Category: #PersonalChange

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Mystery – Faith – Do you dream of apocalypses? Religious iconography? Are you a mystery fan but irritated and underwhelmed by most “solutions”? How much uncertainty can you tolerate? Are you afraid of the dark? Chronically underslept? Fear being alone? You have a profound need for faith in your life.

    The Faithful Are Rewarded – Untrusting people are untrusted. Everyone knows this, so we often rush to trust where it isn’t warranted, then enter a cycle of disappointment, yearning and ill-placed hope that drives our mood still lower. We need somebody and something to rely on. How can we find them?

    Challenge – “People don’t remember what you said, they remember how you made them feel.” Recall your childhood – the people you loved and trusted and the people you were scared of and nervous about. You were developing a “gut instinct.” Who were the friends that stayed with you in the face of adversity and who were the ones who dropped away? Open your Dream Journal and remember.

    Love always makes the difference. It is the magic lubricant that soothes and heals life’s inevitable bumps and scrapes. People who offer real love you can have faith in, people who offer something else – status, belonging, self-serving rationales – disappoint us. Faith gets stronger the more it is proved. We hope for a good day, but we have faith that the sun will come up.

    Danger – Sometimes the mysteries of life are deliberate confusions to keep us confused. Why can’t our politicians ever inaugurate the policies that are the reason we elected them in the first place? Often they try to convince us that “secret cabals” and “unknown enemies” are at fault. They want us angry and befuddled so we won’t place the blame where it belongs and demand accountability. Any secrecy serves the purposes of darkness. Demand transparency. Demand accountability. Outline your beliefs and act on them. Some mystery is endemic to existence but why people sharply change direction usually is not. We need less smoke and mirrors and more visible step by step upgrades we can all agree upon.

    Opportunity – We are continually deepening the level of mystery in our lives – just for fun. We solve the puzzles that mystified us as children and keep solving until we come to the puzzles no one can solve. But we keep trying! The limits and un-limits of physics and space are constantly in the process of being mapped. We are content no more with a ready-made label “here be dragons” placed across the unknown as a barrier to our quest. We no longer believe God resents and punishes exploration, science and development. A vaccine was developed against a mystery illness in just one year. Insoluble mysteries often center around human motivations.

    The greatest mystery of all is: Why do we make ourselves miserable? Artists teach us that even the most difficult questions can be “solved” by just posing them differently. “Re-framing.” Depth psychologists tell us that the shallow reasoning of our surface mind is far less important to long-term workable solutions than the deep memories and drives we can uncover through emotional and analytic spelunking.


    Sometimes we feel a force outside ourselves encouraging us and revealing mysterious solutions through sudden insights and analogous thinking.

    Story thinking reveals purposes to us in dreams as we puzzle out their meaning. Read Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment to uncover the basis of ancient communication through folktales. These form the collective unconscious on which meaning itself relies. Love mysteries. Allow your faith to develop. Never give up.

    Models & Mentors – “Faith is taking the first step when you don’t see the whole staircase” – Martin Luther King Jr.

    “Stay awake, stand firm in your faith, be brave, be strong.” – 1 Corinthians 16:13

    “Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there till some light returns” – Anne LaMott

    “If we fight with faith, we are twice armed” – Plato

    Mantra – “I believe”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Mystery – Faith

    Our brains
    Fill patterns
    See design
    Request
    Completion
    Dream
    Intention

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Spring – Hope – Do you dream of undiscovered worlds? Are your dreams so delicious you don’t want to wake up? Do you think about your dreams during the day? When you go to sleep at night do you eagerly summon up that sense of childhood ecstasy? Ask your Dream Journal.

    Hope springs anew with every flush of oxygen and blood through our systems. Is Spring your favorite season? Do you dream of unfolding buds and exploding flowers? Spring is a season of the heart, of the will. Hope is the fuel we run on. Hope is eternal. Do you feel you are on a quest? Do you dream of uncovering buried truths? Do you lose yourself in detection, or treasure-hunting dreams? Is “the mustard seed” your favorite parable?

    You are A Discoverer – Hope is not about “resolution” but about envisioning a future you had a hand in promoting. You have a sense of awe, but also ownership and a little pride. This is YOUR discovery. Now you want to share it with the whole world.

    Challenge – Don’t waste your imagination on too many games. Games can be a training ground but all too often our society seeks to harness and entrap your energies onto a treadmill that benefits only the few. Your dreams, your aspirations, your thirst for knowledge, is wider than this. You know the complexities of the universe are even more amazing than anyone has guessed and you want to call attention to them. You need to learn how.

    Dangers – are tunnel vision, paranoia and megalomania. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Obsession becomes obvious when harms become visible. You don’t “give up” just because you can’t seem to impose your vision on the world. Are you eating and sleeping? Maintaining your relationships? You can’t achieve bigtime without a team and you need to keep your team happy. Conflating the majesty of the discovery with your own personal majesty – needing that majesty – separates you from human kind and that can’t go well. It blinds you. Paranoia then comes into play. You ask yourself, are others stealing from you, riding on the coattails of your majesty, tarnishing your legacy? But if you surrender to the process of discovery you find out that every discovery leads to more understanding, more possibility. The discoveries – and hopefully the discoverers – never stop! Practice humility and gratitude. Aren’t you lucky to be a part of this? Isn’t it wonderful?

    Opportunity – Assembling a “team” is critical. TEAM isn’t a formal concept and it doesn’t mean maintaining a payroll. It requires finding the energy to keep your hope alive while keeping it realistic. It implies explaining yourself over and over, developing your idea. Allowing others to offer the energy of their perspectives. Even when you see them as wrong-headed, they operate as a whetstone, sharpening your vision. Most important are supporters who catch a “contact high” from the joy of your insights. This happiness creates a nourishing environment that powers us forward. Move confidently in the direction of growth and away from diminishment, remembering that it is not about you – it is about a world of treasure waiting to be discovered.

    Models & Mentors – “Hope is being able to see there is light in spite of the darkness” – Desmond Tutu

    “What I try to cultivate is not blind optimism but radical hope” – Junot Diaz

    “Be astonished. Tell about it”. – Mary Oliver

    “Everything that is done in this world is done by hope” – Martin Luther

    “Only in darkness can you see the stars” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

    Mantra – “I discover”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Spring Is a State of Mind

    Vaulting
    Out of bed
    New projects:
    Fresh thinking: I’m
    My hero –
    Progress

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Breakthrough – Epiphany – Are you battering against barriers in your dreams? Do you grind your teeth and clench your jaw while unconscious? Are you breasting tape, cresting mountaintops, intent on shedding light on the darkness? You are seeking, or experiencing an epiphany.

    Eureka! – It’s possible to have that sudden enlightenment and NOT FULLY REALIZE it. Could it be that it is too threatening? Could be that you lack the language to explain the connection you have made. Could be that your “discovery” started down so deep in your consciousness that it’s taking its time to percolate through to the surface. In the meantime, your dreams are attempting to heal the jagged edges of your fear, your incomprehension and your daring. Do not fear them. Open your Dream Journal.

    Challenge – Let’s consider the pieces of your psyche/life that don’t quite add up. Are you a highly accomplished, well-trained professional who acts like a supplicant around a certain somebody? Are you a group member whose leaders make decreasing sense and more self-serving decisions they refuse to acknowledge? Have you been struggling with a knotty historical, mathematic or scientific problem nobody can solve but now you think you’re seeing edges of light?

    Danger – Everybody quits too early. The status quo is just SO attractive. Let somebody else be the adventurer, let somebody else put into words what nobody can say, let some other poor sucker stick their neck out. Let’s look at those fears rationally. It’s OK to protect yourself – in fact, it’s mandatory – remember getting that oxygen mask working on you, first? But that doesn’t stop you from looking at reality, which also contains suspicions, insights, ideas and yes, dreams.

    Opportunity – How often have you had that experience of waking up from a dream whose conclusions were so real they were right in front of you, only to see them melt in the sand like an escaping tide until they’re no longer perceptible. That’s OK. They’re still right on the tip of your psychic tongue, just waiting for a little more encouragement. We are all already familiar with the “sleep on it” suggestion, but anything that takes your mind temporarily off an obsessive problem can be helpful. Sports, prayer, meditation, reading, a massage, a night out, but please – not too much liquor. Hold it at two if you can, if you can’t, don’t start. Liquor affects the brain, killing brain cells. That might keep overlords seeking compliance happy but it’s not good for your growth and development. Keep dreaming. Keep using your fears as stepping stones to climb higher. Never give up. Be clever – like the serpent, as Jesus suggested.

    Models & Mentors – “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” – John Milton

    “Record these epiphanies with care as the most delicate and evanescent of moments” – James Joyce

    “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising”
    – Isaiah 60: 1-3

    “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing” – Henry Miller

    Mantra – “I see”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Breakthrough

    Working sleepless
    In my cell
    I revel in goddesses’ sharp
    Applause

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    The Path – Goals – Do you dream of paths diverging in a yellow wood? Checklists? Maps? Are you talking to yourself as you follow your routine? What IS your routine? How has your routine evolved? What efforts have you made to change it to newly perceived needs and discoveries? Or is your routine formed outside you, for the benefit of others?

    If You Have No Goal, Any Path Will Take You There – But you won’t like where you end up. Besides, you DO have a goal, (at least one). Sometimes it’s something as simple as “stopping the pain” or “staying healthy.” As you become more adept at change, you realize dividing effort into “steps” to achieve a goal is critical.

    The Doctor Says Change – Most of us are familiar with being confronted at the doctor’s office with the undeniable fact that he American diet has not been good for our bodies. It’s not kind to our brains or our joints, and if we are going to preserve such things we are going to have to make some changes. Example: the intimidating goal of losing 50 pounds. Yes you can take expensive medication that will make you sick, or you, personally, can change. That won’t happen fast. Your conscious, subconscious, unconscious and collective unconscious (not to mention your pre-conscious!) are going to kick up a helluva fuss. Studying the history of human weight loss attempts we see that if you are not ready for the psychic pushback your body will actually double down and accelerate its weight gain. The same thing happens with alcoholism and drug addiction – trying to “control “ it often drives the supplicant deeper into their disease in a panicked reaction to the “loss” of supply.

    Challenge – But you can be ready. Open your Dream Journal. This is nothing more than the sore-muscled athlete, Day 2, thinking, I CAN’T DO THIS. Guess what? EVERYBODY THINKS THAT! Expect it! You treat yourself with loving compassion and cold compresses, hot baths and massage. In other words, there is an established map, a way to GETH THROUGH THIS. The challenge is to apply such a map to yourself, and then TAILOR and CUSTOMIZE it to your goals.

    Danger – Don’t go it alone. A side effect of “lessening supply” is “crazy thinking.” You will hear yourself say things like, “Nobody cares about me so I’ll just drink myself to death”; or “I WANT TO DISAPPEAR INTO THIS VAT OF ICE CREAM.” We all need somebody to talk us off the ledge, somebody who is familiar with not just our goals but what we are going through. Your id is holding the rest of you hostage, and you need an experienced hostage negotiator. So, don’t try making it through this crisis without a buddy AND a coach. AA has an acronym – HALT representing:
    Hungry
    Angry
    Lonely
    Tired

    These are the emotion states in which you make Bad Decisions. So when you see this condition developing – Halt. Call your hostage negotiator immediately.

    Opportunity – You will change! That’s the guarantee! You can’t go back to your old self. We can’t dip our fingers in the same river twice, and it turns out all addictions are an attempt to honor a past golden moment that can never, by definition, return. But you know what’s more interesting? Figuring out what that golden moment was, how it was caused, what it represents, and where the emotion you treasured is in your present life. And if it’ not there, how to get it. Trust me, there’s a world of love out there. If in doubt, see the movie UP. Now watch it again.

    Models & Mentors – “Setting goals is the first step into turning the invisible into the visible” – Tony Robbins

    “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not people or things”
    – Albert Einstein

    “A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine St. Exupery

    “Always remember your focus determines your reality” – George Lucas

    Mantra – “I Plan”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Goals

    Courage is
    Constant map redesign:
    Looking backward
    Planning forward

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Transformation – Metamorphosis – Are you a SciFi fan? Do you dream of bionic humans? Robots? Cryogenics? How about caterpillars becoming moths and butterflies? Acorns don’t look like oak trees, pollywogs don’t resemble frogs. It is quite common in nature to evolve into some unexpected form. What a metaphor for us, as Ovid’s Metamorphoses postulated centuries ago. We speculate about humans becoming invisible, disguising themselves as bats or wolves; Greek gods “became” swans and bulls to serve their purposes. Our imagination is rich with all these possibilities, as is our literature, theatre and film. At a funeral, we look at a bird invading the church is a whole new light. Is it a message? An incarnation?

    You Contain Multitudes – Every time you buy a bottle with an animal on the label you are calling on the powers of that creature just as your ancestors did. We suspect eating the flesh of creatures might confer their powers. We‘ve also heard the legend that when a human husk breathes its last, the soul escapes and may reincarnate in heaven or another life as something different, without blemish, wholly beautiful for once and for all.

    Challenge – Who’s your power animal? What supernatural gifts do you desire? Give yourself the freedom to think about the gifts you yearn for and the purposes you’d put them to. You can define yourself this way, experiment and play. You might not wish to be a dragon every day of the week, but once in a while it could be fun. How can you cultivate these gifts, desires and yearnings in your present-day life? Open your Dream Journal and spend some time considering. Don’t these dreams make you a bigger, more important person, even if nobody knows? What if they did know? How might you tell them and who would you tell?

    Danger – We don’t want to jump off buildings pretending we can fly. We’re expanding our psychic repertoire, not trying to escape into fantasy. The most commonly yearned for gift is omnipotence. But think how terrible life would be – not just for others but for YOU if your whims and fantasies were never checked? Often our wish is that we be spared the pain of growing up. But who wants to remain a toddler forever? As we get older we are REALLY coming into our own and knowing and sharing our true self. A joy not to be missed. Pity the toddler who prays to fly through the air so he doesn’t have to learn to walk and risk falling down.

    Opportunity – These metaphors are a great way to connect with others on a psychic level. It’s not just fun finding people to share our dreams and games, it’ a bonding experience. We are the Tiger people! We are the Mastodons! We are the Raptors! Every member of the team adds skills to create a Group Being who is stronger than all of us, and who could become our family and community.

    Models & Mentors – “Nothing gets transformed in your life until your mind is transformed” – Ifeanyl Enoch Onuoha

    “Every success story is a tale or adaptation, constant revision, and change”
    Richard Branson

    “Perfection is constant transformation” – Nia Peeples

    “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not fighting the old but building the new” – Socrates

    Mantra – “I become”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Transformation – Metamorphosis

    Cells
    Seed change;
    Unwilled at birth;
    Conscious in adulthood:
    What
    Will you be?

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Aspiration – The Future – Do you dream about the future? Outcomes desired or feared? People changing or evolving? A more orderly or chaotic world? We know the future is real – it keeps arriving every second! How often does it match our aspirations? How often does that matter?

    You Are a Planner – Nothing comes to reality without a Plan. This seems a main reason for the existence of God – the Planner of bluebells and quasars seems so real to us and the scope of the universe, its chemistry, math & physics, so interesting. Even the people who insist “chaos” is everywhere don’t actually want chaos in their own lives.

    Is your mind greater than the universe? Clearly not. God is a thought-problem of Universal Capability. No single brain has been able to encompass the universal design – not even Einstein’s. Wishing is helpless and invites one to selfdom which leaves the wisher worse off. But plans evolve, along with us, and even when they fail, WE succeed. Edison said he hadn’t failed at anything, he simply found “ten thousand ways things don’t work.” That’s called knowledge!

    Challenge – Open your Dream Journal. What dreams would you LIKE to have? You are talking to your subconscious which in turn invites your unconscious which learns from the collective. Take an active role in your future, in making wishes and dreams come “true”. Don’t bother investing pride and honor in being “right” – with a universe this complex, NOBODY’S right. Invest instead in having a good, flexible map that evolves along with you. Plans are adaptable – they must borrow from all disciplines. Plans can be Art – Art is what this universe IS – and so are the people in it. Give it room to grow.

    Danger – Don’t forget the people who choose evil. They’re out there and we won’t play into their games. Don’t dismiss Fundamental Attribution Error; many systems are set up to send you down. There’s also coincidence and happenstance, which is what the phrase “Being in the wrong place at the wrong time” expresses. So our map must be modified to deal with tragedy –the ongoing and universal tragedy of illness, war and disaster. We try to avert these things, are learning how best to avert them but everything isn’t up to us. There are dark forces at work that enjoy harm and destruction so we can’t become over invested in “winning” because we can’t see or know everything.

    Opportunity – This is where Faith comes in. Jesus said evil will not win, that your joy can never b taken away, and that’s good enough for me. Find your own mantra to stay strong and keep working on a healthy you designing a healthy plan and promoting people around you who can make your plan better. You will also be contributing to their plans – and that’s gratitude. And love. Win-win!

    Models & Mentors – “The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment” – Pema Chodron

    “The future starts today, not tomorrow” – Pope John Paul II

    “A good education is the foundation of a better tomorrow” – Elizabeth Warren

    “An uncertain future is not oppressive when Hope guides us”

    Charlotte Bronte

    Mantra – “I can”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Destiny

    This day’s good
    Because yesterday
    I thought about today:
    Momentum

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Persistence – Commitment – Are you dreaming of rings? Tokens? Trophies? Collecting and collectibles? Antiques, graduations, pawn shops, art museums? You are longing for a “commitment ceremony” or some tangible symbol to articulate and consolidate an inchoate desire. Desire is nothing without will. You are a creature of Now, a chip on the whirlwind, but you desire power over yourself and the future.

    You Were Formed to be An Athlete – Naturally your skills aren’t very good at first. But one thing we do scientifically know is that there’s nothing magical about becoming a pro! Who said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be good at something? Isn’t that, like 27 years? In other words, when you really want anything, you’re going to have to make a major life commitment to make this possibility a part of yourself.

    Challenge – Are you up for the sacrifice? Not many people are! You’re going to have to skip the easy, tempting treats – physical, spiritual, emotional – to satisfy the demands of your training. There’s really only one way to do this. You’re going to have to change into a person who LIKES and PREFERS this lifestyle. It’s easier if the lifestyle’s not TOO restrictive. By that logic, you can see that it makes sense to start off slow and build – just like you do in the gym. No sense overwhelming muscles with weight they can’t handle!

    Danger – The danger’s all around us and it’s called Addiction. Somebody gets obsessed with a pattern that started off healthy. Suddenly you’re in an obsessive spiral you can’t get out of. Admit it when you need help. Is this destructive pattern interfering with work? Relationships? Health? Are friends and family intervening, grumbling or starting to talk? When a commitment turns deadly – and we know even romantic relationships can do so – reach out to someone you trust for a balanced perspective. Likely there’s a plan already developed to get you back on track without losing the gains you’ve already made.

    Opportunity – Persistence in a healthy commitment is the best path to transformation there is. You truly can become a different person, the person you always wanted to be, over time and in tiny steps. When I wanted to give up sugar, I consumed a lot of fake sugar at first, then less and less over time, until now I can’t believe I ever liked or was satisfied by that stuff. My palate has changed, so has my health and so have I. That doesn’t mean I don’t eat wedding cake! I enjoy my newfound self, and you can have that self-rewarding pleasure too. Find a buddy on the journey – a tried and true pathway. Open your Dream Journal. Use mindfulness to examine cravings, release them and calmly set yourself free.

    Models & Mentors – “Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent”
    Steve Martin

    “Failure is a requisite for success. If you want to succeed, double your rate of failure” – Brian Tracey

    “Success is the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes on something others would give up on after thirty seconds” – Malcolm Gladwell

    “Success comes from curiosity, concentration, perseverance and self-criticism” – Albert Einstein

    Mantra – “I can”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: The Danger of Cellular Negativity

    Death is a
    Choice.
    Creation’s fierce template
    Commits to life:
    Shared,
    Grown
    Spread.

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Passion – Courage – Do you dream of fantastic feats? Circuses? Meritocratic competitions? Sports? Standing up in front of the class? Your psyche is expressing passion, the fuel for courage. Passion propels us forward when it would be safer to hang back. Why? Sometimes we want something concrete, but most of the time it is the adventure itself that we seek, we are longing to be transformed into athletes of endurance who can farther faster, learn more better and imagine deeper and more vibrantly.

    You Are a Warrior – Even if you don’t like to fight with your fists you have learned to fight with your mind, with your longing, with your desire. So much is impossible, yet humanity attempts the impossible every day, and a surprising extent of the time, we succeed. Our well-being, our future, depend upon this passion and this courage. Be as wily as a serpent and as gentle as a dove so that your power morphs to encompass the problem. Open your Dream Journal.

    Challenge – Will your heart and your courage be broken? Many times, says the fable. But light comes in through the broken places. You will flex and bend. You will evolve and grow. Your passions will change. You will rise above your passions. Your courage will evolve. YOU WILL FLOURISH and the beauty of your effort, of you dream, joins together with all the other glorious human resolutions and accomplishments to power the planet.

    Danger – Derailment is common. It is endemic. It is not the end. We live in a capitalistic society where some deliberately harness the passion, the courage, the imaginations of others to benefit only themselves. It is heartbreaking to put all your keenest insight into discoveries and achievements that only serve to buy baubles for a billionaire. Soldiers can find themselves giving everything for Very Bad Ideas. Artists watch their best installments torched and trashed. All of us face the shock of old age – if we are lucky. You need a shock absorber to upgrade your courage.

    Opportunity – The hum of the universe provides the refreshment we need. There is still much peace and beauty in the green places, and the eyes of children provide all the light we need. To be strong requires exercise – Push-relax, push-relax. Nutrition is the same. There’s a time to eat and a time to fast and each space is holy. The less we take, the less we require, the finer tuned becomes our mechanism. The more there is to share. Share with holy people who recognize and honor the gifts of God, not those who try to inspire hate, divisiveness and violence. Naturally we have sore places – we are warriors! We all need to give and receive the magical healing of a loving touch. Let that courage be your passion.

    Models & Mentors – “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” – Brene Brown

    “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage” – Anais Nin

    “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute for experience.” – Paulo Coelho

    “It takes courage to become who you really are.”
    e.e. cummings

    “Courage is contagious” – Billy Graham

    “Mantra – I flourish”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Devourer of Hearts

    Scaling hearts
    For final judgment:
    Soured hearts
    Desiccate;
    Passion hearts
    Burgeon

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Nurturing – Stewardship – Dreaming about pets? Comforting little wild animals? Gardening? These are Nurturing dreams. Like a child with a doll you long to care to another being and help it achieve its fullest potential. You long to protect it and succor it and at the same time, protect, succor and nourish the lost, frightened, wild, shy, needy parts of yourself.

    You Are A Steward – Dreaming about climate change? Overwhelmed by horrendous weather conditions such as tornados and hurricanes? Are you vegetarian or vegan? Enraged by animal abuse, factory farming and climate denial? Do you fear tsunamis and volcanoes? Do you see the whole of Mother Earth in your care?

    Challenge – You can stand up for your beliefs and test them. You will make a difference. Remember the legend of the one starfish the little girl saved? She couldn’t save all the starfish, but that one she saved was grateful. Remember karma? Karma is your universal bank account. When that little girl gets to heaven and it turns out the starfish are in charge, she is Good to Go.

    Danger – The only danger here is that you will forget to apply your own oxygen mask BEFORE you find oxygen for everyone else! Rookie mistake! Also a signal to predators everywhere that you will neglect your own needs to give to others. A moment’s thought tells you this is a zero sum game where everyone, ultimately loses. Replenishment is key. Give a man a fish and you have one less fish. Teach a man to fish and you’ve upgraded a human. Develop a method of fish replenishment and you’ve got a sustainable economy.

    Opportunity – As with the fishing analogy, this offers an endless chance for Learning, Invention and Creativity. You are lighting one candle after another in a very dark world, and benefiting everyone who come into contact with you. Open your Dream Journal. Dream.

    Models & Mentors – “The only limitation to our realization of tomorrow are the doubts of today” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt

    “A tiny change today brings a dramatically different tomorrow” – Richard Bach

    “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, “I’m Possible.” – Audrey Hepburn

    “If a problem is fixable, there is no point in worrying. If a problem is not fixable, there is no point in worrying.” – The Dalai Lama

    Mantra – “I give”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Secret Garden

    Empiricism
    Riots;
    Growth
    Overmasters
    Lucky
    Curator

  • #DreamTherapy – Dream Journaling with Alysse Aallyn

    Meditation – Mindfulness – Are you wakened by nightmare? Lie quietly in the dark, anchoring yourself with your own breath. Your soul is free, your brain is rampaging, but your body is centered Here. Feel it. This is called Mindfulness. If you are sleeping with a Dream Buddy, touch them. Use their body as your anchor.

    We can only live in the Now, but it is our greatest good fortune as a species that we can enrich the present with powerful visions of past and future. In our dreams we expand this to universal pasts and futures. But the Now is the lens where our Body is focused. To be absent from the Now is to miss the ecstasy that is our birthright.

    Patience Multiplies Wealth – Wealth that is psychic, emotional, spiritual as well as physical, financial and actual. Eating unripe fruit robs us of our harvest. Therefore we must learn to settle into the Now, learn to line up Past, Present, Future with Conscious, Subconscious, & Unconscious. Open your Dream Journal and make Six Categories: Now, Past, Future, Conscious, Subconscious & Unconscious.

    Consider the Moment – you are in the Now but what are you thinking? What does it remind you of? What are you fearing? Have you ever experienced anything like this before? Does this experience make you feel attached to any other human, living or dead? When you have considered this, it is time to meditate.

    Master through practice. The first step is Emptying. Push your thoughts, memories, worries away. Concentrate on your breath. If this is too hard, choose a mantra (such as “Thank You” or “Namaste”) or a piece of music without lyrics (Marconi Union’s Weightless is fabulous for this.) Just celebrate the emptiness, the Nothingness. As thoughts come to you, release them like balloons. You are the world’s anchor. Celebrate You.

    Challenge – In the control of your own mind lies all freedom. Without it you are a slave, whatever the world may think. Buddhists call you mind a “wild horse” that must be tamed. Learn to greet the Now as an old friend who knits everything that is “you” – all the scattered psychic pieces – back together. You can FEEL the healing.

    Danger – In our new digital world it’s very difficult to claim Time for yourself. Can you turn off all the flashing lights, the signals, the seductions, the threats? You absolutely must not only learn to do that, you must feel important enough to do it. Turns out, that’s the most difficult task. Tell others, “This is my recharge time. It’s absolutely critical.” Twenty silent minutes per day. Alone. You. Finding Eternity – and the Eternal You – through the Now. It doesn’t come easily. It comes through your infinite willingness, your scrupulous patience, your holy dedication. Don’t give up on You.

    Opportunity – Nothing happens. Nothing happens. Nothing happens. You must give up on your competitiveness. Surrender your expectations. Push away the past, the fears, sadness, the depression, the loss, the anxiety, the rage, the worry. All can be released into the universe, floating away from you to pop harmlessly in the stratosphere. You are alone now with the infinite. Slowly you begin to feel the pleasure, an indescribable ecstasy in which your ordinary human body becomes incandescent. Suddenly you want better things for yourself. More sleep. Better dreams. Healthier food. A world of love and joyous possibility. Dip your toe in that completeness, twenty minutes per day. (Or more, if you can.) Treasure this glimpse of Heaven.

    Models & Mentors – “The first thing to learn is the breath.” – Confucius

    ‘Breathe In. Let Go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure, and give thanks for that.”
    – Oprah Winfrey

    ‘Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor” –
    Thich Nhat Hanh

    “While we breathe, we hope” – Barack Obama

    MANTRA – “I am”

    Meditation –

    #Haiku: Meditation – Mindfulness

    Joyous
    Breath
    Supports
    Eternal now:
    Blossoms spirit;
    Sparks
    Thoughts,
    Shared
    Dance