Books for Practical Enlightenment

Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying two really useful books from Sounds True. The Intimate Life adds a new dimension to human interaction. Through a series of exercises, the author Judith Blackstone, PhD, leads readers deeper into a relationship with themselves and others by bringing to awareness the fact that we resonate at various frequencies within ourselves and with each other. This book reflects what many intuitives like myself know to be part of the evolutionary process happening at this time. We are beginning to recognize in an experiential way that we are indeed energy, and that we interact with each other through vibrational frequencies. It’s one of the reasons that we sometimes meet people who look very familiar even though we’ve never actually met before. We’re vibrating on the same frequency, so there is a sense of recognition as a result.

If your desire is to understand better how your energy influences and affects people around you, then I highly recommend this book. It will change the way you experience yourself, and it will enhance your relationships with others, since many of the exercises are designed to be used with a partner.  

The Intimate Life has inspired me to use these ideas during the beginning meditation in some of my yoga classes, so that we all vibrate on the same frequency at the start of the class, thus we truly get to feel the union that yoga engenders.

It’s standard practice in yoga to study the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, but The Path of the Yoga Sutras is the first version I have encountered that presents the Sutras with great clarity and using practical exercises to anchor the truths into one’s practice. Nicolai Bachman, also author of The Language of Yoga, offers an understanding of the yogic principles and the nature of suffering, and provides the remedies by clearly explaining the eight limbs of yoga along with personal practices and inner development. The book is designed to give the reader a comfortable comprehension of the Sutras through a path that deepens that awareness and creates motivation for its full expression in yoga. A refreshing, inspiring read.

Should you create your reality?

When You Don’t Get What You Want

The Power of Intention

Rewiring the Brain

Emotions can be transformative.

Are we trying to raise our adult children?

 

It’s a common theme these days: parents of adult children worrying about how their “kids” will fare in the world. At a time when we should be focusing our attention on our own lives, we often divert that energy to our progeny way past the age that our predecessors did.

 

Long gone are the days when our children moved out into the world to establish their own lives, and we had to let go, knowing that updates on their well-being would be rare and intermittent. Before the information age, news travelled slowly, so you simply had to get on with your own life and hope for the best.

 

Today, we are plugged into each other in a constant stream of status updates, blogs, and tweets, with many young folks using an evening out as a photo op for immediate posting. We KNOW where are children are, and that may not always be a good thing.

 

So, here are my suggestions for retrieving your sanity in a world of linked and synced adult children:

 

1. It’s your turn now. As parents, we give a great deal of our time and energy to seeing delicate babies into sturdy adulthood. We generally do this work when we are young adults and have the fortitude to apply ourselves to the task. As we age, we are meant to let go of our children and use our energy for our own experiences. If our children are grown, and they are still our primary focus, it would be wise to ask ourselves what change we’re avoiding making in our own lives that we prefer to distract ourselves with theirs.

 

2. Believe in yourself. If you are worrying about how your offspring are coping in the world, what does this say about your faith in yourself as a parent? Trust that you did the best job you possibly could. Forgive yourself for any mistakes you made along the way. Children don’t come with a training manual, and we all learn through trial and error. Now, it’s their turn to go out into the world and learn the same way we did. If we aren’t making any mistakes in our lives, we’re not taking enough risks.

 

3. Believe in them. Trust that the wise soul inside your son’s or daughter’s body chose their path, including all the trials and tribulations that come with walking on the earth. They will fail. They will also succeed. The more you worry about them – and project your fears on them – the more you are sending the message that you have no confidence in your children. Trust that they will fall and get back up again. They’ve been doing that since they were two years old.

 

4. The world has changed. It is more conscious now. People talk about ways of parenting. They consider how they were raised and think of ways to improve on the family model. They consult experts and each other. Your children may do a better job of raising their kids than you did. Their kids will improve on the model as well.

 

5. There is help. With the wealth of information available to us today, and with our visibility to each other in this networked world, there’s a much better chance that your adult child will find the help they need. It only takes a Facebook status update from an overtasked individual to receive support and helpful suggestions from friends. There are a plethora of online groups that share information and tips on every possible subject. It may hurt that they aren’t coming to you for advice, but they simply may not need to do so. The choices your children make are educated ones – and, right or wrong, they are theirs to make, coming to their own conclusions on their terms.

 

6. Let go. When our kids leave home, they are adults. They have chosen to be on their own to stand or fall just as we did when it was our turn. They make their own choices and live with the consequences. If you project a positive, confident belief in their skills, with the understanding that you are available should they wish to chat or ask for advice, they’ll call – because they want to do so, not because they feel obligated. It’s far better to get the rare phone call or Skype from a son or daughter who is happy to share their news than to get a regular interaction founded on duty or based on the fear that there will be a negative reaction if they don’t call.

 

You raised your children in a free world. Honour their freedom. Let them go, and let them know you believe in them. It’s the greatest parting gift they’ll ever receive. Now, go live your life – doing all the things you couldn’t do while you were raising your kids. It’s YOUR time now.

Books and Bane is the winner!

I will be sending a copy of “Frequency” to Ned of Books and Bane. All commenters on the blog about the contest to win one of Penney Peirce’s books were put in a random draw. Ned, congratulations. I’ll be emailing you shortly to get a mailing address.

Intuitive reading sweepstakes and book giveaway!

The contest to win an intuitive reading or the book “Frequency” is an exciting prospect. Penney Peirce is a professional intuitive who works much as I do, helping her clients to raise their vibrational frequency to empower themselves to have the kind of life they really want. Her new book gives information on what happens when our frequencies don’t match the people around us and what we can do to vibrate at a higher frequency.

Here are the sweepstake prizes available:

First Prize: Win one of three personalized Intuitive Consultations with Penney Peirce plus a signed copy of Frequency.

Runners up: Win one of five signed copies of Frequency.

Learn more about Intuitive Consultations at http://www.penneypeirce.com/consultations.htm

Here’s the link to the sweepstakes for more information: http://www.beyondword.com/frequency+sweepstakes/

Here is a video of Penney speaking about her book:

I will also have a copy of this book to give away. Please “like” this post on my blog, and I will select a participant to receive this book.

On Uprooting Oneself…

Most people have excellent intuition. The challenge arises when they are called upon to trust it and heed its guidance – even when it means moving to the other side of the country.

Here I was, living in Ontario, with a thriving practice as an intuitive and as a yoga instructor, when I began at the start of the year to sense that I was no longer where I belonged. It started with feeling displaced, as though the town I had been calling home since the mid-90′s no longer felt that way. People continued to be friendly and welcoming, and indeed, there was no end of work for me. I could have tried to stay in Kingston and continued doing what I was doing, but the call to move was too strong. I had no choice but to listen. I kept hearing the word “Kelowna” in my mind.

Now, this is where an intuitive has no choice but to put her money where her mouth is. I had to listen to my intuition and make the move and accept whatever changes that brought forth in me, or I would become a disingenuous person, giving advice to my clients that I was not myself willing to heed. I committed to making the move, but my ego wanted a safe, cushy period of time to prepare for the shift. However, once I had stopped deliberating and the decision was made, circumstances made it so that I had less than 30 days to do the deed.

This is not uncommon when we make a decision based on intuition. The universe gives us a test. Often, the time period to accomplish the task is sped up. It’s as though God is asking how serious we are about our decision. Will we act even though things are occurring outside of our conscious control? Will we go anyway or will we cling to the familiar and miss our opportunity? I knew I had to go, even though it meant leaving friends and family behind, and embarking on a journey to a place where I knew no one and knew nothing about where I was headed.

Packing to leave Kingston

There was no time to spare. Within 24 hours of getting clear on my decision, on August 2nd, I had arranged to stay at a condo at Big White Ski Resort and had purchased a plane ticket to fly out on September 3rd. Next came organizing movers, finding work in BC, and packing my stuff. I won’t say that the move was easy. Plenty of tears were shed for the folks I was leaving behind, and it was a scary proposition to uproot myself and go to parts unknown. But, what an adventure!

The Rockies from the plane

Kelowna from the air

I had never been further west than Manitoba, and here I was, flying over the Rockies, in awe of the magnificence of this mountain range that just seemed to go on and on…  The hours spent on the plane, watching the landscape pass by below, gave me time to wonder at the monumental decision I had made. Here I was, moving on my own away from the province where I had spent most of my life, having moved to Ontario from Quebec when I was five years old. What was I doing, moving to BC? All I knew was that I was moving where I was being called to go, and I would have to trust that, even though I knew next to nothing about Kelowna.

Touching down in my new hometown, I realized that I had been given a tremendous gift – the opportunity to live in a place of such beauty in all directions, with people who welcomed me before I even arrived.

Near the top of Big White, looking at the chalets below

During my last month in Ontario, I had sent out emails to yoga studios and other contacts provided me by friends in the know, and I felt encouraged by the responses I received. Brenda Wowk of Kelowna Hot Yoga Studio was the first to connect with me. Her warm welcome made me feel right at home, and I began teaching Yin yoga at her studio the week I arrived.

My first night in Kelowna, I drove for an hour up the dark mountainside to Big White, making hairpin turns, passing steep dropoffs, and dodging deer. In the morning, I walked to the top of the mountain and surveyed the range, marvelling at the green expanse before me. For several days, I drove up and down the mountain, exploring Kelowna and looking for a place to live, since the condo was a temporary rental before the start of ski season. My ears popped each day, during the sharp descent into the Okanagan Valley. I came to realize that the wildlife own the roads in these parts. One night on my way back up the mountain, I had to stop half a dozen time for deer crossing the road. During my forays into the city, I would drive around the ducks near city park. They are quite clear on their ownership of the road and are not the least bit fussed about traffic.

The ducks own the road.

In that same first week, I found a carriage house to rent in West Kelowna surrounded by vineyards, fields and mountains, bought a car, and began to make friends in my new community. I hiked in the mountains with Brenda, and with my yogi friend, Dawn and her three rescued dogs. I attended the Wise Women Festival in Penticton, where I became gloriously lost in the dark on the way home, finding myself at Okanagan Lake at midnight. I found a park near my home where I could sit on a bench and look across the water at Kelowna and take in the beauty of the lake and the mountains. I found myself laughing at the flocks of quail that would run along in front of me and hide in the bushes where I passed, looking much like old ladies in cocktail hats toddling off for their afternoon tea.

So, I take this adventure a day at a time, humbled and grateful to have been led here, looking to continue learning what my higher wisdom wants me to know, and recognizing that I am indeed taken care of, and that God/the Universe/All That Is reaches out to me through my mind, my heart, the mountains and the wind, and every smiling face that welcomes me, and all those in kindness who wish me well wherever I walk the earth. Namaste and blessings to you all.