Archive for Spiritual Growth
Homeward bound…..
Posted by: | CommentsI feel that I am homeward bound on an inner and an outer level. This has been such a great few days for me, guiding myself back to my source energy in an intensive time.
I heard late last night – in the middle of the night actually, that we have confirmed flights home tonight!! This is great news – as from the chaos at the airport yesterday, and the feedback we were getting, it looked unlikley. Or as I was saying ” Difficile, mais pas impossible.” (which my or may not be correct French, as I think I often string words and sentences together in a strange way – usually well enough for people to understand, but quirky enough to make them smile!!!).
It’s been really interesting to be involved in the volcano-induced, flight delays (or I suppose they are human induced in response to the volcano doing it’s natural thing, and being a volcano!). The people I travelled with have had very different reactions – some very anxious, angry, blaming, upset etc. Initially I thought I was keeping in my own space about it, by keeping away and doing my own thing. But that didn’t feel good – it was actually closing down my connection to source and cutting me off and isolating me.
Luckily I had bought, Ask and It is Given, Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting and an ipod stuffed full of great calls from Good Vibe U to listen to. It was so great to have so much support to keep my vibrations high. I was in such a beautiful place it was easy in some ways – but there were people, who couldn’t see the beauty of the place and spent the whole extra days there (which I felt as a real gift) – away from when we were in anxiety and anger. When I realised that it wasn’t working for me to isolate myself from it, I knew that the best thing I could do, was to feel as good as I could and to keep my vibration zinging as much as I could.
I used one of Lynn Grabhom’s ideas in Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting – and chose a flip phrase of self appreciation each day. So if I felt or heard myself going into any old patterns of judgement, blame, isolation etc I had a phrase handy to bring an inner smile back to me. Lynn suggests using something you like about yourself – this served a great double purpose for me – as the new body shape I am manifesting hasn’t fully arrived yet, so I had some challenges at first with being on the beach all day!!! This helped so much. I choose things like ” I love my hair” ” I love my eyes”. Everytime I said my phrase I felt that inner smile come, and my vibration rise.
It felt SO much better. I was able to be helpful and supportive to my companions in their reality of fear and anxiety, without being drawn into it. I helped in practical ways and by keeping true to myself. I was called Pollyanna, a few times!!!!!! – which I considered a great compliment. It felt good. I didn’t do any phoning or complaining to the authorities ( well, hardly any…..). I held a picture in my mind and felt the feelings of us all getting on the plane, and things working out easily and smoothly, and of us arriving home in the best possible way.
It was a great practice to me, and all the time, I can feel that sense of being home, that I always feel when I sit to meditate. A homecoming to the real me, to my source.
I love this song – on both the inner and outer level. At times, in my life, I’ve felt that I was constantly on the road even when I in my physical home. I’ve felt I was performing. Thank God, I rarely feel those things now, and can feel the discomfort of them much more quickly, and can find a way back to my real “home” much more easily.
What do you do to get that feeling of “home” in yourself? I’d love it if you’d share your ways – leave a comment so others can learn from you.
A Rampage of Appreciation
Posted by: | CommentsI’m just reading “Ask and It is Given” – the Teachings of Abraham by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I can’t believe that I haven’t read it before!! – I’ve given it to people as a present, I’ve read articles and listened to talks etc, – but somehow I’d never read it. It really is true that everything happens at the right time, and now must be the optimal time for me to read it in its entirety. I am loving it and getting so much from it. It’s so in tune with everything I know to be true for me instinctively and for others that I coach. I’m really happy that I came to a lot of the learnings myself, and now can add to them by this reading and new learning.
The teachings are all about raising your vibrational level – so that you are in alignment with what it is you are asking to receive. This is where a lot of us can get frustrated and feel that the Law of Attraction is not working. We ask – the Universe is doing it’s part to align everything so that we can receive – but we haven’t done the 3rd step - of bringing our aligning our vibration with that which we wish to receive. We are still focussing on the “lack” and what we don’t have, even when we think we are aligning ourselves to receive.
I have often talked and written about how Gratitude can raise your vibrational level – and it definitely does. I love the way that Abraham talks about it in the Chapter on “A Rampage of Appreciation” . He recommends using this when you are feeling relatively good about something and are in one of the higher frequencies already. It can help wherever you are, if you can find anything to appreciate or be grateful for, but it is hard to do that if you are in the depths of despair.
One of the biggest lessons I ever had about my thoughts, and their power and my particular though patterns was at a week long meditation retreat I was on about 10 years ago. I was meditating (or rather sitting in anguish as my mind raced wildly!! – for a lot of the time) - for about 5-6 hours a day, in a beautiful place. After a couple of days, I was sitting in the dining area by myself, as I thought, idly looking around – and then I became aware of my thoughts!!!! They were SO judgemental – every person who walked in I had some comment to make about – some I considered positive, but a lot were negative – things like:
I don’t like that coat
I wouldn’t think someone dressed like that would come to a meditation retreat
They look a bit stuck up
She looks nice
Please don’t sit next to me – I don’t want to talk to you
and on, and on, and on……………… it was never ending! I had to laugh in the end, because it was so obvious.
Ever since then I have tried to consciously bring my thoughts to a state of appreciation and gratitude more regularly, so that those thoughts become much more familiar to me, and become my default place to go to.
In ” Ask and It is Given” I’ve just been reading about the Rampage of Appreciation – and I love the way that it is talked about there. To use any moment you have – like standing in line for something, or being in traffic and gently allowing your thoughts to focus on what they appreciate:
Isn’t it great to be able to get so many things in one place
I’m so happy I have the money to pay for this
The checkout person looks really happy today
What a lovely child with their mother over there
This is much quicker than I thought it would be
etc, etc – anything that you can appreciate about the situation at all.
You can do it for a regular amount of time everyday, or on your spare moments.
I am committing to doing it regularly with my house - we are needing to do some renovations, for for various reasons have been delayed. I have become more and more aware that my thinking is affecting this, as my frustration can run high at times. I know when I am in a state of appreciation and gratitude, things move more smoothly, so I’m committing to becoming more conscious of appreciating the many wonderful things there are to appreciate in my home.
What are of your life could do with some more appreciation? Have fun, finding ways to appreciate what their is to appreciate about it – it’s important to be genuine, and really appreciate the things you say you do, you can’t fake appreciation – but you change shift your focus to what you appreciate.
Just Do What You Want to Do!
Posted by: | CommentsThe first time I heard someone say that they were just going to “Do What They Want to Do” – I was quite shocked! It sounded like anarchy and really selfish. That was many years ago, and before I really understood the importance of keeping your vibrational level high.
When I talk to people about it now, they often have a similar reaction. I think we all have a fear that if we don’t do the things we HAVE to do and the things that we SHOULD do, we’ll just sit around all day and do nothing – but eat chocolate!!
I can’t honestly say that I only do “Just Want I Want to Do”, 100% of the time, but the proportion of time that I spend doing the what I want to do is increasing all the time.
There are things that wouldn’t be high on my list of things to do – like walking the dogs when it’s pouring with rain, or cleaning the oven, or doing my tax return – but I realise that I have a choice as to whether I do them or not – I can always pay someone else to do it if I really don’t want to. I could not have dogs. I could cook without using the oven! All of these things are possibilities.
I can also choose the way I approach things – I usually love it when I do out with the dogs in the rain, once I’m dressed properly and I’m looking for all the things I like about it. I do love using the oven to cook, and I love the feeling after it’s been cleaned – and if I put some good music on, or something really inspiring to listen to, as I’m doing it, I can really enjoy the satisfaction of doing it.
Just doing things you want to do, really does create a whole different way of being. There can often be conflicts in what you want to do – you may really want to see your aunt when she’s over visiting, but you also really want a quiet day to yourself on the only day that you can see her. Maybe you can do both – think win-win. Maybe you could have a couple if hours in the morning to yourself – and really, totally give yourself permission to do only what you want to do. Then in the afternoon, you could spend a few hours with your aunt – being totally present with her. A few hours visit when you’re totally present with someone, is worth a whole day of a distracted, scattered visit!
I was drawn to think about this yesterday in particular, because I was feeling slightly conflicted myself. It was a beautiful day here – sunny and blue skies – and a few of my friends were meeting for a walk on the beach. I had set the time aside to do some work and some writing, and also to be on a coaching call. All things that I was very happy to do, and looking forward to doing. But the weather was so beautiful……….
In the way of the Universe and as so often happens, I got a Google Alert email with a link to one of Kate Corbin’s Articles “The Magic of Doing What Feels Good” - the timing was perfect as things always are. In a couple of minutes I had my solution. I turned my camper van into my mobile office – with my laptop, mobile phone and notebooks, a lovely pot of vegetable soup and headed to the beach.
I had a beautiful walk, was out in the air, got loads of work done, did my coaching call, – and came back home at 7pm feeling so happy, grateful and that I had done just what I wanted to do!! I know that my vibrational level was higher than it would have been if I’d thought I had to do either or…
What do you think?? Is it selfish to do just what you want to do?…….
Are you painting your picture or someone else’s?
Posted by: | CommentsI was at my local church service today and the priest shared a story that I loved – especially as at 54, I have started painting and drawing for the first time .
The bible reading was the story of the fig tree that wasn’t bearing fruit, the landowner wanted to dig it up, but the farmer pleaded for another year so that he could loosen the soil around it add some manure.
So we were exploring the issues around the expectations you would have from a fig tree – that it would give you figs!! Not oranges or lemons or any other kind of fruit. So in our our own lives it’s important to know what kind of fruit it is natural for us to bear – what are our talents and our real heart’s desires. What do we want to manifest, to bring forth in this world. What is our contribution?
Are you giving enough space and air to your unique gifts that the world is waiting for? Do you need to manure and feed and water them more?
The story the priest told, was when he was working in Tanzania. He had a week’s holiday and went to study with a local artist, who ran week long classes. He described sitting next to an African woman, who filled her palette with an array of bright colours and then started to paint an exuberant picture with bright sweeps and swirls! He went to choose his paints, and instead of the colours he normally chose, he picked the brighter ones and started a large, swirling picture. Within a few minutes, he was completely lost. He didn’t understand the colours and how they worked together, or how to paint big. The teacher came by and said – “Why are you trying to paint like an African – you’re never be an African – you must paint from your palette in your own style.”
It’s easy to look around and to see other people and their paintings, and try to copy them. But unless you’re really coming from your own soul space it’s hard to really paint your own picture, dance your own dance, sing your own song or live your own life.
Is it possible to STAY in a higher vibrational level permanently??
Posted by: | CommentsWe had a great teleseminar last night, looking at how to Raise Your Vibrational Level.
Someone asked a question -Is it possible to STAY in a higher vibrational level permanently??
In answer I replied that I hadn’t learnt to do it yet!! So I’m not the one to show you how to – I do believe that maybe some people do, the truly enlightened beings – I don’t know any personally, so I don’t know for sure.
I was reflecting about it after the call. I know that I have heard stories of the Dalai Lama, when he gets upset, he is totally in the moment and upset about whatever is happening, and when that is past, it is past. It is like children or animals – they can get extreme emotions, but when they are gone, they are gone. I remember Eckhart Tolle speaking of the great insight he gained after sitting in a park and watching two ducks have a vicious fight. When they turned away from each other, they both shook their bodies – shaking the last of the anger out. Then it was gone!
As adults, we tend to not complete our emotions – we shut them down, or keep expressing them without fully letting them leave our system. It’s this that I believe lowers our vibrational frequency. The old residual emotions that we haven’t shaken off.
Another factor that influences us, is our desire to feel safe and comfortable and FAMILIAR. This means that we often choose to spend a lot of time in states of fear, anxiety, anger, loneliness etc – not because we like them, but because they are familiar to us. You can really observe this, if you find yourself repeating a pattern time and time again – you’re not choosing the event, you’re choosing the feeling. It’s a paradox, that we would choose something that is at the same time extremely uncomfortable, but at the same time comforting in its familiarity. If you let your body release the old emotions, and also help yourself to gradually get used to what it is like to feel comfortable at a different vibrational level, you’ll notice that you don’t need to keep repeating those patterns.
We are always going to have sadness, upset, anger, fear in our life – we are human, and these feelings give us the contrasts. They give a richness – you cannot truly love without knowing the pain of loss. We do have a choice however, as to whether we choose to live MOST of our time here, or whether we choose to spend most our time in the feelings of love, gratitude, compassion, abundance.
On the call we looked at ways of releasing the emotions stored up in your body, and also ways of gradually increasing the amount of time that you spend at the higher vibrational levels. The more that you do this, the more familiar they will come to feel to you, and you will feel safer there than in the lower vibrational levels.
You can listen to the replay of the teleseminar here: http://AttendThisEvent.com/?eventid=11558892
Are your Goals Limiting what the Universe can do for you?
Posted by: | Comments“Expecting “end results” – such as wealth and abundance, health and harmony, friends and laughter – in broad brush strokes, is part of the secret formula, Christine, for manifesting the life of your dreams.
Expecting your path to follow a certain route – such as writing a bestseller to accumulate wealth, having a particular someone fall in love with you, or insisting upon this idea, that diet, or the other invention to be your deliverance – is just plain messing with the cursed hows and severely limits my options… (I hate when that happens.) ” Messages from the Universe. http://www.tut.com.
This is a message that I received in my inbox a few weeks ago. I’ve talked before about how much I love these messages. I’d highly recommend signing up for them.
This really got me thinking, about the difference between willingness and expectation. Caroline Casey, Visionary Activist, an astrology who always has great insights, always talks of expectation being the mother of disappointment. Willingness is the mother of opportunity. To open yourself up to be willing to receive is so different to sitting waiting and expecting something to happen in the way that you want. I can really feel the difference in my body and my breathing as I write down the two different ways of being.
Broadbrush strokes is a great way of putting it. So often we can get tied up in the small details that we forget that the broadbrush strokes are the things that create the atmosphere and the feeling of the picture.
I know many people debate whether to set goals or not. Whether it is spiritual to have goals, or better to go with the flow, knowing that all is unfolding as it should. I think that both are compatible. I like to have goals which are broadbrush strokes, and I like to give them some details sometimes. It gives me a direction to follow and it keeps me focussed. But I like to stay unattached to the outcome, and to have flexibility to change them, as I change and grow. I am always aware that there is so much greater than me, that I can only know a part of the picture, so I can’t possibly have certainty that my goals are the best for me.
I love that idea, that any details I put on things will limit the Universe’s options!!! It’s brilliant.
Are you goals, or wants limiting the Universe’s option in your life? What can you do to allow the Universe to have a greater range of choices for you?
Here are some broadbrush strokes to listen to as you let the Universe speak to you.
Attract Abundance into Your Life – What A Wonderful World
Posted by: | Commentsf you’re spending a lot of time feeling worried and anxious about your financial situation, your relationship with money is definitely not in as good a state as it could be. This means that your thoughts and feelings about money are not lined up with the money experience that you want to have. Before your financial situation can change, your energy (i.e. thoughts, feelings, beliefs and actions) have to change – when they do, you will start to notice changes. Here are 3 things that you can start to do NOW to change your relationship with money.
1. Ask yourself, what would it be like if money was EASY? If everything about money in your life was easy. There was no struggle! Wouldn’t that feel great? Most of us have grown up with the belief that money is hard – we talk much more about the struggle, and difficulties we have with money. There are times when the circumstances of our lives feel hard – it’s even more important then, that we find a way to lighten our relationship with money. What would it be like if your language and thoughts about money, were about how easy it is to have money in your life. If you were money, would you want to spend more time with someone who thought that you were easy to be with, or that it was a struggle? Have a game with yourself – if you find yourself thinking about money in a way that is hard – just pick a word to say like EASY, or SIMPLE or something that means easy to you. Say it as often as you can when you think about money. It will seem strange at first – but if you do it consistently, you will notice that things around money get to seem a bit easier for you. That will encourage you to keep doing it!.
2. Start appreciating where prosperity is in your life! It’s really easy to focus on what you don’t have – but that won’t help you to attract what you do want to you. Look around you and be thankful for all the you have – family, friends, warmth, shelter, nourishment, nature, money etc. Every time you do have money – be grateful for it. Even if it is just a small amount. If you really don’t have any money in your life, start by appreciating it in other people’s money. Rather then being jealous or resentful of other people, see all the good things about money. Make sure that you are sending out positive thoughts about money during the day.
3. Spend time every day, IMAGINING what it will be like when you feel abundant. Don’t wait until you have the money, or whatever else you want. Really feel the feelings – let them go right through your body. Imagine yourself with the life style you want. Let the feelings flow through your body. You don’t need a lot of money to feel wealthy! You can feel start to feel it, before it is even happening. Even if your situation seems bad – imagine yourself in a different place – let the new feelings that you will have flow through your body. You are preparing yourself to receive, and opening up the new possibilities. If you start doing these 3 things, you’ll be preparing yourself for a sense of abundance to come into your life. You’ll be making yourself ready for the new experience and sense of prosperity that will soon be coming your way.
How to change my life? – a question I’m often asked
Posted by: | CommentsPeople often ask me how they can change their life…….. this is usually when they realise that they are on a spiritual journey, and want to start bringing a more spiritual dimension to their life.
Here is one exercise that I often use with people. It’s a great way to get in touch with what is important to you, your values and your strengths. There are often times in our lives when we loose our way a bit – we do things that are not in line with our values. This can often lead to a great sense of inner unease.
GET COMFORTABLE – relax.
Here is a great piece of music played by a friend of mine in Riverdance. I find that there is no better instrument than the pipes, to get you in touch with the deepest part of yourself.
Now, in this relaxed state:
Think of someone who embodies a quality you admire, which you would like to develop in your own life. The person can be alive or dead, famous or knownpersonally to you, a character from a film, book or TV programme.
If at all possible, find a picture of this person to look at while doing this exercise.
- Write or tape a detailed description of this person, emphasizing the qualities you most admire
Think about why you have chosen them to be an influence on your life.
- Write or tape what you find most appealing about this person’s approach to life.
- Write or tape how this person would respond to your current situation.
- How are you like this person? - think of times when you have been most like this person.
- How are you different? – how can you best integrate these aspects of yourself.
- What can you do NOW to strengthen the things that you admire in this person, in yourself? Write down all the thing that you can think of that you can do now to strengthen that aspect of yourself.
Spiritual Prosperity -Can You Have it Without Being Wealthy?
Posted by: | CommentsThe word prosper comes from the Latin word prosperitas,- meaning ”to do well”. It started to become widely used in the Middle Ages, and was generally used to mean – fortunate, successful, agreeable to one’s wishes.
To me it means a sense of well – being, of being deeply grateful for everything in my life. This means people – my friends and family, the beauty of nature and everything around me, the opportunities and possibilities that I have, the animals in my life, the food everything.
Is this dependent on having money?
To me, it is helped by knowing that my basic needs are met – not my wants, my needs. To know that I have food, water, shelter and clothing. I have been really lucky, and only had those basic things threatened a few times in my life, and each time, I was amazed by the help and support I received.I never believed that they would last, because I was born into a society and family that gave me the basis on which to believe that these would be provided,However, I do think that to live in a constant state of insecurity around having your basic needs met would not be easy to cope with.
We have all seen the joy on children’s faces living in India and Africa – where materially children people don’t have so much. I think everyone is struck by those looks of pure joy – and we realise that we don’t see them so often on our children’s faces in the West, when there is so much focus placed on our “wants”. Children are taught at a young age that there is always something else to want.
I don’t mean the look of desperation on the faces of people who are in famine, or war situations and are starving and terrified. I mean the looks on the faces of people who do have sufficient to eat, and are relatively secure.
So to me – if my needs are met and my wants are few, I really do feel prosperous. I feel connected to my Spirit and deeply grateful for everything that I have. When I feel that way, I can sit and watch the birds flying to and fro from the tree outside my office window for ages, and feel so prosperous.
I can feel when I am being pulled away from this sense of spiritual well-being, or prosperity. There is nearly always an increase in my wants – whether it is for material things, affection, food or whatever. I know I have gone from being grateful to what I have, to wanting what I don’t have. Re-connecting myself with that deep sense of gratitude always brings me back to Prosperity.
The best way I have found to really feel the gratitude is to take one thing in my life and really focus on everything I am grateful for about it.
For instance if I think of the bottle of water I have by my side now – I am grateful for:
the water that quenches my thirst
the filter I have in my home that purifies it
the people that made the filter – and all of the parts on it
the person who took the time to put a video up to show how to instal the filter
God for bringing the rain
the people who collect the water in the reservoirs
the people who invented ways of bringing water into our houses – at the turn of a tap!
and more and more and more……..
When I am feeling this grateful, I always know that I am vibrating at a level, that is bound to attract just the right things for me to prosper into my life.
How to Succeed in Life
Posted by: | CommentsThere are some things that you don’t have any control over – where you were born, who your parents are, the colour of your skin, your gender, if it rains, whether your favourite team win the game etc etc. What you do have control over is how you react to the things that you can’t change.
I was always amazed when I was younger and I listened to different people talking who had survived terrible things when the troubles were going on in the North of Ireland . Some people were still very tied up in their anger and the past, even years later were full of revenge. Others, who had suffered equally, were determined to grow from the experience and to try and bring good from it. I’m very lucky that I have not been in that position yet – I don’t know how I would have reacted. I know how I would want to react – in the second way.
I was so taken by the differences in people’s reactions, that it was one of the things that led me to spend so much of my life in the field of education and personal development. I want to have all the skills I can, so that if I am ever in that position, I will know how to save myself from falling into revenge and bitterness.
One of the things that I learnt is the power of stepping back, pressing the pause button and reflecting before acting in any situation. My natural inclination is to react quickly, so I have had to learn how to do this.
As a human being you have abilities and qualities that make you different than animals. These are what you can use to help you take control over your life and to succeed in the areas that YOU want to – and not to react to the events around you.
WHAT ARE THE FOUR QUALITIES?
- Self- Consciousness – This is often used as something negative, to suggest that you are unsure of yourself. What it really means is that you have self-awareness, You can step outside of yourself, and observe what you are doing and what you are thinking. This gives you the ability to see what affect your actions and behaviours are having on other people.
- Conscience – You know what is right and wrong. You have an inner voice that tells you what is the right thing to do – you may not always listen to it, but it’s there! You know it is.
- Imagination - You are greater than your reality. Even if things are not as you want them to be, you have the ability to see other possibilities.
- Choice – You have the power to choose. You can use your willpower to decide what you want your response and actions to be.
If you want to succeed in life, you really need to start using these four qualities. You may have fallen into the habit of not using them and reacting to what is going in your life. This makes it very hard for you to succeed in whatever area you want to – sport, business, relationships, the art, family life, spiritually – whatever.
ACTIONS
Choose one small thing that you would like to change in your life – that you would like to feel successful. Start small, you are going to be developing new muscles around this, so you need to gradually build up to the bigger things.
Run it past the four qualities we were looking at above – see what you learn from that, and how you can use those qualities differently in the future, so that you feel more successful.
I love this movie “August Rush”. It really demonstrates the power of the imagination. The young conductor has been brought up in a children’s home, never knowing his parents (they are both musicians, and met only once and couldn’t find each other again. The boy refused to be fostered, and always felt he could hear his parent’s music – he believed that the music would find them. This is the first time that they all meet since the night he was conceived.
