Finding your pause button ~ meditation benefits all: Weekly Meditation with Tracy Brooks

There is so much research that supports the ways a regular meditation practice is beneficial. From improved sleep to enhanced concentration it can truly work wonders. It can lower blood pressure and regulate the body’s stress response. Which leads me to my favorite meditation benefit, “the pause button.’’

Before every action there is a thought/word/concept of what is. Often we bypass this because stress has a way of making us forget this distinction. So we become good at just reacting without taking that pause, which in turn leads to a cycle of stress. Yet in my experience I have found that my meditation practice has a great way of resetting this “pause button”, so that when faced with a frustrating situation I am more able to “pause, breathe and respond.” This is a benefit that carries into the whole day and evening, lasting long after the 20 minute meditation time.

Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day. – Deepak Chopra

I have found that the benefits of meditation can be subtle at first,or quite profound. Often we may not label  much benefit yet someone notes “hmm,you are seeming a bit calmer.”  Yet we are often tested in our new found mindfulness as we may find days with traffic, irate bosses, broken pipes seem to visit even more!  We may catch ourselves able to breathe a bit despite what life throws towards us. There can be a sense of seeing it or witnessing it before responding. Little by little we begin to see that we do have a pause button.

To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.
Your smile proves it.
It proves that you are being gentle with yourself, 
that the sun of awareness is shining in you, 
that you have control of your situation.
You are yourself,
and you have acquired some peace.

- Thich Nhat Hahn

Tracy Brooks has been spiritual traveler and a soul seeker her whole life. She has always felt a call to be a listener of life and to inspire others. A yogini and poet since age 9, she grew up in New York rescuing abandoned animals and holding a space for those who hurt. Born intuitively empathic,she often finds herself listening to strangers open up to her. Studying education, psychology and engaging in community service invited her to feel we all have a gift to share. Life has led her to teach, write and now home-school her young ones. Blessed to be happily married to the love of her life and living (out loud!) in Florida, she has been embracing contemporary shamanism, writing inspirational pieces, and working on her first book. You can find her Facebook page here or visit her blog here. You can also email her.

'What is your Baker's Dozen?' by Jessamine Dana, PhD: Weekly Guest Blog Post

Eyan Myers Moon Mysteries: Reclaiming Women’s Menstrual Wisdom
by Nao Sims and Nikiah Seeds. 

Friday the 13^th, like the topic of women's spirituality, elicit strong feelings of attraction or aversion in people. In my conversations with women about how they have become spiritual leaders, I have learned to pay attention to those symbols that mainstream culture has demarcated as dangerous – and to follow them to their roots.

The number 13 in particular, is feared and maligned by folk cultures throughout the world, but particularly in the Judeo-Christian 'West'. 13 is seen as one unit more than the 'perfect' dozen. 13 is a dangerous, dangling number: one too many guests at dinner, one too many apostles, one too many lunar months for the Gregorian Calendar; 13 seems to be what happens when 12 is transgressed. Friday fares little better, it is rumored to be the day that Eve fed Adam the apple in the Garden of Eden and Good Friday is the day when Christ was crucified.

Yet Friday the 13^th, like many other symbols that have been earmarked as dangerous by common belief, conceals within itself the roots of another time and place. It grows over another relationship with the world in which people felt and drew meanings very differently than we do today. Friday is a day dedicated to Venus and Freya, goddesses of love. Most significantly, 13 is a special number relating to the cycles of the moon and thus to women and their menstrual cycles (called moontime in many First Nations traditions). 13 is suspected to be a number relating to the feminine aspect of the Divine and her thousands of years-old worship. It is also related to death, both as a Tarot card, and in numerous other mythological and esoteric traditions where it represents transformation and the promise of resurrection.

Friday the 13^th, and the number 13 have a connection to women and their mysteries that is worth excavating, and I encourage you to perform your own research on the topic. When we dig deeper, questions and wisdom emerge. These surround the rich, shadowy aspects of our natures and our pasts  found tangled among the roots of women, death/resurrection, the moon, and the number 13.

So, this leads me to another question, what are my other Friday the 13^th 's? What aspects or symbols in my life do I experience fear or aversion around, which could be excavated and rebirthed into sources of deep wisdom? What tools, like monthly moontime (menstruation) am I already walking with that, once liberated from cultural bias, are sources of inspiration and insight? Here are just a few to get you thinking: menopause, trans-gendered qualities, fat, death, aging, “disabilities”, sexuality, and anything else that might feel dangerous or inauspicious about yourself or your world.

Once something calls to you, honor it, then grab it close to its base and keep pulling until you find the roots. Maybe you'll find them through research and reading, maybe you'll find them through prayer, journeying, or chopping wood, but when you do I encourage you to experience those roots as completely as you can. Sit with them and ask questions of them. Are the roots in you or in history? Whose history? What truly belongs to you? What can help you to grow deeply and in beauty?

Finally, what is the extra loaf in your 'Baker's Dozen'? Because that's what happens when you excavate and transform what frightens you; it becomes a gift.

About Jessamine Dana, PhD

Jessamine Dana, PhD is an anthropologist, teacher, and the director of the Woman and the Owl Project: Cultivating and Connecting Women Spiritual Leaders. Her work explores the development of contemporary women spiritual leaders in 'new and native' traditions, and makes that research available to people at all stages of spiritual self-development. Jessamine welcomes opportunities to discuss her work and your journeys. Find out more at www.womanandtheowl.com or www.facebook.com/WomanandtheOwlProject

A Community: A Fire Message

I sat at my fire this morning watch the sunrise with no intention.  Simply being.  Wanting to refill the chalice of life from life herself.  The birds discovering the new waterfall with water flowing down.  A small frog crossing the base without fear of the birds.  A gecko busy in its search - search for what unsure.  A butterfly landing on the bottle brush filling the colors.  I sat in awe of the circle of life in the animal world.  They exist together without my intervention and just reveal in being.  The beauty.

My morning coffee nearing its end as the small fire was burning down to embers, a voice yells my name.  A neighbor saying good morning.  I glanced to the other side, across the field towards another neighbor hearing the sounds of the mower.  Smiling watching as they worked on a joint area of the properties having seen a "picture" of flower beds surrounding the water lilies that were just beginning to bloom.  Yesterday we had bush hogged the area and they were beginning to plant flowers from my garden (I have begun the process of shifting all the flower gardens to vegetable gardens).  I returned to the last bit of the fire enjoying just being this morning when I heard the whispers.

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The time for gathering together to support, nurture, and co creation is upon is.  The time for lines and boundaries which only serve to separate All Relations is done.  We are All Related to one another, we are all inter dependent upon one another from our human relations to our animal and plant relations.  The knots of emotion that bind us to lack, limitation, and lines to separate us need be released fully and wholly.  Many nations, many paths of community united in a singular voice can shift society when the unified focused intent of thought is gathered in this way.  Many over time have spoken words to bring us to this moment, now is the time to place energy to the worlds.  The knowledge of what must be created remains knowledge until we gather together and apply it in action.  It is only through the action that it becomes wisdom to spread across the globe.  Focused intentional, purpose filled action is the call.  There is no right way to act upon the call - simply act upon it.  When two or more gather together with intent to heal, to nurture, to create, the Great Spirit of the Divine Universe hears and responds.

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Synchronicity.  There are many events happening this month that have the intention of gathering together, to co create, to heal our earth, and to support one another.  It is truly an amazing time in our human society.  A time to not only listen but to "do the pictures".  While it is vital to hear, to listen, it is only going to make an impact in our world if we actually gather together and do the pictures.  It is not enough to write, speak, and dream them into reality - it requires action.  Whether the action is physically gathering your tribe, your community, together and having a ceremony, plant a garden or celebrate with one another or you find your community to gather with on the technology we have been gifted in this world and participate in ceremony, celebrate with one another and support each other; action is necessary.

There are many events, here are a few of them happening

"Weaving a New Global Tapestry" 

As "global weaver" I will be -hosting A Global Vigil Fire - April 17-22

We will be feeding the Fire with prayers and energy work and connect with hundreds of other Fire Tenders around the world. Create your own ceremony, in any form you like. Shaman and Fire Tenders will connect all the fires and Tenders around the world through visioning to gather and share new insights on the Human Journey, to grow our medicine and to steep in the living giving energy of the circle. Sacred Pathways, Wake and Kinlen, will ignite the Global Vigil at a gathering in Stonehenge to begin the weaving of a global tapestry. Link here

Sacred Pathways
Join hundreds of other Shaman and energy workers weaving their visions together for the Earth through Fire Ceremony. Together we can create a world of rich color and texture, where everyone can bring their gifts to the table. Put your Fire on the World Map http://www.sacredpathways.us/fires.php

Jim and Sue Graywolf Petruzzi Stonehenge Ceremony for Planet Healing.

For the Earth Mother and all Her creatures, human and elsewise, to connect and heal together.
Drum with us and each other. Prayer with us and each other. Now is the time to connect the dots. 

World Healing Day - April 28th

Soulfire Circles
‎"Hold a Stand for the Waters, a drum circle, a prayer circle, or gather with friends. Tend your altar privately, or collaborate with Comm(on)Unity for the healing and renewal of the waters, the lands, the critters and the people of the Gulf, April 16-20, 2012."

Birthing Creativity with Sue Burness: Weekly Energy Thoughts

I have given birth five times- well four really, since two of my children are twins. All of my childbirth experiences were un-medicated and the last two occurred at home. One presented me with a good bit of physical and emotional challenge. Labour was prolonged and required monumental effort. One birth was “really easy” (at least according to the doctor, but then he had never given birth!) Two of them were “textbook births” (as if there really IS such a thing!) All of them brought me tremendous joy, feelings of empowerment and opportunities for learning.

My child-bearing years are long past, but I now have daughters who are mothers. So childbirth is on my mind fairly often and I have the honour of being involved in infant care on a fairly consistent basis. (I’m especially good at the over-night shift in the early days!) In an effort to name what I do in my “work” time, I’ve called myself a Life Coach or Energy Therapist (depending on whom I’m talking to.) These days, “Creativity Coach” feels like a good fit. I’m helping unconventional people remove what many would call creative “blocks” so they can fully express their passion, purpose and gifts. And yes, most of us are “unconventional” in one way or another! So it is to be expected I suppose, that I would draw parallels between the experience of “giving birth” to children and “birthing” an artistic project, a business, a life of one’s own creation.

I want to talk about “allowing”. And I want to address “wanting” and “effort”. All three I believe, contribute to a birth experience that creates memories of joy.

In order to create anything, there has to be a “wanting”. We want to bring a new life into this world. We want to usher in a new idea, a new way of doing, a new way of being. Our wanting sends a message to Universe (or Source, or whatever we choose to call it). And the Universe responds by facilitating the delivery, but only if we “allow” it.

If we’re birthing a child, our bodies must allow for that, and they usually do, one way or another. Our hearts must also allow us to receive that child. If we’re creating a piece of art, or writing a blog post or developing a new recipe, oh it is SO much easier when we allow inspiration to come in through Spirit, when we give ourselves permission to hear the intuitive voice.

And then comes the effort. The baby must be pushed out (or helped out). The brush must be picked up. The piano keys must be played. If we want to create a dance, we try out the steps. If we wish to live creatively in any way, we must take action.

Allowing. Wanting. Effort. AWE. Nice. And neat.

But it doesn’t always unfold in that order. Our own energies, our own intentions attract our life’s experience. And we share our space in this life with the energies of others. The ways in which an infant enters the world are influenced also by his/her soul contract. It’s our job as parents, to ease the transition for some little souls. Sometimes we’re called to grow ourselves in ways that expand our abilities to allow and effort and even to want.

I find myself wondering if the same can be said for creative projects. Is it possible that some of us are called to a purpose that has energy of its own? Could it be that some creations, works of art, social movements, carry their own energy? Perhaps if an idea has a difficult time manifesting in this world; it’s our job to help it along. Sometimes that seems to work best if we combine our efforts and our emotional/spiritual energies with those of others.

I used to think that my childbearing years provided me with the best education I could ever have. I believed that my children and the recognition of my limitations and my strengths in raising them, taught me most of what I know about human behavior. Now I realize that those years also set the stage for a middle-older age in which wanting, allowing and efforting feel familiar. I understand how this works for me (and why it sometimes appears NOT to be working).

This has been MY path. Some of us open up to the process of birthing through relationships with other adults, through studies, through connection with the natural world. I’m curious to know how YOU view creativity, what your heart dreams of birthing; how we can all support each other. And I would love to hear from you!

About Sue Burness

You can find me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EFTcoachingByPhone and at http://www.facebook.com/suegently At my website: http://www.eftcoachingbyphone.com/ Or through email: sue@eftcoachingby phone.com

My mission is to help people find joy in their lives, to engage with one another, and to live on purpose. I believe that everyone needs support and that expert help should be available to everyone. I am deeply committed to growing the Pay-What-You-Can Healing Community.

http://www.facebook.com/PayWhatYouCan.HealingCommunity

One of my current offerings is the online program “Tapping into Creative SELF”, an eight-week membership program for those who wish to support/discover/resurrect their creative SELVES in a community of like-minded adventurers! The program begins TUESDAY APRIL 10th and the fee for joining is PWYC. http://www.eftcoachingbyphone.com/online-programs.html

Just Say YES! Weekly Vibe with Laurissa Heller

On Monday, there will be a Grand Cross in the sky to start the week off. When there is an energy in the sky like this many things in your life move in unison. If one thing changes, like for instance your job, it has the capacity to ripple into your home life.


The energy is pushing us out into the world to experience life. We are seeking information through others, and connecting with people who mean something to us.


We will come to a place where talking and verbalizing our wounds is easily articulated, which is such a relief. We need to get it out there.


Plenty of action, initiation, and breaking down the old ways. No surprise there. It is 2012. We didn’t come to planet Earth to hang out and twiddle our thumbs. We came to participate in this creative process~

JUST SAY YES!


Eastern Philosophy ~ Western Living ~ Infusion Astrology

About Laurissa:

Laurissa is an astrologer who likes to work with people to help them find answers to life's questions through her own interpretation called Infusion Astrology. She pulls from yoga, buddhism, astrology, intuition, and life to help guide people through their decision making processes. 

Relationships, Work, Family, Children, Travel and Location for Living are all part of her offering as part of her Infusion Astrology Readings.  Her mission is to enhance people's awareness in their own lives so that they are able to live to their fullest potential.  Her philosophy is that by taking care of ourselves and recharging our own batteries we are better able to assist the people who are in our lives and extend that energy into the environment as well.

Laurissa offers Astrology Guidance and is an Educator of Conscious Living and Yoga Meditation Teacher (500 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher) and has been practicing yoga and meditation for nearly a decade. 

To find out more information about workshops offerings and private sessions, visit her website at www.tribaltree.org or visit her facebook page .


You can also catch "The Weekly Vibe" show on BlogTalk Radio where Laurissa and Deb Kabin (Earthmother Holistic Events)  The Weekly Vibe Show