Category Archives: Uncategorized

Strategies To Maintain Health And Well-Being

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Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
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For many years now, I have maintained a consistent everyday meditation practice and get out alone in Nature at least once a week, where I hike for a bit and then sit with the animals. This is akin to my place of worship, where I always walk away feeling recharged from connecting with Spirit. Sitting in the elements during the four seasons and watching the animals do their thing has taught me a lot about myself and other humans in the social environment.

After taking over a 20 year hiatus of working out in the gym, I finally rejoined last week because I realized I was missing having a place to go to exercise at a positive community connection. After investing in my own equipment and 20 years of being consistently inconsistent, and then a global pandemic, I realized I needed to get back to basics. Going to the gym was something that carried me through my adolescence for making healthy choices. The gym was a place where I could go everyday or almost everyday, in spite of whatever else was going on in my life. It was a good transition from school, home and life’s responsibilities. As I approach a half of a century in my life cycle, it felt like the right time to elevate my game in this way.

Also, I drink about a 100 ounces of water a day and start my day with a superfood green drink mixed with a shot of apple cider vinegar and wash it down with some other supplements like DSF, glucosamine, fish oil and D3 when cooler weather and darker days come about. I take a blend of Chinese herbs for seasonal allergies or if I sense a cold coming about. It might be all downhill from there, but my morning routine of meditation and the green drink are a great way to start the day.

Also, I do tai chi and qigong everyday. Doing these make for a great pre & post workout warmup & cool down, as well as moving and still meditations for mind-body-spirit connection. And being mindful of my thoughts and focusing on positive self talk has been a keep dynamic in this area. Writing, playing my guitar, harmonica and singing have all been instrumental strategies as creative forms of artistic expression that support health and well-being. It is my good fortune to have meaningful work, which is also a key dynamic for health and well-being. Getting a good night sleep is a key dynamic in my regular daily routine.

Swimming Into August With A Full Sturgeon SuperMoon, And The Clean Energetic Reinforcement Of Beetles, Bees, Caterpillars & Porcupines.

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Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels.com

A Full Sturgeon Moon will surface down the pike on August 1st. Given August traditionally being their peak seasonal catch, these fish inspired many of our ancestors to give this moon its name. This prehistoric fish’s survival power symbolizes resiliency. We all need to build resiliency, especially in this day and age because we are leaving an old world behind and a new earth is being born.

Of course, this Full Moon goes by many names. Depending on where humans inhabited the Planet, their names noted traditional observations from our ancestors. This will be the second consecutive supermoon. Supermoons are like regular full moons on steroids.

Today, we humans can stand to meditate on Sturgeon’s strong survival instinct and adaptability. They know how to stir up murky underwater floors and swim through them. Perhaps Dylan channeled Sturgeon when he captured the lyrics, “better learn how to swim or you’ll sink like a stone, fore the times they are a changin’.”

Also, animal spirit guides like caterpillars and beetles are good reminders about the tension of shedding our old skins to clear space for a renewed sense of self. We are living in a time of great metamorphosis. These creatures dig through the earth and are an integral part of the Web of Life.

All systems resist change, humans being no exception to this scientific principle. Normally, we don’t want to change, but the nature of the circumstances are requiring us to do this on the inside and out. One way or another, the soul of humanity is evolving. We might as well become more conscious of it.

During summertime, the buzzing around of bees cross pollinating are reflective of industry and a friendly reminder that hard work pays off. Given their associations with reincarnation, their longitudinal wisdom inspires us to hone in on their spirited guidance about organizing our inner and outer worlds. Doing this helps clear space for our own program development as evolving souls.

But it is wise to remember that life is sweet like honey. In the New Golden Aquarian Age of Diversity Within Unity, we need to balance our own unique soul expressions with group consciousness. The trick is to not get ensconced into our own individual worlds or the hive mentality. Too far in either direction disrupts the equitable fluidity of the yin and yang. Moving forward into a new world ahead means co-creating more equity in a more fair and just society where everyone can thrive.

Furthermore, consider looking at bees as psychic readers. Their energies are harbingers of busier times ahead. Specifically, their energies foreshadow that it will be even more important to build self care boundaries when heading back to school and back to business. It’s hard to say goodbye to yesterday, but bee consciousness can help us fly into new zones, with particular sensitivity to our expressions in creativity and sexuality. How do you want to move into the next season of your life?

Porcupine energy resurrects a sense of innocence, faith and trust toward life’s explorative path. They don’t draw their quills unless fear is present. Otherwise, they reflect an open and passive attitude toward discovery, as well as a playful, light-hearted approach in the process of being in the moment. Meditation on their skill at climbing trees is good energy medicine. Trees are like antennas on earth that connect to the cosmos. May we awaken our spirited connection to Father Sky and Mother Earth.

During this time, use the energies of Sturgeon, Beetles, Bee, Caterpillar, and Porcupine to reinforce alignment with resiliency, industry, letting go of who we were and awakening to who we are becoming. Stay open and receptive to the signs and synchronicities that will light your way. May we shift away from our fears and lean into a renewed sense of faith and trust.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Ari

Letting Go For The Sake Of Harmony

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Daily writing prompt
What could you let go of, for the sake of harmony?
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Harmonizing with my environment is a spiritual discipline. As I let go of my need to be right, harmony is welcomed in. For example, it just seems to disarm whatever defenses mechanisms I’ve fortified myself with on the inside, and then transforms into a more light-hearted sense of detachment. When I let go of my need to be right, there is an awakening of harmony.

Infinite Blessed Renewals Of The Sacredness of Everyday Eternal Moments

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I remember when an old friend once commented on a “missed opportunity” of a potential rendezvous that never ended up happening. It was in reference to another friend during a private conversation between us. But more poignantly, his attached emotion asserted a grieving for the dirge of a moment that did not go the way he wanted or expected. He’s not the only grown man I know that suffers from ‘mantrums.’ I’ve fallen prey to them myself. Ah, the clinging and grasping of life is the root of our suffering. We all suffer and suffering is merely part of the human experience, myself included.

Moreover, as expanding souls, it is natural for we humans to desire and want more. But it is also an opportunity for choosing gratitude for what is. Without this practice, happiness as a way of life is impossible. Even when we get what we want, it is a sad and lonely story on the inside of a person who remains hooked into the cycle of grasping and clinging. Self examination reveals this experience always leads to disappointments and the accompanying funeral procession. It’s not that I don’t have my moments here. It’s just that I tend not to get as sucked into them as I used to.

Even the committed optimist or followers of positive psychology fall prey to wanting to hold tight to what we fear we will lose. This is because it is natural to experience the tragedy of life that is not without its grieving and trauma aware process. Moreover, the same old friend once said to me, “Ari, I think you and I have different definitions of friendship.” And I agreed with him. Because his definition is more typical and normal, from an old world reality. From this perspective, it’s tit for tat, I’ll scratch your back and then you scratch mine. It’s as if there’s a punch in/punch out clock that keeps a tally of a friendship that is based on competitive acts. Who is one upping who?

Beyond this behavioral trap, I do have some old relationships that appear somewhat akin to basketball legends Larry Bird and Magic Johnson’s. It’s the kind of relationship where we don’t see each other or talk for years and then when they reconnect, it’s like we don’t skip a beat. There aren’t any resentments about the time stamp between our communication because neither of us are really keeping track. And if there were any feelings that need to be cleared up, this kind of relationship allows for a healthy conversation about it. If anything, there’s a shared experience of gratitude for the reconnection. You just never know what unexpected surprises or gifts the Universe might bring. When one door closes, another door opens.

Lets face facts here . . . All adults are like big kids. And like kids, we tend to act out. The old paradigm did not teach us effective ways to express ourselves, including how we communicate with each other. It has done a good job of teaching us to pretend and hide our true feelings, from each other but more importantly ourselves. Dysfunctional and deeply engrained behavioral patterns have taught us how to use what my “Aunt that likes to rant” has called “secret decoder rings” and how to manipulate and control each other- even in cleverly covert and subtle (or not so subtle) ways.

For example, if you are maintaining a relationship that is based on guilt driven motivations, that’s something to look at inside of yourself. If you feel like you did something wrong, based on someone else’s energetic output, that’s something to look at within yourself. Consider the ritual of gift giving. There’s nothing wrong with ritual. But the power of ritual awakens spiritually when it is done with a sacred connection and done so without a sense of expectation. But when the ritual is for the sake of ritual and the gifts have an underlying edge of expectation, there’s a difference.

As humans, we all get insecure, have attachments and want to be loved. So it stands to reason that we have a tendency to cling and grasp to FOMO (fear of missing out). Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics capture the sentiment here, “it’s sad funny ending to find yourself pretending you’re a rich man in a poor man’s shirt.” Accepting this tension of opposites, like the Boss would say, reveals “better days are shining through.”

Remember what we were taught as children: Stop. Look. Go. There’s a time and a place for running the hurry up offense, to use an American football metaphor. But most of the time we’re rushing through life, there’s no need to do so- particularly with regards to racing thoughts or what Taoism calls the Chattering Monkey Mind.

Be Kind To Your Mind Folks,

Ari

Expressing My Gratitude

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Daily writing prompt
How do you express your gratitude?
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Photo by Alexas Fotos on Pexels.com

The most important way I express gratitude is by setting an everyday intention and commitment to have an attitude of gratitude as a way of life. Every morning before I get out of bed, I remember this mantra before my feet hit the floor, and wake up expecting synchronicity. Also, I conclude my morning meditation practice by saying “thank you” three times. Practicing random acts of kindness without a sense of betting something back in return amplifies the experience.

As I go about my day, regardless of what my moods or feelings might be, I try to enjoy the little things. And even if I don’t, I work on appreciation, acceptance and even embracing what is. Yes, inner peace can be more challenging when any given situation is asking me to come out of my bubble or see the blessing that might be brilliantly disguised within the apparent curse. One way I have been pushing my edge with this is working building gratitude for and relaxing my judgments about provocative adult emotional reactions.

Positive self talk helps a lot. But so does allowing the negative self talk to pass with care as gently as possible without trying to push them away or throw them in the trash. I try to remember to have an open, passive attitude to whatever the moment calls for. Watching my thoughts and feelings like clouds and sometimes even thanking them for showing up helps me stay in a place of gratitude.

And I try to use “I-messages” as a form of effective communication. For example, if I am asked to do something at work or at home that I don’t want to do or having a hard time with, I’m getting better at asserting myself by saying something like, “I really don’t want to paint the house and would rather pay someone else to do the job. But I’m not unwilling to do the job and am open to having a conversation about it.” This has been hard for me because I don’t like disappointing people. When I do that, I find that it isn’t about getting my way, it is more about speaking my truth and then letting go of it so that I don’t build resentments. Sometimes, saying no is saying yes.

When gratitude is my inner state of consciousness, I feel less seduced by the clinging or grasping of whatever presents itself in the theater of life.

Spirituality As A Way Of Life

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Daily writing prompt
How important is spirituality in your life?
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I’m not a mutually exclusive kind of person, so for me there is no separation between mind, body and spirit. The soul realm is as real as it gets to a guy like me. As I moved through this journey of life, I have come to find the sacred in everything, even in the mundane. I look for the extraordinary in the ordinary, and watch out for the signs and synchronicities that light my way. There many paths to experience God(ess)s, Creator, Higher Self, Universe, the Tao- whatever semantics you choose to identify with. Sitting out in Nature with the animals, alone in the woods is where I feel most connected to Spirit. But I do get that feeling wherever I go. Sometimes, with humans- it’s in the eye of a newborn or even cloaked in disguise of a grown adult’s emotional reactions. There is so much beauty in our world, if only our eyes are open to it. And the dark is part of spirituality too. Taking the fight out of things and finding ways to co-exist peacefully with others is a key dynamic along my spiritual path. Seek first to understand, then be understood. I try to see beyond forms into the formless realm of souls and look for the inner royalty. When I forget, I remember.

A Full Buck Moon Digs Into The Earth and Kindles the Fiery Flames of Super, Dragon-Like Lairs of New Adventures

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Photo by Yoss Traore on Pexels.com

A Full Buck Moon will happen on Monday, July 3, 2023.

Meditation on the energy of Deer reveals gentle allurement into new adventures.

This moon will be the first of three consecutive Supermoons during the rest of the year.

And then the second arrives on August 1st, third on August 31st, and fourth on September 29th.

Supermoons are like regular moons on steroids.

This Full Moon goes by many names, including the Salmon Moon by Native Alaskans, Time Of Much Ripening by Mohawk, Blueberry Moon by Ojibwe, Squash Are Ripe by Algonquin and Hay Moon in Anglo Saxon culture.

Modern society forgets that pre-colonized Europe has Indigenous roots too.

Just like it forgets that early Christianity mixed paganism and shamanism into its teachings.

Christ Consciousness, which is an internal state of consciousness, is in alignment with these teachings.

Autumn Eclipse season will happen in October with a solar eclipse in the middle of the month and a lunar eclipse at the tail end of the month.

Eclipses are catalysts and always shake things up in our world and consciousness.

Also there will be two New (Super) Moons on January 21st and February 20th.

New moons are always associated with new beginnings.

A New Moon in Cancer will happen on July 17th.

Feeling safe is a good place to cultivate internally, especially right now.
In spite of emotional fluctuations, it is wise to learn to let go of the past.

Forgiveness will help avoid depression from thinking too much about things.

Having an attitude, chip on your shoulder or holding grudges are all self defeating.

Our perceptions of the world can be very subjective.

Giving yourself space to create distance without being bitter is a healthy form of self care.

A regal emotionally abundant manifestation will create a real sense of belonging in the world.

Do this with a healthy sense of detachment.

Remember the Q-TIP mantra by quit taking it personally.

Keep in mind that it’s still the year of the Rabbit according to Chinese astrology and will be until February 10th, 2024. And then, it will be the Year of the Dragon.

Dragon symbolizes power, change and spirituality and can awaken self-love and empowerment by tapping into your inner royalty and power.

Dragon represents masculine soul power or yang.

Consider Dragon’s connection to the Phoenix, which symbolizes the sacred power of the feminine or yin. The Yin and the Yang, masculine and feminine are at their natural best when flowing in balance with one another.

Give up the indoctrination that says that the light should defeat the dark or vice versa.

Can you imagine what it would be like to not have a nighttime to sleep at, or women living on the planet? Conversely, can you image no sunlight to walk around in or men around?

Equanimity of all energies are needed to sustain our well being.

Rabbit energy reinforces the calling out of our fears and a good reminder that what we resists persists. Its energy reflects fertility, the feminine powers of the moon, fertility and new life.

Do you need to start over in your life in a new chapter or even book?

May Rabbit inspire us to plan for a field of possibilities and make the necessary leaps and hops in that we need to make down the rabbit hole journey of life.

If you are paying attention, the outer changes in the world are resonating within your own soul. This magnifies the recognition that you can’t go back to the past, nor know with conviction what will happen in the future.

Also, the energy of Lizard is good medicine to tap into at this time. Use its energies to amplify your powers of perception, if you so choose to do so. It can awaken your dreams- even if you don’t dream at night, or remember your dreams rather, you can dream in the day.

However, if you become aware of your dreams, then you are lucid dreaming. If you have a lizard in your life that you connect with, study its qualities to learn more about yourself. Their energies can also help us trust your intuitive and psychic faculties.

Mediation on Lizard can reinforce the power to trust your own intuition over anyone else’s. Lizard is a powerful spirit guide to help us harmonize with our environment, through conscious dreaming to manifest what we want in our waking lives.

Envision a conversation between Rabbit and Lizard to examine any fears about what future possibilities might want to manifest. Remember to surrender and trust that the Universe will bring us to the shoreline, even if you have no idea of how that will happen.

Be mindful of control issues because this will be especially challenging but doable nonetheless, if only people oriented in this way choose to believe in and access their internal power.

It is good to have a game plan in the jigsaw puzzle of life.

But like John Lennon said, “life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” We can’t always control what happens to us but we can control how we respond to what happens.

Do this by letting go of the grasping and clinging to the status quo. Might as well get in alignment with the changes coming our way.

And there will be massive changes coming that will make the 60s and technological advances appear microscopic.

These seismic shifts are all connected to the New Earth Golden Aquarian Age that is unveiling before our eyes.

Yes, the world is on fire. But remember that out of the ashes, the Phoenix Rises!

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Ari

A Full Strawberry Moon, Spirit Of Gemini & The Rays Of Summer Solstice . . .

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Photo by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto on Pexels.com

A Strawberry Full Moon will happen on June 3 or 4, depending on where you are on the Planet. Like all Full Moons, our ancestors named them based on what energies they saw reflecting back to them as humans in the naturalistic environment.

May we reawaken their organic observations from their spiritual fieldwork, rekindle our co-regulative connection with Nature and reclaim divine wisdom from the Heavens.

For example, many Indigenous people from North America noticed the spread of wild strawberries at this time. In China, it is called the Lotus Moon and is also know cross culturally around the Earth as the Garden Moon, Planting and Mead Moon.

And then a New Moon in Gemini will happen on June 18, which reflects changes and spontaneity. May we perceive a safety net when thinking about our feelings and sharing them with others. Meditation on Gemini can support us in expressing ourselves and speaking our truths more effectively right now.

Perhaps we will keep a cool head rather than a cold heart because the latter can discourage others or come across like you are being dismissive of their feelings. Remember that harmony of thinking and feeling is important, although it is not always easy for these areas to align with each other in our soulful dance steps.

Right after the New Moon, the Summer Solstice will happen on June 21st. Energetically, this is a powerful time for manifestation of the new self that wants to grow outward and expand. This time represents peak sunlight because it is the longest day of the year.

Conversely, in the Southern Hemisphere, it will be their Winter Solstice and darkest day of the year. In death, there is rebirth. One way to heal polarity consciousness is to integrate these two opposite sides of the same coin into an aligned perspective of inclusivity and wholeness. If you buy into a membership has its privileges mantra, then what has secured an attachment into your energy field?

Remember the mantra Diversity Within Unity is the new path into a New Age and Paradigm. May we make this transition together as gracefully as possible. Regardless of how you identify- male, female, non-binary, gender fluid, LGBTQ or BIPOC; these are examples of Diversity Within Unity.

We are all part of one human family with diverse expressions. Besides, the psychologist Carl Jung wrote about how every man and woman have both energies flowing within our being. Jung called this experience the anima and animus.

Notice how the light and dark are always seeking balance because we can’t have one without the other. While there is more yang in the sun of summer, there is still a need for the yin-ward femininity of the moon. Without the softness of dark waters, the light would be scorching and blinding.

We are part of the Earth and also part of the Cosmos. Paradoxically, Mother Earth’s dirt is in our bones, and yet there is also stardust in our DNA. As one interconnected family system, may we realign with the rhythms of Nature and reconnect with the sacred ways of our co-regulative connection with the Earth and the Heavens.

Visualize the right and left hemispheres of your brain in fluid communication with each other because this promotes plasticity of the mind. You’ve all heard the saying that there’s nothing more devilish than fixed ideas or mental rigidity. That’s how we awaken to expanding consciousness.

Meditation on the picture above awakens the doubly gentle softness of a snail’s pace, as well as a friendly reminder to be berry kind to your mind, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Take care of yourselves everyone,

Ari

Whale Watching & Dolphin Tales Are Out Of This World!

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Photo by Kristen Bouse

A Full Flower Moon will happen on May 5, 2023. Of course this Full Moon goes by many names, but we all remember the old saying about April showers bringing May flowers. This Full Moon is also a Lunar Eclipse, which is the last of the Eclipse season. Another name is the Wesak Full Moon, where the Buddha’s energy shines powerfully on Mother Earth. As we have discussed in this blog, eclipses are powerful energetic catalysts that shake things up in our consciousness. They are disruptive to the status quo and get us to look at things differently. May we be inspired by collectively compassionate heads and hearts at this time.

With flowers come hummingbirds, who are effective cross-pollinators that are flying around now. In short, they really spread joy and love in our world. Flowers bring color to the show. And when we see hummingbirds hovering about, they dazzle us with aerial feats akin to some of the unpredictable, jaw dropping movements of UFOs that we see. For those of you who have experienced these, some of you have reported a humming sound that isn’t too far off the sound of a hummingbird hovering over your head, in my mind at least.

Speaking of close encounters, our family was on a road trip recently and spotted some shore birds, dolphins and a humpback whale fishing together along the coast. They were hardly a stone’s throw from the shore and we tracked them along the beach for quite some time. It became clear that they were aware that we were watching them and they put on quite a show by breaching several times for us.

It is an interesting synchronicity that whales and dolphins are mammals. Past storytelling reveals a time when they both lived on land, back when the earth looked different. Some circles say that whales used to fly in the air and other legends tell of a time when they, along with dolphins came here from other worlds, like the Sky People, ETs or Ancient Aliens. In shamanism, whales are said to be like a living library of our planet and dolphins reflect communication. Now that they both clearly live in the sea, we know water is a powerful conductor of sound. What kind of underwater communities and USOs do whales and dolphins know about?

Looking back on the material covered in this blog, we have discussed that stardust is in our DNA, that we are multidimensional beings and that we can influence our DNA. Like with meditation, our brainwaves change, which is a form of alchemy. The more we make meditation a way of life, including physical forms of meditation like Yoga, T’ai Chi and Qigong, we discover a new normal in the way we transform ourselves. Reiki and other forms of energy work shift consciousness, as well as produce new perceptual experiences with reality too. They open you up to your formless being, which taps into more of who you really are.

In mental health, we talk a lot about the power of Positive Self Talk. As humans, our brains are prewired toward negative self talk because it has served us in our ancestry. Just think about the days when saber toothed tigers and other predators were hiding in bushes waiting patiently for their next meal. We were organically tuned to react to subtle movements to keep us safe from being killed and eaten. Today, we have to work on facilitating the transition into our prefrontal cortex by finding new forms of shapeshifting and communication, which are examples of dimensional bleeding and vibrational shifts. Any mental fog will start clearing up after Mercury goes back direct after May 14th. What new vistas will open up as you reflect back on your old self?

In much the way you may be opening up to seeing beings from the spirit realm or beings from another planet, you are also learning to make the shift from negative self talk to positive self talk. The highly evolved Arcturians reportedly amplify this sentiment. Perhaps this is the next quantum leap in our evolutionary process- becoming Homo Luminous or returning to the “original lineage of light.” Kindly and gently keep in mind that further movement into Spring and Summer are powerful times for bringing manifestation into your life. It is a time for personal growth and expansion into your budding new self, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Till Next Time,

Ari