Tending to the Light Within

Two winters ago, I taught a weekly one-hour Spanish class with approximately 15 children grades K-4. On the third or fourth day, my supervisor sat in on a class. I was a nervous wreck both preparing for the class and during the class. Having no prior teaching background or training in education, my classroom management abilities needed some fine tuning and I was especially self-critical that day with her presence. It was one of the longest hours of my life!

I returned home (to an empty house) from class that day stressed, feeling nervous about my performance and the feedback I would receive, assuming it would be negative. This intense ride of emotions wasn't the last of it. I typically don't experience much physical pain but on this occasion I felt a great deal of pain in my low back so I put my hands on that area and started massaging. Immediately, I began to cry like a child, wailing, with no conscious thought in mind.  When I stopped massaging, I stopped crying. When I massaged again, I wailed again. I knew that I was having an emotional release and couldn't believe that I sparked it with my own two hands. This went on until I fell asleep in the process. Later on, when I awoke, I tried continuing the process because I knew more release needed to happen. It became very clear, however, that I wasn't ready for more…

[In June of last year, I spontaneously enrolled in a weekend Reiki workshop to complete Levels I and II. For those of you unfamiliar with Reiki, it is a healing practice developed in the 1920s by a Japanese Buddhist monk. “Reiki” is composed of two Japanese words: Rei (“God’s wisdom” or “higher power”) and Ki (“life force energy”). The universal energy is transferred through the palms and brings about self-healing and balance.]

…until a few months ago during a week-long dog sitting gig. It seemed like I was on a nature retreat, the forest right outside with an abundance of wildlife. At one point I felt pain in my chest, the seat of the heart chakra. I could feel pain actually on my sternum bone and in the tissue. As before, I began massaging out the pain with intent to heal whatever it was, crying again without a thought in mind. The next morning I woke up and noticed that the area I had massaged was now irritated with tiny, pin-sized red bumps. Knowing that healing responses can reveal themselves with physical manifestations on our bodies, I was surprised by the fact that I had another emotional release but this time accompanied with a physical response. The bumps lasted for about a week and became itchy as they healed. The pain in my tissues lasted for about a week, too, while the pain on my sternum bone lasted for two weeks.

Right around the time the pain was subsiding, I fulfilled a year-old promise to myself to see an acupuncturist/healer here in the Twin Cities whom three close friends of mine recommended based on their experiences with her. She asked me if there was anything I wanted to focus on and I told her my heart chakra. So she placed the pin-sized needles where she saw fit at various points on my body, one of them sitting above my sternum where I still felt some pain. Once she finished putting the needles in, she placed two gemstones on the center of my chest: a rose quartz and a labradorite.

*Rose quartz is a stone of love, balance and healing. The crystal "contains properties of unconditional love for others and for one's self. It is believed to help balance the emotions while increasing self-esteem. Rose quartz works by opening the heart chakra...enhancing your own openness to love in all forms: romantic, platonic, self love, family love, and love of animals, plants, and the Earth. Using rose quartz can balance your emotions, allowing for inner peace, while creating space for compassion and forgiveness to blossom. It can help you let go of stored fear, anger, and resentment, replacing them with peace, harmony, and self-esteem." (1)

*Labradorite is a transformative stone, "strongly associated with brain processes. It clarifies thinking, acts to reduce thinking errors, assists with brain and mental health disorders, and is identified with encouraging positivity, prosocial behavior, cooperation, and bringing thoughts and feelings into balance. Because of these processes of strength-giving, it is valued and used to combat sensations of weakness, both physical and emotional, and to assist in the manifestation of goals. By clarifying thinking, the stone is thought to reduce the impulsive actions caused by false illusions, and for this reason, it is considered to be a very powerful stone." It is known to "calm, center, and ground the person holding or wearing the stone." It is protective and welcoming, "a natural shield against negativity from people and circumstances." (2)

Throughout the session I laid there, anxious, and finding it difficult to relax. I had a hard time silencing the mental chatter. Eventually, she returned to the room and asked me how it went. “Pretty good,” I responded nervously with a smile. She picked up the rose quartz and the labradorite and was surprised to feel how hot they were. I felt them and instantly knew that something had taken place. Forces beyond my awareness were indeed at work during the session. Despite knowing this, I left the session feeling the same as when I had walked in, although a little more relaxed, and continued on with my to-do list.

It has been almost two months since the healing session with this incredible woman and I’ve noticed great shifts in my being, all of them related to the healing properties mentioned above for the gemstones used in the session: unconditional love, clarity, healing/clearing blockages, transformation and balance. I can feel the difference. I feel activated, focused and ready to pursue my passions without hesitation or fear. I’m ready to awaken, cultivate and nurture my gifts and talents. As I live life increasingly in alignment with my purpose on this planet, healing my wounds and feeding the fire within, I feel more alive than ever and am determined to continue this ever-evolving process of realizing my fullest potential while encouraging others to do the same.

When our own light is shining bright, we inevitably brighten the light of those around us and thereby illuminate all life on Earth....so find your light and shine it bright!

(1): http://www.ehow.com/how_5051184_use-crystals-emotional-spiritual-healing.html
(2): http://www.ehow.com/about_5142786_healing-properties-labradorite.html

Goodbye Fear

I wrote this last week sometime in the middle of the night after I had a dream that was all fear-based in which I was in front of an audience and sang a song. Oddly, I couldn't actually hear myself singing. I found out someone had recorded it and asked him to delete it. Instead, I was encouraged to watch it and was shocked by how good I sounded and by all the cheering when I finished. In the next scene there was a snake creeping around and it was trying to bite my ankles. Again, an overwhelming sense of fear:

Self-silenced,
a slit to the throat.
It is you, Fear, my enemy, with the knife in your hand.
I gave you power.
I allowed you to consume me, serving no one but you.
I see my voice in front me of me,
a ball of light.
I pick it up and swallow it.
Its very essence - light and warmth - heals my wound, my slit throat.
Welcome home Voice.
Goodbye Fear.

*I remember when I was younger I was in the middle of talking to a friend and, while still talking (as if on auto-pilot) I asked myself how I was even able to produce these words that were coming out of my mouth. I realized in that moment that we are so fortunate to have a voice to express ourselves. In the name of fear - fear of judgment, fear of criticism, fear of hurting others - I silenced my own voice. A communicator by nature (Gemini; air sign), I cannot allow fear to leave me in silence.

My two cents: Proven by quantum physics, everything has a vibration and a frequency. When we give our energy to reading and watching negative news stories/TV shows/movies and allow the consequent fear-based emotions to consume us, we are indirectly contributing to the darkness and negativity on this planet. So let's raise the vibration/frequency of this planet by letting go of fear and consciously putting our energy towards those things which inspire us, uplift us and fuel our hearts!

(Expansion by Paige Bradley)

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." 

-MLK Jr.

"Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain"

-Mark Twain

Kundalini Awakened

Your immensity I felt

pass through me

that morning in Chiapas -

pure energy.

Such incredible force

winding up my spine.

I now know nirvana -

simply divine.

Your mystery intriguing.

Your truth unseeming.

Kundalini awakened.

Kundalini, awaken.

Our Planetary Mother

Her veins, Her blood, poisoned.

Toxins seep into her skin.

Cancer,

invasive,

destroying Her core, Her being.

She weeps for her children,

for those who fell asleep long ago.

She feels our pain,

our suffering,

and knows we've lost our way.

And so, She sends us messages,

hoping we'll awaken from our slumber.

The problems of the world are not the wars, the violence, the famine, the ecological destruction. These are merely symptoms of the greater problem. When one looks at the root of such tragedies, the problem becomes very clear: our relationships with one another, which includes plants, animals, and everything else given to us by Mother Earth. One thing that we humans must understand is that, although we are different from one another biologically, we are all similar psychologically. Your consciousness is my consciousness, our consciousness is humanity's consciousness. Essentially, there is one global mind, and each individual thought (and action) influences the global mind and, therefore, the global condition here on Earth. If we can realize this, not just intellectually, but deep inside our hearts, then our relationships with one another will change radically, as will the global condition.

An Introduction to my blog :)

This blog is not about me. It's about humanity and the vision I see for us as human beings. The time to evolve, the time to start living in an awakened and conscious state at all times, has arrived. Developing a mastery of awareness, and not allowing our thoughts to control us, but rather consciously controlling our thoughts, is the first step. Once we are aware of our thoughts, we can control them, and transform negative thoughts into positive thoughts. Welcome to Humanity's Evolutionary Revolution on Earth (HERE).