Wednesday, April 26, 2006

New Moon in Taurus


Thursday, April 27th is the New Moon in Taurus.

Astrologer Stephanie Austin's monthly New Moon forecast is now posted at Intuitive Living.


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Saturday, April 22, 2006

Carnival of Healing #38: Regeneration of Body, Spirit & Planet

Welcome to the 38th edition of the Carnival of Healing!

I believe there is no coincidence that today is also Earth Day. Not long after I had settled on the theme of replenishing the feminine and self-healing, I spotted the blog entry on Healing.about.com by Phylameana stating that April 22nd is Earth Day. I thought, "How fitting! It's all tied together."

How does one replenish, or better yet, regenerate their body, their spirit and most of all the planet? This was the question that I held within me as I searched for blog posts to include within today's carnival. Replenishing is the act of filling that which is empty, and regeneration is the act of starting from scratch, likened to a rebirth.

Regeneration brings to mind one of my favorite tv series, Doctor Who. In the mythology of Doctor Who, Time Lords such as the Doctor are able to change their form, thereby regenerating, in the event of serious injury or extreme old age. See Doctor (Doctor Who) and Time Lord. I have to say I look forward to Friday night and my hour with the Doctor on SciFi. We all replenish in different ways.

Forever a Square Peg uses the term 'reinvigorate' as she talks about finally taking a weekend to replenish herself. In our hectic lifestyles we take little time or attention to our inner needs, such as the simplicity of quiet time. Replenishing, or filling our inner well can come from taking the time to nourish our soul by listening deeply in a state of silence. Meditation is a wonderful tool. Also, accomplishing all the little things that have been on your to-do list for too long.

Looking at my last few weeks in need of replenishment, I found myself turning to knitting. It is something that soothes me and fills my soul. I've been creating knitted socks that I absolutely love. Knitting with a Poodle speaks of replenishing in terms of having a backstock of yarn to fill her knitting addition. In fact her entry about replenishing has photos of socks that look like the pattern I'm using. Zeneedle says knitting socks is good for the soul. Sounds like replenishment of the spirit to me!

Let's not forget Earth Day in the midst of my yarn digression...

Let's start by learning the art of hugging a tree. My favorite is the "Full Body Tree Hug: Sit upon the ground wrapping your legs around the base of the tree and at the same time embracing it with your arms."

Join Earth Day Networks Climate Change Campaign. Earth Day 2006 will launch a sustained, three-year campaign to educate consumers, corporations and governments worldwide on the urgent need to take concrete steps on climate change now, before its too late. Our Goal For Earth Day 2006, 10,000 Climate Change Events Worldwide. Envirolink is a complete guide to Earth Day events all around the world.

Replenishing the feminine, be it our inner feminine, our feminine body, or the feminine of Mother Earth, is a necessity. As women, we work to meet others needs, selflessly caring and nourishing those around us. Even the Earth Mother cares and nourishes all the life that she sustains on and within her body. She gives water and nourishment and the home within which regeneration is possible.

As we cycle through the seasons, we bear witness to her immense ability to regenerate and transform over and over again, tirelessly giving of herself to provide a living, breathing eden for us all. Unfortunately so many ignore her needs in return. This Earth Day, I ask that we all think about her need for regeneration and replenishment. That may need to begin with holding the respect for her that she deserves. Celebrate this Earth Day, but please remember to celebrate her all year long.


Next week the Carnival of Healing journeys to Spiral Visions. Last week's carnival was hosted at Other Lights.

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Unexpected Hiatus...and a Carnival

Yup. I haven't posted since April 3rd.

I've been a little occupied. Mostly in the realm of my own health and wellbeing. I'm calling it an unexpected hiatus.

Our bodies have a way of getting our attention when there's something we haven't been seeing happening under the surface. My body has done exactly that! So I am under doctor's orders to rest. That wasn't too hard when all I wanted to do was sleep, but now I'm feeling a bit better and I look at everything that I am behind on and want to leap right in, but don't have the energy to even think about taking a leap! Oh well...

I guess that means I need to rest, huh?

Looking at the calendar I realized that it's my turn for the Carnival of Healing this Saturday. I have the energy to manage that... in fact it will be a welcome change from thinking about all the other things on my list I'm not having the energy to follow through with yet.

So-- that means coming up with a theme for this weeks Carnival of Healing. Given that I am faced with healing myself-- sounds like I might want to focus right where I am right now- self healing and the need to replenish.

Back when I was finishing my degree, I took an entire semester studying the concept of replenishing the feminine. It was a powerful study and happened at a time when I was very run-down and drained. It was a lot like I am right now... sounds like a fitting subject, wouldn't you think?

Therefore, if you have any blog posts discussing the concept of 'replenishing the feminine', then I would love for you to submit them. You can email me through my website at:

www.illuminationsnetwork.com

Let's see what comes together by Saturday, eh?

I've got a few ideas in mind already...

Monday, April 03, 2006

Sometimes you need to fail in order to Succeed

The Meaning of Failure
By Dr. Annette Colby, RD

Failure is one of those life experiences most of us would rather not
encounter. Generally we tend to connect failure with intense
self-judgement and inner criticism. The fear of failure is so strong, we
often become hesitant to focus on inner dreams because of past failures.
We would rather not fail again. It’s easier to say, “Oh well, I tried”
then to view failure as what it really is: an expected component in the
process of change. Failures are so difficult because they trigger and
initially reinforce limiting beliefs that we already hold about ourselves.
Beliefs which may include:

I’m not good enough to have what I want (unlovable, undeserving,
unworthy). Related life issue of love.

I can’t have what I want (different, an outsider, alone, nothing, should
not be on earth at all). Related life issue of belonging and acceptance.

I’m not good enough. I am basically a bad person, and this is the reason
for my failure (defective, flawed, imperfect, bad, fat, guilty, imperfect,
failure). Related life issue of esteem.

I’m powerless to effect change (hopeless, useless, defeated). Related life
issue of survival, self, empowerment, perseverance.

My needs and desires will not ever be met (vulnerable, helpless, afraid).
Related life issue of security.

Failure in itself isn’t so bad; it’s the belief that gets triggered along
with the associated uncomfortable emotions that we wish to avoid. It’s
often painful to face a belief rising to the surface that suggests we are
unworthy or unacceptable. Somewhere in our lifetimes, the word failure
became synonymous with the word “loser.” There’s often great embarrassment
and even shame for grownups to have this experience of failure. Yet as
children we repeatedly allowed ourselves to fail. Without failure none of
us would have learned how to walk, talk, write, or even ride a bicycle. As
adults, we shy away from new experiences to avoid risking failure.

Truth about Failure

“Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.” – Carl Jung,
1875-1961, Swiss Psychiatrist

Failure is not bad. Actually, it’s probably the only way to become
successful. The obstacles, setbacks and stumbling blocks are an
anticipated aspect of any journey. Failure is really just feedback telling
us to adjust the plan or to try a new approach. It is essential to
success. While it’s certainly a giant leap to welcome failure with open
arms, perhaps we can begin with acceptance that failure is a natural
aspect of every ultimately successful journey.

The only true failure is when we concede defeat and absolutely give up.
Failure is when we beat ourselves up and learn nothing from our setbacks.
Confucius is quoted as saying, “Our greatest glory is not in nevër falling
but in rising every time we fall.” If we embrace our failures along with
our successes, learning from each, we will grow and achieve. The only
people who do not fail are those who fail to try.

A little known formula for success is that success happens because of
failure. Legend has it that Thomas Edison attempted 10,000 different
filaments before successfully creating the electric light bulb. When asked
if he ever felt discouraged with so many failures, he answered none of his
attempts were failures. They were each successful experiments in finding
what didn't work!

Henry Ford went bankrupt 3 times before he created a car that worked.
Colonel Sanders was 65 years old when he tried to sell his chicken recipe.
He took this recipe to over 1,000 restaurants before he found a buyer.
Walt Disney spoke with over 297 banks before he was able to attain a loan
for his successful dream.

The National Weïght Control Registry is a research study established in
1994 that seeks to gather information from people who have successfully
lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least one year. They
investigate long-term successful body weïght-loss maintenance. They report
that everyone who successfully loses and maintains this loss has tried to
achieve success before. Part of their success was what they had learned
from past failures.

The Lesson of Failure

What’s the lesson in this? Successful people fail more often than
unsuccessful people. In fact, they fail over and over and over again. It’s
the failures themselves that provide learning experiences. Wisdom and
enlightenment to succeed come from failure. Successful people don’t give
up because they’ve failed. Instead they sit back and view these
experiences as learning opportunities.

As we go about the process of achieving a goal or dream, we will run into
all sorts of obstacles, limitations and setbacks. Why? Because we don’t
know how to do whatever it is we are trying to do. On top of that, we
don’t believe we can actually have what is wanted. Encountering obstacles,
even a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, doesn’t prove we can’t have what
is wanted. We’ve simply reached the edge of a boundary. Not knowing how to
do something can threaten self-esteem and confidence. This is where
expansion of the spirit is possible. What do we tell ourselves when we
find ourselves facing a failure? This is the point where we teach
ourselves new leadership skills of converting threats into opportunities.
We can learn how to allow support from above and below. Admitting we don’t
know the next step (but we’ll know soon) demonstrates faith in ourselves
and faith in being supported.

To be successful, we need to design an alternative paradigm for failure.
In other words, redefine failure in a manner allowing ourselves to see
whatever happens not as failure, but as “information.” From there, it
becomes possible to gather and access this new information and include it
in a revised plan. During the momentary failure, we must be able to recall
the excitement of the long-term big picture vision while intentionally
choosing to listen to the supportive inner voices. Then we can stand
strong once again in our original desire and dream, while determining how
to best adjust the plan and the next action step.

Failure can be used as another tool on the continuous journey to a deeper
appreciation of self and love for self. We have choices: Failure can be
utilized either as a way to close our heart down even more to ourselves
and others, or the experience can be a stepping stone to opening our heart
even further. We can view failure as evidence of our inherent internal
flaws as a human being. Or we can look to find the emotional and spiritual
lessons embedded within the failure. To be human is to experience failure.
Nothing is, or ever was, wrong with who we are.

Failure can guide us toward a leap of faith. We are capable, ultimately,
of overcoming any obstacle, any problem or any situation connected with
our dream. Why else would we have a particular dream unless it was ours to
manifest? From within we can find the courage to walk toward what we
really want in life. We can learn to encourage and support ourselves
through the good times and especially the bad times. Love that you are
overcoming fear and attempting something new -- no matter what the
outcome. Of course there will be failures along the way. An entire new set
of skills is being learned. When an occasional failure is experienced --
get up, dust yourself off, access the new information, believe in yourself
and begin again.

About the Author:
Helping people let go of self-destructive thoughts, emotions and behaviors
has been the life work of Dr. Annette Colby. Her fascination with the
power of the mind, emotions, spirituality and physicality has led her to
become a leader in the field of personal growth and consciousness. She is
a valued counselor and an inspiring teacher, as well as an independent
writer, mentor and guide. She is a highly sought-after trainer with a
unique ability to inform and inspire individuals to open their hearts,
love more openly and pursue their dreams.

Dr. Annette Colby, RD Nutrition Therapist & Master Energy Therapist.

Subscribe to our F'REE content filled newsletter and see why it’s been
called the best e-zine on the net!

http://www.LovingMiracles.com
Miracles@AnnetteColby.com
972.985.8750
"Opening Creative Portals to Success"

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Sunday, April 02, 2006

Laughter feeds the Soul

Carnival of Healing #35 is posted at Intuitive Living blog. Christopher offers a wonderful collection of healing laughter and spiritual tradition. Laughter is the Best Medicine Carnival includes text from one of my all time favorites-- Hafiz...

What else makes me laugh & feeds my soul?? -- TIGGER !

I've posted it here ... but please take a moment to visit the Full Carnival at Intuitive living.


Laughter

What is laughter? What is laughter?
It is God waking up! O it is God waking up!
It is the sun poking its sweet head out
From behind a cloud
You have been carrying too long,
Veiling your eyes and heart.
It is Light breaking ground for a great Structure
That is your Real body - called Truth.
It is happiness applauding itself and then taking flight
To embrace everyone and everything in this world.
Laughter is the polestar
Held in the sky by our Beloved,
Who eternally says,"Yes, dear ones, come this way,
Come this way towards Me and Love!
Come with your tender mouths moving
And your beautiful tongues conducting songs
And with your movements - your magic movements
Of hands and feet and glands and cells - Dancing!
Know that to God's Eye,
All movement is a Wondrous Language,
And Music - such exquisite, wild Music!
"O what is laughter, Hafiz?
What is this precious love and laughter
Budding in our hearts?
It is the glorious sound
Of a soul waking up!

~ Hafiz ~

(I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

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