meditation for rookies

a beginners version of a guided meditation.  quick and easy.  check it out:

so there it is.  if you'd like to read more books with some great meditation techniques, check out the side bar of my blog for these book titles:

akashic records
anything by brian weiss
power of NOW
psychic development for beginners (tons in this one)

there are also tons of videos on you tube.

find peaceful moments anywhere - your (parked) car (my fave), the shower, during commercial breaks...  there is always a few moments.  as your practice matures, your experiences will become more intense and more healing.

peace, love, gratitude!!!!!!
v

it's how you play the game

I had a big AHA today.  I have a tennis lesson every Monday morning.  This morning, I was telling the pro that sometimes I zone out mid-point and fall apart, especially during lessons and clinics.  But in matches I can usually turn my mind "on" and keep it "on" b/c I want to perform well for the sake of the people I'm playing with.  The pro was like, “Well, and b/c you want to win.”  Then I said, “Honestly, I really don’t care about winning.”  A perplexed look crossed on his face.  


This is a recurring conversation for me - this debate about winning - b/c winning is something in which I place very little value and many people cannot relate or understand.  

Today, I connected a few dots between my apathy about winning and the spiritual teachings I’ve worked on recently and wanted to share why I think the coveted W is so grossly overvalued.  

To be clear, I’m not discouraging sport or success.  Sports, like any activity or job that requires competitive action, is part of life.  But we humans take success to a level of crazy that undercuts the spirit and causes us unnecessary emotional pressure.  

Like Krishna says in The Gita, "You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work."  In other words, we decide when to work and how hard, but the win is in God’s hands.  And nothing we do can change that.  I'm picturing that bumper sticker:  "Let Go and Let God".  

When we work hard, chances improve for winning, and we will, as a result, gain success, pride, joy, confidence and comfort.  Those yummy feelings typically associated with the W already exist, though - or at least the potential for those feelings exist.  They exist in the spirit, in that NOW moment.   When we can quiet our egos and allow ourselves to experience those feelings habitually, the power of the win loses its value.  And then we find that true reward is in the PLAYING.  We learn through the games.  We learn about commitment and capacity and capability.  We connect to concentration and experience joy and passion.  

Deepak Chopra in his book Buddha says, “Winning and losing are the same.  Both are nothing.”  I think about this every single day.  All earthly events are neutral.  We can thank the beautiful balance of karma for that.  But beyond neutrality, and perhaps more easy to understand than the universal laws of karma, is the compassion that exists, or doesn’t exist in the WIN. 

For most of us, when we get really good at something, our egos grow bold.  Our egos say, “You’re the best!  Take this loser down!  You can beat her!  Get that Win!”  Then we win and our competitor’s ego says, “You suck.  I can’t believe you lost.  You should’ve done things differently.”  Compassion is the missing component here -  compassion for self and for others.  If the scenario flips, so does the energy.  Either way, someone is losing, and statistically it won't always be our competitor.  

While one rejoices in the glory, another wallows in sorrow.  Some might say, “Don't be naive or unrealistic.  There will always be winners and losers. That’s how the world works!”   But why does the world work this way?    Aren’t we created in the image of God?  In this human existence where ego rules, we are constantly hurting each other.  Physically, emotionally or otherwise.  Why accept that as reality?  Is our higher spirit spiking the ball in the end zone when we win?  I doubt it.  God’s love is for everyone.  Even the losers.  Under our skin suits glows a beautiful heavenly light.  The same light that glows under the skin of our competitors.  

We are souls.  And every soul derives from the same source.  So technically when we are beating another person, we are beating ourselves.  BUT:  When we are practiced in good sportsmanship and can see ourselves in our competitor, when we commit to a discipline and use our superpowers of mindfulness and compassion, we are serving our higher selves.  Win or lose.

Some people are hard-wired with desire to kick ass.  And that’s okay.  Competition is the human condition.  And for those of us who eat, sleep and breath the W, athletics is an ideal outlet for passion, aggression, joy and pride.  And in sport, there are countless opportunities for spiritual growth through discipline, compassion, mindfulness, self-reliance and trust, creativity, spontaneity, joy and service.

   

But if we can CHANGE the VALUE of the WIN, if we can SEE the TRUTH of the PROCESS, if we can BELIEVE that the REAL VALUE is found in the LEARNING and the DISCIPLINE, we will find greater compassion for our competitors and for ourselves.  and THAT, my friends, is WINNING.

peace, love, gratitude,

xxxv

sooooo huummmmmmmm

just wanted to share this quick instructional on meditation by deepak chopra.

chopra taught at medicals schools like tufts, bu, harvard then became chief of staff at new england memorial hospital just next door in stoneham, mass.  now he is an inspiration to millions worldwide, including me, sharing his wisdom on meditation and spiritual philosophy.

he tells us in this video that meditation is letting go, being effortless, doing nothing.  (i almost fell asleep while watching it!)  but as easy (or difficult depending who you are) as it sounds, meditation is proven time and time again to change a practitioner's life for the better.

okay, now try it yourself.  click below and follow along.  :-)

some people use mantras, others use candles or music to meditate.  there are a thousand ways to get there.  the important part is that we try.

peace, love, gratitude,
v

psa and follow up

xoxox
peace, love, gratitude,
v

university of survival

i mentioned in my last post that i had a counseling session with corbie milteid, during which she opened my akashic records.  during this reading, i was able to glimpse four of my past lifetimes.  i had experienced other past lifetimes before, through guided meditations: one as a poor but happy chinese woman in years before jesus, one as a caucasian twin sister to my present husband's ex-wife, and one as a young black male civil rights activist who wore flip-flops and was shot in the chest by a white man, i believe in the 1960s.  saw the killer's mug shot and everything.  wild.  

when corbie accessed my records, i really had no idea what to expect.  but i was shocked when she told that my other lifetimes have been overriding male.  (i absolutely love being a woman in this lifetime and the idea of all that maleness totally threw me for a loop!)  i felt especially connected to the first personality she introduced me to, a huron medicine man in the mid seventeenth century.  chills and tears, chills and tears.  i felt such compassion for this man, this part of my soul's journey.  there were other stories of other men i learned that day, none of whom had easy lives (or deaths), all of whom fought for what they knew in their hearts was right.  this reading provided me with a wonderful shift in consciousness.  i spent quite a bit of time thinking about what she told me and found a deeper understanding of myself, my motivations, my demons and my potential.  magic.

i decided to investigate these guys online, starting with the one i felt most drawn to, the huron.  but, surprisingly, my search led me to one of the other native american lifetimes my soul endured.  i found a guy named canassatego - he stood out to me b/c our names are so similar - vANeSSA linsEY GObes.  his photograph resonated with me, as well as some other tidbits about his life.  now, i'm not sure if this is my guy or not.  he very well may not be.  but while digging around for info on him, i found these words he uttered in response to english colonists asking to enroll a dozen of his men in university so they could be properly educated:

"We know you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in these colleges. And the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would very expensive to you. We're convinced, therefore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal, and we thank you heartily. But you who are so wise must know that different nations have different conceptions of things. And you will not, therefore, take it amiss if our ideas of this kind of education happens not to be the same with yours.

"We have had some experience of it. Several of our young people were formerly brought up in the colleges of the northern province. They were instructed in all your sciences. But when they came back to us, they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfectly, and therefore were neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor councilors. They were totally good for nothing.

"We are, however, not the less obliged for your kind offer, though we decline accepting. To show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we would take great care in their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them."

love it!!!!!  i got such a kick out of his "thanks but no thanks" reply.  as steven tyler would say on idol, "man, you nailed it."  he questioned the importance of book learning, wondering aloud how university improves the life of a man if it distracts him from learning the art of survival?  think about the way our children are today, the way we ourselves were raised.  we couldn't survive in the woods for a day!  we are so removed from our source and our basic human needs that if it weren't for whole foods and banana republic we wouldn't be able to feed or clothe ourselves.  


seriously, i don't know how to build a fire or root for wild veggies, i have no idea which berries will kill me or how i would stay dry in the rain.  i am completely dependent on others to provide for me.  another reminder of the humanness that unifies us all.  under the expensive business suits, behind the guarded walls, between the commercials and above those hardened egos, we are human.  most unable to provide for ourselves and our families at the root level.  


i guess this is what most would call progress...  modern man...  civility...  a charmed existence.  but what's so charming about dependency?  we are all dependent.  on our farmers, truckers and grocers to feed us.  on our pastors and teachers and politicians to tell us what's right and wrong.  on our TVs and computers to entertain us.  on our doctors to diagnose and heal us...  but it the truth is, we have everything we need to survive and THRIVE in this great little package called "the human body".  we are designed to live independently.  i think the reason that we, as a species, cannot do that anymore is that we have spent centuries slowly disconnecting from source and spirit.  we are so distracted by progress that we can no longer feed ourselves, discipline ourselves, entertain ourselves or heal ourselves.  


but back to the point - the value of a good education.  we place so much emphasis on the importance of grades, of competition, of society, of money...  ...  and for what?  so they can make more money and buy more housewares?  it's crazy, right?  our society is so intellectual - brilliant even - but we don't know how to grow a carrot?  milk a cow?  hunt a deer?  treat an illness?

we are who we are.  i understand that.  and i am that modern person, too.  so this is not a holier-than thou-tirade, but a genuine exploration of life-as-it-is...  or could-be.  what if we could become something better?  a people more balanced?  what can we do to connect better to our humanness?  to our basic functions?  can we learn how to REALLY take care of ourselves?  is there a university of mother earth somewhere out there?

hmmmmm...

i'm looking into this one.  i'll tell you what i find.  

peace, love gratitude,

v

p.s.  here's a pic of this guy canassatego.  what do you think?  is he me???  :-)  the more i've learned about him the more humbled i am to even think that i could share a soul with this dude.  and in my humility, i've become unsure of the connection.  i meditated on him last night and could not come up with a vision of him.  i was, however, covered in chills from head to toe throughout the meditation and had this CRAZY STRONG sensation that a pair of dark native eyes (maybe his?) were in my eye sockets.  we'll see.  weird.  i'll keep you posted.  ;-)  regardless, his messages gave me tons to think about and tons to grow upon.  maybe for you, too?  xoxox

gag me

A little story about oozy skin to brighten your day.  ;-)  Seriously, though, I like this message and remind myself every day that there is a very good reason to maintain good emotional health and a bright outlook.  If not for ourselves and our families, for our vanity.  Ha!

Some links to check out:

CORBIE MITLEID of Fire Through Spirit stars in one of my favorite books "Your Soul's Plan" by Robert Schwartz.  They have a new book coming out this April called "Your Soul's Gift" that I cannot wait to read.  Check it out on Amazon.

Linda Howe author of "How to Read the Akashic Records" is presenting next month at Circles of Wisdom in Andover.

Great book for the mind-body connection:  "Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul:  How to Create a New You" by Deepak Chopra.

And one other little book that is really good for connecting pain with emotions is called "Chakra Power!" by Harriette Knight.  She explains which chakras are connected to which body parts and the emotions that correspond.  I've actually worked with her book and her seminar on Daily OM and found it really helpful and healing.

Peace babies!
Love & Gratitude, too!
xoxoxv