Month: April 2023

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The Trouble with Ruminating

Have you got a mind that likes to mull over things? 

You know that mind. It likes to chew on the problem and replay conversations. It activates the critical voice so you may think on all the ways you, them, or the situation isn’t so great. It goes on and on and on. Ad nauseam. 

This rumination launches you into a state of mind that’s really unhelpful.

Now you’re feeling crappy about yourself or less than enthusiastic about the situation you face. You slide easily down that slippery slope and judge others, feel frustrated, or drop into a more hopeless view of the future. It’s rare that your rumination leads you into a state of open curiosity or exhilarating joy as you face a challenging situation. More likely you’ll be drawing into that half glass empty mindset.

Rumination invites you to become more like Piglet or Eeyore than Tigger or Christopher Robin.

If you’re not a Winnie the Pooh aficionado, I’ll translate for you. The constant worrying of the mind leads you into anxiety or depression more than enthusiasm or calm wisdom. Think on that for a brief moment. Which approach to the complexity of living would you rather choose? [And if you missed the archetypal wisdom and deep solutions to living that Winnie the Pooh offers, you might want to dive back in with a curious mind.]

So your mind ruminates. And wanders into troubling places. Blinding you to higher solutions.

You’re not alone. It’s a human condition. Quite persistent and tricky. That’s why you may miss it, this ruminating trickster you call “thinking.” It seems the thing to do as you mull things over, vent to your friends, and analyze until you’re blue in the face (and in your mood).

So what’s a human ruminator to do to get out of this mess?

"Weed faster"

I love the analogy of the mind as a garden.

I’m a great mind gardener – weeding out the unhelpful junk and nourishing the seeds of beauty. I’m not so good at hands in the dirt gardening, although I’m happy to choose the plants. So someone with more talent and a love of gardening can plant them for me. 

Imagine your mind as a gateway into the creative soil of life.

That “stuff” back behind form which emerges into the material world as you think it and act it into being. You are gifted with fertile soil, rich with nutrients, and free of obstructions. So beautiful thoughts, words, deeds, and creations may be seeded and nurtured into blossoms. Lovely creations spilling out into the world as a delightful garden runs amok. Bringing forth a Tigger kind of joy and the Christoper Robin type of appreciation.

Take a look at your life. Are you living within such a beautiful garden?

Of course that’s a trick question. Deeply embedded within this mundane world is a beauty beyond imagining if you have eyes to see and a heart to guide your way. Yet, most humans are lost within the less than conscious habit of ruminating upon their current life. That’s not a criticism or reason for despair. Just a simple statement of what often happens within you. And me. And everyone.

Most mind gardens are filled with boulders, rocks, pebbles, and weeds galore.

It’s a daunting process to clear that soil even for the more advanced mental gardener. Yet, you can begin with a simple practice.

Notice the weed and pull it. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. 

Catching yourself mid-rumination is a strong invitation to stop, pull the weed, and seek out a blossom. When faced with a challenging situation, notice your personal thought about it. And watch for a bit. 

Most likely, your mind offers a lot of sentences strung together. One weed after another. Who thought weeds could be so captivating? Addictive even. Watch and listen to your thoughts, your voicing these thoughts, and listening to other’s thoughts spoken aloud.

Seems the human family is addicted to weeds.

Awareness leads to Choice leads to Change.

That’s a wise teaching I got from Christopher Robin in the form of my Dad. He taught this to the CEOs he guided and to me as a young college student. I never forgot it. 

Once you’ve witnessed enough of the mind’s rumination, you’re ready to make a choice. What kind of garden am I cultivating?

As soon as you notice that “weed” of a thought, pull it. And refocus on a “blossom.” Any blossom you choose.

It’s a simple practice that’s harder than it sounds. And well worth the effort to plant a beautiful garden for yourself and others. Remember that practice leads to mastery which leaves you with clarity, wisdom, and enthusiasm for the benefits of weeding. 

You may even toss out a few pebbles while you’re at it. 

Sometimes the boulders and deeply rooted weeds (generational and karmic trauma) require a bit more work. Especially the energetic interventions since these patterns are often embedded deeply within your field and unconscious. There are lots of techniques to help you clear your soil. I know a bunch and am happy to help you if that serves.

A lovely woman recently asked me what to do with the negative thoughts running through her mind. I guess you can imagine my response. 

“Weed faster.”

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Want to enhance your weeding practice?  Spend some moments HeartBreathing and centering within your cohesive heartspace. [Check out my free Self Soothe Strategy if this is a new concept for you. It’s on my home page.] When you’ve settled into a calm state, it’s easier to be a witness to the thoughts roaming through your mind garden. You can just watch them and label them a weed or blossom. Play with it a bit. Imagine pulling the weeds and smelling the blossoms. Offer a bouquet of beautiful blossoms to someone close to you. Watch your weed pile grown. It’s a simple imaginative process that enhances your practice. AND it counts as “weeding time.” The mind is a powerful garden. Treat it as such.

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Remember This: You’re Already Perfect

You’ve grown up human, so I guess your mind is littered with ideas that aren’t so helpful.

You know the kind of trash talk you offer yourself (or believe when others offer it to you). How you’re not good enough or there is something inherently wrong with you. Or you how can’t figure your way out of the current (repeated) struggle in life. All those ways you feel like a fraud or must hide your shameful imperfections from the world.

Including that great big failure zone that stretches backward and projects forward in time. And all the ways you haven’t achieved your dreams, disappointed yourself and others, or sabotaged your happiness and success.

What if that wasn’t the real story?

Sure, it’s the story you, like most people, tell themselves. And share with others if those others are trustworthy enough to hear about your private pain. The story of your imperfections, failures, and disappointments. I know these stories. I view them in my mind, hear them in my friends and clients, and witness them in society’s stories (fictional and real). 

It’s a shared human story. While the details may vary, the themes remain the same. 

Innocently, you’ve damned yourself for being human. 

Ouch. Carrying that heavy story around gets tiring. 

And it slows you down, making you less vibrant, intelligent, and joyful. It’s a little crazy really that we’re all letting the existence of human frailty, which everyone experiences, turn into a story of personal imperfection. 

Especially ’cause it’s bullshit.

Give me 6 minutes and I'll help you remember how amazingly beautiful you already are.

I was sitting in a big comfy chair in Barnes and Noble minding my business when a series of questions arrived in my head with the instruction, “Write these down.”

I had extensive training as a good little student, so I wrote them down. Looked at them, shrugged, and put them away in my briefcase. I wasn’t even that curious – maybe because I was at a good part in my book. 

Weeks later, now settled in the cafe at Barnes and Noble, that same voice in my head said, “Get out the questions.”

So I did. Reading them again, I got curious. That must’ve been the “key” as words began spilling through my mind. I wrote as fast as I could until everything stopped. As I read through everything, I heard the third instruction, “Record this.” So I did. 

Already Perfect is a reminder that you don’t have to buy into the inaccurate depiction of yourself as less than. 

The audio recording (available for download on the Already Perfect CD) helps you reset your perspective. The video version reminds you that you aren’t alone in the flawed idea that vulnerability equals imperfection. In 6 minutes, you elevate your understanding of what “perfection” means here. Hint: “it’s not the cultural idea of perfection you now hold for yourself.” 

Take 6 minutes and watch this video. Maybe watch it again so it sinks in.

If you know anyone else who suffers from the confusion that human frailty is something to transform into that cultural idea of perfection, share the video with them. 

Mystics and children (who are well treated) already know this truth. You, my friend, at the core of your beautiful, personal being are Already Perfect. 

When you know this to be true, it is true. And if it’s true for you, then it’s true for them. And so on. And so on.

When you celebrate the perfection of your essence, even as you travel the messy, imperfect path of growing up human, you help everyone remember.

Watch the video here.

I hope you see your own beauty here. 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Are you a conscious shopper? With so much information available on the web these days, it becomes easier to research your products before you purchase. While some companies report how much they give back to local communities or donate (often a requirement of doing business in a certain location), many businesses take it a step further. Innovative technology, sustainable materials, reducing harmful emissions, caring well for workers, repurposed materials. It makes good sense for the planet and also good cents for the company. There are plenty of ways to win. It takes time to become an educated consumer and investor. Explore one thing at a time and make a change for good. Your good. Pachamama’s good. Our shared future kinda good. 

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Prayers for Pachamama

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the ocean recently.

That’s something for someone who doesn’t like to go in past her knees. Unless it’s a warm sunny beach in Florida or the Caribbean, then I’m all in. At least until I cool off, then I’m back to letting the sun warm me up.

Seems that’s been a big problem for years. That beautiful sun warming up our planet.

As you well know, it’s heating up the oceans. Melting the ice caps at an alarming rate. Shrinking the home of the polar bears and penguins. As these oceans heat up and rise up, they’re disrupting life in and out of the water. Marine heat waves, coral bleaching, drowning wetlands, and changes in weather.

The scientific findings across the board are hard to look at, let alone digest.

The impact of changing weather, reduced food sources, increased drought conditions, loss of species, and more severe storms are affecting all people and places on this beautiful planet. No place is untouched, especially in a large ecosystem that we call Earth. 



Where everything is connected in a complex, intelligent dance.

While some deny climate change, others despair, and many hide their heads in the sand, people around the globe are seeking creative solutions to not only correct the damage, but to enhance life. Now and in the future.

These are the scientists, adolescents, leaders of industry, and the man living down the street from you. All doing their part to creatively lessen the damage and restore the potential of a healthy ecosystem.

Melting ice caps make my eyes water. Beached whales, chemical laden food, and mistreated children do the same.

A future with further disruption to our fragile ecosystem has me wondering what else I may do to make a difference. I’ve been examining my daily habits, material usage, chosen charities, ethical purchasing, garden planting, and humanitarian pursuits.

My eyes are still watering and I want to offer more. But, where do I place my attention, talent, and love?

When I asked this question, I was reminded of the Andean wisdom tradition (Peru) which holds 3 foundational guides of living.

First, you consider the impact of your actions on all living creatures and the planet. Known as Ayni or reciprocity, you recognize that the way you live impacts your community, the global family, Earth (Pachamama), and future generations.

Second, the Beauty Way calls you to seek and see the beauty in all people, all beings, and all situations. To create beauty as you move through your moments.

Third, Dreaming the World into Being is a co-creative process. Aligning with the energy of creation, outside of time and in sync with the Soul, you open to what wishes to be dreamed through you.

Ayni. Beauty. Dreaming a new world into being.

The art of dreaming beauty goes beyond meeting your own needs and wants. It dives within the mystical energy to reveal what may be and invites you hold that dream strongly. To be open to instruction about how to live, love, and serve.

With this reminder, I recognized something I could do without scientific knowledge, policy making power, or billions of bucks.

I began dreaming of a future with pristine oceans, bountiful gardens, and healthy children.

I traveled far into the future as you know it. 7 generations and then 49 generations forward.

Seeking the energy of waters abundant with healthy marine life and absent of plastics and harmful chemicals. I found the abundant gardens overflowing with healthy food and equitable access. I witnessed children who were physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy.

I found a culture of conscious interdependence with a focus upon committed stewardship of Pachamama and her creatures, love for humanity, and abundant sharing of resources.

A seeming Eden or a fairy tale where humans didn’t destroy one another and their environment. I wondered what to do with these visions and this energy of a distant future. Asking the question, I got my answer.

“Paint this future into the now.” And so I did, birthing the “Prayers for Pachamama” series of original paintings.

All Prayers for Pachamama paintings are one of a kind and infused with the energy of hope, optimism, and healing.

This dream seemed to focus in three areas, so I created 3 separate series of paintings to honor these intentions.

“Precious Petals” paintings dream of healthy children who are cherished, heathy, and empowered to thrive. “Pristine Oceans” paintings celebrate unpolluted waters with abundant marine life and perfect temperatures. “Blooming Gardens” paintings envision a balanced ecosystem, abundant food and wildlife, and plenty of beauty.

When I paint, I witness the visions that flow through my inner sight as I feel the joy of living in a world where our collective healing has already taken hold.

To say this is a euphoric process of artistic creation would be an understatement.
It’s a dance party of sound, prayer, color, movement, and happiness.

With texture and depth, the richness of this dreaming comes to life on a canvas. Each painting radiates energy into your present reality as if seeding a map for you to awaken the next steps toward healing yourself, your great grandchildren, and our lovely Earth. They’re more than just a pretty painting. This energy has something to say to you.

Hang a painting in your space and expect to get some “instructions” on how to be a beautiful steward for the children, gardens, and planet.

I hope you enjoy the painting featured above. It’s called “Rising Ocean” and it represents the emergence of healthy oceans. I’ll be posting more photos soon or you can always stop into Soul Sanctuary to take a peek.

If I create a painting just for you, I’ll include your family and future generations into the creation process. Yum.

However you dream or take tiny big actions to support Pachamama, I’m sure we’ll all be feeling your gifts. It takes more than a village. It takes a global family to make change of this magnitude.

I’m glad we’re related

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Are you a conscious shopper? With so much information available on the web these days, it becomes easier to research your products before you purchase. While some companies report how much they give back to local communities or donate (often a requirement of doing business in a certain location), many businesses take it a step further. Innovative technology, sustainable materials, reducing harmful emissions, caring well for workers, repurposed materials. It makes good sense for the planet and also good cents for the company. There are plenty of ways to win. It takes time to become an educated consumer and investor. Explore one thing at a time and make a change for good. Your good. Pachamama’s good. Our shared future kinda good.