Spring is springing, birds are singing, I am centered, simply being!
Happy March!
We are well into the new year now. How are you doing with your new year commitments? Are you doing one action every day that will support your day and life being more fulfilling to you? Don’t stop now—you’ve traveled to far! Today is your day to achieve your whole self!
What is one thing you can do to support yourself staying on track each day? A few minutes of meditation!
In one of the online Monday Morning Meditations (Mmm!)* last month, we emphasized how the practice of simply being reminds us of who we really are: Human Beings, instead of human doings/thinkings/havings/wantings. Indeed, we are even Being beyond our humanness—we are spiritual beings! Our Beingness is the only part of us that remains when we set aside our thinking, doing, having, wanting in our time of meditation.
We step away from our tasks of the day and week. We set aside our doings for the day, set aside our thoughts, our wants, our shoulds, our belongings, our everything on the outside. What is left? Our quiet, powerful Presence, our ever-present, unchanging Being.
Being present in Beingness is simple, but our mind/body system isn’t used to it. The mind has been so accustomed to thinking/solving/doing/wanting, that simply being is at first (and for a while!) a difficult task—like putting magnets together at the same pole: Our mind wants to repel that silence! It doesn’t know what to do with it!
To help that wild and wonderful mind, we must gently and relentlessly persist in sweeping away the myriad of thoughts and impulses that arise when we sit and look at our insides.
Every day for a few minutes—I recommend starting with five minutes—sit somewhere comfortable. You can add candles, music, pictures, whatever helps you settle in. Close your eyes and find a place in your body where you feel the most calm and grounded (solid). It may be a different body area every time you meditate—that’s okay! Let your attention rest on that area, noticing its calmness.
Next, notice your breath for a few moments. Make sure it is moving from your belly versus your chest, called diaphragmatic breath, or belly breath. This breath is naturally calmer, deeper, and soothing to the body. Just let your breath move at its natural pace; no need to control it.
Then from your calm, grounded place, simply BE. Watch all the thoughts that come and go, seeming to disrupt your peaceful presence. Notice that they go as quickly as they arise. Just let them, and BE.
You may spend the entire five minutes with a busy mind, but as long as you are tuned in to that calm place, you will notice your quiet beingness emerge more and more over time. You are retraining your mind/body system, so it takes time and practice! Be patient, be gentle, be willing to find your Self simply being.
*You can find information on Monday Morning Meditation (Mmm!) at CenterForDynamicHealing.com. You are welcome to join me live every Monday for a 30-minute meditation to begin your week from your center. 9:00 am Central Time.Subscribe to the Center for Dynamic Healing YouTube channel so that you’ll be notified of new meditations as they are posted.
One of the purposes of a meditation practice is to learn to be in charge of your mind, instead of your mind being in charge of you. Thought thinking is going in the mind all day long, 24/7, whether we are aware of it or not. When we are not aware of it, those unconscious thoughts lead our emotions, behaviors, and other thoughts in all sorts of directions that we may or may not want for ourselves.
There is a popular phrase out there that states, “Energy follows thought”—meaning that where our thoughts go, we follow. For further understanding of this, I add, “and thought follows attention”. When we are conscious of our thoughts, paying attention to them, they can also lead us in directions that can be more or less desirable.
For example, this morning, I had the song “Amie” by Pure Prairie League pass through my mind. Suddenly, all of my internal focus was on this song and the parts of it I recalled, and the mild frustration around the parts that I did not. So what did that attention to that thought process ignite in me? Picking up my phone, searching for “Amie” on my Spotify app, and listening to the whole song to satisfy some random, restless thought! Did I need to listen to that song? Of course not; but I allowed the thoughts to control my behavior.
In my defense, I knew I was going to be talking and writing about this today, so I allowed myself to follow through with the urge. I could have just as consciously and with just as much effort (probably a lot less effort, actually) noted the song going through my head, and simply allowed it to pass through without grabbing on to it. But, hey, it’s a great song! No harm done!
Energy follows thought, and thought follows attention.
Energy follows thought, and thought follows attention.
Energy follows thought, consciously or unconsciously. Our attention adds energy to thoughts more consciously, although we still may not be fully aware that we are adding energy to our thoughts by indulging them.
If you don’t believe me, watch your thoughts today, and by the end of the day, you will see for yourself how thoughts and attention to them drag you around frequently during the day. If you have a worry, the more you think about that worry, the stronger it can feel.
Energy follows thought, and thought follows attention.
Here’s the key: Awareness rules them all: thoughts, attention, and energy. However, awareness has to be turned on; it has to be given the authority within you. My spiritual mentor, Jane Elizabeth Hart, calls this, “developing the Observer Self”. The Observer Self is that part of us that is awareness itself. It is what sees the thoughts and emotions within us, but is not caught up in those thoughts or emotions; it simply watches.
Observer Self practice can help stop us from being controlled unconsciously by the random energies flying through the mind. We can have an earworm like “Amie” wisp through our minds and not have to jump on our phones to listen to the whole song (not that there’s anything wrong with that), and can instead redirect ourselves to something more important in the moment.
The mind is very strong, but it is also easily manipulated!
The Observer Self helps us stop ourselves from being manipulated by random thoughts.
Visualizations in meditation help the practice of the Observer Self, and being in charge of our thoughts and energy. Today, we are using a visualization that is great when there is a lot of busyness going on in your mind. We are using the acquiescent nature of the mind to strengthen our focus, presence, and inner autonomy.
I learned this visualization from a beautiful spiritual teacher from Portugal named Mooji. I am so happy to share the video where he is teaching this technique. It is quite wonderful.
My Spiritual Mentor, Jane Elizabeth Hart, talking about the Observer Self. For more from Jane and the Center for Enlightenment, go to https://www.CenterForEnlightenment.com.
Please enjoy this video meditation on this topic. Thank you for reading and watching! May you practice being in your Observer Self every day!
You are your Divine Self. That Higher Self lives through you as your personality self. It is your responsibility to cooperate with and support that Divine/Higher/Authentic Self to have room in your mind, heart, and through your actions.
Here are some steps you can take to support your Authentic Self:
Define your Authentic Self
Who are you? Who do you want to be in this lifetime? How do you want to show up in the world?
What are your desires, your values? What is important to you?
Meditate for five minutes (or more!) every day. Spend time getting to know your Higher Self!
Observe yourself.
Do your thoughts, words, emotions, and actions line up with how you want to be?
Are your decisions supporting you in becoming more of your Authentic Self?
Heal what needs to be healed as is revealed to you.
Look within. Observe with compassion any triggers or missteps that come along.
Ask yourself, “If I were coming from my Authentic Self rather than my personality self, how would I see this situation differently?”
You are in charge of how much of your Authentic Self gets to dance in your world! Do you want it to be a little here and there, or a whole lot? Every day is a new opportunity to discover more of your Authentic Self!
My love to you all!
Lynn Barrette, LCSW – Lynn (“Mikki” Michael) Barrette was the Y.O.U. International President from 1988-1989, Midwest Y.O.U. Regional Representative from 1987-1988, and worked at the Association of Unity Churches (now Unity Worldwide Ministries) from 1992-1993. She served in many roles in Unity churches in Florida, New Mexico, Kansas, Michigan, and Illinois.
Lynn is a licensed clinical therapist and spiritual counselor, and leads classes, webinars, and workshops on spiritual psychology. Her heart’s desire is to support others in being more attuned to their Higher Self. Her private practice, Center for Dynamic Healing, has offices in Illinois and Florida. Visit her website, Facebook page, and YouTube channel for more information and support for your soul!
Created for the Youth of Unity (Y.O.U.) Authenticity Faire, October 15-17, 2021
I have finally jumped on the bandwagon of binge-watching “The Crown” on Netflix. That is not my usual favorite FBI mystery-chase-find the bad guy genre; but, I got hooked pretty quickly.
My favorite episode is in season two. Phillip, Duke of York, husband of Queen Elizabeth, has already spent years being a bit…shall we say, antsy? The year was 1969, and Phillip became obsessed with the upcoming Apollo 11 launch and potential walk on the moon. Phillip was a pilot and loved to fly. The thought of being in outer space seemed to be his ultimate idea of awe, freedom, inspiration. He wasn’t at that time a religious person; indeed, he didn’t care much at all for church or the like. But the idea of flying in space! That was his idea of religion!
He watched the historic landing and walk enraptured in front of the royal television with the other royal family members. He was so moved by the experience that when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were invited to visit Buckingham Palace, Phillip made sure to have an intimate meeting with them. He was humbled by the greatness he bestowed upon them and their accomplishment. He could barely speak when he asked, “What was it like to be up there?” He waited with great expectation for them to describe a bliss-like experience of natural and scientific wonder!
What he got instead were three tired astronauts with colds who shared that, really, there’s not much time to look out the window, with all the checking of boxes and switches that need to be just so. They were, however, in absolute awe of the palace and mystique of being a Royal, and all the glamour that must encompass! They had many questions for Phillip, and delighted in flitting about the castle looking at its ornate furnishings.
Phillip was struck by the disappointment of it all. He put so much expectation into that experience of outer freedom (and we’re talking way outer!) only to be disillusioned. To top that off, his mundane, confined experience of being a Royal was the subject of awe of those on the outside.
At that point, Phillip had an epiphany. He realized that the only true subject worthy of awe and wonder was the mystique of the Divine, and that was worthy of pursuit and exploration. He joined with a clergyman and helped create a retreat center where religious leaders could come and rest, reflect, and renew. Before his recent death, Phillip was heard to say that the retreat center was his accomplishment that he was most proud of.
How many times have any of us put all of our awe and wonder eggs into one basket, only to have the “wah wah” experience of disappointment? Or, perhaps for a short time, our expectations lived up to themselves, but then it was over and back to “real life”?
This is our human experience when we are endeavoring to seek inner fulfillment in outer circumstances. Material possessions, relationships, accomplishments are all wonderful parts of human existence, but a small part of why we are here. Any experience outside of our inner Self won’t ever satisfy the deep hunger in our souls—a hunger that has been there since our souls were first created. Some call it “the hole that only God can fill”, or “the Pearl of great price”. Whatever you want to call it, it is the invitation to explore the vast depths of our internal existence. Intuition can be strengthened, wisdom can be accessed, True Love abounds and begins to become part of who we are.
Think about your inner freedom this month. The freedom of our country is worthy of reflection. Walking on the moon is also worthy. But, the only lasting freedom is the one we seek inside through meditation, reading mystics’ teachings, finding your True Self. You are eternal. That experience is your freedom. And, of course, the Fourth is always within you.
Are you aware of the spiritual school of life that is teaching you all the time?
Every day you wake up is a new day in spiritual school. Your life is your classroom, and all those around you are your classmates! This spiritual school has structure, lesson plans, and homework!
What does spiritual school structure look like? Since you don’t have a specific, physical classroom to go to everyday, you have to create your own daily structure that supports the rest of your learning. Lessons are always coming your way; having a daily structure in place gives you the mental and emotional space to be aware, receptive, and ready to tackle the lessons that arise.
Do you have a daily prayer or meditation time? A 10 minute time set aside to journal about your day, what came up for you, what you learned, or what you’re grateful for? Do you make your bed in the morning as an outer ritual representing setting the intention to be responsible for what belongs to you in the day’s lessons?
A few years ago, Naval Adm. William H. McRaven shared with University of Texas, Austin, graduates that making their beds in the morning was the best way to start their day. Among chuckles, he reiterated that making your bed is “accomplishing the first task of the day”, giving you confidence and motivating you to accomplish your next several tasks in your day. One accomplishment leads to another, and each “little thing” you do for yourself supports the bigger things that arise.* Every step we take to be on target with your day, supports your spiritual growth as well!
Having structure holds the space for everything else you do during your day. If you don’t have at least an idea of how each day flows, you have to spend time each day figuring out your structure–with less time left to handle the lessons that are taking place all around you! You don’t want to be rigid with your structure either, however. Then you are spending all your energy controlling your structure, which also takes your focus away from what you’re really supposed to be doing–learning!
And oh, those spiritual life lessons! The major lesson in spiritual school is mastering yourself. There is a lot floating around in your mind/body system. Your job is to learn to sort out what is real and what is not.
There’s a saying that goes, “God made man in God’s image, and man returned the favor.” Everyone has a false “god”, or authority figure, in their minds that erroneously critiques along the way. Your spiritual school lesson is to kick out that negative voice and replace it with what is real and true about you. If you believe what created this universe is loving and wise, then so that must be true about you.
As a therapist, I can often sense that when people first come in to see me, they are expecting me to confirm that negative voice in their heads. “I’m disorganized, I don’t eat right or exercise, I yell at my kids…I’m a mess!” But what I see is a soul in evolution doing the best they can, while that critical voice in their heads is telling them everything they do is wrong. It’s lying to them, just as the negative voice in your head is whispering “alternative facts” at you throughout the day. Pay attention to it–then say, “NO!”
Spend some time daily “marinating” in the feeling of being 100% okay, even as you are learning and growing every day. Have a meditation practice as part of your spiritual school structure, and sit with the feeling of peace, even if you have to just pretend what that might feel like. Cultivate the opposite sensations of “I’m not okay”, and watch that new experience support you fully!
The next chapter to that lesson in mastering yourself is to practice forgiveness. The need to forgive is all around! Parents, kids, siblings, coworkers, neighbors, other drivers on the road, pets… Ev. ‘Ry. Where.
Our family dog has had issues with his ears since he was a pup. My job was to put medicine in his ears, a process he actively hated early on. We had some pretty serious tussles. We struggled and growled at each other, but I never bit him back. I did, however, realize that there was a very thin line between “I’m not a violet person” and “Worth it”. I finally realized that since I am the more evolved species of the two of us, it was up to me to do a little forgiveness work on this canine so that at least one of us was mature and calm. After that, I was able to take less personally his survival instinct struggles and administer his ear medicine. Today, he is patient and happy to get his bribe, er, treat afterwards.
There are a couple tools that I like to use, both personally and in my practice, that help master emotions. So here are handouts for your spiritual school assignments!
You can use this graphic to measure where you are on the emotional mastery scale at a given moment. A “5” on the thermometer is a neutral state. Anything below a 5 is emotional overload, whether the emotion is anger, fear, sadness, or ecstasy (read: mania). Above the 5 is your clear-thinking state. The higher you go, the more intuitive connection you can experience. When you feel yourself in your emotions, or below a 5, don’t take action. Check in with yourself throughout the day. Ask, “What emotion, if any, is running me right now?” Use the emotion to discover, process, and release what you need to as part of your spiritual school homework. Lighten your load!
Another handout for this spiritual school lesson is called the “Agitated Energy Process”. I use this simple, three-step process frequently in my practice, as well as with myself. It goes like this:
1. When you feel agitated (stressed, tense, emotional), ask yourself, “What is the emotion that I am feeling?” (Use emotion words to label what you are feeling; i.e., anger, hurt, sadness, fear, frustration, etc. This is a brief one or two word response. Take emotions one at a time and keep it simple.)
2. Then ask, “What story am I telling myself that is causing me to feel this way?” (What is the emotion telling you/saying? Remember, sometimes this story has some facts to it, but that doesn’t mean it’s always telling the truth about those facts. Even when it is telling the truth, the awareness that the “truth” is agitating you means that there’s a perspective shift that needs to take place.)
3. Then, “What new perspective could I take that would be calming to me?” (What comes up as your new way of looking at the situation?)
Do you feel calm once you’ve walked through the process? If so, you’re done! If not, repeat the process until you feel relative peaceful and calm in your body. This is a great daily emotional/mental/spiritual hygiene practice!
Spiritual school is like a Montessori-style classroom: No matter where you are, there is someone you can help along the way; and, there is someone who can help you take your next step. Spiritual service to others is part of our spiritual school homework!
When you wake up in the morning, spiritual school is in session! Set your intention for the day. Make your bed and say, “Okay, Universe, help me see my lesson today, and give me the support to master today’s lesson!”
As a therapist, I often hear the question, “Why should I spend time on things that have already happened?” It’s a valid question, based on how we have been taught to understand time.
Time, according to our academic learning, is on a timeline, where today is a physical spot on that timeline, and something that happened when were four years old, let’s say, is a certain distance away from where we are standing today. That is how we have come to measure time—that we can have a measurable physical distance from an experience we have had.
But in consciousness, in our psyche, that’s not how time works. Within us, our mind/brain/body connection, we carry all of those experiences around with us in this moment. All of the thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and more, that we have ever had are stored in our amazing system we have as a soul living in a human body. We don’t gain a physical distance from those experiences; they are with us all the time.
For example, when we learn something, that new knowledge stays with us. In first grade, I learned that one plus one is two. I didn’t leave that knowledge back at my six year old self in time. I brought it with me, and it was reinforced over and again. I learned and used that knowledge as I grew, experienced, and learned more about numbers.
We do that with all experiences. We experience, and gather information, make decisions, have feelings, and create beliefs around those experiences; then take all of that with us moving forward. Sometimes those decisions, information, and beliefs are erroneous, but they are temporarily stuck in our programming. When we look at past experiences, we can uncover those faulty thought patterns, and be more able to consciously reprogram ourselves today.
We address our past in so far as it is getting in the way of our present experience and expression. What tools have you used to heal from past experiences?
One of my favorite sayings of my spiritual mentor, Jane Elizabeth Hart, is “The joy is in the giving.”
It has taken me many years to appreciate this as more than just a pretty platitude–especially moving into the holidays!
Finding joy in giving means to understand that when we are acting only for ourselves, that energy has no where to go but back to ourselves. This is important, to replenish and refresh ourselves sometimes. But when we give freely with joy and loving kindness, that energy ripples out into the far stretches of the universe! For that moment, we have expanded ourselves far outside of where our energy normally resides. It is like an amazing, huge yoga stretch!
Plus, finding joy in giving makes us want to give more—to re-experience that joy, that refreshing stretch beyond ourselves. Once we get out of our box, we don’t want to go back inside that small space!
Recently, I helped some friends pack Christmas gifts for children in other countries. There were several boxes, and as we filled each one, we were silently blessing each toy and piece of candy. I could imagine the love and joy the child would experience as she or he opened the box—an explosion of love and light! I could feel my own energy expanding beyond myself, beyond this country, rippling throughout the planet.
The song I sung in childhood that reminds me of this concept is “Magic Penny”. Do you remember singing that song? Did you ever realize that the magic penny symbolized your own energy, multiplying and supporting you in infinitely greater ways? Here are a few of the lyrics:
Love is something if you give it away; You’ll end up having more. It’s just like a magic penny: Hold it tight and you won’t have any. Lend it, spend it, and you’ll have so many They’ll roll all over the floor.
As you give this coming holiday season, no matter how big or small a gift, put your energy of love and joy into it, and don’t let it stop flowing at your gift’s recipient—see that love and joy rippling out, sending a wave of blessing throughout the planet.
There is a fun song on the internet called “You Are a Pirate“. The words are:
Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free
You are a pirate
Yar-har-fiddle-de-dee
Being a pirate is alright with me
Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free
You are a pirate.
Repeat continuously, loop-style, ad nauseum.
The song originally comes from a children’s television program in which the town villain disguises himself as a pirate to lure the children away from their good behavior. He makes being a pirate sound fun with his happy pirate song and promises of freedom from discipline and rules. The children, of course, enthusiastically take their places as his crew mates. Who doesn’t want freedom?
On the spiritual path, one of the skills we learn is distinguishing between short-sighted egoic impulses and the true promptings of our soul. We start learning this by more closely observing the thoughts and feelings that arise and incite us to act. When our ego pulls us toward personality freedom, often it can excite us and feel good on a short-term basis. Ego pulls don’t take into consideration the needs of those around us or long-term consequences of our actions. We can liken this to the pirate from the song, and the children who happily followed along.
Soul freedom leads us toward greater responsibility for what is ours to do this lifetime. It also aligns us with our higher potential. Hmm…Not as enticing at first, is it?
Paramahansa Yogananda, the great Indian mystic, once said, “The mind is so powerful, it can make you taste salt and think it is sugar, and when you eat sugar, it can make you think you taste salt.” Our ego pulls are the salt that tastes sweet at first, but then we feel disappointed when we discover it wasn’t what was in our best interest. Our soul promptings taste a bit salty at first, but as we stick with them, how sweet it is! Everything flows better when we are aligned with our soul responsibilities!
How much time and energy do you spend following the piratey impulsiveness of your personality self? How long does that satisfy you?
The children who followed the pirate to his false “freedom” (and were subsequently captured) quickly learned that the rules they ran from actually provided structure so they could play more freely! Likewise, our intuition is there to help us learn the best structure and steps to take to free our souls from ego-captivity, allowing greater energy to flow into a more joyful expression of who we truly are!
Did you know that your body awareness has a great deal to do with your intuition?
Intuition is a higher expression of our emotional sensation and perception. While emotions are mixed in with our contradictory human issues, our intuition is free and clear, always speaking to us!
To increase our awareness of both our emotional and intuitive bodies, we can practice being aware of our physical bodies.
Here are a few ways to increase body awareness:
1. Physical movement: yoga, martial arts, walking, exercise of any kind
2. Mindfulness body scan
3. Diaphragmatic Breathing (Belly Breath)
Work with one or two of these daily to increase your body awareness as well as intuition!
Recently, I had the fun opportunity to write an article for Love Evolve and Thrive, a website dedicated to helping women with their relationships, personal growth and wellness. Click the paragraph for a link to the article:
Do what you want ‘cause a pirate is free
Spirituality & Counseling 