Conscious Creating......do something

Yogis,

If you can see it in your mind, you can hold it in your hand………

A wise person once whispered this to me but it took several years before I understood.

What do you see?

We have now taken what it is that we want and placed it in a vision that we see each and every day. If you want more joy….see yourself bursting with happiness.  If you want financial security…..see yourself surrounded by abundance. Your house to sell…..visualize an excited family arriving at the closing.  See where you are going but leave the map to the Universe.

Now it is time to do. Time to step toward. I refer to this as the energy of leaning in. You’ve packed your bags and the car is loaded. It’s time to go!

Feel that energy of leaning in. Begin to take baby steps. It almost feels as if there is a magnet on your vision that is drawing you towards it. Make that phone call. Take the class. Invite the woman down the street who does what you want to do over for tea. Buy the camera. Read a book on building a web site.  Walk the space where you want to start a garden. Put those first words on paper.  Do something. 

No major leaps are required, but welcomed if they feel right.  All that is asked of you here is to DO SOMETHING. Anything. Walk through a new door every day. 

We are now showing the Universe that we are serious. We have seen what we want and we are on our way. 

What this isn’t – Grit. Struggle. Pushing ahead. Muscling through. Hard labor. All work no play. You can live that way if you choose, but know that there is a much gentler option which is even more effective… and a whole lot more fun.

What this is –Placing one foot in front of the other. Confident. Centered. Focused. Relaxed effort. Feeling your way. Stepping out of the comfort zone. Doing something.

The fuel for this part of the journey is passion.  If it is a true want, your passion for manifesting it causes the journey to feel effortless.  Obstacles become teachers, and the uncomfortable begins to become a friend. It is at this point that our wants are clearly separated from our mere wishes. For a want, we are willing to change.

It is in this space that we grow. And as soon as you begin to take the steps, the Universe will rush in to assist. 

So start the ignition! We have places to go!

Don’t forget to dance,
SARAH

Conscious Creating…….where you look is where you go

Yogis,

Where you look is where you go…… I use this phrase in class often.  It holds subtle truths within its layers. 

First the physical. Take for example going into a crow pose in yoga. In Bakasana you plant your hands and bend the elbows, placing the knees on the back of the upper arms and lifting the feet off the ground so you are balancing your body on your hands.  The instinct is often to look down and back at your knees and feet to see where they are and in doing so – boom.  An ungraceful fall onto the crown of the head. Where you look is where you go…..

If instead the gaze is forward, the motion and energy will follow along, creating that perfect balance between the weight of the head and hips. Light and lifted. Flying.

When standing if you raise your arms up over the head but look down there is a heaviness. Swing your gaze skyward and watch the heart follow. Reaching. Things are looking up.

Then there is the mind. In a moment of stillness if the eyes are darting about, the mind will follow suit. To settle the mind, settle the eyes. Find a steady gazing point and feel the breath and the inner calm gladly join along. Seeing what is right here……

Or when the outer world becomes a bit too much to handle, allow the eyes to close and take a glimpse of the inner world. A gaze here will show you what is indeed true. 

And there are also the energetic Laws of the Universe.  In our first 4 weeks of ‘Conscious Creating’ we slowed down and noticed how things are and then dove deep to uncover what it is that we want.  This week we begin to form a vision. Seeing what we want. Since where we look is where we go……

Take whatever it is that you are creating and form an image around it. This vision should be of what it will look like once it has manifested. See how you will look, your surroundings, what you are wearing and how you are moving. The colors and textures.  All of the details.  See it vividly.

Be sure you are seeing it already created! We aren’t visualizing the steps or process of getting there.  Leave that to the Universe! See yourself already having it, being it, doing it, feeling it. 

If you want to travel – visualize yourself lying on that deserted beach. If you want to heal an illness, see yourself walking through a meadow with complete health. A painter, create a vision of your first art show. More joy, see you, surrounded by all of those you love. You need a parking space, see the image of a car pulling out from right in front of the store as you are arriving. 

Keep this vision close. See it often. Daily. Whenever it occurs to you. Paint it on the blank canvas in front of you in Technicolor and then let it go. Look and let it go. See and let it go.

And there are those pesky other visions that creep in uninvited…….those ones that play back for you your fears, worries and all the possible bad outcomes. Take life’s big eraser and wipe them off the board each time they appear.  Because where you look is where you go…….and that is definitely not where you are headed.

Choose where to go! See. And begin to lean in…….

Seeing what I want,
SARAH

Conscious Creating......I am juicy

Yogis,

Friday as I made the drive to the beach I found myself watching my 34 year career with Xerox in the rear view mirror.  Sixty miles an hour, each mile traveled putting just that much more distance between me and what I have always done.  Watching all of my ‘lasts’ release out through the back of  the body.  My last pricing model…..last conference call……last team meeting…..and last bid submission. Last day. Like the signposts that I pass. All behind me now.

I start to notice the wide open fields ahead of me, becoming tinged yellow and orange as the seasons begin their shift.  Fields spreading in front of me as far as the eye can see.  Limitless.  All that lies ahead. My future. My canvas. 

I then feel me sitting in the car sandwiched  between the two views. The shape of my body.  My breath. Present. Aware. Here. The creator of my life……..

This is week 4 of Conscious Creating – a guide to manifesting your life.  In these past three weeks we have become still and quiet enough to notice.  Our habits, relationships, schedules, health. Seeing things as they are and then feeling what is and is not serving us. Uncovering what it is that I want. 

This is a step that we often rush through.  I ‘want’ and I go buy.  I ‘want’ and I book the trip.  I ‘want’ and I eat. Though these are all fine, and this process will work for all of them, the want I speak of here is more primal. Deeper. Truer. The want of connection, meaning, fulfillment, purpose, self-love, deep joy. 

So how do we reach inside to touch these?  We must get the creative juices turned on. 

The energy to create your life is the same energy used to create a baby. It’s the energy found in a tiny acorn from which an entire oak tree emerges. Found down in the pelvis and hips, it is our center of feeling. Our emotions and sensuality.  It is what causes words to tumble out when we write, colors to fill the canvas as we paint and the songs to pour out of our hearts that bring others to tears.  And it is easy to become disconnected from this part of ourselves as we grow into mature logical responsible adults. 

So it’s time to kick off the shoes!  Turn up the music until you can feel it………soak in the tub……..be naked…..….lie in the grass under the moon……..stand outside in the pouring rain…….dance………lean into the wind……..get dirty (very dirty)……give yourself a massage………let out a gigantic no holds barred scream.  Do those things that make you feel alive. Step out of the lines to be wild. Juicy and free! 

Creating is not a rigid linear process.  It requires letting go of the reins to dance with the rhythm of the Universe.  Tapping your foot to the beat of your heart. Dropping from the thinking mind into the feeling mind is the difference between drawing with a pencil to being handed a  full palette of vibrant paints   The more you feel the more you tap into the incredible creative force that lies within each and every one of us. 

So once again…..what do I want? What will I paint on my life canvas? Stand back while I take my time to feel.

Feeling juicy,
SARAH

Conscious Creating......what do I want

Yogis,

First things first!  This is my last week with Xerox (feels odd to put that in writing) so please begin to use this email for all correspondence.  sarah@serenitycircleyoga.com 

Here we are.  Look down at your feet.  Wherever they go….there you are.  Stopped, still and noticing life exactly as it is.  The more we do this the more clarity we unearth on what is serving us and what doesn’t feel quite right.  We can only then begin to uncover what it is that we want. 

So what is it that I want? 

We are experts at using our minds for this step.  We do it every day. Watching the new trends, what our friends have and where they are going.  The TV and internet bombard us daily with advice on what they believe we should want. Our parents told us and we read about what makes for the perfect life in the magazines at the checkout. But at this step of conscious creating we let all of that go and quiet the mind to tune into the body. Tapping into our inner world. Feeling what we want, letting our longings, like bubbles in the water, rise up from below. 

Let me give you an example.  A few years ago I ‘noticed’ that each fall I would become sad about the coming of winter.  I talked about it, complained about it and wrote about it, but told myself that I was a ‘summer’ and that the months of November through February were not for me. Even the beauty of September and October were missed on me as I viewed them as precursors to the dark and the cold.  This had been going on for more years than I can remember.  Perhaps my whole life.  But one day I watched it and realized that I was unconsciously choosing to resist almost half of my year. There was suddenly a new clarity there which I hadn’t seen before and I knew that I wanted to be joyful in and embrace all seasons. Letting them be what they were.

It was no different when I noticed how Sunday nights were the beginning of a dark tunnel each week from which I didn’t emerge until Wednesday evening.  Wishing half of my weeks away. That was not serving me in any way whatsoever. I knew then and there that I wanted to open my eyes every morning with the pure excitement of seeing what that particular day could bring. 

So what is it that you want? Pick something you noticed over these last couple of weeks that either no longer fits, feels that something is missing or could stand some tweaking.  Ask yourself what you do want.  If it is something you want to release, turn it around to find what you want to create in its place. 

Don’t allow the mind to throw up its roadblocks. You know the ones I mean…..that can’t happen, you can’t afford that, it’s easier to continue with the way it is, this will be too hard, how will you possibly make that happen…..and on and on and on. It will try.  I guarantee that. But thank it for its advice, take a deep breath and drop your awareness down.  Feel…not think.

The energy we use here is found in the freshness of spring. When we are tilling the garden and preparing the pots, deciding what we want to grow there. We can choose anything. It is the energy of young children who have no limits on their dreams (I was planning to be a pig farmer) and believe they can create anything.

This is the energy of water. Our desires. Don’t be bashful. Our deepest longings are our soul’s way of growing and taking us toward our highest potential.  So dive in and want away!

Feeling,
SARAH

Conscious Creating.....noticing

Yogis,

Have you been watching this week?  Did you remember to create space for becoming still and quiet?  You observing you…….

I did. Here is little bit of what I saw…………..

The work I have been doing to relax my jaw is working, but now my left outer hip has some tightness which I have been ignoring with the hopes it might go away.  The background hum of the late summer bugs  through my open bedroom window as I sleep brings me much joy.  I resist the shortening of the days. I don’t like to ask for help.  

Talking about or being in situations involving money makes me uncomfortable. I  feel myself tense up and become tongue tied. Perhaps it’s because – STOP.  I think it might help if I  - STOP.  No judgment. No jumping to solutions. Relax Sarah and just watch. Notice. For now let it be exactly as it is.

I found myself explaining things. I had told my students what we were going to work with this week but I was away for the weekend and didn’t have time to prepare the class. I explained and they looked at me laughing, telling me that if I hadn’t said anything they wouldn’t have noticed and they come for whatever I am teaching that day. I explain versus simply stepping into my power of knowing and moving forward.   

The side of the garage which creates one side of my garden has a large space between the windows that is calling for something to be placed there. I’m too bossy. I talk out loud to plants. I am seeing these next two weeks of transition as an image in my mind bursting at the seams with energy and activity…..and the other side of it dropping off into a vast empty unknown.  I am now experiencing excitement, fear, worry, joy, gratitude, confidence, sadness and complete faith all rolled into one large ball. I haven’t been wild lately.

What did you notice?

I walked Phoebe at 5 am Friday morning and it was only us and a lone raccoon. Stars, a crescent moon and quiet. The world still. That time of day holds the energy of what we are all doing right now. Here we swim in the sea of pure potential.  Unlimited possibilities lie ahead. The energy that rises the sun and awakens the birds is the same energy we use to create our own lives. But we must tap in to harness it. 

It can be found in every leaf, flower and breeze.Each creature, drop of water and the light of a candle.  In each and every breath. It’s right here when you slow down to see.

Letting go………………………..

Notice,
SARAH

Conscious Creating.....here I am

Yogis,

This week we begin the journey of conscious creating. Making mindful change. It may end up being something life altering for you or perhaps only a slight veer in the path. The process works the same for selling everything you own and moving cross country as is does for healing a nagging knee pain.  So buckle up and let’s get going!!

I’m riding in the car on my way back from a weekend trip (don’t worry I’m not driving) and the first step in mapping out the course home was to know where I was starting from. A map does you absolutely no good unless you know where you are. A point of reference. The beginning………..

 

Where are you?

The first energy we engage when ‘creating our lives’ is the same one that exists in that big red arrow you see on the mall directory that says ‘you are here!’  If I don’t know I am on the first floor, how will I ever find the Starbucks on level 2?  This is earth energy. The gravity that keeps our feet rooted to the ground. 

Words that come to mind about this first step – heavy,  quiet, alone, still, relaxed, being, slow moving, centered, noticing.  And this absolutely necessary basic first step of seeing what is right here, so often is missing in our hectic daily lives. You know, that feeling of ‘heading toward’ twenty four hours a day. But how do we even know we are on the right road?

At this ‘starting point’ we take time to observe our life. Observe ourselves. Imagine this next week as a movie that you are watching as you move through. Your relationships, schedule, job and diet. The state of your health, aches/pains, your sleep and habits. Your thoughts. How often you check your phone, facebook and email.  The times you feel joy and those moments when you react out of anger or frustration.  What you look forward to and what you face with dread.

We are seeing what is without any need to change or struggle against. The mind will often want to jump in with solutions. But we are simply noticing.  No judgment. This is important. No good…no bad.  No right…..no wrong.  Everything just ‘is’. You as the observer of your life. You are here.

Your life the way it is at this moment was created by you in all of the moments that led up to now.  So don’t resist it. Sit back and watch. That’s all. And if you find you don’t have time to do this any of this, or tell yourself you will do this next month when things slow down…..notice that. 

For now we are locating ourselves on the map. Don’t rush this step. There is no need to hurry so  S…l….o….w down.  Way down. Let’s all release an exhale to that.

I will check in next Sunday,
SARAH

....anew

Yogis,
So here I am once again. Ready to step off of the comfortable into a vast open space………

From the known to the unknown. The manifest to the unmanifest.

That is what life is all about. Walking through one door only to come upon the next. Each time facing a blank canvas on which you can create anything that you want.  Anything. Creating life one moment at a time. And you are doing it whether you are doing it consciously or unconsciously.  So why not do it consciously.

For these past several years I have held the vision of being offered at package at 54 that would bridge me to retirement. I saw and moved toward it with patience and trust.  And it happened!!  Only to then be yanked back unexpectedly. It wasn’t time. There was something I still hadn’t learned. Obstacles. Teachers.

Tears, a neck injury and frustration that I spent the year listening to and being with. Until the package arrived once more.  So here I am.

As you arrive at your vision you quickly realize that it isn’t a finish line. Like an athlete who breaks a record, they accept the accolades and bask in the moment, but then see It is as new beginning. You must start the process all over again. So here I am.

We are what we think. We are what we believe. We are what we say. These are all natural laws of the Universe and there is a process by which we can harness this power to manifest your life.

I will take the month of October to bask and soak it all in and then I will begin……at the beginning.  Creating my new vision. Beginning anew.

Would you like to join me?  Is there something in your life you wish to change?  Something new you want to do, feel, be? A part of life that doesn’t fit any longer?  A long held belief that you are prepared to loosen your grip on?

Over these next several weeks as I begin to lay my own foundation I will write about each of the steps once again. As much to remind me as to share then with you. Give them a try and come along for the ride!

Note:  I'm late tonight.  My dad and I just returned from our annual Labor Day 'dad and daughter' drink at Dogfish.  A tradition I love :)

A new me every day,
SARAH