Tag Archives: Being Present

Venturing Down Old Roads With New Neurons

Posted on by under Consciousness, Uncategorized

After overindulging in food, drink and enjoying the fuel injected Detroit Lions atypically route another team on national television, my wife and I ventured to a reunion. En route down Thunder Road, a dynamic mix of 90s background music conjured up nostalgia from that era, juxtaposed with Billy Joel’s Scenes from an Italian Restaurant danced on in my mind.

When we got to town, we made a pit stop to eat at a local pizzeria that features authentic pizza. In the spirit of life being like one big surprise birthday party, we recognized old friends for an unscripted encounter. It wasn’t Mystic Pizza, but we enjoyed a heavenly slice of conversational exchange on life’s happenings and where are they now. This is a good time of year to come down into our souls and revisit our past connections, if only in other areas of consciousness like our dreams, visions and imaginations. Of course, being present is easy to avoid these days with the emphasis on virtual social media, 24 hour shopping, playing with gadgets and other distractions. While reconnecting in a physical way can be especially anxiety provoking, underneath that rock is an opportunity to breathe new air into old relationships and connections. While I can appreciate bowing out gracefully from old relationships that appear stale and toxic, it was also a great energetic opportunity to re-work and transform. My heart is pleasantly full from that.

In much the same way as the good n’ plenty of our citizenry, High School years were an interesting experience. In the dancing and mingling, we celebrated diversity in unity during our cross-constellation exchanges. Right Tao, isn’t everything old new again? Bearing witness to a theatrical cast of characters – it was music to my ears to see that girls just want to have fun . . . but be careful because the floor is slippery when wet! I was in my element – trying my best to be mindful of organic opportunities to connect with peeps from back in the day. In my estimation, we consumed a co-creative venue to see old friends and breathe in fresh air. For yours truly, talking football with some old teammates was poetry in motion and a welcome nightcap. In the spirit of that, an old teammate gave me a bear hug that would have left any star NFL thoroughbred inundated.

Looking back, I walked away from the experience with the wisdom that you know you love your soul mate in their rank and beauty when you can laugh again at idiosyncrasies that once drove you nuts. In true Hollywood fashion, the romantic ideal of finding your soul mate reads like a Utopian fairy tale with a happy ending. But the reality of taking a road trip together and sharing balanced conversation without the aid of technological audio to fill in the airwaves is music to my ears. When we can authentically gaze upon our partner with the viewpoint that we are mirrors for an other’s soul development, we bear witness to As Good as it Gets.

In learning to live on Earth in this way, I am thankful for the infinite spirited blessings of this season. Tis the season to meditate on gratitude and letting go as we embark toward the darkest night of the forthcoming Winter Solstice. And while it is natural to over-indulge during this time, it is also a good time to clean out.

Be Well,

Ari

Buzzing with Bee without getting too stung up

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Shamanism, Uncategorized

Bees embody busyness and symbolize being industrious, concentration, activity, group communication and connection with family and social networks. Their energy forecasts busy times ahead. Bees are productive members of our worldly society and make honey, the elixir of Life. Drinking in their energy reminds us that Life is sweet, as Bees represents wealth, prosperity, and hard work paying off. When we see bees, we might “bee” prompted to organize and structure our outer and inner worlds. Their spirited teachings also reflect our need to live for our shared collective consciousness.

In our developing World, Bees inspire an awareness of cooperation and competition in our work and interactions with one another. Bees communicate that good business practice means “one worker, one vote in a competitive, profitable enterprise. But the profits don’t go to the top, they go to every person that has a stake in the enterprise. So you have everybody invested in the company, everybody wants it to succeed. If it operates in this matter, you don’t have bitter labor fights, you don’t have companies going under, employees losing their jobs and executives becoming millionaires. Instead, you have a lot of people making a fair salary.” I hardly think any Bees would be sued for being effective whistleblowers for the sake of the betterment of the hive. As humanity wakes up to win-win interactions in our work and play, we open up to welcoming abundance in our affairs. We all have gifts to share in our contribution to a more fair and just society.

Bees also symbolize reincarnation. Being present in this area facilitates communication with the dirge of our old selves, reminding us of who we used to be. Sometimes, it can be hard to let go of who we once were. “That’s just the way we’ve always done it.” We might find ourselves neatly packaged in a box of how others think we should be or how we see ourselves. But learning to trust and let go of the process of our unfolding is good medicine. Is your soul asking you to fly into new zones? Are you producing enough or enjoying the fruits of your labor? Are you so busy that you never have time to do what you want? Are you pregnant with an idea, fertile with your creativity and/or need to examine your own sexuality or attitudes toward sex in general? “Speaking words of wisdom” it’s OK to “let it be”.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink”. It is good to remember that the Kingdom of Heaven is within our Being. Sometimes, picturing a waterfall or even going for a swim cools us down to see the forest for the trees. This also has a cleansing effect on our mind-body-spirit so that we do not get too submerged. Consuming the energies of Bee and the New Moon on Monday can help you stay connected and in alignment with your soul’s sacred journey while on Earth. Trusting that the Universe will provide and unfold as it needs to helps us drink in Life and quench our thirst for action and results. Sometimes it is challenging to sit with tension that arises from our expectations that we will enjoy the fruits of our labor and see the results of that hard work. Being consumed with anxiety can block us from allowing ourselves to stop and smell the roses. Please give yourself permission to do whatever you can to “be here be now” in your travels.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari

Father Sky-Mother Earth Meditation

Posted on by under Consciousness, Meditation, Native American, Shamanism

Here is a meditation that helps us integrate the energies of the heavens and the earth into our Being. In this way, we co-create Heaven on Earth by becoming living conduits in this process.

–Find a space outside and get into a comfortable sitting position on the ground.
–Breathe in slowly through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth, while feeling your belly expanding.
–Imagine the energy from the cosmos entering in through a tube in the top of your head (crown chakra) as you inhale.
–Imagine the energy flowing down though your body and exiting your buttocks (root chakra)–with a slight squeeze, as if you are going poop and flushing through a tube into the earth.
–Take turns reversing this process so that your inhalation and energy arrives from the ground up and exits from the top of your head during your exhalation.
–You can also integrate your heart chakra area by circulating the energy to enter and exit this area and work that into the feedback loop cited above.

What do you notice about your connection with Nature after this meditation?

Embracing the Darkness of Night with Panther as our Guide

Posted on by under Consciousness, Native American, Uncategorized

Barely a cat’s pounce from a New Moon yesterday, we are reminded of how Fridays and New Moons carry “such promise”. Panthers are big cats and their energies reflect an authentic expression of our souls. Spring, New moons and Eclipse Seasons are a time to let go and release old toxicities and breathe in new air and cleaner intentions. It is a time to manifest, get in alignment with Nature and welcome the spirited energies streaming in right now. It is a time to allow the shadowy attachments to doom and gloom gently pass with care, while at the same time allowing the light to illuminate those dark caverns and flower into the light of day. Meditation on Panther aids us in acquiring and accessing the skills to flex our physical, mental, spiritual and psychic muscles and silently pursue our goals. While it is true our World needs more openness and transparency, sometimes being too public about our goals undermines their power and decreases the likelihood for manifestation. Use the rising intensity of this time in Nature’s cycle as mage wind at your back to welcome your goals into fruition. Nature spirits abound right now, so getting outdoors and heeding their wisdom, even in the backyard is good medicine. Boarder and edge areas at dawn and dusk are especially active times to perceive their energies. Consuming Panther medicine invokes clairaudience, sensitivity to touch and sensuality. Given they are members of the Cat family, their energy reminds us of the mystery and magic of everyday life and knowing how to effectively navigate the dark. While there is a reality to a darkness on the edge of town, we also hold into our Being the light of consciousness. In every breath we take, we are mindful of the twilight of night and the breaking dawn of day.

In the paper today, there are tales of our war and wasteful ways. But in this crowded house, there is room to clear and expand. The intensity is rising, giving us a sobering reminder to radically shift gears into the present moment. What would happen if we, in our politics of living, curbed our appetite for destruction and shifted instead to the key of inner peace and unity as a way of life? We have much Karma to clear, particularly in America. In our spring cleaning, we need to dust away our weapons of mass destruction in peaceful and non-violent ways. The “tinder-boxes” of the Middle East and North Korea are brush fires waiting to happen and some are licking their chops at igniting that possibility. But we all have our part to do by clearing our inner pollution by visualizing and holding the feeling inside of our Being that an alternative scenario is preferred and real. Perhaps we are an endangered species. However, we have amazing powers, adaptability and survival instincts at our disposal. Our family system is quite capable of moving mountains together as one. Honoring our Mother on Mother’s Day and celebrate the sacred garden that nourishes our capacity to play with form while we are incarnated here facilitates this process. May we look forward to being fed by the next Full Moon on the 25th of this month. Soon we see the peak of light on the Summer Solstice later on in June.

In our daily ascension onward, may we allow Panther to help us dig our claws into our Mother Earth by reclaiming our forgotten power during our slumber. Waking up to our divinity makes us purr on the inside and radiate that outward for the whole Planet and Universe to receive. True, you can clean your room when you are angry. But you might want to compost the anger into an organic mulch first, otherwise you are likely to pollute the same room that you just cleaned! Panther wakes up our Kundalini ( a.k.a. Libido, Life Force, Chi) so that we transmute our pain and suffering into healing. Connecting with and tuning into the positive mystical vibrations amplifies and resonates our collective souls. Staying in alignment with this energetic pattern will help us wake up our right brains and move further into the intuitive realm of our consciousness. In this space, we envision and co-create realities not otherwise imagined as possible. As the power of the old grid fades, new crystalline grids are rising. There is a primal free energy from the Chakras of our Planet and Universe throughout that we can tap into that flows like an eternal spring. Do not be afraid of the dark. Meditaton on Panther will help you light your way.

See you further on down the trails,

Ari