Recently, every time I’ve turned around, I’ve had another opportunity to consciously choose my focus and choose my thoughts as I noticed my focus and thoughts heading toward negativity and fear.
As I pondered what might be causing so many opportunities all at once, I realized I have gotten lax about my daily spiritual practice. Several months ago I had gotten the smallest iPod, the Shuffle, so that I could listen to Michael Beckwith talks and inspirational music as I walked in the park. I have found this double dose of spiritual practice – the talk and the walk – does wonders for keeping my focus in the right place. Yet, I’ve only done my double dose a few times – not even weekly, much less daily.
When my daily spiritual practice is daily, I exponentially increase my ability to choose to focus on positivity, possibilities and love.
How about you? What works for you to keep your focus where you’d like it?
I’ve included a new piece, “Love in Action” that is helping me keep my focus on love – enjoy!
Love in Action
Feeling afraid . . .
Feeling hopeless . . .
Feeling stuck . . .
Have I finally, truly gone insane?
Do I definitely need medication?
Is it time to admit defeat?
Or . . .
Are these the panicked cries of my ego?
Longing to once again be in charge?
As I step into the unknown,
I desperately desire something familiar . . .
Taking a deep breath,
I realize the comfort of my breathing.
Something familiar:
My breath, my breathing, my Spirit.
Something familiar:
As I breathe deeply,
feeling my Spirit,
I feel Love,
pure, radiant, shimmering Love.
Something familiar:
As I feel Love,
pure, radiant, shimmering Love,
I know Love in Action.
Something familiar:
As I know Love in Action,
I feel myself putting one foot in front of the other
as I step into Love in Action.
Courageously moving forward
into the unknown
as Love in Action . . .
As I have been contemplating new products and programs I'd like to offer, I have found myself second myself, wanting to look good, fearing failure and generally resisisting change. Not much fun . . .
So, I paused to reflect and be with the fears and doubts so that I could move forward from a more centered place, from a place that is more of the best of me. During that reflection, I wrote this meditation / affirmative prayer to support my process.
I offer it to you now, too, so that it may offer you hope and direction as well!
Recipe for “Instant” Manifestation
Within every desire
is all that we need
to bring that desire to fruition.
As we are ready to surrender
our ego strong-hold on:
• What we think we know
• Needing to look good
• Old habits and patterns that no longer serve
• What we believe is “the way”
• Outdated identities that no longer fit
• Whatever demands we have . . .
And we open to the magic of:
• Being reborn in a moment
• Expressing vulnerability and humanness
• Loving all that is
• Accepting our good
• Flowing with change and transition
• Allowing ourselves to be all we are meant to be . . .
We are now ready in this moment
to bring our desire into reality. . .
Happy Autumn!
As we transition to this new season tomorrow, take some time to reflect . . .
What are you harvesting?
What has grown into what you've dreamed it could? As you meditate and reflect on different aspects of your life: wellness, relationships, career, money, home, personal/spiritual growth, what calls for celebration?
What are you ready to till back into the soil?
As you look meditate and reflect on aspects of your life, what has fulfilled its purpose and is ready to "go back to the Earth" to be reborn in a new way? Or, what didn't grow as you'd imagined and you now feel ready to release?
What yearns to be brought inside (within you) to warm by the fire?
What ideas, passions, questions might you like to keep close to your heart and hearth right now? What might be your meditation focusin this season?
What might you like to be for Halloween?
What "character" within you wants to play right now? What aspect of you would like some time "on stage"?
What activities do you most enjoy in this season?
What autumn activities make your heart happy? What are your favorite ways to be in nature this time of year?
Thank you to everyone on the Thriving Coaches Roundtable today who asked for a copy of this meditation, affirmative prayer, opening for our gathering.
So, I have now publically commited to having the published book of these meditations, affirmative prayers, openings, centerings available to purchase by Christmas. Thank you so much for all of your encouragement!
Meditations tips: Feel free to use this piece and the others listed under "Mediation Tips" on this blog in any way that serves you and your clients . . .
Standing in the Center of Me
I’ve been tempted to step to the right
when I suspected that’s what he wanted me to do.
I’ve talked longer than I wanted because
I thought she would like me more.
I waltzed way over to the left
before I caught myself trying to please.
I’ve bent over backwards
until I noticed how much it hurt.
I agreed to projects that didn’t inspire me
because I thought I needed the money.
And, then it occurred to me:
all these contortions cause a lot of confusion.
Left to the whim of what I think you want me to be,
or what I believe she wants me to say or
what I hope he wants me to do,
then I am lost.
So I consciously choose to step back into the center of me.
In any moment, I choose based on how it feels to me.
Do I feel alive?
Happy?
Peaceful?
Whole?
Complete?
Loving?
Inspired?
Ignited?
Connected?
Expansive?
On purpose?
Of service?
Energized?
This is the center of me.
Do I feel less than?
Not enough?
Unworthy?
Self-conscious?
Drained?
Irritated?
Angry?
Sad?
Disconnected?
Confused?
Lethargic?
This is me attempting someone else’s dance,
attempting to stand in the center of something other than me.
Yet, there is no something else.
I can either stand in the center of me,
or deprive the world of my Self.
So, I choose now
to stand in the center of me.
"Standing in the Center of You" Coaching
If
you would like empowering one-on-one support for Standing in the Center
of You, check out Ann's new, three-month "Standing in the Center of You" coaching
program.
Knowing My Solid Foundation
After I wrote about embracing change last week, it didn’t take me long to realize that I needed to consciously be aware that my life has a solid, unchanging foundation. That makes embracing change a whole lot easier!
I cannot control everything that happens. Heck, some days I have a sense of how very little I control! What I CAN control involves what I bring to any situation, any interaction. I choose attentiveness, clarity, generosity, strength and love. In the moments that I fall short of bringing any of those qualities to the table, I then choose compassion, detachment and forgiveness!
I have been using this affirmative prayer to remind me of and connect me to my solid foundation. It helps me stay on or get back on course. Perhaps it can support you as well . . .
In the Eye of the Storm
With so much chaos in our world,
I have found it more important than ever
to deliberately choose my way of being.
I don’t know what will happen later today or tomorrow,
but I do know that I choose to bring my
attentiveness, clarity, generosity, strength and love
to whatever it is.
I do know that I choose to connect
more frequently and deeply
with those I love.
Reaction is no longer something I choose to indulge.
Instead I choose to be present with whatever is,
allowing it to move around and through me,
without attachment or resistance.
And, once again I choose to bring my
attentiveness, clarity, generosity, strength and love
to whatever it is.
To create your own solid foundation, join us for the Thriving in 90 Days! program starting Sept 24th.
Today in yoga class, I heard my teacher say, "This is not about pushing more, but rather opening into . . ."
Ah, such is so much of life when I notice myself trying harder and pushing more rather than simply surrendering and allowing. In those radiant moments when I truly know that I already am everything and that I already have everything that I seek, then I have nothing to seek. I can simply take a deep breath and relax into all of the love and abundance that I am!
Radiant Drop of Oneness
I am a radiant drop in the
ocean of oneness.
I am one with God.
I am all that God is.
All I desire and need is mine,
easily and effortlessly -
as I am willing to receive
the love and abundance
of me, of the ocean of oneness.
I am one with God, with good.
I am all that God is.
I am a radiant drop in the
ocean of oneness.
I am love, power, beauty and mystery.
I am love, joy, peace and hope.
I am love, brilliance, health and wealth.
I am love and abundance.
I am God expressed.
I am a radiant drop in the
ocean of oneness.
Thy will, not my will.
I am willing to be willing . . .
Breathing out my limited notions.
Breathing in Your expansive reach.
Breathing out my attachments.
Breathing in Your absolute abundance.
Breathing out my resistance.
Breathing in the fullness of Your allowing.
Breathing out feeling stuck.
Breathing in Your ever-present flow.
Breathing out feeling separate.
Breathing in the Oneness of all energy.
Breathing out feeling alone.
Breathing in reaching out . . .
Today, I am willing to do Thy will . . .
"Pushed out of ourselves, we leave space for
Mystery, for the healing alchemy of God."
- Sue Monk Kidd
From the book, When the Heart Waits
I have been sitting with this concept this week.
I love the idea of leaving space for Mystery,
yet I cannot seem to embody "the emptiness of me."
I get it intellectually, yet the knowing of it
escapes me. So, I wrote this meditation focus / affirmative prayer
to solidify a bit of what I do know!
From the Fullness of You
Take time each day
to pull yourself away
from the madness and mayhem of the world,
from the relentless piles and to-do lists
and go within to recharge.
Skip through the park.
Talk with your God.
Commune with the trees.
Listen to the stars.
Play with your children.
Walk with your dog.
Write a poem.
Journal your sorrow.
Eat lunch with attention.
Be here.
Be here now.
From the fullness of you.
When you return to your lists and piles,
return from the fullness of you.
Be with your lists.
Be with your piles.
From the fullness of you.
Bringing to your lists and your piles:
Your God, the trees, the stars, your children and the dog.
Your poem, your sorrow and your attention.
From the fullness of you.
I’ve just returned from four days of personal, spiritual retreat with a meditation focus in the New Mexico desert. I’ve been on many such retreats and every time I’m there, I tell myself I MUST do it more often.
All that quiet, all that open space, all that natural beauty, all that allows me to drop into meditation as I walk, as I eat, as I contemplate . . . simply being there, breathing, walking, soaking it in . . .
When I’m there, I feel most naturally me. I know God in every moment, whereas in the city, I don’t tend to notice God in every moment.
Is it easiest to know God in nature or is it specific to each person? I would love to hear from you. Where and/or when do you feel most naturally you? When do you most notice God?
I also love spiritual retreat because I've given myself time to just be and then notice what I'm drawn to - usually in the form of reading, writing or projects. I feel as though I am challenging myself with, "Who am I without computer or television?"
On this particular spiritual retreat I found myself drawn to spending time to really take in responses from my client survey, asking Spirit to help me know what's most important for me to know. What could I learn about what people most value and appreciate from me? What could that tell me about how I can better serve?
I also found that finishing Seth Godin's book, Tribes, gave me some wonderful clues about leadership and how I might best lead.
On one of my walks, I spontaneously created the Ann Strong Roadside Beautification Project and collected 96 (But who's counting?) cans and bottles from a 1/2 mile stretch. Great exercise and a beautiful outcome! And, more road to cover on my next spiritual retreat! Ah, job security . . .
And, I wrote a tribute.
The Earth's Joy
Surrounded by the Earth's unfettered
majesty and beauty,
I give thanks to the glory of God.
Cradled in Her presence,
Fed by Her bounty,
I give thanks to the abundance of God.
Rejuvenated by Her full acceptance,
Refocused by Her clarity and grounding,
I give thanks to the love of God.
Inspired by Her quiet power,
Awed by Her radiant simplicity,
I give thanks for knowing I am one with God.
Dedicated to Sunshine Valley, NM
Sangre de Cristo Mountains
