Woman Of The Wind - A Healing Spiritual Voice

2012 - A New Vantage Point

2012-01-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome 2012 –looking at the world from a new vantage point as we continue to align ourselves within our awakening! We are no doubt earning the rewards from the lessons of discovery, staking our personal claim on the practice of balance and harmony inside our individual lives.

It’s a bitter-sweet process to let go of so much and take up residence within more space of the heart.

A Buddhist saying sums it up: “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

Even though there are battles raging in places around the world for the liberty to exist as free diverse individuals, these battles come from deep within each heart and residence of the soul. These battles are born from a spiritual and humane awakening when people step outside their homes and join together for a higher symbolic purpose.

As we reflect, we find we’ve discovered what we’re truly made of, and we move forward empowered with a visible understanding from past experience that we create each day. And no matter what enters our lives from the outside, we can choose how to respond to it.

We are compassionately removing that which does not serve nor support us, more whole within ourselves, and ever more united and free within our humanity as a global family. Welcome our deeper awakening! Welcome our continued transformation into peace out of chaos. It’s not easy.

I haven’t heard anyone say that 2011 was the best year ever. 2011 was a pivotal year in the continued struggle for balance and harmony in every aspect of life, pouring across the globe with a spiritual awareness that’s been blossoming inside each of us individually for years – where it all begins in the first place. We’ve witnessed and participated in a greater understanding of what freedom means to us socially and personally.

Humanity is focusing on the exploration of who we are as spiritual beings, and questioning how our diversity doesn’t separate us, but instead blend to compassionately unite us as a whole going forward. One of the most compelling episodes of human history!

We are no longer settling for generations of negative behavior programs or classifications from someone else’s agendas because our internal discomfort is no longer appeased by scraps of denial. In order to be free to the truest ounce, those dark caves within each one of us have been continuously receiving infusions of light as we do our healing work.

No wonder I felt so adamant that 2011 was a transitional year where one of the best ingredients in the midst of our evolution was to consciously practice acts of loving kindness for ourselves and others to help us navigate through overwhelming times of change.

It’s refreshing to realize that apathy is exhausting and gets us nowhere. We’re figuring it out that change doesn’t come from the couch shaking our fists at the TV, fighting, complaining, and always blaming someone else.

Active Positive Change

Active positive change: Three words taking us through the door into 2012 is our inner angel’s trumpet call. Action can be a change in thinking and beliefs, a positive change in health with food nutrition, to a change in how we work, or our active place in the community.

One of the broader questions we can ask of ourselves now is, “How can I see this diverse world from a new vantage point?” Let this question seriously infuse the mind for a while. Don’t be hasty to answer. Let the answers come as that quiet voice of internal knowing through the heart of intuition.

Because we are literally changing from the inside out, it’s time to practice bringing it all together by consciously expanding our new reality.

Two Questions and Suggestions

Two more questions that keep sounding out are ones that can help free us up to be true to ourselves and include our development for a wider foundation of harmony as a community:

The first question is: “What do I (secretly) want to remove from my life?”

Consider the people, places and things that unduly strap us down – especially those where we’ve spent so much time “trying” (many try for years!) to make something work for us. The truth is that it’s NOT working and it will NEVER work because we know it doesn’t, so kindly give ourselves permission to compassionately, and if applicable, forgivingly, let go. Stop twisting ourselves in a pretzel! Allow the gift of freedom to move on in life with the priceless reward of peace that follows.

The second question is: “What do I want to include in my life to achieve collective harmony?"

Here’s an adventure of exploration with the opportunity to gain knowledge while eliminating ignorance and instead, generate that fusion of community harmony: Visit or tour different places of faith. It’s no fallacy that diverse spiritual traditions and practices lead to the same destination – the desire for spiritual connection is universal, rich, and beautiful.

Everyone admires the student of life who genuinely seeks knowledge to better themselves and their place in the community. No door is ever shut on the guest who lovingly enters in search of knowledge. All are welcome. Some of the most beautiful architecture, spiritual and cultural art, and gardens and landscape on the planet are found at cathedrals, temples, synagogues, and ashrams. Call and attend a service or meditation, take a tour, ask questions, gather literature, and become a student and member of the universal community of life!

Volunteer work plays a critical role in bringing community together. The reward of giving time to help and support others nourishes the soul and educates us on the needs of our community. The ideas for helping are endless.

Our personal internal world and our external collective world continue to rapidly change. As we align within the safety of our inner truth, we find the strength in internal harmony and can then reach out to the world. Students of life, get out there and find sweet bliss in unity and support others in doing the same. Celebrate our diverse world!

Affirmation for this month – Knowledge
Today, I open the lens of my mind to see new information and different perspectives. I am a seeker of knowledge and delighted to recognize that learning has no boundaries, wisdom is endless, and I align with the heart of my inner truth.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2012 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Secrets To A Balanced Life - Part II

2011-12-05T14:03:00.000-08:00

Part II – Exploring Balance Between Our Feminine-Masculine Self

The Lovers, 1923 - Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

“What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.” ~ Susan Sontag (1933-2004)

Observe for a moment the painting, The Lovers, by Pablo Picasso. I specifically chose this for Part II of Secrets To A Balanced Life as a visually revealing example of the combined feminine-masculine aspects that reside within us all. When we look at the woman, we can see that she emanates a solidity and strength. The curves of her body and her grounded posture reveal her outer strength – nothing fragile about her. Her face not only emanates a beauty and gentleness, her eyes seem to also speak of the force of inner strength and intelligence. The woman of course, is not just feminine, she carries aspects of masculine qualities that we could say, appear to balance her out quite well!

Now gaze upon the man in the painting. Look at how gently and lovingly he looks upon the woman. He reveals a strong male presence, and he also openly expresses his nurturing and tender qualities as he looks upon his lover and gently cups her hand. His face emanates an abiding compassion as well as the strength of his convictions. The man is not just masculine; he also contains those feminine aspects that seem to equally balance him out. Surprising?

Was Picasso thinking of rendering a clear illustration of balance within the combined feminine-masculine powers that reside in both men and women in The Lovers? If so, he succeeded brilliantly.

In Part I – Exploring Balance Between Our Spiritual-Physical Self, I asked, “If we were to explore the concept of balance for humanity, what would it contain?” I said striving for balance is a constant evolving dance between the duel, yet matching combinations of the feminine-masculine and the spiritual-physical. When we think of balance, we can examine these four aspects as the blueprints to our personal roadmap for how we shape ourselves – referring to the two combinations as the ‘four pillars.” When something is out of balance within the four pillars of humanity, that friction culminates in forms of inequality.

It also bears repeating that living a balanced life is an evolving process. There’s no destination of perfection or perpetual state of bliss and the process isn’t the same for each individual. Within the concept of balance we must include the vast richness of diversity.

So, whether we’re physically a woman or a man, we are born with the combined gifts of both the feminine and masculine powers. I continually observe and experience the truth that every one of us play out behaviors through belief systems and behaviors through the pure nature of who we are as the basis for which our lessons in life are derived, guided by the choices we make.

I’ve come to know life always leads us to ultimately discovering love and the true essence of who we really are. We mainly discover this greater truth after we’ve gone bumping and brawling around in the dark of our own ignorance and fears. How else do we learn our deepest lessons?

Let’s explore the feminine-masculine path combination.

Feminine-Masculine

Within the feminine, we find the powers of nurturing, intuition and heart, giving/sharing and the creative energies where visions and the powers of creative imagination are gestated and birthed from the dark or unseen place within our spiritual/intuitive mind.

Within the masculine, we find the powers of internal strength in assertiveness or fire of will power, the intellect and rational/logical mind, and the obvious external physical strength and power.

Nature has always been considered an expression of the Divine. Since antiquity, our ancestors have understood the symbolic expressions of the feminine and masculine powers in nature. One cannot exist exclusively without the other. The earth, known as Gaia or Great Mother is the symbol of fertile soil where all of nature’s diversity is birthed and grown. The sun is also known as Sol and Grandfather Sun. Without the heat and light from this great star, all the diverse potential could not transform from the soil.

The masculine essence has no greater worth than the feminine essence. Opposites as we regard them to be, they are equals in necessity in every conceivable way.

We refer to the Divine as united aspects of the highest feminine-masculine powers when we refer to this combination as god-goddess energies, called by many names the world over.

In the struggle for power over others on earth, humanity’s great error was to force a belief system that the Divine was primarily masculine – reducing and limiting this mysterious Source to suite our purposes.

Separating the feminine-masculine combination into categories of weaker or stronger or limiting their boundaries into categories of black and white, we create damage and chaos in nature and the nature of who we are. The true harmony of nature thrives only in the fluid combined space of infinite vibrant color where all of creation is free to continue building in the most joyful and wondrous fashion.

We see imbalances in the world in the excess masculine use of will, rationale, and physical aggressiveness in wars for money-power, and under the illusion that aggression is a positive form of masculinity and acceptable power, having lost the aspect of compassion, the intuitive-heart self, true service and sharing with others.

We see the imbalances of the feminine in continued suppression through forms of imposed and self-created servitude – nurturing or serving others exclusively, having given up and lost the aspect of personal power, assertive free will, and strength of personal identity.

3 Levels of Power

Here again is the method for discovering where imbalances originate – a tool to maximize awareness and take responsibility for creating and monitoring our own balance. This is a method of interpreting our life situations through the 3 Levels of Power as created by Carolyn Myss, spiritual teacher and medical intuitive. I refer to them as the three levels of conscious awareness.

The 3 Levels are:

Tribal Power – Lowest level of power – The follower who follows the group who makes the choices for us based on their experiences, rules, and beliefs.
Individual Power – High level of power – Our personal beliefs, judgments that come from experience, but also the place we turn inward for personal inquiry about what we believe.
Symbolic Power – Highest level of power – Where we step outside of ourselves and look at situations from an overall transcendent point of view. We observe and ask what the situation represents in the higher spiritual order of things for the highest good.

Looking Within For Answers

Once we understand the 3 Levels of Power and filter a situation through each level to determine where it originates or what level of power it represents to us, we continue by applying the tool of personal inquiry – asking ourselves questions to uncover truths and determine right actions we desire to take to heal and empower the feminine-masculine imbalance. For example:

What belief system(s) do we live “under” that split our feminine-masculine aspects into weaker and stronger, or good and evil?

How do our current belief systems work for or against us in creating our true heart’s desire in the world?

Which aspects of the combined feminine-masculine powers are out of balance? Which one is most dominant? Which one is weak? Describe what the imbalances are.

How can we positively strengthen the feminine or masculine aspects within us now?

What fears (worry, anxiety, superstitions, prejudice, hate) block us from actively creating balance?

Resources:
Anatomy of the Spirit – CD or Book by Carolyn Myss
Seeing in the Dark: Myths and Stories to Reclaim the Buried, Knowing Woman – CD by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
A Pathway To Union: The Marriage of the Feminine (Heart) and the Masculine (Mind) in the Twenty-First Century – Book by Ariana Khent
Three Levels of Power and How to Use Them – CD by Carolyn Myss

Affirmation for this month – Balance of Feminine-Masculine Nature
Today I call forth my positive feminine creative, intuitive, and nurturing aspects and my masculine intellectual, assertive, and strong aspects equally, to help me create this day in balance and harmony.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Secrets To A Balanced Life - Part I

2011-11-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Part I – Exploring Balance Between Our Spiritual-Physical Self

Painting by Sharique Farooqi

True balance of our physical and spiritual self requires

that we dance equally between both worlds.

On the first day of November, as the sun burned away the morning fog, I glanced out the window into the woodland area behind my home, and spotted four magnificent spider webs suspended in open space between two bushes. Nature's tapestries glistened with dew like threads of diamonds and became a silent message, reminding me that we are the weavers of our day to day lives where the spiritual-physical and feminine-masculine aspects in each one of us continually interlace, searching for patterns of balance in life.

The word balance is so commonly used. If we were to explore the concept of balance for humanity, what would it contain? We can view the striving for balance as a constant evolving dance between the duel, yet matching combinations of the feminine-masculine and the spiritual-physical. When we think of balance, we can examine these four positions as the blueprints or foundation to our personal roadmap for how we can shape ourselves. Let’s refer to these two combinations as the ‘four pillars.”

When something is out of balance within the four pillars of humanity, the friction that’s created over time culminates in many forms of agitation.

As we look back through 2011 so far, we can see the striving for a higher level of awareness the world over intensifying and taking place at grass roots levels everywhere.

Living a balanced life is a continual process. It isn’t a destination of perfection or perpetual state of bliss and it isn’t exactly the same for each individual. Within the concept of balance we must always include the richness of diversity. Wouldn’t life be just awful if we were all the same and lived exactly the same way? We didn’t sign up for that!

So now, how have we been weaving our lives this year? How can we maximize our awareness in taking responsibility for creating and monitoring our own balance? In order to do so, we need to learn how to understand and work with these four pillars that make up every human being, and perhaps everything on earth.

For this article, we’ll first explore the spiritual-physical path combination.

Spiritual-Physical

In the simplest terms spiritual represents the intangible or unseen and physical represents what we can physically see and touch.

We place our greater attention in the physical realm, and practically so, as we’re here to express, manifest, and hopefully master creating in the physical world based on our talents and abilities – those spiritual gifts we are born with.

All inventions we create on earth, all forms of art which include writing and music, the culinary arts, clothing and jewelry design, technology, sports, agriculture, transportation, architecture, medicine and the physical sciences, originate from that higher spiritual place of imagination. Once we’ve created something, we can physically see it and interact with it. But the creation process begins first in the unseen spiritual realm where imagination and vision become the designs of our attention. We manifest those visions into the physical world as objects. Infinite objects!

The social sciences like philosophy, psychology, the unseen spiritual intuitive arts, and metaphysical abstract thought processes where we create not so much a physical object to use, as we reach for methods of living in the highest place of positive thought and awareness and where we explore and wrestle with understanding behaviors, transcendent experiences and feelings – those mental, emotional, and spiritual parts that separate us from being robotic.

The powerful unseen spiritual aspect within us is also our moral compass that guides us for good or ill in the physical world. We express values through our emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. We can see the effects with how we communicate in all forms of relationship.

Constantly growing and expanding into a higher spiritual awareness, we are coming to recognize, empathize, and honor the value of all things in life. We are perpetual seekers of universal truths.

We’re coming to understand that all things hold an intrinsic energy force driven to fulfill its value potential. An example in human evolution is recognizing that all people should be free and not used for enslavement for any reason. Most of humanity now finds the thought of enslavement completely revolting and primeval.

We are growing up spiritually in finally recognizing that animals have emotions and feel pain, not only unconscious impulses of survival to eat, procreate, and flee.

So, here we are as humans operating through our five physical senses in the world and simultaneously using our higher spiritual psychic or intuitive resources to guide us, hopefully, for the greater good. We can only separate this combination in our mind.

What gets out of balance is when we try to split our spiritual-physical selves with a false belief. We believe the only reality and greatest worth is the physical world of things instead of the spiritual part of us that guides us, is our true moral compass to the greater meaning and purpose in life, and finally what we choose to do with all the things we create!

3 Levels of Power

Let’s take a look at a method we can use for discovering where imbalances originate. This can be used for both combinations of the four pillars. This is a method of interpreting our life situations through the 3 Levels of Power as created by Carolyn Myss, the great spiritual teacher and medical intuitive. I also refer to them as the three levels of conscious awareness.

This revealing process helps uncover our personal energy power as it relates to our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual growth.

The 3 Levels are:

Tribal Power – Lowest level of power – The follower who follows the group who makes the choices for us based on their experiences, rules, and beliefs.
Individual Power – High level of power – Our personal beliefs, judgments that come from experience, but also the place we turn inward for personal inquiry about what we believe.
Symbolic Power – Highest level of power – Where we step outside of ourselves and look at situations from an overall transcendent point of view. We observe and ask what the situation represents in the higher spiritual order of things for the highest good.

Looking Within For Answers

Once we understand the 3 Levels of Power and filter a situation through each level to determine where it originates or what level of power it represents to us, we continue with applying the tool of personal inquiry. We ask ourselves questions to uncover our truths and determine right actions we desire to take to heal and empower the spiritual-physical imbalance. We can ask for example:

Are we on a path of creating division and separation or are on a path of creating unity and oneness in the world? Are we individually creating and manifesting for good or for ill – in the darkness of hate, superstition, and ignorance or are we open to seeking knowledge, undoing conflict, superstitions, and breaking patterns of hate?

Are we creating in the world out of ego simply to acquire, or are we creating using the guidance of our higher spiritual resources not only for the joy of creating, but with the foremost sense that we are also being of service and sharing our talents with others for the highest good?

What fears (worry, anxiety, superstitions, prejudice, hate) block us from actively creating balance?

Next Month: Part II - Balance Between Our Feminine-Masculine Self

No matter whether we are a woman or a man, we are born with the combined aspects of both the feminine and masculine energy powers. We’ll be exploring our combined feminine-masculine aspects in Part II of December’s article.

Resources:

Three Levels of Power and How to Use Them – CD by Carolyn Myss

Anatomy of the Spirit – CD or Book by Carolyn Myss

Four Levels of Healing – A Guide to Balancing the Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical Aspects of Life – Book by Shakti Gawain

Affirmation for this month – Balance

I make adjustments today, between what my spirit desires and my body requires, in order to bring forth a peaceful equilibrium.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Uncovering Blockages and Finding the Path Towards Healing

2011-10-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

You can listen to my radio interview here on uncovering blockages. Discover where our emotional/mental, physical, and spiritual blockages originate through the path of personal inquiry and 3 levels of consciousness!

Live in beauty and be well - Triza

Here's the link:

Uncovering Blockages and Finding the Path towards Healing 10/21 by thevioletsanctuaryspa Blog Talk Radio#.TqHXxixYjC1.facebook

Returning Home - A Healing In Death

2011-09-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

Painting by Yeilem Barzaga

Extraordinary healing happens when

we no longer get burned by the fire that once enflamed us.

Every one of us will have at least one person in our biological family that becomes our greatest teacher through some form of deep friction. That’s where our toughest teachers are planted, and purposely so, for our spiritual growth. The fascinating part is that if we end up learning in the most positive way for ourselves from that teacher, the teacher can also become our student as a result of the interaction. Choosing to learn and change is an option of free will, of course. All this is a gift, painful as it may be.

The time I knew would come had arrived, signaled by the onset of one telephone call. My father had cancer. I’d known half my life that my beloved Dad would transition before Mom, just like I knew when I was 8 years old that my maternal grandmother would be the first in the family to cross over. Dad had never been ill aside from the occasional seasonal cold. Then when he was three years short of rounding the bend to 90, cancer began claiming his body. But this isn’t going to be about Dad’s overcoming cancer. He didn’t. Mom wouldn’t acknowledge that then because she couldn’t. After all, she and Dad had been married over 60 years, and she had always been able to control everything.

This story is about the journey of coming home full circle to complete a healing that began as a child and could only be triggered by my father’s departing journey. I suddenly saw the greater picture of how everything was connected – one thing happens that sparks another to open the door for opportunity – realizing that if that first situation hadn’t occurred, those future opportunities would not have appeared! A spiritual rippling effect of karmic potential was in action.

See what I’m saying? What we do with these synchronistic possibilities are wholly up to us depending upon our availability to positively engage at a higher point of conscious awareness.

I was about to discover how spiritually strong I was in my identity and emotionally detached I could be with my mother, because she was going to need me for the first time. I would witness the results of my own healing, growth and forgiveness by being present to meet her need, based on her willingness to be vulnerable enough to reach out in her loss of my father and her loss of control.

Growing up around my mother was extremely difficult. She appeared as a great shadow of mystery to me as a child. She was tall to begin with for a woman of her generation, around 5’8”, a beautiful woman, wide sky blue eyes, fair complexion and dark chestnut hair. Educated and intelligent, simple tailored elegance in her attire; she loved books, and loved to read. I was blessed to have access to classical literature, poetry, art, and history. We always had a small library. But I never knew Mom – we never bonded like a mother and daughter should.

I did however, clearly feel and experience her anger and need to control others. Some inner agitation was usually cooking below the surface on a low flame that might flare up, exaggerated in its sharp intensity. Her anger was expressed in a glaring, usually quiet, and detached fashion, void from engaging in intimate discourse, so no one ever knew why everyday human irritations would rile her so. She wasted no extra time, as her method was to be quick to bite and it was simply over. No discussion. It was as if she wanted nothing to interfere with her personal world.

She frequently talked in soft whispers to the invisible receiver of her secrets. Someone I couldn’t see. The clock on the wall, the air in front of her, or the chair she sat in, were privy to her words. Yet sometimes, she seemed to whisper in a gentler, more melancholy tone. As an intuitive empath, I deeply felt her feelings, even when she didn’t appear to others like anything was amiss. She carried it safe inside her, and as a result, would fend off anyone who tried to break through. She was aware that I knew and could feel her, and that consequently distanced me further from her.

It wasn’t until I was a grown woman in my mid 30’s when I began to comprehend that Mom was afraid of me at the same time I was afraid of her. My fear was being consumed by her emotions. Her fear was that someone might reach inside her. I came to also understand that fear lurked behind all anger – the anger that’s used as a front to hide fear.

I grew in courage to confront her when I became ill with Lyme disease and declared some personal boundaries that Mother could no longer cross, and consequently had no contact with her for years until I heard her voice on the other end of the phone connection, reporting Dad’s cancer.

Those years of my journey in healing and spiritual growth were about to be tested on the woman who coolly crossed everyone’s boundaries, but had barricades of her own. I was being offered a gift to practice a deeper compassion and emotional detachment because my journey taught me that we cannot change anyone – only ourselves. I could trust that I would take good care of myself within those boundaries she could never again cross. And I would not need her to be anyone but herself. I could symbolically hold her in my arms with words of kindness and touch the beautiful face I was once frightened of, because circumstances sparked her to reach out, and I was finally practiced and armed with the knowledge in how to move her energy away from me with detachment, instead of absorbing its heat to my bones.

Carolyn Myss, one of our great modern day spiritual teachers, well expressed the ingredient of returning home when she said, “The act of forgiveness is the act of returning to present time. And that’s why when one has become a forgiving person, and has managed to let go of the past, what they’ve really done is shifted their relationship with time.”

We can truly return home and do what needs to be done to help the family and ourselves when the universe presents us with the situation that sparks the opportunity for a greater healing that was synchronistic in its presentation in time.

Did my mother become the student as a result of my growth and example? Now that story hasn’t fully revealed itself, but the opportunities are richly before her! What I do know for certain is that she was present in my life to be one of my greatest agitators in teaching me how to empower myself and stand strongly in my identity without fear, to be courageously and creatively independent and free because she really wasn’t. She helped prepare me for who I am today. I am grateful.

I can say that I’m always living my future now.

When we contemplate the meaning and purpose of our lives, we can look at life in spiritual terms and no longer define our world as chaotic or ourselves as pure victims of circumstance.

There is purpose in everything. Its potential is always present right beyond our level of awareness, waiting for our acknowledgement and choices to create something wonderful. Look for those spiritual gifts of opportunity as they are presented. It’s usually karma in action!

Affirmation for this month – Forgiveness
By removing myself from conflict and no longer engaging in it, helps clear the conflict and pain. By pardoning myself and others today, all wounds become cleansed and healed. I now reclaim my peace.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

The Emergence Of Happiness

2011-08-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Painting by Alexander Sokht

“If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.” ~ Chinese proverb

Some of us may have been fortunate early in life to have had a wisdom person teach us through storytelling and by example, the secret to happiness. It’s a wonderfully special gift to learn how to conjure up happiness, witnessing another live a happy life no matter what the paths of the days are like – especially those crooked paths, where great inner strength is required. The crooked paths test our confidence and faith, yet happy people seem to navigate life with a particularly balanced inner compass.

Learning the art of happiness in our youth prevents us from falling deeply into the illusive trap that happiness is something outside of us to pursue. And most of us in today’s world of high speed tech, unrestrained competition, unlimited data, and disposable consumerism aren’t as fortunate to find a concrete example of nourishing happiness, unfortunately.

Instant gratification from external things becomes the tendency, and if we don’t get what we want now, well… we ease into an unhappy tantrum and give up.

We struggle to find happiness. We create and pass on belief systems that say, “I’ll be happy when I do this or have that. One of my spiritual teachers referred to this malady as “destination perfectionism.” At the time I was with her, she was referring to me. I had been one of the infected who believed that when I retired, for example, I could do something or be something more. That illusion melted when two years later I ended a 26 year Human Resources career, and realized my path would take a 360 degree turn onto another highway. The next chapter of my life wasn’t going to be put on hold any longer simply because I had a false belief that I had to wait. Destiny had called.

In truth, the “when I get there” mantra we tell ourselves means that we can’t quite rest easy and truly feel good until after something has arrived, which is always future oriented. What is that something? It’s usually the perfect job, the perfect house, the perfect relationship, the perfect body, the perfect beauty, the perfect wardrobe, the perfect… yawn… fill in the blank…..This illness also includes people who refer to retirement as the only point in life when they’re free to learn to play a musical instrument, take that photography or cooking class, travel, read, volunteer, or RELAX!

How did we get to be so empty of happiness and become the greatest schleppers (Yiddish for trudging and dragging our way through life) in today’s world? An excellent question to stop and ask ourselves is, “Am I basically a happy person?” Asking the question then urges us to ask a few more questions that begin with “Why.”

But first, it’s critical to understand where happiness really comes from. Because if we don’t learn the art of happiness, schlepping our way through life comes creeping back. Let’s try and get our heads fastened on straight.

For those of us who didn’t have the example of the happy spiritual wise person as children, we must learn three very important rules to help us shed false beliefs:

What Happiness Is Not

Happiness is NOT directly an object or a person. Happiness is NOT directly the pursuit of something. Happiness is NOT something we have to wait for.

Now we can move forward…

Where Does Happiness Come From?

Happiness blooms within us naturally as the result of the patterns of our thoughts, our actions, and what we believe about ourselves in the world. We view the cup of life is full instead of empty.

I believe happiness produces a feeling like a gentle undercurrent of flowing peaceful contentment. We don’t specifically think about being happy as much as we just live it – because we simply are. It comes from a perpetual state of being in gratitude and appreciation for what we have, and trust that what we need will come to us with the understanding that when we participate to do our part, the Universe takes care of the rest.

Begin to Create Happiness

We can begin cultivating gratitude and appreciation by naming all the things we’re grateful for at the end of every day. Interestingly, the ordinary things that we take for granted in daily life are those things that fill our hearts:

Good health, friends and family, peaceful sanctuary of home, humor/laughter, sounds and beauty of nature, a comfy warm bed, receiving and giving a helping hand, good food, vase of flowers, a smile, a hug, a hot bath, a good book, quiet time, simple cleanliness and organization, beautiful music, tending a garden, good conversation, animal companionship, kindness and support, etc… The list is endless.

We can forget to include in our gratitude list the fact that we are spiritual beings who can discover and pursue our individual meaning and purpose in life. We have the gift of free will – to choose, to create opportunities and to change.

We must never measure our true worth by money and real estate. If our only values in life are material, we’ve stripped away our inclination toward happiness as spiritual beings because we’ll be perpetually chasing after that next thing.

A Few Tips That Help Happiness Grow

Life isn’t all or nothing. It about living fully in the present and doing what we are able to do and what we want do – that’s really all we can do. Sometimes life gives us half of the pie and not all of it. Be happy to have gotten half! Consider sharing a piece.

Don’t forget to continually appreciate all that we have now. It’s natural to dream and strive for our heart’s desire, but continually chasing after, wrestling with, and forcing life when we don’t have to, is NO FUN at all, and takes us out of the present.

Patience! It, whatever it is, doesn’t have to be done all at once. What can? Small goals might be accomplished in a short time, but the big ones take planning, perseverance, and action, one step at a time. Happiness is the tortoise who remembered his journey!

Following through to completion is rewarding and fulfilling.

Why wait? Find a practical way and do it! We might not be in the physical realm tomorrow!

Think positive thoughts. Believe the Universe is good. Create a nest of gratitude and compassion in the heart

It all comes down to this – happiness is a conscious choice. Let happiness be the eternal kettle bubbling full of goodness from which we receive profound spiritual nourishment. It’s only natural that happiness is a byproduct of living the grateful life.

Resources:
Book: “The Art of Happiness” by HH Dalai Lama & Howard C. Cutler
Book: “Choosing Happiness: Life and Soul Essentials” by Stephanie Dowrick
Book: “Oneness With All Life” by Eckhart Tolle

Affirmation for this month – Gratitude
Today, I give thanks for what is good in my life right now. I am content and grateful for all I have that is honest, genuine, and beautiful, and I share my blessings with others.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Soul Healing Powers Of Flower Essence Therapy

2011-07-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

“Flower essences work on the level of the soul…” ~ Sharon Callahan

Flower essence therapy has been one of the most vital treatment modalities within my healing and growth process for 20 years now. The power of this elegantly organic, yet simple therapy became even more apparent to me during the recovery process from Lyme disease. Every emotional, mental, spiritual, and certainly, physical trigger has been squeezed. This potent “energy medicine” from Nature herself will continue to be a regular part of whole health maintenance for life. That’s how significant my experience has been.

In 1991, I walked into the Vitamin Cottage health food store in the Cherry Creek area of downtown Denver, Colorado to do my usual shopping, when I found a book on Bach Flower Remedies along with a display of different flower essences accompanied by the display booklet to guide me in identifying the flower essence(s) to use based on my current needs. Does this sound too woo-woo? Stay with me… it’s really not.

I read a brief history on flower essence therapy, and how it supports a gentle transformative healing and alignment of our emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual bodies that make up the totality of who we are. If one of these four aspects of our life is out of balance or needs extra support, that imbalance is sure to affect all the other parts of us as spiritual beings navigating our human experience. We can use all the assistance we can get.

I immediately knew that one of the flower essences called “Impatiens” was for me because I have a strong will force and I have created times of feeling inner conflict leading to impatience – struggling with waiting or wanting to take something on and do it now. That can be a good thing and can move mountains, so to speak. It can also be a disaster when the best positive outcome can only occur by waiting, or by pacing oneself.

We can’t make a flower bloom before its time. We can’t take the bread out of the oven before it’s baked just right. Of course, we all know this intellectually. Regardless, patience has been one of my life lessons. The flower essence Impatiens has helped me to change this willful tendency into a more balanced state. I use it on occasion when I feel the need. Most importantly, Impatiens flower essence has taught me to experience a state of being where acting more consciously and pacing myself throughout the years has strengthened my spirit, whereby strengthening my mind – how I think, my emotions – how I feel, and my body - the amount of energy I expend.

I realized an amazing fact. Flower Essences are more than Nature’s healers. They are gentle teachers. They carry wisdom! The Impatiens flower essence showed me how it feels to be patient, therefore enabling me to understand and discern the difference in order to strengthen that part of myself. This is a combined partnership with Nature. This is soul growth!

How can we believe ourselves as separate when there is the wisdom of Nature’s life on earth that will partner with us in our healing and spiritual growth? It is a fact that our living, breathing, earth provides everything we need to heal, grow and flourish. There are beautiful flower essences that can be used for babies, teens to adults, including all our animal companions.

Brief History of Flower Essence Therapy

Flowers have been utilized in healing for centuries, but flower essences in their modern form were first developed by the English physician, Dr. Edward Bach (1886-1936). He created 38 FE remedies. Ever since his groundbreaking work, many ranges of flower essences have been researched and emerged from the UK and around the world.

Frequently Asked Questions About Flower Essences

Here are a few excerpts of the FAQs quoted from Flower Essences Services FAQ. They are listed in Resources below. All website Resources have an equal abundance of data and FAQs along with certified practitioner referrals. Please check them all out!

What are flower essences?
Flower essences are liquid extracts used to address profound issues of emotional well-being, soul development, and mind-body health. They are a part of an emerging field of subtle energy medicine, which also includes homeopathy, acupuncture, color therapy, therapeutic touch and similar modalities.

How are the essences prepared?
Flower essences are dilute, potentized herbal infusions or decoctions, prepared from wildflowers or pristine garden blossoms. They are made directly in the “laboratory of nature” where the four alchemical elements of earth, water, air, and fire are found in harmonious balance. To this is added the fifth “quintessential” element of the sensitive awareness and attunement of the preparer.

The fresh dew-filled blossoms are gathered in the early morning of a clear, sunny day. Floating on the surface of a bowl of water, they are irradiated by the warmth and light of the sun for several hours. This process creates an energetic imprint of the etheric energy patterns of the flower in water, embodying the healing archetype of that plant. This “mother essence” is preserved with brandy and then further diluted and potentized to form the “stock” which is sold in stores and to practitioners.

How do I use flower essences?
They are typically taken orally from a dropper bottle; the standard dosage is four drops four times daily. You can take the drops directly from the stock bottles available in stores; mix them in a glass of water; or make a dosage bottle by mixing several drops from each essence selected. There are many other ways of using them, such as in misting sprayers, in a cream base, or in baths.

Can I use more than one essence at a time?
Several flower essences can be taken together and mixed in a dosage bottle or glass of water. In making a combination, it is important to consider how the essences work together, as well as the appropriateness of each essence in the combination. It is best to limit the number of essences taken at any one time to three to five unless you are working with a skilled practitioner.

How can I use flower essences if I am alcohol sensitive?
Flower essences have been used successfully by many persons who are alcohol sensitive or in recovery from alcoholism. By adding two drops of each essence to a glass of water, there will only be a negligible amount of alcohol in the water (less than one hundredth of one percent). You can also mix up a dosage bottle using cider vinegar or vegetable glycerin as a preservative, rather than brandy.

What is the difference between flower essences and aromatherapy oils?
The most significant difference is that essential oils have definite aromas; flower essences do not. Essential oils work primarily through the sense of smell and its effect upon the “old brain.” They are highly concentrated chemical substances, many of which are quite poisonous taken internally. Most essential oils are diluted first in a carrier oil before they are applied topically. On the other hand, flower essences are safe and gentle to use whether taken internally or used on the skin.

Essential oils are produced from large quantities of plant material, the flowers, roots, seeds or bark, depending on the location of the volatile oils in the plant. Stream-distillation is the most common extraction method. With flower essences, only the flowers are used and in a very small quantity. The vibrational imprint of the flower is extracted in water, which is then further diluted. Thus essential oils are a physical extract and flower essences are a subtle energy “extract.”

Flower essences and essential oils are very complimentary to each other in healing work. While both affect the mind-body continuum, they work from opposite pathways. Essential oils enter through the senses to reach the soul, while flower essences impact subtle energy fields of the soul to affect physical well-being. Flower essences and essential oils combine well in spray bottles and in topical applications, such as in the skin creams and massage oils.

Resources:
The British Flower and Vibrational Essences Assn. – www.bfvea.com
Provides a dictionary of practitioners in UK and overseas

Flower Essence Society – www.flowersociety.org (Provides International practitioners)
North American Flower Essences – www.fesflowers.com or Flower Essence Services – www.floweressence.com
www.anandaapothecary.com or (Sells both North American and Bach Flower Essences)

Affirmation for this month - Abundance
Mother Earth provides an overflowing bounty and richness to meet all my needs. Today, I am grateful to acknowledge the sacred healing circle of giving and receiving.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Addiction Recovery - A Crisis Of The Mind And Spirit

2011-06-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

“We are what we think.” ~ Buddha

“No one’s happiness but my own, is in my power

to achieve or to destroy.” ~ Ayn Rand

Who or what pierced a hole in my heart, my mind, and my spirit with fear? Who or what blocked the truth of my ability to trust my intuitive (heart-gut) instincts and protect myself? How did I come to the point where I believe I have no choices? When and where did these fears begin? Was it them? Was it me?

These questions are magical. They are magical because all obsessive-addictive behaviors have a source – a story hidden behind them – the story of the ghosts of suppressed emotions and experiences, misguided beliefs, attitudes and judgments that through repeated conditioning, are carried forth in our lives, like a perpetual backpack.

But it’s only out of a deep sincerity that we ask these potent questions. It is out of the desire to take the hero’s journey inside ourselves rather than only blaming external sources for our malaise, where we can truly go to heal. And that of course, comes after we’ve snapped out of denying that we have no ability to control ourselves.

Usually, we didn’t learn strong positive communication, coping, and conflict resolution skills growing up – a form of stunted emotional and spiritual growth. So when difficult life experiences and disappointments happen, as they do to everyone, those of us who have a weakened link in our emotional/mental and spiritual foundation become the easiest to fall prey to addiction impulses.

We’ve witnessed people close to us use addiction as a form of blocking life’s issues instead of facing them and taking action to resolution. Our dysfunctional coping behaviors that are inherent in addictions/obsessions are also passed down from generation to generation, a part of what I term negative evolved fear.

No matter what the addiction of choice is, there is one thing all addictive-obsessive behaviors have in common. They maneuver from an impulsive fear-based state of mind. Addicts of all kinds struggle quietly, some violently, living in moments of false mental highs and perpetual variations of fight or flight mode – fears from true original experiences that didn’t get resolved, but instead evolved and metastasize into ongoing negative fear behaviors.. Fears migrate into everyday anxiety and worry, breaking down self-confidence and trust.

Many people accept generational addiction as a form of “physical genetic predisposition” and use it as an excuse of fate that cannot be changed. I never believed it.

I see and have experienced that instead, we pass the energy of learned emotional thought form responses on to others, rather like an emotional/mental and spiritual dis-ease that becomes a cellular memory stored in our body and our mind of beliefs, attitudes, and judgments about ourselves and the world. The truth that we are powerfully creative spiritual beings who have choices becomes blocked.

My experience has been that the greatest illusion that humanity clings to is the belief in limitation.

Our fast-paced society supports marketing quick fix drugs of all kinds to suppress problems from the moment we wake up, relate to others and progress through the day, to the moment we go to sleep at night – a form of mass blinding psychosis that does not heal, but perpetuates the root of our troubles.

This path of spiritual growth isn’t easy. It is however, the most courageous and permanently rewarding journey we’ll ever take. To be addicted is to block open communication with Spirit. As spiritual beings, our untapped gifts and talents can only wait to make conscious contact and expression in the world. Emotional freedom allows spiritual energy to flow openly. Emotional freedom is the permanent remedy and the mainline to Spirit.

In order to permanently recover from addiction/obsession behavior we must take on the challenge of healing from our dysfunctional coping skills. Then we can stop repeating that we’re a recovering alcoholic, smoker, or obsessive shopper. We can stop carrying around a perpetual label. We can say we’re healed and tell our stories on occasion to help support others in their permanently healing process!

The following list of conditions can be reasons why we find ourselves in a continual cycle of stop and start again addiction/obsession behaviors:

We traded a “bad” addiction for a “less bad” addiction, i.e., drinking to smoking to sugar, because we feel we have to have something in order to “survive” the day

We still engage closely with friends/family who are addictive-obsessive. No positive support base to set new and better patterns of living. We lack the confidence and trust in protecting ourselves and set no boundaries that others cannot use/do their addiction around us or in our home

We attend a support group where a “less bad” form of addiction is enabled as a way to not go back to the “bad” addiction. i.e., smoking on premise at an AA meeting

We attend a support group where the energy tends to run negatively by people’s complaining and blaming without an equal balance of uplifting, supportive energy.

We’ve been taking anti-depressants and/or anti-anxiety drugs long term so we don’t have to feel bad about the past or present

The past continues to haunt us. We’re still hurting and haven’t resolved it.

We have fears and phobias that have absolutely no basis in our present life, i.e., a fear of drowning near water. (Learning to work with our nightly dreams often reveal past life situations that were carried over into the present. Past life regression therapy with a reputable therapist can reveal and heal those particular fears)

We participate in negative, hurtful behaviors with family and friends, such as arguing/fighting, jealousy/revenge, resentments – emotional and/or physical abuse

We have not engaged any professional counseling therapy for a minimum of 6 months to begin emotional healing and learn positive patterns of coping and behaving (Holistic counseling encompasses mind-body-spirit wholeness.)

We have not addressed the needs of our spirit – asking and exploring the purpose and meaning of our life. “Why am I here? What are my gifts, talents, and abilities? What can I do to share my gifts with others? What would I like to do to be of service to my community?”

We indulge our fears and allow fear to overcome us as an excuse to DO or NOT do something.

The way to permanently end addiction behavior is to find our way back to the holes in our hearts and call back our splintered spirits. We gently, lovingly, and forgivingly journey back in time and space to gather the fragments of our true identity with the help of positive supportive people. When we heal ourselves, we are also healing the world!

Resources
Book: “Emotional Freedom” by Judith Orloff, M.D.
Book: “The Fear Standard” by Triza Schultz
Book: “Looking Beyond – A Teen’s Guide To The Spiritual World” by James Van Praagh (Adults too!)

Books by Peter A. Levine:
“Trauma Through A Child’s Eyes – Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing”
“In an Unspoken Voice – How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness”

The Meditation Regression Series – Audio CD’s by Brian Weiss, M.D.
“Regression To Times And Places”
“Spiritual Progress Through Regression”
“Regression Through The Mirrors of Time”

Affirmation for this month – Freedom
Today, I am liberated from false fears, doubts, and worries. I remain focused in the present moment of my journey as I carry out the choices and actions true to my spirit.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Sanctuary

2011-05-01T13:55:00.000-07:00

“He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Watching birds gather grass and twigs exemplifies the universal nesting ritual, as the earth magically springs forth in an orchestra of re-birth. At this time of year, I’m transported to the warm thoughts of my personal home – my sanctuary. In the midst of Mother Earth’s abundant growth and beauty, I feel gratitude for the peace and harmony within my space. There is indeed no place like home.

Wherever we call home, we endeavor to make our personal space a safe haven from the ever-changing conditions of Mother Nature, and the traffic of the external world. Home is the one place that we can call our own, no matter how big or small that space is.

Our home is the outer expression of our internal identity – our beliefs, attitudes, talents and interests, as well as the feelings we hold about ourselves. The signature of our personality therefore, resides in our living space.

Notice how we initially feel when we enter someone’s home; be it an apartment or flat, a particular room, condo or house. A story begins to unfold about the person or people who dwell there. We become imprinted with the décor, colors, the smells, abundance or absence of light, the plants, books and magazines, music and other sounds, as we move through someone’s space. Our five senses seem to effortlessly capture everything. Our mental intelligence automatically categorizes and labels what our five senses gathered, usually being the obvious, such as clean/dirty, cluttered/organized, colorful/ drab, dark/ light, loud/quiet, artistic, spiritual, scientific, sport-oriented, lavish or humble.

From a spiritual perspective, we may feel and intuit much more information that expands the story within a dwelling aside from what our five senses tell us.

Many people are able to feel the emotional energies that invisibly hang in the air like a fine mist. Everything is essentially energy and our material belongings, including the internal structure of a building, actually absorb the energies that persist in a place, just like the air can hold a scent from something cooking.

There are people who have an expanded intuitive sixth sense that simply tell them information as in “knowing” something or where images register in their mind’s eye. Many also have the ability to emotionally intuit and mentally intuit, so they could feel the energy of a room and simultaneously see past image impressions and know information all at the same time, just like most people use their five external senses.

What does our dwelling tell us about ourselves? When we enter our sanctuary, do we feel embraced by an inviting, cheerful, and peaceful atmosphere, or do we enter feeling irritated, depressed, and stressed?

I’m not going to list the too obvious things we can do to create a harmonious space, like clean and sanitize, de-litter, and organize. Those are clearly important to any living space. What I want to do is engage the more subtle, expressive parts that bring underlying imbalances into consciousness, enabling us to create an enduring harmonious environment. Consider the following:

Where the external environment is one of disharmony

Is there something missing from the home space that describes you – what and who you love, your talents, interests, and achievements? What are those things? Find those things or create them and place them in loving spots to reflect who you are!

What are your favorite colors that identify you and your personality? Are they expressed throughout your home, even in small ways? Come on - add that splash of purple! Vibrant color is incredibly energizing, soothing, and uplifting. Too much white and washed out pastels appear and actually feel anemic, and on cloudy days look grey.

Open the blinds, shutters and drapes on all the windows. Make it a ritual every morning to open your home up to the light of the world. Say good morning to nature and give thanks for a new day. This one act of engagement is a very optimistic gesture and even prayerful. Shutting yourself off from the light of nature for long periods of time becomes depressing and unhealthy. Then in the evening as the sun goes down, say goodnight to the world and close up until the next day.

Open a couple of windows every day, one in the front and one in the back of your home space – even if it’s an inch for 30 minutes due to inclement weather – to circulate fresh air and remove stagnant air and odors.

Where are your plant friends? Even one plant to nurture brings not only the beauty of nature inside, plants help re-cycle the air. If you love it, it will love you back! Plants are conscious beings and respond to their environment. Provide the appropriate sunlight, water as needed and fertilize every two weeks, because a plant can slowly starve after it’s used up most of the nutrition from its limited amount of potting soil. Grow herbs in a window sill such as thyme, chives, and basil. The fresh smell and taste of herbs cannot be surpassed. Again, something from nature living and growing along with you is a wonderful feeling of connection with the nature of who you are.

Where our internal emotional/spiritual environment is one of disharmony

Want to nourish your spirit and nurture the loving memories from your childhood? Cook and bake! Take at least one day a week to create a special meal or dish in your kitchen that warms your heart and fills your home with the wonderful aromas that only cooking and baking can provide. A home really doesn’t feel complete until someone is creating something with love in the kitchen.

No matter how beautiful and lavish a home’s décor is, persistent negative mental and emotional energies will never make it a sanctuary. The physical beauty becomes a prop and can’t be appreciated and enjoyed where fears in all their manifestations perpetuate. Re-decorating won’t help. But a great holistic (mind-body-spirit) therapist can assist in helping you to heal and grow, so you can enjoy your sacred space. Ask your physician/holistic practioner for a referral.

Got a bothersome irritable spiritual entity or two that have a negative presence – the type that don’t have a good vibe and want to instead, drain your energy and frighten you? Or you may be one of those empathic intuitive people that feel a significant sadness or fear in the home that you know doesn’t belong to you. There are several methods to help alleviate the discord. A good cleansing ritual with a professional spiritual/psychic advisor, or if you prefer, a professional paranormal group may be in order. Please know that most spirit entities, which include deceased animals, simply come to visit or say hello and are completely benign and kind. A qualified psychic spiritual advisor can verify if the active presence is your own deceased friend, relative, or pet companion where you feel that may be the case.

Each time we return home and close the door to the external world, we return to the sacred sanctuary that we have created to reflect who we are. Whether it is a boarding room or a house of five, “Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.”

Resources
Book: Easy-To-Use Feng Shui, by Lillian Too (Feng Shui Master – author of several books on Feng Shui)
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese method for creating a harmonious environment

TAPS – The Atlantic Paranormal Society - The TAPS Family - connect with the TAPS team nearest you http://family.the-atlantic-paranormal-society.com/ TAPS also has connections with psychic/spiritual advisors

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

What Truth Reality Are You Plugged-In To?

2011-04-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Our beliefs, values, and attitudes don’t come to us randomly

As an intuitive empath, it’s my nature to experience the true feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of others. Doing more than sympathizing or identifying with someone or something, I merge with it as if I were plugged in under its skin. Being empathic is one aspect of heightened psychic inner resources. Experiencing these external energies can’t be controlled, but they can be re-directed through awareness. Without knowing this gift and learning how to work with it a good part of my life, I was easily swept away by other people’s feelings, personalities, and attitudes, thinking they must be my own because after all, I was feeling and thinking them.

At this stage in the game, I’m trained to identify and separate those external thought and emotional energy patterns to directly release them. In other words, I can pretty quickly identify and clear away the external energy I connect with, and return back to who I am, how I feel, and how I choose to live in the world. We empaths call it clearing and grounding which is our compass for returning to truthful balance.

As empaths who’ve been trained and work to positively re-direct external psychic emotional/mental energies, using these gifts to be of service, we are acutely aware of the need to spend quality time by ourselves from the deluge of the crowded external world, as well as diligently eliminate negative and overwhelming external influences. It’s a matter of spiritual survival. So, we do these basics:

Eliminate or reduce exposure from high volume noise
Eliminate/reduce exposure to overwhelming/negative people
Eliminate/reduce exposure to TV commercials (push the mute button on commercials)
Eliminate/reduce exposure to TV and movies that glorify violence, war, and exploit sex
Limit frequency of listening to the news – once a day, and limit the days to 3-4/week
Do not play video games that glorify violence, war, and exploit sex

Would any of the above practices be helpful to the less sensitive world? I know it would. Everyone has an intuitive side – an inner spiritual resource that speaks the truth. But so many people aren’t plugged-in to it because external influences can hypnotize, seeming more legitimate, more believable, and more important.

It’s critical and courageous to discover, declare, and live life according to our personal truth – knowing who we are – especially cultivating and nurturing our spiritual ideals, separating ourselves from the pulls and chaos of a materially obsessed world that keeps wanting us to want more things. Too many of us have succumbed to the belief that “getting” in itself will bring happiness or bliss. Television tells us so every few minutes.

It’s important that we admire and desire beautiful things in our lives. We all have a deep desire to create and gather to us something that provides meaning, beauty and harmony, joyously expresses an extension of ourselves, and is of service to others. That’s a purposeful inner drive for value fulfillment and for creating a charmingly diverse world.

But where does working for something beautiful become distorted, evolving into something twisted and even dangerous? My thoughts go to that which cannot positively serve the root of our individual humanity and spirit, nor can it nourish others.

An extreme, yet symptomatic example of this discourse turns to one mother in the US who is frequently injecting the face of her 8 year old daughter with Botox because she wants her daughter to have a head start in becoming a “super star”. The subject of a nose job and breast implants is a discussion topic for a not too distant future goal with the elementary sprout. The child now worries about wrinkles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhIA5yTueg0&feature=related

The video report should appear alarming. It’s another wake-up call that becomes an opportunity for us to pull off the veil of external influences, sit down, and have a serious dialogue with ourselves and loved ones. After expressing the feelings, opinions and judgments that we’ll project after watching this brief video, let’s turn anger – anger is fear-based – into something constructive, and do a check up on ourselves!

This is the moment to stop and retrace where our beliefs, values, and attitudes come from, because they don’t come to us randomly. What we are attracted to and what we give our attention to, will in part, define what we feel and believe about ourselves.

Asking questions is based on the desire to know. And activating the desire to know must open the door to receive answers. Knowledge activates change. Any time we learn something, we are changed.

Here are some essential questions to ask ourselves. Capture some quiet time and write down the questions. As the answers come, write those down too. This can take some time. Take breaks, but finish it. Be candid and honest. New questions may appear. Use them!

Who Am I?

What do I love to do?
What are my gifts, abilities, and talents? Is this true?
What stops me from pursing and creating what I love to do?
When I look in the mirror, what do I see?
Who do I believe I am? How do I feel about this? Are these beliefs true?
What are my best qualities? Where do I think they come from?
What are my weaknesses? Where do I think they come from?
How would others describe me as a person? Why?
What spiritual values are important to me? (honesty, kindness, tolerance, etc)
What virtues (qualities) are important to me? (non-violence, respect, able to listen, etc)
Am I always true to my values/virtues? (This means being true to myself) If not, why?
Do I allow my values/virtues to be compromised by outside influences? Who are they? How often?

How Does The Outside World Influence Me?

The material things I want in my life are... Why do I want these things?
Do I want to own what my friends/neighbors have? What are those things? Why?
Do I want the things I believe famous people have? Why?
Do I want things to impress others? If so, why?
What is the difference between want and need?
Do I want or need to be famous? Why want? Why need?
Who do I highly admire and want to be like? Why?
Do I want to contribute something valuable to my community/world?
What does contributing to community mean to me? How would I do that?
Do I want to be of service to my community/world?
What does being of service to community mean to me? How would I do that?
Do I believe that I am separate from the natural world/environment? How? Why is this so?
Do I believe I am part of nature and the environment? How? Why is this so?

Keep these Q&A notes as a roadmap for future reference and adjustments. They can be used as a compass to guide our growth and help us remain true to who we really are. What is retrieved is a kind of spiritual gold that can lead us to act with purpose and re-direct our energy to create something beautiful, lasting, and real in the world – our piece of Eden that contributes to the whole.

Resources
Book: “The Empath Experience” by Michael R. Smith, PhD www.empathconnection.com
Book: “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz – simple Toltec wisdom for living
Book: “The Fear Standard” by Triza Schultz – transcend fear http://womanothewind.blogspot.com
Book: “Be True To Yourself” by Amanda Ford – for teenage girls
Book: “Guys Write For Guys” by Jon Scieszka – for teenage boys

Affirmation for this month – Truth
I hear the echo of my spirit reminding me that when I listen to my heart, I’m listening to my truth. Today, I practice integrity and honesty in order to remain true to myself.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Cultivating Certainty: During Significant Transformational Times

2011-03-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Anais Nin

The butterfly has long been a symbol of transformation by indigenous people around the world because of its dramatic stages of metamorphosis from a slow crawling caterpillar into a luminously flying creature. It symbolizes the change that must occur for its complete value fulfillment. Being a part of nature, we can see ourselves within the labor for freedom of flight on many levels.

As the cries of ”We have broken the fear barrier!” ring out from the people of Egypt and Tunisia, and are now working their way across Libya and the Middle East into Iran, the world watches in awe at this historic transformational and deeply spiritual event taking place. People are becoming empowered with the certainty of their right to be who they really are: beings who must live in the light of freedom and denounce the suppression of darkness. The imbalance that has existed for decades is now quickly struggling to find its center of balance. People are taking flight.

This is a spiritual evolution for the most basic truths of life, which of course, will rock political and religious suppression because it must. The need for freedom of speech, pursuit of knowledge and education, the need for nurturing and creative diversity in a peaceful and sustainable way, and the cry for democracy, which is ideally a way of civilized life wholly determined by the people, is the spiritual mandate for human evolution across the world in the 21st century.

It’s unavoidable that we are globally becoming one family in all our magnificent diversity. We crave to share, understand, and more intimately know each other.

This wave of emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual transformation combines a balancing of feminine and masculine energies: The decline of dysfunctional male draconian aggression which results in violence and paralysis is now moving into the positive masculine energy of assertive, intellectual, and reasonable management by the people. And the decline of dysfunctional female servitude and repression is now opening to express the positive feminine energy of nurturing on all levels and supporting creative diversity.

The combined male/female energy exists within all people, regardless of whether we are a man or a woman. We each need the harmonizing aspects of the yin (female) and yang (male) energies to be balanced individuals who are then able to harmonize the spiritual and physical aspects of life as spiritual beings having a physical existence.

During this historically pivotal time in our humanity, the energy of powerful spiritual transformation in an awakening to higher consciousness does have its effects. We can feel weary, frightened, and overwhelmed at times. Rapid change unsettles us because in part, our wings are wet from the birthing process, and we must trust that we will fly, just as the butterfly is driven and certain it will take its first flight.

No matter where we live, we can empathically feel these immense ripples of change in the world. And we have our own individual spiritual growth process going on simultaneously that contributes to the whole. We must pause and recognize that world change does begin within each one of us. Can we see and acknowledge how powerful we are? We can extinguish our personal darkness with each small light of recognition, one step at a time. Darkness cannot exist in light. That is an absolute certainty – a spiritual and scientific truth.

One of our great modern day spiritual teachers, Rav P.S. Berg, describes in his book, “The Essential Zohar,” that cultivating certainty is the power of spirit over matter, and humanity’s greatest spiritual adversary is the loss of it. He further describes that deep desire is the mechanism that promotes action, but we must take action, and when we truly know that something is best for us, the Divine will match our heart’s truth, and it will come to us. Rav Berg teaches that also cultivating patience – which overpowers doubt – is one of the results of holding certainty firmly in our minds and thoughts.

We can move mountains by living our lives with clarity of purpose, with believing in our most positive desires, and knowing that we are infinite souls of the Divine tapestry who choose the design of our lives.

Being alive is more than breathing and existing in an imaginary world through someone or something else, like perpetually watching reality TV. It’s taking the risk of getting out in the world and spreading our wings to create the most positive life where we can share our gifts with others, under our own terms, and as authentically as we can.

Tips To Help Support Personal And World Spiritual Transformation

Name all the things we are grateful for every day – this positive affirmation brings in abundance energy and is the antidote to lack and victim mentality.
Appreciate what we have and where we are in our life now– this positive acknowledgment brings peace and abundance and is the antidote to anxiety and lack mentality.
Appreciate who we are now is the antidote to negatively comparing ourselves to others. Know we pilot the direction of our life, with choices and opportunities to grow and learn in a diverse world.
Appreciate that all life is cyclical. Change and movement are evident in everything. There are ups and downs, summers and winters. Practice being in awe of the mystery instead of being afraid to participate in it.
Simplify life by living within our means. The greatest beauty, comfort, and satisfaction come from nature, loving relationships, and sharing our gifts with others. These are all essentially free.
Patience is the antidote to uncertainty
Trust in the infinite goodness of the Universe is the antidote to negative thinking and victim mentality
Determining our best options in any situation and making a decision to act upon it is the antidote to apathy, wishful thinking, and helplessness
Send positive thoughts/prayers (healing, peace, abundance, love, beauty, etc.) to our loved ones and our brothers and sisters in the world “for the highest good for all” is the antidote to getting negatively attached to what we think the outcome of our prayers should be, and frees the Universe to actually provide what is best.

As the beloved Lebanese American mystic, artist, and poet Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) so plainly said, “Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” These times are calling for the path of the heart and the certainty that banishes negativity. We are indeed, learning to fly…

Resources
“The Essential Zohar” by Rav P. S. Berg – Book (Uncovering spiritual truths)
“Unconditional Confidence” by Pema Chodron – 2/CD audio book
“What To Remember When Waking” by David Whyte – 6/CD’s

Affirmation for this month – Trust

Today, I confidently cast out worry and uncertainty, and open my arms to receive the infinite goodness of the universe.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

2011-02-01T16:05:00.000-08:00

February’s Ode To Love

Photo by Clare Bloomfield

“He, whose love touches, walks not in darkness.” ~ Plato

“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.” ~ Rumi

“…for love is immortality.” ~ Emily Dickinson

Potentially being one of the coldest months of the winter season, celebrating love on Valentine’s Day in February always seemed to break up the monotony of those short, frosty days. And like the first signs of spring, the holiday gives us something to look forward to – a day to fetch forward memories – those episodes of love won and lost throughout our cyclical lives. Valentine’s Day represents the eternal quest that poets and writers, artists, philosophers, mystics, and humanity in general, have forever explored. What is love?

Before we journey into the spirituality of love, let’s take a brief trip back into childhood...

This month is a lovely time to recall childhood memories of occasions that represent love in its simplest and most innocent forms. In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ll share a special time of love that began with a valentine celebration from elementary school – 3rd grade to be exact.

My 3rd grade teacher gave each student a list of every classmate’s name to take home, so when we prepared our valentines, no one was forgotten. With that list in hand, I’d spread out all my little valentine pop-out cards on the floor, and went to work picking out the most special valentine for my best friends, a boy or two I was secretly fond of, and the classmates I admired, in that order. I’d use my favorite color crayons to sign my name on each card.

I’d slip the valentine into its little white envelope where I’d write the name of my classmate in another crayon color, then lick and seal. But before that task was done, the second most important part of the ritual wasn’t complete until my favorite gum drops, cinnamon red hots, or penny lollipop was neatly tucked inside. It was an unspoken code that cinnamon, cherry, grape, and orange flavors were the most coveted and high ranking in that special I like you category. Task complete, I’d neatly stack each valentine in a brown paper bag which I tenderly carried to school.

It was agony to have to wait until after school lunch hour before the class completed the final part of the valentine ritual – the exchange! We were given classroom freedom to carry our bag around and dispense out our valentines to fellow classmates, and of course, one for the teacher, which we placed on her desk. After that was complete, we’d return to our desks and open our valentines. Imagine the glances of mutual appreciation, smiles, and giggles that endured until the bell rang to go home.

As I write this, I ask myself, but what made a 3rd grade friend special? Children aren’t primarily attracted to physical looks. They haven’t developed a strongly slanted societal ego image. As I recall, one little boy would stop and hold the jump rope for my friends and I to be able to play double-dutch or kindly fetch our ball for us before he ran off with his friends. One of my best friends had no problem acquiring candy cake sprinkles from her mother’s kitchen while I secretly retrieved the shredded coconut from our family pantry so we could decorate mud pies. She loved playing in the cool mud with me and had a flair for creativity. Candy sprinkle mud pie, coconut mud pie, dandelion flower mud pie…

David Campbell was one of the boys I clearly remember from 3rd grade. He didn’t make fun of other kids, especially my glasses and freckles. We had mutually exchanged our best valentines! I think he liked my smile. I liked his smile and gentle manner. His dad owned the five and dime store across from my parent’s jewelry store on Main Street in Chadron, Nebraska. One Saturday afternoon, while I was hanging around my dad at his watchmaker’s bench looking through all his little containers of gems and gadgets, in walked David Campbell and his father. I was invited to play with David in the basement of their store, where all the unsellable toys and five and dime inventory treasures secretly lived. Oh, what heaven! That sealed it for me. Treasure hunting with David Campbell reached the top three of my special friend’s list forever – in 3rd grade.

We all have similar stories of early life that reflect innocent love. As adults, we can forget the simple magic of the heart. We accumulate more experiences, and complex ones at that. The stakes are higher because we play with more complicated things. As spiritual beings having a human experience then, what are we learning about love? What is love?

I’ve learned that love is one of the highest expressions of the spirit. The essence of every positive religious and spiritual foundation is love-centered. I’ve discovered that there are four pillars that create a worthy foundation for an enduring spiritual-based life of love: These four pillars are kindness, tolerance, compassion, and forgiveness.

The four pillars of love constitute a part of the spiritual “holy grail” that humanity strives for – a most priceless treasure for healing damaged emotions and activating the core love within again so we may freely and selflessly express that love in the physical world – people, the earth, animals, etc. When we realize the divine spark lives within us, we suddenly see the divine in everything else. It changes our reality. That is the promise of love. It dissolves the curtain of separation and re-unites.

We can’t profess to know all there is about love. Love is ever evolving within us. We’ve all wandered off into or remained for too long in enough dangerous territory where the virtues of compassion and honesty, kindness, spiritual and emotional maturity, tolerance and forgiveness were unsustainable or even lacking, and we’ve learned why we chased the very things that weren’t good for us. The dark side of ourselves that hasn’t been acknowledged and healed – that adversary that is our own unrealized darkness – sees the open door and issues in people, places and things to mirror precisely what is lacking within us. The absence of love is always about lack in some unprocessed and undigested form.

Through the mistakes and trials of our lives, we learn love doesn’t have a price tag. It doesn’t use the words owe or own. It doesn’t try to suffocate or change our spirit. It isn’t sex nor is it the body itself. It isn’t money. It isn’t material things by themselves. It isn’t silence because of the misplaced honor of family “blood is thicker than water” tradition where keeping painful secrets allows abusive behaviors to thrive. If we take charge of our spiritual growth, we’ll be fortunate to re-learn the value, wisdom, and unlimited power of love.

True and pure expressions of love are really simple aren’t they? Once we get beyond the illusions of what we thought love was, and return back to what we remember and know intuitively about what love is, we remember… Love is simple. Love is spiritual. Love is the magical child waiting to be set free to unite everything with the four pillars of kindness, tolerance, compassion, and forgiveness.

This Valentine’s Day, get some crayons or colored markers or water color paint, and a few sheets of water color paper or poster board, and take the risk of opening up the child within. Make valentines for the special people in your life. You can replace the lollipops and gum drops with gourmet Chocolate, if you like. Go see the movie, Toy Story 3. Your love will shine through and delight that special someone. And you will shine. That’s the promise of love.

Affirmation for this month – Love

I know that the greatest power is the power to love. Today, I recognize that tenderness and kindness, right action, and compassion weave the universe into a never ending cherished existence.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

2011 - Dynamic Transition Through Kindness

2011-01-05T12:50:00.000-08:00

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

Kindness in giving creates love.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

Welcome to a dynamic potential the Universe is presenting – all wrapped up in the new year of 2011! I’m particularly excited about this year because the energy that is the foundation of 2011 holds the ability to give us the power to creatively express balance within ourselves that can manifest in all physical aspects of our lives. We are being given a spiritual B-12 injection to shift our awareness and transform ourselves through all manner of inventive efforts.

The number eleven symbolizes spiritual transition. It represents illumination, visionary, artistic, love, joy, teacher, mystical, and sensitivity. It’s considered a master spiritual number, higher order of the number two, which represents strive for balance. Eleven also doubles the symbolism of the number one (10+1) which represents new beginnings. What we end up with is a highly sensitive octave for activating transition, and deepening our channel into the higher realms of consciousness to bring those visions and creative endeavors down into the physical world. In a word…wow.

Let’s explore what this can mean in our day to day lives through the filter of kindness.

We’re going to take inventory of the four aspects of the Self - (physical, mental emotional, spiritual) – to determine where we see ourselves in life right now, as far as creating kindness through self-love and self-nurturing. On a scale from one to three, we’ll determine where we feel we are in or out of dynamic balance and harmony.

Before we begin, it’s important to understand that being in balance doesn’t mean a constant state of eternal bliss. Yet when we feel at one within ourselves and the world we live in, a natural state of acceptance and happiness or contentment must occur as the result. The rewards are priceless.

It takes a commitment and an effort to create meaningful purpose - our heart’s desire – that eventually will become almost effortless. There are times of struggle, where we’re challenged from both inside and outside forces. Within those times, we must define where our balancing point is in that moment. Life happens, such as death of a loved one, relationship challenges, an illness, and financial challenges with school and work. But HOW we maneuver through life’s ups and downs rests wholly on our balancing point of kindness to ourselves and others.

Use the scale below to rate the four aspects of the Self to complete the inventory. Some of my best resources are added below each aspect group to help utilize the supportive energy of 2011.

Rating Scale: 1-3
1= Out of balance – Unkind – Lack of self love/confidence; unaware of the power of choice; apathy
2= In and out of balance – See-saw kindness – Indecisive; lack of inner strength and discipline
3= Balance – Kindness – Self-love; engaged; consciously committed to creating heart’s desire

Four Aspects of Self

Physical Body

Our physical body includes the happy weight range for our own body type. Seek out local parks and recreation center activities and facilities. Enroll in a dance class or cooking class! Heal those food and environmental allergies naturally. Limit TV and computer use.

Rate:
 Nutrition (healthy food choices; food preparation; eating)
 Exercise (minimum 20 minutes 5 days/week)
 Rest (quiet time alone; sleep)
 Play (fun – alone or with friends and family – do not include TV)
 Medical needs /routine maintenance (medical/dental, etc – 6 mo -1 year checkups)

Resources:
www.longevityhealthcare.com/ (holistic website/practice - California - subscribe to newsletter)
http://www.mothering.com/ (holistic magazine for parents)
http://www.drweil.com/ (holistic on-line – subscribe to newsletter)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/ (Healthy Eating page – ideas and recipes)
http://www.myss.com/ – “Personal Healing” by Carolyn Myss –facing a health crisis – Sounds True CD

Mental Body

These are all stimulating, creative endeavors where we continue learning and should include using our talents, gifts, and abilities – our heart’s desire. We also do some types of work that help lead us to our heart’s desire – those jobs to help pay for school, jobs in between finding the one we desire, etc. Seek out local libraries, museums, art or music classes, and clubs. There is so much to see and learn!

Rate:
 Work (wherever we are now – whatever we are striving for)
 School (all types – on-line correspondence, etc., if applicable)
 Hobbies (stimulates the imagination, relaxation, challenges the intellect)
 Reading (stimulates the imagination, relaxation, challenges the intellect)

Resources:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ (history/archeology, arts/culture, science/nature, people/places)
http://www.metmuseum.org/ (fine art, art history)
http://discovermagazine.com/ (technology, physics/math, environment, mind/brain)
“Three Levels of Power” by Carolyn Myss – tribal, individual, symbolic – Sounds True CD
“The Creative Fire” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD – myths/stories on creativity – Sounds True CD

Emotional Body

Our emotions are connected to our mental body – how we use our brain and intelligence. But the emotional body measures the intensity of how and what we think at any given moment. It’s our barometer for how we view our relationships, including the relationship we have with ourselves, and all the experiences we create and encounter on life’s journey. Our ego is the combined feeling, thinking aspect of ourselves – the “I” that distinguishes itself from the selves of others. The ego doesn’t always see things the way they really are, sometimes filtering life through the lens of past experience. We can become emotionally present and vibrantly alive!

Rate:
 Feelings about our self (describe – who and what are we?)
 Feelings about family (relatives)
 Feelings about intimate relationship/partner (if in one)
 Feelings about friends (include co-workers and classmates)

Resources:
http://www.healingtrauma.com/ Peter A. Levine, PhD – healing trauma (includes PTSD) – books/CD’s
http://www.eckharttolle.com/ – “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle – book/CD
“The Radiant Coat” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD – myths/stories on life/ death – Sounds True CD
“The Faithful Gardener” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD – tale about that which can never die - CD
“The Fear Standard” by Triza Schultz – types of fear and healing process – book

Spiritual Body

We are spiritual beings having a human physical experience on 3rd dimension earth. A spiritual approach to life helps us balance out who we really are, use our inner resources of intuition, power of discernment beyond judgment, and high sense of moral values and integrity to navigate through life with compassion and respect for all living things. We recognize everything is related and connected. A strong spiritual base lifts us and guides us through the best and worst life can offer. People connected strongly with their spiritual selves and inner resources are not afraid of living or dying. (This does not refer to religious dogmas that instill fear)

Rate:
 Meditation (quiet time; practice listening/observing in silence without interference)
 Prayer and contemplation (talking and listening to the Divine; commune with Nature)
 Spiritual community (join others in spiritual celebration/ritual; prayer; music, etc.)
 Ritual (light candles; affirmations; create a special alter; express gratitude/thankful, etc)

Resources:
http://www.eckharttolle.com/ “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle – awakening your life’s purpose – book/CD’s
“The Red Shoes” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD – torment/recovery of soul life – Sounds True CD
http://www.myss.com/ “Anatomy of the Spirit” by Carolyn Myss – Book or CD
“Three Levels of Power” by Carolyn Myss – tribal, individual, symbolic – Sounds True CD
http://www.sonaichoquette.com/ “The Psychic Pathway” by Sonia Choquette – book/CD

What aspect of the Self is calling out for radical kindness? How do we envision ourselves taking advantage of the spiritual push of 2011 to creatively transform our lives, invoking the changes we truly desire in our heart of hearts? The Universe is helping. Now is the time. Engage!

Affirmation for this month – Kindness
I am gentle to myself and to all I share my life with on Mother Earth. I freely give compassion to all whose paths will meet with my path, today.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2011 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Magical Essential Oils

2010-12-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

“For one believeth that he may eat all things: another who is weak, eateth herbs.” ~ Bible

"There's a few things I've learned in life: always throw salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for good luck, and fall in love whenever you can."

~ William Shakespeare

May the essence of nature continue to enliven our spirits and delight the senses during this winter season of introspection and spiritual celebrations. The heavenly aromas of Pine, Cinnamon, Orange, and Juniper are but a few of the scents that fill our homes this time of year.

Essential oils, also identified as nature’s living energy and nature’s medicine, are derived from flowers, trees, roots, leaves, shrubs, seeds, fruit, and bushes. They are the extremely pure volatile liquids that are extracted via steam distillation – much more concentrated and potent than dry herbs. They truly are the essence of the plant’s life force itself whose qualities have been treasured for thousands of years in cosmetics, religious/spiritual rituals, healing and soothing of the body, mind, and spirit, cooking, and the sensual beauty of fragrance adornment.

How do we know we’re purchasing real essential oils or products that contain the pure essence of nature instead of a chemical substitute? Dr. Kurt Schnaubelt, founder and Scientific Director of the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy said, "Essential oils should be called "essential oils." If names are used that sound evasive, such as "pure botanical perfume" or "pure fragrance essence," that is an indication that the supplier is aware that the oils are not true essential oils."

I can’t quite explain it, but an artificial scent doesn’t have that subtle, natural life quality of an essential oil, even though essential oils are powerfully fragrant. There is an underlying harshness my nose detects, plus I get an immediate sinus headache warning if I’m in the midst of a thick artificial scent. Pure essential oils don’t warn me. They simply invite me.

People who are sensitive and have a negative reaction to chemically based fragrances, will find pure essential oils a comfortable haven. Don’t forget our animal companions – our cats, dogs, and other creatures whose sense of smell is 50-100 times more powerful than ours. We tend to forget that they may also be allergic to chemicals and actually find perfumes offensive.

Consider passing by the artificially scented potpourri this winter season and mix up a batch of heavenly aromatics using combinations of Ginger root, Cinnamon stick, Clove, and Orange peel in a steaming pot of water on the stove, potpourri pot, or the same essential oils in a diffuser. Bring the garden herbs into the home with an aromatic mixture of fresh Rosemary, Bay Leaf, Thyme, and Oregano sprigs or essential oils.

Extend the fragrance of holiday pine and juniper boughs with a couple of drops of Pine and Juniper essential oil directly on a branch or two as needed.

Tired of department store chemical perfumes? Create your own special scent by using a drop or two of Lavender and Orange essential oils for a clean, calming scent. Go a little earthy and add a drop of Lavender to your wrists and neck with a drop of warm, earthy Patchouli oil between your heart and navel. Men and women can use combinations of Pine, Cedar, Sandalwood, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Sage, Patchouli, Myrrh, and Lemon oils. Explore the varieties of essential oils and discover the scent that your body and senses are calling out for! The environment will also thank you.

Beyond our desire for uplifting, soothing, sensual enhancement, all essential oils have powerful and specific medicinal qualities, so creating a fragrance for a day and simultaneously administering a needed remedy for the balance of body, mind, and spirit becomes doubly effective . I do this frequently, based on what I sense my needs are and what I know the oil’s medicinal qualities are.

Here are some tips to pass along. I may use up to a combination of four oils, one drop at a time, sparingly, as they are powerful. Also, where applying oil directly to the skin, test it out first, to see where there may be a skin sensitivity. Some people may need to transport the essential oil in a small amount of natural unscented lotion.

Calming support
Chamomile – Sweet, herbaceous – Relaxing, soothing nervous tension of mind and body
Lavender – Floral, clean, sweet, herbaceous – Releases tension headaches, relaxing, soothing
Orange – Rich, fruity – Clean, fresh, relaxing, soothing
Peppermint – Clean, fresh, minty – Soothes digestion

A drop of Lavender oil on the top base of the neck or temples for tension headache. The inside wrists, heart area, above the naval, and palm of hands are emotional centers where applying essential oils have a direct effect.

Cleanse/Purify/Protect Aura
Sage – Spicy, herbaceous, warm – Cleanses, purifies, eliminates imbalanced, negative energy
White Angelica blend – Rich, sweet, warm – Enhances body’s aura, feeling security and protection against negative energy

Sage - Eliminating imbalanced, negative, overwhelming energy – whether a person or place, or as a healing practioner working with other people’s energy centers – a drop in the palm of the hands and rub together, especially where washing hands isn’t immediately available. I also rub a drop on the bottom of my feet to purify from head to toe and additional grounding – eliminating that space-cadet feeling of overwhelming or imbalanced external energy particular to empathic people.

White Angelica – Rub a drop on both shoulders and a drop on the center between the heart and navel. White Angelica is a product blend of Young Living Essential Oils. (See Resources below)

Refresh/Purify Home or Work Environment
Lemon – Strong citrus – Cleanses, purifies, revitalizing
Lemongrass – Earthy, light citrus – Balancing, stimulating, refreshing
Sage – Spicy, herbaceous, warm – Purifies, cleanses, eliminates imbalanced energy

For cleansing a room or home, use a diffuser with the oil for entire range dispensing.

Colds/ Flu/Pain
Eucalyptus – Penetrating, refreshing – Upper respiratory congestion relief, soothes muscles
Cypress – Evergreen, herbaceous, fresh – Sore throats, stuffy nose, coughs
Oregano – Herbaceous, fresh – Antifungal, upper respiratory congestion relief
Pain Relief Magic blend – Warm, penetrating, fresh – Fibromyalgia, muscle injury, headache, spasms
Rosemary – Herbaceous, fresh – Upper respiratory infections, flu

Pain Relief Magic – Wide spectrum therapeutic – A product blend of Original Swiss Aromatics. Used directly on body (See Resources below)

Use a diffuser with the oil for entire room/area dispensing. Eucalyptus is especially soothing in a hot bath or sauna and throughout the night in a humidifier or diffuser for congestion relief and enhanced sleep comfort.

Strength/Enlivening/Grounding
Cedar – Warm, woody, balsamic – Strengthening, soothing, grounding
Douglas Fir – Pine, crisp – Spiritually realigning, grounding, soothes muscles, enlivening
Pine – Evergreen, fresh, herbaceous – Healing emotions, enlivening, soothes muscles, grounding
Juniper – Woody, clean, penetrating – Grounding, cleansing, enlivening

Rub a drop or two up the base of the spine for grounding and strengthening the body alignment to the earth. Also rub a drop on the spine from between the shoulder blades to the base of the neck to complete the strengthening and grounding of the body and chakra energy centers. I suggest using only two of these oils at a time.

Enhance Creativity/Sensuality
Jasmine – floral, sweet, soft
Patchouli – Earthy, musky, exotic
Rosewood – Warm, woody floral
Tangerine – Tangy, sweet, uplifts spirit
Ylang Ylang – floral, sweet, soft

Of these, subjectivity rules! This is a part of my personal list of favorites. Experiment, and discover what essential oils take you to those special feelings and places of imagination. There are with these, as with all essential oils, specific medicinal qualities for the mind, body and spirit.

Enhance Spiritual Sensitivity/Connection
Frankincense – Sweet, warm, balsamic – Centering, elevating the mind, stimulating
Myrrh – Rich, smoky, balsamic – Aids in meditation, restorative, uplifting
Sandalwood – Warm, rich, woody – Relaxing, aids in meditation
Spikenard – Earthy, exotic, musky – Aids in meditation - Divine Mother/Feminine energy

Rub a drop on the third eye chakra area between the eyebrows and one on the heart center. Most of us have heard of Frankincense, Myrrh, and Sandalwood, but Spikenard isn’t commonly known. It is among the sacred oils, prized in India, and during the time of Christ, was used by Mary of Bethany to anoint the feet of Jesus before the last supper.

We can all live healthier, balanced lives using the wonder of Mother Earth’s treasures. I’ve only briefly presented a few essentials. Have a joyous holiday season with the precious gifts of nature!

Resources
http://www.originalswissaromatics.com/
http://www.pacificinstituteofaromatherapy.com/
http://www.youngliving.com/
http://healingscents.net/learn/history-essential-oils-around-the-world

Live in Beauty and be well – Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Dreams Guide Our Lives - Part III

2010-11-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Part III – Dream Stories – Going Deeper

"A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read"

– The Talmud

"Dreams are illustrations... from the book your soul is writing about you"

– Marsha Norman

The art of interpreting dreams can’t be mastered from books alone. Dream books are an important tool for learning the art of general dream symbols and archetypes, which became lost in the modern world, but whose wisdom is now reclaiming a renaissance as we remember our spiritual existence is an essential part of who we are.

Yet, it's in the journey of discovering, learning, and knowing the “Self” which is both our higher spiritual aspect with intuitive inner resources and profound core values and truth, and our humanity that comes wrapped in the physical ego and five senses, our true emotions, memories and experiences, where we'll derive the most essential and unique significance of our personal library of dream symbols and dream experiences. Dream work is a most valuable practice in bringing both aspects of ourselves together. I cannot think of a more powerful combination to use for the endeavor.

It bears repeating that learning the general meaning of a dream symbol is one thing, but personal emotional/mental experience can add other layers of meaning. For example, the carnation flower may be associated with sad feelings and memories of death and burial. Yet to another, the carnation is a sweet fragrance and memories of carefree childhood summers. So, learning the deep resource of general symbols and archetypes is essential – the other essential is in knowing oneself, both the positive side and embracing our shadow or negative programs so we can deal with integrity and honesty in our dream work.

I would be wary of people who say they interpret dreams for us. More accurately, an experienced dream worker can guide us to uncover hidden meaning by asking the right questions. When a client has asked for help with dream interpretation, my job is to guide them into asking the right questions of themselves, and perhaps address key areas and symbols that an inexperienced eye doesn’t yet see.

Now for some fun! We’re going to review actual dream clips that have been analyzed using dream symbols. Additional data is provided for context and deeper meaning for each dream.

Creative - Spiritual work

Dream # 1 – The Sea Lion

I saw a beautiful sea lion. We both gazed into each other’s eyes. What large, deep, liquid eyes those were!

Seal or sea lion: Active imagination; creativity and lucid dreaming. They reflect the ability to bring the creative forces out of the inner and set in motion in the outer; from water to land-they give birth on land.

Eyes: Both eyes mean seeing with clarity; eyes represent the creativity of the Mother Goddess; how we see things; enlightenment; understanding

Note: This was a wonderful and confirming dream for me as I had been preparing to begin a new creative writing journey, I’d been incubating ideas for a new art project, and was preparing a finished manuscript with art work to present to publishers for publication. So many things that had been brewing inside me were ready to be created in the physical world and I was clear about what I wanted to do with these.

Dream # 2 – Help With An Art Project

A man said to me, “You like purple don’t you?” He presented two bolts of cloth for me to look at – one of deep rich purple, the other an equally rich orange.

Man: A creative male aspect of self; guide

Cloth: The materials with which you create your life – note color

Purple: The personality or instincts sublimated in the service of spirit; intuition; wisdom; color of the gods/royalty; humility; devotion; healing abilities; truth

Orange: Flames; creativity; balancing creative expression; cutting through/penetrating; female strength; energy; peace

Note: I was close to finishing an art project creating a mandala with oil pencil. I’d finished drawing the 6 lemniscates (elongated figure 8 infinity symbol) that encircled the inner main part, and had been wondering what colors to use to fill in the design. Upon awakening from this dream, I knew I would use both purple and orange. The title of my mandala was “Wholeness Mandala.” It was to represent me - my journey toward wholeness in body, mind, and spirit.

Dream # 3 – Catching Fish

I saw two beautiful, shining orange transparent fish swimming in the air in front of me. I was delighted and gently caught them in my hands.

Fish: Spiritual food; two fish also represent the astrological sign of Pisces which I am; content of the unconscious; nourishing influences of the unconscious contents that have the ability to penetrate the depths of its watery domain; penetration of one’s own unconscious; the Self or inner Christ.

Two: Two of the same creature/animal means movement or change in the unconscious soon to be available to the conscious. The number two: Duality and balance; any opposite function such as inner/outer, conscious/unconscious, masculine/feminine, beginning/end

Shiny: Related to symbolisms of sun/light/reflections; awareness; consciousness

Orange: Flames; creativity; balancing creative expression; cutting through/penetrating; female strength; energy; peace

Transparent: Ability to perceive and understand situation; motives are obvious

Note: My creative work, being also my spiritual work and purpose, is being more consciously recognized as such. I’m working on joyfully bringing that into consciousness and balance.

Body - Healing

Dream # 1 – Growing Strength

I drew several pictures of a tree. Most specifically was the trunk of the tree. The trunk that I drew over and over was wide, strong, and straight. I drew some with new branches or limbs and also began adding leaves.

Draw: Create, map out your direction; plan; creative expression; emergence of unconscious material

Tree: You and your state of psychological and physical health; archetypal symbol of the Self and its process of individuation as represented by growth and branching out

Trunk: Backbone; strength; source of kundalini power.

Limbs: Talents and abilities; opportunities for self-expression

Leaves: Many manifestations of your gifts; the results of flowering or producing in the world.

Note: I have been actively working with several methods for healing my body from Lyme disease with my Lyme Specialist, which has been mainly centered along the spine of my back. Some of the greatest healing and renewal has also been the birth of creative ideas and developing new abilities/areas of self-expression with my work and personal life which have greatly strengthened me – a process of individuation.

Dream # 2 – A Treatment Plan

I was in a hospital room. Three friendly female nurses were also present. We laughed and the atmosphere was one of calm and ease. I was laying on my stomach, back bare and exposed. I saw my doctor’s face clearly – a middle age man, moustache, wire-rimmed glasses, early 60’s, slightly round, kind, focused, knowledgeable, and who appeared a bit old-fashioned. We talked to each other briefly, although I don’t recall everything. He gave me white pills to swallow. I asked him if I needed to take the pills to heal. He said, “Yes.”

Hospital: Healing center; emotional, mental, physical rejuvenation; an existing medical situation; an upcoming medical experience

Three: The generative force, creative power and forward movement; trinity, mind-body-spirit harmony; three symbolizes a stepping stone toward four or wholeness; three has associations with the past, present, and knowledge of all things

Nurse: Healing ability; feminine aspect of care and nurturing; caretaker/healer aspect of self

Back: The human back houses the spinal column, conductor of kundalini power or life force; strength of character; spiritual power; your stance in the world – your strengths or burdens

Nude (bare/exposed): Totally exposed; not hiding who or what you are; openness; vulnerability

Doctor: Inner healer; higher healing self; guidance; own inner authority

White: Illumination, newness, awareness, light and life, joy, purity, sacredness. Whitening is the third stage of the alchemical process and represents new knowing

Pills/Medicine: Pills as medicine represent healing; getting well physically or psychologically

Note: I’d been discussing an additional plan of medical treatment with my Lyme Specialist and had just begun the initial antibiotic treatment that would progress into an aggressive plan of pulsing high dosages as my body would permit. We were happy that my back/spine was getting stronger and taking all the necessary steps needed to care for and nurture myself. It was good to see real progress. The dream doctor was my spirit guide Percival, confirming what I was doing was on track and needed – he used to be a doctor in another life experience and is one of my guides.

Emotional/Mental Healing

Dream # 1 – Tyrant – Last Showdown

I stood in the open doorway of a room listening and watching as my mother talked, she sitting in a chair in front of other family members. The others were silent as she was the only one talking. I walked into the room and confronted her. I exclaimed, “Why are you so hateful? Why are you so mean-spirited?” As I confronted her with these questions with all the courage and power within me, her appearance began to change.

She began to dissolve into a black mass, edging her way backwards from me, melting into a puddle out of the chair. I kept slowly stepping forward, and finally I proclaimed, “That is the question you need to ask yourself! Ask yourself why!” As the melted black mass which was her, moved back and away from me, I turned to the others, the family who had been listening to her, and in a loud commanding tone and sweeping gesture of my arm, said, “Come on! Get out of here now! Come on!”

They got up and came with me. My mother was gone.

Open: The way is being shown; things are getting clearer; a way out; movement; progress

Door: Opportunity for self-discovery; a transition symbol leading to new or different perceptions

Room: Aspect of self. Rooms, and the actions within them, often represent a particular characteristic of the dreamer or a particular relationship

Mother: Archetype of the feminine principle; older, more wiser and mature female aspect of self; relationship with or spirit of mother;

Chair: The chair of power – authority/leader; comfort; support; refuge

Family: Integration of roles or aspects of self, although it could show the dynamics of a relationship of a particular family member

Talking: Messages; teachings; verbalization; communication

Melt/Dissolve: Transformation; change; creating new relationships and situations; not having enough will power or endurance

Black: Mystery; unknown; unconscious; unenlightened; emotional darkness; repressed. In alchemy, black or blackening is the first color in the transformation process and holds within it the promise of something to come, i.e. growth, change, insight

Note: This was a confirmation, a dream for preparation, and strength of clarity. A decision was soon made to complete a journey with my mother. It was over. The choice had come after years of futile attempts at negotiations, compromises, and boundaries. The action in physical reality was a quietly focused withdrawal. The action also became opportunities for forgiveness and a compassion that can only germinate when we have disengaged and removed ourselves from the struggle of negative energy – no matter who it is. The growth benefit is the re-establishment of self-empowerment, strength, and core inner truth. A heightened spiritual awareness is realizing that relationship challenges are our greatest teachers, difficult as the process can be.

I hope these dreams and the art of dream analysis will open doors for others. A great journey awaits those who desire to consciously plunge into the dream language of the spiritual realm where endless gems are found for navigating all facets of our earth life. Dream work is endlessly fascinating and always life affirming.

Next Month: Using Essential Oils

Live in Beauty and be well – Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Dreams Guide Our Lives - Part II

2010-10-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

Part II – The Physics of Dreams – Using Basic Dream Symbols

“Dreams say what they mean. They just don’t say it in daytime language”

- Gail Godwin

“Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakes.”

- Carl G Jung

Gravity, Time and Space

The dream dimension, also known as the spiritual 4th dimension, or astral realm, doesn’t play by the same rules of physics as our physical 3rd dimension, which has made it difficult for people to embrace its validity. One reason for this difficulty is the spiritual dream dimension is not married to gravity as is the earth’s physical dimension is. We clever human beings well know what would happen if we jumped out of a flying airplane without a parachute…

Yet, in our dreams, we know how it feels to fly freely. Upon waking, we can rationalize that it was meaningless because it had no substance in physical reality since we obviously can’t fly. During our adventures in the astral dream realm, our spiritual bodies do fly and manifest anywhere instantly.

To make matters more conflicted for our materially focused intellect, the dream realm doesn’t utilize time as we create and categorize it here in 3rd dimensional earth, where we use calendars to track our days and history, where we’ve been very creative in concisely tracking our hours and minutes by clock time. We’re completely organized and that’s mostly a good thing, living the way we live in this physical world. But the past, present, and future collapse into each other and are readily accessible in the dream dimension as living in the present moment is to us now – as easily as turning the page of a book either back several pages or forward a few.

Our spiritual selves are truly time travelers. Aren’t we brilliant! Our spiritual selves or our super-conscious minds don’t need to be convinced of this. Those broader aspects of ourselves know inclusively who we are. It’s our conscious ego minds that have been trained to limit what we perceive as important in life – what we include and what we exclude.

Outer Senses vs. Inner Senses

Another essential reason the dream dimension seems so illusory to many people is the expansion and use of all our senses – not just the five human senses of touch, smell, hearing, visual sight, and taste, but our inner senses and inner vision. Those inner resources are our intuition, inner knowing or knowledge, and telepathic communication and inner sight – psychic intuitive senses are a permanent part of us as spiritual beings.

Many people haven’t developed their intuitive muscles in our modern society. Instead, we learned to concentrate only on our outer physical senses as human beings and excluded our inner spiritual part that go along with the territory of who we are, whose knowledge and intelligence expand beyond the 3rd dimension. So, having a dream about talking to a deceased loved one where we didn’t actually see them can tend to make an uneducated dreamer feel like it could not have occurred. To speak to someone we believe, one has to be face-to-face or at least via a piece of technology, like a cell phone!

The language of Dream Symbols

One of the most perplexing factors that create another roadblock to the validity of dreams is the language of the spiritual dream realm. We don’t directly communicate everything in words as much as we communicate in symbols. Words can be very limiting where symbols speak volumes.

Our dream symbol language is a language we simply need to get reacquainted with. The ancient wisdom teachers were very adept with dream symbology. They taught people the basic landscape of dream symbols, and each individual learned to use those tools to work with and interpret their own dreams, creating their personal dream symbol library. People commonly practiced the art of deciphering and reading the messages of the soul.

The art of dream interpretation has returned because we’re remembering we are spiritual beings first and live a physical world. We’re re-learning to blend our spiritual selves into a higher state of balance and harmony within the physical realm. Working with our dreams is a key contributor in helping us to live as enlightened humans, empowering us to consciously navigate through the ups and downs of our life’s journey.

Salvador Dali, one of our greatest surrealist painters of the 20th century, was a master at expressing his spiritual dream excursions and interpreting his personal dream symbol language onto canvas. It can be a lot of fun to peruse through some surrealist painter’s works on the Internet or art museum to develop symbol perspective.

A Few Basic Dream Symbols

Here are a few basic dream symbols to become familiar with. Notice how a symbol can expand and enrich the well of deeper meaning!

Water
The unconscious; emotions or emotional energy; fertility; the living essence of the psyche; the flow of life energy

Color
Rate of vibration, harmony within your energy field; colors have different vibrations and light properties, and represent different levels of awareness; colors can symbolize different moods or emotions; the forces of light and darkness (Specific colors have specific meaning)

People
Different aspects of the self; known people can represent a specific aspect or attribute of your relationship with them, or may be the spiritual presence of the individual; unknown people can represent unrecognized/unknown aspects of self

Vehicle
Your body; your passage/progress through life; your mode of self-expression and operation

House
Self; where you are in the house and what is going on provides insight into the many facets of your life; dark or unknown rooms represent unknown or un-explored parts of the self (different rooms such as kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room have different meanings)

Animal
Instinctual/biological part of self attuned to survival and nature; the type of animal determines feminine or masculine aspects; physical, sexual nature; symbolize different stages of psychic growth and development; spiritual presence of the animal

Number
Archetypal symbols representing the self, the dynamics of the psyche in the stages of growth and development; each number has a spiritual meaning, a special vibration, a special message according to its meaning (Each number has a specific meaning)

Here’s an actual dream clip using the vehicle symbol:

Body Needs A Tune Up

I was in the driver’s seat of my car. The car involuntarily inched backwards. I was disturbed by this and tried to remedy it by driving it forward, yet the car would again slowly move backward a few inches. This continual forward and backward movement really concerned me. I drove the car up an automotive ramp in the repair section of an auto shop for someone to look at.

Analysis/Result:

The dream told me that something was out of balance with my body and needed looking into. It also confirmed my recent concern about a particular hormone adjustment. There were actually two things that my Lyme Specialist helped me resolve. One was getting that hormone level back into balance and the other was an herbal supplement that helped increase and balance out my blood circulation. My body is running much more smoothly now. Woohoo!

The dream symbols listed above are just a few bones from the library of symbology and archetypal information available. We’re so fortunate to have many dream books to choose from to assist us in becoming dream weavers who unlock the messages and gifts from the soul.

Working with dreams is as exciting as hunting for treasure, as interesting as a great mystery or adventure movie, and as profoundly helpful as a therapist and spiritual guide, because our dreams are truly all of that! There’s no going back once we’ve begun to unlock the messages of our dreams.

It’s important to collect at least two dream dictionaries because no one book on dreams can contain all the information that’s available. Here are a few resources to get started:

Resources:

Books
Cloud Nine – A Dreamer’s Dictionary – Sandra A. Thomson
The Dream Book – Symbols For Self Understanding – Betty Bethards
Dream Dictionary – An A-Z Guide To Understand Your Unconscious Mind – Tony Crisp

Magazine and Internet
Dream Network Journal – http://dreamnetwork.net/ - quarterly magazine/on-line services
http://www.dreammoods.com/ – On-line dream dictionary and forum

Next Month: Part III – Dream Stories – Going Deeper

Live in Beauty and be well – Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Dreams Guide Our Lives

2010-09-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

Part I – What Are Dreams – Why Should We Care?

“If the dream is a translation of waking life,

waking life is also a translation of the dream.”

- Rene Magritte

Daylight hours are beginning to shorten, heralding the coming of the Autumn Equinox. The fall and winter months mark those times our bodies tend to follow Mother Nature’s clock to wind down. While looking forward to nestling into our favorite cozy chair and warm blanket, lingering over a mug of hot tea – rather like a bear preparing for hibernation – why not also begin a new journey without ever leaving home? Journaling dreams...

Sharing and understanding dreams has historically been practiced by all indigenous cultures, healers and mystics, all religious and spiritual leaders, and utilized by kings and queens the world over. Dream work was the common knowledge of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and Tibetans.

The Greek philosopher Plato, called the dream realm “the metaxu” or “the between” where experiences in the spiritual dream realm and physical waking dimension were equally valid because they reflected each other. We are indeed spiritual beings. We simply have a physical body. Since ancient times, the symbolism of dreams was studied, taught, documented and practiced.

Carl G. Jung, founder of analytical psychology and considered one of the great masters of dream study and analysis, believed that dreams were the themes of human experience interlaced with the past, present, and future of the eternal soul. Popular author, speaker, and physician, Bernie Siegel, MD., is one of our modern day medical professionals who incorporated the practice of utilizing dream information as clues to health maintenance. He inquired about his patient’s dreams because he understood the valuable information dreams have in playing a role as a reference to health and well being.

When our conscious minds and bodies rest in slumber, our greater conscious soul personality – our spiritual selves – continues living, and traveling easily through space and time. We don’t stop actively expressing or creating just because our physical bodies are at rest. Interested?

Who Creates a dream?

Our eternal spiritual selves are the creators and the stars in our dreams. Ancestors, family, and friends from past and present will participate. We don’t do it all alone. The cast of characters that can play a role is an unlimited resource.

The stage of another time, place, and culture along with the necessary window dressing of clothes, mannerisms, lifestyle, décor, and food will appear to get our attention, and will usually point out backup resource data that applies to something in our current life – in other words, a past link is being pointed out for a present situation. We’ll retrieve past knowledge and meet past people that help us on our present journey. We can also view future possibilities.

As we interact with life, we learn from our personal experience as well as carry information passed down from others which develops into our beliefs, and how we define the world around us. All can be referenced in the dream or astral realm.

One person’s knowledge and experiences may be different from another’s which is also reflected in the dream dimension. Therefore, the meaning of a person’s dream symbols can be different from another person’s. For example, one individual associates the carnation flower with death because carnations were prominent in a mortuary and burial site. Carnations in her dreams represent transition and sadness. Another person may view carnations as beautiful pinwheels of color, reminders of vases of carnations in the house during carefree summers as a child. In both examples, the flowers are carnations, yet those flowers are perceived very differently!

Two Dreams That Set The Course To Re-Discover Old Talents/Gifts On A New Journey

I said goodbye to the human resources sector of the telecommunications industry and put my beloved 106 year old Victorian home up for sale. I was drawn to leave a lifestyle and work behind in Colorado to relocate to New Mexico – a place where I’d previously traveled, but personally knew no one.

The house was just placed on the market when I had this first significant dream:

I was standing in my Denver home next to a wooden table in the kitchen while my real estate agent was seated near me. I gazed out the window as I spoke. I told him that I’d been feeling pulled and I had to go to Japan even though I loved Colorado. He listened intently to me. End of dream.

This dream occurred within five months after my move to New Mexico providing a clue and a connective link for my journey:

I stood outside the door of a modest wooden house feeling great anticipation. The vegetation was lush and green. It was summer and I recognized the place because I knew the house was located on the outskirts of a wooded area.

Shortly after I knocked, an old man opened the door widely, as if expecting me. I saw him clearly and easily recognized him as my friend and teacher. We both smiled with affection, happy in each other’s presence. The old teacher looked ancient yet vibrant with vitality. His warm brown eyes were quite almond shaped and shown with wisdom and love. His hair was long and white as was his beard. He wore a loose fitting robe and long brown outer jacket with long wide sleeves.

The old man stepped aside and gestured for me to enter. We understood each other and spoke few words. Upon entering, I saw three Asian children sitting side by side on the floor against a wall. Their black short hair was neatly trimmed the same, and I knew they were the old man’s new students. The children bowed to me smiling and I could see, were eager to meet me. We all sat on the floor and the children gathered close around us.

Once the exhilaration of our reunion had settled, my teacher told the children it was time to take me to another room. The children became excited all over again because they knew what was to come. They entered the adjacent room first and with the jubilance of a child’s enthusiasm, but with care, lifted a big piece of brown loosely woven fabric off a beautiful large rectangular black lacquer chest. I recognized instantly it was my chest and I’d returned to get it. The old man had taken care of it for me for a long time.

The chest was intricately painted and had beautifully cut pieces of mother of pearl shell imbedded in the design. I’d almost forgotten how magnificent it as. I was happy.

I was in the cooking area early in the morning, helping the old man prepare a meal. The morning light glittered through a little vertical rectangular window on the left wall above the work bench in the kitchen while we prepared our food. The children were still asleep. Teacher stood in front of the wooden work bench cutting the food while I stood in front of a heavy black iron stove top next to the bench. We were enjoying each other’s company in silence as we’d done many times. A beam of sunlight danced over the top of the oil I was heating in a shallow and roughly diamond-shaped metal cooking container.

I knew in our silence that I’d cooked with him in that same cooking area and I felt deeply content. I also knew I was going to leave again – this time with the chest. End of dream.

The overall benefit of dream work is an awareness of our journey of growth and purpose as human beings. We discover we are not alone – we are not separate and disconnected from time and space as we construct it in this world. We instead, realize our connection to everything. We remember that everything is connected to and supporting us.

Begin to recall dreams by speaking a conscious intention to remember every night before bed. Purchase a special journal to record dreams, placing it and a pen close to the bed to document upon waking. Amazing insights and guidance await us when we re-discover we are so much more than what we have believed and our inner resources are truly abundant, always present to help us on our earth journey. This is just the beginning.

Next Month: Part II – The Physics of Dreams – Using Basic Dream Symbols

Live in Beauty and be well – Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

7 Obstacles That Stop Change Toward Whole Health

2010-08-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

Just last week, I sat in one of the tranquil rooms at the Longevity Healthcare Center in San Luis Obispo, California, talking with owners Dr’s Pete and Sandy Muran about their mission in partnering with patients on the fairly new concept in the western medical community of addressing the “whole” person in the doctor’s office throughout the healing process – the body, the mind, and the spirit.

Being one of their patients healing from chronic Lyme disease, as well as a contributing writer for the emotional and spiritual health aspect on the Longevity website, I intimately know that educating their clients to embrace the whole health perspective is their passion. We’d had a brief discussion around some of the obstacles that stop people from making the lifestyle changes that would drive them forward with their desire for a vibrant life. Sandy said she asks clients to imagine what the results of their healing process looked like – some didn’t know.

Inhaling the soothing, warm aromas of lavender and cherry sage outside the front entrance as I left our meeting, ideas quickly began surfacing for my next article.

I rummaged through the files of my mind’s education, past observations, consultations, and most importantly – personal experiences in relationships with family and friends. I’ve come up with my top 7 obstacles that stop us in our tracts from making change toward a balanced healthy lifestyle:

1. Vision/Dream – Goal

If we don’t visualize or imagine what our goal is and what that would look and feel like, we haven’t begun. We must hold a dream, make a solid decision about pursuing it – think it, speak it, draw it, write it, sing it, dance it – whatever it takes to make it sacred. When we do this one step, we are engaging a powerful inner momentum that’s waiting to be manifest, one step at a time.

There has to be a hunger, a great desire, behind any realistic goal we could envision to create lasting change. There is a reason we want something. We ask ourselves, “Why do I want this?” “Do I really want this?” “How would this change my world?”

Knowing where we want to go is essential. Create a roadmap to the goal. It’s a journey of change! We all have to take a detour on a back road at times because unknown setbacks happen in life – those bumps in the road – but we get back onto the highway of our destination. Hold the dream. Hold the vision. Go with the flow toward the goal.

2. Action – Practice

We can talk about our dreams and our goals, and we can read all the books to educate ourselves, but if we don’t take action – if we don’t implement what we learn and incorporate what we want into a lifestyle – we’re only pipe dreaming.

When the action of ongoing practice starts to subside, we’re either no longer motivated to believe in what the dream once represented in our life, or we stopped because we lack the self-confidence and discipline to continue.

To truly want something, but not invest the time to change our lifestyle, reveals a lack of courage, plus it’s got to create some awful inner conflict. It takes two to three weeks of practice for something to become a habit.

Take on the mantle of excellence instead of perfection. Striving for excellence is simply doing the best we individually can do, and being honest with ourselves is our guiding light.

3. Support – Values

The people in our life – who do we work and socialize with? Does our social and physical environment support our dreams and goals? Look around, and check whether the garden of our life needs weeding out. We may need to distance ourselves, create boundaries, or eliminate the problem all together, hopefully in a compassionate way. Counseling with a holistic approach may be needed. Hanging onto people, places and things that continually bring us down is one of the fastest routes to lifestyle change failure.

Ask, “Who motivates me.” “Who are my best role models? “Who celebrates my successes?” “Who loves me for who I am?”

Beautiful, loving spiritual values and spiritual practice provide an immoveable foundation of support, strength, sense of purpose and meaning, joy, faith, and courage. A lack of inner spiritual compass tends to result in feelings of isolation detached from a guided purpose and suppression of natural intuition. Ask, “What values do I hold sacred?”

4. Fear

Become conscious of resistance to our dream. Resistance is that negative mind talk and restless behavior that the small ego or shadow side our ourselves (from past fear-based patterns of negative programming) wants to place in our way to sabotage us and take away our focus from what our Higher Self really wants. One remedy to bypass that mind game is to consciously create a new game. We ask, “What would happen if I didn’t listen to the small ego and really did what I want to do?”

We discover what we’re really made of when we consciously say NO to the worn out echo of that bothersome negative voice. When we become successful at transcending our fears, we gain a precious treasure we’ve uncovered from the depths of a courageous spirit. No one can ever take that away from us!

5. Impatience

Most lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight. We can change and focus our minds instantly, but we can forget about finding the magic pill that eliminates any work on our behalf. Notice the desire to speed up or force something – nip it in the bud of conscious awareness.

Taking on too much is also overwhelming, stressful, and usually creates setbacks. Lasting lifestyle change happen one step at a time. Loosen up. Go with the flow – we can still maintain focus. Ask, “What am I afraid of losing control of?” “How would it feel to allow myself to wait without worry?” “How would it feel to ask for help?”

6. Perspective/Gratitude

Lack of positive perspective creates a distorted picture of our journey with change that wears down our convictions. Look up and see the overall picture of where we’ve come in the process. Celebrate the tiny gains as well as the more obvious ones. Ask, “What has changed since last month?”

How we view the journey is as important as how we walk it. The destination is nice, but expressing gratitude every day for something is pure spiritual medicine. And it’s a joyful thing, bringing recognition that the world is indeed abundant and good. We find there is much more to be grateful for than there is to be troubled about.

7. Play

Too much work and no play create a weary, dull, colorless, life. Regular times of fun for the joy and adventure of it is our fountain of youth. Lifestyle change can also be fun if only we need a sense of humor to laugh at ourselves. Laugh and play with the journey. It’s in our nature to be a child at heart. When the spirit of the child lives within us, not much can dampen our trust in the mystery of life.

Affirmation for this month – Goals

I am energized with the knowledge that the Divine guides and encourages me to take right action in whatever I aspire to do, today. Forming the objectives of my heart’s desire becomes a brilliant reality.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

2010-07-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Check out this wonderful article on the healing qualities of Castor Oil packs!

The Miracle of Castor Oil Packs by Merryn José
http://merliannews.com/Merryn_s_Musings_8/The_Miracle_of_Castor_Oil_Packs_131.shtml

The Natural State Of Meditation

2010-07-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

Imagine a time in human history when the practice of meditation was spontaneous, and where it must have been an integral part of the natural spiritual way of living in a slower paced and nature oriented existence. We were consciously aware of our bodies’ ebb and flow with the seasons of the earth, and paced our thoughts, work, and goals according to those seasonal seeding/rebirth, growth/harvest, and death/hibernation cycles. We knew when to walk fast and when to slow down.

Being so entwined within earth’s nature provided us a deep understanding that our natural selves were also an integral part of the whole of nature’s life. Separation from nature, from having our feet off raw soil, wasn’t something people could comprehend.

In our current fast-paced, high-tech data driven world, we often feel ourselves separated from the feel of the earth and our natural selves. We live in this amazing place in human evolution where technology helps people come together globally to intimately share information about our rich and diverse cultures, and news and experiences about our day to day lives. Friendships and sharing information can begin between several people on several continents in an afternoon on our laptop computers! It’s extraordinary.

Yet, we can pull ourselves apart from our internal rhythmic connection with the earth and the universal energy source. White noise can become the backdrop of modern life. We push too hard for the future, and we’re processing more data than ever, so it becomes essential to balance our lives by seeking out and creating a special oasis in the midst of all the traffic – where we can plug-in to the source of our most natural being through meditation.

We now tend to have difficulty recovering our spiritual center of serenity, soak in the delicious silence of inner peace and meet up again with who we really are. Meditation accesses the inner voice inside of us – that’s the intuitive spiritual part of us that is simply an I Am presence.

Like taking out the trash, our minds need to also be emptied of background noise and thoughts to connect to the core of who we are. Speaking on meditation, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who is the head of state and the spiritual leader of Tibet said, “If a person’s basic state of mind is serene and calm, then it is possible for this inner peace to overwhelm a painful physical experience. One the other hand, if someone is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any form of emotional distress, then even if he or she happens to be enjoying physical comforts, he will not really be able to experience the happiness that these could bring.”

Many of us secretly feel anxiety about meditation, having tried and given up because it became frustrating. Perhaps we wanted to hurry the process, wanting immediate results or got intimidated with the variety of books and practices on how to meditate.

Eckhart Tolle, one of today’s most popular spiritual teachers and bestselling author of The Power of Now and A New Earth, came to my rescue several years ago. He described mediation as a state of simply being here now – no thoughts of the past or the future. He wrote in his second book, Stillness Speaks, “A true spiritual teacher does not have anything to teach in the conventional sense of the word, does not have anything to give or add to you, such as new information, beliefs, or rules of conduct. The only function of such a teacher is to help you remove that which separates you from the truth.”

Here are the basic steps Tolle taught me about remembering how to be my natural, spiritual self through meditation:

Basic Steps Of Meditation

A quiet place to sit – no interruptions
Observe feeling the lungs and diaphragm expand as you inhale gently and deeply a few times
Observe feeling the body relax
Continue to be consciously awareness of the body by observing, listening, and feeling the body as it relaxes, with the natural rhythm of the breath
With eyes closed, move your attention away from the body and begin to inwardly observe, attention gently focused inward – into the present moment
Observe, allowing thoughts to float by like clouds - detached from those thoughts and emotions – don’t run after them. The mind is emptying itself.
Silence comes. You are now fully in the present. Just be in the silence, observing, watching

Congratulations! You’ve become a mirror. In becoming a mirror, you’ve become a meditator.

There is no time limit to get to the silence. In the beginning, it may take 5-10 minutes for pent up thoughts and attached emotions to empty themselves. There’s no race. No test. As we develop a daily practice, only 20–30 minutes a day, we notice that the stream of thoughts lessen and we’re able to move directly into the present point of silent observation.

I’ve also added two YouTube links – a fun and humorous one of Eckhart himself, on What is Meditation? and another on Inner-Body Guided Meditation:

What Is Meditation? – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bAXwBbCtHg
Eckhart Tolle’s Inner-Body Meditation – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaVMZf91d7w

Meditation refreshes and renews us. It’s a stress reliever and anxiety destroyer while giving us space to be fully in the present. It directs us to our deepest spiritual self – our most natural self. It empties us to be filled up again with renewed energy, connecting us to an experience of the Universal Source of deepening joy and love. And within that space, the quiet voice of our inner guidance and angels can be heard to help us seek answers and solve our problems.

Place meditation as a priority in your mind-body-spirit health regime. Remember, it takes two weeks for something new in our lives to become a habit. You’ll be a meditator in no time!

Affirmation for this month – Silence

Today, I create a quiet place and leave external noise behind. All thoughts float away. I knock on the door of the Divine, and all I want to do is listen and be renewed in the stillness.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Nursing Homes-Lifting The Veil

2010-06-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

Nursing Home Life

The circle of life from birth to death is a mysterious and sacred journey. We freely speak about and participate in the celebration of birth. We honor the beginning of new life. Yet, we don’t openly embrace nor truly honor the final stage of life – the transition toward physical death. The transition stage of the elderly and the ill is equally sacred. Whether we’ve lived a long or a short life, we take with us something of the greatest value. We will have touched someone else’s life. We all will have been students and teachers in some capacity for each other in this beautiful tapestry of existence. When we view life from its broadest to its smallest terms, we discover all things will meet and eventually effect one another.

The subject of nursing homes is one of the most unlikely topics of conversation at a social gathering – certainly not among the young! We don’t know much about such places unless it’s forced upon us through the experience of admitting a family member into a nursing facility, and then we’re initiated into the “secret world” of that environment. We step into that realm because we have to, except for those special healing angels who choose to assist and support in the repair and transition of people every day.

I lived for more than two years in a state nursing facility during my most critical healing stage with Lyme disease. In my younger years, I volunteered at a nursing facility for a summer, as well as helped facilitate enrichment activities years later in another, so I have experience and insights to share about these environments. My intent is to bring awareness to a subject that begs for heightened human interest. My hope is that change occurs more rapidly through education and compassion for our fellow human beings. When we value something, we’ll do everything we can to protect and nurture what we value.

We all become ill. Our bodies will grow old. Our bodies will die. Navigating our transition from this earth life or long term recovery from illness/injury can be done in an environment that not only honors, but also nurtures and nourishes the minds, bodies, and spirits of our fellow elderly and ill.

First, I wish to express gratitude for the nursing administrators, nurses, nurse’s aides, activity directors, and others who have beautiful visions and wishes for the holistic or “whole health” approach to the community of life within nursing homes. They need our help. Many changes to engage residents in meaningful activities, besides bingo and watching big screen TV, are happening. I personally love to see any artistic endeavors that ignite and engage an individual’s creativity and access to nature indoors and outdoors. Décor changes to enhance the feeling of a home environment are happening. Feng shui expertise is needed. Private, small upscale nursing communities are more engaged in holistic living.

My focus is the state and large resident capacity nursing facilities that most of us will likely enter into. So I want to address what I believe are the primary problems regarding quality of life. Here are my top two:

There is normally one aide for every 6-10 residents, based on state health requirements. Aides do not sit with your loved one to read a book or newspaper, or simply keep someone company. They run their legs off just trying to help someone to the toilet or shower, change bed linens and clothes, and any number of calls they get for basic help. They don’t automatically open drapes or blinds, so many rooms are dark with no natural sunlight coming through a window. They don’t water a plant in a resident’s room except upon request. They’re so busy they don’t SEE those things. It isn’t uncommon for residents to be left on the toilet for 20 minutes while an aide is taking care of other calls. I was left for half an hour more than once. Access to nature indoors with fresh air is minimal unless someone is physically taken outdoors.

My observations and conversations with many aides have been they are frequently dogged tired. I’ve seen newly trained aides begin their job with idealistic visions of service and hopes of making a difference in someone’s life, and after two months watch the sparkle in their eyes diminish with overwork and the reality that one-on-one enrichment is minimal with any one individual, short of meal assistance and momentary exchanges before they’re on to the next call light. Many become cynical and there are those who project their disillusionment and frustration onto your loved ones – the residents. Many quit and others are fired.

It’s a myth that a nursing home takes the place of family. And frankly, how are they supposed to? I’ve seen many residents who rarely get a quality visit from family or friends. I hesitate to say that nursing homes can become a dumping ground for the elderly and ill in our modern fast-paced nuclear family structure where the elderly no longer hold the place of honor and wisdom in our culture. There are lonely residents behind those walls.

Fresh food served daily is a myth. There is no one in the kitchen slicing, preparing or pureeing fresh fruits and vegetables for your loved one without a special MD request. Fruits are canned in fructose corn syrup. Vegetables and meats are pre-processed and canned. The diet leans toward high simple carbohydrates, lower protein, and poor fiber.

No one goes hungry. However, much resident unhappiness and listlessness is the result of repetitive, tasteless, dead food. It’s one of their biggest disappointments. I frequently fought for a variety of fresh whole food with my doctor’s help. The result of the highly processed food diet is growing obesity in nursing facilities with medicine being dispensed for constipation to counteract low fiber and increased insulin for diabetics.

We can all play a part in creating a holistic environment in nursing homes going forward if we want them to truly be an extension of our community and not that separate, unknown world. If we choose to embrace and value our elderly and our very ill, we can’t judge them to be of less value than a newborn. What can each of us do to help?

We can become activists for change and direct that change. Share our talents with volunteer activities or simply visit – take our children to engage with the elderly and ill. Children will learn compassion and empathy for humanity. There is wisdom to share and life stories to listen to. Take fresh fruit, flowers or something from nature, and most of all, take love and share it. I am you. You are me. We are one. Honor the circle of life!

Affirmation for this month – Community

Today, I will help create fellowship in my neighborhood. Whether I exchange kind words or volunteer my time, I know it takes a village to nurture each individual so that everyone can flourish.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Taking Action In Sacred Space – Part III

2010-05-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

Living In Grace with Our Body

May embodies the arrival of spring’s promise for new life and summer’s bounty. This time of year marks the beginning of warmer weather and the blossoming of flowers and trees – not to mention love and romance. Who doesn’t fall in love with spring! The promise of new beginnings and growth isn’t just for the young, the radiantly healthy, or for lovers, but that sweet fragrant promise of life’s creation, beauty, and wonder is available to everyone, at any time. The promise of physical and spiritual renewal is especially challenging to those who are preparing to physically transition from this earth’s journey or for those who are physically healing.

Yes, spring has arrived. I’m thoroughly delighted… and I’m dancing – partly in my mind, as I’ve yet to experience sitting, standing, and walking with ease for an entire day. But it’s happening! I’m on the healing road from chronic Lyme disease, so I can speak from experience. I was accurately diagnosed with Lyme after over eight years of slowly dying. That’s the only way to describe it. My body was breaking down from every angle – my endocrine system, digestive system, neurological system, every weakening muscle, and burning spasming pain to the point where I could barely sit up. My heart too – both physically and spiritually were heavily challenged. Darn ticks. I spent more than two years in a nursing facility in a remote region of central Utah.

Flash back five years before the onset of illness while living in Denver, I vividly recall my spiritual teacher explaining that it was time to prepare for a life changing event that would bring about a “crisis in consciousness.” She said that I’d feel like I was going to die several times. She smiled and told me I’d learn to have “sympathy for my empathy.” Naively, I said I was ready for a vision quest, perhaps a retreat in the mountains for a month, and okay, I could handle some unknown illness. I think my limited mind at the time envisioned a heroic six weeks. She smiled that enigmatic Mona Lisa smile again. I got up and left stuffing my big ego out the door. I now picture how she must have held her sides, laughing her head off – with compassion of course – after I left. Her last words to me that afternoon were, “You might as well tell God to bring it on.” I laughed and sang the words: “Yes God. Bring it on. Bring it on.” Oh, pass the humble pie…

Chronic illness or dis-ease evokes a prolonged original fear – one that we must navigate through every day in degrees, sometimes for years. And it’s not just the dis-ease itself, but we can lose our financial structure and real estate - all those material/physical things we accumulated in life may be gone as a result of medical expenses and the inability to work. Some friends and family may even exit our life, frightened of dis-ease with facing their own mortality, and or not wanting to feel responsible for us. Our emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical foundation will be under fire and tested to the extreme.

When our physical vitality and practically all the material things are stripped away, what do we have that keeps us safe? What do we have control of? What can we call our own? What’s left? Those questions, and more, will arise for us and we must take courage to not only ask the questions, but search within ourselves for the answers. The answers are there when we listen and also after intervals of cleansing tears when we learn to let go. For the first time we may realize that there is nothing we ever do solely on our own. We are not separate entities. Going to the market requires that the merchant is on the corner to sell their products to us. We may go to the restroom by ourselves but the toilet paper had to be produced by someone in order for us to use it. Everything is connected to everything. Back to the question. What do we have left when so much of our “normal” physical structure has been taken away?

We have our thoughts, ideas, our beliefs, memories, our dreams, and the ability to create, beginning in our internal world where our inner voice resides. Our spiritual world has everything to do with how we influence and create in our physical world, including our bodies.

During the worst stages of Lyme, I was eating and dropped a few peas on the floor. I looked down and thought, “Oh God. How do I pick those up?” I couldn’t bend forward and touch the floor because that meant I’d have to pull my torso back up and my back muscles were too weak and painful. Just sitting up was a feat. Being fiercely independent, I thought, “I won’t let those peas just sit there.” I looked around and looked down again. “My feet! I’ll try to pick the peas up with my toes.” It took me five minutes to curl my toes around every pea and lift my leg onto my lap to pass them to my hand, but I did it. I learned to pick up all kinds of stuff off the floor with my toes. I felt great that I could do something by myself, yet I had to think about how to do things differently from how I used to do them. I was forced to listen to my body and let it guide me. I asked for help when I needed it. I made a game of creative wonder. The victim role was just not appealing.

Our bodies need and love:

Fresh healthy food, and yes, the occasional treats, breathing fresh air daily, sunshine on our skin for about 15 minutes daily, bare feet on the earth (not concrete), daily water hydration, movement and stretching the body allows, laughter, stillness and quiet, soft music, candles, hot baths or saunas, supportive beds (brightly colored sheets – mix the colors up), wearing bright colors, comfortable clothing, body moisturizer, sleep, hugs, etc. If we can’t get outside frequently, bring Mother Earth inside! Have help bringing in a few rocks, small tree branches (clean them from insects and dirt), flowers and fresh herbs and have them in bed with you. It reminds us we are part of the earth and grounds us. Willow, eucalyptus, and olive branches are particularly healing. We cannot be removed from nature and feel good.

Managing pain:

Stay off narcotic painkillers if possible. It’s vital to be comfortable and not suffer for our body to heal and alleviate the physical stress of pain, but we can begin by asking our doctor for alternatives first. Breathing through pain and allowing it to pass instead of tightening up and holding our breath helps tremendously. Use a heating pad, cold packs, aromatherapy, and natural sources that our doctor or practioner can suggest. Eliminating allergies to food and environment are vital for the body’s comfort and healing process.

We need positive help and support from our friends and loved ones. Our body needs gentle touch more than we ever needed it in our lives, so gentle massage and touch reassures our body that it’s treasured, even while it’s broken. We’ll be tested to make adjustments between what our spirit desires and what our body requires.

I learned that to possess patience and optimism becomes wisdom that’s enables us to see through physical limitation, including humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lessons we can gain from physical dis-ease. Therein we can touch grace. We can be in grace in our bodies.

Next month: Nursing Homes And Nursing Care Alternatives

Affirmation for this month - Body

My form is the temple of my spirit and the vehicle that transports me through life. Today, I listen to the messages from my body and take right action to maintain a healthy harmony.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Taking Action In Sacred Space – Part II

2010-04-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

Focus Or Scattered – Where Do We Live?

I’m going to tell a truth that just might bruise many an ego for a few moments. Okay, here goes… We cannot perform multiple tasks at the same time, commonly known as multi-tasking! There I said it. I know. I know. I once was a queen reigning in the belief of the art of doing more than one thing simultaneously. I used to interview and hire people according to our illusionary cultural investment that we could perform and perfect tasks simultaneously. We’re going to cruise on to explore how our actions can be either accomplished within a focused, sacred space or whether we’re tripping off the insanity meter. It all hinges upon our thoughts and beliefs. It’s all up to us…

Here’s the best true description I can come up with for the definition of multi-tasking:

Multi-tasking is the ability to perform one task after another task, resulting in the completion of multiple different tasks within a day. Interruptions while performing a task that force our attention elsewhere will occur (fill in the blank) ______. (Occasionally, a few or several times a day, frequently)

Here’s the sanity factor. In the process of performing a variety of daily tasks, are those interruptions which divert our attention away from what we are presently doing needlessly self-inflicted or are they interruptions that we are positively in agreement with?

What does the needlessly self-inflicted multi-tasker look like?

Needlessly self-inflicted multi-taskers can best be described as those of us who stopped being the pilot of our life and gave everyone else the controls under false agreement with the belief that we’re a victim of circumstances, or that we’re indispensible and must be available at all times to whoever blows through the door. Either way, there is a factor of fear connected with this one. Continual self-inflicted multi-tasking fallout ends in resentment, exhaustion, anxiety, nervousness, forgetfulness, loosing stuff, constant mind talk, being unbalanced and ungrounded, feeling ill, etc.

What is the fear factor associated with needlessly self-inflicted multi-taskers?

We victims of circumstance usually hold a belief that if we cater to everyone’s needs and anticipate those needs, requests and interruptions, everyone will like us. We won’t say no, or our no is so weak that we can be easily talked out of it. We’re afraid that someone won’t approve of or love us if we don’t, so we falsely agree with the involvement. Fear of rejection. We usually end up complaining to ourselves and others about how someone takes advantage of us, yet we’re still there. We hold a false belief that we are helpless. We get blown about by the wind and can’t remember how to nurture ourselves to refuel and rejuvenate. We lack courage. The multi-tasking meter has blown a spring in the insanity range!

What does multi-tasking in positive agreement look like?

We multi-taskers who are in full positive agreement are operating in a more actively balanced state, calmly moving from one task to another with the understanding that there is a need for FOCUS, so we instantly scout out and remove anything that appears needless and is not a part of what we must concentrate on. We can firmly say no and mean it with a smile. We pace ourselves, and even during those periods where frequent multi-tasking episodes appear, we will ensure we take breaks to breathe and refresh ourselves with QUIET time – a few minutes of meditation, a brief walk or sit outdoors, lunch by ourselves, anything or anyplace where we can empty our minds of noise and get centered again. In other words, we know how to refuel and rejuvenate ourselves.

The trip side of the multi-tasker in positive agreement occurs when we mistakenly begin to adopt the superman or superwoman syndrome as a form of some drive for perfection or status. It could be a result of having fallen into a culturally driven competition with neighbors or peers or imposed upon in a work environment. This is where we mistakenly believe we can slide more tasks into an already busy day and handle it – losing the balanced pace and the essential periods of refreshment and refueling of the mind, body, and spirit. Danger! The multi-tasking meter has moved over to the insanity range. The plane will soon go into a tailspin!

Having stuffed too much into our daily life which largely includes chasing all the interruptions that automatically drag along with it, we’ve morphed ourselves into something rather inhuman. As a new acquaintance lovingly said to me, “We’re not machines. We’re organic.” (A great bumper sticker)

Imagine how good it would feel again to take the time to focus on sniffing out the best cantaloupe or fresh peach in the produce department without the interruption of the cell phone for starters. Got a clingy someone who needlessly interrupts you several times a day at work or at home? Think of the areas in your life where you can start reclaiming your space. Make a list and tackle them one at a time.

Shouldn’t it be a relief to realize that we’re not robots, that we’re truly able to give our best only when we know we can fully focus our mind, body, and spirit on one thing at a time?

Our thoughts that guide us throughout the day backed by our belief system, positive or negative, that we choose to take on in our lives have everything to do with building our reality. The life we want is waiting for us the moment we wake up and FOCUS on what we want and how we want to live delightfully in our own sacred space.

Next month: Taking Action In Sacred Space – Part III – Living In Grace With Our Body

Affirmation for this month: Pace

Today, I practice the art of consciously attending to one thing at a time. Regulating my time with delegation, eliminating interference with places of quiet space, protects the well being of my mind, body, and spirit.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

Taking Action In Sacred Space – Part I

2010-03-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Kindness, Beauty, And Honesty –Touching The Divine Feminine

Authentically expressing ourselves and consciously taking positive action in the midst of our daily experience is what I refer to as living in “sacred space”. Of course, it’s pretty easy when we’re experiencing joy to be fully present in the moment. It’s simple and sweet. It’s like swinging on a warm summer day. It’s ice cream. Its tickly butterflies and nature, laughter, and hugs. Joy is, well… joyful! It’s easy to be in the moment because we treasure the feeling, our senses thrive, and even our sense of time beautifully melts away when we feel joyful…

Yet what happens when we experience our fears through anger? Are we as fully present in the moment, able to express our most honest feelings? Can we really move through our fears as effortlessly as we experience our joys? The answer is yes. Of course, the fun factor of fear and joy oppose each other, but what we’ll be exploring is our ability to feel and express ourselves as easily with one as we do the other. It actually boils down to giving ourselves permission! Notice how joy is spontaneously expressed and released, and notice where we’ve learned to usually express fear through filters of anger. Not being able to honestly express fear stops us from naturally releasing it and getting on with our lives. Instead, we hold onto it. It gets locked inside us and fears grow upon fears in sometimes very twisted ways. How did all this get started?

We’ve all played a role in supporting a belief system passed down through the ages from institutions to families that expressing fear was a weakness. And just as horribly flawed as that has been, we’ve equated the feminine as weak! It’s been a nasty dilemma for us all. Expressing joy is mainly approved for both men and women, but honestly expressing our fears got derailed as being feminine weakness. Then the divine feminine aspects that are a part of us all became marginalized…What have we done? We censor our fears mainly through anger. And it bites back at us every day. So much stress and violence on the planet…

Then how do we move through our fears as effortlessly as we experience our joys? First, we’ll need to retrieve three misplaced golden threads that are a natural part of a well-balanced masculine and feminine human being. These are the golden threads of kindness, beauty, and honesty that will help us get to the core of fear. We’ll become reacquainted with and remember to filter our daily experiences through these three assets, a much needed repair of a nasty wound to the beautiful tapestry of our humanity.

Let’s look at these three golden assets before we talk about how we move through anger with ease.

Kindness: Kindness is also gentleness, compassion, and includes forgiveness. Instead of judging ourselves and others, apply kindness. In other words, put down the sword and look at situations with some understanding – imagine being in another person’s shoes. Be willing to look in the mirror and see our own goodness. Be willing to accept another’s viewpoint, agreeing to disagree. Very few things are black and white, right or wrong, but instead, many shades in between. Remember, the things that bother us the most about someone, are the places in us calling to heal. Apply kindness and watch how things soften and loosen their rigid grip. Kindness melts away harshness. It’s magic. And it’s powerfully feminine!

Beauty: More than external appearance, beauty is also grace, elegance with a spot of humility and refinement, artistry, fascination, loveliness. Notice the love in loveliness? Beauty lives within all things. Every creature, every being, has an inherent desire and gifts for value fulfillment, needing to express and be valued by others as well as know self-value. Look to the soul. Reach for the inner beauty and discover something valuable, even when others are unwilling to see. Be willing. Beauty dissolves fear. Another powerful feminine aspect!

Honesty: Truthfulness, openness, confidence, fairness, sincerity, self-respect, and genuineness are expressions of self-confidence and backbone. Fully opening ourselves is a feminine quality, and the courage to be open has a masculine quality to it too. Here is an example where both masculine and feminine aspects form a balanced union. It is necessary to resurrect the feminine aspect, to acknowledge equal value. Apply honesty and dispel the internal battles. Immediate healing, relief, and sense of well-being are the gifts we give ourselves, and giving is divinely feminine!

Our ability to uncover fear in anger and then extinguish anger with ease will be determined by how we apply kindness, beauty, and honesty. We’ll learn to minimize frequent diversions of anger, and get to the core – the fear, and confront it directly.

Six Steps To Uncover Fear In Anger

1. Acknowledge the anger. State what I am angry about.
2. Ask, “Why am I angry?”
3. Ask, “Why does (fill in the blank) make me feel angry?” (We may need to repeat this step)
4. Ask, “What is it I am afraid of in this situation?”
5. Acknowledge the fear. State what the fear is beneath the anger.
6. Finally ask, “What can I do about it?” and “What do I want to do about it?”

In fully expressing what we’re afraid of losing or not having, we can shudder, shake, and weep if we have to, to release the fear in order to regain our emotional, spiritual and physical balance. Always ask what the fear is beneath the anger. Then we’re free to fully feel our present experience. Hail to the divine feminine! The world has been sorely in need of her balancing presence - front and center, if you please…

Next month: Taking Action In Sacred Space – Part II

Affirmation for this month: Freedom

Today, I am liberated from fears, doubts and worries. I remain focused in the present moment of my journey as I carry out the choices and actions true to my spirit.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy articles in their entirety only

The Antidepressant Myth - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

2010-02-04T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Antidepressant Myth - Shows - Coast to Coast AM

Two Categories Of Fear - Piercing The Mystery

2010-02-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

Feb. 2010

We’re steadily moving out into the aquamarine waters that flow before us on our journey. Our ship has a spot light aboard that will help penetrate the fog and illuminate the depths of our fears when we need it. We’re prepared because we have a treasure map of sorts – a guide that we can use during the minor rumbles and the major earthquakes that are an inevitable part of living on earth. Remember, fear is a real or imagined belief of the eminent loss of something, or something we want and can't have. Here’s what’s going on with fear:

Fear of harm to our physical well being and fear of harm to our emotional /mental well being which is directly linked to the vitality of our spiritual well being and the freedom to be authentic individuals
Shining the spot light on two main categories of fear that will guide us through the depths:

Original Fear
Original fear is our built-in instinctual survival response known as the “fight or flight” response. This fear response kicks in the adrenaline that enables us to act against true impending personal harm or death. This is a present and real experience – either brief or prolonged.

A brief original fear experience may be any physical trauma such as a heart attack, a bad fall, emotional/physical attack, a car accident, an earthquake, etc. When these situations occur, a healthy response would be to get away or run/call for help or to fight back to save ourselves. We may even play dead so an attacker will go away. The idea is to end the situation and remove ourselves from it, period.

A prolonged original fear experience may be a chronic debilitating disease, war exposure, ongoing emotional/mental/physical stress/abuse, etc.

Evolved Fear
Evolved fear is information gained from a past original fear experience and/or information passed down by someone or something that creates beliefs, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors, some which become automatic or unconscious. It is a future oriented fear. It is not totally manifesting to us in the present. Evolved fear creates a “what if” situation.

There are two subcategories of evolved fear:

Positive Evolved Fear: Positively using our past experience and/or knowledge to prepare for, overcome, and save ourselves from life’s situations, natural earth occurrences, disease – getting out of the way of a tornado or moving to high ground from a flood – losing obese weight to eliminate diabetes and heart disease, etc.

Negative Evolved Fear: Negatively created reality that keeps us hidden where we can’t live peacefully in the present time and space. These are the fears we create through mind talk, replaying past experiences and creating debilitating “what if” future scenarios based on fear that stems from feeling we have no control. We may lack self-confidence, lack of trust and hope, lost the truth that goodness resides within ourselves and the world. It usually manifests in phobias, frequent anxiety/worry, addictions, panic attacks, frequent anger, or any negative behaviors and feelings that can usually be traced back to emotional/mental and/or physical traumas we experienced and coping mechanisms we created in our lives, which we didn’t overcome. Instead, they grew and debilitated us in some way.

Let’s look at an example:

Car accident

Original fear: You and your car were injured at a busy intersection by a driver running a red light

Positive evolved fear: You have knowledge that the intersection is a busy one, and you’ll drive with extra caution. You’ll take a moment to scan the intersection before you step on the gas at a green light. Or you might decide to take another route close by during rush hour traffic that’s not out of your way. You learn from the experience and use it to your advantage. Faced the fear and overcame it.

Negative evolved fear: Quit driving - has someone else drive you – will not get into a car. Uh- oh..! Has not faced the fear, but instead is expanding the accident into a life-altering illusion that’s killing confidence, harmony, and freedom. Disabling behavior.

You have a map to help guide you. The place to begin is with a fear you know you have or anxiety/worry behavior you’ve been operating on for a long time, and see if you can trace it back to a beginning. Ask yourself questions! When did I begin feeling this way? When did I begin believing this about myself? What were the circumstances in my life? What was my environment? Who were the people that influenced me? Is this true or false? Shine that light into those deeper waters.

Treat this as your personal detective mystery case and become your own Sherlock Holmes. Ask for help from loving, supportive people who can assist you if you want it.

A woman who is very dear to my heart phoned last weekend. Everything was really good. She loves her work, running her own business. She’s extremely busy – lots of stress. Her son and longtime companion were all doing fine, but she just can’t relax. She constantly thinks about what needs to get done next. She recognizes that she has anxiety, and acknowledges operating much of her life on anxiety (which is worry=fear), so she recently started taking an anti-depressant, and feels calmer already. I was puzzled. Is it that she doesn’t feel anxious about being anxious anymore? I asked myself, “If everything is so good, then what’s wrong?” I’m not judging. Bless her journey.

We are the heroes and heroines on a voyage toward wholeness. That’s a part of what we’re here to do. We choose and chart a path of discovery we all must take in degrees throughout our lives to grow, and achieve balance and harmony. Achieving that is the equivalent to the spiritual Holy Grail Cup and the Philosopher’s Stone.

We have much to unlearn and much more to learn. Raise the Grail Cup to us all, and for heaven’s sake, don’t forget to dance!

Next month: Taking Action In Sacred Space

Affirmation for this month: Thoughts

Today, I quietly observe my internal voice that creates feelings, attitudes, and ideas. Being consciously aware of where I direct my mind is to be conscious of the potential reality I am creating now.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

Copyright © 2010 – All rights reserved. Permission by author to copy/forward articles in their entirety only

Our Journey Begins With A New Resolution

2010-01-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's appropriate that Healing Voices begins at the onset of a new decade. 2010 marks the entrance to this new decade of the 21st century as a number 3 year (2010=2+1=3) for the planet. The number 3 represents creative power and forward movement toward wholeness in our self-development, which becomes the collective development of humanity. This is exciting stuff to think about because I believe we're ready to climb up another rung or two on the ladder of our spiritual and emotional evolution. I can feel it in my bones...

So, here we are with a clean, crisp canvas! Inhale. Wait a moment... Exhale. There we go with another New Year's resolution that somehow evaporated almost as soon as we voiced it. We end up feeling guilty with one more bruise to our self-confidence when we don't follow through on something. Why do we do it to ourselves?

I don't have a magic pill, no get rich scheme, nor do I have the fool-proof weight loss program to give you. I have something better. We're going to begin a journey starting right now - a journey into conscious awareness that will become your true personal creative power, your magic and your navigator, no matter what crosses your path in life. I'm going to teach and guide you to master uncovering hidden fear so that you can overcome fear. Then you are truly free to create and maintain the life you really want, in a happier, simplier way.

Let's get back to that New Year's resolution. It's a good place to begin. We hear ourselves saying words like, "I should" and "I need to" or "I have to" as we think of a resolution for the new year, and feel a sense of heaviness and irritation in the process. When we say those words, we immediately propel ourselves backward to the guilt of something we wanted to have accomplished, and never did. Saying should do, have to do, or need to, implies guilt. Futile guilt calls in punishment. It may even imply someone else thinks we SHOULD, and we're not fully committed to it ourselves. And so the cycle continues. We set ourselves up to fail again.

Eliminate should, have to and need to from your vocabulary. It'll feel awkward for a while, and that's okay. Replace it with "I want to" and "I will" which implies true commitment and intent to move forward with something. It also brings a higher degree of conscious awareness to the level of power you believe you have in yourself, and discern if it is something you really want to do, which finally, helps eliminate false agreements. Really. When you hear someone say "I will do" as opposed to "I should do", what do you think their level of personal commitment is?

Occasionally, I fall back into the old program of saying I need to, but I stop and ask the question, "Do I want to?" That changes the significance of what it is, and returns me consciously back in check with my truth. I admit to having fun with people at times during conversations when they announce they should do something, like meditate or eat healthier, by replying with a smile, "Only if you want to." Their puzzled surprise by my comment tells me it made them stop and think for a moment. You're going to be re-programming yourself here. Make it easier by enlisting positive support from friends and family. Watch how frequently you hear yourself say should and have to. Watch how frequently others do the same.

What does fear have to do with broken resolutions? Everything. Fear is usually the culprit that thrives behind most of our unfinished projects, our growth, our deep desire to change and expand, and chokes our ability to create harmony and see the beauty in our days. The grassroots of fear is a real or imagined belief of the eminent loss of something, or something we want and can't have. There are two things going on with fear:

fear of harm to our physical well being and/or fear of harm to our emotional /mental well being, which is directly linked to the vitality of our spiritual well being and the freedom to be authentic individuals

Start with one resolution or project you want to bring into your life this year - not what someone else thinks you should do, and ask yourself, "What scares me about beginning, taking action, and creating _____ in my life now?" Mull it over. Write down your answer. Ask "Why?" with every answer until there are no more why's left. The puzzle should come together and the seed of the fear, real or imagined, appears. You must be honest with yourself! Now, ask yourself exactly what you want to do about it.

Knowledge is power. Conscious awareness is the doorway to your strength. Are you ready to take the mantle of your power into just one small thing you sincerely desire and bring it to fruition? I thought you'd say yes... Okay then! Think about how you'll create and maintain the space to invite this new plan into your life.
We're gently moving out into open waters. Next month, I'll address two main categories of fear. For now, be conscious of your thoughts and the words you speak. Listen to others. Have fun.

Daily affirmation for this month: Communication

I thoughtfully choose my words as I speak with integrity and compassion, today. I honor others by acknowledging what they convey to me with genuine interest.

Live in beauty and be well - Triza Schultz

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