METTA CENTER

"The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson   As I meditated today, I asked the Universe what will be helpful for me to focus on. A swift and powerful feeling of sweetness filled my heart. The message came clearly: "Keep Loving". In the spirit of that message and giving thanks to all that has supported our lives, I would like to give thanks to the Universe for you, for your unique presence in the world and for bringing your blessings to everything and everyone that crosses your paths. With appreciation, Christine  2020 has been a challenging year for pretty much everyone worldwide. Here are a couple simple self-healing tips to help you connect to more inner peace as you move through this period. Using  EFT , you can tap with the setup phrase of: "Even though I am having trouble accepting (whatever the situation is), I deeply and completely love and accept myself and choose to feel love and appr...

(This article was first published in November 2007 Metta Center email newsletter.) In Taoism and Chinese Energy medicine, there is an exercise called "Inner Smile", where you smile at your inner organs. This exercise has a very practical purpose: self-acceptance and appreciation. This simple and gentle practice is very effective in balancing your meridian system and is very nourishing to your spirit. Here is a slightly different version of this exercise: Sit or lie comfortably. Alternatively, you can even do this exercise when you are walking or in the shower. Begin by taking several deep breaths, exhaling slowly. Allow yourself to recall the time someone extend a kindness to you and you can feel a sense of appreciation gently arising from within your heart-center. Noticing this feeling of appreciation, you bring your attention and extend this feeling to various parts of your body. Starting from the top of your head, bring your attention and appreciation to...

 "The foundations of a person are not in matter but in spirit." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson The leaves are beginning to turn colors. I feel that suddenly fall has begun in earnest with the first rain of the season. The air smells different and feels crisper. As mother nature slows down in preparation for winter, you might want to check in with yourself to see if there is a need for you to turn inward as well. As the trees change and drop the leaves in autumn, and then grow more roots in winter, you might be going through similar changes internally. Perhaps there is an internal urge to drop old ways of being and to change something in your life. Perhaps there is the call to nurture your spiritual self, the root of you. Perhaps this is the time to ask yourself, how are you nurturing yourself? We nurture ourselves when we connect with and meet our soul's needs. Our soul's needs are always spiritual, expressed as qualities or virtues like acceptance, freedom, peace, respect ...

(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...

"Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself" ~ Zen Proverb "Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke As I started my day this morning, I was spell-bound by the brilliant display of flowers all around my home. In the Bay Area, spring has definitely sprung! Everywhere I looked, blossoms have burst in a profusion of colors: white, magenta, blue, purple, yellow, orange, red, and pink. Young grasses of verdant green dance in the soft breeze. Delicate new leaves are poking out of bare branches where they have slept through winter. I am witnessing life in its full splendor and spring regalia. So glorious, indeed! I invite you to allow yourself to get away from your desk, from the unfinished busy-ness in your day, and go out and greet spingtime with open arms and delighted eyes. Abandon your worries and obligations, and replace them with a sense of joy and ease, even for just a short...

(This EFT script was first published in October 2006 Metta Center Newsletter. If you are not familiar with EFT, you can find a brief introduction to this powerful self-healing technique in my " EFT Tapping Points " webpage. For information regarding EFT trainings, you can visit http://www.eftuniverse.com , www.aamet.org , or www.energypsych.org ) Many of our physical and emotional issues stem from not feeling good enough about ourselves (lack of self-esteem). The interesting thing that I often notice is that, for whatever reasons, the thought of letting go of the feeling of inadequacy is terrifying for many people. Using EFT, let's clear out any anxiety we might have about feeling good enough. Tap on the Karate Chop point or rub on the Sore Spot as you say the following setup statements : "Even though I don't believe it ist safe for me to feel good enough, I might become a different person and I might not know who I am anymore, I choose to accept myself a...

"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...

(This article was first published in March 2007 Metta Center email newsletter.) Nature has always inspired the feelings of peace and joy in me. However, I haven't always understood the value of spending time in it and accessing the magic it offers. There were times where beautiful days, rain or shine, were presented to me and I didn't even notice because my focus was elsewhere (to past, present and future problems). That was my old habit. One day, it dawned on me that I have this programming to fix all of my problems before I allow myself to be at peace. I realized that this programming had been in place because it was useful at some level. It had kept me from being too lackadaisical and complacent, and from running away from my issues and not dealing with them. So, it served me a great and holy purpose. Since this programming no longer served me, I decided to clear it by first thanking it for its loyal service and send it to the Light for release. Next, I claim my new pro...

We nourish our body with healthy food (hopefully!). You know the feeling of contentment when your belly is full with good and tasty food? How about nourishing our soul, too? When we nourish our souls, we feel great, fulfilled, happy, alive, vital, eager, energized and inspired. Here are some of my practices for nourishing my spirit and cultivating my connection with Love: Spend some time, either quietly or loudly, appreciating your life, your home, your work, your clients/friends/coworkers, your family, your health, and yourself. You can do this when you just wake up or when you are about to go to bed.  You can also do a Gratitude Walk, as you walk in nature or out doing your exercises, you can appreciate what you notice along the way. You can create a Gratitude List or even a Gratitude Journal, where you write down all that you are grateful for in your life. This is a great resource to look at to help you resonate again with joy. Think of something that brings a smile o...

(This article was first published in the January 2006 issue of Metta Center Newsletter.) When you allow yourself to be enchanted, you are saying yes to life. Saying yes to life opens doors for opportunities and inspirations. Saying yes to life means you are in alignment with the flow of life. Saying yes to life means spending less energy resisting, thus, less pain and suffering. Saying yes to life connects you to your own spirit. You experience more ease, peace and joy. When I feel stuck or restless, I recognize this as signs that I have been in resistance. My old pattern was to grit my teeth and stick it out. “Don't give up, keep at it!” I would think to myself. It was not an option to give myself 5 minutes to pause and to do something that enchant me, whether to admire a beautiful flower, or look at the sky, or feel the breeze or listen to nature. By persistently pushing, I ended up spending a lot of energy in getting myself out of whatever it was that I was stuck in, and not ...

I was sitting in contemplation when an inner voice said to me, "Do you realize that we often criticize ourselves when we make the smallest mistakes, and we don't celebrate ourselves or feel proud of ourselves until we accomplish something 'grand,' whatever that thing is? And, when we finally reach that big-goal, often after much stress and effort, before we even have time to savor our success and celebrate ourselves, we immediately give ourselves the next thing to do. We are bad if make a small mistake and only good if we make a good, huge, achievement. Don't you think that is out of balance when we do so to ourselves?" Hm, a good point, I thought. Looking at my own life, I can see places and times where I did just that, I got upset with myself for a small mistake and I didn't even realize when I did something significantly important for myself, my family or the world around me. Have you done that? Do you do so often? Well, how about joining me in...

This morning, I was thinking how so many of us (including me) are afraid to be a fool or make a fool of ourselves. Then, all of a sudden, the word "full" just floated in my mind, replacing the word "fool." And with that simple change I saw things with a different light! It dawned on me that when we are afraid of being a fool, we are afraid to be a full or abundant being in our own right. We are afraid to make ourselves full and be filled with our own Spirit. Hah! What a new thought for me! I was painfully aware of the various (and creative ways) I have chosen to stay small and withhold the fullness that I am because I didn't want to be a "fool." I know I have patterns where the "fool" in me got pushed aside for the voice of reason. So with this realization I have decided to no longer be afraid to be either a fool or "full" anymore. I choose to fully embrace the fool in me and honor the gifts of this archetype. I choose to liv...

Our relationships can help us grow personally and spiritually. They invite us to rise to the challenge to be our true Selves. They invite us to allow ourselves to align with the unconditional Love we are inside, the love we want to give and receive. The most important of all the relationships we have is our relationship with our deep inner Self - the Love we hold within us and the Life that is us. Gently, just observe how often you accept and love yourself on a daily basis. How much do you trust your own goodness and gifts? How do you treat yourself? How do you perceive yourself? How do you soothe, comfort, care and support yourself? Do you bother to give your Self the time of day? Are you caging the Love you hold within, keeping it from radiating out and thus depriving yourself of your own fulfillment? You can't afford to deny the importance of You, the importance of being the Love that you are. It hurts deeply when others invalidate the love you have to offer and it hurts e...

 "Gratitude is heaven itself." ~ William Blake Offering gratitude is way to open your heart. Gratitude is an outflow of positive feelings and, in return, you receive an inflow of positive feelings. This flow of energy exchange keeps your heart soft and open, ready for more blessings and giving. It improves your mood and attitude about life, and it opens you for more wonders in life. As we approach Thanksgiving Day and the holiday season, I invite you to take some quiet time for reflection. Just remember and appreciate all that you are, all that you have and all that you have done. Notice what that does to your heart chakra. About five years ago, I started my daily ritual of giving thanks when I woke up in the morning and when I go to bed at night. This daily ritual helps me honor and value the everyday blessings in my life. This practice also helps me be aware of the wonders of the world and be in the child's mind, open and receptive. Here's another gratitude p...

I feel so very blessed indeed. Today, I saw the harvest moon rise over the hills on my right side as the sun set over the San Francisco Bay on my left side! I was witnessing a perfectly balanced moment in life. Later, my husband told me that on his flight out to Denver early this morning, he saw the moon set and the sun rose. What an amazing synchronicity! He, too, witnessed a perfectly balanced cosmos in motion. Wow. Yin and Yang, the sun and the moon, night and day, dancing in perfect harmony. I sighed in great awe and love for this great gift of an amazingly balanced universe. My heart is still singing with pure gladness! It feels so brilliant and expansive with joy! I simply LOVE this feeling!