stillness

Pilgrimage to the Heart (Part 2)

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543428_10200973243806535_281176769_nI’ve really been taking my time writing this follow-up post.  There is a lot changing for me, not only in the way I am personally engaging my spirituality and path, but how I am relating to other.  Lots of wonderful movement is occurring, and my biggest lesson is stepping back and allowing the changes to take place.  I think too often I get in my own way, I feel that I “have to do”, rather than just hold presence.  Taking the trip to South Carolina opened me up to a lot of things that I needed to see.  I won’t be sharing all of the changes here, as those are meant just for me.  My journal is now my constant companion, as is a mala (I take different ones out depending on the day, my mood, and which one calls to me from my altar).

I had the opportunity to sit with my past in interesting ways.  I found a stack of my old journals.  Many of them leading up to my transition to DC, and I even found one that I kept for my first year in the Navy.  Seeing my personal transformation through these texts really brought me into a deep place of gratitude for where I am, and all the beautiful trials and tribulations along the way.  Getting to be with family helped me to root, to ground, and to just be me for a bit.  I didn’t have to be a teacher, a student, a psychic, a healer, and sometimes when we have the opportunity to step out of our roles we shake the wrinkles out–then we put our multicolored coats on once again.

Now that I am back into my routine, I am getting to live a lot of the changes that I experienced on my Pilgrimage.  I am in the process of de-cluttering my life on many levels (internally and externally).  I am looking at where I am and where I am going a bit differently, and am allowing the changes to take place through a place of deep and unconditional trust.  I am reconnecting to part of my path that are calling to me, and am being kind to myself a bit more.

Spiritual transformation takes many forms, and sometimes we have to step into and out of our lives to gain perspective.  One of the things I did when I went to on my trip was to ask the universe to give me clear signs as to the changes I needed to make… and so my perception opened, and I listened deeply.

I’m going to be writing a series of articles relating my processes moving forward and reflections on the deeper changes that are taking place.  Fasting, writing, loving, being, meditating, yoga, silence and a bit of solitude are now part of my experience.  My processes are mine, but it is my hope that we can share, learn from one another, and grow through the beauty of our shared experience.

 

What changes are you making, and what is changing you?

When you venture into a retreat, take a pilgrimage, or attend an event–how do you integrate what you bring back from the experience into your life?

 

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

Michael A Brazell

Michael@michaelbrazell.com

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

 

Finding Stillness

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thIn a world that is moving at the speed of thought, where do you find stillness?  How do you define this sometimes elusive concept?

I find stillness in yoga.  There is movement occurring with my body, but my mind and my awareness are centered within.  There is stillness on my mat, the earth she holds my space and keeps it sacred.  I can feel the space between the inhale and the exhale, and stillness rests there.

I also find stillness in the hustle and bustle.  Every morning I get on the metro train and make my way to work.  I like closing my eyes and getting lost in the rumble of the train, the ambient noise of those around me, feeling whole within that presence.  Sometimes stillness is not about holding ourselves apart from the world, but going into it more fully.

There are times when we need to rest the senses, to take a break, to reconnect to self.  This can be as simple as a warm soak in the tub, or taking a trip into solitude.

How do you define stillness, and where do you find it?  Where does it find you?

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

Namaste.

Mike-

Napowrimo Day 1

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April is National Poetry Writing month!  What this means is that everyday for the month we write a poem.  It sounds easy enough, but it can really throw you for a loop.  I’m going to do my best this year to stick to getting a poem up each day of the month.

 

We were a beautiful mess.. We could sing back up to car wrecks, we were anthems to brokenness..  we wrapped broken promises around us hoping to keep warm, like your arms around me the day you left… You reached into my chest and etched your name on my heart… I write poems to forget, only to remember that poems never die…  you are etched into my skin, tattooed… You were the first, the ink touches my skin, the pain payment… the battle scars beautiful… our memories endless.

 

just a bit of stream of consciousness for tonight 🙂

 

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine

Namaste!

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.