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LATEST POSTS
Not good enough: most of us have felt that way at some point in our lives. For many, it is an ongoing undercurrent in their moment-to-moment thinking and day-to-day experience. Like a weed whose roots reach underground to choke our garden of confidence and courage, it impedes our ability to grow into a sincere sense of fulfillment and happiness. Why do we feel not good enough? Where does it come from? What can we do about it? Let’s take a look at these and more, this week, on our “Finding Your Inner Peace Sanctuary” workshop. Feeling not good enough is one of the many “sorry stories” that we need to address as we cultivate inner peace. At first glance, we may think that we only display feeling not good enough through the choices we make that seem less than ourselves. For example, perhaps we do not feel worthy of submitting our resume for our dream job, or asking the person we have been crushing on for months out on a date, or going for that little extra to polish ourselves up so that we feel at ease about the way we interact with the world. Feeling unworthy and choosing to hold back from life as a result, are indeed expressions of feeling not good enough. However,…
How are you doing in this time of turbulence and isolation? Amid the devastating news and growing concern of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as well as the need to direct the course of Parvati Foundation through the global crisis, I feel acutely aware of the importance of inner peace. Returning to a calm, clear mind is the greatest gift we can give ourselves to weather any storms that come. This week and in the following weeks on this “Finding Your Inner Peace Sanctuary” workshop, I will be here supporting you in finding a peaceful mind through these troubled times. Imagine a calm, clear lake on a sunny day. See its surface smooth and quiet, reflecting the light of the sun and embodying warmth, even while it remains steady and cool in its depths. Sense its vitality and freshness. Now consider that your mind has the potential for that radiant peacefulness. Yet somehow, especially in times of difficulty, our minds feel more like a turbulent sea. What once was transparently clear becomes clouded as storms churn up debris from the ocean floor. Then we find ourselves unable to see the moment as it is. We see only the refuse of lingering thoughts, unresolved emotions and old issues as they swirl through currents of our inner agitation. All…
As I live mostly in isolation in my music studio these months to complete the music for GEM: Global Education for MAPS, I feel for the many people who need to live in isolation due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic unfolding all over the world – some of whom are very personally dear to me. I pray daily for all who are struggling with, or have lost loved ones due to, this virus. This unprecedented time makes inner peace more relevant than ever. We are called through COVID-19 to awaken interconnection, in order to reactivate our personal and global immunity. I will have lots more to say on this subject. This week, in support of your inner peace sanctuary and deep immunity, let’s take a look at how to let go, the third step of the three-step process of transformation that we have been exploring. There are many things we want to get rid of in our lives. It could be an old pair of skates, outdated electronics, or worn-out shirts. Likely, we either push them back into the corners of our closets and garages where they collect dust, or we gather them up and bring them to the appropriate donation or disposal site so that they are gone from our homes. We tend to be…
Dear friends, As I am mostly working in isolation in my music studio these months to complete the music for GEM: Global Education for MAPS, I feel for the many people who are now forced to live in isolation due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic unfolding all over the world. I pray daily for all who are struggling with its effects or have lost loved ones due to it. Like many of you, I have people close to my heart who have been exposed to the virus. What brings me deep faith is knowing that in this exceptional time, we are called through COVID-19 to awaken to our inherent interconnection, in order to reactivate our personal and global immunity. In the coming days, I have more to say about this and how we can make a much needed shift and stay healthy on all levels. To keep in the loop, please connect with me here. If you are feeling alone or afraid, if you are struggling to find inner peace or even wondering whether peace has value, do reach out. Though we may be physically removed from one another, we are all in this together as one Earth family. I will be posting next week the third step of the three-step process for transformation and how…
What does witnessing mean and why is it essential for our inner peace? We have been exploring how understanding is the first step to letting go of tendencies or habits that cause us pain. Witnessing is the vital second step. In witnessing, we can notice the way our tendencies continue, without getting upset about them. This then loosens our mind’s grip on the tendency so that we can let it go. Witnessing is born from the understanding that our senses do not contain the full picture of reality. Our perceptions are temporary, as they change with circumstance and are subject to our moods and whims. Through witnessing practice, we meet the moment as it is, without overlaying a perspective of how we want it to be. We come in contact with the deeper unchanging truth beyond our senses. Observing is not witnessing. In observing, we are still attached to what we experience, and the attachment takes the form of a running narrative. Witness a Flower For example, when we observe a flower, we see it for its colours and size and empirical qualities. Our minds may come up with stories for it, such as a memory of similar flowers in a garden behind our childhood home, or getting flowers like it from a past love. Through…
Have you ever decided to change a tendency in yourself that you didn’t like, but notice that you still do it? Do thoughts cross your mind like “Why am I in this place again?” or even “What’s wrong with me?” If so, please read this post. I believe that in it, you can find the key to lasting change. Last week, we began to look at the three-step process of transformation: 1) to understand, 2) to witness, and 3) to release. Our tendencies that block us from inner peace will not just disappear because we want to get rid of them. We must begin with step one: understanding. To understand is “to stand in knowing”. We are both grounded in what is, and receptive to change. The more we understand our tendencies, the more aware we become. In that awareness, we can let go of what blocks the peace that is our true nature. We all have habits or aspects of our personalities that interfere with inner peace. Many of us put a lot of effort—consciously or unconsciously—into trying to conceal them from ourselves or others. By doing this, it is as though we send our life-force energy into an eddy, cutting ourselves off from the ocean of life. We heal as we become aware of…
If you have been following this workshop, I hope that you now feel in touch with your power to choose in every moment between the positive possibilities and the impossibilities. As a reminder, the positive possibilities feel rooted, vital and expansive, in alignment with Nature and your highest good. We have now laid the foundation to look at how we can let go of unhealthy habits and find inner peace. Have you ever found yourself feeling stuck, holding on to a belief or tendency that makes you unhealthy and unhappy, yet you feel unsure how to let it go? Following the three steps of understanding, witnessing and releasing will help you address this issue with clarity and compassion. This three-step practice has brought me greater meaning, purpose and joy. I have also seen immense transformation in countless others who have taken it to heart. The subject is so rich that I have dedicated an entire upcoming book to it. I give you here a summary of its power so that you can right away begin to apply the three steps to your life. Any unhealthy or painful pattern is an expression of impossibilities. It is rooted in a limited sense of reality that short-changes you of the fullness of this moment. Through the lens of impossibilities,…
The universe is expanding. Science tells us that it has been growing into greater spaciousness since the moment of the Big Bang. Within this immensity, each one of us is on a trajectory of growth and expansion. What does this mean for you? Think about a time when you were tense, constricted, shoulders hunched up to your ears, teeth clenched, stomach in knots. Then think about how it felt to let all of that tension go and allow yourself to expand. You found a greater sense of wellbeing and comfort. Your body/being knows the value of expansiveness. Aligning with expansion is the third of three touchstones for peaceful living that ensure that you are acting in accordance with your and Nature’s highest good. In the past two weeks in our exploration together of rooted, vital expansion, we have been looking at the example of a growing plant. First it puts out strong roots. Then it raises its stem and leaves up to the sun. Only after that does it bloom. Your healthy expression of expansion happens in the same way, with rooted vitality. As the flower expands into a broadening beauty of being, connected with the air and the sunshine, it opens to meet its surroundings fully. So too, when you are in expansion, you truly…
Have you ever felt listless, drab, or tired as you consider a decision to make, not sure what would be best for you to do and maybe even resistant to finding out? This could be a sign that you need greater vitality, the second of three touchstones that ensure you are in alignment with Nature and your highest good. Because feeling alive and vibrant is inherent to your natural state, it helps you live with greater effectiveness. Choices that support your highest good will always feel rooted, vital and expansive. Vitality puts a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Last week, we explored the gift of rootedness in helping you to feel a greater sense of solace and clarity. From a strong foundation of rootedness, you can experience healthy, vibrant vitality. Vitality is an experience of qi, life-force energy, also known as prana, moving through your body-being. It is fluid, potent, dynamic, electric, alive. Vitality is like the juicy sap of life that pulsates through a tree to bring minerals up from the roots and sugar down from the leaves, uniting the stability of the ground with the freedom of the air. Just as the tree’s sap keeps its leaves strong and lush, vitality energizes every cell of your being. Its upward…
Every one of us goes through times where we feel indecisive, stressed, or even overwhelmed. But there is a solace and clarity always available to us. They do not come from somewhere outside ourselves, but from our inherent nature. Beneath all the stories our mind may conjure is a substratum of deep inner wisdom that knows we are always held in immeasurable love. That wisdom also knows what keeps us present with this love, and what distracts us from it. Yet when we lose sight of our nature, we can forget we are a part of that immense love and wisdom. I used to think that in order to access guidance, I had to go outside of myself. It took an immense wake-up call, one I will share in an upcoming book as part of GEM: Global Education for MAPS, before I began to deeply honour my inner voice. I now understand more clearly how Nature has graciously given us a built-in guidance system. We may touch it at times through “a-ha” moments that come unexpectedly in many forms. But there are also three qualities that, when we cultivate them together, will bring us into contact with our inner guidance in every moment of our lives. As I mentioned last week, they are rootedness, vitality and…