Oracle Sunday: Drop it like it’s hot

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From the Energy Oracle Cards deck by Sandra Anne Taylor
From the Energy Oracle Cards deck by Sandra Anne Taylor

This card is here to tell you to let go of any jealousy, envy or lack you’re feeling. You don’t need it and it doesn’t serve you.

It’s one thing to know what you want and still feel gratitude for all you have. It’s quite another to ignore the riches in front of you because you’re too busy coveting what’s out of reach.

Take a look at your life right now. What’s good in it? What do you love about it? What are you thankful for?

The next time you find yourself on Facebook, or someone’s blog, or in the break room at work and you notice yourself being tugged by jealousy, see if you can switch the thought around and actually celebrate his or her success. Because the fact that it exists for another person means it is also possible for you. It won’t happen in exactly the same way, but holy cats, isn’t it more fun to focus on the possibility than the lack?

Lack, envy and jealousy make us small, pinched, ungrateful, and often unkind. They hurt us when we allow them free reign. Notice them when they show up. Pay attention to what they’re telling you, but don’t let them take over.

Do what you can with what you have right now. Let it be enough for this moment. Let yourself find some happiness, some satisfaction, some enoughness, in whatever is showing up for you. Celebrate the little things in your reach while you keep your eyes gently focused on your dreams.

Card copyrights belong to their respective authors, artists, and publishers, and are used for example purposes. I encourage you to purchase the deck(s) that speak to you and get to know them on your own.

 

Oracle Sunday: Be Here, Now

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From The Enchanted Map Oracle Cards by Colette Baron-Reid
From The Enchanted Map Oracle Cards by Colette Baron-Reid

This card is a reminder that we cannot live in the past nor in the future. They are ghost lands. The only place we are alive is in this moment, right now.

The past holds memories both beautiful and painful. We can spend a moment there but then we have to come back to now. Longing for what used to be keeps us as stuck as defining ourselves with our victim stories. We can’t live there anymore.

The future – a place full of hopes and dreams and fears – is just as ephemeral. Keep dreaming, keep taking action towards those dreams, but don’t live there either.

Live here. In this moment.

Be present with your crying child or your dying parent or your excitement, your joy, your hunger. Be with whatever life is handing you. Breathe into it and know that you have the tools to stay in it, to grow through it, to fully experience it.

Let the lessons of the past inform your present. Let the hopes for tomorrow guide today’s choices. But above all else be here, now.

If you find yourself escaping your life on a regular basis, it might be time to dig a little deeper into why. What’s wrong with what you’re experiencing now? What do you want instead? What’s one little baby step you can take today toward that desire? Will you take it?

Here are three simple ways to come back to the present moment if you find yourself checking out.

1. Breathe deeply and engage your five senses. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you feel against your skin?

2. Doodle, draw, or color in a coloring book. This is a great way to bring yourself into this moment, even if “art” isn’t your thing. Don’t try to figure it out in your head. Instead follow your impulses with no attachment to what the final picture looks like.

3. Do something physical. Dance it out. Shake it off. Do some pushups or a sun salutation. Wiggle your body. Roll around on the floor with your kid or your cat. It doesn’t matter what you do. The point is to get out of your head and into your body.

Once you’ve found yourself back in the present moment and before you re-engage your mind and move on, ask yourself a simple question. Something along the lines of What do I want to do now? or What does my body want right now? or What can I do next that will keep me in this moment? Whatever comes to you is fine.

Repeat the process as necessary. Try to enjoy it. This is it. This is what we have. Now.

Card copyrights belong to their respective authors, artists, and publishers, and are used for example purposes. I encourage you to purchase the deck(s) that speak to you and get to know them on your own.

P.S. Want some help remembering to be here, now? Check this out. So fun.

Oracle Sunday: Step Away From the Drama

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From the Ascended Masters Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.
From the Ascended Masters Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.

Pallas Athena (also known simply as Athena) is the Greek goddess of wisdom, war and craftsmanship. She was known for being just and compassionate, for using wisdom to avoid conflicts and for her courage when called upon in battle.

Her message today is to take a deep breath and step back from whatever human drama has its hooks in you.

It’s not your job to make everyone happy. It’s not your place to make other people’s choices for them. It’s not in your best interest to gossip or judge others.

Press pause on the story you’re telling yourself about it all. Imagine yourself circling above your life like an eagle, or looking back five years from now. What’s really important to you? What do you think might actually be happening if you look at the big picture?

Can you set down the need to be right and see the situation from everyone’s point of view?

Sometimes that’s not emotionally possible, but it can be helpful to try.

And if the hooks are in too deep and you can’t step back, then it might be time to take bigger action.

For a long time I had a friend whose decisions I was completely over-invested in. When I disagreed with her choices, I couldn’t stop judging her, or arguing with her in my head, or discussing the situation with people who would tell me how right I was. It was awful and I didn’t like the person I became around her. Even though I loved her, I had to let her go in order to step away from the drama. It was painful and I am a much happier person for it.

What do you need to do in order to detach from any drama in your life?

Even if you can’t bring yourself to do it right now, it’s helpful to have an answer. And if an answer doesn’t come, it’s helpful to keep asking the question (then listening to your heart).

As humans we are attracted to the emotional rollercoaster ride of a dramatic story. It can make us feel alive. It also hurts us to be wrapped up in it. And if we are hurting, we tend to hurt others in turn.

This card is a message to leave the drama to the movies you watch or the books you read and instead focus on being the person you really want to be in all of your interactions. 

Like Athena use your hard-earned wisdom to avoid conflict wherever possible. And when it’s unavoidable, step into it with compassion, courage and the strength that comes from knowing you’re not attached to the story everyone else is buying into.

Card copyrights belong to their respective authors, artists, and publishers, and are used for example purposes. I encourage you to purchase the deck(s) that speak to you and get to know them on your own.

 

P. S. Are you struggling to feel compassion for yourself and others? Not sure exactly how to step back from the drama or listen to your heart’s (or intuition’s) messages? My Shine e-book is full of simple, bite-sized practices that will help you learn to do exactly that…and so much more.

Mantra Wednesday: Have fun

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Make room for fun

In yoga last week we were crouched down in crow pose, our arms stretched out in front of us, doing breath of fire and staring off into infinity. My beautiful teacher invited us to picture the light from our hearts breaking apart any barriers to living our purpose. In the middle of picturing my heart chakra busting things up like a Star Wars movie I felt a huge grin bubble up to my lips.

Oh! I remembered. I get to have fun doing this!

Kundalini yoga can be really hard work. As can the dedication to personal and spiritual growth. You get to hang out with your shadow, stare into the not-so-niceness of your ego, dig in the trenches of emotion. Starting and growing a business isn’t for the feint of heart either.

I tend to be more serious than I need to be anyway so I welcome a reminder to lighten up.

Working with my clients is fun (SO fun!). Figuring out marketing strategy (because it’s not my strength) makes me want to crawl under the covers. Reading or playing with my daughter? Fun. Getting her ready for bed when I’m exhausted too? Not so much. Life is like that.

So the mantra this week – the reminder and the invitation – is to bring fun into the places where it doesn’t naturally exist. And to add more fun to your to-do list.

In the world of the 9 Star Ki, a system of Chinese astrology I use with my long-term clients, one of the ways to diagnose the health of someone’s Fire element is to ask them “What do you do for fun?”

So what do YOU do for fun?

Leave your answer in the comments for inspiration, or share your struggle if you’re temporarily fun-challenged. We’re all in this together.

Here’s to making room for it all.

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