daily practice

The Power of Silence

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Shhhh….

This is one of most powerful invocations used to create silence.  There are times I just want to say this to the world around me.  Silence often escapes us, but it is one of the most powerful magical tools that we have in out tool belts.  We often forget what silence is.  It can be hard to find when the world moves at the speed of thought.

Silence is one of the most powerful magical tools that we have.  When we are silent we can listen.  We don’t need to rush.  We can just still in our own energy.

Stillness and Silence can be terrifying.  When kids are too quiet parents can sense that trouble is brewing.  We often have odd associations with silence.  We fear it.  It can be terrifying to stop and embrace our many pieces.  When we are still, some of us fidget, we try to find distractions to take us out of the silence, and then when we are finally there… we find those things that we were running from.  Sometimes they are painting on our walls with crayons, instead of getting angry we should take a moment to see what they painted for us.  Silence helps us to align.  It holds us accountable to our own sense of being.

Silence is powerful.  In the quiet pot on the stove the wonderful meal is created.  In the silence, there is rest.

Sometimes I visit the small graveyard near my shop and it is nice to sit in the silence.  The psychic noise is still.  I can be with myself and my many pieces.

Where did you find silence?

Where do you find stillness?

Are you afraid of what you will find there, and if so… what would help to ease that fear?

 

You are loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

 

 

Sacred Space on the Go

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sacred_space2I often dream of taking a yoga retreat to beautiful Costa Rica.  I imagine the sacredness of the beach, the water, the jungle…but the reality of life says.. Make due with what you have.  We live in a hectic world.  Life seems to call us from a multitude of angles, and we may feel as if we are pulled between home life, work life, and our spiritual life.  Finding balance is key to having an integrated life.  Taking mini-retreats or finding simple sacred moments throughout your day or life is one way to help balance the hectic and the sacred.

How do we define sacred space?   For me, sacred space is any place where the divine and I can sit for a few moments and enjoy each others presence.  We may have altars at home, temples or churches that we visit, but what about during the day or when we are away from home?  Creating sacred space is simple, and it is possible to drop into sacred spaces during our day.   I thought I would take a few moments to share a few ideas to create sacred spaces in hectic times.

Yoga Mat as Sacred Space:   Yoga is a sacred practice.  Many of us that do yoga own yoga mats.  Doing yoga on that mat infuses it not only with your energy, but the energy of your practice.  Yoga mats are extremely portable and many of us carry them with us through our day between yoga class and home.  One simple way to create sacred space with your yoga mat is to roll it out and meditate while sitting or laying on it.  The mind and body have a connection to the mat.  When you lay or sit on it the body remembers the familiarity and the practice you engage in while using that mat.  This allows you to drop gently between the worlds without doing more that rolling out your mat.  Go to a park, conference room, storage area, or any space that allows you to get away for a few moments.

Journal as Sacred Space:  Journals are places where many of us spill the innermost aspects of our being into written word.  We allow our soul to step into this realm through our pens, so in essence the journal is a sacred space.  There are times when I simply open my journal and stare at the page in front of me.  This allows me to disconnect from the world around me and lets me just be in the energy of the empty page.  I allow myself to be appreciative of the potential that blank page holds.  If I choose to write, it deepens the experience, if I don’t, it becomes a visual meditation practice.  I recommend carrying a small notebook in your back pocket for this purpose.

Close Your Eyes:  It’s simple.  When we close our eyes and tune into the sound of our beating heart.  The movement of the breath through our lungs.  We enter the void of darkness that sits right inside.  We can stay there for just a few moments, or we can sit there for as long as we need.  This is the simplest way to drop into sacred space, but often the one that is overlooked.

The divine is with us constantly.  Take a few moments to invite the divine into your life and allow every moment to be sacred.

Where do you find sacred space?   What do you do to CREATE sacred space for yourself away from home, at work, or on the go?

You are loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Daily Practice Minute: Look Up

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147943431_730b0c3b62Daily practice is essential to opening our spiritual lives.  Each week I’ll give you an exercise that you can use to establish a practice, or that you can integrate into a current practice.  Some of these will be simple and quick, and others will be designed to take you a bit deeper into your practice.

Many moons ago I use to be a Navy Instructor.  Each week my students would have to take tests on the knowledge they had learned during the week.  Coming into the Navy from civilian life was not an easy next step and there was a lot to absorb in a short amount of time.   During the tests I’d see them struggling, and crinkling their brows.  I remember telling them “Look up for inspiration and not Down in desperation.”

Fast forward to now.  Stepping from the mundane world into the spiritual world has the same effect.  There is so much to absorb and often it can become overwhelming… not to mention that life itself can at times feel overwhelming.

Looking down is typically a sign of worry.  Our minds become heavy and we forget to look up.  Looking up does a lot more than take our eyes to the sky.  We we look up our heart center opens to sky.  Hunched postures are locked postures.  Heart center is a posture of surrendering upward.  When our spines are aligned energy can move through us a bit more freely.

Place your hand on your heart center.  Look down, now look up.  Feel how your heart rises to the sky, or compresses into your center.

How often do you notice the tops of the trees on your walks?

Take a deep breath deep.  Look up.  Surrender your heart center to the sky, to the divine, to your breath.

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com