Awareness

Dear Yogis,

Wherever you are right now, become aware of the furthest sounds you can hear.    Do this before reading on……

Did you notice everything you had to do in order to do that?  You had to:

·         Stop

·         Come into stillness

·         Become very quiet

·         Relax the mind muscles

·         Stop thinking

·         Send out your awareness

·         Open to receive the response

Awareness.  The state we find ourselves in once we have learned to relax the mind muscles.

 

It is in the space of awareness that new ideas, new thoughts and new ways of being can find their way in, because in awareness we notice.   And the more “aware” and expanded we become, the more we notice.   It is limitless.

Our habits are one of the things that start to stand out when we become aware.  Those things we do, and have done for so long that we don’t question them. 

Two weeks ago, on a cold rainy day, Hanuman came to deliver the weekly CSA shares to my home.  As he was leaving I commented  - “not a great day to be out in!”.  And he looked back at me and just softly said- oh, I like rainy days.   I stopped in my tracks.  It was one of those “aha” moments.   I realized then that I don’t dislike rainy days.  I just had gotten in the habit of describing them as if I did.    Why?

Weather has become a habitual conversation starter for me.  “Cold enough for you?”  “Wonder when we will ever see the sun again.”  “Can’t wait for spring.”  And so on. 

But with awareness you begin to see that things are not good or bad.  They just are.  The weather just is.  Rainy days, hot days, foggy days, frigid cold….they all just are.  And they are all exactly as they are supposed to be.  It is just my need to judge and my struggling against them that causes them to be anything else. 

I have also noticed that I am not alone.  Unless the day is a perfect 75 degrees and sunny, you will hear at least 5 people in your travels complain.  Notice it this week……. The heat.  The humidity.  The pollen.  The snow.  Too wet.   Too dry.  It doesn’t matter what it is like, we judge.  If you listened you would begin to believe that 95% of our days are just not quite right.  As if now is not quite good enough. 

I have decided to try a new approach to the weather.  Every morning I will thank the Universe for whatever the particular weather of the day is.  And I will work to embrace it, not struggle against it and actually allow myself to feel it.  Becoming more “aware” of the many forms that beauty takes – with the hope that someday soon I too will respond from the heart – I like rainy days. 

Wanting to feel it all,

SARAH

Turning up our volume!

Good morning all!

I had a few more people who wanted to begin drinking the nourishing herbal infusions so I am going to be placing another order over the weekend.   It caused me to pause and reflect on the infusions.

I realize that I have been drinking them consistently for almost a year now!  My finger and toe nails are now hard as rocks and yesterday I realized that even when I go a few nights without enough sleep, I don’t feel tired.   No more of those afternoon lows.  Nourishing herbal infusions saturate our body with vitamins and minerals.  We become "mineral rich" making us clearer and more alive - as if we are turning up the volume.

 

 

I wanted to share one other story.  When I was with Susun Weed last summer (August), she suggested on the first day that we consider going without our contacts or glasses while we were there.    I figured since I was there to be pulled out of my comfort zone, I took them out for the week.   And I haven’t put them back in since. 

I do need glasses for driving so I have been telling everyone not to laugh at me when they see me driving with my glasses from the 80s!  So two weeks ago I went to the eye doctor to get a new glasses prescription.   He was amazed to find that my eyes had improved dramatically…..  My right eye is now down to only a .5 prescription (2 away from perfect) and my left eye went from a 1.75 down to a 1.25.    And 18 months ago he had seen some redness creeping into my eyes but now he says they look perfect! 

So not sure if it was the taking out of the contacts, or the daily nourishing herbal infusions…..but I truly believe it was both.

Now I know not everyone can just “take off their glasses”.  So I don’t tell this story to say everyone should do what I did.  But I share it to say that we can heal ourselves -  whatever it is that needs healing.  If 51 year old eyes can reverse the aging process, think of all of the possibilities!

Thoughts become things,

SARAH

Relaxing the "mind muscles"

Dear Yogis,

I truly enjoyed these last two weeks spent at the crown chakra.  I will admit that  I am hesitant to leave.   At the end of each class I felt I could sit forever – just asking, listening and waiting.  With no rush and no attachment to the answer.

I think my favorite part may have been the practice of “relaxing the mind muscles”…….. opening and making room to receive.

 

Our brain, our mind, can be one full of constant chatter.  Referred to as monkey brain, it can often be the driver of our day.   We wake up to it in the morning, and fall asleep to it at night.  It sometimes seems as if it will never take a rest.   

But we each have the ability to change that.  We all have an inner peace that was there the day we were born and will still be there the day we return to the source.    It is always in there… even when you can’t detect it. 

It is up to each of us to find the way to reconnect to it.  No one can do it for you.  We are human “beings”  and not human “doings”.  But it takes wanting it first.  And then finding the teacher, the practice and the effort to just remember your way back to it. 

Recently I have tried to be aware of what is happening during my meditation.  What makes the difference between when I feel that I am “in” vs when I seem to be just trying.  And what I have noticed is that the difference is often in the tension in the upper half of my head. 

I have found that with the muscles of the mind – the brain - just like any of the other muscles of the body, we have the ability to relax them.  Soften them.  To send a wave of calm through them.

So let’s try this together right now! Get very still and notice the earth beneath you (can’t begin any journey without first knowing where you are).  Bring your awareness to the top ½ of your head – from the top of the ears to the crown.  Close your eyes.  And ask that whole area to relax.  Send a wave of relaxation there.  No different than when you ask your thigh, your foot, or your shoulders to relax.  Not a demand, just an asking with a clear expectation that it will happen.

For a moment the thinking ceases.  Can you feel that? 

When we do this there is a softening and a new sense of space up there.  To me it feels like there is enough new space that I could place a bowl where my brain usually sits……..a place in which to receive grand new ideas and wisdom.    

And now bring a specific thought back in.  Feel how the mind muscles constrict again.  A closing.  A furrowing of the brow.

We are infinite choice makers and creators.  We can learn to put the reins on our minds in order to harness its power when we need it, direct it to thoughts that serve us,  yet also give it the “Whoa Nelly!!” command and ask it to step aside when we are looking to connect to the much bigger universal mind.   How amazing is that?

You are so powerful,

SARAH

Grace.....the crown of the head

Yogis,

Our final stop on this current chakra journey – the crown of the head.  Sahasrara chakra, the last of the 7 major chakras. 

We began with earth, the mother, creation of all that we see, hear, feel and touch.  Our physical-ness.  The feminine.  And we followed this spark, this creative shakti energy, up the spine.   We paused to awaken desire in the pelvis, to fuel it with our passion and vision in the deepest part of our core, surrendered to it in the heart, heard it and communicated it out through our vibration, and turned our gaze inward to shine light on it from the center between the eyebrows. 

This is the path we have followed for the last 4 months and we have done it with discipline, love, effort and joy.   But there is one other piece.  We cannot do this alone.  We must also be blessed with a pouring down of grace.

And the crown of the head is its entry………………. 

 

   

This spiritual journey is one of an inner yearning, a searching, a wanting to be fulfilled.  To be complete.  To feel in total peace.   And there are many steps we take, but we must also be willing to ask.  This isn’t an area in our lives that we can simply will to happen, or muscle our way into.    To make that final connection requires us to move toward, reach, ask, yearn ………………and then wait.   We must be humble.

It is like waiting at the bus stop.   You get the schedule and walk there…… and then wait.  Or after you plant a seed.  You know a plant will come, but in the meantime…..you wait. 

Now this isn’t an anxious waiting.  You aren’t checking every two seconds to see if it has happened.  You aren’t digging up the dirt every couple of days to see if there is a sprout.   At the bus stop you are engaged in conversation or perhaps reading your book, yet you know the bus will come.  The trust.  The “knowing”.    You simply continue to tend to the soil and align yourself so that when it does happen you are ready.  We can create and nourish the garden, but we alone cannot bring a seed to life. 

But then…. when the messages start to arrive (which they will), or  you begin receiving answers to questions you have asked, you must dare to follow them.  That is the hard part!

So here are two exercises I will give you that help in this process:

1)      Every day we make hundreds of choices and decisions.  So let’s begin by practicing with the small ones.  For example, things like what to wear, which activity to do first, whether or not to call someone, or have that second helping, which apple to pick out at the store. 
The first step is to realize you are making these decisions!  Often we move through our day so much out of habit that we forget what infinite creators we are.  So observe your decisions by slowing down.  Then take one or two of them to practice with every day. 
Let’s take what to wear.  You are at your closet or drawer and you are trying to decide to wear this shirt or this shirt.  Simply drop the thinking and mentally ask the Universe.  Wait a couple of seconds for a response.  It may come strongly, or it just may be that one shirt begins to look slightly better than the other, or your eyes are drawn to one or you feel more sensation on that side of your body. 
Then wear that shirt!   Now the mind will want to pull you back into dialog and back into the inner debate, but you, with the guidance of the Universe have decided!    Move with your guidance.  This is harder than it sounds….  Try it.

2)      Once a week get very still.  Get connected to the earth with your feet or sit down on the floor.  Or if you meditate, do it then.    Open up the crown of your head and ask the Universe for general guidance.  Perhaps something like “what is next for me” . 
Then wait.  It may come at that time, or it may not be until later in the day or even days later.  So you must be open and mindful for the answers.  They may come as just an instant inner knowing that didn’t come from thinking.  Or it may show up in the form of a street sign, a commercial on tv, or something that 3 friends mention all in the same week.    These are all signs (there is no such thing as a coincidence).   So practice being aware.  But then again you must be willing to follow it.

This is a practice and takes time.  But when you take your power and combine it with the infinite organizing power of the Universe, you can have anything that you want………………………..

Stepping into the unknown,

SARAH

Thanks for coming!

Wow!  Thanks to all of you who joined with me last evening! 

I felt you all and spent a moment or two with each and every one of you whispering a message in your ear (even if you didn't tell me you would be there).  Don’t worry if you didn’t hear it.  Just keep your heart and the crown of your head open and it will show itself to you in some way. 

I hope that you tried or felt something new last night……….…  I know I did.

Grateful,
SARAH

Reminder - Birthday Celebration!

Tonight is my energy connecting birthday celebration - under the new moon!  Would love to have you "join" me from the comfort of your own home, or wherever your travels may have taken you today.

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

Looking forward to feeling you all tonight,
SARAH

 

When:  Friday 1/11

Where:  The Universe (from the comfort of your own home)

Time:   9:15 – 10:15 pm

Attire:  Anything that makes you feel like “you”

Focus:  The New Moon

A Birthday Invitation

Dear Yogis,

This week I have my birthday.  So as you would expect I am being asked what I “want”.  Hmmmmmmm…..  What do I want.

Now early January is probably not the best timing for a birthday.  I have literally just found places to put all of the things that I got for Christmas.  Is there anything else that I want?  Pause.  Pause some more.   No not really. 

It’s not that I don’t enjoy receiving a good gift.   I do.  But sometimes don’t the best gifts seem to be the completely unexpected and quite simple ones?  The ones where someone just thought of you and wanted to give. 

Over Christmas someone told me about a tradition where the person whose birthday it is, is the one who gives out gifts.  I have been thinking a lot about that.  I love it!  How good would you feel at the end of the day if you had given simple unexpected gifts to all that you encountered!    A chocolate bar to the post man.  A flower to the women who checks you out at the grocery store.  A $20 bill to homeless man you pass every day.  A big bear hug to one of your friends.   In giving we receive tenfold. 

So back to…..what do I want.  There is one thing – an energy connecting birthday celebration!

When:  Friday 1/11

Where:  The Universe (from the comfort of your own home)

Time:   9:15 – 10:15 pm

Attire:  Anything that makes you feel like “you”

Focus:  The New Moon

I would love it if this Friday night, during my “time for me” you would connect in.  For the whole hour, part of the time, or even 2 minutes! 

All it means is taking some alone time, getting still and grounded and then connecting in to me and the group by visualizing, feeling with your heart, or sensing through your third eye.  Candles are always nice.  For me music is a doorway (and maybe even played very loud!)  And then just being open to whatever happens.  Space is only an illusion and we can be together from anywhere at any time.  This is quite powerful. 

But my family will think I am odd!  Yep.  But they get used to it – trust me on this one.    I will be out that night.  Ok, sneak off to the restroom at some point, go into a stall, close your eyes and connect in for 1 minute.    This sounds nice for everyone else, but not me.  This journey requires us all to step into the uncomfortable. 

It reminds me of many years ago when I was on a board at our elementary school and we decided to have a “Virtual Fund Raiser”.  The idea was that since everyone was so busy and stretched so thin, you could just give money without having to attend anything, find an outfit to wear or get a babysitter.  No involvement.  Just presents, with no presence required.   This will be the complete opposite.  For this event the only thing needed is your presence.    

Friday is the night of the new moon.  A time to find stillness and go within.  A time to reconnect.  Let’s all do it together.  I will be holding the space and sending my vibration out to all of you.  And if anyone has any comments after, I would love to hear them!

 

Looking forward to “seeing” you,

SARAH