METTA CENTER

(This article was first published in May 2006 Metta Center email newsletter.) Joy, I think, comes in two flavors: the euphoric feeling (Hurray! Amazing! Yes! Hallelujah!) and the easy-and-happy feeling (Ain’t life good? Ahh, bliss, life is sweet!) Both flavors are delicious. How do you get to joy, and how do you maintain it? There are many paths to joy, as many as the grains of sand. Recall the various times you felt happy, and at ease. Was there any one formula for your happiness? Or were they varied, and in that variation, you felt alive and happy? What is “joy” to you? Perhaps your joys come in predictable patterns: you love nature, flowers, clouds, winds, water, music, birds, etc. So, by allowing yourself to experience and notice these wonders as much as possible, you feel joyous. Some of your joys may not be so predictable. They might come from your allowing your self to grow in your awareness, to bring healing to yourself, to explore life, to have adventures, to rest, to listen...

This afternoon, as I was about to start on my next task on my to-do list, I felt a nudge, an invitation to play, from Spirit. I went outside to my garden and took a deep breath, feeling the cool wintry air on my face. I turned westward and saw the tree tops drenched orange in the late afternoon sun, and my heart skipped a beat. The scene was so glorious! So magnificent! In that split second, I felt so deeply nourished. My soul was fed! And, interestingly, I felt so rich, like I owned the world. 'Tis a wonderful feeling! Yes, life is full of riches for us to enjoy, even if they come in small slices of time and in unexpected packages. I invite you to allow yourself to take a moment out of your life and witness moments of life's magic. It is worth your while! You are worth your while!

(This post was first published as an article in September 2008 Metta Center email newsletter. While my daughter is now 15 years old, and not 11 years old as in this story, the message of this post is still relevant today. I invite you to turn your limiting thoughts around and free yourself into your happiness!)   One of the lessons I have learned is that happiness is an inside job. Do you notice that things can be going really well, and yet you are still unhappy? Or, things might go all awry yet you are cool as a cucumber? Something Abraham-Hicks says really struck a cord with me: "Your primary work is to think, speak and do what feels good to you." I really enjoy learning the process of choosing a better feeling thought from Abraham. Similar to changing a diet where you choose a healthier food to nourish your body, learning to think a better feeling thought is choosing to hold healthier thoughts, bringing yourself back into alignment with Source. It is choosing to nour...

(This article was first published in April 2007 Metta Center email Newsletter.) Yesterday, I walked past sunlit blades of grass. They smelled so fresh and wholesome as my legs brushed against their blades. I watched the wind run on top of the grass, swaying the tips so gently. The verdant green blades touched me deeply, awakening a sense of wonder and awe. It felt like I was drinking from a fountain of light. I felt filled and full. I felt connected. It felt wonderful. How amazing it is to be in Spirit. In his book "Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling," Dr. Wayne Dyer said, "Think of the word inspiration as meaning 'being in-Spirit.' When we're in-Spirit, we're inspired and when we're inspired, it's because we're back in-Spirit, fully awake to Spirit within us. Being inspired is an experience of joy: we feel completely connected to our Source and totally on purpose; our creative juices flow, and we bring exceptionally high energy to our d...

(This article was first published in December 2006 Metta Center Newsletter.) Coming to have faith in myself has been quite a discovery process for me. It has been, and still is, very enlightening, sometimes frustrating and always very fulfilling. I have learned to cultivate self-faith in these various ways: Clear the fearful thoughts/perspectives whenever I recognize and feel them. I meditate on the thoughts and release them to Light to transmute the energy, or use EFT, TAT, Reiki or Angel Healing work to shift the thought patterns. I also reframe my thoughts by choosing different and more empowering thoughts. When I find that I am doubting myself, I focus on the various ways I have come through for myself or others in the past. Here, I practice being aware of my self-talk, and change the pattern from being self-critical to self-supportive. When we remember own past resourcefulness, we remind ourselves of the capacity we have but have forgotten (or didn't give ourselves cred...

This simple breathing meditation is profoundly easy to do, deeply relaxing and can be very transformative. Breathing is an activity that we do both unconsciously and consciously. Like our heart that beats without our conscious control, our breathing is mostly under the control of our unconscious mind. Unlike our heartbeat that we have no control over, we can influence our breathing to some degree, both the depth and the frequency of the breaths. To do this simple meditation: Drink a cup of water. Find a comfortable place where you can be comfortable and undisturbed for 10 to 15 minutes. Close your eyes, and either lie down or sit down in a relaxed manner. Your spine must be straight and at-ease. Allow yourself to breath in gently and softly. Before you exhale, take in a little more breath. This gently expands your breathing capacity. Each time you practice this expansion process, increase this additional inhalation slightly. Do not force yourself to expand your inhalation in...

(This article was first published in September 2006 Metta Center Newsletter.) Recently, on a labyrinth walk at Sibley Regional Park in Oakland, I received a profound insight from Mother Earth that I would love to share with you. As I walk inwardly toward the center of the labyrinth, I noticed a yellow jacket buzzing around me. At first, I was apologetic to it. I said I was sorry that I was bothering it. When the insect still buzzed around me, I started to feel angry and told it to buzz off itself. Then, I started wondering if there was a "better", different, way to respond than the ways I had responded: either being apologetic to or being upset by this insect. As I thought that question out loud, I heard this thought within me that said, very gently, "We all have a space here." The yellow jacket came back and started buzzing again around me. This time, I quietly said to it "We all have a space here, you and me." Then, to my surprise, the yellow jac...

"A Child of Crossing Places." I simply love this phrase! It touches me in such a beautiful and moving way. I first heard this phrase when reading "The Seeing Stone," by Kevin Crossley-Holland. It's a young-adult book, and it's about a young boy named Arthur who is given a magical seeing stone. In the book, “crossing places” refers to places where one aspect of life meets another, such as the shorelines, sunsets or sunrises, butterfly cocoons, seasons, and others. Crossing places are mysterious, full of potential, unpredictable and transformative. Our inner conflicts are like these crossing places: two seemingly different and conflicting forces of interests. Unlike nature, however, we often feel uncomfortable with our “crossing places,” wishing that they were not there. We can learn from nature’s ample examples to help us resolve our inner conflicts gracefully. Instead of having to choose sides or somehow force both sides of our inner battles to work...

In one of my recent meditations, I was reminded by Spirit that we bring the energy of hope and love onto the planet, by allowing ourselves to be happy and appreciative of our lives. Like the rain that comes in spring time, inviting seeds to grow into seedlings, our feelings of happiness and appreciation nurture the energetic seedlings of hope and wholeness for the collective consciousness. When I asked how we can best support those who are affected by the latest current events (Japan, Middle East, etc.) Spirit answered, "Appreciate them."  How can our feelings of happiness and appreciation help anyone, or make any significant contribution, especially to people who live far away? At the energetic level, when we allow ourselves to be happy and feel appreciative, we feel amazing! And this beautiful, radiant energy invites everyone across the globe to rise up to that vibration as well. This life-giving energy helps others on the planet permit themselves to hope and love d...