June 2012 Audio Meditation

I’ve noticed that I haven’t generated a new practice since September of this year. In that last practice, I described the journey and impact of losing one of my feline family members to kidney disease, a genetic condition that he shares with many members of his family. I described the deepening I experienced during and after the four-month-long process my beloved boy-cat and I engaged as he moved through his dying process. His two sisters are still here, and the difference in the energy and tone of our little family is powerfully changed by his absence.

As these post-death months have moved along, I found myself moved to create videos on multidimensional living, videos that offer information about the way that I move through the world from a multidimensional perspective. This shift in focus arose after what I thought was going to be an inner journey to connect with my optimal future self. Instead, I connected with what I think is more accurately described as an alternate self.

The idea of alternate selves arises from current thinking about the possibility that we live in a multiverse where there are many versions of ourselves co-existing within different versions of reality. The idea of a multiverse resonates with some people and appears ridiculous to others. Whatever your response, one of the ways I would think about this from a guided imagery or hypnotic perspective is that both alternate selves and optimal future selves can be metaphors through which we can tap into new body states, new states of mind, new responses.

The way this all makes sense to me is that I think, or probably believe at this point, that we live in an “information universe”, where information comes first and then becomes energy and form that resonate and shape themselves in response to the new information. For me, these kinds of journeys allow my bodymind to access new information which then becomes the prompt that supports reorganizing my experience and ways of being. Often, these journeys have opened up surprising new possibilities for me that draw on resources I hadn’t known were available. Posting videos on multidimensionality is one of these surprises.

I’m not sure how many more of these practices I’ll be posting, so they may continue to be sporadic, as I find my creative energy moving in somewhat unexpected directions. I’ve offered weekly practices for many years and have enjoyed the opportunity to ponder, explore, and share possibilities through them. So, my intention is to continue, but it’s not lost on me that it’s been quite a gap between this one and the last.

For this practice in conscious living, I invite you to play with the more quantum-oriented possibility that the process of generating intentions and the probabilities they engage is accessible to you. One of the things I’ve been asking people to play with is to say each day, “I am receiving and living into my optimal life.” An important part of this practice is to then get out of the way and allow yourself not to know what this means or what it will bring. Staying out of the way mentally allows for a deeper receptivity.

Then, along with allowing yourself not to know, another step along the way is to stay open for thoughts, flickers of awareness, new ideas, unexpected interest in something you hadn’t thought about before. All these are examples of intuitive awareness dropping in. The next step is to pay attention to these kinds of intuitive flickers and tickles in the back of your mind and to notice which ones you want to explore more deeply or respond to in some other way. For me, these new awarenesses often arrive when I wake up in the morning. They are just there, as if I had always known them.

As with all these practices, please remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion and to pat gently on the head any judgments that may arise, allowing them to move on through without your having to do anything with or about them. Please also remember to allow mixed feelings, as they are a natural aspect of your underlying wholeness.

Here’s the audio version of this practice if you’d rather listen to it.

Walking through Central Park one morning, the sound of the birds, the slow but steady haze of green emerging on the trees, the emerging daffodils and other spring flowers all offered gifts that are part of the park’s waking up to a new season.  As I walked, I took in the sounds, smells, and visual delight of this emerging season and the experience got me to thinking about the process of receiving.

Receiving is an active, reciprocal process.  It acknowledges that something has been given and recognizes that the act of receiving can be an expression of generosity that can enhance this experience. I often invite people to notice their style of receiving.  For example, when they sit down on a chair and receive the support available, do they actively take in the support that is present?  Do they engage the reciprocal process of receiving what is offered with awareness?  This may apply to any kind of receiving:  support, friendship, kindness, much-needed food, clothing, or shelter, a smile—whatever is offered.  How would you answer these questions? Read More “711th Week:  Receiving Generously”

In our world at this time, the Internet allows us to see more vividly the impact and effects of how we aren’t figuring out how to be in a world that thrives on diversity. This is an unfortunate response that encounters disagreements about worldview and beliefs and turns them into a response that views people with whom we disagree as “other”. Because of my belief in, and experience of, a fundamental oneness underlying reality, it isn’t really possible to have anyone or anything be an “other”. Everything and everyone are kin within a context of oneness, or what Thich Nhat Hanh and Charles Eisenstein call “interbeing”.

What I’d like to offer this week is a practice that supports a sense of connection with everything around us. Deepening this sense of connection can have an impact on how we perceive and respond to the world and may serve to support more constructive responses when we are confronted by people or situations with which we disagree.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t many times when we come up against situations that need to be changed. This isn’t a call not to act on our own behalf and that of others. Instead, it’s an invitation to remember that, even when we may vehemently disagree with what someone is doing, or with a situation that is untenable, we still remember that we are all connected within a fabric of life that weaves us together as kin. And, our kin are comprised of every kind of life form we encounter along the way, not just human beings.

Read More “774th Week: The Space that Connects”

As I wrote this practice, I was on vacation and had planned not to do any work-related activities while out of town.  I spent the first week in a family-oriented resort that touched me in a way that has stayed with me and left me wanting to share what I feel is the underlying dynamic that brought a vividly heart-centered experience to me.

One of the themes I’ve written about many times is the importance of recognizing that every quality we express is its own frequency.  We radiate qualities and frequencies as we move through the world and this is true of individuals, groups, and places.  I’ve written before about how it can be a powerful experience to tune into the quality of a building or a place in nature and to resonate with what you find there.

At this particular family resort, there was a pervasive quality of what I can only call “happiness”.  As a trauma specialist, it was heart-opening and heart-nourishing to watch parents with children of all ages interacting with kindness, interest, and a focus on fun. Again and again, I saw parents engaged in play with their children, and families engaged in enthusiastic and laughter-filled “team” activities.  Even the trees and many animals around the property—deer, chipmunks galore, birds, geese, fish, and the occasional bear—seemed to also resonate with a fundamental and underlying experience of being welcomed and at ease.

Read More “760th Week: Heart-Centered Living”