Living With Heart and Soul

I have come to believe that the heart and soul are the wisest parts of my being. In my youth and then later into my adulthood my learning skills, my academic achievements and my knowledge base were aspects that gained me applause and I shined brightly. But over time I have learned that what I rely on more fully than any book knowledge, what I turn to consistently for guidance and resource, and the place that I find the richest source of my wisdom is my heart and soul. Never do they fail me.

They are alive. They are filled with light. Just as the Universe is. The Universe is not about intellect, it is about energy and experience and flow. While knowledge is a valuable thing, it can and will fail us. But the energies of our heart and soul don't. We just have to gain practice in turning to them, being present with them, practicing life with their energies and bringing them into our presence.

When I am living with heart I am living within the love aspect of my soul. It is a very different and essential level of my being. My intuition awakens, my focus is direct. Living with soul love is not based on an emotional love. This soul level is a much higher vibration. It is a finely tuned energy that allows me to grasp the essence of someone. And it is done without my projecting any of my feelings or beliefs onto the situation. It is clean, pure, vibrant and alive. And it is impersonal. Don't confuse that with cold or uncaring. But instead it is so deep and present that my "story" remains outside of the equation and the focus is only on the other person or the situation at hand.

How have I learned to live with heart and soul? Mainly through appreciation. This act is a big turn on for the heart and soul. Why? Because it is based on a choice, a conscious choice to live with your soul present as opposed to living with emotional responses to life. We call it forth. We put intention into it. We choose to be appreciative of life, wonders, relationships, miracles, beauty, lessons, pain, and more. Our appreciation muscle needs a daily workout to get stronger and stronger. Eventually, living a life full of appreciation becomes easier and grace filled. When we live this way our heart and soul flow with love and wisdom. We learn to listen differently, to check in more often and to see with expansion. Living with heart and soul opens us up to the energies of the Universe, to the vibrations of love and beauty and everything shifts from there.

Blessings, Lisa

Are You Listening to Your Body?

You receive many message throughout the day, some obvious, some subliminal. Some come from outside of yourself through media, friends, conversations, nature, Source. But one particular source that not everyone is accustomed to listening to is your body and the messages it is trying to send to you.

Your body will always tell you the truth. It may not always make sense to you. It may not always be what you want to hear. It often is not a loud broadcast, but it will be persistent. You cannot control the messages your body sends you, but you can ignore it. Or you can engage with in this conversation and listen.

Your body is a very wise source. It knows you better than you think you do! Many times seeking the messages from your body when you are going to make a choice or decision is not something that you do. But imagine this; there is a choice to make about whether to accept a new job offer. It will mean a change in your sleep cycle, your social life, your family connections and your eating patterns. It will also increase your finances and your responsibility load. You may consult your friends for their opinion, you may consult a coworker, you may consult resources or others in your field, you may pray, meditate or journey on it, but do you consult your body as well?

Imagine what your body would say? This conversation could go in many different directions, but to be sure if you honestly listen your body will have an opinion on how this choice will impact it, perhaps for the better or perhaps not. But given that you are in relation with your body every minute of every day, shouldn't it be one of the main sources that you consult?

Another way your body communicates to you may not be so topic specific as above. Instead it will send you message through its responses and reactions. Perhaps you are deciding about whether to move across the country. Whenever you think about this choice your body is speaking up. You just need to pay attention.

Does your body feel relaxed when you consider this? How is your breathing? Your heart rate? Do you feel inspiration, delight and enthusiasm or dread, fear and confusion? You see what I mean, your body is speaking to you, all you need to do is listen. Now, that is not to say that only your body has a voice in the decision making. But shouldn't it be considered?

You body is tremendous resource of inner wisdom and guidance. It stores your life experience. It is the temple for your connection to Source. It knows what it needs and will attempt to convey that to you. So, are you listening to your body?

Blessings, Lisa

Go For It

Breaking news: Seeking happiness does not mean you are being selfish! You have a right to be happy. You deserve to be happy. The Universe responds to this happiness.

When we are happy there is a tremendous shift in our energies. We are vibrant. We are more alive and alert. We take on challenges with optimism. We are more flexible. We seek possibilities. When we are happy we relate to others differently. Happiness creates happiness. It is as though it is contagious.

Makes sense, doesn't it? If we are in a state of happiness we then bring our vitality into the world. Our service to others is affected. We are more loving and generous. We bring our best self to the moment. Life is very different when we are happy than when we are not.

So knowing this, it obviously is important to then know what makes us happy. Joseph Campbell is quoted as saying, "Follow your bliss." What is your bliss? Do you even know? I have found that for some this is a difficult question to answer. They are quick to answer what makes them unhappy. But what brings you joy; what activities, what people, or what beliefs? How can you live your joy?

When we follow our bliss we bring into our lives things that make us naturally grow and evolve. We seek things that inspire us. Happiness impacts our spiritual growth as our soul shines brightly and we learn to trust our intuition and seek our truth. Happiness encourages us to care for our body and its needs so that we are healthy and empowered. Joy has the strength to bring positive thinking into our minds and quells the negative stories and self-talk.

Take on the challenge today and find something that brings you happiness. Explore it, be with it and celebrate it. Pay attention to the impact it has on you; body, mind and soul. Your day will be brighter for it.

Blessings, Lisa

The Detachment Factor

So how detached are you? I don't mean distant, cold or uncaring. I mean how well contained you are. How good you are at boundary setting. And how present you are.

This skill took some time for me to develop. My emotions and feelings would get the better of me. Contrary to what was in my heart, the desire to help someone and show compassion, I would get wrapped up in the drama of the emotions, pulled into the feelings and actually become far less present in the situation. That is because when I allow my ego to drag me into the emotions and feelings of a situation I am contemplating on my stories of the past or my projections for the future. I am anything but present.

It seems that the more and more I chose to live in the present, my perspective shifted and became more and more impersonal. AND that was a good thing. To be effective as a shaman, a healer, a teacher and a woman in service to others, this skill needed to be honed.

Learning this detachment factor allowed me the grace to not get hooked by others feelings or emotions; necessary for the work I do. I could still maintain my compassion for others, but have clarity on what I could offer, what work needed to be done and how I would be present in the situation.

It also eliminated the need for me to have others in my life be a certain way for me to get on with my day. This detachment factor was huge! If someone was angry, frustrated or down in the dumps, I learned that I did not need to react or have it impact my day negatively. I just moved around it, took the detachment detour and got on with my day. I certainly could understand their feelings, their situation, but it did not become a part of me.

Actually, I was better able to understand what was happening to them. I could see it more clearly. My understanding expanded and so my services were more and more spot on, direct and effective. Being objective does not mean being uncaring. It actually affords you the distance and viewpoints to care in the best possible way, not a reactionary way.

Detachment keeps me clean. I don't pick up the energies of those I am working with. I also don't mistakenly place my intentions upon others, even the best of intentions. It allows my heart energies to be of love, not of expectation. It allows my soul to bring its beauty and essence to the equation without old stories or labels. It allows the situation to unfold in truth instead of confusion. Bringing detachment to my day gives me so much more room to be present, in tune with Source, in alignment with my truth and authentic.

Blessings, Lisa