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Blurred Vision

Blurred vision — not the vision we speak of in coaching — that rich and powerful life vision that is the foundation for our choices. Though this is very important vision!

Rather, the vision that we see with day in and day out.

Sometimes, we see clearly. We know, and we proceed in this very specific, pointed, limited, clearly defined direction. Our vision is not blurred. And there are times when this is perfect. And there are times when it is not.

Sometimes such clear vision is preventing us from opening, from seeing possibility, from looking outside the box. It is keeping us stuck. At these times, consider the impact of blurred vision. Try it. Softly let your eyes cross ever so slightly to reveal a world less defined, less certain, less concrete, more unknown. Now let your mind blur a bit, release what you think you know and open to the looser, softer, even the unknowable.

What sensations fill you?
 What do you *know* intuitively?

How will you let blurred vision guide you?

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Patience…

Is patience a 4-letter word for any of you? I’d like to say that it isn’t for me … but … I know it has been. While I grew up in another era where everything happened more slowly, the world of fast food and quick fixes and gotta have it now  has certainly had an impact on me.

Yet, this past month I have been practicing gentle, minimal but regular, stretching on some long abused muscles in my body. After two years of constant pain (interspersed with occasional relief followed by overdoing it – again!), I have finally practiced patience and seen the benefit in pain-free, flexible movement. I realize that I needed to stop stubbornly trying to “do it myself”, trust the physical therapist, stop evaluating progress daily and allow healing over time. I wonder:

What in your world needs a large dose of patience?
What happens when you hurry it along?

What is it worth to you?

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Meditate … why?

meditate

Yes, I meditate. But it doesn’t look like that! It has never looked like that. Yet, how I “sit”, how I “let go and be”, is meditation for me. And I know that you have your own “method” or “way of being” that is meditation for you.

Today’s short message is meant as an invitation especially if you have never tried – or have tried and think you have failed at – meditation. There is no such thing as failing at it, by the way! Though I did … I “failed” … over and over and over again! Once I let go of doing it “their way” and trusted my being to meditate in a way that honors me, lets me “let go and just be”, I have found immense value on the journey.

Why do I meditate? Here are just a few reasons:

  • It relaxes my mental grip on life
  • It helps me widen my perspective
  • It calms my emotional and physical beings
  • It helps me feel connected to other humans and other life forms
  • It helps me love freely, less conditionally
  • It saves me from myself

If you have never tried it or tried and “failed”, consider trying again. Meditation is a practice, a journey, for everyone. There are many sources of guidance available – spiritual communities, the Internet, retreat centers – to name a few. My current inspiration comes from Adyashanti and Mukti. You can find their library of recordings here:

Cafe Dharma

What have you got to lose?
What might you gain?
Why not?

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When Life Strikes …

I’ve recently been called away from “life as usual”, called to travel many miles to be with family. Three and a half days away from home, away from the things that I do here – everything from daily self-care practices to mowing, laundry, bills, watering the flowers. Add the packing and unpacking that a trip calls for and the net impact is that there is more on the “to-do list” today than can possibly get done.

At times like these, my mind tends to switch into over-drive and absolutely wants to be in control, at the wheel of my human vehicle.

Does this ever happen to you?
Do you ever feel behind even when you haven’t been away?

I’m guessing there are many YESes out there to both of these questions. I’d like to suggest a few simple steps that work for me:

  • Pause. Breathe. Stop long enough for your mind to stop spinning on to-do’s and your body to relax. The degree to which this is difficult or impossible is very telling. The harder it is – the more I need it!
  • From this still place, notice that all is well even as nothing “out there” is getting done.
  • From this still place, notice also that what IS getting “done” is you slowing down and honoring your human vehicle – body, mind and spirit.
  • From this still place, ask and listen gently for the answers:

What does my physical body need?
What does my emotional body need?
What does my spiritual body need?

Commit to some action(s) that will honor what you hear. Only then, continue:

What MUST be done today? (careful, MUST, not *should*)
What can wait?
What really need never be done?

Let me give you an idea what is happening for me today:

  • From the stillness, I know without a doubt that my physical, emotional and spiritual bodies must be honored. I dare not push through and get to the doing without stretching and movement, emotional ease, and a connection to the spiritual truths which guide me.
  • The must be done items include preparing for my clients and truly being present with them. For me this means that I must be centered and at ease and energetically available, all of which imply some self-care MUST happen! Even if I hadn’t chosen to honor physical/emotional/spiritual bodies earlier, I would have heard the call here!
  • Another kind of MUST happen today item are activities where others are depending on me – like preparation for a group meeting that I choose not to cancel.
  • Yet another MUST for today is the likes of grocery shopping, critical items only, so that proper nourishment for my physical being can happen.

What can wait? Mowing the lawn, dress clothes to the cleaners, e-mail that arrived during my time away from friends who are not in crisis, putting up pictures that have been sitting on the floor for two weeks, laundry. You get the idea!

What need never happen? While today I didn’t put anything into this category, often I do. There are ideas which “seemed good at the time” that didn’t materialize and the time has passed. When I allow gentleness to guide me, some things just don’t ever get done. And that is SO okay!

The next time life strikes, dare to be with its impact differently. Dare to step away and pause, then choose with intention what does – and does not – get done.

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Let Down, Let Be, Be Still

Today’s simple thought was inspired by the guided meditation, Let Down and Let Be, offered by the sacred teacher, Mukti. You can read about her at Adyashanti.org.

Still

Let down, let be, be still.

The energy, the substance, the source of all life simply is. It is ever-present, ever-available and is that from which all visible life manifests. Stilling ourselves – body, will, mind, thought, emotion – and resting in pure awareness of substance, of life, is gentle power. Here , when we let down our defenses, let be all else, and be still, all is well. There is nowhere to go, nothing to do, no need to figure anything out. Just be. Just notice any forms of energy, block, holding on and allow each to pass through as you return to stillness.

If you have never allowed yourself the gift of deep stillness, perhaps now is your moment. The only way to know how it will impact you, personally, is to experience it.

What do you notice in the stillness?
What do you notice on the way to stillness?
What does this gentle power offer you?