Connect with your food

Autumn is the season when we can fully appreciate our connection to what sustains us—our home and hearth, families and friends … and our food. Having a balanced outlook on life means you know you are part of the whole. It’s understanding the energetic exchange between you and the universe, your symbiotic relationship with the whole. The fall harvest is a great time to recognize that growing your own food and eating it is part of your interdependency with your spiritual source and with the planet.

We are interdependent with nature

Our culture and society of convenience have divorced us from our natural connection with the earth. Capitalism has changed how we nourish ourselves. Our kids no longer see their connection with nature. They think our food magically arrives at the grocery store in microwave-safe baggies. We adults have also lost our reverence for nature. I remember the time my son wanted me to buy him something. “Sweetie, we can’t today,” I told him. “I don’t have enough money for that.” What did he say to me? “Don’t worry, Mom. Let’s just go to the ATM and get more out of the money machine! Don’t you know that’s where money comes from?” It’s up to us to teach our children that we and nature are one, big organic equation.

We depend upon nature, upon our Mother Earth, for our sustenance. Mother Earth’s bounty is awesome. We need to remember to express regular appreciation for it. It begins with connecting with our food—how it’s grown, what the soil smells like, how good it feels to harvest the miracle of nature that is one vegetable, any vegetable. When we sit down to bless our food and eat, we experience a more compete state of gratitude. We give thanks for our beautiful opportunity to be alive as a human being.

When we see ourselves as part of this larger equation, we become empowered and awaken spiritually, too. I have a friend who is now a monk living in India. When he was going through his awakening process, he sat down to dinner one night and began to laugh hysterically. “What’s going on?” we asked him. He was practically rolling on the floor. “What’s so funny?” He said he’d just realized that by eating his food, he was eating himself. He’d just realized that we are all one, that the universe is one and we are all part of this magnificence we call oneness. For him, it was a moment of happy spiritual awareness where he realized that he was a part of all oneness.

In everyday life, how can we better understand our oneness and appreciate our connectivity with all life?

1. Get out in your garden more. Spend less time (and money) in the store. Get close to nature. Smell the soil, dig in it. Show your kids how to plant seeds and watch them grow. Take time to talk to your kids about the miracle of nature. Everything is eating something else in this magnificent cycle of life! There’s a whole world going on out there that we don’t fully appreciate, so let’s learn to be part of it! When harvest time comes around, pick fruits or vegetables together and eat them for dinner.
2. Meditate outside regularly. Get quiet. Look up at the sky. Listen to the sounds of nature. Project a vibration of gratitude for the miracles of nature and for the planet. Don’t be embarrassed to be a tree hugger.
3. Bless your food. The family dynamic of connecting around the food is an important ritual. It’s an acknowledgement of sharing the things that sustain us physically. It’s acknowledging what we have in common with everyone on the planet. Blessing our food is an expression of thankfulness to the earth.

When we think of these simple acts in life, we are learning to live consciously in the present.

So, today let’s affirm (and let’s do this outside):

“At this moment, I see Spirit as my Source, my food, and I recognize this in myself, in every individual, and in everything on this beautiful planet. From this day forward, I choose to see the energy of goodness in everyone and their contribution, no matter how small or large. I am supported in the dynamic equation of life.” Watch the corresponding video on The Balancing Act here.

Every Blessing,

© Charlene M Proctor and The Goddess Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For other affirmations about positive body image and weight loss, and Charlene’s Lose Weight, Feel Great, Meditate Diet, please click here to download. For more affirmations, read The Women’s Book of Empowerment: 323 Affirmations that Change Everyday Problems into Moments of Potential. Click Here to buy.

Being at Ease with Yourself

We are often so busy managing our busy lives that we forget to fill up our own tank of energy. How do we refill ourselves? Going to the spa or a yoga class helps us nurture ourselves, but learning to be at ease with who we are is more important to recharging our batteries. How can we learn to be at ease with ourselves? What does it mean to be an authentic person?

When we don’t know ourselves, we can’t have a healthy and balanced outlook on life. Self-power grows through self-appreciation and self-nurturing. Being at ease is accepting yourself. People, who know who they are, express self-love calmly and confidently. They’re extremely magnetic. Ease is everyone’s natural, healthy state. People who are not at ease with themselves must force themselves to be compassionate; they exhibit impatience and are unable to be fully present when you are with them.

You are a butterfly

Like butterflies, we are all in various stages of personal growth and spiritual metamorphosis. In the butterfly’s larval stage, it’s a caterpillar. The caterpillar has to shed its skin several times in order to accommodate its expanding body. It knows exactly where it is while it’s preparing itself and getting stronger for its final transformation. It goes into its chrysalis, into solitude, into the dark, and completely reassembles its cells to make itself into a new butterfly. Shortly before the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, the chrysalis becomes transparent and reveals the butterfly inside. To prepare for takeoff, the insect’s swollen body pumps fluids into its tiny, shriveled-up wings. This fluid, which comes from a reservoir contained in its abdomen, sustains the butterfly and allows it to expand its wings and fly.

If we were butterflies, what would happen to us if our chrysalis cracked open early and we had to emerge before we were ready? Could we eat what was in front of us? Would we fly any faster, any longer, any higher? I like to think that we develop strength and spiritual vitality when we crawl out on our own. Without this work, we would die. We really can’t choose not to emerge. That’s the natural way of things. Like the butterfly, we must pay attention to what is presented to us and integrate the inner world of awareness and the outer world of experience so these worlds inform one another. This is how we develop authenticity.

The Sage and the Mouse

There is a wonderful story in my new book The Oneness Gospel. It’s a favorite of the monks of India.

Long ago, there once was a kindly wise man who adopted a mouse. The Sage, who was also a great wizard, turned this mouse into a girl and lovingly raised her as his daughter. Under his tutelage and kindness, she grew to be serene and beautiful. She became his greatest joy. He gave her an education, and she received all the benefits of a life of refinement and abundance. When she came of age, and it was time for her to marry, the Sage, knowing she deserved the best, looked for a suitable husband for her. He presented the overseers of the cosmos to her: the kings of the sun, the moon, and the stars, all great and noble beings. They were the most excellent and honorable marriage candidates in the universe.

The girl who had been a mouse thoughtfully considered the life that each king could offer to her. She contemplated on the lofty power each one represented. Then, one by one, she rejected them, turning down their offers of marriage. Still only desiring her happiness, the Sage searched to the ends of the earth to find more noble beings who represented the different aspects of nature: the lords of the wind and the mountain, the ruler of the ocean. These he presented to her in a grand ceremony, hoping to honor and please her. Again, she kindly refused each one.

One day, the Rat Guardian, who was not invited to be presented with the other noble beings, arrived at the palace to ask for the girl’s hand. His greatest achievement was to tunnel through the hard structure of the mountains. The Sage’s daughter instantly fell in love with the Rat Guardian, whom she thought was the finest candidate of all. When the Sage saw this, he was perplexed. How could this be? Then he remembered that his daughter deserved to know her true self and know happiness. With this realization, he instantly turned her back into a mouse so she could marry the Rat Guardian and live with authenticity and happiness.

What’s the moral here? You can never deny who you really are. If you try to be something you’re not, there can be no joy, no feeling of completion. To be at ease, you must be who you are. If you can only be a mouse, then be that mouse and feel satisfied with the choices you make in life that arise from that authentic part of you. Being yourself will be your greatest joy. When you know your own truth and relax into who you are, life will always support you. Watch the corresponding video on The Balancing Act here.

Every Blessing,

© Charlene M Proctor and The Goddess Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For more affirmations, read The Women’s Book of Empowerment: 323 Affirmations that Change Everyday Problems into Moments of Potential. Click Here to buy.

Today’s Tips

What facilitates a state of “being at ease?”

1. Live from the inside out.  Let’s learn to develop calmness and a feeling of inner expansion. Calmness invites focus, self awareness, energy, intelligence into our experience.  Bliss is not going to knock on our front door and asked to be let in!  Calmness is developed with diligence – we must learn to quiet the mind in meditation or contemplation.
2. Practice inner awareness.  We must get to know our own behavior. When we learn to live as an observer, we are aware of our own behaviors and how it affects others.
3. Be fully present with people and circumstances. Quit texting when you are talking to someone and give them your full attention. Slow your mind down and focus on the task or situation at hand.
4. Value honesty and seek to be authentic. Part of being at ease and living a balanced life is to be an authentic individual.  You can never, ever give someone something you do not already own yourself, such as love. To try to do so is inauthentic. So, as you get to know yourself, learn to be honest with your feelings, recognize your unique perspective on life. As long as it’s not hurting anyone, celebrate you and your gifts to the world in your work, personal life, and activities.

Today’s Affirmation

Developing ease and positivity also comes from affirming the best in you. So let’s begin our day with an affirmation that recognizes our desire to get in touch with ourselves. We cannot lead a balanced life until we love and appreciate who we are. Let’s affirm:

“Today I change the way I internalize life. I inhale living spirit with every breath I take and focus my energy to help others on their soul journey.  I love my entire self and trust life. I am comfortable knowing that I am loved for who I am because I am a unique expression of creation. I am in love with my true and authentic self.”

© Charlene M Proctor and The Goddess Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For more affirmations, read The Women’s Book of Empowerment: 323 Affirmations that Change Everyday Problems into Moments of Potential. Click Here to buy.

Experience the Oneness Blessing in Sacred Sites

Dear Ones:

Is adventure in a sunny climate calling out to you? Maybe you need to relax and affirm the Spirit within? Meditation, mala-making, setting positive intentions, morning yoga, blessings, ceremony, and oneness teachings… Wow! Let’s take a beautiful January Journey of the Spirit together! You are invited to attend this wonderful trip to Mexico!

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Spiritual Transformation Begins Within

Yesterday, one of my dear friends talked about the importance of the New Thought movement where the goal of humanity is to realize its oneness. It is our purpose as teachers to help others manifest this idea in their personal lives.  Together, we observed the numerous people who diligently work to move themselves into higher levels of conscious awareness. They travel worldwide to attend spiritual programs that help forward their own growth, and then come home to show people the way of oneness by offering support and nurturing.

Accepting the responsibility of such spiritual leadership means we become an example. To reach out and uplift another means we offer encouragement to a person who meets resistance in their challenging experiences. Often helping someone move forward is more powerful than getting that individual to attend a workshop or a class, which we may think shifts a person to a new point of view or gives them a push in the “right” direction. As an inter-faith, inter-cultural community, who are we to say what will forward their spiritual growth? If we raise ourselves, doesn’t that mean we transform collective humanity?

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Giving the Oneness Blessing or Deeksha

When I give a blessing, or deeksha, I feel the receiver’s emotional state. I can feel that person’s pain instantly because I am already tuned into my own ability to generate compassion. I listen to a person’s heart, feel it, drop any preoccupation I have with my own stories or dramas. Then I can extend my awareness to that person’s experience. A blessing-giver is most effective when he or she is both passionate about God and compassionate toward humanity, when he or she allows the Divine to heal in any way it sees fit. When a blessing is delivered through my hands, I feel the energy, but I know I am only a conduit. When my heart opens before I give a blessing, compassion emerges from a place that is not entirely my own but part of the Presence.

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Experiencing Energetic Shifts and Spiritual Awareness with Deeksha

Deeksha (a Sanskrit word meaning “benediction” or “initiation”) is delivered when a giver, who has the intention of being a conduit for God’s healing grace and is in a state of divine union, becomes a channel for cosmic energy. The deeksha giver places his or her hands on the recipient’s head for a few minutes and the energy is transferred. Deeksha can be used to bless a person and pull grace into their body for healing purposes.

A deeksha giver’s healing potential is directly proportionate to the power of their will. Great spiritual masters have control of their will and can project healing rays though their hands, feet, and eyes. A healer can lay their hands upon another person (each hand represents either a positive or negative pole), and the hands produce some exchange of magnetism from the energy within. But this alone is not sufficient in healing power. Healing is consciously generated and directed through a person’s hands. It is intelligent life-force energy and is most effectively directed by will. It is an alignment of a person’s will with Divine will. Grace comes through the healer who serves as a conduit. It is impossible to be healed by a person who thinks he or she is doing this type of healing. A deeksha giver is merely a vehicle for grace to come through and be transferred to another. The most skillful healers are ones who know they are big pipelines for grace and do not let their egos interfere. They always understand the source of the healing which is the “I Am” presence. They attribute the healing to the Divine through which all good works are accomplished.

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