Wow! What a wild and excellent time to be alive on this earth! Happy day after the Full Moon. This month’s theme of Discernment is apt, as we have a choice of where we put our attention and what stories we take in. For me, Discernment is about living the truth of who I am and where do I have a YES? Or a NO? How can I work my life so that I can say YES more of the time? Yes to Love, and Laughter and Dancing? And NO to Fear.
The world is full of opportunities to explore this – what is my Truth – who am I in relation to what is going on in the world around me? Where am I and where do I choose to be? Shamanism dates back more than 100,000 years, and is one of the oldest spiritual practices known to humankind. The word Shaman means the one who sees in the dark, or healer, depending on your translator. Shamanic practice allows you to access your own spiritual guidance/information, and it is also a way of life and learning how to live a way of life that is in balance/harmony with nature.
As a practitioner of Shamanic Healing arts, and a coach/mentor of students/practitioners of the shamanic practice, I often say that “Shamans” change their world by changing their perception. This is a guiding principle or a core practice of the shaman. And for all humans, this is true: when we change our perception/belief, the world around us changes.
How do you change the world through changing your perception? In a world that wants to be sure you are in Fear (of running out of food, of the weather, of a virus…. of the news, of losing money….of the dark)? Einstein tells us ‘we can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them'; and how do we change our thinking? or our “level” of thinking?
Really it’s so simple; and it takes practice. Science now can see that our neurons that fire together, wire together. So when we think the same thing, over and over, we make a neural pathway in our “thinking”. We have to make a new pathway. Pathways with new thougths/feelings/visions. Change your perception change your world. What do you want to change? Observe it in different ways. Here is a map to observe through different “lenses” or change our levels of thinking as Einstein invited us:
I will use the “issue” of bringing a cat into our home/family…. And explore it through different lenses.
LITERALLY – cat food bowl, cat litter box, cat hair (time for spring shedding), who will vacuum, keeping cat off certain furniture, expenses
THOUGHTS/FEELINGS – what if she stays too long? What if we are traveling and can’t find care? What if someone wants to come and stay who is allergic? I feel excitement about having a furry friend in our home again. It feels good/nice to be greeted with a meow or a purrrrr.
HEART/SOUL/mystical (imagine what it would be like – or put on some wings in your imagination and look for the sweetness like a hummingbird looking for nectar/flowers) 4-legged companionship is nourishing/healing. Imagining a purring fur-ball in my lap -- yummmmmm. It’s all temporary. The cat is a bridge-transition being….
ENERGETICALLY –(this is about frequency/energy) interconnection to all …. I hear/see/feel LIGHT
There are a few choice points here – as I am sure you can see. I can get caught in the Literal details (who’s going to feed the cat, change the litter box, etc); or in the place of Mind/Emotions. It’s important to acknowledge all of these and not get stuck in a fear place (fear is an absence of Love); and also SHIFT to the HEART/Soul level to help create change. What do I want instead of “what if it doesn’t work out”? And what is resonating about this in my heart/soul? We are in a transition this year/summer/season. The cat too is in a transition. Connection.
It’s a simple enough map and as I write it here I wonder if you are hearing about this for the first time and if this makes sense to you. When we do what we have always done, or think what we have always thought and expect different results-- this is one definition of insanity. And perhaps in our humanness it is time to think/imagine something new: what are your own thoughts/feelings?
If you have followed me for a while you know I would invite you to breathe in and out of your heart and ask your heart. What is your heart’s longing? Who are you now? And what is calling your heart? When you have established a connection with your heart, and you have a question/issue you want to explore, try taking a trip through the map -- of what is happening:
LITERALLY - (the facts); what is happening
EMOTIONALLY/MENTALLY - (the thoughts/feelings); and what is happening in your...
HEART/SOUL - (the images, once upon a time story, the MAGIC)…. Move beyond your thoughts and emotions --and those places that have fired together for years-- into new territory. Give yourself wings. And then let it all go to the...
ENERGETIC… let it all dissolve to pure energy. We are all one after all.
I close with a little inspiration from a favorite astrological forecast, The Power Path for the month of March:
Get inspired about how discernment can support you rather than being discouraged about what you might have to give up. See yourself as a point of reference for others. What kind of a point of reference are you? A positive one that embodies hope, calmness, well-being and neutrality? Or one that embodies negativity, fear and obsession? Your choice.
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