Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Your Personal Book of Success- A Powerful Practice

I sat down and asked God/the Universe what lesson He’d like for me to share today and the response was, “The lesson of not all of a sudden forgetting how far you have come when you find yourself in a down moment or a down cycle.”

When you are going through a down moment, a fearful moment, a moment of doubt or even a melancholy moment, how easy is it to forget your previous triumphs and successes? Like the one from last week?? Or even the one from this morning? How quickly we forget sometimes…… Sometimes one thing goes wrong and suddenly you forget about everything that had just gone right and how well things are going and how much progress you’ve made in the last year….six months….week….

This is why I wanted to share this extremely useful exercise with you all in hopes that some of you will incorporate it into your daily lives and that it becomes a life-long powerful practice for you.


Exercise: Creating Your Own Private Book of Successes

1. Go buy an interesting notebook that appeals to you.

2. On the front cover write in big, bold letters, “MY BOOK OF SUCCESS.” Yes, you can write it on the inside cover if you are worried others might see it.

3. Every time you have a triumph or success write it down in this notebook along with the time and date. EVERY TIME! EVERY TIME the Universe comes through for you, write it down. Doesn’t matter how small or how big as long as it feels like a triumph to you.

4. You don’t have to write much more than the event, time, and date. It doesn’t matter if you only write one line. This is a BOOK OF RECORDS, not a book of stories. Of course you’re welcomed to write out as much as you like, but you’re more likely to stick to making this exercise part of your routine and to actually doing it for years if you keep it short and simple.

5. DEFINITELY write down any situation where you aren’t sure something is going to go your way and then it DOES go your way (ex. “I was able to pay my phone bill even though I wasn’t sure how that was going to happen”). Write down anytime something ISN’T supposed to go your way and then it DOES go your way. Write down anytime you aren’t sure you can do something and then you do it. Write down anytime you REALLY want something and then it comes to you/you get it. Write down any “miracles” you experience. Basically, as I said above, write down any time the Universe comes through for you or that YOU come through for you.

6. Every time you are experiencing a negative moment or are in a down cycle, pull out your notebook and read through it. Hey, you might see something from THIS MORNING that you already forgot about as other people’s clouds of gloom surrounded you and drowned you throughout the day! Anytime you start feeling self-doubt, fear, lack of confidence, not enoughness, anything like that, pull out your "Book of Success" and look at how many times the Universe has come through for you! This is a great way to not only get the big picture, gain confidence, lift your mood, and keep you moving forward, but it’s also a great exercise for building trust. Trust in the Universe/God and trust in yourself. It also helps shift you into more positive expectations.

7. Range of Successes:
This is a personal book and you can go with whatever feels right for you. You might prefer to stick solely to “bigger” successes like:

“I finally got over so and so.”
“I received clarity as to this and this situation.”
“I got into med school.”
“I was chosen for this high-paying job out of hundreds of applicants.”
“I lost those 50 lbs.”
“I beat cancer.”
“I survived that car accident.”
“I graduated from college.”
"I found a husband I love."
“I got to travel to ______”
“I didn’t lose my temper when so and so happened as I normally do.”
“I finally forgave so and so."

On top of these being triumphs to remind you of how far you've come and how many things HAVE gone your way, how great will it be to see sentences like the ones above the next time you think you'll never be able to get over the new so and so? Or the next time you are experiencing confusion and praying for clarity? Some of your recorded triumphs will serve as a quick jolt reminder to your brain that, "Oh, I've done this before. And everything worked out just fine. I can do it again."

It’s also fun and useful to include the “smaller” triumphs in life. The little things that are supposed to make you feel good and do make you feel good until you later go on and forget about them. Keeping records of these things will help remind you later on.

Things like:

“I won this raffle.” (Hey, when you're feeling unlucky, it will remind you that you HAVE been lucky!)
“Three people in a row told me I looked beautiful this morning.”
“I got the afternoon off and did exactly what I wanted with it.”
“My co-worker bought me lunch today.”
“I received this really sweet e-mail saying _____.”
“I found the perfect shoes.”
“My mom told me she loved me this morning.”

Go with whatever feels right for you. And trust me, even if you decide to only record the “bigger” successes, you’ll fill up your book and need a new one faster than you think!


8. To “soup up” this exercise, you can also add a sentence expressing gratitude with every success you record. This way you are also embedding your gratitude practice into this exercise.

9. When you get your notebook, definitely fill it in with older events that happened before you had your notebook. It’s okay if you don’t remember the exact date. If it’s a success, it should be in your Book of Success. Anytime an old success comes to mind, write it down. Become an excellent record-keeper and historian of your own successes!

10. START TODAY. KEEP IT FOREVER.


Sending you all lots of love and light!
J

Thursday, July 9, 2009

How to be Present NOW In Order to Manifest Your Goals in the Future

Last night I enjoyed one of Rev. Michael Beckwith’s amazing services at Agape. His services are always amazing, but last night was really over the top. And the main topic of the sermon was to “LIVE OVER THE TOP ALL THE TIME.” He listed geniuses and talked about how they lived over the top and encouraged us all to do so as well. Because when you’re living “over the top” you’re giving God room to flow through you and express himself through you. He closed the sermon by repeating over and over, “That genius is inside of you,” (or something close to that) until it became a tearful whisper that I guarantee brought goose bumps to at least half the people sitting inside the Sanctuary. That genius that was within every great person in history is also within you… You just have to let it out.

So how do you live over the top? By being present every moment of your life. By fully living every moment of your life and enjoying each and every second. Don’t throw away the precious minutes of your life. Live them so that greatness can come forth through them.

A lot of people get lost in their future goals and future manifestations and forget to just live and enjoy the current the moment. However, actually ENJOYING your life where you are at RIGHT NOW will help you reach your future goals and manifestations at a much faster rate. If you believe in the Law of Attraction, you know that you will attract what you are feeling and doing. The key is to live your life now as if you already have what you want. As if it were already so. Stop putting off your good!


Exercise to help you live your life NOW instead of in the future:


1) Think about what you have been working hard to manifest and write it down on a piece of paper.
That one thing that gets you thinking, “Once I get that, THEN everything will be great. Life will be wonderful AFTER that.” THAT thing. Whether it’s your perfect dream relationship, dream job, millions of dollars, the perfect weight, whatever it is for you, write it down. For the example, I’ll use the popular desire of winning millions of dollars in the lotto.

2) Next, list the reasons WHY you want to manifest this thing/situation. Why do you REALLY want it? Try to get down to the core essence of why it is your soul wants this.

For example, I want to win millions of dollars in the lotto so that I can:
a) Help out a lot of people and give to a lot to people.
b) Have more freedom.
c) Be able to take all the classes I want and pursue more/new hobbies.
d) Help my mom out and buy her things to show how much I appreciate all that she’s done for me.
e) Pamper myself with fun treats.


3) Now brainstorm and write down the ways you could do these things in your life RIGHT NOW. And DO THEM. RIGHT NOW!

It’s so funny how we say we want something in order to do something, but we don’t do that thing while we’re waiting! You want to have lots of money to help lots of people and so you’re waiting to have that money to help people instead of just helping them NOW. You don’t need a million dollars to help someone. Help someone every day any little way you can. Give whatever you are able to- doesn’t just have to be money, can be skills, help, comfort, advice….. That way your soul is now doing what it’s been wanting to do. You’re experiencing what you’ve been wanting to experience and so now you’ll be attracting a lot more of that experience (law of attraction). Plus if it’s what you really want to do you’ll be living in joy and be fully present while you’re doing it. The Universe will start sending you more opportunities to do what you like and to be happy/joyful.

To finish up the example:

a) Help out a lot of people/give to a lot of people.
What can I do now?
1) I can sign up to volunteer my skills once a week after work.
2) I can clean out my closet and donate what I don’t need.
3) I can give advice online, I can teach someone a new skill, whatever. Let’s say you want to open up your own healing center for low income people, well start doing 2 free healings a week w/o the center. Stuff like that.

b) Have more freedom.
What can I do now?
1) When you have free moments throughout your day, before just surfing online to fill dead time or turning on your TV, sit down and think about what you REALLY want to do. And do it. Use those free moments of your day to do what you really want.

2) When planning your weekend, sit down and think about what you REALLY want to do. And do it. How many people sleep walk through weekends? Going to dinner, going to a club, watching tv. No, do what you REALLY want to do. You do have freedom throughout your week, USE IT. Don’t just throw away your free time and expect the Universe to just hand you more of it!! Make sure that you are using every minute of freedom you currently have. You want to win the lotto so you can quit your job and sit at the beach all day? Well then on your day off, go to the beach and sit!

** As Rev. Michael says, “Boredom is the energy it takes to block creativity!” and “Boredom is the ego’s attempt to steal the creative impulse that wants to happen through you in that moment.”

c) Take all the classes/hobbies I’d like.
1) Take a short class in whatever subject you’ve been interested in exploring. Or check out an online course/video (eHow is lovely).
2)Fully put your all into whatever classes/hobbies you’re currently taking. Be fully present every second you are doing your coursework and are in class.

Hehe, I do this: I'll be like “I really want to take that $6,000 course!!” while not putting as much time/effort as I COULD be putting into the courses I’m ALREADY taking. :-) So the Universe is probably like, “Really? You want to take more courses? Doesn’t look like it…” Starting today I’m done with that though! I’m going to be fully present every second that I’m doing my reading, homework, practicing, attending class. Next week I'm putting my all into my 3 hour Qi Gong class!

d) Help mom out and show her I appreciate her.
1)Uh, why aren’t you doing that now? Give her a hug every day and tell her how much you appreciate her!
2)Ask her if there is anything she needs help with around the house or in her life and help her!

e) Pamper Yourself-
1)Do at least one special thing for yourself EVERY DAY.
2)If you want more money so that you can take better care of yourself (i.e. eat organic healthy food, personal trainers, beauty treatments, shopping), make sure you’re ALREADY taking care of yourself however you can. Give yourself a pedicure, manicure, lay down with an eye mask on with relaxing music playing and incense, ask a friend for a massage, drink a healthy drink, take your vitamins, pop in an exercise video (or youtube one), take the time to get ready and do your hair in the morning. Don’t be sloppy with yourself and expect the Universe to give you the resources to take better care of yourself when you aren't using what you already have! Take care of yourself now!

I hope you all enjoy the exercise and the extra happiness that living your life in the present brings! The goal is to be living your goals NOW. To be doing what you want to be doing and what brings you joy and happiness! While reaching certain “goals” may enhance your ability to do these things and take them to a new level, there is always something you can be doing in the current moment to enjoy the fruits that you expect your goal will bring you. Live in the now and be present so that the genius inside you will express itself through you!!

Sending you all happiness and joy,
J

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

My Own Special "Thank You Michael Jackson" Story

This isn’t a DIY type of blog entry. It's me just sharing my own experience…. I wrote the entry below the day after Michael Jackson died…. It’s sat in my journal and I wasn’t really planning on sharing it…. But everyone’s “Thank You Michael” posts/tweets have motivated me to share my own special “Thank You Michael” story. Because that's how I had ended my journal entry on June 26, 2009.

June 26, 2009 Entry:

I meditate daily for about 30-90 minutes a day, depending on how much time I am able to set aside (the way I see it, meditating is part of my job). Yesterday I had one of the most powerful meditation experiences of my life. I reached the kind of experience that many people spend years and years meditating trying to reach. And it involved Michael Jackson. Seriously.

Shortly after it was confirmed that Michael Jackson had indeed passed away, I decided that I must go on about my daily routine and meditate.

At about 30 minutes into my meditation, I found myself saying, “I am One with my Source” on the inhale and “I am One with my Creator” on the exhale. Over and over again, while feeling my brain kind of fog over, sinking into that beautiful white fog of serenity. I was saying it over and over again for awhile.

I was in a state of deep meditation and I know this because at some point I realized my mantra had unintentionally changed and I was saying “I am One with my people” as one of the phrases. In my meditative state, I remember noticing this change and trying to bring it back to my original mantra. I remember thinking, “No, wait, I’m trying to become One with God, why am I saying something else?” and tried to say “I am One with my Creator.” Instead, “I am One with ALL people” is what I chanted in my head (the only change was that the “my people” came out as “all people” this time around). I remember kinda getting frustrated with my inability to say what I wanted and trying to again switch it back to my original mantra , but I was too deep in meditation. I was at the point you’re kind of slurring your words and don’t have as much control. Then as “I am One with all people” played in my head AGAIN, all of a sudden a huge image of Michael Jackson’s face (circa the “Bad” days with a huge smile on it) made out of LIGHT, flashed in front of me. Suddenly, in a split second, my head had merged into the image in front of me or that image had merged into me (who knows. It happened so fast).

And immediately there was a huge explosion thing that took place inside of me and all of a sudden there were millions of particles of bright lights flashing and raining onto me. And huge amounts of energy rushing up and down my body. It immediately shocked me out of my meditative state, but I didn’t open my eyes. I just laid there with my eyes closed thinking “OMG, What just happened??!! Why are there particles coming into me? What’s going on?” And then I thought, “OMG!! I went into the light!! I WENT INTO THE LIGHT!!! I jumped off the wheel!!” And decided to calm down, take deep breaths, and allow the beautiful energy of love and joy that was falling into my energy field to just flood in. I remember thinking, “Okay. Aura, I’m not sure what’s going on, but please go ahead and absorb all the positive energy that is falling upon me right now.” And I laid there until the particles calmed down, sinking into me, and my energy settled a bit.

When I jumped out of bed, I thought, “I went into the light. I became one with the light! But wait…. Why was it Michael’s face I merged into??”

I decided to keep this experience to myself for at least awhile because it felt kind of special (hey it was my own lil good bye from Michael). So I haven’t yet told any of my spiritual teachers. One of the main goals of meditating is going into the light… And I’d been so close so many times in my past, but I tend to snap out of it/chicken out at last minute. I was glad that I had finally fully experienced the explosion/particles flying thing. Though my experience had been a bit different than what I had read about…

So today I’m at my mom’s house and my grandma is over there as well. I have my laptop out and I put on an old Michael Jackson video (“Don’t Stop til You Get Enough”). Immediately my grandmother starts crying and my mom’s eyes fill with tears and she leaves the room saying she can’t watch because she’s too emotional. My mother and my grandma do not even speak English. I sat there staring at the video, fighting a growing knot in my own throat as I watched my childhood idol.

And then the experience kind of hit me. 3 different generations in one room, 2 of them who do not speak any English and who grew up in Cuba. All felt enormous amounts of love for Michael and all had memories of their lives embedded in his music. I was suddenly amazed by Michael Jackson’s incredible ability to transcend cultures, languages, races, and generations.

Then it REALLY hit me. That was it. Michael transcended. Michael transcended through the human race. Whether through him everyone was able to see the part of themselves that’s free while singing, dancing, and full of joy or the part of themselves that houses that inner-child creativity that aches to burst out of each person.....I don't know but SOMEHOW Michael transcended all the long-standing barriers the human race has built.

Now it makes perfect sense that it was his face I saw as I jumped into the light and became One with not only my source, but with all people. Transcending the internal barriers that my own ego has built

And later on in the afternoon when I received an e-mail containing a tribute to Michael by popular hip hop and R&B artists, and I heard the first rap line, “….You’re Michael Jackson, I’m Michael Jackson, We’re all Michael Jackson,” I couldn’t help but smile. And think that Michael already knew all of this when at Disneyland he used to sing his "message" to me, "Can't you see?? YOU'RE JUST ANOTHER PART OF MEE!!"

Thank you Michael, for facilitating that beautiful experience in a way that my subconscious mind was able to handle.



That's the journal entry. And I also wanted to add a link to a clip of the beautiful tribute Agape (my "church") did for Michael Jackson the Sunday after he passed away. Siedah Garrett, the writer of "The Man in the Mirror" gave a beautiful, moving performance during Service (made all the news):


Monday, July 6, 2009

How to Harness the Power of the Lunar Eclipse

Hello! Just wanted to post some quick information for tomorrow's lunar eclipse. As a lot of you probably know, lunar eclipses can "wreak havoc" and they cause some people to worry. They're known for shaking things up and changing things. They're really powerful though and it's great to be able to tap into that power instead of just sitting around and going into emotional chaos.

Really it's a SUPER strong full moon and full moons are known for making things crazy on their own. LOL, I don't know how often I've heard people who work in emergency rooms or in the criminal system say that they know when it's the full moon period because the line goes around the corner. As one of my teachers once said, "Well you see what sort of effect the moon has on the ocean and tides, and how much of your body is made up of water???"

I'm particularly sensitive to full moons because I'm ruled by the Sun (Leo) and the Sun was squaring the Moon when I was born. So I've always felt the full moon period A LOT more than I've ever felt "that time of the month" for women. I used to get moody/emotional during full moons and even gain weight (retain water). Anyhow, ever since I started doing full moon meditations this period is a lot easier for me. It still tends to be the most hectic time of the month for me, BUT because OTHER people have emergencies and my schedule goes haywire (last full moon period I definitely had to leave my house after midnight in my pajamas to do healings). However, I find myself remaining emotionally solid, at peace, AND receiving blessings from these periods. :-)

So I generally do a group full moon meditation every month to harness the power of the full moon. Group meditations are lovely because they intensify the power and effect of the meditation. Since this month's full moon will be an eclipse, I thought I'd share the meditation with you all. It's free (though you are always welcomed to donate of course), it's wonderful, it's led live by one of my favorite spiritual teachers, it gives you great karma, and I'll be part of the group you're meditating with :-). And if you enjoy it, you can do it every full moon. Just follow the link below and call in at the time listed for your time zone, enter the code, sit down, and enjoy the meditation and the positive energy flowing through you:

http://www.pranatalk.com/

Happy lunar eclipse y'all!!
J

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Quick Test for Gauging How Close You Are to Manifesting Your Desires

I get more questions about manifesting than I get about any other subject and so I’ve written a lot in my past blog entries on the topic. Today I wanted to share a quick test for checking where you are in relation to what you are working on manifesting and to help you make sure you are heading in the right direction.

It’s super easy:

a) Quickly think about what you are working on manifesting.
b) What emotion did you feel when you thought about it?
c) Where does the emotion you felt fall on this scale?

1) Joy//Love/Appreciation/Freedom
2) Passion
3) Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
4) Positive Expectation
5) Optimism
6) Hopefulness
7) Contentment
8) Boredom
9) Pessimism
10) Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
11) Overwhelment
12) Disappointment
13) Doubt
14) Worry
15) Blame
16) Discouragement
17) Anger
18) Revenge
19) Hatred/Rage
20) Jealousy
21) Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
22) Fear/Grief/Depression/ Despair

Where you fall on the above scale reflects how close you are to manifesting your desire. If your emotion falls into the top slots, then you are in good shape. If you are falling into the bottom end, then you still have a way to go. I pulled the emotional scale above and the basics for the test from Esther and Jerry Hicks, Ask and It Is Given, a great book that I’ll discuss further below. But that’s the test. It’s that simple.

The concept is that your emotions serve as a GPS system that let’s you know how close you are to making your desires a reality. This test helps you figure out if when you are thinking about the item/situation you want to attract, you are REALLY focusing on what you want OR on the absence of it (i.e. what you DON’T want).

A problem that many people face when trying to manifest is that they have a tendency to focus on the ABSENCE of what they want rather than on what they actually want. So they are actually focusing on what they DON’T want. The test above helps you figure out if you’re making that mistake and are hence attracting the opposite of what you want. Because when you’re focusing on something you DON'T want, your emotions will be on the NEGATIVE end of the scale.

For example, let’s say you’ve been working on manifesting an extra $10,000 this month. To do the test above, you’d quickly think, “money” and see what you feel. If the emotion you feel is worry, then you know at the moment your thoughts are actually focused on the LACK of money rather than on money and that you are attracting being broke. Same thing if you’ve been working on manifesting a new car. What do you feel when you think about the car? Do you feel disappointment or do you feel excitement and gratitude?

I talk a lot about people’s vibrations and about what level they are vibrating. Primarily because I’m an energy healer, but also because it’s really important when it comes to manifesting greatness in your life.

I mentioned I pulled the basics for the test above out of Ask and It is Given, where the concept of the test above is a main theme. The book thoroughly explains the relationship between your vibration (which is dependent on your emotional mood) and attracting things into your life. It’s my personal favorite guide for manifesting and I generally assign it to clients after they’ve been working with me for a few months.

The book focuses on the premise of their being 3 basic parts of manifesting:

1) Asking for what you want (which just about everyone has down pat with their vision boards, etc);
2) The Universe answers by giving you what you want;
3) You then have to receive it- which is the challenging part and where your vibration plays a large role because you have to be on the right vibration to attract what you want into your life.

The book not only thoroughly discusses the relationship between your emotions/vibration and your manifestations, but the second half of the book is comprised of JUST exercises that help you release any resistance you have to reaching your goal AND that help raise your vibration so you can attract beautiful things into your life. It also provides great skills for mastering your emotions since the goal is to be vibrating as high as possible ALL the time and constantly attracting happiness and greatness into your life.

I’ll now quote from the book directly since it explains the concept of the test really well and touches on the importance of your vibration:

“The key to bringing something into your experience that you desire is to achieve vibrational harmony with what you desire. And the easiest way for you to achieve vibrational harmony with it is to imagine having it, pretend that it is already in your experience, and as you practice those thoughts and begin to consistently offer that vibration, you will then be in the place of allowing that into your experience.

Now by paying attention to the way you feel, you can easily know if you are giving your attention to your desire or if you are giving it to the absence of your desire. When your thoughts are a vibrational match to your desire, you feel good- your emotional range would be from contentment to expectation to eagerness to joy. But if you are giving your attention to the lack, or absence of your desire- your emotions would range from feelings of pessimism to worry to discouragement to anger to insecurity to depression.

And so, as you become consciously aware of your emotions, you will always know how you are doing with the allowing part of your Creative Process, and you will never again misunderstand why things are turning out the way they are. Your emotions provide a wonderful guidance system for you, and if you will pay attention to them, you will be able to guide yourself to anything that you desire.”

And I’ll close with this quote from the book:

“We want you to know that you always hold the power and control of your own life experience. The only reason that you could ever experience something other than what you desire is because you are giving the majority of your attention to something OTHER than what you desire.”