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!

"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 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...

What a beautiful day it is today! The sky is blue, the blades of grass dancing in the gentle wind, the sun light bouncing off the leaves creating such an ethereal scene in front of me. The birds are singing happily. The rain had nourished the Earth with its liquid joy and blessings of growth. I think flowers are Heaven's messengers on earth reminding us of the delights in life. Just looking at them, I feel all tickled inside, happy and light. Spring is so filled with life renewed and remembered. It is a celebration of Life itself. Ah, life is so beautifully, intensely, gloriously, and magnificently alive! What a delicious feeling that is! Wishing you blessed and light-filled days in your world!

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 walking in the meadow up the hills from my house, communing with Nature, when I found myself singing a ditty I made up at the spot. "It's getting greener every day," was what I sang to the grass. Then, as I was basking in the feeling of pure joy, celebrating the grass, the song morphed into, "There is more love every day..." When I first noticed that the words had changed by themselves, I stopped singing. But, in the next breath, I found myself smiling even bigger and so I decided to sing it all the way home, "There is more love every day..." It was so much fun! I felt brilliantly alive and grand like a majestic oak tree. I was deliriously happy! I don't think it's because the song I was singing was going to be a hit song by any means. Interestingly, later on the same day, I read Tapas Fleming's wise words in her newsletter: "When we're actually luxuriating in who we really are, we're not having problems and there a...

A client, who is currently in Japan, emailed me her personal experience. It is such a beautiful story, I want to share it with all of you. Thank you, N.M., for giving me the permission to include it in this newsletter! It was a long weekend, so we went to Kyoto to our favorite temples. I went to the Tenryuji temple, which is the Zen Buddhist temple, but it was so crowded-I didn't feel that peaceful. My Buddhist monk moment came right here, in Okayama, in front of Big Camera, one of the biggest electronic stores. Often times, I see monks doing a standing chant in random places with a bowl for donations. (They are holding it, so it must make their arm sour -- that what I think about.) There was one in front of the Big Camera.  It was so hot, and I kind of felt sorry for him since nobody was giving any money, so I gave him 1000 yen (about 10 dollars) as I was walking, without slowing down. Then he yelled, "Stop!" And when I approached, I saw his monk hat had duct ta...

I love going to the meadow up the hill from my house. It's on a hilltop with clusters of monterey pine trees. It slopes down to a small lush forest in the valley and looks out to the green hills yonder. I was sitting on a fallen tree branch and looking out at the vista when the trees spoke to me and told me that they love me. I told them I love them, too. I told the wind that blew gently on my hair and face, "I love you!" I said the same to the sun that warmed and soothed me. I could feel love in the air. The grass shone brilliantly and I let them know how I enjoyed their fresh scent. The sky was blue with little puffy clouds, so serene. The birds sang happily as if joining in my delight. I saw a red-tailed hawk, nary 50 feet from me. First, it flew to rest on a 20-foot tall tree stump. (I wonder if it can still be called a stump being that tall?) Then, it flew down to the grassy area to eat something on the ground. This majestic bird stayed there and looked my way for a ...