Sound Exercises

Recently I read an article in the Natural Triad by Sandy Seeber. The article is in the Oct. edition. You can get back editions. Seeber spoke of a sound practice/exercise that helps heal the body. It is based on Emilie Conrad’s work. Conrad uses sound to grow neurons in injured areas in the body. She has worked with success to alleviate or mitigate severe pain and made progress with people with spinal cord injuries.

Sound actually expands cells and does all kinds of things I’m not going to touch on, but I will recommend this great exercise. I do it first thing in the AM. There are two elements:  sound and breath. The exercise is actually a detox because whenever the exhale is longer than the inhale, we release toxins from the lungs. It is also meditative. If you have problems keeping your mind focused in meditation, try a breath/sound mantra.

Lie down and be aware of your body, the aches, tightness and any other sensations. Next move your right foot back and forth to the sound of “E.” make the sound deep in the body. DO it this three times in total and then repeat on the left side. The sound “E” relaxes the body. Next go up the body and do the sound “O” three times while holding these areas. Make the sound “O” deep in the body as well. Make it resound!

Bottoms of foot the middle with fingertips

Behind the knees – fingertips

Groin area fingertips face each other

Both collarbones with fingertips

Both sides of the neck

Both ears (Little finger and ring finger in front of ears and thumb and remaining fingers behind ears.)

Now relax for a few minutes and let the body do it’s work. Repeat the exercise two more times. Use this as a daily morning practice. I recommend it first thing in the morning before you get out of bed. Doesn’t this SOUND like fun?

Walking in the Rain

 I usually walk as a part of my morning ritual, but today it was pouring rain. The rain is like manna. Our water tables are low, we need this, but it doesn't do too much for my walk. I wanted to take my dog out so I put on rain boots and headed out. She didn't like it so we returned quickly, but I liked it. I had plenty of rain gear and it was an adventure. So I went out again in the pouring rain. What a delightful experience. I love seeing the water fill the ditches and the rushing away to the creek. I felt like a pirate sloshing around in the rain - "Shiver me timbers." I imagine pirate at sea fighting the storm.

How many times I forget to examine my assumptions - this time it was my assumption that I don't walk in the rain. I remembered times spent in other countries when I went out rain or shine. If I stayed in during the rain, I would miss seeing the country. I've been in several rain forests. I've been to countries during their monsoon season. I had forgotten that I do walk during the rain and that walking in the rain is fun.

It looks like Gene Kelly took the same walk. This is such an uplifting video.

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Will You Marry Me?

Will you marry me? Not in the conventional sense. I mean will you think of me with love, respect me, and value me in mistakes or in my brightness. Will you think good thoughts about me and say wonderful things about me? Think about your answer. If your answer is yes that we can have a wonderful union.
I know it's not up to you to make me feel good,  so I'll just commit to love you, think good thoughts about you and to continue to think well of you even when you are snarky and make a mistake. I know we may only be cyber friends, so why would I speak of such emotional intimacy? How many times do we cater to a voice that cares what others think? These are the others we will never know. So if I am going to have thoughts about people I don't know, and what they may think of me or my ideas, I might as well think they love me and are on my side. See my point. I benefit in two ways. I get too feel how it feels to send out love and affection and in my imagination I can receive it as well. Happy people are not only nicer, they are healthier as well.

Eat well and prosper. Yum Yum. Rejoice, rejoice - there is no choice. Be too blessed to be stressed. I guess I've made my point. Love ya.

No Goals

While many plan for the New Year, I am not on the goal standard. My cause is the BE cause. I am not a goal digger. Being here now is the greatest show on earth. I’m semi joking here. I have nothing against goals, it’s just in the paradigm of non duality, we stand in an area that doesn’t require getting things accomplished in order to be okay. The okayness appears first then the doing follows from that space. When our doing flows from a natural inner knowing, it flows easily and doesn’t require the traditional methods to bring forth accomplishment.

Merry Christmas

What the Opposite of Making a Difference? A Be Cause

My cause is a be cause. I don’t want to be all that I can be. No army for me.  If I spent my life being all that I could be, would I have anytime left to enjoy my life – to live my life?

 We live in a productive society. Indolence is not a virtue, but many of our values, those get-ahead, make-somebody-of-yourself; make-a-difference values, are not conducive to life itself.  

I am not trying to make a difference because who I am is the difference.  In living and being open to the next encounter, a difference is made.  If I wasn’t there, things would be different. Difference is everywhere with or without me. Life itself is full enough and arranged so that I don’t have to get in there and clean up a mess. Life is not a mess. If there are any messes around, maybe I’ d be the mess. But even saying that I am a mess is another attempt by the mind to create a problem. The mind creates its value and meaning by fixing our messes. We love messes. It’s the mind that messes with life.  We act like our messes are tragedies, but our messes are our messes and we guard them closely. We intellectually and emotionally guard our stash of drama and mayhem. Our mess makes us special.

Drop the drama, drop the pain - realize we’re all the same.You’re not broken, you’re not wrong - life is perfect; sing it’s song. There is something right with us. Let’s get in there and look for that. Life is beautiful, let’s look for that beauty.  Pathology (Pathology is the study and diagnosis of disease and I using this word to describe our mental states) is not all it’s cracked up to be and it’s a lie. Lives are not pathological, they are mythological. We are a part of a grand story. We don’t need to be reduced to the “what’s wrong, fix it” game when we can tune into the presence of what’s right. And in the words of songwriter and singer, Tim Bays, “life had many speed bumps, its detours and its sorrows, but a thousand things went right today and will again tomorrow.”

Making a Difference?

All of my life I had dreams of making a difference. I wanted to change the world. The journey started when I was a junior in High School. I wrote a paper on US Latin American affairs, studied US Latin relations and was chosen as a church delegate to visit Washington, DC and New York City. In Washington I met with my congressman and with my senator’s aid. I toured the congressional and senatorial building and even had lunch in the congressional dining room. I looked around and tried to imagine who those important people might be. In New York City I met with UN officials and studied the process of world cooperation in government.

The seeds of ambition were nurtured over the years through my participation in politics as a teen Democrat. My father was a member of the NC House of Representatives, so I had a blast as a page when I was only 13. I campaigned for zero population growth in my early twenties. I started attending national and international gatherings for planetary healing. In the early 90’s I was one of the hosts of a small international event held in rural Texas. We decided to take a break from the business and I put together a spur of the moment talent show featuring conference participants. I was the master of ceremonies. Due to some intense mystical occurrence, I entered an altered state of consciousness. It was the realm of divine comedy. The show was awesome and somehow the boundaries and borders melted between participants and we became a global family. The experience did not end for me at the close of the show. All night I lay awake filled with the most incredible energy. It was the light of comedy. It came in waves. It seemed like comedy heaven.

I was so inspired that I started a campaign to have a court jester type person in the US House of Representatives. In my altered state it seemed like terrific idea. I wanted to perform for the president in the congressional building for a joint session of the senate and the house. I vividly imaged that occurring. When I came off my visionary mountain, I dropped the idea. Some things that seem to make sense when I am on a spiritual high seem ridiculous when I re-enter the ordinary world.

The next year I was invited to a conference in The Philippines. It took place in the congress building in Queson City. There was a parallel conference which included theater people from around the world. They put together a show to be held in the congress building. I was hanging around watching practice when group leader asked me if I would represent the indigenous of North America and do a performance. I said responded affirmatively, but explained that it would be an offense for me to represent another culture, but I would do something appropriate to honor the American indigenous. I gave a dramatic depiction of how the early settlers depended on the indigenous for survival and how later we met them with a sword, decimating their people, lands and culture. I asked for forgiveness and begged again that they show us the way to a sustainable planet. There were thousands of people in the audience including diplomats, ambassadors, cabinet members, the heads of the military, indigenous datas (that’s the leaders), the members of the house and senate and the president. It was not exactly as I had pictured it, but the key ingredients of my dream were there: performing in the congress, a joint session and a presidential attendee. For me it was a powerful demonstration of the mind and heart in unison to create and manifest a dream. It seems that in wanting to make a difference, I was the one who benefitted the most. This was one of many extraordinary experiences that have taken me from pillar to post of life’s adventure.

PS… A friend, who had international prominence, told me I needed some impressive pictures and news stories in my PR kit. She had her picture on the front page of the Sun (England). I thought, why can’t I have my picture on the front page of an international newspaper? This little adventure birthed a picture with the president, the international delegates (and you could really see me) on the front page of all the major newspapers in the Philippines. So goes my “Law of Attraction” story. We called it manifesting in those days, not the LOA, but thinking, creating, allowing and receiving were the same then as they are now.