In This Issue »
December 2007
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What's Hot!
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Your Soul's Compass: What Is Spiritual Guidance?
A handbook for bringing forth the light.
Remember, when you order it or any product from my Website Store, 10% of the profits go to the Lionheart Foundation, which brings light and emotional healing to prisoners, kids at risk, and parents of kids at risk. In that way, your gift goes out to many people who need your help.
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Hay House Radio
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Tune in to my live Internet Radio show:
Your Soul's Compass
Wednesdays
10 am - 11 am PDT
Talk to us LIVE and learn more about how you can
live a spiritually guided life.
We'd love to talk with you. It's our great pleasure to be in
conversation with you as part of a global community interested in
spanning science and spirituality with the wisdom of the ages.
January programs are devoted to spiritual practice, beginning with a
program on how to create resolutions for your soul.
» Listen Now
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~ How to be a Harbinger of the Light ~
Rabindrinath Tagore was an Indian poet who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries. He died in 1941, when the world was experiencing the chaos of World War II. But his words still carry the timeless power of an illumined soul. What he might say about "what's new?" is that it's you…and everything around you. Regardless of who you were yesterday, or even a moment ago, YOU ARE NEW in this moment of time. And there is no better opportunity to appreciate the emerging light of what futurist Jean Houston calls the possible human than at the darkest time of the year. We are close to the Winter Solstice, when the hours of darkness and light are equal. And it's time now to celebrate the return of the light, even though it may not yet be obvious. As Tagore writes, that is faith.
But the faith he writes of is not passive. It is an active trust in a larger intelligence…whether you think of that as God, the Source of Being, or a unified field of consciousness. Like the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark, that is our task…to be harbingers of the Light. The deeper meaning of Solstice, Hanukkah, and Christmas is the same. We have to look past the darkness…that of our own shadows and those of others and the world situation…and orient to the emerging Light. In a practical way, you can do that by:
- Surrendering to what is, rather than rejecting whatever situation you find yourself in. Rejection only causes suffering. The old saying, "Whatever you resist persists" is patently obvious. Obsessing on any situation sinks you deeper into the quicksand. Trusting that the Light is there, even in the darkness, calms your body and mind so that you (with the collaboration of a larger intelligence) can find skillful means to create an optimized future. Surrender is not passive. It is a nod of head and heart to what is possible.
- Aligning to a higher power, rather than thinking that the entire fate of the world…or even a crumb of it… rests on your shoulders. Taking time out of your busy day for a walk outside, to read something inspiring, to pray or meditate, is akin to a baby chick breaking the eggshell and emerging into a world of unimagined possibility.
- Giving thanks for what you have is a way to recognize and praise the Light. Gratefulness heightens your receptivity to the good, and helps you feel your way into faith and trust that bear tangible fruits in the world. Gratitude is the seed of awakening to the possible. It is the plow that tills the soil of your being. Take a moment right now, and inquire deeply into what you are grateful for. Go beneath the surface things, until you touch the awesome Mystery of being alive, conscious, and a co-creator of life.
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~ New Years Resolutions for the Soul ~
Every year for at least ten years I've resolved to lose 5 pounds. In the overall scheme of things, those few pounds make precious little difference. And when I finally lost those pounds and a few more for good measure, nothing changed except that I had to buy new jeans. This year I'm making resolutions for the soul. These are intentions for letting the Light shine through. You can only do that if you know what blocks the light for you. Are you too busy? Do you tend to get carried away with a particular emotion like anger, fear, or envy? Choose one block to the light, and form a strong intention to work with it as an ally. If you're angry, don't act it out or tune it out. Take a few minutes to relax, to feel the emotion in your body, and to contemplate where it comes from and how it can be used to bring clarity that leads to skillful action. That kind of inquiry lets the Light in. If you're too busy, take action and devote at least two hours a week to rest and rejuvenation. Don't try to call me on Thursday mornings, by the way. I've signed up for a yoga class, which at my age is the best insurance against rusting in place both in body and in spirit.
Here is an in-depth course that you might be interested in exploring for your enlightened mind: Transformative Journey
The renowned Sally Kempton (Swami Durgananda for almost 30 years) writes: "How many of us have longed for the opportunity to practice and study with a powerful teacher and a group of committed peers yet find yourself unable or unwilling to put aside your career and family life?"
Meditation master Sally Kempton's Transformative Journey program is designed to fill that longing. It is a nine-month program for deep practice, study, and inner work that can be followed in the midst of daily life. Applications are being taken now for the cycle that begins in January, 2008.
Here's the vision: A group of thirty-five to forty committed practitioners work with Sally in retreat and via teleconference on a regular basis throughout the year. The goal is to become genuinely intimate with the Self, the being-awareness-love at the heart of all human experience, and to learn how to embody that awake Presence so that it permeates and strengthens our moment-to-moment lives. Designed for both immersion and integration, the Journey process includes meditation, contemplation and inquiry, yoga practice, writing, shadow work, writing and art. It offers a guided context for each person's unique, spontaneous, and grace-filled process of inner growth to unfold.
Students in the first two Transformative Journey courses report inner shifts that have opened them to a form of practical enlightenment, a truly lived, day-to-day experience of Spirit in action.
For more information on this exceptional program, please go to
www.sallykempton.com.
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Looking for a way to support a great cause this holiday season? Here are two noble efforts:
~ The Living Arts Institute ~
I meet many people in my travels who express the Light in delightful (pardon the pun) ways. This fall I was the keynote speaker for an event called Re-Imagining Our Future: Women Living Well Beyond 50, sponsored by The Living Arts Institute in Cape Cod, MA. Karen Dowcett, Founder and Director of the Institute sums up its work as, "The arts build the community as the community builds the art." Before I knew it, busy me had actually volunteered to be a board member of this not for profit organization. What moved me so deeply?
Consider the name—The Living Arts Institute (LAI). The word living captures the heart of this unique organization. They are absolute geniuses at creating active community involvement. I was amazed when 100 women…from their teens to their 80's, costumed in fabulous wise women garb opened the event with a sacred dance. LAI uses the power of the arts, and not just any art, but experiential and interactive 'art' to deepen connection with ourselves, our creative essence, and the entire human family. LAI's vision is to build community, health, and well-being through social and creative engagement—to turn up the cultural dial of people centeredness.
As a medical scientist I was delighted to find that LAI designs programming in response to cutting edge research. Their current program, Well Beyond 50™ slated for launching in the fall of 2008, is a fusion of creativity and science. It was created in direct response to a longitudinal study, the first of its kind funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Arts, under the direction of Gene Cohen M.D., PhD (Dr. Cohen was the Institute's spring 2007 keynote speaker). His study demonstrates that creative engagement improves mental and physical health, reduces pain, improves the immune system, and can delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease by five years. According to Dr. Cohen, the medical community can now understand the mechanism through which this occurs: research has documented the regenerative capacity inherent in the brain of those who are creatively engaged in later years. This is a landmark study in the field of aging that ultimately benefits each one of us.
We'd all agree that we need air and water quality for survival. But from this study we now know that social and creative engagement is as vitally important to our health and wellbeing as the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is a secret, essential ingredient in the recipe for living well at any age… childhood through adult years… and especially true for living well beyond 50. I see the creative engagement that LAI offers as a sustaining elixir that feeds a craving for mind, body, and spiritual connection. I believe in their vision, method, process, and program Well Beyond 50.
The time is now, the need is great, the 'medicine' strong. Here is a new model for living well into the future. I invite you to support LAI so that they in turn can support community through Well Beyond 50 on Cape Cod and as a model for communities nationally. The Living Arts Institute is giving us the gift of a method to engage creatively, build community, and live healthier lives. Please gift them in return and help bring this unique program to communities nation wide. Check out their Website at www.thelivingartsinstitute.org. What a great Christmas present a donation to LAI would be!
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~ Heartfelt Connections ~
"Heartfelt Connections is a simple, fast, and loving way to connect patients-in-need with people who care—one greeting card at a time."
It is a unique blend of technology and heartfelt compassion that allows anyone to share supportive, kind, and encouraging words with someone facing the challenges of blood-related cancers. It was created by Compassionate Communications, in a unique partnership with Hallmark Cards, to bring messages of hope to those who need them most. In addition to reaching out to individual patients-in-need, you'll also be supporting the financial well-being of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, San Diego Chapter in their pilot program, which will reach most major charities when they roll out their National campaign in March 2008.
If you would like more information please go to www.compassionatecommunications.com to learn more about the Heartfelt Connections program or call (760) 631-2631 to speak with Greg Voisen or Jennifer Godbout.
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Calm Mind, Strong Body, Awakened Heart:
Accessing the Power of the Mind and Spirit to Heal
January 18-20
The Sophia Center in Charleston, SC
One of my favorite places to teach is the Sophia Center, which lives up to its name as a place of wisdom and inspiration. Come and join me for the weekend—or give it as a holiday present. Times for the seminar are:
Friday: 6:30 PM /
Saturday: 9:30 AM - 6 PM /
Sunday: 9:30-12:30
For information or to register, contact:
The Sophia Institute
26 Society Street
Charleston, SC 29401
843.720.8528
www.TheSophiaInstitute.org
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Your Soul's Compass
January 25-27
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, MA
Join my husband and co-author Gordon Dveirin and me for our new and exciting training in looking for, discerning, and acting upon spiritual guidance. This experiential seminar…based on research with 27 Sages of diverse spiritual traditions presented in our book Your Soul's Compass: What is Spiritual Guidance?... encompasses timeless wisdom from eastern and western spiritual traditions.
For information or to register, contact:
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
P.O. Box 793, Lenox, MA 01240-0793
413-448-3400 / 413-448-3384 Fax
www.kripalu.org
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Can't get away for Inspiration? Listen from Home!
~ Interview on New Dimensions Radio ~
As I said to Michael Toms, co-founder of New Dimensions Radio:
"When we have so many destructive conversations occurring in this world, there is a loss of heart. What we need more than anything else are conversations that focus on the best of human potential, the best of possibilities within us, and our global future. This is what New Dimensions provides."
Check out the nine minute, New Dimensions Café streaming audio interview with Michael Toms and me entitled "Changing the World Conversation". Go to New Dimensions Café and scroll down to our interview. If you would like to subscribe to the New Dimensions Café podcast, which features many of the guests that appear on New Dimensions, it is available for a free subscription on the home page as well.
Also, their most recent one-hour program with me, "Finding Your Inner Compass," will be airing the week beginning Wednesday, December 26 through Tuesday, January 1. You can hear it streaming on the New Dimensions website that week for free, or download now for a small charge. You can also hear it on a station close to you during that week. Go to Listening Options for a list of stations that carry New Dimensions. You can find four other interviews with me as well. Just enter my name in their search engine to find them. All of these interviews as well as hundreds of others will remain in their wonderful archive. New Dimensions is working to digitize their entire archive of over 8000 hours of deep dialogues with hundreds of the most innovative movers and shakers on the planet. More hours are added to the archive every week.
» New Dimensions Radio
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