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...

A client let me know about this video. In my client's words: "I felt like if he can follow his passion, I can." Isn't it wonderful that inspiration can come through many channels? It is a powerful message that this humble yet talented young man is giving us: follow your passion!  

A client of mine wanted to reinvent herself. I gave her some homework to start her process, and wanted to share the same assignment with you in case you are also in the mood to do a "self makeover." To reinvent yourself, what I found work best is if you start from listening within to your soul's guidance. That guidance can appear in many ways: Dreams Two helpful articles: Dreams that Help Us Make Important Decisions (by Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Ph. D.) and Dreaming the Secret Wishes of the Soul (by Robert Moss) Signs Set the intention that you will receive guidance from the Universe about your reinvention project. Then, as you go about your day, begin to pay attention to the words that catch your eye (billboards, signs on trucks, bumper stickers, t-shirt logos, posters, etc.) and whatever catches your ear (words or songs you hear on the radio, conversations with others, etc.). Notice, too, what makes you feel joyous as you involve all your five senses in the world...

One of my clients commented, "No matter how good I have been, I still get punished!" This pattern often stems from underlying beliefs such as "Life is not fair!", or "It is not safe to love/to be happy/to be good". As my client and I tapped through her beliefs, a thought that we all are free to change Universes bubbled up. It was such an a-ha moment! One where you shout, "of course!" What a liberating and delicious thought it is to consider that we can easily change Universes to a new one that fits us better. Who would have thunk it, eh? Here's a sample EFT script to free yourself from old patterns by changing your universe. Think of a pattern you'd like to let go of, and tap along the script below. In this script, I use the aforementioned pattern which troubled my client as an example. Tapping on the Karate Chop or rubbing on the Sore Spot, say the following Setup Statement either aloud or in your mind. "Even though no mat...

(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...

(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 ...

May you easily find yourself surrounded by and recall the feeling of fresh beginnings, a sense of new and wonderful possibilities coming your way, the spirit of joy, and the expectations of hopes fulfilled all year round! A dear friend has forwarded this beautiful music to me as a New Year's gift. Listening to Eric Whitacre's angelic Virtual Choir, "Lux Arumque," transported me to a heavenly realm. May this beautiful and magnificent expression of the spirit of humanity be a gift to you as well. To find out more about this amazing story of how people from all over the world has come together and made this sublime choir: http://ericwhitacre.com/the-virtual-choir . With love and blessings now and throughout the year, Christine