Musings From The Trail

Musings From The Trail

  • My Books
    • A Still Place
    • A Space for Soul
      • Quotes from A Space for Soul
  • My Work
    • Earth Tending
    • Ancestral Healing
    • Flow Sessions
    • Guided Shamanic Dream Adventures
  • Explore
    • Wild Woman Wisdom Blog
    • Navigating by Moonlight
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Privacy

Conscious Tidbit – Another Way to Choose

July 19, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment

Nature is all about Change

“It matters not what a person is born,
but who they choose to be.”
– JK Rowling

 We create our future one choice at a time.  And you are the only person who knows what is best for you.  This is probably not a new concept for you.  But what if you are unhappy with the choices you’ve been making?  What if you have no confidence in your ability to make a light and right choice for yourself?

In my experience,  your mind will sometimes BS and lie to you, but your body will NEVER lie! Your body always knows what works for you and will share its wisdom if you ask.

A Body Sensation Focused Way to Choose:

If i choose this, will it add joy to my life a day from now?  a month from now?

Will this choice add joy to my life a year or two from now?

If I choose this, will it make money for me?

If I choose this, will it contribute joy to my life?  to the world?

Ask yourself one of these questions, and then check in with the sensations in your head and torso; Does your body feel more light and expansive?    That’s your body saying YES!  Or does the question send your body into tension, heaviness or constriction?  That’s your body saying NO!

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”
– Benjamin Spock

☾☽

Joy is contagious – spread some today.
Infect everyone you meet with a smile.

Watery New Moon

July 18, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment

Renewal Time

☾☽

Tomorrow is the new Moon in the water sign of Cancer.

Dwell on nurturing yourself.

Gently water yourself and your dreams with love.

☾☽

Conscious Tidbits – Relax and Allow

July 13, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment

The only day that matters is today.
Be Joy.  Be Love.

Find someone or something to open your heart to.
We can change our world just by opening our hearts.

Pause, Take A Breath & Remember
How AMAZING It Is To Be Alive Now!

“Let go or be dragged.”
Zen Proverb

Accept vs. Reject… or Allow

I am a very willful and opinionated person. And in many ways, my tendency to know and  speak my own mind has been a strength for me. No one has ever accused me of being a lemming and just going along with the crowd.  🙂

But my willful, opinionated nature is also my Achilles’ heel,  a weakness that has gotten me into hot water again and again.   I tend to question EVERY authority and every point of view that is different from my own!  I have difficulty letting go of my way of seeing the world and making room for other opinions. And I tend to push away people who don’t hold my view of the world. So, the idea of allowing for different opinions and points of view can be a bit of a challenge for me.

Figuring out how to relax and allow may be one of my core  “life issues” –  an issue that I will struggle with and learn about my entire life.   What do I mean by “Relax and Allow?”   Being in Allowance means I don’t try to embrace or fight against people or experiences anymore.  I can relax and allow events to be however they are WITHOUT feeling the need to accept or reject them.  Accepting or rejecting things takes a ton of time and energy.  And acceptance vs. rejection is such a polarized black and white way of approaching the world. It’s the view that everyone and everything is either right or wrong, good or bad. It’s actually just flip sides of the same coin.

Allowance takes me beyond holding rigid black and white opinions. Allowance is the  third choice. And being in a state of allowance  is so different from the polarized, right / wrong energy of accepting vs. rejecting.  Allowance is a calm, open space  of no judgment;  a  space where nothing need be labeled right or wrong, good or bad.  Everyone and everything is just “allowed” to be however they are today. No need to agree or disagree with that person, just allow space for them to be different. No need to accept or reject that newscast predicting doom and gloom; just breathe and allow for many different ways of seeing the same events.

Being in allowance is like a revelation for me!  The idea of just allowing the world outside of me to be however it is today – the idea that  I do NOT have to align with it or push against things is a HUGE shift.   Allowance shifts me out of agreeing or disagreeing with people and events.  Being in allowance means that when a person has a different opinion than mine;  I don’t have to fight to change their mind or push them away!  I can just “allow” that their way of seeing the world is very different from mine.

Allowance  is at the heart of the middle path that Buddha spoke of. It’s also the space of non-judgment that Christ preached about in many different sermons.  And it’s the place Rumi  wrote so eloquently about:

“Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing,
there is a field. 
I’ll meet you there.”

 ✧

Here are a few mental tools to help you access and explore the open non-judgmental space of Allowance:

When your boss / mother / teen aged daughter / TV news anchor / neighbor shares their opinion with you and you feel yourself start to react and bristle, say to yourself,

“Interesting point of view that they have this point of view.”
Repeat it several times and feel yourself shift and calm down. You may even get to where you can smile about their interesting view!

Try this mental clearing:

What would it take for me to stop labeling everything in the world right vs. wrong, good vs. bad, loved vs. hated, wanted vs. not wanted? Every bit of  heavy, yucky, sticky energy that brings up, unravel and destroy it now.

When you catch yourself arguing with someone and trying to change their mind, try the wonder question:

What else is possible here?
or,  Interesting point of view that I have this point of view.

A Love Letter

July 2, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment

A love letter to my fellow therapists, doctors, nurses, healers

I know how much you want to help each client who comes to you. I know how hard you work and study to help them. I am right there with you; I have been a healer of one sort or another for over 25 years. I know how much you care for your clients and want to help them heal.

You love them and want to help. But what if you actually have very little control over whether your client improves and heals or not? What if your clients are in charge of what happens in each and every healing session, NOT you? And what if being a healer or therapist no longer meant you were supposed to have the answers, or know how to fix your clients’ problems? What if being a great healer / therapist / doctor does NOT involve dispensing advice and healing wisdom to the suffering masses like some kind of Healer Dear Abby?

How would embracing your lack of control change your healing practice?

Each client holds the keys to their own healing. Every client has their own answers – even if they don’t believe it yet!  At best, you can be a helpful conduit or sounding board – someone who helps your clients find a new perspective on their personal journey of self-discovery and self-healing. At worst you will try to take charge and actually get in the way of their healing.

Stop and take a breath. Give yourself a moment to grasp the idea that you are NOT in charge and you CANNOT CONTROL if and when, much less how your client heals. Each client is responsible for whether they heal or not. Does this lack of control and responsibility for your clients’ healing fill you with relief or infuriate you?

No matter what you do or say, no matter how many classes you take or how good your therapy techniques are, your client will choose whether they heal or not.  You don’t control that, they do. If one of your clients heals, it is NOT because you did an absolutely flawless massage, gave them the perfect pill or performed the best sphenoid release in the Midwest. It is not because you said just the right thing or executed a flawless lymphatic drainage routine.  People have been healing from all kinds of illnesses and pains for thousands of years before your favorite drug or healing modality was even invented.  And isn’t obsessing about technique how we healers handle our own discomfort with not knowing how to make everything all better for everyone? Honestly?

This idea of the client being responsible for their own healing probably bursts all your fantasies about “if I just get really good at the right and perfect technique, then my clients will heal.”  In my experience, there is no silver healing bullet – so stop looking for the “perfect” therapy, the “perfect” medication or herbal remedy, the “perfect” modality.  Besides, that search for the perfect healing tool will only make you feel like a failure over and over and over again.

Open to the possibility that you have never been in charge of anyone else’s healing and see what happens for you and your clients. Remember that it is their body, their mind, their emotional reactions that determine how much healing happens in each session with you.  Each client comes to you with a unique set of issues and strengths. Each client will heal in their own unique and unpredictable ways. If you want predictable outcomes, give up healing work and become an engineer.

So, if you cannot control the outcome of healing sessions with your clients, why be a healer at all? What is the point? How can you help anyone?

Before you throw in the towel and completely give up healing work in despair, try a few radical healing acts in your sessions. Shift your focus and see what kind of healing magic is possible:

  • Consciously turn control of the session over to your client and their spiritual source. And share with each client how large and in charge they actually are! Help them to access their own wisdom and their own power, rather than relying on yours. Every time you feel shaky or uncertain about what you are doing and if you are helping, take a breath and turn control over to your client and spirit.
  • Your mental and emotional state matters way more than ANY therapeutic technique or modality you use in a session. Keeping an open heart and an open mind has a big impact. Be aware of how you approach each client – what thoughts are running through your head, what emotions are surfacing? Are you getting caught up in needing to find the answer – or can you take a breath and let your client flounder around and discover for themselves what they need?
  • In each session, hold space for what else is possible. No matter what has happened for this client before, lasting healing is possible now. Hold the knowing that your client can heal whatever is ailing them – even when they have lost faith. Even when neither one of you has any idea exactly when or how healing might occur. Even when healing seems impossible, you can hold the memory of how other clients have shifted and found balance and healed. Hold the awareness that human bodies heal in amazing and miraculous ways every day. Set an intention in each and every client session that healing is possible, that healing is just a breath away – even when you have no clue how it can occur. Set a healing intention that your clients truly can shift and heal now.
  • Shut up and listen. Do you know how rare it is to find someone who will actually LISTEN? The simple act of listening is profoundly healing. Try listening instead of grasping for answers. Try listening and NOT giving advice! And try asking your client what they like, what feels good and healing to their body, what would help them right now. Can you stop assuming you know what they need?   Can you respect and honor your clients enough to put your ego aside and follow their lead? Make it your priority to create a space where clients can find their own answers.

Each client who comes to you is on THEIR own personal healing journey, not yours. So, take a big breath, smile at your silliness and learn to let go of control. You never really had it anyway.

 

Love & Hugs
Nancy

Conscious Tidbits – What If Questions

June 28, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment

The only day that matters is today.

Find the joy in here and now.

Pause, Take A Breath & Remember
How AMAZING It Is To Be Alive Now!

 Hello, Beautiful You!  I hope you are enjoying June while it lasts. 🙂

Last week I found a gorgeous little gem of a Youtube video – it is Louie Schwartzberg’s TedTalk.  Louie’s time lapse photography of the earth is so beautiful – it takes my breath away!  And his message is simple yet profound;  be grateful for today, there will NEVER be another day like today.

TED Talk On Gratitude: http://youtu.be/gXDMoiEkyuQ

What if?

“What if…”   wonder questions help  jar you out of  “logical mind mode”  and open you up to possibilities and choices you may be overlooking. Here are a few examples:

What if Life is all about creating more Joy?

What if  you are capable of changing ANYTHING in your Life?

What if you truly do co-create your life?  What do you choose to create today?

What if your subconscious mind is silently mucking up your life?

What if everything your parents ever taught you about the world was just and interesting point of view?

☯

How Much Joy Can We Add to the World Today??

Venus

June 24, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment

Anybody else watch Venus fly by between the Earth and Sun yesterday?  In case you missed it, here is a photograph of her crossing the setting sun in France.

The Divine Feminine Venus made herself seen with a backlight provided by the Divine Masculine Sun energy.  All in the sign of Gemini,  AKA the great communicator.  Ladies, if you are feeling the urge to stand up and express yourself, blame it on the transit of Venus!

How Does it Get Any Better Than This?

Venus Transit seen from France

Venus Transit seen from France

Conscious Tidbits – Who Does this Belong to?

June 20, 2012 by Nancy Lankston Leave a Comment


Today is officially the first day of Summer and the LONGEST Day of the year! A long day can seem like a blessing – or a curse, depending on how your day is going. Here are a few conscious tidbits to help you turn today into a blessing…

Who Does This %#@&! Belong To??

This Wonder Question is designed to remind you that you are an amazing, infinite, gorgeous being and jar you out of defining and aligning yourself with the negative, nasty yuck of the world that is stuck in your body-mind.

How many of your heavy, bad, negative thoughts and feelings are actually yours?

I have been using this “Who Does This %#@&! Belong To?”   tool and discovered much to my dismay that  VERY LITTLE of the negative crap that I’ve spent years trying to clear was actually mine in the first place!

So, If  you’ve been struggling with a negative, painful issue for years, try using this tool. It is impossible to process negative yuck that isn’t even yours in the first place. So, until you realize that the yuck is NOT you and NOT your problem, it will stick to you like glue.

If you could see me now, I am jumping up and down with excitement and joy because this single wonder question has cleared so much  %#@&! out of my system and freed up so much time and energy!

Use this question for a few days – every time you catch yourself feeling bad or thinking yucky, critical thoughts, just stop, take a breath and ask yourself, “Who does this %#@&! belong to?”   If it’s not yours, ask the universe to release and return it to sender please.

Let me know what happens for you when you ask, “Who does this belong to?”  🙂

 

What if the point of Life is to Be Joy and Spread Joy?

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • …
  • 91
  • Next Page »

Subscribe

You can receive an email notification every time I post something new. Sign up below:


 

Spam free. I will never share, sell, rent, or give your email to anyone for any reason.

Social

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Tags

feminist grounded flow with soul astrology earth belief compassion change open Mother Nature choice A Space for Soul flow shamanic joy elemental mindful authentic consciousness self awake power sacred feminine wonder heal dream grateful creative yin inspired moon air body wisdom fire Spirit soul recovery allow archetype water fairy wisdom transformation poem heart cycles love

Search

Copyright © 2021 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in