made more aware there can be only one result: increased happiness, peace and connectivity to the consciousness of others. In other words, it’s like getting plugged in and suddenly receiving the communications that have been going on all along. Only now you can see them, hear them, meet them! The flow of abundance is opening up as the Kundalini Master assists us in getting properly connected to the energy Cloud! Unconnected, or disconnected, we miss opportunities and simply can’t receive what the universe has to offer because we can’t even get the messages. What Steve is after, he tells the students, is a 180° turn so that we become observers of the observer observing. But don’t let that sound complicated, it’s really not. Just listen, get in the hot-tub, raise your hands when Steven directs that, and let the transmission pass to you!

From my perspective, this one session with Steve is worth the price of admission alone. If you missed it, get on over to the Shaktipat session now. Your energy awaits.

Tags: Steven S Sadleir, Kundalini, enlightening, connection to Source energy, consciousness, awakening meditation, Mary Ellen O’Brien

David Cumes, M.D. / South African Healing Wisdom & What it has to Offer the West

Cures, divination, trance-channeling and more

What a delightful surprise it was to discover David Cumes’ presentation among the offerings of this year’s YogaHub Conference. Indigenous medicine and healing is an area of deep interest to me, so I made a beeline for this presentation and was not disappointed. With a couple of weeks left to delve into the conference sessions on the site, I’d highlight this for anyone involved in healing work who wants to at minimum, expand their awareness, and perhaps go on to learn more.

I’ve done some study of Native American healing and in that respect I was immediately reminded of another Western, allopathic medical doctor who has incorporated traditional healing wisdom and spirituality into his practice and teaching — Lewis Mehl-Madrona, who has written such books as Coyote Medicine and who teaches on the subject of incorporating Native wisdom into our healing repertoire. This is the first time, however, that I’ve had the pleasure of coming across any sharing of the wisdom of South African Healing practices with the West. What an exciting learning experience to sit with a South African “Sangoma,” or Shaman and feel as if I’ve been allowed into a tent of healing secrets.

Dr. Cumes is an engaging presenter who both presented a fascinating introductory session and handled questions with thoughtful and succinct answers — paving the way for more in depth study for those who are drawn to it.

The native South African healing techniques Cumes shares are rooted in the spirit world and practices that involve divination, spirit channeling, and types of exorcistic healing work. There are similarities to indigenous practices found throughout the world, of course. But the particular wisdom of South Africa and the faith involved in it give it a flavor and distinction of its own. The herbal medicine too is unique to the plants grown in the region, and so imbued with the medicinal power of locality. Cumes provides several short video clips from actual healing rituals for those attending the session to view — very helpful visuals to help place his talk in context.

Hearing a doctor who has a successful practice in Santa Barbara, California as a urologist and surgeon also talk about trance-channeling diagnostic information and “throwing bones” in order to read a person’s state of health and the cause behind the symptoms can be a bit of cognitive disconnect — but it is precisely his role as a respected Medical Doctor that gives credibility and weight to the embracement of these practices in addition to allopathic means — for those who want this holistic path in their wellness. Cumes spent about ten years learning from shamans in South Africa and works with a Black African Spirit Guide who is always with him — and together he helps her complete her karma as she helps him in healing work on the physical plane.

Much is made of the presence and either help or hindrances of ancestors. A Sangoma can “read” the presence of spirits and gain help from those good spirits whose mission it is to assist us, or, on the other hand, “cast out” spirits that are causing interference or harm by haunting a living person.

Hexes: diagnostic curses and Internet juju

Hexes? Yes, hexes. One of the most interesting things Cumes said was something many of us have witnessed in western medicine. It is the power of a diagnosis of a serious illness, coupled with a doctor’s delivery of a timeline for the progression of the illness to create a self-fulfilling prophecy often to the date. Cumes says that when a doctor tells a patient they only three months to live, this is a “hex.” In a very real sense, he believes, they have cursed their own patient. The patient then goes home having believed this, internalizes it, and complies with it.

People also get hexed by the Internet, says Cumes. Trying to self-diagnose in an hour on the Internet what it takes doctors decades to learn is a form of self-hexing and very harmful. Yet another warning about getting our health care delivered via an Internet search. When we use a word like “hex” to describe this, it really puts up the warning signs in neon.

Distance healing, distance hexing

Cumes assures us that distance makes no difference in healing. It also makes no difference in hexing! Just as energy healing and intention is not hindered by distance, he reminds us that the power of negative thought, ill will, or deliberate cursing also “travels” energetically and can harm others.

Cumes says hexing or cursing of course creates VERY BAD Karma. It is, he asserts, the basis of systemic negativity such as found in politics and, well, Wall Street. Put this way, it sure makes sense. It is the essence of witchcraft and sorcery, and it is as alive and well as is healing — the antidote. This all comes as a very clear reminder to be careful of our thoughts and words. They are powerful.

And there is much more. Cumes packed his hour-long session with an enormous amount of information, though it never felt like too much — it was simply fascinating and — dare I say — important. Now is not the time in our human history to dismiss practices like divination and channeling for healing, but rather to reconsider, learn anew, and be open to the way of the Shaman — the way of spirit working in cooperation with us in this world.

Getting beyond the veil

How can we begin to tap into the Source of spirit and healing ourselves, short of studying with a shaman for ten years? To open the veil between the seen and the unseen, Cumes says, can begin with any kind of spiritual practice that releases Kundalini energy. Prayer by singing, chant, yoga, dancing, drumming — these are all ways to tap into a gentle release of Kundalini. Another method is to open the heart chakra (meditation or yoga practices are most often used for this purpose). And the practice of subordinating ego to the higher self will open the veil. Visiting sacred spaces and places also will enhance the opening the veil.

More Information

Dr. Cumes has written several books, produced music and in addition to his medical practice in Santa Barbara, offers readings as a Sangoma as part of his healing vocation. He has also created a healing process that leads groups to remote areas to experience the healing power of nature, called Inward Bound.

Tags: Dr. David Cumes, Sangoma, South African healing techniques, shamans, allopathic, Karma, Healing

This flux is not new. The flow from one experience to another is part of the timelessness of our existence. That we have changing needs, changing habits and changes in friendship, career and location is all normal.

And yet it feels as if there are bigger changes afoot all around us right now.

When we feel a new and dynamic form of energy start to affect us, sometimes we embrace it, and sometimes we just want to shut it out. When it’s an unknown sensation, and there’s no one who can explain it to us, the quick reaction would be to ignore it, or to avoid it altogether.

As one of many species on earth, we have been preparing for the BIG changes set to come our way in this magical year of 2012. I believe that feeling the magic, instead of retreating in uncertainty, is our call to Love.

The most certain way to find a sense of stability as we shift from forms of fear into forms of Love, is to look toward what our gut instincts, or our Intuition, have
to tell us…

I will be speaking about this at the Virtual Yoga Conference “Yoga, Meditation and the Philosopher’s Stone” this February. My talk is on Using Intuition in this Dynamic and Passionate Time of Change. We will look at ways to work with what we know, but don’t always acknowledge, to give us a sense of purpose and safety as we transition to the magical new awareness we are opening to.

Breathe, meditate, play, and accept the opening which you have been craving.

Tags: Anatara, changes, love, 2012, Intuition, transition, flow, Virtual Yoga Conference

Everything about the giraffe’s body is built for one thing: reaching towering heights. As the world’s tallest land animal, they have an unrivaled reach. With legs that are taller than many humans — about 6 feet — to a neck that weighs over 600 pounds, the whole structure enables the giraffe to eat tasty treats unavailable to others constrained closer to earth.

Yet you don’t see other animals lamenting the fact that they can’t reach what’s easy for the giraffe to reach. The zebra or lion don’t appear to be jealous. You don’t see them being melancholy over the fact that they are height-challenged in comparison.

It seems a purely human trait to compare ourselves to others, only to find ourselves lacking in one way or another.

I do consulting work at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, the largest and most established retreat center for yoga, health, and holistic living in North America. On any given day, I can look around the cafeteria during lunch to see lots of fit, young bodies. I notice my mind comparing my middle-aged body that gave birth to two children to those younger bodies.

Those thoughts are, of course, useless. But they are there nonetheless.

Wanting to cultivate a peaceful approach to my maturing body and do less comparing, I shared my experience with a friend of mine. I wanted some advice from this wise woman I admired. We chatted as we walked the grounds of Kripalu after lunch, confirming that yes, indeed, no matter how well you eat, no matter how much yoga you practice, the body ages and changes.

It’s like the shirt I saw on an older person in the Kripalu cafeteria. It read, “I eat well. I exercise. And still I’m gonna die.”

Well, that’s it in a nutshell, right?

As my friend and I walked, we started laughing. Unfortunately for me, I did not take a bathroom break before our walk. So as our giggles ramped up, so did my need for a stronger bladder muscle. Since those muscles have never been the same since giving birth, I improvised. I did what every woman instinctively knows to do — I crossed my legs and squeezed.

There I was, right in the middle of the picturesque road leading to a meditative retreat center, hunched over my crossed legs hysterically laughing for everybody driving by to see.

Which only made us laugh all the harder. Then my friend let out an unexpected burp.

All we needed was a good old fart to finish off the image of two aging bodies out of control.

All ended well. I made it to the bathroom without incident, and my friend’s excess gas was worked out. And the laughing fit continues to nourish me any time a thought arises about the maturing process. If I can still laugh hysterically because of bathroom humor, all is not lost.

Even as I write this essay, I am laughing hysterically. Laughing really is the best medicine.

Yes, the giraffe can reach great heights. But what happens when he wants to get a drink of water? His height hampers. He becomes vulnerable to attack as that long neck that can reach the heavens cannot reach the earth, causing him to spread his legs wide or even kneel in order to drink. In fact, the giraffe’s jugular vein contains a series of one-way valves that prevent the back flow of blood when the head is down to drink water, thus preventing a blackout.

No great gift, like the height of a giraffe, comes without a corresponding downside. The great gift of maturity is perspective. The downside is a weak bladder.

I can handle that.

Tags: comparing, self confidence , vulnerable, giraffe, stretching, human, trait

As far as the sun knows, it is now giving us, the inhabitants of the Northern hemisphere, a little more light every day. Every day will have a few more minutes of sunlight than the previous one.

I wonder if we notice this.

Do you notice this subtle change each day?
Or do you realize at some point that the sun is setting later than it was a month earlier?

Becoming aware of the subtle changes around us, as with the sun’s movement north, is a perfect reference point for an understanding of the amount of attention we apply to all things. What kinds of change attract your attention?

Do you notice changes in your family members, or with your friends? Do you notice a new sign on the street, or that the trees are starting to bud in late winter?
Do you notice changes in your mood, your health, your desires, your appearance?

What things stand out for you when they shift and change?

When you notice a change, does it feel harmonious to you or discordant?
Do some changes please you while others are disturbing?

If you like, make a short list of some of the things that you see change and how you perceive these changes. Notice how you feel about these things. Notice whether you become more centred, or are thrown off balance by certain events and things changing.

There are clues in your feelings about change, that describe you as an individual.
As you become aware of change, and of the ebb and flow of your life, it can be easy to see where you hold onto things that you don’t really need anymore.

The sun’s light diminished for us, and it is now returning.
Changes occurred in our lives, which have either diminished our brightness or brought us into a state of greater light and well being.

Which is it for you?

Let the sun’s return signal the return of your own light.

Is there anything that you want, or need to do to live in a ‘brighter’ way?
Shine away, this is what we are all here to do!

Blessings for a fantastic new year of Light!

Tags: sun, changes, more light, equinox, mood, ebb, flow, vernal