Keeping the Fire Alive

Keeping our fire alive is a challenge at times depending on where we are on our life's path. We need to be able to appreciate the positives in our life and we need a commitment to put action in our life.

Holding and honoring what is good in our life keeps us out of story, out of the past and out of the future. It keeps us present. It also keeps us in a positive energetic vibration. It is hard to feel sorry for your self, to feel angry or to be in a place of blame or shame when we are in a state of appreciation. It works every time!

Bringing commitment into action has us pause and look about our life and ask, "What needs to be done?" It is a golden chance for reflection. It gives us time to listen to our soul's needs. It brings our authentic wisdom into our life's plan.

If we then bring this appreciation into the equation with the committed wise action we find that our energies are filled with abundance, forward thinking and positivity, instead of a coming from a place of lacking, regret and negativity. It also alleviates the struggle.

We are not approaching our life with an empty tank. We are not seeing our self as less than, broken, or in need. Instead we bring our soul's inspiration, our heart's passion, our mind's dreams. We bring along a rich and vibrant energy that is found in appreciation. Within this gratitude and admiration of what we have been blessed with we find an energy that sets into motion for us the next expansion to our day. It brings abundance of ideas, concepts, resources, and creativity.

Focus has much to do with our inner fire. What we focus our time and energies on is often what we get. A subtle shift in one's perspective, in one's appreciation and we then see the embers begin to come alive. We see our innate power at work. We find our true voice. We awaken our passions. And our fire burns bright.

Blessings, Lisa

Bringing Presence to Your Support

There are times in my shamanic work that I am sitting with someone who is in tremendous suffering. I, no matter how much my tender heart may want to, cannot remove their suffering. Nor should I, for there are times that it is through our suffering that we find our healing. And yet the client sits before me, seeking my services; wanting to find relief and release from their pain and loss.

And so the work becomes one of being present. I bring my presence to the relationship we are sharing together. By doing this there is an expansion of the energies between us. There is a widening of the understanding, often first on a soul level, but then with time the heart and mind follow.

Pain is a great inducer of change. We all have pain in our lives. This is not about whether it is fair or not, pain cannot be measured by that scale. This is not about how terrible or unfortunate the pain is; for each of us suffering feels bad. But this is about the fact that when we are in pain it is a natural force within our soul to move away from it into an energy of change, to find a flow that supports growth, evolution and insight.

Supporting someone in understanding that their pain can become a vehicle of transformation is sometimes the very shift they need to step out of the hurt and into the healing. We cannot rid someone of their suffering or pain, but instead we can help them find that there is some truth in the pain, sometimes there is beauty there as well. In our suffering, if we can remain present, we can often find meaning. In this meaning is the next step that takes one out of their unbearable pain. It is an encouraging force that beckons them to look beyond the pain into tomorrow or at the least, into the next moment.

I have worked with those who have faced unbelievable suffering, loss and pain. In the moment, they felt there was no way out of it. But with time, remaining present for them, when they could not, space was created so that the energies could expand and shift. With time, tenderness, compassion and presence the soul found its way out of the wound and into the healing. The story did not remain stuck in the loss and hurt. The unfolding of the vibrations of the continuum of life brought the client to a place of healing and wholeness, away from the space of pain and brokenness.

The best medicine a shaman can offer to a client is that of being fully present to all that the moment holds. It is within that precise exchange of energies that the client feels witnessed, supported and held. From there the healing can begin.

Blessings, Lisa

Understand Your Intention

Do you understand your intention? The one you set today, this week, this month or even this year? Why are you seeking this intention? Why are you doing what you are doing? What is your motivation?

Usually we set an intention because of necessity or inspiration. Knowing this has much to do with how we approach our intentions and how we embrace them. We need to know the energy we are bringing to our intentions in order to become effective in manifesting them. Knowing if we are setting these intentions to be in service, to be better liked, or even for "selfish" reasons...the energy is very different for each reason. Whatever the reason. Now we have an understanding of our underlying motivation for this intention and how to approach it, what to bring to it, what to let go of that may get in its way. We now have a fuller understanding of the flow of this intention.

Also, knowing the motivation behind our intention gives us a broader understanding of our intention and our energies. When we know our motives we then can reflect upon where we are in the relationship between our soul and out intention. Are we in the way, creating the perfect block? Are we uncommitted? Have we not shown up? Or are we open, receptive, and attentive?

All this insight is an important part of the recipe of living mindfully, setting intentions and trusting. If we do not recognize or are not being honest with our motivations and energies between our intentions and our dreams we are not fully present to the unfolding. Showing up, being authentic and remaining flexible adds to the fluidity of the energies. It also incorporates our personal power in the equation. And when we do this we have a very different ownership of our intention.

It now breathes in our passion. It now dances with the music of our soul. It now inspires our actions. Our intention becomes alive to us; vibrant, awake, and resonating. Suddenly we become our intention!

Blessings, Lisa

The Beginner's Mind

Do you remember the curiosity you had as a child? Do you recall the hours lost in playtime, the pretend friends, the stuffed animals that spoke to you and the fantasy land you would visit after reading a favorite storybook? As children we all had what Zen refers to as the beginner's mind. This part of our mind has not been lost, but for some, it does need to be welcomed back.

Over time our mind begins to fill up with logic, with theory, with facts. All important in the evolution of the mind, but not more important than radiance and vibrancy of the fantasy and pretend world. Both should be equally valued. But, in our society, knowledge seems to be favored as the more valued wisdom.

Wisdom can be found in the creative. We just need to be seek it! We need to value its unique flavor, it colorful perspective and its vital energy. Without this form of wisdom in our life we are only partially full with our gifts and only part of the way into our energetic resources.

The beginner's mind of a child means that we are open to the wonders of the world. We see life with awe and fascination. We truly believe anything and everything is possible. We embrace adventure, spending each day discovering and experiencing new things!

If we can remember to keep this wisdom alive in our lives and foster it, life is very different. Possibilities and opportunities surround us. The Universe showers upon us gifts and lessons that thrill our soul and bring brilliance to our life. Miracles are around every corner. We begin to see life so differently when we bring this form of our wisdom into our daily life.

Education is an important part of our society. It serves us well and allows us to be trained and in service to others. It creates solutions and asks important questions. It is highly valued. But look beyond this academic wisdom. Don't let it stile your beginner's mind from seeking the joy and appreciation of life. Don't forget to dream and be curious. Bring your radiant wisdom into your day and watch what happens. It is the juice of passion and the quickening energy of growth. If you want your life to expand to the far reaches of your imagination, show up with your beginner's mind, nurture and cultivate it and you will not be disappointed.

Blessings, Lisa