METTA CENTER

The following post was first published as an article in June 2008 Metta Center Newsletter. Sometimes we are afraid to say "no!" to the outside obligations that inch into our lives. I have learned to say "know," instead of "no": it is up to me to know what is most important for me at this moment. This strategy helps me set clear boundaries and create more space for me to focus my energy on being, having and doing what's truly meaningful for me. Creating space for yourself is creating space for your Spirit. It is really not difficult at all, actually. Definitely not rocket science. In only requires your commitment to the key concept that you are an important person in your life. When we make room for our Spirit, we make room for ourselves to remember who we are inside: joy-filled beings! We make room for grace, ease and light to be in our daily lives. We make room for being more in balance. Happiness is not just something that comes once in a while, but ...

I was contemplating the meaning of life when Spirit reminded me of the emails my clients have written me recently. They wrote about their amazing, powerful and wonderful insights and experiences as they found their connection to their Source. Here's what one person wrote, "After our class Tuesday, I went fishing on the delta and it was a spectacularly beautiful day... I saw a seal swimming slowly through the water close to where I was fishing... He seemed so totally blissful....so totally in the moment... I couldn't help but think back to our work together and how feeling and being joyFULL. Not only is good for the individual but to every one around the individual..." "Last night during a little bout of sleeplessness I decided to observe my breath... It felt smooth and easy, no constriction though I wasn't breathing deeply.... and then I began to be aware of the breather not the breath... that part of the involuntary system that is part of my physical self......

In my last newsletter, I wrote about my personal experience with the fear of feeling happier than I was already feeling. (Click here to read that article.) Here's what unfolded today, about a month since I wrote the article. The timing couldn't have been more perfect! As I was enjoying my day, adoring my dog and contemplating the meaning of life, feeling free and peaceful, I heard myself thinking, "This is the free-est I can be. I will never be free-er than this." I was keenly aware of a sudden sadness within. I sat with that information for a bit, choosing to just "be" with that part of me that spoke up. Curious, I did a TAT (Tapas Acupressure Technique) on that thought as I sat with it. I also allowed myself to think that the opposite is possible, "This is not the free-est I can be, and I can be free-er than this." Immediately, I encountered a confused part of myself, "Who will I be if I am freer? I will lose myself. I will not know what to...

The following post was first published as an article in March/April 2006 Metta Center Newsletter. Let me tell you one of the stories of Milarepa. He is one of the most widely known Tibetan Saints. Milarepa had been meditating for years in a cave. The hairs on his body had grown green because all he ate was nettles that he found around his cave. One day, several demons came into his cave, growling fearsomely. They were frothy at their mouths and had red menacing eyes. Enthusiastically, Milarepa invite them to sit with him and offered them his meager sustenance of nettles and water. He treated them as his most honorable guests. Milarepa sang to the monsters he found in his cave, "It is wonderful you demons came today. You must come again tomorrow. From time to time, we should converse." I love this story because it inspires me to work with the “demons” in my mind. They are the negative voices that created the tensions in my body or beliefs that limit me in some other ways. This...

While I was thinking about Math and the Universe, I saw how Law of Attraction works like an algebraic equation. What manifests in your life matches the vibration you give out. In other words, your vibration is on one side of the equation and it equals, on the other side of the equation, what you are living. To make it simple: your vibration = what your are experiencing and living. So, to change what you are experiencing and living, doesn't it make sense that you would need to change your vibration? How do you do that? Your thoughts and feelings are your vibrations. Think different thoughts than what you are used to thinking, you will feel differently. Better yet, as Abraham-Hicks recommended so eloquently: "Think better feeling thoughts." Then, as you practice thinking better feeling thoughts and feel better, you vibrate differently. How do you know what you are vibrating? You know what you think, don't you? Besides, your emotions and your experiences tell you that in...

Well, my 12-year old daughter just taught me something wonderful tonight! She mentioned to me that .9 repeating is actually equal to 1. I was awe-struck: what a brilliant mathematical way to explain the paradoxes of the Universe! Even if you don't look or feel whole, you are whole! Even if you aren't perfect or don't think you're perfect, you are perfect! Even in variety, there is harmony Even in chaos, there is balance and order I simply love how mathematics explains the divine principles of perfection and wholeness! For those of you who are mathematically inclined, here's a link to a thorough explanation of this mathematical phenomena: http://polymathematics.typepad.com/polymath/2006/06/no_im_sorry_it_.html . What a brilliant Universe we live in!

I was sitting on a tree stump, listening to the wind and looking at the beautiful field of grass dancing in front of me. I felt divine love swirling within and around me. I was in rapture, soaking it all in. It was one of those glorious moments of being so tuned in with nature, one of my sources of joy. I asked Spirit, "Does it get any better than this?" Spirit answered, "Yes!" And I was surprised to feel, for a moment, a catch in my heart. I heard myself gasped. I realized that a part of me was scared by Spirit's answer. Interesting response. I held myself tenderly to comfort myself. A deep part of me was obviously afraid of receiving "better than this." What I had was good enough. Later, I checked in with this fearful part of me to find out what I was afraid of. I discovered that it was almost as if I didn't believe I could stand any more joy. This part of me feared that I might cry so hard until there would be nothing left of me. "There...