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July 30, 2007

Wouldn’t You Rather be “Good at Who You Are” Rather Than Just “Good at What You Do?” Part I

This is Part I of a two part blog.

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it
but what they become by it.
John Ruskin
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world
. . . as in being able to remake ourselves.
Mahatma Gandhi

Who are you, actually? Is “who you are” defined by what you do? Or is it defined by who you “be.”

It’s rather interesting that when we greet someone we habitually ask: “How are you doing?” Rather than: “How are you Being?” It seems that we do not care to find out about who they are and what is at the essence of their lives and is eternal and everlasting. But we prefer to find out about what they are doing externally which is transient and ephemeral.

What matters most about someone, from my perspective, is “who they are” and not what they do. What they do can be of interest, but what is most important to me is whether they are a loving, open, trustworthy, kind person. So, who they are counts a lot more for me.

We are good at determining how someone else is doing by noting their wealth and status. But how does one discern how someone is? It begins by first coming to know who you are. But you’ll never know who you are, until you start focusing on that aspect of yourself and not putting all your attention on what you do. If you are honest with yourself, you will realize that you spend most of your waking hours focusing on what you do rather who you are.

This is Part I of a two part blog.

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July 27, 2007

Love is the Divine Transmuter, Podcast


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Love is the Divine Transmuter, Podcast"


Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 11:50 minutes)


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July 25, 2007

Love is the Divine Transmuter, Part II

In this and my previous blog post I am commenting on a passage from my favorite spirit being, White Eagle. White Eagle is a wonderful soul who was channeled by Grace Cook. There is a wealth of published material available if you want to explore his teachings. For more information go to http://www.whiteagle.org

White Eagle was known as the Gentle Brother because of the tender, loving, yet very powerful spirit that his words and presence embodied. He cut to the chase in all that he said, speaking with a simplicity, yet with a directness and a power that cut through all illusions. His goal was to awaken us from the sloth of our ego and help us instead to take flight with the wings of our Soul.

I would like to continue by commenting on the following passage which is a continuation of the passage in my previous blog post:

We speak as one of you, we suffer as you suffer. The thought comes to us: ‘But why should you, a spirit, suffer because we suffer?’ Because, my brethren, love gives us understanding, it makes us feel with you, as you feel. Yet although we feel with you, and understand you, and absorb from you your heartaches, your sorrows do not weigh us down, because love is the divine transmuter. Love is the alchemist which transmutes the base metal of earthliness, the pain and passions of earth. Love transmutes all this, absorbs it and changes it into pure gold.

This is why you feel strengthened after contact with your guide, and you know that all is well. Your guide has brought you the light and love of God which reigns supreme in the heavenly state, and you are uplifted and strengthened and blessed by it. But you have to learn yourself to receive the cup and transmute the sorrows and sufferings of your earthly life. The Christ in you has to transmute and redeem you; then the lower self passes away and no longer has any power over you.

White Eagle

So, by learning how to regularly tap into the Divine essence of our Soul, namely Love, we can “make all things new.” For Love allows us to see the broadest perspective on any and every situation and it allows us to see the Divine Plan, Order and Timing that are in play in all that we experience. There really is a loving Divine Plan that is working itself out in our lives.

The Master Alchemists of old understood that “all things are good” and that if we can just raise our energies and see it all from the highest perspective, that is Love, that we would then have shifted our consciousness sufficiently to then have transmuted that which appeared to be “lead” to our limited ego mind into pure the “gold” that it was all along. It’s all a matter of perspective.

As Anais Nin wrote: We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are. So, as we raise our vibrations to that of Love, we see Love. If we look for the “lead” in life, we find it. If we look for the “gold,” we see and experience only that.

We are the ones who give meaning and value to the experiences we have; no one else can or does. In and of themselves our experiences are neutral. Therefore, we are both the creators and interpreters of our reality.

So, learn to quiet your mind and open your heart and tap into the essence of who you are on a regular basis and by doing so you will have become a conscious, loving creator of your world, that is you will have become a Master Alchemist.

The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter,
even by a millimeter, the way...people look at reality, then you can change it.
James Baldwin

This is Part II of a two part Blog.

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July 23, 2007

Love is the Divine Transmuter, Part I

In my next two blog posts I will be commenting on a passage from my favorite spirit being, White Eagle. White Eagle is a wonderful soul who was channeled by Grace Cook. There is a wealth of published material available if you want to explore his teachings. For more information go to http://www.whiteagle.org

White Eagle was known as the Gentle Brother because of the tender, loving, yet very powerful spirit that his words and presence embodied. He cut to the chase in all that he said, speaking with a simplicity, yet with a directness and a power that cut through all illusions. His goal was to awaken us from the sloth of our ego and help us instead to take flight with the wings of our Soul.

I would like to begin by commenting on the following passage:

In the world there is too much haste; there is no calm, no period of retirement from the battle of life. Some of you are so eager to get on with a particular plan that you feel yourself frustrated by any halt. You become filled with a kind of fever; and maybe when you are told to be patient you say to yourself, ‘But the people in spirit don’t understand the needs of the flesh and the demands of the earthly life.’

My brother, my sister, we in spirit understand only too well the claims of the physical life, for we have, stored up in our souls, experiences such as you are even now undergoing. So when you are told to make time to withdraw from feverish activity, remember that those who proffer this advice have learned the need for this withdrawal; for surely, surely only in the secret places will man make contact with the Source of his being; only in the secret places can he truly pray.

White Eagle

We are all more often than not in a hurry. We are even in a hurry to find time to relax or meditate or pray. How insane! We find ourselves on a treadmill of “doing” one thing after the other. Do, do, do, do, do--all day long! We keep doing “doo” “dooing” all over ourselves.

We somehow think that it is best for us to ignore our innate desire to find calm, comfort and solace in the “still, quiet place within.” Therefore, we never really get in touch with the essence of who we really are and with what really matters in our lives. “Doing” replaces “Being” and we become human “doings” rather than the human “beings” that we are really meant to be.

We are not on this planet solely for the purpose of feverishly running around trying to get an endless, unrelenting series of unforgiving chores done. We are here to deepen our connection with our Source and to learn how to feel embraced by the Love of God/Goddess and to share that embrace with others. We have eternal life and we are meant to deepen our connection to this eternal part of ourselves and not solely identify with the transient, ephemeral, “doing,” present personality part of ourselves.

Life is an opportunity to learn how to deepen and broaden our ability to give and receive Love. What we accomplish or do externally is only meant to be the backdrop for this schooling in learning how to Love. What we “do” is not meant to be our raison d’etre (our reason for being). Our raison d’etre is about coming to truly know and embody the Love that is at the Source of our Being.

By running around and getting caught up in a series of endless “things to do” we avoid our true purpose and live in denial of our true Selves.

This is Part I of a two part Blog.

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July 20, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part IV Podcast


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part IV Podcast"


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(length 12:10 minutes)


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July 18, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part VIII

This is Part VIII of an eight part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on June 25.

What follows in this and my previous blog post of July 16 is the text of the abdominal breathing meditation which I have recorded as the July 20th Podcast. Feel free to either listen to my recording or make your own. As well, read through the text below to get a feel for what you can do to calm yourself down during the day.

Continue counting your inhalations and your exhalations. If you lose count and don’t make it to ten, that’s fine. Start again and start counting all over again. Some thoughts or emotions may make it into your awareness as you do this, but just ignore them and keep counting your breath. Just do you best to keep your primary awareness on your breath. Allow everything else to fade away to recede.

If you get to ten, then just continue counting beyond the ten, just counting the breath, keeping your focus on your abdomen. When you focus on your abdomen and count your breath, it helps to calm you down. It draws the energies down that are bouncing around in your head and grounds them in your belly so to speak. This is a great breath to do whenever you feel anxious, worried or just plain hyper. Just breathe in and breathe out and note the rise and fall of your abdomen as you do.

As you continue, you might even notice or feel that your breathing has become deeper and slower. Your blood pressure is going down and your pulse is slowing. You are releasing relaxation hormones into your blood stream. Physiologically you have made a significant change in your blood chemistry in just these few minutes. Whereas before you may have been in a fight or flight state and your body was tense and poised to run or attack and filled with stress hormones, now you are in a relaxed state, a peaceful state, a healing state. Continue the counting of the breath, the inhalation and the exhalation for a few more breaths….

And now you can begin to let go of your focus on your breath… Make note of what your mood is now…. What your energy level feels like... As you did at the beginning just do a quick body scan from head to toe and just feel, sense, see how your body is doing now….And now become aware of your feet, your abdomen, your chest, your hands, your head, your breathing and your breath. Take a few conscious breaths and begin to come up and out. When you are ready you can begin to open your eyes, with a soft focus, so much more relaxed, so much more at peace, than when we began.

This is Part VIII of an eight part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my new book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

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July 16, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part VII

This is Part VII of an eight part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on June 25.

What follows in my next two blog posts is the text of the abdominal breathing meditation which I have recorded as the July 20th Podcast. Feel free to either listen to my recording or make your own. As well, read through the text below to get a feel for what you can do to calm yourself down during the day.

Close your eyes now and get nice and comfortable... First thing I would like you to do is to just become aware of your physical body. Notice your feet, how and where they touch the floor. Notice, as well, how you are sitting in your chair, where your body touches the chair and the placement of your arms...

And now become aware, as well, of your whole body. Do a body-scan from the top of your head down to the bottoms of your feet. Just notice if there are any areas that are tight or tense or sore. Or maybe there are areas that feel relaxed. Just have an awareness, not a judgment. Just an awareness of how your body feels…..

Become aware, as well, of your mood, just an awareness of it, don’t try to change it…. And your energy level, just an awareness, an objective awareness of how you are right now.

And now I would like you to place your attention on your abdomen and your breathing. I would like you to notice as you breathe in that your abdomen expands slightly. And as you exhale, your abdomen contracts slightly. Now don’t force a change in your breathing pattern in order to expand your abdomen; I’m not asking you to change anything, just notice it. Breathing in, the abdomen expands slightly. Breathing out, exhaling, the abdomen contracts, slightly.

So just continue to be aware of your breath, your breathing, your abdomen expanding and your abdomen contracting. Just have an awareness of your breath, your breathing. If there are any distractions or noises that you might hear in the background or foreground, just ignore them. Any thoughts that may come to your mind now; just ignore them, they are not important. Or even any emotions that might bubble up; just ignore them, let them go, let yourself be still and let yourself be quiet.

What I would like you to do now is to begin to see if you can do ten full breaths, a full breath is one inhalation and one exhalation, without getting lost in your thoughts. Find your own rhythm and just see if you can do ten full breaths without losing track. Breathing in, breathing out, without getting lost in your thoughts, emotions or any distractions. Just be present within the stillness of yourself, for it is in that stillness that you will find the real you, that is, a human “being” and not a human “doing.”

This is Part VII of an eight part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my new book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

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July 13, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part IIII Podcast


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part III Podcast"


Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 11:00 minutes)


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Posted by Yanni at 12:00 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 11, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part VI

This is Part VI of an eight part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on June 25.

Now, in terms of how you sit or what you do when you meditate, the most important thing is to make sure you are comfortable. If you have the flexibility to go into the yoga lotus or the half-lotus position, then certainly do so. If you don’t have the flexibility, then I would not suggest you do that. You can meditate very effectively sitting comfortably in straight backed chair. This is the way I do it all the time.

Just sit up straight with you spine erect, but not rigid. It is best that your legs are on the ground and are not crossed. Your hands are in your lap, palms up or down, whatever is most comfortable for you. And as we proceed with the meditation, if at any point you are uncomfortable, then shift. Move around a bit. If you need to cough, do so. Don’t spend ten minutes suppressing a cough or being physically uncomfortable and then conclude that you can’t meditate. As well, breathe in and out of your nostrils and not your mouth.

The most important thing to remember is to make sure you are comfortable while you are doing meditation. I might add, though, not so comfortable that you fall asleep. By the way, I do not recommend that you lie on the floor or a bed when you meditate because you are very likely to fall asleep. Lie down only if you have a significant back problem. So, again, the idea is to be as comfortable as possible, yet still alert; and, most importantly, enjoy the experience of “being” with yourself.

This is Part VI of an eight part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my new book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

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July 9, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part V

This is Part V of an eight part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on June 25.

As well, please note that you can do the following breathing meditation/exercise with your eyes wide open while you standing in line at the bank or a grocery store, while attending a boring meeting, etc., in any setting where you don’t need to be putting your complete attention on anything in particular.

You can even do this, with your eyes open, of course, while driving your car. No, I’m not crazy! You can do this while driving. I always do it. As I drive to teach a class or to any destination, for that matter, instead of thinking about the hundreds of things that I may need to do, I choose instead to just BE, to be present and conscious with myself, with my body and with my breath. This way I am more relaxed while I am driving and as a result of being more relaxed, I am much more alert.

So, instead of incessantly thinking, I give myself a break from all that “thinking” and “doing” and just consciously breathe all the way to my destination. As well, I do this as often as I can in as many other settings as possible.

Again with regard to driving, you really are much more alert when you are relaxed. Accidents occur when you are distracted and usually you are distracted because you are overly caught up in some emotional or mental drama in your mind. By doing this technique, you will actually be much, much more alert and relaxed while driving and you also will be much more relaxed when you reach your destination. You will respond more effectively to any stimulus that occurs and you will be aware of a lot more of what is going on than you would be if your mind were overly cluttered and distracted by too many thoughts.

This is Part V of an eight part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my new book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

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July 6, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part II Podcast


Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part II Podcast"


Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 10:43 minutes)


Subscribe to Feed Below:

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 4, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part IV

This is Part IV of an eight part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on June 25.

So, meditation can help you to learn how to slow your mind down enough so that you can consciously and proactively choose what you think about and how you feel. Yes, there are stressors or “buttons” that will get pushed, and will cause you to “loose it;” that’s called “life.” But one can still choose how one reacts, no matter what is happening or has happened. You can choose to loose it completely or just step back and be objective with regard to what is going on.

So, the key here is to learn how to bring forth the relaxation response more and more often during your day instead staying stuck in a constant state of overdrive, of over-thinking. In other words how can you minimize being hyper during the day? How can you minimize the fight or flight response?

You can minimize it by creating many little mini-breaks during your day to help calm yourself down. All you need is three minutes at a time. I will outline a breathing exercise shortly that will change your blood chemistry from one that is overloaded with stress hormones to one that is full of healing relaxation hormones. All you need is three minutes. And in those three minutes you will have affected a profound physiological change in your body and you will feel quite different.

What I would like to share with you now is a breathing meditation. The whole point of teaching you this breathing meditation is to help you to remember to take regular breaks from your incessant “thinking” and “doing” so that you can give your mind a respite and your body a breather, physiologically.

This is Part IV of an eight part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my new book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

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July 2, 2007

Meditation—A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part III

This is Part III of an eight part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on June 25.

Our bodies were not built to live under the mental stresses of this age nor were they meant to be sedentary. Now, I am not suggesting that you go into a cave, eat wild berries, roam the forests and meditate for the rest of your life, and forget all of your responsibilities.

But what we can do is to learn how to lessen the intensity of the over-stimulation that we experience. Our bodies are not capable of handling this over-stimulation for long periods of time without significantly breaking down, be it physiologically or emotionally. So, what meditation does, and it has been around for many millennia, is to help you to slow down and to feel physiologically and emotionally better and more balanced. This is the incredible gift that meditation freely offers anyone willing to experiment with it.

What we do not realize is that our minds do not think on their own; we choose what we think about. It may seem at times that we don’t choose our thoughts and that we don’t choose our emotional reactions and that our minds and emotions have a “mind of their own.” But, in fact, you can learn to choose what you think about and you can learn to choose how you feel.

You can choose to “awfulize” or you can choose to see the best in yourself and your situation.

There can be a big difference in how you experience an event. It depends on whether you see the cup half-empty or half-full. How you choose to perceive an event determines how you physiologically and emotionally experience it.

This is Part III of an eight part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my new book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

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