Let Your Heart Smile: Meditation Series with Tracy Brooks

Let your heart smile~inviting happiness when things aren't always happy


"It is what is" ,my Nan used to say with a smile. There were times I thought that was a stance of resignation, of defeat. How can she just "keep on keeping on?", I often pondered. She would smile wide, wipe her brow and continue to roll out the best buttermilk biscuits you can taste. Faith. Perseverance. Being in the moment. I never realized time at her apron strings would show me the same life lessons life would beg me to live out decades later!

Happiness is possible, even in the midst of a chaotic life. The Buddha spoke of a path leading to such bliss. Equanimity, the middle way, carried on the wings of prayers for others. Jesus certainly walked the path, spoke the light even in the midst of darkness. But what about a regular person?

''It's on the inside baby girl'' she would say with her sweet smile. ''What is?'' I would always say. "That joy baby...God...all you searchin for is just right there.'' I would believe her for a while. All young children have that happy stance, it is a gift we arrive here with. Yet we all grow weary as we grow up. It is crucial to have that positive energy nurtured in young people. I found that in my Nan. When you surround yourself with that energy you absorb it! People started to question my smile though.

"She's such a Pollyanna" is a term I grew to hate! Looking on the bright side was a dying way of life for me. The naysayers were everywhere. It would take a bit more growing from within to reclaim my smile. Nan died and my search for that joy took a backseat. Decades later it would become my driving force!

If we stay in each moment we can touch on that joy. Happy people are not in denial of the bad, they just choose not to dwell on it. They see things from a different stance. They still get bad days, and may cry or curse too! Happy folks don't chase away the negative voice, just let it be. Soon enough the darkness leaves on its own.

Some of the happiest folks I know have not had it easy. Death, illness, trials and tribulations have still touched them deeply. Yet they are grateful, deeply grateful. They take the time to appreciate all of life, even when it's darkest. They light a small candle each time they smile.

It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.~Dalai Lama

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.

Is Grief Impacting Your Life? Guest Blog Post by Michael Misenheimer

For many people, the very word grief is off-putting.  This can be for many reasons.  First of all, when most people hear the word grief, they automatically think of death or divorce.  However, grief is the byproduct of many other losses:  moving, ending of a relationship, loss of spiritual connection or God, loss of health, loss of employment, loss of hopes, dreams or expectations- the list can go on and on.  Secondly, many folks are in denial.  Daily, I work with clients who think they have dealt with the loss and then we get into the recovery work only to find that they really were not ok and were living an emotional incomplete life.  Worse, some never take the time to think of how things in their life impacted them so they do not seek out recovery.

Another big issue is that we are not taught how to deal with loss in our society.  We are told to replace the loss, not to feel bad, grieve alone, time will heal all wounds- again the list could go on and on.   As children, we are taught to tie our shoes, brush our teeth, dress ourselves but we are never taught how to handle loss.  Thus, when loss occurs in our lives, we end up feeling as though we are spinning out of control, feeling stuck in the pain and sorrow and struggling to find a way to move forward in life.  Sadly, many people become “healers” in their quest to help other people with their pain; however, in many cases, they have not yet dealt with their own losses.

Think about a loss that you have experienced.  This loss can be one of the ones listed above or one you chose.  What were some of the things you were told?  How did you deal with the loss?  Did you keep moving forward with no regard for how the loss may impact you now or in the future?  What coping mechanisms did you develop to deal with this loss?

These questions are important to ask yourself because they are not things that we typically take time to think about.  If the above questions stir something inside of you, perhaps now is the time to start to complete your recovery from grief.

Failing to complete recovery from grief can have lifelong negative effects on your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. In addition, unresolved grief can impact the way we interact with people, sabotage ourselves and relationships, and hold us back from moving forward in life.

In my grief recovery practice, I help clients rediscover their ability to transform the quality of their lives by completing a step-by-step program for moving beyond loss. The goal is to get clients to move beyond the pain caused by loss. During the program, clients will look at old beliefs about dealing with loss, look at how those losses affected their life and take new action steps which lead to completion of the pain attached to those losses.

When dealing with clients, I am presented with many other names given for grief or loss.  One such word is burnout.  Grievers bury themselves in work and put everyone else before themselves until they finally find themselves burnt out and unable to carry on.  Another name is pressure.  Clients often say they have a lot of pressure in their lives.  The reality is, however, the pressure they are experiencing, typically, are those unresolved emotional changes within them which they have buried.  Finally, we can call grief, stress.  This is a commonly used word in our society today as everyone seems to be stressed but the reality is, stress can take its toll on our health and our bodies and in some cases, leave us ravaged and wrecked.  

If you related to this article, please take a deep breath and realize that you are not broken; therefore, they do not need to be fixed. What you do need is for someone to hear you, without reservation or judgment, and for someone to relate to the loss you have experienced. You may also need someone who can show you how to take small and correct steps that lead to completing unfinished emotional business. This business could be dealing with discoveries of the things you wish they had done better, different or more. It can also deal with unrealized hopes, dreams and expectations about the future.... to name a few.

You can begin becoming emotionally complete right now by taking out a piece of paper.  On this piece of paper, I want you to be honest with yourself and make a list of all the losses that could be impacting your life.  Review this list.  Then I want you to go back over the list and in a separate column, write down the ways in which you are dealing with your loss.  In other words, what types of short-term energy relieving behaviors are you engaging in to deal with the loss?  Are you over eating?  Do you enjoy drugs and alcohol?  Do you isolate?  When folks ask, “how are you?”  How do you respond?  Do you answer honestly because it is the politically correct thing to do?

Review your answers and responses to the above questions.  Take notice of what came up for you as you were reading this article.  Then ask yourself what you can do now to become emotionally complete.  The first step is recognizing what you have been doing is only short-term and not working.  Then you can take steps to move toward becoming emotionally well.

About Michael Misenheimer

Michael Misenheimer is a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist© and Holistic Life Coach who maintains a private practice in Nashville, TN.  He may be reached via email at info@restoreharmony.org or via telephone at (615) 469-0330.  He works with clients locally and telephonically and would love to hear your comments about this article.  His website is www.restoreharmony.org.  

Global Weaving and Your Shadow

I have often shared that to journey on an expedition is to weave the mysteries of soul.   When we set out to discover our true authentic self – our authentic personification in the Middle World, we must be willing to understand that not only will we find peace, joy, love, non-judgment and harmony but we will discover pieces of our shadow self which will illuminate our fears, our judgments, and our disharmony.  Many have shared with me that they wish only to focus on the light, only focus upon the love for to illuminate and seek out these “negative” aspects of self only serve some “dark” side.

 Our true authentic identity must include both the light and the dark within to be whole.  We must include our shadow self to be able to shift fear into courage, shift judgment into unconditional love, and shift disharmony into peaceful harmony within.  These fragmented pieces that many attempt to leave behind as discarded and unwanted aspects of self, still exist.  Even if one attempts to ignore them, hide them, and discard them, they simply remain as a fragmented piece of the soul.  They must be merged together within so that a being may experience wholeness, fullness, and completeness.

As I sat outside beneath the full moon in ceremony, I gazed in awe.  I gazed in awe of the innate intelligence of the Cosmos.  The constant movement even now with the solar flares shares with us the laws of the universe.  The laws that dictate the evolution of the cosmos, the movement of the cosmos, and the very mechanics of nature displayed brilliantly across the skies.  Our ancient ancestors guided their lives through these laws.  The flow of the rivers in the universe set their course as they used the stars as their compass to map out their expeditions.  We can map and chart our own destinations using these same laws.  They exist today just as they existed for our ancient ancestors.

An alchemist would share that deep within is our own ability to transmute the base of who we are, even with all of our fears and confusions we can return to the gold elixir of life and have clarity, serenity, and peace.  They would share one only must be distilled, fermented, and set fire to that which must be burned to ashes in order to rise as the phoenix once more.

While the Shaman within tells me that within each of us has the mechanics of the ancient laws to find both the peacemaker and the warrior within, that one must simply do the pictures to find the way, make the choices to reclaim power, have integrity to live truth, have compassion to awaken our humanity, have presence of mind to inhale deeply the beauty of living in the moment, learn the steps of the spiral dance, surrender to embrace all that is and remember always the unity of being connected with all that there is. 

Simply, we all have a puzzle piece of artwork to create.  There are infinite pieces to choose from.  There are pieces with the colors of the rainbow and there are pieces that are dark with shadows; yet, there is no framework, nor instructions of how to put the pieces together.  The cosmos above gifts us a star filled universe, Mother Earth gifts us the wind, the fire, and the waters, and our ancient guides gift us the wisdom and medicine to craft and weave together the tapestry.

The responsibility of weaving all the pieces together lies within each of us; it is our individual responsibility to pick up the pieces and begin the weaving.  It is not enough to simply speak about it; we must put in the action.  The gifts are yours for the asking and yours for the “doing”.

Compromise Another Word For Balance: Weekly Vibe with Laurissa Heller

Photographer Joe Carr, Wesley Chapel Florida

When the heart is lifted the world is lighter.  When the heart is filled we have plenty to give.  What a beautiful ride this is going to be, although the word compromise may come into play a bit this week.

Compromise is another word for balance.  Relationships teach us equilibrium which takes focus.  If we have given attention to enriching the soul, there is plenty to share with our partners in life.  The people who we come into contact with every day.

The expansion of Jupiter stretches us into new places. Jupiter is next to the Sun and is in a semi-square with Uranus.  New places, faces, and options may open up, but with expansion comes misses.  We understand this new piece of information that has been dropped into our consciousness, but does the creative environment in which work is completed get the idea?  There may a feeling like you are ready to fly to the Moon, but those around you are set for a walk to the mountains. 

Here is where the word compromise comes into play.  How balance is achieved is partly the creative process.  This takes us into a deeper conceptualization of the birthed creativity. 

Toward the end of the week, look for the middle path to open so all involved parties find a rhythm to the dance.  To the Moon, the Mountains, or the Mud ~ it is your dance.  Just bring your sense of adventure this week!

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