Little Altars Everywhere

Today we're lining up some furniture for our new half-time space here in Florida in preparation for moving on Monday. One of the things I am most looking forward to (once we are "in") is creating a new altar space for myself.

I'm big on altars. It is important for me to have a small space set aside wherever I am that serves as a "gateway to the Divine" —a visual reminder for me to pay attention and align myself with the Sacred.   In fact, I've just penned a new Pocket of Peace  which explains my fascination, a bit about the altars I've created, and how you can create one, too. I invite you to take a look there ~ then stop back here and share .... READ ON...

~~~~~

I'm curious. What are your thoughts about home altars? 

Do you have one and what purpose does it serve for you?

I'd love to hear.

And, if I can figure out how to work my new camera, I'll take some pix of my altar once it's dedicated and post them here. How's that?

Read more...

Meditation Monday - Angelic Assistance

A little girl who looked like an angel provided the inspiration for today's Meditation Monday. 

On Saturday, I was in North Port speaking at the SW Florida Women's Expo (which was wonderful, by the way). Afterward, my husband and I ventured over to Englewood, a lovely seaside town with Old Florida charm (no high-rises...). We popped in to see Lynne, a dear soul who owns a spiritual transformation center/store named Mystic See. 

Once I'd made a purchase of some greeting cards inspired by the "angel lady, " Doreen Virtue, (Doreen is one of the 12 "holy women" featured in my book), we stepped out onto the sidewalk, my heart as light as could be, eager to check out some other quaint shops.

Within moments, my heart went from soaring to sad, from angry to compassionate, all because of this darling girl.

She stepped out from the doorway of an ice cream parlor, her face beaming with delight. In her hand was an ice cream cone—a double scoop of my personal favorite, mint chocolate chip. Her tongue stretched out to take a lick and PLOP, the big icey ball fell on the sidewalk.

Her father, who seemed to come out of nowhere, retrieved the pile and quickly moved over to a trash can, tossing it in with vehemence. "I TOLD you I couldn't trust you," he admonished, and stalked away.

In a nanosecond, my heart started racing and indignation rose to the surface. How dare he, I thought, demean this little girl this way! I was so angry.

Her mother offered no better. "Well, at least, you got a cone," she added, and she walked away, too.

My heart broke in half. I stood there with mouth open, gaping at this child who wanted nothing more than to experience the joy of eating an ice cream cone, and what she got in return was humiliation—verbal and emotional abuse, in my view. It was not her fault the cone toppled. She was only licking it, and off it went.

Truly, I did not know what to do, except to stand there watching her bravely slough off the unkind words, still walking, now nibbling at the edges of an empty cone.

I took a deep breath and, somehow, my inner wisdom broke through. I knew how to respond. I called upon the angels.

As I stood there on the sidewalk, I imagined two of them, one by each shoulder, leaning into her, touching her lightly on the shoulders while whispering in her ears: "It's alright. You are loved." 

And as she continued to walk down the street, I imagined them staying close to her all the days of her life. Whispering to her, when more admonishing words would come, as they inevitably would—"You are wonderful as you are. Never forget that you are loved."

I felt better, monumentally better, knowing that I had called upon the angels to bless and care for this sweet soul. I prayed that she felt better, too ...

Meditation comes in many shapes and forms. As do opportunities to connect with our breath, our spirit, and the Lovingkindness that permeates it all.

Today, if you witness the suffering of another, consider calling upon the angels to provide comfort and guidance—nurturing for them and wisdom for you. 

With love and blessings,
Jan

Read more...

What's Your Soothe Groove?

"When our mind is wild with runaway thoughts, when our body is abuzz with unwanted energy, there is a simple and readily available antidote—music. 

Humankind has known for thousands of years about the power of sound. Imagine ourselves as tribal folk and we can easily re-live how we may have been energized by the sound of a beating drum, or lulled to sleep by the soft voice of an elder chanting. Music has a unique hold upon us. Without our even being aware, it can affect us mentally, viscerally, emotionally, and spiritually. A “Pocket of Peace” can indeed be found within the rhythm and tones of music." (Continue reading...)

I invite you to read more of this post I've crafted for Michigan Women's Forum on the power of music to soothe and restore.

Then, stop back here and tell me what is YOUR favorite Soothe Groove.

I LOVE music, especially anything that will transform my mind from messy to mellow. And since my beloved gifted me with this very cool purple iPod Nano for Christmas, I am even more in the groove these days. Portable peace!

Here are some of MY current favorites:

Smooth Jazz - Peter White - "Good Day"

Ambient - Peter Kater - "In a Dream"
Mystical - Peter Kater - Soundtrack from "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama"
For Writing - Dean Evenson & Tom Barabas - "Healing Suite"

I've got iTunes gift cards to redeem, too, and I'm in the mood for shopping. So what should I buy? 

What are your current favorites for tuning into tranquility?

~~~

I'm heading "north" soon to Englewood, Florida. Join me at the Southwest Florida Women's Expo? I'll be speaking at 10:30 am, Sat. Feb. 20, on the topic of "Finding Your Courage, Speaking Your Truth." And there's plenty of music and fun to be found there, too! Learn more ... 

Read more...

Meditation Monday - Divine Emissaries

 

We've just come off a major holiday which focuses (primarily) on romantic love—Valentine's Day.  On this Meditation Monday, let's focus our energies on spreading a larger, more comprehensive kind of love outward toward others.

As our inner journey deepens, 

our hearts expand with love.

Because we have opened our hearts to the workings of Spirit,

as long as we keep this heart connection open and fluid,

we become conduits for others to experience Divine Love as well.

This outpouring of heavenly love 

that we have received

can be passed on to everyone we meet.**

Today, as you move through your day, select one person to whom you can transmit a sense of heavenly love. The grocery store clerk, the groundskeeper, the janitor at your child's school—anyone you do not know particularly well.

Bring your attention to your heart center. Imagine a glowing ball of light there. On the exhale, visualize this light moving out of you like a beam, moving toward and into their heart center. Do so with this blessing: 

Today, may you know Love.

May YOUR day be blessed, and may you know that you are, indeed, an emissary of the Divine.

Now, does your heart have anything to say? 

As always, I welcome your thoughts ...

**From Awakening the Spirit Within by Jan Forrest Lundy (2000, Heart to Heart Press) available at amazon.com.

~~~~~

In keeping with the 28-Day Meditation Challenge, please feel free to use this opportunity of Meditation Mondays to check in and let us know how your meditation practice continues to unfold. How are you doing?

Also, the Meditation Challenge Conference Call is available for your listening pleasure as an MP3. Simply click here to listen ...

Read more...

It's All Spiritual, Or Is It?

I've arrived. Well, sort of. We've stopped traveling and settled into temporary digs in the sunny South. Today begins the search for a new nest.

Feeling after thought after feeling washes over me like waves. Uncertainty. Doubt. Excitement. Possibility. The best word to describe what's happening is an experience of pure groundlessness. 

My Buddhist leanings invite me to embrace this sense of nothing able to be truly known, solid, stable, or predictable. Everything changes. Everything passes away. There is no security. No clear path.

The best thing we can do when we find ourselves in this place is to root our attention in the present moment. Be with what is here, right in front of us. Listen. Stay awake. Pay attention. Just breathe.

I am. We are.

Om Mani Padme Hum. The chant, set to a lovely tune, is washing through me, too. It stabilizes and grounds me in groundless. (Is that even possible?)

So today is the perfect day for me to share a post I just wrote for Women Bloom (Yes, men are welcome to read it, please do!) Blog owner, Allison Allen has it posted on her blog there.

I titled it, "Everything is Spiritual," and I believe that. Every situation we experience in life invites us to be more. Especially to be more present and notice what is here for us. In part it states:

"...it is within the context of human relationship that we’ll learn the most about ourselves. Within relationship we are able to experience, up close and personal, how well we are walking our spiritual talk—actually being the spiritual persons we claim ourselves to be. Living in the “real” world—going to work or school, being partnered, having kids, living in a neighborhood—is how we come to fully develop (and round out) our spiritual lives."

I hope you'll click on over and read it. I'll address comments there and here. Your choice.

I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts on the subject. 

Do you believe everything is spiritual? 

Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org

~~~~

Calling all Floridians! 

Just a reminder. While in Florida I am speaking at SW Florida's largest Women's Expo (Northport area), Saturday, February 20.

I'll also be offering workshops for women at Mystic See in Englewood, FL, beginning Thursday, February 18. Click here to learn more about my Florida events. I'd love to meet you there!

Read more...

Meditation Monday ~ Some Late Breaking Advice

I'm traveling this week and enjoying new landscapes. From great North to deep South we go.

All along the way, I am mindfully meditating—because I get to watch, not drive :-) I am consciously breathing while savoring the tantalizing scenery. Our car is quiet. We do not have a radio or CD player so there is abundant and comfortable silence between us. A chant set to internal music, "Om Mani Padme Hum" keeps playing in my mind and I am enjoying how it expands my heart. Driving meditation is what I am calling this experience ...

I'm so grateful for your comments about how to carry forward the 30-Day Meditation Challenge. I am pondering your suggestions. Thank you for these great thoughts! For now (and because I am traveling), I'm carrying on with Meditation Monday. I'll keep you posted ...

Today we've got a bit of meditation advice from one of my previous "Awake is Good" guests—Suzanne Toro. (See her December post.) Suzanne is a meditation and yoga teacher from S. California and I asked her a question about meditation a few weeks ago. I'm just now getting around to featuring her answer. I hope you'll find her guidance helpful. I sure did!

Q. It seems that sometimes when I meditate I get very sleepy. Why is that and what can I do to prevent it?

 I tell my students or those I am teaching to meditate that when you meditate you can be assured that one of the three things will happen when you meditate:

1. You fall into the GAP (the location between space and time. The void, and you do not know you were there until you come out of the meditation).

2. You will have thoughts or environmental distractions.

3. You will fall asleep.

Falling asleep is very common. It is a sign you need rest. You can avoid sleeping during your meditation by meditating right when you wake up. If you are still falling asleep, try to adjust your sleep schedule so you are getting a little more shut eye at night. Bottom line, keep trying to meditate even if you end up taking a little cat nap.

Thank you, Suzanne! As for me, I've found that my best time for meditating is early evening. In the morning and late at night I am a little too groggy and I do end up falling asleep. How about the rest of you?

As always, I welcome your thoughts and wish you a marvelous Meditation Monday! And happy trails, wherever you are.

May inner peace be yours. 

(Image courtesy of artchive.com)

Read more...

The Importance of Community ~ Taking A Survey

This morning a message came through the e-mail that spoke to me loud and clear.

From Tricycle.com, it featured the words of Thich Nhat Hanh on the importance of "Sangha," a faithful and supportive community of people who practice together. Of course, the practice he is speaking of is meditation—especially through mindfulness.

That passage opened me up to feelings I've been having about the Meditation Challenge and the fact that it is over. It also opened up a Pandora's Box of questions, beginning with:

Should it be over?

Should we continue so we do not lose our momentum? 

I've received many e-mails from people stating how much they miss the Challenge and checking in here everyday to see what others are doing; to get re-inspired to keep on keepin' on; to learn something new about meditation; to meet an expert or tap into a new resource.

I received one mail from a very active participant who asked me to consider hosting the Challenge through the entire year until we've completed 365 days of meditation.

I retrieved mixed Google analytics that said the site activity was up by 64% during the Challenge.

I became aware that many new people came to Awake is Good for daily sustenance.

I also became aware that many "regulars" fell away. Obviously, meditation was not their thing. :-)

I listened to my own inner longings of missing the Challenge too, missing hearing your stories of success and even the "failures," though, of course, we learned that there are no failures, just beginning again.

In fact, this morning the "missing us" was especially strong when I "sat Zazen with Jundo" as I did throughout the Challenge. So, I am pondering what to do about all this ...

If the truth be told, I am not able to post here every day and keep up with the amount of work that is required to create new material Monday to Monday.

Yet, if the truth be told again, I have not been as faithful to my personal meditation practice as I'd like to be. I did enjoy the accountability and the daily interaction with all of you.

So, I find myself in a bit of a quandry and am wondering what your thoughts are on this. You are such creative folks, perhaps if we put our thinking caps on, together we can establish a rhythm and pace whereby those of us who are still meditating can check in with each other. I am open to suggestions!

FYI, I will be offering "Meditation Mondays" again beginning this coming Monday. That could possibly be our check in place, but is that enough? 

What do you think/feel about all of this? Honestly!? Please share ... 

~~~~~

Here's the passage from Thich Nhat Hanh that jumpstarted this post. Enjoy!

The Importance of Sangha

Taking refuge in the sangha means putting your trust in a community of solid members who practice mindfulness together. You do not have to practice intensively—just being in a sangha where people are happy, living deeply the moments of their days, is enough. Each person’s way of sitting, walking, eating, working, and smiling is a source of inspiration; and transformation takes place without effort. If someone who is troubled is placed in a good sangha, just being there is enough to bring about a transformation. I hope communities of practice in the West will organize themselves as families. In Asian sanghas, we address each other as Dharma Brother, Dharma Sister, Dharma Aunt, or Dharma Uncle, and we call our teacher Dharma Father or Dharma Mother. A practice community needs that kind of familial brotherhood to nourish practice.

~Thich Nhat Hanh from "The Fertile Soil of Sangha" (Summer 2008)

(Image courtesy of planyourlife.files.wordpress.com) 

Read more...

Breathing In, Breathing Out ~ Reflections on the Meditation Challenge

Breathing in, I calm my body.

Breathing out, I smile. 

Dwelling in the present moment,

I know this is a wonderful moment.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

This invitation to a simple breath practice was the first real "meditation" I embraced many years ago when my "healing journey" began. I find it still sustains me, perhaps even more so today. 

The key word is "sustains." 

Now that the Meditation Challenge is over, I've had time to reflect on what I—and we—experienced here. And I keep coming back to the power of the breath ... a breath practice. 

I had planned to post this yesterday but things happened. Life happens. In a nanosecond, nothing is as it seemed just hours before because an abrupt change has taken place, reminding you that everything is impermanent, unpredictable, groundless. Nothing ever stays the same. And the best laid plans can fall apart.

What else can you do in those precipitous moments but breathe? Breathe ...

Portable peace. Moving meditation. Doing what needs to be done. Breathe. Be in this very moment and know that if you stay connected to the breath—no matter what has happened—all will be well. All is well, it just doesn't feel like it in this very second. Keep breathing and it will. 

And so despite exploring and practicing all different forms of meditation through the last month—chant, walking, praying with beads, movement, creativity, guided meditation, and so much more, it all comes back to where we started. Just breathe. At least for me anyway. 

The breath sustains. I looked the word up in the dictionary. Sustains: to keep in existence, maintain, provide nourishment, keep from falling or sinking, to support the spirits or vitality, encourage, endure, withstand, bear up. 

It fits, doesn't it? The breath does all these things. No matter what state of mind, emotion, or health we find ourselves in, the breath sustains. 

What I have come to realize is this: That no matter what form of meditation practice we choose—no matter whether we are committed to one, or are feasting from a banquet of choices—as long as each is sourced in the present moment, and we are fully aware of our breath, we are sustained. We are fed, nourished, upheld, and stabilized. 

In short, we experience equanimity. We are calm. And when we are calm, we become clear. When clarity reigns, our inner wisdom can shine through. When that happens, we are awake and aware. We are en-lightening. 

Is there anything else of more import, truly? 

Because out of this awakened state arises the ability to change ourselves. To create different lives that embody the virtues of the Spirit. We can begin to connect with others with wide-open, compassionate hearts. We can change the world ... 

We do it one breath at a time. 

This is why I say, after a wide and circuitous journey, I find myself back at the beginning, taking up company with the breath. Breathing in, breathing out, I smile. I give thanks for this life—in all its glory and its difficulty. I am alive, I am well, I am free ... 

And I give thanks to all of you for joining me on this marvelous journey. It has been fabulous, hasn't it? I thank you for your faithfulness to your own journeys and for supporting me, and for supporting all the other participants, too. Community was created and it felt wonderful.

(And this community will continue. I have a plan hatching and will present it in the weeks to come. :-)

I give thanks for the guest experts and presenters who shared their hearts and learnings here. Gassho. I am so grateful for your wisdom. I learned so much. I bow to you. 

I bow to all of us for committing to be here for 28-Days. We did well. 

So onward we go. May we all go slowly, breathe, and smile. 

With love and blessings,

Jan

Good news! The "Meditation Challenge Teleconference" is finally available! You may listen to it here: MeditationChallengeConferenceCall.mp3

Read more...