Inspired Change

Inspired Change

Some fear it, some ignore it, some botox it.

Some cajole it, some lure it, and some try to control it and oppress it with those leathery mental leashes or with myriad intoxicants and personal addictions.

I say: Embody it.

breathe. listen. feel. move. cry. sing. rest. eat. accept. resist. expand. contract. be. trust . dream. imagine. risk. speak. write. sleep. dance. run. walk. hide. laugh. embrace. learn. ask. reply. succumb. forgive. forget.

remember:

love. love. love.

Life-Changes have a rhythm, a pulse, an intrinsic mystery which we are forever analyzing with our glitzy Aquarian equations, our schnazzy, astro-physical theories, and our divinely inspired “I am God” epiphanies.

Change, be it physical, emotional, spiritual or mental is a cosmic as well as a planetary happening; synchronic and radial at once. It is often difficult to define with the linearity of our modern rational thinking, with the left brain hemisphere’s perpetual wanting of a tangible “answer”. And so we can empower our inevitable passage through our many changes by surrendering and allowing what IS to simply BE.

We may experience an impossible rush-hour traffic jam (smog and all) of our own personal judgments toward what “shows up” when we are undergoing an accelerated passage of change in our lives. Integrating and adapting to new rhythms and patterns can often bring up old fears, trigger past memories of failure, difficulty and resistance. I invite you to notice it all, and if need be, express it! We evolve greatly through our emotional bodies and our emotions evolve by their very expression, release and in the freedom to be ourselves....

You may not need an audience of 109 to witness 3 and ½ hours of primal scream therapy (unless of course you reallyreallyreally do). A personal journal is highly effective. So is the trusted ear of someone willing to hold space with you (ask first!). Going for a walk in the forest where you can feel a resonant inter-connection with nature and where you are able to talk to yourself, (at varying audible volumes) is also very effective. Take a new class, sign up for a local workshop, get a bold, new haircut, a pedicure, a fresh tub of ice-cream. And trytrytry and refrain from negative judgement and self-punishment. The multiple ways to embody authenticity in a passage through transition and into the beckoning, awaiting “new” are vast and unlimited. (and may at times surprise you)

Yet, similar to what it takes to be an accomplished performer, it does take courage and disciplined practice, as well as on-going rehearsals backstage and behind the scenes (sometimes rigorous ones in front of the mirror) to convince yourself that you are truly adapting, coping, integrating, grounding and embodying the new you. Give yourself permission to flub a few lines here and there, to forget an important life-prop or two, to occasionally give a flat performance that feels a little awkward. Self-forgiveness is key when learning to play the new character of your own self-proclaimed, re-invigorated and awakened life.

As adults, we are notoriously hard on ourselves and tend to internalize a high degree of unrealistic expectations and glossy perfectionism without giving space for all the wily mistakes and sneaky lessons which essentially aid us on our journey. During these times, young children can be our greatest teachers in their ability to experiment with life so fully and freely as they openly engage the full acuity of sense in all they do. Like children, it helps to be insatiably curious about ourselves and to give ourselves permission to dress up as our favourite archetype, to tell elaborate stories about them, however embellished and wild, to be tactile and gregarious. And of course, as adults we need to re-learn how to
p L a Y with life more.

When we take ourselves too seriously, we can unwittingly invite trickster medicine to tickle the underpits of our lives in some rather unruly ways. The next time you are in a righteously self-absorbed mood, notice all the little whimsical and irksome things which happen all around you. tRiCkStEr is trying to make you laugh at yourself and stay humble!

It is essential to run our mental thoughts (be it our affirmations, our creative ideas, our visualization) through our senses in order to fully embody new ideas and have them soundly manifest in our lives. We need to stimulate our limbic system and our nervous system to create new neuro-pathways and peptides.

IE: It can help to vividly conjure a memory of a time when you felt exceptionally beautiful in order to really be convinced in your daily “I am beautiful” affirmation.

Whatever it is we want to create or change, it is important that we F E E L it first. We need to embody it. Embodying is “running” it through our senses by enacting, remembering, touching, smelling, hearing, seeing and tasting it A-L-L.

Yet sometimes there is an inner ground-work of healing we must first initiate. This can be a long and gradual process for some, requiring lots of loving patience, empathic sensitivity, and yes, sometimes Dr. Chocolate. By gently and compassionately reaching to the inner, subconscious past-pain-program (the very one which can so rigorously prevent us from revolutionizing our lives) and by lucidly addressing our core-healing needs here, we can begin to effectively till our inner soils for the fertilizing of our highest dreams and creative expressions.

For every precious drop of the elixir of becoming, every ingredient we add to our personal cauldron of transformation feeds the resolution of change and makes it ever more real, ever more tangible...one yummy spoonful at a time.

My New Neice!

JILLIAN ELSPETH TRAN!
On August 26, 2007 my second niece was born in Ottawa, Ontario to my "little" brother Alex (above) and my sister-in-heart, Teena. Our hearts are opening even wider to welcome, embrace and cherish the newest gift to our ever-growing family.
Auntie loves you, Jillian!

A Poem: Iris

I glimpse you suddenly
in sunken shadows of your heartdeep
turning ladles over simmering alphabets
as you hope to concoct the truetalk
of your netherland
emotions.

"understand me"
you say
in circular footsteps pressed down
into the blackened soils of you
"understand me"
you always say
except in what you don't.

And I hear you,
though not in the chill crossing your eyelids
(behind them)
yes
(behind them)
fireflies dance in the scent of
perfumed rainbows

yes
I know your heart
inscribes you
with an infinite poetry
all you have languished carved deep into your marrow
yes, I know the rivers run quick
where they gather at the fall

and you
you fear it might escape you
gravity betraying you
revealing(concealing)exposing
the engorgement of your heart
beyond it's own capacity.

feelingfeelingfeeling
itself pushing up against
the nailed lid of your
ever sharpened iris....

I know how you have hidden
under embroidered blankets of cardiactongue
and how you reach through its silent murk
surfacing in fleeting tears
smiles
shimmers of light

and you know how I've seen you greet me on the threshold of your crossing

the touching
the holding
the feeling
the fleeing
of your...........

-Amaya Dana O'Duir-

HEART-ner

I invite you to add a new ingredient to your simmering alphabet soup and transform how it tastes in your conversations, musings and writings.

HEART-ner: This is an evolution of the word PARTNER and may refer to a spouse, life-mate, business associate and significant other. It emphasizes the intimate HEART-presence between you and a loved one and invites us to evolve beyond the latent suggestion of possession, utility, unhealthy co-dependency, and objectification in the use of the word PART. We can surely change our thinking by shifting our spoken language trends! Our oral traditions are meant to constantly evolve and reflect our principals and values- why not let love have the final word?

Walking the Labyrinth

W A L K I N G the L A B Y R I N T H

The uni-cursal pathways of the Chartres-inspired Labyrinth are a sacred place for inner reflection and quiet meditation. Ancient, metaphorical and mythic, Labyrinths are intended as a conscious place of communion with Divine Source, openly welcoming the spiritual pilgrim in each of us. When we actively seek to connect with a higher guiding energy on the spiraling Paths of Life, we optimize the potential for deeply healing OurSelves and each other within our own communities.

However, without any reference to the spiritual-metaphorical significance of the Labyrinth’s foot-friendly pathways, one can easily overlook the meaning, the purpose, the inherent Medicine it has offered us throughout the ages.

There are many different forms of the Labyrinth, some pre-Christian, others from the current era, some out in remote, natural locations, others indoors in grand, well-known cathedrals. From First-Nation’s peoples to Buddhists to Christians to Goddess Enthusiasts, the Labyrinth has been a symbol for the perpetual movement toward the Unity of God, Spirit, All That Is.

The Labyrinth’s pathways are also symbolic of the birth, life and death of all things; the in-breath, the pause, the exhalation; the beginning, middle and end of all journeys. It is the question, the answer and the application of knowledge; the prenatal, birth and postpartum phases of creation. It is the spiral of our galaxy, the invisible movement of sound. It is the unsolved riddle or koan of life. The Labyrinth challenges our linearity with metaphors that come alive in us, offering insights previously hidden from our conscious awareness. Such is the nature of any spiritual “tool”, and for centuries the Labyrinth has been such a tool.

The Labyrinth is an embodied form of prayer, and its repetitive movement is designed to produce an “alpha” state of awareness. It is within this alpha state that we commonly experience inner peace. In this state we are more relaxed and receptive, more attuned to ourselves. This is how transformation and regeneration can occur physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. By occupying our “chatter mind” with each step, we can clear the “thought-smog” and open to a more lucid place within. We may then begin to hear a quieter voice of wisdom, insight and truth. We may also release long-held tensions, initiating a deeper healing process.

Within the Labyrinth-induced alpha waves, we vibrate to a specific frequency of between 8-13 hz. This directly connects with the hertz frequency of the Earth’s crust and mantle and the Earth’s outer-core. Therefore, whenever we find ourselves in an alpha state, we are in resonance with the frequency of our Earth, our seasons, and the greater cycles which attune the seasons, such as the Sun’s Equinoxes and Solstices, the Moon’s waxing and waning cycles, even the orbit of the greater planets. In our cyclical lives as humans, we can be invigorated by a greater galactic-cosmic movement. And the resulting awareness of our inter-connectedness may inspire harmony.

The Labyrinth embodies all of this and more within its geometry. When we enter into the Labyrinth, we surrender and let go, we trust the path to lead us to the centre and we follow. In the ‘Three Fold Path’ it is known as “Purgation”-the release of the old. It is here we may find our resistance, our personal dogmas and any limiting beliefs which hold us back. We may feel transitional confusion, disorientation or claustrophobia at the threshold of this breakthrough. It is here, we take an in-breath.

At the Labyrinth’s center we can find the pause, the fertile stillness between the inhalation and the exhalation. We can open to the “Illumination” of ourselves and our connection to the Divine. We may hear the answer; find the solution, high-light a truth. Here, we are in the mode of receiving; from Spirit, the Earth, the Universe, ourselves. Whatever it is we need here, at our own personal center, we may find.

With courage, we exhale, step away from center, and extend ourselves outwards. We are in “Communion and Reunion” and may find clarity in a renewed expression of ourselves. Our journey out of the Labyrinth radiates into the wider community and the unique roles we play there. When we move from our newly integrated, personal “centers”, it is a gift we can give to others.

The ancient metaphors of the Labyrinth are infinite and our relationships to perpetual life-cycles are highly personal and unique. There is no right or wrong way to walk the spiral of the Labyrinth, no cultural-religious ownership of its spiritually intended purpose. For Spirit is present in all expressions of contemplation, prayer, and meditation, and as such the Labyrinth is, and always will be Universal in nature.

The Labyrinth offers a safe, unified field of spiritual potential for everyone. It asks in return for simple authenticity, a willingness to be exposed to our hidden selves and to what may be hidden in others. The Labyrinth integrates “doing” with “being” in a meandering balance of polarities. Much like the spiritual quest for self-mastery where one true path always leads to the center.

http://wwll.veriditas.labyrinthsociety.org/

Click the above link to find a Labyrinth nearest you....

Reiki

R e i k i : "Universal Life-Force" is a healing current of gentle, pure universal energy, or "chi" which flows through the hands of the attuned practitioner and into the life-channels of one's body. By the gentle laying down or hovering of the Reiki practitioner's hands, vibrational energy flows into the receiver.

It is an energy free of dogmatic and limiting beliefs systems yet Reiki is divinely compassionate and benevolent to A L L. Reiki has a safe and positive affect on one's physical, emotional and spiritual bodies, simultaneously enhancing the health and harmony of one's overall well being. As Reiki readily adjusts to the specific requirements of each unique client, the strength of the flow is determined by one's personal need for it. Essentially this means we are active participants in our healing when we ask for Reiki through the initiated practitioner.

People may experience Reiki in many different ways, like a warm, pulsing bath of colour, or a relaxing hum of soothing movement through the body, or even as an electrical pulse of radiant light. The results can be both extraordinary and subtle, yet Reiki will always heal you in the way you most need.

Reiki is truly a loving gift for us all.

REIKI CAN:

* revitalize, restore and renew the subtle energy systems of the body

* enhance physical, emotional and spiritual well being

* improve vitality and vigour

* amplify the healer within

* promote deep relaxation

* assist in regeneration and healing

* open the heart to deeper connection with Source

* soothe, calm and reassure

* assist in the detoxification of the body

* encourage life-long patterns of wellness

* change your life!

to search for a Reiki Practitioner nearest you, click this link: http://healing.about.com/cs/reiki/a/reiki_intern.htm

CREATING SPONTANEOUS MUSIC: Why Improvise?

As an improvisational musician and multi-faceted expressionist, my artistic goals are often rather abstract and Shamanistic in nature. Ever guided by the Muse, I seek to expand within the linearity of technical verse and the denser strategies of cohesion into a place of lucid surrender to what is. This what is reaches beyond any accomplishment of my voice and my flute as a predictable instrument guided by the parameters of skill, practice and subsequent mastery of musical will, and invites expansion into realms more mysterious, more vitally alive and subtle.

I am guided by a musical quest to openly explore being played as I play. For I am a resonator, a conduit, a channel for the animating forces of the present moment I inhabit. A moment in all it’s textured glory, all it’s obvious and subtle influence which comes not only from the descriptions within the music itself, and the instrumentation defining it, but from within the energetic context of time, space, limbic response, intent and perception. This moment cannot necessarily be pre-ordained to “make sense” or to be “harmonious” or even “coherent”. A true improvisational impulse could jump out at any moment from someone’s chaotic thought processes across the room and want to be played by me, or it could be the influence that someone’s obvious dominant scent is having upon me in the space.

Whatever it may be, I am primarily interested in responding sonically/musically- a relational symbiosis, whether I am fully conscious of it or not. (and my goal is to become as fully conscious of it as I can) The ensuing “music” is not so much for me to judge the value of, as it is to value the authentic emergence of a collection of impulses moving into audible form. A true sound-expression is birthed from the infinite well of spontaneity which exists in each moment and represents something of an essential truth, whether this is identified by others or not, accepted by others or not.

Once expressed sonically, this truth may catalyze further openings of perception and understanding on levels immeasurable in their value and worth and very much needed for our evolutionary growth. As a transformational artist as well as an improviser, I intend to seek, open and convey something of this Truth in music.

Universalizing is my goal as a improviser, to deepen the ability to access a fuller spectrum of extended ranges on my instruments so that I may vividly represent as many dimensions of genuine expression as possible, be it personal, collective, cultural, spiritual-religious, psychological or otherwise. The essence of improvisation, to me is creational fusion, and is made all that more potent by a willingness to let go of preconceptions and just conceive.

A Poem: Air-Loom

A i r-L o o m

You walk,

gently, yet proud,

upon my Ancient Blood,

pulsing a time and a rhythm,

an echo and a memory

still awake in the ever nearing

depths of me.

These Ancestral Pathways,

carved of Song and Story,

Artery and Vein,

they converge and trace

the lucid Dreamings

of a lineage

now remembered,

This, my Scripted Body, a memory

I keep alive for You.

It is here I take

pause to listen,

to weave upon the very loom

you have offered throughout

these reaching generations,

a loom you have kept ready and safe

just for me.

And it is here, vibrant colours swirling,

spider fingers dancing,

that every fibre of my Being

joins with You,

as O N E.

-Amaya Dana O'Duir-

Know ThySelf

" What I believe is what I conceive and what I receive."
We are creatures of habit and over-domestication. We can easily become addicted to routine, familiarity, and common comfort zones so long as they ensure a relative stability and predictability to our daily multi-tasking madness. As our mechanized time-clock ticks-tocks it's mortal age upon us, our definitions of ourselves may become sterile and monotonous, and our intimate relationships may stagnate and crumble, depleted of vitality. Our curiosity for the unknown, the mysterious, the new, may atrophy under the weighty gravity of diplomas, degrees, awards and promotions for all the things we claim to firmly "know" as the scholars, experts, and specialists in our respective fields.

We may be too quick to give answers where only a single question pulses in our consciousness. We may take ourselves so seriously we fear being a novice, a new-bee at anything and so forget to try something daringly bold and new. We may prematurely harden and become so set in our seasoned ways that we forget to adapt to fresh circumstances with the graceful flexibility of our inner child. We may instead become weary of change, fearing what is unfamiliar to us, becoming sourly close-minded to different opportunities. Or worse yet, we may stubbornly resist accommodating the inner shifts that move as powerfully as tectonic plates within us and instead create dis-ease or illness, a failed relationship or a personal crisis of devastating consequence.

Everything must change, and so we have a life-long bodymindspirit responsibility to update our pictures of what is current and alive in us as well as in those closest to us. At times we may need to radically shift our awareness in order to make space for the new energy which wants to reinvigorate, renew, revitalize and re inspire us in our evolutionary life journeys. Our needs, wants, desires and dreams may need some ruthless re visioning as we reach within to discover the buried, isolated or restlessly empowered places in us which suddenly seek outward expression, lest we explode, implode or create rebellious disasters of our outer lives. (ie:mid-life crisis)

Often the key to self awareness is deep listening. Really taking the time to listen. To listen to the recurring symbols of our nocturnal dreams, to listen to our punctuated conversations within our own heads as well as in our dialogue with others, to take time off from attending to others needs so we can nourish our own. Here, genuine curiosity may be our perpetual guide, as well as the strong desires stirring wildly or subtly within us, for it is the magnetic law of attraction which helps create the experiences shaping our lives.

We all have unique and highly personal activities which help us hear the precious inner voice within. For one person it may be some crazy, impossible inverted yogic pose while for another it may be cleaning a sketchy bathtub. Without judging, do exactly what you need to do to claim some meaningful and quality time out, to breathe into yourSelf deeply, to turn the blaring volume of the world of stimulus down a notch, and really hear that special place in you speaking only to you.

And when you know without a doubt you've heard that voice, ask:

are you truly happy?

what has changed in you?

what do you need to be fulfilled?

how can you help yourSelf?

what do you love?

who do you love?

do you like who you are?

Gently place all of the vivid responses you receive into a jeweled and glittering box filled with radiant golden light, bubble gum, marbles, bubbles and chocolate chips. Kiss it softly and close the sparkling lid. Place it in your heart knowing you can open this treasure chest whenever you wish. You will know what to do with all it's gifts and inheritances in time.

This time it is enough to know you have found a powerful wealth inside of yourSelf that makes you far richer than you will ever know: YOUR own essential, authentic and valuable T R U T H.

Sing-Chronicity

I love sing-chronicity..........it is a magical way to perceive my daily happenings, however mundane and blah, gripping or Plutonic they may be, as having perfect spinal alignment to my higher purpose.

Believing and trusting in everything I experience as an external representation of an internal measure keeps me very present in the moment, and very humbled. Everything happens for a multi-faceted reason, and in everything there is a Medicine...........we need only open ourselves willingly to the truth, to the lesson, the teachings, the hard-core tests of character along the way.

If I fall into victim-mode or a defeated feeling of "otherness", which I am apt to do at times I least expect, I am creating unnecessary separation between myself and the very guidance which seeks to teach me. This can keep me in negative judgement, in a state of superiority or inferiority, and may perpetuate patterns of tension that have me ever ready to see conflict where harmony would rather dwell.

I love being a fumbling, ever-evolving student of life, and I actively invite a relational approach to how I identify with what manifests in my day to day. If I whole-heartedly accept ALL OF IT as:

of Me,
for Me, and by Me,

mediated, blessed and imbued by a Divine Source,

then I can reject nothing of what occurs.
Suddenly there is little room for the woes-of- me in victimhood.

Instead, I experience what is happening FROM me, instead of TO me.........empowering myself to find a new, yet vulnerable compassion, a fresh altruism, a gentle unconditional love in ALL OF IT.