The Seven Pathways to Peace

Poppies
Chautauqua Poppies by Nancy L

You are always praying; thought itself is prayer.
Whatever you focus your mind on, increases.
To change the world, change your thoughts about the world.
If you want to experience peace—become peace.
Peace is always present, though sometimes hidden.
Love is the only force in the universe.
The world is already healed.

~James Twyman

Ride the Flow

Ride the Flow
Ride the Flow

“There is nothing of significance that you can do by yourself.
Sustained ehthusiasm brings into existance a wave of creative energy,
and all you have to do the is ‘ride the wave’.”
~Elkhart Tolle

Every part of our Universe shifts and flows and creates with the energy of Tao, the energy of Source. The Tao is the energetic mother of all that is. This sacred flow thrums and buzzes with pure creative potential. And whether you realize it or not, this Source energy flows within you and connects you to all that is in every moment.  

Creative Flow

Every life begins in an act of creative flow.  The sperm of the male penetrates the egg of the female… or is it that the egg allows the sperm to enter?  Either way, the result is a merging of two separate energies into a completely new human being. In a single magical instant, the egg of the mother and the sperm of the father flow together and create a juicy new being. 

“Creating is the essence of life.”
~Julius Caesar

And the joyful dance of elemental flow continues as we grow in size and complexity; in just 9 short months we literally transform from a tiny single-cell into a juicy baby human with a multi-celled miracle body.  Flow is the creative “magic” that drives our transformation from one cell into billions of cells working in synchrony as one body.

We are like waves dancing with the shore; at birth we rise up out of the Universal ocean of energy. Then we dance and flow our way through our days here on Earth, until it is time to fall back into the Universal depths. We rise and dance. We subside back into the ocean. 

Life is meant to be a creative flowing dance.

Wired to Create

Every living being is wired to flow and sing with creation. Creative energies flow and drive this Universe.  And creativity spontaneously flows whenever you connect with the Song of Soul within yourself.  When you learn to align with this flow, you can create with grace and ease. 

How much potent creative energy will course through you if you dare to reconnect to the flow you were born with? When we open ourselves up to more flow, more and more Soul expresses joyfully and naturally in our life.

“Creativity is the mother of all energies,
nurturer of your most alive self.
It charges up every part of you.
When you’re plugged in, a spontaneous combustion occurs
that ‘artists’ don’t have a monopoly on.”
~Judith Orloff

Creative Soul

Connecting to the flow of Soul is wildly creative and joyful. It is also deeply healing.The word healing originated from the ancient Anglo-Saxon word “haelen” which means to be or become whole. Balance, resonate and heal are all words for the same concept.

In order to truly heal, we must reconnect to the deep yearnings of our Soul. True lasting healing is about transformation; digging in, and bringing flow of Soul to the surface. Healing happens naturally whenever we tap into the creative juice that flows through our core. 

“Every creative act is also an act of healing.”
~Nancy Lankston

The Glue that Binds Us All

Forest Flowers
Fairy Meadow by Nancy L

On a hike last year in the mountains, I walked out of pine forest into a clearing and found myself suddenly surrounded by flowers. The sight was so stunning that I can still picture it now months later. There were flowers, so many flowers everywhere! White, pink, violet, yellow blooms all around me; small whispers of color, large flagrant displays and every size and shape in between. Flowers were trumpeting the joy of life from every corner.

No two flowers in that clearing were exactly alike, yet all were similar. And seeing all those flower patterns reminded me of fractals; Scientists claim that every object in the Universe is created from sacred geometric fractal patterns. The same basic fractal patterns repeat again and again to form the foundation of every single object in our Universe.

Patterns within Patterns

I believe that these fractal patterns describe what human Souls are really like – our Souls express infinite variations of shape and hue that reflect patterns of the divine energy in unique and wonderful way; we are different and the same all at once. We are fractals in a field overflowing with fractals.

Spiritual teachers from every tradition have written and spoken about this field of sacred fractal patterns. This sacred field is known as the Akasha, a Sanskrit word that actually means “space”.  Many of the world’s ancient spiritual traditions (Taoists, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Mayans, Druids, etc.) claim that this field is where energies that log all of your Soul’s experiences from every lifetime since the beginning of the World are held.

“A substructure underpins the universe that is essentially a recording medium of everything, providing a means for everything to communicate with everything else. People are indivisible from their environment.”
~Lynne McTaggart

This field is also known as the Void – although, in my experience, it is far from empty. It holds all of the vibrational patterns of YOU in lifetime after lifetime. Sacred texts tell us that Akashic records are held in a vibrational form in this field. The Akasha hold the patterns of your actions and reactions while in human form; your beliefs, and your choices as well as the rippling impact (AKA karma) of each choice.

Web of Life

Akasha represent the “glue” of Spirit; the energetic relationships that weave and hold our Universe together. In many Native American tribes a legend is told of grandmother spider creating the Universe by weaving it all together with invisible threads.  And modern quantum physicists speak of “gluon”, the invisible force that binds subatomic particles together. Other scientists write about the Zero Point Field or Quantum Field; an invisible field of constantly oscillating energies that create the foundational structure of our entire Universe.

The Tao, gluon, web of life, Akasha, quantum field, zero point field… choose whatever name fits for you. Just know that you are connected and interrelated to every other part of the Universe through this magical web. The energy of the Tao or Akasha flows all around us in each moment. And it also flows within each of us; it is the energy of Soul and it animates and organizes our human form. It is the field of creation where everything is possible.

We are waves of Spirit,

We are born; we rise and flow
on the ocean of consciousness

Before falling once more
into the silent depths of the Tao.

 Soul Space Meditation

There is a space where true healing resides. This space is infinitesimally small, yet expansive beyond all reason. It lies at the edge of the Great Unknown. Step inside this space and you will know the healing power of boundless love. The divine essence of life is here and all is well.

How do you find this tiny space from which healing beckons? There are many paths; prayer, time in Nature, communing with children, conscious breathwork, dance… the list of ways is as endless as the stars.

Here is one simple way:

Sit. Your back is upright, your shoulders relaxed, your belly soft and your chin parallel to the floor.  Just Sit.

Now, close your eyes and breathe. Just breathe. Feel your breath move in and out of your chest; In and out, in and out. Once, twice, a hundred times, just breathe. It is so simple yet hard. Just breathe and your mind kicks into overdrive. Your thoughts will try to get in your way.

But you are not your thoughts. There is far more to you than thought. You are Soul. You are endless and eternal. You can step out of the way of your thoughts and watch them dance by. You can witness the flow of your own mind. Yes you can. Again and again, step out of your thoughts.

Again and again, breath in and watch, breathe out and watch. Step out of your thoughts, Observe the incessant chatter of your “monkey mind”, always restless, always grasping. Notice how feeling arise within you and then fade away.

Step out of your thoughts again and again. And come back to the breath. Feel the rise and fall. Air rolls in to your body and air rolls out. This is the universal wave of life force. Explore each wave as it rolls in and out of you.

Try to find the pause between two breaths. Sit in the pause, explore the pause, that razor sharp edge between the out- breath and the in. Explore that edge and feel it expand.

Again and again, step out of your thoughts. Ride the wave of breath. And find the space between. Breathe and explore the space that flows with the essence of you.

Each of us was born from the Tao. And we return to it when we leave here. Consciously connecting to this flow is transformative; it will help you “wake up” to your Soul’s purpose and remember why you are here. It will clarify and solidify your priorities and become an inner true north that guides your life.

Ayni

Nature's Colors

Ayni is a beautiful little word.
Ayni is the art of living in balance within and without;
Living in right relationship with Self, Soul and World.

Click on the link below to listen to a wonderful little talk; Two well-known shaman discuss Ayni and Shamanism as the Art of the Soul:  Interfaith Radio

New Moon Forgiveness

Moon Phases

Look up tonight. The sky will be dark and the stars should be especially bright. This is new moon time.

Each month, our moon cycles from dark phase to full, then back to dark again.  This particular new moon occurs when our moon is in the earthy sign of Virgo. Traditionally Virgo represented the Priestess, keeper of sacred timing and rituals. Our ancestors who lived closer to the earth and in synchrony with the moon and sun cycles, liked to place rituals during this potent new moon time.

Forgive and Let Go

“We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side.”
~Khalil Gibran

The dark phase of the moon is the perfect time to let go of inner darkness and make space for more light and love. Many times we hang onto dark events in our past because we cannot forgive another person. Or we cannot forgive ourselves. When it comes to forgiveness, ritual can be a great help to us. Ritual can help us amplify our intentions. Ritual can put a little extra power into our prayers.

When most people think of rituals, they picture an elaborate high Mass at church, or long drawn out funeral. But ritual does not need to be elaborate to be meaningful. I share below a simple ritual to help you forgive and let go.

10 Minute Forgiveness Ritual

  • Create a list of 3-6 things you want to forgive and release.
  • Light a candle.
  • Offer up a short prayer; ask Spirit to help you forgive and let go.
  • Breathe slowly and deeply.
  • As you breathe, offer yourself love despite some mistake that haunts you.
  • Then offer that same love to others who hurt you as well.
  • If tears come, allow yourself to cry and release.
  • Burn your list.
  • Dance to release even more; put on a favorite song and move. Dance and shake!
  • Think of one intention you want to hold for the months ahead.
  • State your intention aloud.
  • As you blow out the candle, thank Spirit for helping you forgive and move on.

In this potent new moon time, let’s choose to consciously let go of past troubles and mistakes. Let’s release our heavy baggage, so we can “lighten up” and flow joyfully into fall.