“Each of us is here to discover our true selves; that essentially we are spiritual beings who have taken manifestation in physical form; that we’re not human beings that have occasional spiritual experiences, that we’re spiritual beings that have occasional human experiences”

Live in the present moment!

Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends upon what we look for. What we look for depends upon what we think. What we think depends upon what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. what we take to be true is our reality. The bottom live is it is all about looking inward, cutting through the experiences of yesterday, and living completely in the present moment!

Letting Go!

Letting go can be one of the hardest things in the world to. We are afraid to let go because we are afraid of change. We are afraid of what may lie ahead for us if we don't let go. It is often very hard to see life without the problem in it. Sometimes we really want to let go, but just don't know how. Sometimes we are even afraid to admit that we feel negative about some things. Letting Go may be about letting go of a feeling, or even a person, or maybe simply about letting go of your feelings about that person. It may be letting go of a career prospect, a family member, a feeling, a project or even a way of life. Losing something of value What happens when you loose something you think you value? The chances are you miss the feelings it gave you, not the actual item lost. We loose things, possessions, jobs, friends throughout our whole life. What happened to the first picture you drew? Your first job? Your first ever friend? Change comes when we need change. Otherwise we'd never grow as people We go on and draw better pictures, get better jobs, and new friends. The thing to remember is that the things we want out of life DO change as we grow older, but we cling to what we have because we are afraid of change. Think of the friends you have NOW, and if you've ever been to a school reunion or met up with your 1st ever best friend, you'll see how different you both are now. What about your first boyfriend or girlfriend? The point is that we let go of things all the time, and this time will be NO different from all the other times so long as you go with what you truly feel. Processes To let go, first you must identify the reasons you are feeling the way that you feel. Those feelings which are arising from the 'thought' of letting go. Are you feeling angry? What aspects make you angry? (this may be more than one thing) Are you feeling disappointed? Which parts disappoint you, specify. Are you blaming yourself? What things did you do and shouldn't have done, or didn't do when you should have. Are you afraid of something? For example, giving up, failure, change - be as specific as possible. When we break everything down into bite-sized chunks, things become easier to swallow. As individual items, you can start to work out ways to bring the positive back into your life. So if you are angry, work through the anger. If you are feeling disappointment, work through why and settle each and every aspect of it. If you feel like a failure, work through what you can do to make better things in your life. All those things which you want, you can achieve elsewhere if you care to look for it.

Five Pathways to Listening to Your Inner Voice

Is your life out of sync with your priorities?
Do you feel like you're a hamster running on a wheel?
Have you forgotten who you are?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, read on. Learn to listen to your inner voice - the essence of who you are - by following these five steps:

1. Check in with your heart.
   Social conditioning teaches us to be logical and "use our heads". When you only use your head, your experience of yourself and the world is limited. You miss out on the vital information the rest of your body, heart and soul is giving you.
   
   Benefits: The same neurological tissue found in the brain is found in the heart. The heart is a second "brain" and our emotional center. Listening to your head and your heart is crucial to good decision-making about your life, your business and your relationships.
   New Focus: Put your hand over your heart and focus there - what is it telling you?
2. Connect with your body.
   Your body gives you a tremendous amount of useful information that you may not be conscious of. For example, when your mother-in-law visits, does your stomach tie up in knots? When your boss yells at you, do your shoulders turn into stone? When you feel passionate and alive, does your chest feel warm and open? When we ignore the body's message, we lose out on valuable information designed to let us what works for us and what doesn't.
   
   Benefits: For many people, fear manifests as a tightness in their chest. This is valuable information, especially if you aren't aware that you are afraid. Your body alerts you to what makes feels passionate and what doesn't. The body is a fount of wisdom designed to tell you when you're on the right path and when you aren't.
   New Focus: Notice the messages your body is giving you right now. Try a self-massage to find areas in your back, neck or shoulders that are tense or knotted. What other areas of your body feel tight? Which ones feel relaxed and loose? Use this information as another key to listening to your inner wisdom.
3. Listen to your intuition.
   Intuition is simply knowing something without knowing exactly how you know it. Connect back to a time that you had a "gut feeling" about something - the job that you knew you shouldn't take, even though it looked good on the surface or the relationship that just felt right for you. That's your intuition talking to you.
   Benefits: Gut feelings are a wealth of information. Remember, your intuition is never wrong, although your interpretation of it may be incorrect. When your intuition calls to you, trust it. Practice makes perfect when it comes to using your intuition effectively.
   New Focus: The next time you need to make a decision, check in with your intuition. Experiment with trusting it. When you follow your intuition, what happens? When you hear it and disregard it, what's the outcome?
4. Notice your self-saboteur^*.
   Each of us has our very own special saboteur. The saboteur is the voice in your head that says, "You are not good enough." "Who do you think you are?" "If you take this new job, everyone will find out what a fraud you are." The saboteur's job is to "protect" you from taking risks and making changes.
   
   Benefits: Learn to distinguish between your voice and the saboteur's mumbo-jumbo. Notice how the inner critic drives the choices and decisions you make.
   New Focus: Simply notice the negative voices playing in your head. Notice the times when they crop up. Recognize that the voices aren't you and they aren't true. Learning to separate your own voice from that of the saboteur is a powerful and life changing tool.
5. Identify limiting beliefs.
   We each carry a set of beliefs that we live by. Certain beliefs you hold consciously, while others are mainly unconscious. Beliefs develop out of past experiences and our interpretations of those experiences. Some of the conscious and unconscious beliefs that you develop limit your ability to grow and move forward in your life. For example: One of your goals as a successful entrepreneur is to make a lot of money. You discover that you have a belief - a limiting one - that it's wrong to make a lot of money. Until you begin to alter your beliefs about money, it will be more difficult for you to achieve that financial success you desire.
   
   Benefits: Learning to notice a limiting belief allows you to become conscious of it, and then change it. Releasing a belief that limits you puts you back in the driver's seat of your life. You, rather than an old belief, make the choices that are right for you and allow you to fulfill your potential
   Ways to spot a limiting belief:
   • You tell yourself that you only have one or two choices in a situation, or "no choice" at all.
   • Your inner critic expresses his or her opinion. The inner critic's opinion is generally based in a limiting belief.
   • A decision may appear to be black and white to you, or an either/or situation.
   • You have decided that "this is the way the world is."
   • You make a decision based on fear.
   • You feel constricted and notice that you lack clarity about a specific situation.
   New Focus: How does a particular belief allow you to attract what you really want in life? How does it prevent you from attaining your goals? When you reach an obstacle in your path, make sure that it's not an old belief in your way.

When important questions like "What do I want?" or "What's the right choice for me to make?" surface in your mind, consult your inner voice. You possess the answers you need to live a life that feels successful and fulfilling. Listening to your inner voice can lead you on a path that feels deeply satisfying. Your business and personal lives will flourish with this new level of trust in yourself.

Every thought we think, every feeling we have, every word we speak goes out into the atmosphere to either heal or harm. Let us be healers. Let us be harmless.

When you surrender to what is and so become fully present, the past ceases to have any power. You do not need it anymore. Presence is the key. Now is the key.

Enhancing Your Spirituality

When was the last time you leapt out of bed in the morning, excited about the day ahead? How about the last time you stopped to smell the flowers? Danced in the rain and jumped in puddles? Or felt totally at peace in your world? To reconnect and enhance your spirituality essentially means rewiring those inner channels of excitement, wonder and joy. Tapping into this energy creates wholeness, peace and a renewed sense of meaning in life. It is so easy to do, enjoyable, and the results are instantaneous! Firstly, let's look at the word `spirituality.' What does it mean and what meaning does it have for you? We have two definitions in the Webster Dictionary: `1. pertaining to the soul or spirit,' and `2. relating to sacred things.' The definitions of soul and spirit include: `the inspiring principle or dominating influence,' `the essential part of anything,' and `the essence or real meaning.' Such ambiguity inadequately explains a force which is easily and readily available to all who wish to savour it. On a practical, mundane level, spirituality is an awareness and appreciation of the energy or life force which moves us - yes, spirit! What it means to an individual varies according to their degree of awareness and focus. What is spiritual is what inspires us, lifts us and somehow broadens our senses. What inspires you? It could be a beautiful place in nature, a painting, music or uplifting literature. A dear friend can lighten you, an invigorating conversation or an unexpected happening. Achievement or successfully crossing our boundaries can also bring about a heightened sense of aliveness. By consciously appreciating life and aligning yourself with these finer aspects, you become more in touch with your spirituality automatically. So how does developing an appreciation of life enhance spirituality? Modern science has proven what the Eastern mystics knew all along that everything is energy at varying rates of vibration. Recognized also is the existence of energy fields. Crystals, for example, have a measurable energy field, as does the activity of our brains. Robert Sheldrake coined the phrase `metamorphic resonancy' which refers to energy which has built up enough charge to form a field. Most people can sense the energy in a church or temple, or can sense the mood in a room full of people. We can consciously become sensitive to our own energy fields, and we can manipulate this energy to increase our sense of pleasure and enhance our spirituality. When we admire something, our energy expands to encompass the object of our desire. We are more open and receptive. Now imagine getting a fright - can you sense how your field reacts? It constricts close to you, as if protecting you. It is possible to visualize and sense our energy fields expanding and contracting, as well as being compact or diffuse. It is an interesting experiment to try this for yourself -fill a room with your energy, imagine it in whichever way suits you. Make the energy thick like a fog, the diffuse like soft mist. Expand outwards, cover your house, town, country to the universe itself! Then constrict it into a tiny point of awareness inside your body. Your ability to perceive your energy field will develop as you practice noticing how you react on an energetic level. By consciously expanding energy fields (and you can use whatever inspires you to facillitate this) you can tune into t he pleasure and sense of well-being it evokes. During conflict, a challenging time to practise this, expanding your energy field will certainly have a calming, healing effect. By raising our energy fields, through 'feeding' them with positive input (this includes appreciation of beauty, visualization, meditation, healthful diet, etc.) we become more aligned with our spiritual or higher selves, as well as our sense of purpose in life. Once we begin to consciously participate in raising our spiritual awareness, an amazing and remarkable thing starts to happen... A stronger sense of life direction will emerge through the medium of guidance. This guidance can take many forms - co incidence or synchronicity and through the avenue of dreams. Jung was fascinated by synchronicity. A chance encounter changes the course of a life, a dream becomes real through a n amazing series of events, or thinking about someone just before they call are all a part of this. Many cultures have believed in omens or messages from spirit, and were aware of the many forms this guidance takes. Guidance is an answer to a question, it gives direction and shows you a way. To receive this guidance, you must have a clear question in mind, and be 'open' to read the answer. The answer will manifest through coincidences in life - it may be part of an overheard conversation, or a casual remark made by an acquaintance. You might open a book randomly and see the answer there. Forms of divination such as the I Ching or Tarot may give you answers, even your idle daydreams could hold a key. It is a matter to be alert and to expect an answer or confirmation. To expect that life will offer guidance in this way may see m incredible. In fact, many philosophies believe in the importance of omens and unusual events - the Hawaiian Kahunas, the American Indians and many of the self-help therapies including affirmations (Florence Scovel Shinn), Science of the Mind (Eric Holmes, U.S. Anderson), Theosophy, A Course in Miracles and many others. The essential, underlying principle behind all these (and it's mentioned in the Bible) is that if we are open, and ask, we shall receive. And it may not be in quite the way we expect! Dreamwork is a fascinating and vast subject. Dream interpretation relies upon a perspective that can relate your life to the thoughts and emotions the dream images invoke. Dream s which are very intense or emotional, and those dreams that leave a lasting impression contain important messages - t hey have such an impact it seems as if they try to force you to take notice. Be aware of this, keep a dream diary and look closely at your dream symbology; it is the language of guidance. The Australian Aboriginal people, American Indians and many other indigenous cultures analysed their dreams and acted upon them. The Bible also talks about dreams, particularly in the First Testament. The plethora of books available today on this fascinating topic is a reflection of the interest it generates. The oldest known book on dreams dates back to the second century AD, so it isn't really a recent attraction! It appears we are currently experiencing a spiritual Rennaisance. This is evidenced by the increasing interest in energetic forms of treatment (ie. acupuncture, Reiki, flower essences, homeopathy and so on), channelling, meditation and other alternative practices which aim to heal ourselves from an energetic point of view. People are becoming more aware of the need to acknowledge their spirituality, especially now after generations of material distraction. Spirituality and science are finding a common ground in the arena of energy dynamics. It is here, perhaps, we will see and experience a mass transformation that will have its collective origins in the personal lives of individuals. As more 'tune in,' the way is made easier for others, like the hundredth money effect. The analogy of the ripples which result from a pebble tossed into a still pond is quite apt here. So, to enhance your spirituality, it is important to cultivate an awareness of what heightens your perception, of what lifts you out of your normal consciousness. Allow spirit to touch your soul! This creates a certain energy (like brain waves or magnetic force) which attracts guidance in the form of synchronicity and dreams. There is a new sense of direction backed by affirmations in the physical world in the form of guidance. Your spiritual awareness, when enhanced and acted upon, can only lead to a more fulfilling and enriched life! by Donni Hakanson