The Act of Nothing

When was the last time you did nothing? Are you obsessed with productivity? Do you place your self worth on how much you accomplish and manifest? If so this blog may change your perspective. Our world supports productivity and often we feel guilty if we are not in the process of DOING. But what we often fail to recognize is that if we place into our day time some time for inactivity we actually become better grounded, often more energized, have clarity and focus and a presence of mind that is not bogged down with lists or exhaustion. Inactivity nurtures and restores our balance.

What message do we send to our bodies and our souls when we pause and seek rest. We send honor and respect to the needs of our bodies. We offer our souls time to be expansive or to be idle and in wonder. Healing often takes place in these times of rest. Introspection becomes an open door. Delight is can be found dancing during moments of peace.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that effort is important. If we lack that we then become beings who sit beside the side of our path waiting for opportunity to stroll by or for something to drop from the sky into our lap for us to work on. Truth is many times we need to put our intentions into actions. But not all the time. Spirit sometimes whispers and we have to be still to hear. Sometimes the need for sitting back in the grass and looking up into the clouds and breathing in the cool breeze feeds our soul more than any ritual or ceremony, more than any accomplishment or finished task.

Variety is the most important aspect of life we can embrace. It keeps us passionate and enthused. It keeps us balanced. It allows us to entertain new concepts and try on new approaches. If you are feeling overwhelmed, bored, frustrated or out of sorts…pehaps you need to just DO nothing for a bit. See if it does you any good. To change what is not working in your life you may have to do things differently and if doing nothing is something you would not normally consider…give it a try.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Digging Deep

"If you are ready to accept all which you find in yourself, you will be able to move through everything with deep sensitivity, awareness, love and understanding." ~Gerd Ziegler Open any self help book, speak to any motivational speaker, listen to any lecture about finding your spiritual path and you will at some point come across the words “Go deep within” to find….life’s lessons, inner gifts, true self…etc. But for many that is a very scary task. Often support is needed.

There is a fear of uncovering old memories, feeling the pain of hidden wounds, revealing negative behaviors, or exposing vulnerabilities. Not easy work. And often if not done with the right intention and with the needed direction…it can be disempowering and create results less than what we hoped for.

When working with a shaman the soul work is done in a way that brings about positive change. It offers healing energies. It sheds light to loss. It reveals ways to nurture, release and embrace in meaningful ways that the soul resonates with. Soul work does not focus on the unattainable perfection that society has created. Soul work is about embracing our wholeness without judgment or story filled drama.

As Julia Cameron so beautifully states, "Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need to fix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at some higher place. Start right where you are." The whole of who you are is what creates your beautiful individuality, adds the wonder to your life and the depth to your soul.

Working with a shaman allows your soul to receive the care and attention it needs. Life is often filled with trauma, loss, pain or suffering, abuse or neglect, even old labels placed upon us that we have owned that are not true. All this imprints a sort of energy within your soul and the shaman uses tools and guides to restore the soul, to heal it and to return its lost parts. This work must be done with great sensitivity, compassion, the greatest of love for the life designed for you and integrity.

Life shines brightly when good soul care is intact. Possibilities appear from realms beyond our recognition. Hope awakens within us. Struggles become manageable and we recognize our potential. A peace and grace fills us as we heal and embrace the whole of who we are. The “deep” work, done on a soul level creates the opportunity for us to be our fullest self.

Blessings ~ Lisa Meade

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

One Ordinary Day

I had to run errands today. Just an ordinary day. My busy schedule included grocery shopping, holiday shopping and more. The faces are what I was drawn to. So many different faces holding so many different emotions. Smiling faces made me smile back. It felt contagious. Twinkling eyes met mine and we smiled, nodded even gave the right of way to one another with grocery carts or at entrances. Holiday cheer was radiating from many faces as the hustle and bustle was carried with joy and delight. For them I allowed my soul to dance with. Our energies celebrated each other and we enjoyed our kindness and pleasure of humankind together as we faced the ordinary tasks at hand with a lightness and grace that flowed through and around.

Irritation and annoyance was also present in many knitted eyebrows and downturned mouths. Mere utterances from clerks as they checked me out, barely meeting my eyes when they handed me the receipt with an almost inaudible “thank-you” spoken in terse tones. I would imagine this is a taxing time to be a cashier, but so much of their attitude is setting the momentum of their day. For them I felt compassion as I have often had to pull myself out of a bad moment or a bad day and try to salvage it, try to rise above and make something good come from it. If anyone had offered me a small dose of compassion on those days, it would have carried me so far. And so I dosed it out today, like Mary Poppins and her spoonful of sugar.

Then there were those who simple were not engaged in any way at all. They looked like walking zombies, their minds and hearts elsewhere, vacant stares, plodding along down aisles with a step that lacked any intention. For them I felt the most love of all. Where had they lost themselves? What could be so heavy that their burden was obvious and palpable? My silent prayer of hope for lightness to rest within their spirit was made and I offered as much kindness as they would allow, if any.

One ordinary day spent among so many strangers, some more familiar than others. One ordinary day where I crossed the spectrum within my heart errand by errand, face by face, chance by chance allowing the ebb and flow of my spirit gracefully weave its way through the hearts of the community.

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Imagine If....

Imagine if today, right in this very moment, you were granted everything you have ever hoped for! Imagine! No waiting for it, no having to see if everything aligns, no having to wait for others to come on board, to have enough money-time-skill-knowledge…Imagine you are ready, the Universe is waiting with arms wide open and you can have it, NOW! What runs through your mind? Do you begin to celebrate, to move forward, to embrace all the possibilities, to live large, to pay it forward, to ripple outward? Does your soul shine even brighter, your heart beat faster, your steps quicken? Or do you begin to fret, to worry about if this is really what you want? Do you start thinking about what ifs and cannots?

Our thoughts create energies around our realities. If we believe in what we want and prepare ourselves for the manifestation of that and learn to trust that as it unfolds it will be the right fit for us…we eliminate many of the worries that people tend to carry around with them in life. We let go of the concern over what we cannot control.

The Universe holds for us the possibilities of everything we can imagine and more. Spirit holds us in radiance and brilliance. Love creates abundance in our lives. Those who achieve their dreams learn early on not to think about what they cannot do. They don’t fret over why it could be impossible. They never pause to worry about what might not happen. That simply puts the brakes on our potential and opportunities. Perspective is everything and intention is the rest.

We often do not believe in our selves as much as others do. We often carry stories around of being less deserving, less talented, not as skilled, even not as lucky as others. Truth is we all have amazing gifts within that go untouched or underused. We get in our own way with our negative thinking and our fear based beliefs. What if that were all to stop and what if whatever may BE actually happens? Get ready, it could! Imagine the possibilities and then allow them!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade