2 Free Classes in September

Greetings! With the changing of the seasons near, I am shifting my work focus to my Intuitive Energy Guide practice. And I have two free classes I’m offering for you to get a taste of the variety of work I offer. Both of these classes are more about you experiencing your energetic self, than they are lectures. While I will share some basic information, these classes are examples of what a session with me is actually like. As space is limited, please RSVP: call/text 434-249-9786 or email elizabethbain11@gmail.com – Thank you!

September 2, from 7pm-8pm

at the Crozet Library (Group Study Room)

Heart to Heart: Connect with Your 4-Legged Friend

Through guided meditation we will:

• Open to a new awareness of self and other
• Feel our way through the interweavings of self and other
• Move to a space beyond words and open to a new level of connection

September 9, from 7pm-8pm

at the Crozet Library (Group Study Room)

Clear Your Perspectives: Prepare for the New Season

Through guided meditation we will:

• Open to a new awareness of self
• Clear our perspectives in all directions
• Discover and open to the infinite possibilities that are always available

Moving in Transition

Life is not static. There are layers of life that move at different rhythms within your being and your world. At times of transition, when there is a big shift in those rhythms, finding a way to stay in balance and connected to this earth plane can be difficult. The farther along I move through this year, the clearer it is to me that this is a pivotal year for me in many ways. So, I'm in the middle of transition right now, and I thought I'd share some of the ways I'm finding balance in this ever shifting time. Having danced all of my childhood, then found hatha yoga, flexibility is something that has always been present in my realm. Often, flexibility is thought of only in terms of the physical body, but flexibility is a state of being. Flexibility is being in touch with the movement of energy, whether that is tangible in the physical body, or intangible in the form of thoughts, emotions, and patterns of relating and existing. Flexibility is being in touch with the elements you are, especially the water and wind, but also the fire, storm, and even the earth. There are rhythms everywhere and as change occurs, you can move your way through different rhythms to feel your way into the rhythms that suit you best in the moment.

So think of yourself as dancing through each moment, each breath even, and being aware of what feels good. Whether you want to actually dance around your room every day as you get going, or dance words through your being by singing or reading aloud words that resonate with you, do what feels good to you. Know that if you're uncomfortable, you can keep moving to find your way into a place more comfortable.

If dancing or singing/speaking doesn't feel like the rhythm for you, breathing exercises are something else to try. Alternate nostril breathing is an easy way to clear and balance yourself and only takes a few minutes and breathing which we all do.

As we near the summer solstice, there is plenty of light to draw in to support your transition. Focusing on the energy of the solstice, the changing angles of the earth to sun, provides added strength to your own changing angles.

Flexibility exists in each step, each thought, each emotion, each breath. And moving in transition is just one movement of the symphony that is your life. Smile, be gentle and kind with yourself.

Namaste

Cosmic Shifts

New moon, solar eclipse, and vernal equinox all happening today! If you're feeling overwhelmed today, take a few minutes to read through this guided meditation and be kind to yourself. At this halfway point between the longest night and longest day, settle into your heart.

From this vantage point looking in all directions and across all time, sweep the view clean with your gaze.

Breathe the power of the stars above, the planets, the sun eclipsed by the moon.

Feel the answering light within you shining brightly into the multiverse.

Listen closely for the voice deep within that speaks only the language of love, the voice calls your true name.

Hear your name and sing the song you are.

Breathe out all that no longer serves your true purpose.

Sing the song you are.

Join the celestial symphony and draw this music into your body and into your world.

Feel each note as it shifts your vibration.

Feel your light find a new balance.

Open to the All.

May you find ease in change,

may you find light in dark,

and may you find love.

Namaste

Finding Center

Here we are halfway through the month of March with a solar eclipse, new moon, and the vernal equinox all in the next week! All that planetary movement in a very short window of time...Friday is going to be a busy day in the universe. With all that dancing of planets, staying centered this month seems to be a bit of a challenge. In this human experience change is a constant, but we often look at it with a negative slant and end up tying all sorts of emotions to it, creating a tangled mess. Day to day life is often flying by at such a fast pace that we’re overwhelmed just trying to get through a day. There is support all around and even within, but we have to remember to pause, notice it, and feel it. Here’s a guided meditation to find some support.

Close your eyes and settle into your body, breathing comfortably, gently.

Feel your feet connected to the ground and feel that connection reach deep into the earth.

Feel yourself in a vertical pillar of white light connecting you to the earth below and your higher self above.

Breathe gently and allow your entire being to draw into alignment within this pillar of light. Feel the light not just surrounding you, but within your physical body.

Stay here, breathing in this place or state of alignment for a few moments and just feel all that is.

Comfortably supported in this alignment, feel and hear big March winds pouring through your being.

Whether they come from behind, in front, or the side, feel the power of these winds clearing all of your being.

These winds bring change, freshness, a new perspective.

And in this place or state of alignment, allow the change to be just that, change.

Stay here for a few moments just breathing, being.

Gently breathe back into your physical body in the now and notice how you feel. What is different? What is the same? No judging, just noticing. Know this is you as you are. Know that you can return to this whenever you need to.

In these busy times, be kind to yourself and others. As we hit the vernal equinox, feel the balance of dark and light and allow that balance into your whole being. And remember you are Light.

Namaste

In the Midst of the Ordinary

So often, in today's world, the special is celebrated to such an extent that the ordinary is ignored. The ordinary is where we really live. We breathe. We feel. We connect. The wind blows, the rain falls, the sun shines, the clouds billow. We eat. We sleep. We are. But instead of thinking of special and ordinary as two separate entities, what if we think of them as just two aspects of life, the whole? What if we leave that dualist thinking behind, shifting instead to the All? There is always change. While there are special points along the way that we use to denote the change, we don't have to focus on those markers. We can choose to focus on each moment. We can choose each moment. We can co-create. We are the change. So why do we even need those markers? They just detract from the moment.

So while you're drinking your morning coffee/tea, feel the mug in your hands, the hot beverage on your lips. Smell the aroma of the steam and feel it moisten your face. Feel the heat slide down inside you. Feel your feet on the ground. Choose gratitude for this human experience. Choose to smile, to shine.

While you're standing in line at the store, hear all the sounds surrounding you, the symphony of humanity. Feel the support of the earth below your feet, holding you up. Feel the light shining from within you. Choose gratitude for this human experience. Choose to share your light with this world.

In the midst of the ordinary, remember the magic that we are all One.

Namaste

New Year Full Moon

Last night the full-moon-deep-dark shadows danced across the fields as the big winds swept through. Full moons are a time of release. Wind is an element of clearing. The pairing of full moon and big winds is a powerful start to this new year. Yes, we are almost a week into the new year, but as with most points of change, there is a window around the actual point of change where we're adjusting. We exist in the space time continuum and thus we often experience change over time. Here's a brief meditation for bringing the new you into the now.

Close your eyes. Lean into the light of the full moon and the winds around you; trust there is support for you in every moment. Find that space of gratitude within you and allow it to connect with all that has made you who you are, past, present, and future. Breathe into your heart. Breathe gold light from over your head, breathe it down your body into the earth. Breathe brown light from the earth below, breathe it up your body to connect with the Source of the gold light overhead. Feel the shifting within as you come to a new balance, a new alignment. Pause for a moment and feel the new you. Smile and open your eyes gently.

We are barely into the new year and my practice is already changing. I have new rates starting February 1. And stay tuned for new services that I'll be sharing in the coming weeks. I, for one, am excited for this new year!

Namaste

Happy Solstice!

in the cloudy sky diffuse light this morningI walk feet planting me on the earth as pulses within and without all sync I reach deep inside and feel the light blossom filling me till I spill into the All shining ever brighter clearing away the debris drawing me into alignment opening me to the infinite

I call Air, Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, Stone, Metal, Ether, Star I call Light--welcome, Light

May you find the light you are and may you shine brightly. Namaste

Short Days and Long Nights, Where Is the Light?

As the sun rises later and sets earlier all while moving farther to the south each day, I feel a pull inward and a pull downward. While I love other beings, I also love solitude. And I need that time alone to really be the me that I'm here to be. The longer nights allow me to curl into a book or into dreamland, to shift my journeys from time with others to time with myself which is ultimately time with Spirit. That is my pull inward. My pull downward is the Earth calling me to melt into my surroundings. To fall into the All. While these pulls lead me to the same space, the journey to get there is different and I love them both. With shorter days, it is easy to feel that darkness is taking over. But the night sky is full of tiny spots of light. I think of how far that light is traveling to enter not just my eyes but my whole being, and how we just have the one sun so bright during the day, but so many stars during the night. When I stand staring up, I feel the light that is me reaching out to those pinpricks of light across the night sky. I am not alone for I am not separate. We are all light.

Here's an exercise to try whether you're feeling harried, out of sorts, or want a reminder of your true self. Take five minutes after dark to step outside.

Close your eyes and breathe into your physical body. Feel the edges of your physical body. Notice any and everything in this moment. Feel your feet connected to the earth below you.

Gently open your eyes and scan the skies slowly, noticing the many, many stars. Notice just how much light there is in the darkness. Pick one star, pause, and feel the journey of the light across the universe to reach you.

Close your eyes and feel a spark of light within you, breathe into that light, making it bigger, until it fills your entire being and shines out of you in all directions. Feel the light from the star you picked still pouring into you as you shine your light. Feel that you are the star. You are light. Revel in the light you are.

Gently breathe back into your physical body. Feel your feet connected to the earth below. Feel the air supporting you. Slowly open your eyes and notice what is the same and what is different.

May the light you are shine brightly! Namaste

Autumn Special

Happy November!I'm running a special for the next two months at the great rate of $1/min.

Need to ground, clear, balance? Shifts in members of the multispecies family? Need focus and clarity on a specific issue? Practical skills for balance in the now. Here's your chance to start creating the new you for the new year!

Autumn Special 120 minutes for $120 (savings of $40) You Choose: 60 minute sessions or 30 minute sessions Not living in central Virginia? No worries, sessions are by phone or in person. Payment is made at time of first appointment. Sessions must be completed by Dec. 31st, 2014.

Full Moon Invocation

With the moon close to us and full, today is a wonderful day for releasing. New moons are for setting intentions and thus, setting the path for manifesting. Full moons are for letting go, shedding, and aligning. The energies of the universe have been shaking things up in a big way lately. Not just in schedules not going as planned or wacky synchronicities appearing, the internal landscape has been shaken, too. I’ve been almost stuck, rather still in a fashion that is vaguely unpleasant. Old stuff has been popping up, and the new me has been floating in stagnant water trying to find a current or even a footing.

My walks are like breathing for me at times like this. The same is never quite the same since it is always new in the now. Seeing the same lines of ridges in the mountains, hearing the same birds singing, feeling the same earth under each footstep, gives me a footing, a rhythm, a sense of connection, for at least part of each day. And it carries me through the day. Once I’ve experienced something it is always with me. I can reach out and pull it to me, and wrap it around me or sink back into it or breathe it when I need to. This summer has been one of expanding, and while the pace has not always been comfortable, trusting that the pace is right for me in the now has become a little easier each day.

This full moon feels like the culmination of some big lessons, and today is the day to choose to complete those lessons by releasing them. Here is my full moon invocation for all of us.

I call the Angels from the North I call the Birds from the South I call the Water Beings from the West I call the Faeries from the East I call the Crystals from the deepest earth I call the Stars from the farthest galaxies May we release that which does not server our higher purpose May we align with Spirit in the Now May we open to the All May we be the Light of Love

Namaste

New Class: Cultivating a Garden of Light

Join me for a new class!Cultivating a Garden of Light Four Thursdays 7-8pm May 15, May 22, May 29, June 5

This class will be mainly guided meditations. We will work with the moon cycle, the elements, the chakras as we head toward the solstice to cultivate a garden of light within you. Each week we will work with some new meditations and continue our practice of others. This is a wonderful way to deepen your understanding of your own energetics, to build and/or deepen your own practice of meditation, to cultivate your awareness of the light, to draw the light into your daily life. Whether you're looking for support staying in the now, manifesting, or new meditation experiences, join me for these explorations in light.

Cost: $60 Location: Downtown Charlottesville with parking

Please email me at elizabethbain11 gmail com to sign up or with any questions. Please share this with anyone you think might be interested.

A Garden of Light

Last week I got to see Philip Glass perform some of his own works at Old Cabell Hall at UVa. It was wonderful. He came across as funny and kind in his brief chats between the pieces. And his music is enchanting. To hear him play it on a grand piano in a venue dear to me was icing on the cake. It was a free event, open to the public, you just had to reserve tickets ahead of time. It sold out, as expected, and after waiting in line to get in, we chose the balcony for the shorter line and a bird's eye view. What stood out the most after the music and the man, was the fidgety factor of the audience. Yes, it was an eclectic crowd. No, they couldn't sit still. I was reminded how multi-task oriented our culture is these days. If one is listening to music, it is more than likely not just to listen to music. I do spend time just listening to music as it is one of my loves. And when I am listening to music to listen to music, I am still. Still in my body, still in my mind, with all my senses open to allow the music in. The phrase that has been stuck in my head since this concert is "cultivating stillness." This phrase is used all the time when talking about meditation. It is spring, the time of cultivating and growing: spinach, peas, strawberries, fox kits, hatchlings galore, tadpoles, and light. We have passed the equinox and are heading toward the solstice. So this is the perfect time to grow our garden of light. Beyond cultivating stillness, let's cultivate light. Breathe to draw the light into our bodies. Open all our senses to the light. Whether it's sad news, physical pain, the constant feeling of not enough (time, money, happiness, you name it), draw in the light. If it's joy, delight, endorphins rushing through the body, feeling the flow, draw in the light. It's what we're all made of. When we take the time to call it in, we shift into a different pattern, into the All. It is a different way of being. And since we're human beings, not human doings or human havings, let's give this way of being a whirl.

Enjoy your music. Enjoy your spring. Enjoy being. Namaste

Special Offer!

I'm offering HALF-PRICE sessions until the end of April.30 minute session: $20 60 minute session: $40 Sessions must occur and be paid for before the end of April. Check out my Services page for more information on my intuitive energy sessions and how to contact me to set up your session today!

Feminine Power

It may not quite be spring yet, but there is definitely the feel of spring in the air. Here in Virginia, we've had a bit of actual winter with 17" of snow falling in one fell swoop a couple of weeks ago and another 4 to start this week. Since then we've had the usual roller coaster ride of temperatures with the thermometer even reaching as high as 66 last weekend. But there is still snow tucked in the shady spots and on the northern slopes. It's that time of year and I've seen so many birds mating...bluebirds tumbling down a snowy hill, red-shouldered hawks busy in a tree, chickadees dancing with their wings splayed beautifully. I know where two active red-shouldered hawk nests are. And I discovered one active red-tailed hawk nest this week. I've also seen the fresh red dirt by the two entries to the former groundhog den that the red fox has renovated to make ready for her kits. In the natural world, spring is the time of the mother. The mother is definitely an important face of feminine power, but really it is just that, a face on an immense power that is beyond form. Sometimes in meditation there are these slivers of not-me that present themselves to my awareness. There are beings with faces I recognize as archetypes, there are beings I recognize as visitors from other realms with different energetic footprints. And there are powers who/that are beyond beings yet, from my existence as a being, I read them as still holding some essence of a being.

The times that feminine power has shown up for me have been varied. From specific meditations focused on feminine power to soothing assistance while working on self-healing to the great mothers of different animals appearing on my meditation walks. My experience of feminine power is as an energy that is woven within everything in the universe. Just as human DNA carries both the genes of the mother and the father, so too does all energy carry strands of feminine power and masculine power. I do not see the weavings of the universe so much as I know/sense them spatially.

The arms of feminine power are always open to all alike. The great mother loves all unconditionally, and is the power stretching up from within mother earth to hold us up when we can't stand anymore. The sisterhood is a tribe open to all who are dancing, whether gently or enthusiastically, to the rhythms of feminine power. The crone or wise woman is there to answer the call for the wisdom of the ages for everyone who asks.

While we often equate feminine with female, that is so limiting. We are all a magnificent, unique blend of both the feminine and the masculine. Outside of space and time, deep in the vibrations of sound and light, is the essence of One/All. This is not outside of us, but within each of us.

So here in this month celebrating women with March 8 as International Women's Day, the month that also heralds spring, breathe deep of the power that unites us all, and step forth in this dance of life knowing you are feminine power.

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the seed unfurls slowly steadily reaching for the light without as I reach for the light within gently breathing each strand brighter I grow ever larger ever smaller losing myself in the All

though there was never an I to lose

Namaste (This post was inspired by my friend Lisa over at MommyMystic asking for contributions on feminine power. Be sure to check out her collaborative post!)

Spring Cleaning Energy Class

I'm excited to announce that I'm offering a class to help prepare us for the new season. Spring is right around the corner, even if it is rather chilly and white outside today (in Central Virginia, anyway). This class will be a mixture of information on energy, the chakras, and the elements, along with guided meditations to clear, ground, and balance ourselves energetically. I'm offering the class two different times: Thursday March 13th from 7pm-8pm, and Saturday March 15th from 9:30am-10:30am. The cost for the class is $15. As we will be sitting for an hour, please wear comfortable clothing. If you would like to sign up or have any questions, please contact me at elizabethbain11 [at] gmail [dot] com. (I am spelling it out here to limit spam.) This will be an in person class, but if there's interest, I may offer a tele-class in the future.Namaste

Changing Time and Leaving Time

Last week I took the train to DC for a quick trip to visit my brother. Our plans were to walk and see birds, and that is exactly what we did. For mid January, the weather was mild and there was plenty of sunshine. And there were birds everywhere. One afternoon we walked miles along the Potomac stopping to enjoy the changing view of water, sky, birds, land. The colors shifting on the water as the tide moved in were magnificent. The sky blue, blue, blue. And the birds, oh the birds my feathered friends, so many of them. We saw great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, golden-crowned kinglets, lesser scaups, common and hooded mergansers, red-throated loon, American coot, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, cooper's hawk, red-shouldered hawk, bald eagles, Canada geese, black ducks, mallard ducks. There were more, but those were the highlights. When I walk right down by a large body of water with no high land close, I feel the size of the earth in a so-open-as-to-almost-feel-the-earth's-curve sort of way. With cars flying by not that far away, trains in the distance speeding up the tracks, strolling along the river slows down time. It's not just that you're moving at a different speed, a slower speed than most everything around you. You are actually changing time. We seem to think of time as a commodity, and in our culture it's always a scarce commodity. I like to think of time as just another strand of reality available for weaving any which way we can manage to weave it. So when I'm grounded, centered in my heart, and being (rather than doing), I can breathe hold of that strand of time and stretch it out so the weaving is big and open, and there's a whole new way of existing and experiencing. A place outside of time really.

After our long walk by the river, we stopped at an overlook. We were just sitting in the car looking down a grassy slope through a few trees to the water. There were some Canada geese on the bank and more in the water. Suddenly out of the bushes to our right came two red foxes at high speed, one chasing the other. The geese were startled and their reaction was delayed, flapping and honking as they flew down to the water. The foxes were perhaps 20 yards in front of us, quite close really, and they raced off to our left disappearing into a wooded area. The whole thing happened in a matter of seconds, those foxes were flat out running. Yet it was as if we had created a bubble around us with the foxes and geese in it, and left time behind to be fully in the moment. The first fox was missing some hair at the end of her/his tail. Their tongues were hanging out, feet dancing over the earth, tails flying straight behind them. We could see their hair move with each foot step. We carried on a conversation of mostly exclamations as we absorbed the experience. A high speed chase in mid mating season, a small piece of the dance. And all this happened outside of time. We wove a hole in reality and stepped away from time into being.

Lately there are messages everywhere that remind me to be, just be. And I notice that when I'm being, that's when everything feels aligned. Just be. And the All is right there, in you. Just be. Change time or leave it behind. Just be.

Namaste

Grasping Infinity

The limits of this physical world are nothing compared to the limits we create with our thoughts. If we create our reality with thoughts, it seems to me that most of us humans create limits in all aspects of reality. I recently had the chance to talk to some 6th graders about mindfulness and lead them through some guided meditations. It was an exciting experience for me and so inspiring! Beforehand I asked what exposure these kids had to mindfulness or meditation, and was told to assume it was brand new for them. That gave me an idea of where to start, but I went to this talk open to support from my guides and trusting that I would have help knowing what would work best for this specific group of kids. I started off talking about how we spend a lot of time in our heads--thinking, thinking, and thinking about thinking. And I mentioned that we are electromagnetic beings and that if you measure the electromagnetic field (emf) of the brain and the emf of the heart, the heart is bigger. I asked the kids to guess how much bigger the heart emf is. Someone said two, someone else 100, someone else 500, and I just shook my head no with each guess. Then one kid in the back row laughingly guessed 5000 and I said bingo! They were all surprised, especially the kid who was correct. It was as though 5000 was so large, it was unimaginable.

Just before I was introduced I found out that most of these kids love their nonhuman animal friends. So after a few short guided meditations with breaks in between for the kids to share their experiences, I asked if they all had a dog or cat or horse or guinea pig. I think all but one kid had some nonhuman animal friend at home and the one who didn't knew one who just didn't live with her. I guided them through a heart to heart connection and we just sat with it. During our sharing, several kids expressed the same experience. One girl said it was not like it was human to dog or dog to human, it was all the same. One boy said that it was hard for him to describe. I mentioned that true knowing, knowing in, of, from the heart, is beyond words. Words are rather limiting and it can be very difficult to find words that express a rich and deep experience. After thinking on it a bit, he finally said that it was like the connection was being to being, but that it was more than that and they weren't really words for it. These kids had an experience of the infinity that is the All. While we all sat there in our heart to heart connections, these kids were in the infinite Spirit for a few moments.

In quantum physics there is talk of infinity. And infinity is a facet of much of existence if we let it be. In every second, there are infinite possibilities. In each breath there is infinite healing. I'm pretty sure I could go on and come up with infinite examples. For these kids grasping that the heart emf is 5000 times bigger than the brain emf was difficult. But, by experiencing the heart to heart connection with a nonhuman animal friend, they actually grasped infinity beyond what many adults can grasp. With our thoughts creating limits, our words strengthening those limits, and with years and years of this, many of us adults cut off all possibilities but one in any given moment. We often cannot even manage to allow two possibilities.

Whether you have a regular meditation practice or not, just being aware of the limits we create and opening to infinity can drastically change your every day life. Unfurling like a flower to the sun, when we open to the infinite in each breath, each step, each thought, each task of the day, we are closer to the All. And with a little practice we are not just closer, we slip into the All.

Welcome to a new world, a world of infinite possibilities.

Namaste

Riding the Wave

While I have never been surfing on a board, I have spent time (years ago, now) boogie boarding and body surfing. The key to all of those activities is balance. My morning walks are hilly and my views on those walks are waves of rolling hills and mountains. I don't recall Thomas Jefferson's exact quote, but I believe he mentions his views of an ocean of mountains. As far as I may be from the Atlantic Ocean, I have waves of mountains right here to remind me of balance. In the last couple of weeks the pace of things has picked up for me. There is a sense of surging forward. I have opportunities appearing where there were none, and I'm feeling excited in a new way about my day to day work. Just this morning while I was talking to a couple of friends, I realized that it feels like I'm riding a wave. And maintaining my balance is key of course. There is a sense of alignment that I've noticed with these opportunities and my response to them feels natural. I don't have to think, I just know. I'm so grateful for this. But, just as with any time of change or transition, there is much to be sifted through and kept track of. Maintaining my walking practice, keeping my elemental support structure strong, and opening to the light that is the Divine always within me are all ways that I stay aligned and thus in balance. Reminders appear for me, support from the other realms, in the form of birds on air or water, spiders delicately moving about their webs, trees bending in a strong wind.

There is no rush, no sense of urgency in the time space continuum, when living in the now. I am on the wave, whether it is a low wave or a storm and tide driven high wave. I am balancing on the water with the wind and sun or moon on my skin. I am supported in this physical body by the elements of this earthly plane. I am sister to the birds and I am flying as this body was meant to fly. When your wave appears, breathe, move into your balance and just be you. A spark of the Spirit flying, lighting up life.

Namaste

New Earth Energy Exercise

These fall morning walks are so different from summer walks. The sun rises later, so I walk later. The deer are busy browsing all the greens they can still find before the frost comes. The birds are on the move. The leaves are on the ground as well as on the trees. The colors are shifting from so many greens to more yellows, oranges, reds, browns. So far this year, the colors are dull and spreading very gradually. The temperatures have stayed mild and after a very dry September, October has had some good soaking rain. When I walk I feel my energy sinking deeper into the earth with each footstep. I feel a strong, clear connection. And I have been exploring this connection lately. I find myself opening up to the earth's energies and allowing them to rise up through me, clearing anything muddied or stuck. I can feel each chakra shining more clearly, each layer of energy body more in balance and all in all, I feel aligned. As I've explored this, I've opened up my 9th chakra, which is about an arm's length above the head, and allowed the circuit to close. I am plugged in to the earth energy which is an aspect of Spirit. At the same time I have the current of earth energy running through me from below my feet, I am connected above my head to Spirit and there is a sense of wholeness and release. Release of my ego, my self. I am so completely vibrating the light of the universe, that I am no more. I have found that maintaining this closed circuit while I'm walking is similar to any other practice I undertake on my walks. There are times when it is easy, there are times when it is more difficult. But, in the end, whether it has been easy or difficult, it has happened. And even just a moment of that closed circuit is amazing!

I work with the elements, so I am aware of their power. But, this exercise still wows me. The quantity of shift as well as the quality of that shift is beyond anything I've found so far. In the past few days, I've added another component and I'm watching the unfolding now. I often use each step I take as a way to manifest. Each step draws the energy into this physical world. I've combined that with the closed circuit power and there is a sense of great support. I will continue this new practice and enjoy the unfolding of all that is.

Please comment if you try this and have anything to share or if you have any questions.

Namaste

Autumn: journey into dark

The Autumnal Equinox occurred yesterday and it is now officially autumn here in the northern hemisphere. We are halfway between the longest day of light and the shortest day of light. And light being what we are, it is on my mind--a lot. The world as we know it these days is very much a world of dualities. But these dualities are just part of the illusion of separation from the divine. My walking meditation is firmly rooted in union. With each step I merge with the earth. With each breath I become air. The boundaries of skin and bone, body and mind vanish as I am no more. Becoming aware of this oneness, I lose myself. Or really, the I that I am becomes the All that I am. I am found--within the divine, of the divine. As the amount of light each day slides away, the darkness presses firmly in on both ends of the day. One of my favorite times is actually that window where the earth is just turning toward the sun or just turning away from the sun--sunrise and sunset. There's a lull of time with the dawn and the gloaming. It's light but not light, dark but not dark. It's a floating of light and dark. And for me these times are the reminders that if all is light, then dark is light, too. Dark is but an aspect of light, just as colors are aspects of light. While this may be simplifying things, it is the easiest way to bring it into awareness.

I normally walk in the early morning and on sunny days I notice all the shadows. Shadows of trees, birds flying overhead, my body. I love it when I walk the fence shadows like train tracks. And sometimes it's my shadow walking the fences. Stepping into the shadow world is not dark. It's just a shift of perspective, kind of like looking at film negatives. And I find on my walks when I join with the earth, the air, the colors, that occasionally I am in the dark. As I walk in this darkness, there is no I. And even in this darkness, there is still only light.

With months to go until the shortest day of light, many walks stretch out before me. There are many shadows to merge with, many colors to become. And I will journey into the dark, knowing there is only light.

Namaste