David, Joelle and Johnnie Besnette

March 5, 2008
The Power Of Privacy

A desire for seclusion may come over you today as you question the disassociation you feel from life’s rigors. You may be in a quiet and reflective mood that compels you to put aside your obligations for the day in order to seek out the soothing embrace of a private personal space. The lingering effects of recent stresses can weigh heavily on your heart and mind, leaving you feeling exhausted, tense, and distracted. Time spent in solitude may provide the perfect antidote. There, away from worldly stimuli, you can look within yourself in order to determine the cause of your anxiety. You may discover today that your yearning for rest and relaxation was not a passing fancy but a very real need communicated to you by your body and your mind.

Each of us needs to retreat into a private place from time to time to recharge our physical, intellectual, and emotional batteries that are drained by our many worldly endeavors. Many people fear this type of isolation, however, because they are unsure what notions will arise from the quagmire of their unconscious minds when they do not have the noise of the world to shield them from their innermost thoughts. Privacy and solitude afford us an opportunity to rest after periods of intense labor and reconnect with the quiet voices of our inner selves. When alone, nothing will come between us and the rejuvenating powers of deep, introspective reflection. The solitude you sink into today will provide you with the peace you require to understand the true nature of your needs.

From the Dailyom.com

Right Where We Are
Enlightenment At Home Many spiritual seekers feel called to far-flung places across the globe in the interest of pursuing the path of their enlightenment. This may be the right course of action for certain people, but it is by no means necessary to attain an enlightened consciousness. Enlightenment can take root anywhere on earth as long as the seeker is an open and ready vessel for higher consciousness. All we need is a powerful intention and a willingness to do the work necessary to move forward on our path.

In terms of spiritual practice, at this moment there are more tools available to more people than at any other time in history. We have access to so much wisdom through the vehicles of books, magazines, the Internet, television, and film. In addition, the time-honored practice of meditation is free, and sitting quietly every day, listening to the universe, is a great way to start the journey within. There is further inspiration in the fact that the greatest teachers we have are our own life experiences, and they come to us every day with new lessons and new opportunities to learn. If we look at the people around us, we may realize that we have a spiritual community already intact. If we don’t, we can find one, if not in our own neighborhood then online.

Meanwhile, if we feel called to travel in search of teachers and experiences, then by all means we should. But if we can’t go to India, or Burma, or Indonesia, or if we don’t have the desire, this is not an obstacle in terms of our spiritual development. In fact, we may simply be aware that our time and energy is best spent in our own homes with our meditation practice and all the complications and joys of our own lives. We can confidently stay in one place, knowing that everything we need to attain enlightenment is always available right where we are.

From the Dailyom.com

Making Life Work For You Sometimes we have so many varying responsibilities in our lives, ranging from work obligations to caring for children to running a household, we feel we cannot possibly make it all work. We may feel overwhelmed in the face of it all, ending each day feeling hopelessly behind schedule. However, regardless of how frustrating this can be, these are the parameters that make up our lives, and we owe it to ourselves to find a way to make it work. Rather than buckling under the pressure of an impossible to-do list, we might take a moment to view the larger perspective.

Like the president of a large organization, we must first realize that we cannot do every job ourselves. The first step to sanity is learning how to delegate some of the responsibility to other people, whether by paying someone to clean our house or trading childcare duties with another parent. In addition, we might find places where we can shift our expectations in ways that make our lives easier. For example, expecting ourselves to create a healthy home-cooked meal every night after a full day of work, errands, or caring for an infant or toddler may be a bit excessive. We might allow ourselves to order in food once in a while without any guilt. Accepting the adjustments needed to make our lives work is an essential ingredient to being at peace with our situation.

At the end of the day, we must come to terms with changing what we can and accepting what we cannot change. Sometimes the laundry piles up, a sick child demands more of our attention than usual, and we temporarily get behind with our schedule. Accepting this momentary state of affairs and trusting in our ability to get back on track when the time is right, we gracefully accept our life as it is, letting go of perfectionism and embracing life as it stands.

(from the DailyOm.com)

Gathering Our Straying Thoughts
Centering Ourselves When our thoughts are scattered in several directions at once and we are no longer conscious of what we are doing or why, it is time to center ourselves. When we center ourselves, we begin by acknowledging that we have become spread too thin and we are no longer unified inside. Our thoughts might be out of sync with our feelings, and our actions may be out of sync with both. The main signs that we need to center ourselves are scattered thoughts and a feeling of disconnection or numbness, as if we are no longer able to take anything in. In addition, we may feel unfocused and not present in our bodies. Centering ourselves is a way of coming to terms with all the different energies within us and drawing them back into ourselves.

Centering yourself means that you are working from or being aware of the core of your being in the solar plexus area of your body. At first it may not make sense, but as you progress you will understand what this feels like. We naturally know how to center ourselves when we take a deep breath, for example, before making a big announcement or doing something big. Another way to center ourselves is to sit down and engage in breath meditation. We can start by simply getting into a comfortable upright position and noticing as our breath enters and leaves our bodies. Our breath flows into our center and out from our center, and this process can serve as a template for all of our interactions in the world. In conversations, we can take what our friends are saying into the center of our beings and respond from the center. Our whole lives mirror this ebb and flow of energy that begins and ends at the center of ourselves. If we follow this ebb and flow, we are in harmony with the uni! verse, and when we find we are out of harmony, we can always come back into balance by sitting down and observing our breath.

When we sit down to center ourselves we can imagine that we are gathering our straying thoughts and energies back into ourselves, the way a mother duck gathers her babies around her. We can also visualize ourselves casting a net and pulling all the disparate parts of ourselves back to the center of our being, creating a sense of fluid integration. From this place of centeredness, we can begin again, directing ourselves outward in a more intentional way. What do you think?

From the Dailyom.com

“Demands on your time can make you weary now, for no matter how much you do, it may not feel like it’s enough to please others. This could leave you feeling empty and frustrated, unless you shift your focus. Instead of trying to please anyone else, set realistic goals and then just do the best you can.”

Definitely feeling like there are a lot of irons in the fire…but I guess that’s a good thing!

Ashrita Furman has a great story about how mind, spirit and body are connected. He has the “record for having the most world records” and his story is quite interesting. You can read about him here

Loving Presence
Surround Yourself With Love

In our everyday life we are surrounded by a variety of people. Some of the people we deal with on a daily basis are a joy to be with, and their loving presence nurtures and encourages us. Others may have the opposite effect, draining us of our energy, making us feel tired and exhausted. Our well-being can be easily influenced by those around us, and if we can keep this in mind, we will have greater insights into the quality of our social interactions and their energetic effect on us.

Once we think more deeply about the people we interact with, it becomes easier for us to work toward filling our lives with people who help us cultivate healthy and positive relationships. Even though it might not always seem like we have much control over who we are with, we do. The power to step back from toxicity lies within us. All we have to do is take a few moments to reflect on how another person makes you feel. Assessing the people we spend the most time with allows us to see if they add something constructive to, or subtract from, our lives. Should a friend sap our strength, for example, we can simply set the intention to tell them how we feel or simply spend less time with them. We will find that the moment we are honest with ourselves about our own feelings, the more candid we can be with others about how they make us feel. While this may involve some drastic changes to our social life it can bring about a personal transformation that will truly empower us, since ! the decision to live our truth will infuse our lives with greater happiness.

When we surround ourselves with positive people, we clear away the negativity that exists around us and create more room to welcome nurturing energy. Doing this not only enriches our lives but also envelopes us in a supportive and healing space that fosters greater growth, understanding, and love of ourselves as well as those we care about.

This was from dailyom.com

“Money can help you and help people. But I’m against the idea that having money is the only way to be happy.”

- Thich Nhat Hanh

If you just look at all that already exists in your life, all that you already have: unlimited air to breathe, ample lighting to see, music to hear, books to read, stars to dream by, trees to gaze at, floors to dance on, friends to cavort with, enemies to befriend, strangers to meet, woods to walk through, beaches to comb, rocks to scale, rains to cleanse you, rivers to float you, animals to comfort you, you do have to admit, David, there’s more of it than you could ever, ever, ever spend. But try anyway.

Big shot,
The Universe

Have you noticed how lacking clarity, is clarity itself? How, if you aren’t sure about something, that alone, has meaning? Honor uncertainty. It’s the seed from which all-knowingness comes. Give it time.

Clearly,
The Universe