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Mind your mind
We often overlook or underestimate the magical practice of gratitude. This season is muddied with consumerism and over indulgence. Our minds bathe in the shallowness of these two things and try and trick us into believing it's okay to join in the "season of giving," but it's so much more enriching to dial that back and focus on a few small fulfilling things that give us joy. What brings you joy? Take a moment this weekend to journal that, and my challenge for this task is to only write down non-physical things. Think of experiences, emotions, memories, places, people, causes, states of being. Bonus points: Share your journal entry to our Facebook Page and get a free visualization from Andy for your 2023 goals! We'll reach out after your post to see what you'd like that visualization to include. Mind your mind. Don't let the monkeys run astray. Give thanks, not just gifts, this holiday season.
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New beginnings
Have you forgotten your power lately? Or given it away? Don't forget you are the only vessel that can bring life into this world. YOU are the light being that gives life. YOU are the summoner of all things you can envision. YOU are the embodiment of life. If you feel like you've let that cosmic power dip, I urge you to harness the power of this week's New Moon. Our 12th Dark Luna of the year goes into free-spirited Sagittarius and it's just in time to help us let go of the very heavy recent eclipse season which brings about huge transformation, twists, and awakenings. This moon is kicking off a refreshing new cycle of celebration and expansion, and it's bringing a gorgeous new beginning. This is a time to expand your horizons, take risks, and break out of your comfort zone. It's time to try new things, let go of old beliefs and patterns, and drop the heaviness of life. TIPS TO TAKE YOUR POWER BACK: Set the intention to do so by just stating this as fact. "From here on I claim my power as my own, intend to use it for goodness and inspiration, and call in all my helpers to aid me in standing in my power!" Add uplifting energetic movement to your morning ritual. Use Yoga, Tai Chi or Qigong practices to draw in the power from Mother Earth, the Sun, and the Moon, bringing their energy into your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual bodies to give you life, health, focus, and anything else that would help you live your truth. Burn the old. Write down all the things that no longer serve you – beliefs, patterns, habits, and any other negativity that perpetuates your smallness, and then stand outside in the new moon and burn them in a small contained fire pit or bowl, stating with intention that you are letting go of the old. You can also program a crystal, infuse a tea, call in your dreamstate helpers, listen to our Chakra Clearing meditation, or book an appointment with an energy worker to help you take your power back. There are infinite ways to call back the fragmented pieces of yourself you have given away to others as you perpetuate the victimhood of powerlessness. The time is now. This moon is your ally. RISE UP. A peek into a whirlwind week!
What a whirlwind these last few weeks have been! I've been to Europe and back – and time travel is no joke! – and we've rolled back our clocks as well as been through two major gateways! The Full Moon Eclipse and the annual 11-11 Portal! How does that feel to you? To me it feels like I've been through a washing machine, rolling, tumbling, soaked, spun, and wrung! I've had so many AHA moments I've lost track; but with all that industrial cleansing, I feel renewed, reinvented and remade! I feel like I've shed some layers of crust that were blocking my progress, and unearthed some crystalline layer of myself that was lying in wait – "the me that once was," the me that was excited about new things, the me that traveled to Europe by myself in 1997, the me that formed deep friendships with people around the world, the me that came here to help with the great awakening. In London, I became the giddy, goofy companion of a giddy, goofy explorer who's still out there, reinventing herself on a 3-month sabbatical through the UK and Europe. We tore that city up – so much so that it tore our feet up – we should have taken stock in Mole Skin before we left. The best and simplest highlight - feeling like a local taking the tube from one end of that metropolitan to another! Then in France, I joined my sister-from-another-mister on her beautiful expansive land in Provence, giving me a glimpse of what life will be like on Shambhala – the biggest takeaway was the closed-loop: meals made from the gardens and the kitchen scraps from those meals going into the compost bin and back out into the garden system. It also filled my heart to hear her four, sweet children playing and laughing outdoors around their big, 160 year old stone farmhouse instead of inside on their screens. These small things on a short adventure gave me the strength to continue on this adventure that we embarked on in June, that can feel daunting at times, but is so rich with lessons and new friendships I wouldn't go back for all the tea in China (and that's some darn good tea!). The very best things in life are memories and relationships, not things at all. Fill your life with those, and your heart and soul will be full through the end of your time, this time around. Adventure on, my friend! An emotionally charged month:
We are in an energetically charged season as we enter the month of November with a powerful Solar Eclipse in the horizon. According to our last astro forecast, many of us will be experiencing deep emotional transformation. This is growth, the shedding of the old guard in preparation for the new. In the past few weeks or days leading up to the end of October, have you been feeling more emotional, sentimental, and nostalgic? Have you felt a little out-of-yourself – discovered temperaments and traits you didn't know you were capable of embodying? If you've felt so much as an inkling of this or a full on emotional torrential downpour, the first proper thing to do is to acknowledge these emotions; affirm your newfound discoveries of self. This on its own is a big step forward. Second is to pay close attention to your emotional state and the whims that get enacted during this time. But remember, be kind to yourself. As Mary and I discussed on our first podcast together in early October (listen here), seasons with retrogrades, eclipses and other powerful planetary happenings tend to amplify our deeper inner selves. The 'selves' that we'd normally keep hidden, or didn't even know existed in the first place, will come out of the woodwork in full force. Instead of doubling your efforts trying to "get rid" of these amplified versions of you, study them. Both the good and bad. You can never fully step out of your yin, so might as well yield it to your advantage. Study to understand your darker traits to co-act it with your lighter ones. You're multidimensional and unaware of the power you possess. Remember that. The only way out is through, especially when we're dealing with emotions and other personal matters. You can try and sweep it under the rug, but they'll always find a way to resurface. Bottling up emotions will only get you so far until you reach the cap limit, then you know what happens next... So go through the motions of it, feel it, and cry if you have to. You're honoring yourself by doing this – by not putting a limit to how much or how hard you can feel, you're allowing yourself to embrace the growth, the transformation and the shift. Growth is uncomfortable and humans are creatures of comfort. We'll always find a way to build a box, even if we like to step out of it frequently, and that's okay. Again, expect deep emotional transformation this month and remember, don't cower or hide. Instead, acknowledge, study, embrace and move forward. High tide is coming
This week I'm blessed to be around my healthy living revolution tribe, for our annual conference. The first day we got peppered with a rapid-fire, TED-talk style leadership training, and one of my biggest takeaways was that for the last 2+ years we have been asleep. We've let our chainsaws get rusty. We've got a new wardrobe of pajamas, but we're scared to get out there in the world and light our fire, live our biggest life, speak our truth, and ignite what we came here to do. We are in need of a reboot. Refire. Recharge. We have to spray starter fluid on the sleepy minds and hearts of our friends and family and ourselves. What are we waiting for? After every low tide, every dark night, there is a high tide and a bright morning. Right now we are in a low tide. A dark night. Plug yourself into the outlet and when you see someone without a smile, give them yours. Give up the shell that you've been wearing to protect yourself from whatever it is you're afraid of. Give up the limiting beliefs that are holding you back. Give up the fear, doubt, pain, dis-ease, darkness, and low tide. Rise my friends. Rise. And then light that fire stick, and pass it on. High tide is coming. Do you have your long board? Don't struggle alone
As humans, we live in the Maya of distraction, comparison and judgment. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others, and the media doesn't play fair. We are shown images of thin, fit, "perfect" bodies – but in the eyes of whom? 300 years ago, those images were larger, rounder, fuller versions of a body, and thin wasn't "in" – it meant hungry and poor. So what changed? Medical definitions for one, of course, but so much more than that affects how we see our bodies, and what our individual—yes, it's uniquely ours—definition of healthy depends on our body alone. Last week in my coaching session (even coaches have coaches!), my dear mentor asked me "how do I feel about my body?" And a lot of deep, sorrowful emotions came up, reminding me that this is still, after two decades of work, an area I still need to (and may always need to) focus on. As a woman who's been sexually abused, raped, and bullied, this work may never be done in this lifetime. But I can mark progress, awareness, and self-care as success; making sure to allow the emotions to move through me, and let them go back to the light, as they aren't mine, they're just part of the illusion of this reality. My coach and I revisited the tools I know to use but don't. Right? How many of us know what to do and how to help others heal, but forget to do that for ourselves until the issue comes to an ugly, rearing head. Those tools are: ✎ Messages - Mantras - Awareness Messages around the house to remind me, "I have a body," "I honor my body where it's at," "I love my body," "I am okay, I am safe and I am loved," and "What are you thinking?" The last is my personal favorite, to just bring awareness to the thoughts that bubble up through the mind, because we have 80,000 of them a day, and 80% of them are negative – often more about ourselves than anything else. But the rest of the messages are there to help reprogram the tracks that aren't mine. To have awareness around what I say internally, and reword that if it doesn't suit me. Sometimes, when it feels hard to say we love our bodies, we can just start with "I have a body." ✎ Self Care and Vehicle Maintenance Self Care – taking time for my body, to do the right things it needs, to think of it like the temple it is, and feed it the fuel it needs to be healthy – and to NOT feed it the emotional food that just fills the void. Also taking time to move it, clean it, and treat it like the vehicle it is. We are not our bodies, we are the soul spark inside of them, but if we want to inhabit this earth for as long as we do, we must take care of the one and only vehicle we get for this incarnation. ✎ Spiritual Connection and Honor Flipping the script from the negative can be easier if we choose the spiritual route. Having a spiritual connection with our bodies can be as simple as saying "My body is a temple. I choose to respect," and honor the body like it's your church. Pay it the same respect you do a sacred space, and it will shift your love, respect, and honor quickly. When we unite as a collective to commit to honoring this for each other and for our children, we can shift the old narratives that are outdated and hurtful. So if this resonates with you—to commit to shifting this narrative about body image and what a healthy body looks like, send me a message. I'd love to hear from you. Accountability, Introspection & Diving Deeper This week's Sage is written by my office magician, Mary. Last week, during our weekly meeting, toward the end of our usual agenda she opened up about the strangeness she felt during this season with a realization that she shared with me. Now, Mary has been working with me for almost two years now, and upon her inquisition it dawned on me how much of myself has rubbed off on her. Through the months she has become more open with her feelings and thoughts and has developed a more autonomous approach to our work and, as she expressed, her personal life. It's a beautiful thing to see such growth in a young person, and I'm certain you have Marys in your life that you can relate this to. Dear reader, Mary here. Before I share my realization with you, I'd like to direct my utmost gratitude to Andy for giving me this wonderful platform to share my thoughts and for being my mentor and friend. It had been a few weeks where I had felt strange, almost as though I wasn't truly myself. Oftentimes, I'd catch myself detached from the present, unable to fully and freely connect to my surroundings. It was weird because, simultaneously, I was also very emotional, introspective and discontent (even when life was good and I felt like I had no reason to be unhappy). Inside was a bubbling brook of emotions that I couldn't grasp. It felt like water slipping through my fingers – it was frustrating and for the first week or two I didn't really know how to deal with myself. The first weekend of September I read Lena's astrological forecast. It had talked about a planetary switching and that's when it all clicked. We had entered into another Mercury retrograde, this time in Libra – the deification of practicality and rational thought. Everything started to make sense. My introspection, withdrawal from my true self, overall moodiness... all this was brought to attention and magnified by the retrograde. Maybe some of you don't believe in this stuff, but to me the science is simple: We are all made up of energy and when planets realign, so do we, just like how the ocean tides are controlled by the moon's gravitational pull. So, I did what any rational person would do, I stopped and let the discovery sink in. After getting my bearings back, I slowly untied this giant knot of strange emotions and, don't get me wrong, it was difficult and it took a week or so to sort myself out. During the process I realized two important things: 1) You have to be easy and kind to yourself, and 2) working on yourself, being rational in thought while untying these not-so-pretty emotions, is not a straight upward line. It's the squiggliest line you'll ever encounter. That's how complex we are, and this is why it's so important that we are kind and patient to ourselves as we go along this process, even if you don't like what you discover along the way. Finally, after another week, I began to look further into this so-called "Mercury retrograde". What's all the fuss about? It was surprising to say the least, most of the things you'll find on social media carry a general theme toward this particular planetary event. Allow me to share some of them with you:  Perhaps it's naivety, or my first season fully acknowledging this terrestrial phenomenon (you can say that I'm a beginner in retrograde participation), but what's stranger than the emotions I had felt then was what I'd seen on media. Putting blame on a natural occurrence as opposed to taking full accountability for one's actions does not sit right with me. From my meager understanding, the retrograde puts things into perspective and amplifies certain aspects of it. It's completely up to you how you use it to your advantage, or disadvantage for that matter. If it's the latter, there is no one else to blame but yourself. I've come to realize that the retrograde brought my person into light, including the parts which I do not like – the ugly parts. It's your job to come to terms with who you are through all the phases and seasons of life.
Instead of stereotypically cowering back waiting for the retrograde to pass, use it to your advantage to understand yourself on a deeper, more enlightened level. There is no need to figure out which parts of you you need to work on, the planetary shift already did it on your behalf. This is a wonderful time to purge, to enhance your strengths and turn your weaknesses into allies. While everyone else is staying still, you are advancing toward a more real, truer version of yourself, using the season to your advantage, finding strength in your weakness, you have used the retrograde as a catalyst to your evolution. Sincerely, Mary Becoming the Best Version of Yourself. . .
One of the most transformative things that you can do for yourself is to remember who you truly are. I'm not talking about the "you" who you think you are, or the one defined by the roles you play or the masks you wear. Not the one who is driven by fear, insecurity or need. But the real you – pure, shining, precious, whole, undamaged and undefended. That "you" lies deep within. It's another dimension of self, some would say "true self," that's been there since birth, but only seldom tapped into or discovered. Now, you may wonder: If I have a true self, then why wasn't it my default self to begin with? Why am I someone else when I could've been this truer version in the first place, and why is it so difficult to be that version? Throughout the course of our lives, we've developed false identities in order to survive and thrive in the world. We learn to seek approval or create a certain image that we show to the world or take a stand as independent or defiant. We strive for money, power, control, or love. It's the human in us. And it is so understandable why we do this. Early on in life, we get the message that who we truly are is unacceptable. We shouldn’t feel the way we feel, we should think and act in ways that will please those around us. We learn to suppress ourselves, to ignore and avoid our natural longings so we can feel safe and loved. The result? Confusion, alienation, separation and massive discontent. This is how we gradually lose our way. The trail of breadcrumbs back to our true selves is always available – we just need to learn how to recognize it. Moments of joy and contentment, the flash of a creative idea, an inner knowing that cannot be denied, a fleeting sense of being connected to all of life, a realization of love so huge that it seems impossible to contain. When you notice these experiences, stop and let yourself revel in the celebration. And then there are the breadcrumbs of another sort. These call us to be honest, investigate, study how our conditioning works, be vigilant so we can choose wisely. Some examples: being caught in the whirlwind of a habit; recognizing the ways you avoid and defend; becoming aware of a consistent pattern in choices you make that don’t serve you; general unhappiness. If you use these experiences well, you see them clearly with open eyes. You are willing to change and let go. You see them as a reflection of the ways you are veiled, and you stay true to your intention to remember your truest, happiest self. In truth, you are never stuck. Being stuck is a frame of mind, unwillingness, a strategy of self-protection. What seems stuck is always ready to soften, and all it takes is your kindness, your clear intention, your willingness to put down all the weapons of defense and rest in things as they are. When you touch into who you really are, there is a recognition. Oh, I remember. That’s who I am, and we meet ourselves like a long-lost friend. If you're ready to tap into this dimension of self, your truest form – we have special tools that will guide you along the way and enhance your journey toward rediscovery. Our team is hard at work building these free tools that you can use to get to where you want to be, so stay tuned because we'll be launching them very soon. Inspired by the Transducer and Scribe. . .
I've been an avid admirer of Peggy Black's 'Morning Messages' for a long time now. Her work is a source of inspiration to me, packed with so much love, self-awareness and wisdom. Recently, I encouraged my office magician, Mary, to join their mailing list. So captured by these messages, she put together three well-connected pieces and is sharing them with you. I've repeatedly read these myself and they never lose efficacy – their impact in my life, and now Mary's, is extraordinary. Peggy is known as a transducer, scribe and witness, and here's why. The Multidimensional Self You as a human, with a body, carry within yourself a reflection of the stars, moon, and sun. You carry an aspect, a reflection, an interface with the galaxy. Remember, this is a game of evolution, a game of consciousness, a game that allows all energetic signatures to be experienced. You as human are like the most sophisticated, refined, highly developed consciousness that could be designed. You are information gatherers: sensing, feeling, and ever expanding from Divine Mind. You Are An Uplifter Each human comes in contact with others who resonate and carry the same frequency. You can look into your life experiences and see what results came from the vibrational patterns that you offered. Look into your past. We might add that you do this without judgment; just observe the experiences, the patterns, the people that you attracted, the jobs you sourced, the painful as well as the pleasant unfolding of your life experiences. Once you have observed your life from this neutral place, you will recognize repeated patterns, habits, and repeated realities that you continue to call forth. This knowledge is your power. Now you can begin to offer a different frequency, different feeling, and different thought. Each time you consciously make a shift to a new pattern, feeling or thought, you attract and bring forth a different result. Multidimensional Transformers When you stay in the present moment, conscious in your own magnificence, viewing the outside events from a vibration of joy, gratitude and appreciation there is a flow. There is a connection to the higher matrix, the divine weaving, in which all things are possible. It is through the heart portal that this higher matrix is available.Most humans have shut down their heart portal. They have experienced emotional pain, loss of love, betrayal and rejection. Once the heart portal is cleared of any pain, real or imagined, it is now a powerful transformer and can be used in service to transform the dense frequencies of fear, hatred, prejudice and numbness that is in the collective. Reading and believing in our capacity as multidimensional individuals is an enlightening and strengthening process. The above are just bits and pieces of Peggy's work, and we encourage you to check her other works out. They've transformed my life in more ways than one. Six human needs
Have you ever wondered why you do the things you do? What causes you to pick Option A from Option B? What force drives and shapes your actions, emotions and, ultimately, your destinies? A few days ago I revisited Tony Robbin's '6 human needs' and thought this would be great to share. The answers to these questions are traced back to our childhood and can all be explained by learning and understanding the 6 basic human needs. The inability to meet these needs can bring about dysfunctional behaviors. Sometimes you wonder, "why did I do / say that? Something just came over me." This is called the 'shadow' which lurks in the deep, repressed parts of our personality. Your shadow self will always be a part of you, and any imbalance or tipping of scales in these needs may arise a stirring toward a more dark and repressed side in your personality, which at times, is inevitable. So, how do we develop and fulfill these needs in an effective and healthy way? First we must understand that, individually, we prioritize our needs differently and our decisions are based on which needs we put first. While these needs are intrinsic, you must remember that your past is not your future and your present choices dictate how these needs are met. The six (6) human needs are as follows. • Certainty: If this is one of your core needs, safety and security about the future are of great importance to you. Upon receiving a positive form of recognition, it may be accompanied by a need for certainty that the recognition is authentic and will continue. To continuously live in certainty, you seek a life that has to stay the same. You artificially control your environment to meet this need by changing your expectations or by avoiding new situations. In reality this is a difficult and exhausting feat. Life is ever-evolving. It's important that you find balance by opening yourself up to activities you enjoy while slowly pushing the boundaries. Slowly but surely, you'll be surprised with the progress you've made, the new people you've met, and the new situations you were able to ascribe yourself to. • Uncertainty: You strive for variety and sometimes push boundaries to the extreme. You're unafraid to take risks, meet new people and get into different situations, seeking new stimuli. Uncertainty can be beautiful, but there must be a balance. In order to fulfill this need for variety, you will want to switch things up in moderation. Feed your mind with new information, try a new workout routine, eat new foods and try hobbies that allow you to meet new people. • Significance: Playing an important role in many people's lives is important to you. This translates into a desire to be seen, heard and listened to. This sense of importance gives you validation, makes you feel needed and special. Recognition is an innate and major driving force behind human behavior because it provides us with a measurement system to analyze and track our significance. Naturally, you are competitive and highly driven. You must be careful, though, because this drive can get channeled into a wayward direction. To wield this ambitious nature, it's important to learn to channel this drive into healthy activities, like learning a new hobby or sport, or working on skills that enhance the natural leader instinct in you. • Connection: You constantly seek close relationships with someone or something and truly understand that love wakes you up to the gift of life. Without love, there's nothing worth living for. Everyone needs love, and this can lead to many incredibly fulfilling relationships. But you must be careful and guard your heart—some connections may not be as pure as you think it is. In order to fulfill the need for genuine and loyal connections, be open to vulnerability. Communicate your desires and needs. You have the ability to achieve greater spirituality through meditation, prayer and connecting with nature. • Growth: In your core is a need to strive for better; to learn more. You know your worth and your potential, and seek out avenues to showcase your abilities through various arts, jobs and situations. It's a wonderful thing to push boundaries and never settle for less, but it's just as important to step back, take a deep breath and relax. You cannot be an effective agent of growth if you are heading toward a burnout. You must learn how to stop. Rest is not complacency, but a key component of growth. Challenge yourself to not only learn new skills, but to also master and utilize them in practical settings. Don't forget emotional and spiritual growth as these are important factors in your overall growth as an evolved human being. Examine your limiting beliefs, learn to control your emotions and take up hobbies like meditation to keep you grounded. • Contribution: You want to make a big difference, however, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that giving begins at home and neglect those closest to you on your pursuit to changing the world. Learn to step back and reflect. You cannot give from an empty cup, therefore it's completely okay to focus on you and your needs before contributing to everything else at a larger scale. It's simply an act of self-preservation and by no means selfish once done with pure intent. Knowing which of your 6 human needs is your primary driver and how this affects your ability to connect with others and develop healthy relationships is crucial to your understanding of what fuels you. It can also help you better understand and manage triggers and be in charge of your own emotions. It also helps to know others' basic needs, so ask clarifying questions of the ones you love and work with to better help your communication and growth together! |
Andy KennedyThese are samples of our emails and podcasts – and you can subscribe to both! Subscribe to our podcasts at this RSS or search "Innerself Lightworks" in your podcast platform to find us!
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November 2022
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