Purpose

What if your only purpose on this earth was to spread love & joy?

What if you used every moment of your life to make this possible? I think for me to personally make this happen, I would need to always move from a state of love.

Yesterday I participated in the beginning of my transformative journey. I attended a Kundalini Yoga Light Shop at the Satya Yoga Studio in Williams Lake, BC. The light shop was led by Yogi Bhajan of Catalyst Yogi.

What I got out of HariBhajan's teachings were many ideas about living my life as my true spiritual self. I can hear my ego and my mind fighting against this shift, and I feel as though it may take some time to integrate the many things that I learned just yesterday. I truly believe that there is a shift happening in the world right now, and I would like to be a part of the light that can guide others into truth and happiness. We are all vehicles for the transformation that is happening right now. We all have a choice to live our lives with a sense of peace, brotherhood and love. You can choose to help others instead of helping only yourself, because in truth, that helpfulness is clearly recognized by the Universe. This infinite and vast place where anything is possible. There is nothing you cannot do!

As of today, I find myself needing to just slow down and pay attention to my inner dialogue, and to correct those thoughts that hinder me. Those inhibiting thoughts we all have ... those limits we place on ourselves .... "I could never run a marathon" ... "I am not ready to teach yoga" ..."I can't keep up with those other people" .. "I don't have enough money for the things I want" ... "I'm not thin enough to wear this or that" ... "I eat too many sweets" ...

Our minds DO create scenarios for us so that we become distracted from living our lives in peace. In order to remain relevant, our minds and egos are consistently creating reasons for us to spin our wheels and go nowhere. As long as we are caught up in some drama, we won't have time to focus on what is real and what is most important. We won't have time to spread joy & love to others because we will be spending that time on believing we aren't good enough to do it. I, for one, am not going to participate in this drama any longer. As of this moment, I am going to let go of fear and free myself to live my life in absolute truth. Yes, I deserve it, but you deserve it too.

What can you do in the next 24 hours to spread joy and love?

Pull to the Goddess

I have been feeling an old pull returning me to the Goddess in the past few months. Ten years ago I was very much a Wiccan, though slowly over time I have molded those beliefs into something that more resembles where I am now. I don't think I can call myself Wiccan today. It is interesting for me to look back on how much I've changed, as is evidenced by the changes in my worship in life. I was 20 years old, and looking for some way to allow me to be powerful, or empowered ... tapping in to the world of Wicca was the perfect path for me. I loved the freedom of energy and love. Perfect love and perfect trust. I loved that feeling of invoking the goddess energy - such Strength of Spirit! I loved drinking red wine as a ritual in our magic circle, and becoming more drunk from the energy than the wine. I loved performing ritual ~ I often didn't need anything to work on, I merely enjoyed the feeling of power from the words I spoke.

I have changed so much. I truly was a Maiden then ... and now I am a Mother.

The one thing that has remained constant is that I can feel a very strong feminine energy. This energy guides me, like a grandmother, gently pointing me in this direction, or that direction. She gets me to look at the circumstances of my life from a larger perspective, showing me her point of view. I feel her even now, as I write, inviting me to go deeper in this explanation. This could take several pages ... In every stage of my life, goddess has been there, backing me up with a strong, focused, clear, direct energy. She urges me to see the love and light in every person, and to celebrate my femininity, my motherhood, my sexuality, the joy of my children. She encourages me to be strong in the challenging moments of motherhood, for these moments are fleeting. The children grow whether you are enjoying them or not. Goddess reminds me to look at my children through a grandmothers' eyes. That perspective brings me so much happiness in interactions with my little darlings.

I can see many things coming to my life in the next year ... I hope that the Goddess will invite me to see things from her perspective even more. You know I will keep these developments posted ...

Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again!

Spreading Light and Love

Sometimes I feel as though I should have been born in the 60's or even the 70's. I think many of us feel a strong connection to the era in which we were born. The music, the culture, the clothing, the attitudes. Even in utero these things have an effect on the unborn, we all know this. The question I'd like to pose to you is this: What memories or longings will the babies of today experience? What is our culture? What positive things can we glean from the state of the world today, in this moment? Let's put aside all the doom and gloom that tends to be placed on environment, economy, and all our other "ails".

I personally have been feeling an uplifting in terms of spirituality lately. You can say it's the economy, you can say it's the state of world affairs, you can say it's about time! But people are beginning to "look up", and I believe that only good things can come from this. Can we collectively become better people by consciously setting out that intention? Can we make an oath right now to spiritually evolve to the point where all of these problems fall to the wayside? If I can do it, you can do it. If I tell all my friends and family about it, can you tell all your friends and family about it? What is it exactly that I want to accomplish?

I want to change the memories we are creating for ourselves, because every time someone talks negatively about where our path is leading, they are creating energy. They are manifesting the doom and gloom, and every person who believes what is being said reinforces this energy. So, let's create something new. Let's have more faith in ourselves, and in the Universe, God, Allah, Goddess ... Where do we want to be?

I'll tell you what I see. I see a world where we all talk to each other, strangers or not. I see a world where someone sees another person who looks sad or unhappy, and tries to help them to feel good again. I see a world where we are all aware of our subtle bodies, and recognize that communication is happening on many many levels, aside from the physical. I see a world where we love each other, and celebrate our separateness as humans, yet always know that we are all one. We are all connected. I see a world where every person has a chance to have food in their bellies, shelter over their heads, clothing on their backs and love in their hearts. I see joy and celebration everywhere! I see every single person on this planet becoming aware of the most important things: Love, Compassion, Understanding, Happiness.

I always love to receive comments, and today I am asking you to join the discussion. Please tell me what you see in our future. We all have a voice, it's about time we all contribute to this discussion!

Come From a Place of Love

Dealing with a new puppy, on top of my usual routines and responsibilities, has been .... busy. I had a few tough days where everybody in my life seemed to be challenging me. It is possible that was just my perception, but seriously, it seemed like even the dog was talking back! I have wanted a dog for a very long time, and I found I was getting frustrated by her behaviour at times, and questioning whether or not I had made a mistake. What a horrible thought. In the first day that we got Tetley, she has brought me so much joy. We are into our second week now, and I can't imagine life without her, let alone my childrens' lives without a dog.

During my meditations, once I get into that quiet and open space, I sometimes ask for a message ~ "Is there anything I need to know right now?" What I got the other day was "Come from a place of love". This message seems so simple, but it absolutely makes sense to me. If we could all come from a place of love in everything that we do, not only would we each feel great, but so would every person we came in contact with. In spreading the love you feel around you, you are making an investment into that person, place or thing. An investment that will inevitably pay you back one hundred times. As for Tetley the dog, I think she notices when I am doing things out of love for her. She does seem to respond much more positively when I discipline her out of love, or ask her to wait for her food, or to genuinely tell her "Good girl! What a smart puppy!"

So I am starting anew today, coming from a place of love, and enjoying each moment with my children, the puppy, my husband ... well, you get the picture. Enjoy your day ~ With Love, Nicole

Feel Grateful for Everything!

It was my birthday a few days ago, and I had the most amazingly normal day. I decided to have no expectations for the day, and to just enjoy my kids and enjoy my life. I woke up, meditated and took a long shower. My sweet husband made breakfast for us :o) I took the kids for a bike ride with our buddies, then we came back to our place and played in the backyard for a while. I got the chance to catch up with Licious and hear all about her interesting trip back "home" to her roots. The older girls called us up to the top of the yard, they said they had a surprise. :o) We got closer and they threw up handfuls of leaves in the air and said "Happy Birthday!"

In the afternoon I received some phone calls from people interested in attending the Healers' Gathering. I am really enjoying the conversations with these wonderful healers. I feel the newness of healing again, speaking to these women. I believe that this event will be such a great thing for this sweet little town. It's all about the love.

The running theme of my life has truly been Gratitude as of late. I have been feeling the change since I made this switch. With Gratitude running its' roots beneath everything I do, in every second of my life, I will always be blessed with more. I have finally realized that it is I who is responsible for everything I've experienced in my life. All the happiness, all the loss, all the sadness and the love and the broken heartedness. All of it, everything, I made it all happen. With my perceptions, accurate or not. With my judgements. With my fears. I am responsible.

And I am also responsible for the switch!

Oneness and Peace

During my meditation this morning, I was having trouble focusing because thoughts kept speeding through my mind. So I decided to become the observer of my thoughts. I got my mind clear, and almost immediately, I saw an image. I put it away for later, and a word came into my mind. Then another image - put away. Then a phrase - put away! I was truly amazed at how my mind was trying everything and anything just to get me out of that blank space. Why do I constantly try to fill my mind with something? I can only guess that it is the Ego who puts on such shows, for some strange, unknown "gain".

What I neglected to mention above was the joy I experienced in the blank spaces between my thoughts. What a blissful, joyful connection I felt today! It took some discipline, self control and willpower to allow myself to enjoy that feeling of freedom, but it was so beautiful. I want to live my life in the light of the truth.

This feeling is exactly the same as the feeling I had once as a child. We went to church when I was a child, every Sunday and Wednesday. I was eleven years old, sitting near the front, trying to tune out as usual. But something the minister said grabbed my attention. He was talking (for the umpteenth time) about being "saved". It was almost as if he were pleading. He said "If you haven't asked Jesus to save you yet, what are you waiting for?" And I, in my child's mind, thought "Why haven't I? Well, maybe I should try." And so I opened my heart as wide as I could, and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. I felt a warm, loving feeling swarm into my heart centre ... enveloping my whole self. At that moment, I knew that God and Jesus and Heaven and Hell and all the rest of it - had nothing to do with this feeling. This feeling is something we are all privy to, and whatever avenues you need to go through in order to get it are your own! This is what makes us all equal.

I am so grateful for today. I am grateful for the peace, the joy and the abundance of all life. I am grateful for all the good things I can and cannot see. I am so grateful to be Alive!

May your day be lit up with love, freedom and joy!

Choose Your Moments

Today I really felt the peace and the love of the Universe. I woke up early to meditate, which is something I haven't done in many many months. At first I was having trouble waking up, as you can imagine. But slowly, the gentleness of the morning permeated my body, and finally my mind. I felt a warmth in my heart, and it began slowly spreading through my entire body.

This feeling carried through the entire morning, when I had to take the kids to the auto dealer for a small repair - while we waited quietly and patiently for about half an hour. (They are very small children - this was huge for me!) The feeling was still inside me when I realized it was only 9:30, and there was the entire morning left to just ... let my kids be kids, and go where the day would take us! So we went to the bakery for a yummy treat, which we ate outside on a bench. We watched a pair of crows eating pods in a tree. Then we got back in the car to go home, but decided on a whim to just go to the park. This particular park has big beautiful pine trees, and the amazing dry, sweet smell that comes with that. My two little angels were running through the trees with unbridled joy. What a peaceful, joyful feeling.

I have been on a quest as of late to live in the moment. But I also believe in situations being "good enough". Choose Your Moments. That's what makes them special! Choose your moments with absolute intention, and Be absolutely dedicated to experiencing every aspect of that moment. You will thank yourself for the gift of being present.