The Way of the Heart -A way to relax your body, calm your mind and embrace your soul…inspired spiritual living with Jane Rosalea Brown, Author of In Silence, Discovering Self through Meditation (Author name Jane Rosalea Booth) Meaford, Ontario
Can you see yourself as a Guardian of our Earth who assists in its healing and its peacemaking? You do not have to wait till Earth Day to connect to Mother Earth and make your commitment to assist our planet and humanity today. Let us make our world a greener and more balanced, peaceful place to live. I can make a difference each day and so can you.
You may wonder what you can do to assist our planet and humanity. Here are some powerful steps to get you started:
1. Visualize each day how you would like your world to be.
2. Put all your energy into positive good thoughts and let negative thoughts fall away. Positive thoughts attract positive happenings and positive energies. Your thoughts and actions are important to all of us.
3. Feel your peace within and know that this is the truth.
4. Extend that peace to all you meet by viewing each person, plant and animal as a Beloved one who deeply connects with you.
5. Send thoughts, prayers of love and peace to all by expanding your prayers to include everything on our planet.
6. Feel the love in your heart touching the hearts of everyone, every thing on the planet.
Remember your feelings create your manifestations. As you integrate into your life the actions that will assist all humanity, you will begin to feel a beautiful connection to all, a natural connection that blossoms and expands through love. Your daily life will transform immediately if you take these six steps. Begin within yourself to feel the connection with the earth and spread that love to others.
On this day, think about conscious actions you can take in your life to become a Guardian of our Earth
– take the bus to work
– compost your garbage
– use less water or grow a vegetable garden or begin a community garden
-pick up trash in your neighborhood
– turn off your lights that you are not using
There are many ways to improve the quality of our Earth. Make a list with your children and family. Share it with you friends. What are you going to do to show how much you care?
Thank you for being a Guardian of our Earth. Let us be so thankful for our beautiful planet!
“Look deep into nature, then you will understand everything better.” Albert Einstein
Just saying the word “spring” warms my heart! It’s still cold here in Meaford,-2C with a strong north wind…brrr! Today, March 19th and 20th, 2024 brings us the Vernal/Spring Equinox. It is the time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth’s equator, making day and night approximately equal length all over the earth. It means our days will be warming and our earth will soon be ready for planting here in the Northern Hemisphere. And our season of Spring begins!
Today is a good time to give thanks for the past winter season with its season of quiet hibernation, a time of reflection, a time for us to see wonder of snowflakes, each unique and beautiful. Together they provided the earth’s blanket. Thank you for the blessings of winter.
Now, we begin to feel our energies stirring and rising with our hope of warmer days, the return of birds, the birthing of animals, the spring rains, the green shoots pushing through the wet earth…quite a wondrous and magical event is our springtime. A few birds were singing this morning here in Meaford even as it is snowing! They know it’s an exciting time.
We all need this nourishment of spring birthing. I want to soak it up! The world is so upside down with war, separation, grief and fear. But thankfully, nature reveals to us a different picture with each of its seasons. I especially love how spring shows us new life after a cold winter. It lifts our hopes! We can plant new seeds, find new ways of being and evolving in a peaceful way. We need these loving energies of spring to heal through forgiveness and to return to love.
The Spring Equinox reveals to us the balance of night and day. What a reminder to create balance in our lives! When we create an holistic balance of body-mind-spirit, light flows into our heart and it opens to bloom with the energies of springtime. We move into harmony with nature…
Awaken! Lets step into the spring! How can we create more balance and harmony in our lives? What ‘newness’ can you create for yourself and others to lift your energies, to birth a new idea, to enjoy the freshness of spring? This is the time to awaken our creative consciousness!
cluster of blossoms
call to the awakening
new birth peeks out
Spring blessings and Happy Spring Equinox! May your day be full of love and joy!
Meditation…a time within my heart…has always been my refuge. As I meditate, I embark on a journey that takes me within to listen to what I call my “soul self” and where I often view a beautiful place, often a garden. In this ‘garden’ I feel safe and protected. As I listen, I begin to feel an intimate relationship. I feel a spiritual presence, a connection, a sacred moment. It is a wondrous experience that is difficult to describe, but it always calms me and gives me a place to release my fears…and fill my heart with hope.
This spiritual practice of meditation gives me a refuge in darken times. It is helping me now. I hold deep gratitude for the ‘Spirit’ that flows through me and all life. In this way, my life becomes sacred and I evolve, create and love more deeply. In this way, I can bring peace to myself and my family.
Yet, each day our news is filled with news of war, destruction with families and children suffering. My heart aches and I try to comfort my friends who have family and friends in the Middle East.
My prayers and love are with those who are suffering through so much loss and devastation. Only love, forgiveness and compassion will heal, but now anger and rage is flowing. Hopefully, there are billions of loving people in the world that will support families as they rebuild and move on to create a better, peaceful life….that is the vision I hold for them in my heart.
The Persian poet Hafiz says “Now is the time to know”.
Now is the time to know That all that you do is sacred. Now, why not consider A lasting truce with yourself and God?
“Now is the time to understand That all your ideas of right and wrong Were just a child’s training wheels To be laid aside When you can finally live with veracity and love.
Now is the time for the world to know That every thought and action is sacred. That this is the time For you to compute the impossibility That there is anything But Grace.
Now is the season to know That everything you do Is Sacred”
Hafiz (1325 –1389) Persian Mystical Poet.
May the presence of ‘sacredness’…a spirit of love…that unites and flows through the hearts of all beings bring hope and comfort today. May we return to love.
The Grandmothers Wisdom Project is inspired by thirteen elder women known as the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers. We are committed to supporting all people reclaiming their relationship to Mother Earth, calling for a profound transformation in the heart, mind, and spirit.
Here are some beautiful thoughts for us to embrace. Deepest Gratitude to the Grandmothers for sharing their wisdom.
The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers revered elders offering essential wisdom and healing for you and our world~
“I had a vision the ancestors told us to heal the world. When we heal ourselves, we also heal our ancestors, our grandmothers, our grandfathers, and our children. When we heal ourselves, we also heal mother earth.” Grandmother Rita Pitka Blumenstein
“The most important Journey we will ever take is the 18 inches from our mind to our heart.” Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim
“We are here to let the beauty, love and joy continue so when you walk through this journey, the earth is the better for it. We can give back love, generosity and forgiveness when we ’see’ rightly. Yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is our gift! What part will you play today?!”
Grandmother Aama Bombo, Nepal
I converse with the wind. Everything is air. I call the wind as God. They sit with us and they sit on my tongue and they speak through me.”
Grandmother Agnes Baker Pilgrim
“The Sundance is very sacred to our Oglala Lakota peoples. As you support the ceremony in a respectful way, something good will come to you and your people as well.” Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance
“Every morning I get up and I pray for all sentient beings…humans, animals, even birds – they all need happiness.” Grandmother Tsering Dolma Gyaltong
“Our people know that the land and the language are one. If we lose one or the other we are no longer who we say we are.” Grandmother Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance
“My elders said, ‘Know where your water comes from. Know your fire. Know where you are going to find your food.’” Grandmother Mona Polacca
“Everyone lightens. Each one of us is moving and vibrating as we become one as the light beings we are. All of us have been called. All of us feel the change and know the urgency of becoming One.” Grandmother Flordemayo Guatemala
“Leadership is the highest spiritual calling, and as leaders, the starting point begins with you – managing your whole self – by utilizing the spirit that lies within your identity and the strength of your culture.” Grandmother Mona Polacca
Thank you Grandmothers for your dedication to all beings and for being leaders for us to make our world
How beautiful we feel in the presence of love. Our spirits are lifted and the world becomes a gentler and more compassionate place. The beauty of love is that not a word has to be spoken.
When it is present, all who are in a space where love is shared have the opportunity to embrace it and to fill their hearts with it.
Then the cycle of love occurs as love flows out from those hearts who have received it and a new space is created where love continues to flow, to heal, to bring joy in infinite ways.
“Let us love since our heart is made of nothing else”
“The amazing thing about the human soul and the human spirit is it is never in a state of non-experience. There is something going on all the time. Even when you are sleeping. There are rivers of dream-thought flowing through the earth of your body, bringing up all types of mythic, archetypal stuff, some of which belongs to you, a lot of which belongs to the clay and a lot of which belongs to the race… So in old age, time slows a bit, the outer draw to activity recedes, and you have time for the more contemplative side of things…. You have a chance then to decipher what has happened to you, to see the hidden depths of experiences that have occurred in your life. You really have a chance to weave a new shelter for yourself.”
-John O’Donohue, Walking in Wonder
Aging continues to fascinate me! It really can be a time to ‘weave a new shelter for yourself”. ..a place of comfort and peace…a place that always contains something new and magical with unknown wonders.
In my aging shelter, I am not as busy as I used to be, but days seem to go quickly…maybe too quickly. I try to accomplish a few ‘tasks’ each day. But I spend a lot of time reading, writing, meditating, preparing for my fall women’s gathering and being outside for walks. Now warmer days are here, I am in my garden that is like a shelter me or a secret garden. It is a place I can go to be alone, listen to the birds, watch the robins and sometimes a Flicker visits…a nice place to meditate!
John O’Donohue reminds us to create a shelter to create a new way of living as we age. I love his use of the word ‘weave’ because as we age we can ‘weave’ in new ways of living and still bring with us the thoughts full of our memories or hobbies that bring us joy…a weaving of old and new. We can bring our heart love into our shelter and gratitude for having these elder years. Yes,the physical challenges are present, but we can keep in good health by exercising and having a good diet. We can accept what we can and cannot do. We can always do the most important thing in life…we can live with an open and accessible heart…we can share our love…
For those of you who are younger, you can create a shelter where you can consciously create the life you want and share your talents and gifts. It is up to you what and whom you want in your shelter so you can have more love and joy. I think we have many shelters, big and small, as we age. It may be a physical shelter like a garden or room, or a mindful creative shelter or a heart shelter filled within filled with what you value and love. We need them to nourish ourselves so we stay healthy and well.
In these challenging days, we can spend a lot of time trying to understand what is happening within our families, communities and the world. Our fears and anxieties can build. Meditation can bring relief from our daily stresses, but sometimes it can be difficult to meditate and to find a place of stillness within. But I have found with the practice of focusing on my breathing…in and out…and gradually relaxing my mind and body, I begin to allow myself to move my thoughts into my heart. I like to put my hands over my heart. Our heart is a sacred space that invites us into its gentleness and love. Then I am ready to move more deeply into a place of ‘surrender’.
As you begin to relax with your eyes closed, you can visualize a place that you love…like a beach, park, garden, your room. Now gently begin to shift your thoughts away from your outer problems and allow a cozy, warm place to unfold within your heart’s consciousness. As your mind becomes quiet and your body relaxes, it will reflect this inner sanctuary.
This warm, loving feeling will comfort you as you allow yourself to be held and embraced within. Let go of trying to make things work. See yourself stretching out your hands and letting go of your worries…see them dissolving.
Now you can make room for what you truly wants to be created from within you…
Making space…releasing, surrendering our fears, opening our hearts…we begin to lift and see a new space…hope, love, new creations…
Remember we do not have to figure everything out or try to make others change. There is always the unknown in our lives….simply embrace the beauty of your true self…and miracles will begin to unfold…the universe responds, loves you, guides and embraces you!
So how do we surrender while we are meditating?
I like to begin with some mantras…words that I repeat several times.
As you begin to meditate say…
”I am revealed in surrender.”
Surrender, I awaken to your calling in this moment
I surrender…
I release my old limitations and fears,
I feel them all, see them all, touch them all
I allow them all to be released through my heart
I awaken to the calling of my heart
I surrender,
I surrender to love within my sacred heart
And in the very core of my being
I am ready to act with love and compassion
I trust in the unfolding Universe
I am filled with gratitude,
love and trust…
I listen for guidance within my heart.
Take time in silence and listen within…
Bring those beautiful thoughts back into your daily life…
“For most of us, meditation is the most important part of our spiritual practice and should always be included daily. Using a personal mantra is a powerful tool for taking us on the path of self-realization but again, this can sometimes feel stale. If you’ve had a busy day, rather than taking it into your meditation, spend a few minutes doing some breathing exercises. Alternative nostril pranayama is excellent for settling and preparing the mind to go within. When you first close your eyes, take a moment to be aware of how your body feels. If there’s any tension or tightness, breathe into that area and use your breath to soften your body. Check in with your mind, your thoughts and emotions. If you find yourself overthinking, pause for a few seconds, take some deep breaths, consciously let go of anything that’s not important for the next thirty minutes. Start by thinking of something you’re grateful for. This automatically expands the heart center”…
…”There are many different styles of meditation so, if you really feel stuck with the one you are using, try another. However, it can be confusing to keep jumping from one style to another. Mantra meditation takes the awareness from activity to silence, reconnecting us with the field of infinite possibilities and our essence. Guided meditations help to restore balance to the mind, emotions or physical body. Regular mantra meditation will take care of everything but, if you have specific needs, including a guided meditation at a different time of the day, will often be helpful.
When doubts and uncertainties arise in your practice, always ask yourself if this is your higher self talking or your ego playing games. The ego loves to create boundaries and control everything, while our spiritual path takes us to the unbounded. Before making too many changes or adjustments ask your heart for guidance, listen to and trust your inner wisdom. Remember these wise words, it is impossible said pride, it’s risky said experience, it’s pointless said reason, give it a try whispered the heart.
While there will always be bumps in the road, whatever practices you choose to follow should be fun and bring you joy. This whole universe was created to be fun. Try not to take anything too seriously, especially your spiritual practices. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
Thank you Roger Gabriel
Sometimes we try too hard to meditate. I keep my meditation practice simple with gentle breathing, some sounds (play music,chant a mantra or a sound I hear within) and then bring light and love into my heart and allow myself to feel the sacredness within…
Now is the time to move from our outer world of beliefs and views to trusting our inner wisdom and intuition. As we meditate or pray, let us embark on a sacred journey that takes us within to discover and to embrace our truth…our soul self…our inner beauty and personal power…to experience an intimate relationship with all of creation.
Now is the time to begin each day with a heart of gratitude for all the gifts of abundance that we receive each day…the air, the water, the fire and the earth. Everything is presence. All is one with us. Be grateful for the beauty in nature, for all the plants, insects, animals, for visible and invisible beings, for all the people in our world, for the gift of life…that unfolds in beautiful ways when we join together in peace and harmony. Let us practice reciprocity by returning our love and caring for them.
May we hold deep gratitude in our hearts for the ‘Spirit’ that flows through us and all life…
In this way, our life becomes sacred and we evolve, create and love more deeply…
The Persian poet Hafiz says “Now is the time to know”
Now is the time to know That all that you do is sacred. Now, why not consider A lasting truce with yourself and God?
“Now is the time to understand That all your ideas of right and wrong Were just a child’s training wheels To be laid aside When you can finally live with veracity and love.
Now is the time for the world to know That every thought and action is sacred. That this is the time For you to compute the impossibility That there is anything But Grace.
Now is the season to know That everything you do Is Sacred”
Hafiz (1325 –1389) Persian Mystical Poet.
From the heart of sacredness within me, I greet the heart of sacredness within you.
Canadians are experiencing wintry days with less sunshine. I’m taking my Vitamin D and C daily! Still I feel less energetic during this time of the year. I am enjoying going for walks, reading, writing and watching movies! I love that I have time to relax and rest…a gift of retirement. But stressful events can still appear in all our lives, especially if you have a daily job, family, pets and friends who all want your attention. However, we can learn to reduce our stressful feelings. We don’t have to suffer from stress. We can release it and allow our bodies to feel relaxed and filled with positive energy.
Becoming aware of where stress settles in our body is important and learning to use our breath to relax really relieves stress and brings all the cells of our body into harmony. We often don’t think of ourselves as being trillions of cells working together, but as we move through a progressive relaxation practice, each of our cells will benefit by feeling calmer energy moving through us from our head to our toes! Once we feel relaxed, we can spend quiet moments in meditation. You can even practice this at work when you take a break!
Let’s begin!
Find a comfortable position, either lying down or sitting in a straight back chair, whichever feels best to you today. Take a few nice deep breaths, bringing your awareness fully into the present moment. Let go of any busy thoughts preventing you from tapping into your inner essence.
Take your awareness to your breath
Let your breath come and go as it will. Say…breathing in “I am” and breathing out “relaxed” As you do this breathing in and out your body will begin to relax. You will find with practice, your body will relax quickly when you say “I am…relaxed”. Our brain remembers it is time to relax!
Now become aware of the subtle movements in your body as you breathe in and breathe out. Breathing naturally noticing any physical sensations anywhere in your body. Try not to judge them, but just become aware of them as you move your awareness through your body. Simply scan your body…where do you feel tightness or pain?
As you scan your body, if you encounter tension anywhere simply use the power of your mind to melt it away, as easily as warm water melts ice. I like the word ‘dissolving”. Think of your discomfort or illness as ‘dissolving’ or melting away. Say “I allow my pain to dissolve”.
Progressive relaxation allows us to relax all our muscles, joints, organs…all our cells and we breath in and out…letting go of our tensions…
Starting at the top of your head, breath in…breath out…relax your scalp completely. Feel the skin of your forehead and temples relax. Allow your eye muscles to release, your jaw to soften, and let your ears, nose and chin, teeth tongue and gums relax. Now, just let this peaceful feeling flow down your neck. Feel it soothe your throat and dissolve any tension on contact as it glides down to your shoulders, upper arms, forearms, wrists and hands.
Let this peaceful sensation of relaxation begin to fill your torso. Feel it relax your chest, giving your heart more room to grow more expansive; more loving, giving and forgiving. Continue breathing in and out gently…Soften your belly muscles and let this relaxation penetrate even deeper, releasing any tension from your internal organs.
Now let it wrap around you, enveloping you in love and peace as it softens all the back muscles all the way down to the base of the your spine. Continue to breathe in deep, fluid breaths. Breathe in health, happiness and harmony, breathe out any tension, toxins, worries or disease, allowing anything that does not serve you to leave your body…dissolving away.
Send this peaceful feeling into your hips and buttocks. Let it glide down your thighs, relaxing your legs completely as it flows down to your knees, calves, ankles and feet. Allow any remaining tension from anywhere in your body to flow out your toes, leaving your whole body feeling very comfortable, peaceful and relaxed.
Continue to breathe deeply, relaxing breaths, feeling your belly rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale. Notice how the air feels cooler as you breathe in, and warmer as you breathe out.
Meditate…in silence to feel the love within
Now you may enjoy a few minutes in quiet meditation…your thoughts are quiet, your body is relaxed…allow yourself to simply enjoy a few minutes of peace…move your thoughts within to your heart and feel its gentle embrace…
When you are ready, breathing gently, open yours eyes and feeling refreshed, return to your day! Practice progressive relaxation everyday!
May the positive energy and love of the universe surround and flow through you!
A Peaceful Way Meditation 