OMTimes Magazine June A 2017 Edition

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June A 2017

Cover Story

Relationships

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Beatriz at Dinner - An Interview with Mike White

Health & Healing 36

Honoring the Darkness on the Healer's Journey

Spirituality 42 46 50

The Dial to Nowhere The Return to the Goddess Do You Want to Infuse Your Soul?

OM Living 58 62 66 70 74 80

Top 7 Feng Shui Ways to Make a Better Bedroom The Energy You Need to Discover Yourself How to Shift Away from Victim Consciousness 8 Ways to Be Super Productive Tools for Powerful Wealth Creation OMTimes Radio Host Spotlight - Sandie Sedgbeer

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Knowing the Best Way to Connect With Others How to Make Friends with Your (Inner) Enemy

Metaphysics 98

The Power of Energy in Motion 102 True Soul Mates - Who Are They?

Personal Growth 110 3 Tips to Forgive & Forget

At an elegant dinner party in a swanky hilltop home, conversation between a softspoken holistic healer and a hard-nosed businessman explodes into a bitter clash of culturesÂ

BEATRIZ AT DINNER WHEN THE WORLDS COLLIDE

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MIKE WHITE

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Beatriz at Dinner addresses contemporary controversies, from economic inequality and conservation to the necessity of simple human kindness.

How it all Began The project began when Mike White, an outspoken supporter of animal rights and a committed vegan, was outraged by the 2015 killing of Cecil the lion by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. What, he wondered, would he do if he were ever to meet that man?

He began to build a script around that idea.

Before he had a single scene on paper, Mike White knew that his friend and colleague Miguel Arteta would be an ideal director for the project. “I’m very particular about the people who interpret my writing,” he says.

“Miguel is so respectful of the contribution of the writer. He has a humanistic impulse and comes at things from a heartfelt and hopeful place.

"My work can be read as satirical and acidic."

His empathy enriches stories that in the hands of someone else could fall into a darker hole. I am always confident he’ll get great performances and be protective of the script.”

When White brought the idea to Miguel Arteta, he also suggested an actress they both had been wanting to work with to play Beatriz: Salma Hayek.

“Envisioning her in this role was very clever on Mike’s part,” says Miguel Arteta, who counts the actress as a good friend. “She’s a real animal lover and a very political person. She is also extremely empathic, like the character. It’s a different kind of role for her and she loved the idea from the beginning.”

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Christopher Buck: It's a pleasure to speak with you. Your movie, Beatriz at Dinner, was very powerful.

Mike White: Oh, awesome, I’m glad you felt that way.

Christopher Buck: We went through it all; it was not what we expected, which was good and really left us sitting here thinking and pondering things.

Mike White: Well, thank you.

Christopher Buck: So, we’ve got a few questions for you. One of those, is Beatriz, her natural empathy streams from the purity of her soul, and it seemed to give meaning to everything she touches and expresses, as she’s very much a natural healer. What was the idea behind, her character and what she represents, and the clash with John Lithgow’s character and what he represents?

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Beatriz (Salma Hayek), an immigrant from a poor town in Mexico, has drawn on her innate kindness to build a career as a spiritual health practitioner in Los Angeles. Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) is a cutthroat, selfsatisfied billionaire real estate developer. When these two opposites meet at a dinner party, their worlds collide and neither will ever be the same

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In Beatriz at Dinner, he has created two vastly different outliers: The altruistic healer Beatriz and self-satisfied real-estate developer Doug Strutt — who represent opposite ends of the American spectrum.

“They stand for ‘winners’ vs. ‘losers’ if you will,” says White

Mike White: Well, I feel like I wanted to create two real, different polarities and two separate ways of approaching the world. Naturally, John Lithgow’s character is the sort of, the captain of industry who is looking at what he’s doing, at what his leadership for the world is, jobs and, making the trains run on time. He’s using the resources of the earth and people to create capital. He’s a real capitalist.

And Salma’s character, Beatriz, I think she comes at things from a feeling point of view. Like, it’s about empathy, healing, compassion.

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I think there are people that feel like their sensitivities are so delicate, in a sense, that it is difficult for them to live in a world like a world that we live in right now. It’s just that there’s so much, everything is so fraught, our future of our planet is so kind of scary. There’s so much at stake that I think having a character who just really feels the pain of everything and everyone to such a degree makes her an interesting character but also feeling that she’s almost too sensitive to live in this world in a way.

Christopher Buck: It seemed that way.

Would you say that that dinner was her own dark night of the soul? She, ran up against the real world that she’s been trying to heal; and it, but she smashed into it.

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The Movie

A Party of Seven Transformed physically from a glamorous global screen icon to a dowdy massage therapist, Hayek delivers a tour-de-force performance, finding the strength and the vulnerability in a woman who feels the weight of the world’s problems on her shoulders.

Mike White: Yeah, I believe it is. At the time that I wrote this, it was obviously before the election. But there are just times, where you feel like, as somebody who's--you hope that the world is moving forward in some progressive manner. That, like, we are going to somehow rally and as a species--start to really attack the issues that are confronting our humanity and the planet.

And then, there are moments where you just feel hopeless.

And you feel like, I want to swim away to somewhere to a life that was simpler. And, for her, it’s the mangroves of her childhood and Mexico, and where you just feel, I can’t fight this anymore.

Christopher Buck: We noticed that the mangroves were kind of her sanctuary, her retreat in there.

Also, just as you seemed to use white like the white octopus or the white goat as a symbol of her purity. And it looks like she was almost too pure to live and interact in this world.

Mike White: No, I do think, the idea was, there’s a lot of different ways we could have ended this movie. And for me, I felt as she approached her frustrations, she starts to fantasize about a violent reaction. And I felt like that’s not the way; I don’t think she would follow through with that. But, the fact that she was starting to fantasize that where she just felt like she was on the verge of doing something crazy like that--at that point, she realized, she had hit the wall. Yeah, it was too much.

I think that it is the idea that, if somebody who’s too pure to live in this world, the purity of those feelings, the intensity of those feelings just makes it a struggle for her to live, you know?

Christopher Buck: I understand exactly what you mean. And, you’re right, our world is crazy like that.

When I first started watching the movie, and you had Beatriz and her antagonist on the other side, I thought where you were gonna go was some kind of balancing between the two, but there was no ability to do that. Do you say there is a possibility of integration between the spiritual and the healing side of humanity and the ruthless capitalism that we’re often faced with?

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Mike White: Well, I think we all do it to some degree in our lives. I think that selfishness, there’s no way to exist in this world without being selfish to some degree, I think we all try to develop our compassionate nature and are inevitably on one of the poles of the spectrum of that push and pulls.

The sense of the polarization of two different approaches to the world, and what we should be doing as a country and individually. It feels like it is becoming more polarized in the sense of what how we need to approach the issues that are facing us as a species. They are becoming more extreme in their positions, in a sense.

Christopher Buck: Do you think this movie was your way to shock and awaken people through the expression of this, through the diametrically opposed world vision that we need to do something to try to find common ground?

PHOTOS ARE A KIND COURTESY OF ROAD SIDE ATTRACTIONS ©LACEY TERRELL

Mike White: I do feel, there’s a part of me that felt like there would be an audience that would see this movie and relate to Beatriz. Obviously, she’s kind of an ultimate distillation of certain characteristics. But I feel like there’s a lot of people who are like-minded with her in particular ways, and that would have a cathartic experience because it speaks to some of the frustrations - in a sense, the kind of despair of our times. I do believe that if we don’t wake up to our responsibility to be stewards of this earth, we as a species, not to mention other species and the planet itself, are at risk. Life itself is in danger, and I don’t think that's an alarmist point of view.

I believe that it’s just reality.

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"Lithgow brings a presence to the character that is as effortlessly seductive as his words are repellent. “It was amazing to watch him become Doug during rehearsal,” says Arteta. “He makes it easy to understand views that I normally can’t stomach. Every time I watch the film I find myself wondering if maybe he has a point.”

Christopher Buck: It is interesting.

I know John Lithgow, in real life, is certainly not like his character. I mean, he does things like work with a foundation to save the manatees, and I know I’d like to have crawled into his head. It's like when he read this script, my God, how do I do this?

Mike White: Well, he would say, it's like even if he's, perceived as the villain of the piece, the character himself doesn’t see themselves as a villain. So, he did a great job of finding, the charm and also the--I guess that the arguments that his character lays out have integrity to them; that he does have a point of view that’s valid.

But, I think he did a great job making it feel like the character really believed what he felt and that he, he felt like what he was his point of view on all of these topics were justified, and it wasn’t just a cynical philosophy.

Christopher Buck: Yeah, I thought so, just as I thought Salma Hayek really seemed to resonate with her character and made her perspective and her beliefs really come across strongly as being true.

It was a fascinating movie.

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Mike White: What I liked about it is that both Beatriz and John are real philosophers. And they live their lives based on their philosophies, which I always think are interesting characters to write, you know?

The other characters in the movie you feel like, like Connie Britton’s character, like, she kind of said certain things. She wants to be one kind of person, but she really isn’t that person, you know? And I think the other characters at the dinner party, too, are kind of--they want to see themselves as this kind of noble people. But then they also have to live in a reality of what they, that's where power lies and all of that.

And so, I think it’s interesting--I think, that’s what’s likable about Lithgow’s character is that he really lives his philosophy.

Christopher Buck: I thought it was interesting the fact that Beatriz, the name Beatriz from the Latin root is, it means “one that brings happiness.”

And I thought about how that sort of thing would wear you down making it harder for her to heal herself and continue on, and that’s why she wasn’t able to.

Mike White: I was trying to come up with a name that, would reflect that she is somebody who is really about putting others first and that her whole essence was about, healing the suffering of others. How people who live that life and also live it to a particular extreme, how there really is, in my experience, a kind of battle fatigue and feeling like there’s just no end to that amount of suffering in the world.

Mike White: I’m appreciative that this movie’s coming out now. And it was a positive experience. It’s an interesting thing because I feel like it’s gotten a lot of buzzes, and people are talking about the movie, and it was a tough movie to find financing for. And so, I find it amusing that it seems to be resonating with people.

Christopher Buck: I saw that with Beatriz and her character. She dealt with a lot of terminal illnesses and cancer, and the like.

Christopher Buck: Mike, thank you for the

opportunity to interview you and get your thoughts on the movie.

Mike White: Well, thank you so much.

Health & Wellness Innovative new approaches to Healing as well as holistic methods for dealing with health issues and personal growth

Honoring the Darkness on the Healer’s Journey

by Lisa Shaw

The Darkness on the Healer’s Journey In the “Hero’s Journey,” Joseph Campbell provides a roadmap of the stages we go through to carry accomplish missions not just for ourselves but for the greater good:

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Separation, Initiation, and Return, all necessary stops on the healing path. Each includes sub-stages none of which would be possible without first accepting “the call” –a sacrificial dare from the Universe. The hero undertakes this challenging journey with the assurance that God’s, then emerges enlightened. Two critical stages are Crossing the Threshold and Entering the Belly of the Beast.

All mythological and religious tales follow the pattern but take on the local characteristics of the culture that created them: Jesus in the wilderness, Buddha venturing into seclusion and solitude, Moses in the dark desert confronting the “burning bush,” Mohammad seeking personal refuge in a cave. The common thread is darkness and isolation, which we in contemporary life seem to fear.

Bhante Shravasti Dhammika (The Buddhism Guide A to Z) explains the delicate balance we must strike to use refuge wisely: “A person can choose to be solitary or be forced into it by others or by circumstances. When solitude

is unwanted it can result in loneliness, anxiety or fear.

When used at the right time and in the right manner it can have an important role in spiritual development.”

Darkness - We Must First Heal Ourselves If we intend to heal others, we must first heal ourselves.

A good starting point is our willingness accept separation and embrace the darkness. In stillness, there is wisdom. In darkness, there is stillness.

There is peace in stillness. In peace, there is capacity to heal others. The Dalai Lama teaches, “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”

If we did not have darkness, how would we recognize the light? Anne Frank wrote, “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”

The duality exists in the Taoist yin/yang symbol, darkness/ brightness, which illustrate the interdependence of opposing forces. Our very breath exercises this: on the yin (inhale) we receive; on the yang (exhale) we release.

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What expands must contract.

These forces become work together, allowing life.

the transition into earthly existence. And so, it is when we leave this world.

The yin is the receptive darkness; the yang the active light. It is the receiver and the giver, the listener and the activist. That darkness represents the seeking, the questioning, intuition, feminine energy. The darkness invites us into the void, where all consciousness begins.

Darkness has negative implications that present fear but in religious literature, those situations become initiations. The story of Jonah in the belly of the whale remains a significant lesson in three great Western religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, underlining the necessity of the dark isolation we encounter just before we confront the Divine and bring forth wisdom, healing, and blessings.

Journey into Darkness Comforts, Eases Transition Our journey into darkness, deep meditation, represents the mythological cave, the womb, the place of divine stillness from which we came. Campbell speaks of the stunning cave paintings of our early ancestors who recorded events sacred to the people, precursors of stained glass church windows.

LeBoyer birthing methods emulate the soft stillness of the womb by using water (fluidity, receptivity) and darkness to gently usher the new human over the threshold into to the world. The darkness is comforting, easing

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Plants Experience Light and Dark Responses Even plants experience the tense relationship between light and dark.

In an elementary school explanation of why plants lean toward the light we can see that both forces work together.

Aurins in plant cells lead plants away from light, which accelerates the growth of cells on the darker side. As a result, the plant naturally tilts toward the side of light. “The

concentration of aurins on the dark side may be due to the fact that sunlight slows or kills these aurins when light falls on them. However, as long as one part of the plant gets sunlight, it can make food and the whole plant survives� (www. pitara.com).

The same can be said for us.

When we sit in the darkness of our deep meditation, we invite our shadow side to emerge.

This can be a very frightening experience for those who have not explored the interior regions of our thought and emotions. But as these thoughts and feelings emerge (or “come to light), we expand our consciousness and raise our vibration. Thus, what feels like a nightmare or threat actually elevates us, drawing in more light. Shamanic traditions honor the Shadow as a partner in healing.

The Shortest Day of the Year Consider December 21st, the shortest day of the year, called Yule by pagans. It is, of course, the longest night of the year, the only point

on the calendar when we experience more darkness than light. The pagans, seeing this as a sacred time, created Yule rituals and ceremonies to welcome the return of the sun to earth. It is the natural cycle of the universe.

We can use rituals to welcome the darkness as many metaphysicians have done throughout the ages: new moon ceremonies to honor and use the power of darkness to usher in the growing light, simple candle lighting, meditation to reach the darkness and call in the light.

We don’t even have to summon the light. It finds us, naturally.

About the Author Lisa Shaw is an animal communicator, Reiki Master, intuitive counselor, writer, and professor who lives in South Florida. She conducts an international online Reiki Circle for Animals and provides consultations.

Serving as a medium between animals and their humans, she specializes in end of life and afterlife issues. Her web site is www.Reikidogs.com

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Simply Spiritual To perceive reality from a different perspective is to open oneself to the wonders and unlimited wealth of creation. Simply Spiritual offers the opportunity to visit new places, new methods, and different ways to perceive the vast human knowledge of our Universe.

The Dial to Nowhere

by Alan Cohen

Recognizing a Lot of Busy Work While Dee and I were waiting for service in a restaurant, I picked up an Etch-a-Sketch-like toy on a rack near our table, a plaything designed to keep little kids entertained while

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waiting for food. Curious, I began to write on the screen and tinker with the dials. I discovered a large knob that turned like a dial and moved in a slot horizontally back and forth across the entire bottom of the device. “What does that dial do?” Dee asked.

“Nothing,” I replied. “It is not connected to anything and does not get anything done. It just gives kids the illusion that they are getting something done.”

Dee laughed. “Sound like a lot of the office work I’ve done.”

She was kidding, but serious.

A certain amount of business work is productive and meaningful. A lot just feels like busy work.

Filling out forms; fixing website issues; jumping through multi-layered security hoops; getting stuck in voicemail loops; fending off hackers; dealing with people who don’t pay attention to instructions.

While on some level these activities may be necessary in

an increasingly complex world, a lot of them feel boring and a waste of time.

A Big Waste of Time, the Dial to Nowhere At the end of the day, you lay in bed and wonder, “What did I do today, anyway?” Perhaps you, like me, would rather do what is meaningful than busy work. I heard that some doctors spend one-third of their time healing people and two-thirds of their time doing paperwork and administrative tasks. Where are our priorities?

Soon afterward, we watched one of my favorite films, Lost Horizon. The movie contains a poignant scene in which high-ranking statesman Robert Conway finds himself in the remote paradise of Shangri-La, where he falls in love with a delightful woman who invites him to stay there with her forever. He explains that he has important work to do back in society. She tells him, “Come now, you know you are going nowhere-admit it!” Conway thinks for a moment, smiles,

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and replies, “You are exactly right.” In that moment, he realizes that most of the work he is doing is not leading to anything of true value. He is rolling the dial to nowhere.

Running in Circles?

Tolerating the Meaningless If you are tired of running on a hamster wheel, be honest about what you would rather be doing. How much of your work and daily activities are life-giving, and how much are boring and deadening?

How much tolerance do you have for the meaningless? Any tolerance at all is too much.

If you are bored, either find a way to make what you are doing interesting, or choose something more stimulating.

There are no other options, really. French author Jules Renard said, “I am never bored anywhere. Being bored is an affront to oneself.”

Everything you do is either taking you somewhere or it is taking you nowhere. If there is any value in going nowhere, it is to bring you to the

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realization of the somewhere you would rather be. Our challenge is that nowhere is so highly populated that it seems like somewhere. When billions of people agree that illusions are solid, it is tempting to pitch your tent in on a swamp.

Loving What You Do - the Dial to Somewhere But reality is not a democracy, and truth does not depend on the number of people who subscribe to it. Mass agreement does not make emptiness full.

It takes an innocent mind to see the emperor isn’t wearing clothes. Such people are branded mavericks and heretics, but eventually, when the masses finally catch up with reality, the heretics are lauded, knighted, or sainted. Paul McCartney, who flipped the bird at the monarchy by smoking pot in Buckingham Palace, was eventually knighted.

One day I stood at the ferry dock in Tiburon, California, and watched commuters exit from their workday in San Francisco. They did not look like happy campers. I thought,

“If that is what livelihood is all about, count me out.”

Zen philosopher Alan Watts said, “The secret to success it to find a way to get paid for having fun.” Passion is the strongest money magnet I know. When you love what you do, consumers are happy to pay you to do it for them.

When you find a good reason to wake up in the morning, you are truly turning the dial to somewhere.

Turning the Dial - the Choice to Make a Change If you are doing something devoid of joy, either find a way to bring greater meaning to it, or stop doing it. This is your life we are talking about. You get just so many trips around the sun before returning to inventory. None of us can afford to waste time in irrelevance.

There are three ways you can immediately add meaning and value to your life: (1) Follow your joy voice rather than the fear voice: (2) Connect by focusing on the human

element in your work and communication; and (3) Serve.

When you take care of people, you remember why we are here. Our deepest purpose is to make each other’s lives easier.

Everything else is either a means toward that end, or a detail.

Each day presents us with numerous dials we can turn.

Some of them simply provide the illusion of action, and others actually have an effect.

May you sleep well tonight, knowing that your day on earth was well spent.

About the Author Alan Cohen is the author the inspirational book, Enough Already: The Power of Radical Contentment. Join Alan in Hawaii this June 19-23 for a life-transforming retreat, Power, Passion, and Purpose: A Training to Live Your Vision.

For more information about this program, Alan’s books and videos, free daily inspirational quotes, online courses, and weekly radio show, visit www. alancohen.com.

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The Return to the Goddess

by Tess Pender

The Goddess Calls for Our Return We call her Mother Earth, and for millennia She was our Goddess, our Mother, our center.

Then the patriarchal revolution replaced Her with their sky gods, and relegated her to the position of handmaiden.

But still, in every corner of the world, her worship continues.

Women in city apartments gather in her name. Rural Omtimes.com

communities invoke her blessing when planting season arrives. And, in virtually every community disconnected from our modern world, her devotees sing her praises. She is the Lady of Guadalupe, the Goddess in the Moon, the Virgin Mother, the comfort of the afflicted. In a sweat lodge, we sit in her womb to pray and ask Great Spirit to bless us. On a vision quest, she is the one to whom we cry for a vision, she is the ruler of the

Dreamtime, and the seer.

Groups Who Venerate the Goddess as First Creator She is the First Creator we learn to worship, and our souls cry to return to her arms! It is hard today to find Circle of Goddess worshipers, but there are pockets. There are some from Christianity who splintered to focus on the Marys. From Wicca (the ancient pagan beliefs of the Celts), spring the Dianic groups of today, a feminist version of Wicca made popular in the late 1900s. Native American tradition venerates White Buffalo Calf Woman, and the Australian Dreamtime looks to the Feminine.

The most effective way to engage in Goddess-centered spirituality is to create a coven and begin holding ceremonies.

Find a group of women, buy a book (Goddess Connections: Goddess rituals for the modern priestess by Tara Reynolds, or The Goddess Celebrates by Diane Stein). Decide on some ground rules: How often to meet, where and when, how to invite new people, is this a women-only group, will food be part of the ritual, who will

create the rituals, (a highpriestess or a rotation among members).

Example of Some Guided Group Rules For example, one group had these rules: • Meet monthly, second Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Meeting place rotated, the hostess was responsible for the entire ritual, including creating an altar, creating and leading the ritual, and providing the feast (thus avoiding a monthly potluck).

• The group size limit was no more than 13 members.

Guests could be invited once, but had to be accepted as members to return. All members had to agree before admitting a new member.

• Eventually, there was a ritual in February to initiate new members. The group hosted a co-ed ritual twice yearly at Winter and Summer Solstice, and invited spouses and friends.

This group started with only Omtimes.com

two women (each one invited one or more), continued meeting for over a decade, and the members stayed close for life. The shared devotion to the Feminine Principle was a new, fulfilling spirituality that also supported growth and change. It provided a gateway to a permanent connection to the divine. Rotating the role of high priestess meant that each woman in turn embodied the Divine Feminine. Each claimed responsibility for the group’s connection to the Goddess, and explored the many possible ways to worship.

In Earth-centered spirituality, each animal is a relative, and as the prayer says in sweat lodges, every step is sacred, every thought a prayer. Living in this way is to return to the time when the Goddess was present, a participant in all of life’s activities; that is, a retreat to a numinous life.

Every individual is called to express their divine nature and connect to the sacred. It is a truly consecrated way to live, safely residing in the womb of the All-Mother.

Find Divine Nature in Earthcentered Spirituality

Tess Pender is an ordained Interfaith Minister, active in 12-step programs for over thirty years. Her spiritual practice began with Native American Sweat Lodges, and continued with a series of Vision Quests. She also led a Teen Spiritual Education Program, and regularly teaches classes on accessing intuition. Tess practices EarthCentered Spirituality. She can be reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/Rev-Tess-InterfaithMinister-1333335763419001/

Turning to the Great Goddess is an eminently feminist spiritual practice. It is one that leads naturally to raising children who respect and honor the feminine, who believe in their divine nature, and thus independently select a personal spirituality. Welcoming the return of the mother reclaims the inner warrior, the proud, courageous Aphrodite and Diana in every woman, and recognizes the divine aspect of every moment of life.

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CHANGING FOR SUCCESS

Do you want to infuse your Soul?

by John Holland

Soul Inspirations from the Art World I was looking at this beautiful art book the other day and noticed a quote from the artist, Picasso, which inspired me to write this Soul inspiration. He said: “Art washes away from

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the soul the dust of everyday life.” What might it take to infuse your soul?

What an inspirational quote!

Whether it’s art, music, dance or something else you find yourself inspired by, the important aspect is about infusing the soul. How many times have you stopped to look at a piece of art, whether it’s in a shop window, a gallery or someone’s house. You stand there taking in the expression of the art, but something is stopping you from feeling the connection. It’s not the actual artwork but the frame. It’s the frame that prevents the connection. In a way, that can be likened to the soul too.

When you wrap your soul up so it can’t express or connect, it’s like putting a frame on it.

Our Healthy Souls Need to Breathe It’s so important to allow your soul to breathe, so it remains healthy and pure. You won’t want to contain it in any type of frame, as it will quickly become stagnant. It’s like a goldfish tank without the oxygen keeping the water

fresh and revitalized. The soul is just the same.

Art can be just one of many ways for you to express yourself. Whatever you ultimately choose depends on your talents, your habits, your likes, and dislikes. For some people, gardening can be a wonderful therapeutic activity for their soul, whereas for others, it might be baking, playing music, or dancing.

Whatever works for you, I encourage you to just go with it. Engage your body with your senses so that you produce something from the inside, which you can then apply to the outside.

The Significant Benefits of Infusing Your Soul The benefits of infusing your soul can be quite significant.

One of the current practices I hear a lot about in all walks of life is mindfulness. Again, this can be an amazing way to infuse your soul through regular mindfulness practice.

It’s really nothing more than just being in the now. I know I’ve often talked about that, but as it’s become such

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a popular term, it’s worth reminding you about just being in the moment. It’s all about shutting off those thoughts that keep going round and round, keeping you stuck in an endless cycle of trying to figure things out or resolving problems, or in a state of constant worry.

Mindfulness harnesses the mind and keeps it in the now.

So, when you’re enjoying whatever activity you love most, just focus on that one activity. Enter the experience fully, without preconceived ideas of what the outcome should or could be … just go with the flow. What you’re doing in the process is training your soul to remain calm and aware of the now, rather than running wild in the chaos of the moment.

JOHN’S LESSON To achieve the sort of soul infusion I’ve written about I find that the ‘breath’ is a great way to infuse your soul with power and energy. We draw in psychic energy through the breath, which is known as prana. This is a Sanskrit word

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meaning, “Absolute Energy.”

It is the universal principle of energy or force. It can be found in all forms of life.

We’re constantly breathing in air charged with prana. With normal breathing, we draw in and breathe out a regular amount of prana.

By controlling and regulating our breathing, it’s possible to acquire more of this valuable psychic energy source. The yogis know that by practicing certain breathing exercises, they can draw on this energy - this vital force, and use it in every part of their lives, whether it’s for meditation, relaxation, or even manifesting a goal.

Equally, it can be directed to work on a certain part of the body and assist in the localized healing process. This particular Breathing Meditation is a wonderful way to spend some time each day, not doing anything, but just being.

Exercise: Please lie down or sit with your back straight and get nice and comfortable.

Good. Breathe through the nostrils, and inhale steadily, nice and slow. Breathe into

your stomach slowly and let the air move up to your lower lungs and then into the chest area. Hold the breath for a few seconds. Good, that›s great. Exhale very slowly, holding the chest in a firm position, drawing in the abdomen slightly and lifting it slowly upward, as the air leaves the lungs. When all the air is exhaled, relax your chest and abdomen.

A Breathing Exercise to Infuse Your Soul This exercise should be carried out in one slow continuous breath. The entire breath will be distributed to all three parts of the lungs. Some people prefer to do this exercise in a mirror while placing their hands on their abdomen, then their lower ribs and then finally to the upper chest. You can also try using a rolled-up blanket and place it on the three different areas one at a time to feel the breath rise and fall in each area.

In the beginning, this exercise will seem a little jerky as you breathe into the three parts of the lungs. Soon, you’ll be able

to complete this in one smooth breath. Once you’ve learned to master the Complete Breath, you’ll quickly understand how it will benefit you in all your future breath work and meditations. You can do this exercise a few times a day to help you get the feeling of breathing freely and calmly, but most importantly… completely.

Please note, that this exercise is not meant to be forced, and should not result in holding your breath for long periods of time. If you feel any physical discomfort, please stop immediately and return to your normal style of breathing. If you do suffer any discomfort, visit your doctor first to make sure that this exercise is not too strenuous for your system. The purpose is to infuse your soul health, not create physical pain.

Live a Soul-filled life!

About the Author John Holland is an artist, author, public speaker, and psychic medium. To learn more about John Holland, visit http://www. johnholland.com.

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Top 7 Feng Shui Ways to Make a Better Bedroom

by Kartar Diamond

Better Bedroom Options for Improvement On a higher level of Feng Shui, which requires knowing when the house was built and it magnetic compass orientation, we can predict all kinds of nonOmtimes.com

obvious results from sleeping in a bedroom. Is there any way to have a better bedroom?

Each house and bedroom are truly unique, and we can find out how your sleeping room influences your health, relationships, and even your career. When I think back on some of the bedrooms I have slept in during my life, I know now that the childhood bedroom I grew up in indicated a potential for glandular problems, which I did have.

My marriage ended with a bedroom that could trigger bickering and gossip. And the room also indicated the miscarriage I would have.

Soon after that, I learned traditional Feng Shui and made sure I found a new place with good “flying stars” in my bedroom. I moved into a place where my career advanced in leaps and bounds.

Feng Shui Influences for a Better Bedroom With these unseen, non-

obvious influences, this is when and why we add or remove certain natural elements from the room, such as water, metal, fire, wood or earthen objects.

Consider the many elements that go into having a better bedroom experience.

But on the immediate or palpable level, without knowing these unique details, there are some basic Feng Shui principles which apply to almost everyone and their optimal sleeping conditions.

The goal is to create a healthier bedroom environment since that is the most important room in the house. We sleep there about a third of our lives, so the bedroom takes priority over every other room. The exception would be a home office that you spend eight or more hours a day in.

1. Sleep with the bed away from direct alignment with the room’s door.

This provides a more harmonious qi flow in the room. The operative word

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here is “direct” alignment since some rooms will limit where you can place a bed.

Direct alignment means that someone could walk a straight line from the bedroom door and walk right into the end or side of the bed.

2. Sleep away from a low window.

It is ideal to sleep against a solid wall, for anchoring support. The wall is the “virtual” mountain that we need for the ideal sleeping environment.

3. Avoid sleeping directly under an exposed beam.

The more beams overhead, the more chaotic the energy will be, flowing downward toward your body. Likewise, the larger the exposed beam, the more it can cause health issues directly related to where the beam is over your body. As an example, an exposed beam over your stomach area could cause stomach problems. If you do have a beam or beams over your bed, one solution is the

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canopy bed frame where you can drape fabric over the canopy bed and deflect the downward pressure of the beams back up towards the ceiling.

4. Avoid sleeping with a large mirror in the bedroom.

Cover up the mirrored closet doors or any large mirror at the foot or side of the bed.

Mirrors can contribute to sleep disorders or uneasiness in the bedroom.

5. Have a good balance of yin and yang influences in the room.

Generally speaking, the bedroom should be more “yin” in character: quiet, not too bright, and other relaxing features. You don’t want the room to be a dark cave, as it should receive some natural light and some ventilation. As well, you don’t want the room to be too hot or too cold.

6. Tidy up the area.

This one tip sounds very New-Agey and not really the

domain of traditional feng shui. But there is definitely a subjective and emotional layer to feng shui which is as real as anything else discovered.

If the bedroom is just a continuous extension of a messy closet or if the bedroom is the same room as your home office, then there will be a tendency to have things in the bedroom which are not relaxing to look at, like piles of laundry or paperwork to attend to. This can put you in a bad mood as you go to bed and ultimately undermine the quality of your sleep.

7. This one is also a “modern� feng shui concern: Move the electronics AWAY from the bed.

Instead of having your cell phone or digital alarm clock on the night stand, move these objects at least across the room, six or more feet away. We are all bombarded with electrical fields and magnetic radiation, beyond our personal control. The least you can do is take

charge of your own home electronics and give your own magnetic field a chance to recuperate, undisturbed while you sleep. In addition to moving electronics away from the bed, there are also pro-active things you can do, such as having shungite and orgonite pieces in the room and throughout the house.

These suggestions open the possibilities for a greater energy flow for a better bedroom.

About the Author Kartar Diamond grew up in Southern California in the 1970’s and always had an interest in metaphysics and holistic lifestyle choices. She met Master Sang in 1992 and became one of his senior graduate instructors from the American Feng Shui Institute.

Kartar founded her own company, Feng Shui Solutions, and has advised thousands of clients and students about the healthful benefits of this still greatly misunderstood practice.

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The Energy You Need to Discover Yourself

by Tony Samara

“Love creates a gracious awareness, clarity of thought, and a remembrance of this moment.” ~ Tony Samara

Discovering Yourself Takes Time and Energy Awareness means purification, and purification means letting go through forgiveness and compassion. This means the deep compassion that happens when we are aware of situations as they are, as they exist in the present moment.

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It is not that we fight ourselves or anyone else, as part of awareness is loving kindness.

This means that we understand that the peaceful way is the way that is without effort. We see that ‘giving up’ requires effort in itself. We may not realize that it takes a lot of energy to give up. In doing so, we are fighting the natural inclination of awareness that is within our essence.

The attribute of our soul is

awareness. And, if we are always fighting our soul, or if our soul is caught in the mundane that is not real, then our soul has no space to manifest.

The Consciousness of Pure Awareness and Discovery The natural inclination for every human being is the consciousness of pure awareness. It means that if we are not experiencing consciousness or awareness, we are putting effort into constricting that reality from being present in this present moment.

Hence, it is that we need to let go, (meaning the part of us that thinks that it requires this or requires that to come back home).

We must come back to the space of pure heartfelt love.

Doing so doesn’t require anything other than the giving of space to the space or awareness.

May I suggest that, today, we look at the various situations that arise within ourselves.

Look within our mind, within our emotions, and within our

body. Simply watch the different sensations and experiences, and be aware.

Where is the energy going in relation to the present moment?

Is it going into the needs and desires of chasing the next moment?

Or, are we letting go into this present moment so that this present moment allows for conscious knowledge to align to the supreme consciousness that is awareness?

Supreme consciousness is the consciousness that frees us from everything of the past and everything of the future. It brings us back to the awareness that this present moment is more perfect than we may think. It is more perfect than we may feel, and more perfect than we may experience.

When you take that beautiful awareness into your practice, it becomes an aware practice aligned to conscious knowledge.

This inner wisdom belongs to no one. It is the oneness open for everyone to explore deeply Omtimes.com

during these next coming moments in time. A wisdom contained beyond the limiting formulas or dogmas of the past. Behold this new gift being birthed!

More intensely than ever, the inner work leads us now to light and to unity, from a troubled mind to an open heart and, hence, to the profoundness of love.

This journey leads us to the realization of who we are.

What an opportunity to recognize that whatever is going on is a mirror; a clear reflection. It tells us more about ourselves, even though this may not seem so in the turbulent moments.

That whoever we think we are is not our reality. It is not our essence. Our essence is beyond the activity of thoughts and belief systems, and when this stops even for an instant, we open a gateway to another world that gives us strength and courage to reveal the truth that we all share and that is beyond dualism.

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When we transcend the theater of the mundane aspects of the ego, we direct our attention in an honest way into truthful knowing. This frees the heart from the chains that seem so heavy. This gives us an opportunity to discover that whatever concept or emotion that is honestly or directly examined, miraculously loses its grip, freeing us to experience happiness.

The light of conscious awareness produced from this moment of happiness, penetrates the ego and its games; thus, making it impossible for suffering to continue its position of authority and hold on our lives.

About the Author Tony Samara, world-renowned spiritual teacher & author of 16 books, has been sharing deep spiritual work & energy transmission for the evolution of consciousness for over 25 years. Combining meditation, detoxing the body, a plantbased diet & a simple lifestyle, he is best known for how his work touches more deeply than words. http://www.

TonySamara.com

Because you deserve a better Social Media PR consciousgatepr.com

How to Shift Away from Victim Consciousness

by Heather O’Neill

Overcoming Victim Consciousness through Forgiveness Many of us may be on a path of spiritual and/ or self-development and growth. However, we can

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still get caught up in victim consciousness without realizing it. We may be practicing deep awareness and be able to watch our responses to our life situations.

Yet, we may still not be free of archetypal victimization patterns passed down through our ancestors.

Sometimes, we need to dig deep to realize. What is at the bottom of our limiting and false beliefs is a sense of being made out to be a victim.

Further, this victimization served us in the past. So, our ego will still try and lock into this default setting with its deep roots to get sympathy.

We seek love, affection, recognition, and a myriad of other things the ego may need to inflate its sense of self-worth.

Self-Love and Courage to Balance the Sense of Loss Self-forgiveness, which is not a well-known practice to many of us, can be a wonderful way to release some of these ties to victim consciousness.

As we are all energetically

connected, self-healing through forgiveness can also heal ancestral and current victim patterns in those around us. However, letting ourselves off the hook for past mistakes is no easy task.

And it takes enormous work at times. We need self-love, courage, and the desire to remove the feeling of a being a victim, even to our own selves. It takes focus on our heart center, on the feeling of love, and the looping of that feeling through our solar plexus (our power center) and then back through our heart center. It takes filling our hearts with love for ourselves.

We might choose to give ourselves the same love that we so generously offer to others. This puts us on a much better plane to offer ourselves forgiveness, as well.

Heal Victim Consciousness with Forgiveness and Boundaries Another huge part of releasing victim consciousness is through the forgiveness of others. Colin

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Tipping’s Radical Forgiveness is a most incredible teaching on how to engage in this practice on a soul level. Colin talks about viewing the transgressions of others that we are so hurt and angered by as perfect interactions that our high-self sets up for us to heal ourselves. So that what happens «to» us is changed to what happens «for» us. When realize this, we can release the anger around what happened and release the feelings of needing the other person to «pay», and thus we release our mindset around being a victim.

We must learn to say no to things that we don’t want to do. Start by accepting that we are going to disappoint people we love sometimes. They will recover from this are “tip of the iceberg “steps that can be taken in order not to develop resentment towards others that puts us on a train eventually bound for victim-land. It seems almost an ingrained, cultural and societal construct that we

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people-please and are afraid to say no to others.

Patterns that Reinforce Victim Consciousness We don’t want to hurt the feelings of those we care about, so we say yes. By agreeing to ways we don’t want to be spending our time, this devalues what our experiences mean to us.

Observe these long-standing patterns and take steps to turn the tide toward honoring our time. Being open and honest with one another can bring small steps that will help to heal the bigger picture of victim consciousness.

And once we start seeing the little things that make us feel trapped, we get more used to the inner exploration.

This observance of our own patterns tells us how we get what we want and need. Most often we are unaware of just how frequently we might fall prey to playing the victim. We might tell ourselves “I am so

alone” when we simply have a feeling of loneliness.

Ways to Refrain from Prejudicial Chatter We may tell our self “no one understands me” after one conversation with someone who just wasn’t getting us. We may say “everyone is always screwing me over” after one colleague didn’t follow through with something they had promised. These events activate what Eckhart Tolle terms our “pain body.” It is that part that sees ourselves as a victim, and looks for ways to serve in that role.

We can look at it from a higher-self-perspective.

Simply because we feel lonely, misunderstood or hurt, we are, in fact, not a victim. We are simply our spiritual selves having a human experience of the polarization of feelings.

And if we can look at it that way, without judgment of it and making ourselves out to be a victim, there will be an

immensely greater amount of room for learning and healing, both of which humanity is hungry for right now. And, thus, we establish ourselves as part of the shift away from victim consciousness.

About the Author Heather is a personal life coach and Reiki Master Teacher. She helps clients throw out their head trash. Heather, an empath and intuitive, works on clearing energetic blocks to reclaim personal power through choosing our thoughts rather than our thoughts choosing us.

As a certified Law of Attraction coach, Heather has a keen understanding of how to work with the universal laws to create lives that unfold as we truly want them to. Heather helps clients go beyond egoic reactions to life’s challenges and to see them from the broader perspective of the high-self, which enables us to experience the most growth. heatheroneillcoaching.com

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8 Ways to Be Super Productive

by Maria Khalife Become Super Productive and Aware The productivity methodology of folks at the top of the chain frequently appears flawless, effortless, and intrinsic. More than likely, it isn’t any of these.

It’s carefully-crafted habits put into place and held as ideal.

Highly productive people keep their Big Dream in mind. They know where they want to go, when they want to arrive, and

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how they want to approach the tasks. You can do this too, and here are some ideas you can put in place so that you move on up the chain.

Eight Ways to Be Super Productive Consider any of these eight different ways to become even more productive than you already may be: Observe Those Who Fail and Don’t Do What They Do. One of life’s most valuable tools is the ability to observe and then to learn from those observations.

So, take a good long look at people who aren’t successful, make a list of what they’re doing, and don’t do those things.

You could begin your list just by looking through your contacts list on your phone and jotting down what you don’t like that you observe keeping your friends from success.

Be Systems Smart.

Are you the person people go to when they can’t find an address or a phone number?

Why is that? Because you are organized. You have systems in place to contain and control

your data. You cannot build success on a weak foundation, and disorganization is one weak foundation. Outlaw sticky notes…unless you keep them all together in a spiral-bound notebook with dates.

Don’t Multi-task; Maintain a Single-Minded Focus.

It isn’t possible to do more than one thing well. Create an environment where you shut off all distractions while you are doing that one thing well. We all know the siren call of social media. Turn those off. Turn off your phone. No TV. Close your office door. Tell your kids not to ask you questions for one hour.

With focus, you’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish without distractions. And please, complete what you begin.

Set Goals - Make them as specific as you can.

Make them meaningful and attainable. Keep them practical or relevant. Have a time frame for their achievement. You can also set lifetime goals for Career, Education, Family, Physical, Public Service and the like, as well. Write them down. It’s a form of commitment.

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Start Big and Break Them Down into smaller pieces.

It’s the old concept of eating the whole elephant. That’s not possible, but a bowl of stew might be. Take the small steps you can see to take while holding the Big Goal in mind.

You’ll be there before you know it.

Prioritize Your Tasks.

Do you know what time of the day is best for you to get tons done? Use that time with wisdom. Create your to-do list in three segments: Most Important, Kind of Important, Not Important.

Your daily goal should be only the Most Important tasks during your most productive time zone. If you get to some of the Kind of Important tasks, it’s a bonus.

Set Your Alarm for a Break.

You know how long you can focus before you begin to get weary, so when the alarm goes off, step outside for a breath of fresh air, a sip of cool water, a face up to the sun. Rest your mind and you’ll return to the next interval charged and ready.

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Focus, Focus, Focus.

People learn quickly who the go-to person is to get a job done.

If you are one of those go-to people, it’s not fair to you and your own dreams to say “Yes” to all the tasks requested of you. When you know your own dreams, desires, and goals, and you keep them as your numberone focus, it’s not possible to do the tasks others think you should.

Stick with your own schedule.

When it comes to being super productive, it is up to you to determine what you will accomplish. This is true of every opportunity in your lifetime. So, make it a good one!

About the Author With over 20 years of experience gained across television, radio and print, Maria Khalifé brings to her clients knowledge and understanding in holistic and motivational living. Maria brings to the world powerful lifechanging experiences for those who seek extraordinary lives and want to reach their maximum potential. Maria can help you to uncover your true dynamic self. Please visit http://www.

MariaKhalife.com

Imagine yourself‌ driven from your home by war, broken lives floating on a Sea of Troubles, your simple prayer to find Kind Hearts, Kind Hands to help you on your journey.

Be the answer to a prayer.

Humanity Healing Syrian Refugee Relief Please Donate Here humanityhealing.org

Tools for Powerful Wealth Creation

by Curry Glassell

Wealth Creation and Finding Prosperity I often say it doesn’t matter who your parents were or how you were raised. The ability to prosper has nothing to do

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with how much money you have but, rather, what you are willing to create for yourself.

So, how about focusing on wealth creation?

Creation is about stepping out of the points of view you have about money (which are normally the beliefs and perspectives you adopted from your parents, friends and communities) and opening yourself up to greater choice and opportunity. To create, you must stop coming to conclusions about who you are, what you are capable of and what you deserve, and start living in the infinite possibility of a question: If I was willing to create abundance for me, what would that look like?

Limiting Beliefs and Behaviors Inhibit Wealth Creation Creation arises from empowerment. So, if you are

to create wealth for yourself it is imperative to look at the learned behaviors that are disempowering you around money. Then, you can take steps to destroy and un-create these limiting points of view.

The choices you make reflect your points of view. If being around money disempowers you, perhaps you may exhibit one or more of these limiting beliefs and behaviors:

Allowing others to control your finances.

These days, it is common for personal wealth to be left in the hands of “experts” or “professionals”. Ironically, it seems to be the more money you have to invest, the more likely this wealth is handed to others to control. However, if you are not responsible for the choices made with (and for) your money, you are not in

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any position to influence what that wealth becomes. Never allow others to be in charge of your money. Educate yourself; empower yourself and become your own wealth creator.

Acting on impulse or unrealistic views.

If you want to create the wealth you deserve, it is vital that you look truthfully and practically at your life and your financial situation.

Realism is an essential part of empowerment because it allows you to see your choices clearly. If an item is not essential to your survival, then you must realize that buying it is a choice. Therefore, it is up to you to choose whether you want to spend your money on it now, later, or not at all.

Don’t spend money robotically - be a conscious wealth creator.

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An over-infatuation with ‘stuff’.

All that glitters is not gold and material possessions do not add to your greatness in any way. I know from personal experience that having great wealth will not fulfill you- and believing it does only serves to disempower you. Sometimes, in your creation of wealth, you may have to simplify, downsize and declutter, and there are almost certainly times when you will have to say “no” to yourself. Destroy and un-create any infatuation you may have with “stuff” and come back to the power that is within you.

Functioning from a place of panic.

We find panic and desperation in the point

of view of, ‘I have no power in this situation. I am at the mercy of outside forces.’ This is an incredibly disempowering mindset; one of victim, not creator.

Whenever you are in worry, panic, anxiety or desperation, asking questions will immediately open possibilities and empower you to be the creator. Use questions such as “What’s right about my situation I’m not getting?”, “How does it get any better than this?” or “If was I was willing to create wealth from this situation, what would I do?”

The point is not to seek answers, or conclusions, to these questions. However, let the enquiry, itself, guide you to wealth creation at the place of greatest possibility.

About the Author As a “Right Riches for You” facilitator helping people around America and internationally, Curry Glassell is an exceptional wealth mentor, working with people so they can break ties to poverty and create a lifestyle of wealth and luxury. Raised in a wealthy environment, she lost almost everything, and built her life back on her own.

Now she travels the world teaching people to change the money blueprint of their lives through the Right Riches for You program. It is a series of courses with powerful tools from Access Consciousness designed to make over your financial situation and relationship with money. She is also a philanthropist, facilitator, and art-loving mother of two. www.curryglassell.com

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Relationships The interconnectiveness among all human beings and, consequently, the relationships among us are the focus of this section. The dynamics of the web of connections we make is one of the most prominent aspects of human existence: how we interlace with each other’s existence in a meaningful way.

Knowing the Best Way to Connect with Others

by Marcia Sirota, MD.

Connect with Others through Empathy It seems that people have become more and more alienated lately. So, what does it take to connect with others? Often, our mode of interaction is transactional, as opposed to empathetic.

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“Empathetic” and “transactional” are two of the ways that people behave with one another, and they’re quite the opposite. The former is about enjoying and appreciating the other person’s company. The latter is about what we can do for each other.

In the transactional model, I do something for you (for example, be super nice and helpful).

This is done with the expectation that you’ll do something for me in return. (For example, give me validation, reassurance, affection).

Unfortunately, this way of dealing with others is dehumanizing. Instead of each person appreciating the other, just for who they are, transactional relationships take advantage of what each person might be bringing to the table.

Relationships Thrive on Empathetic Interaction The transactional mode of relating turns both parties into objects. Their purpose is to serve one another,

rather than people whose goal is to connect. This style of interaction makes it increasingly difficult to form and maintain positive, empathetic relationships.

In my weekly women’s groups, one of the main things I teach the participants is how to “just be” with each other. They learn that analyzing, interpreting, entertaining, cheer-leading, educating, helping or rescuing each other are not the ways to create meaningful connections.

The group members learn to simply enjoy spending quality time with each other. Through their sharing, they learn and grow and most importantly, they form deep and meaningful bonds.

The participants practice kindness and build empathy, and the groups quickly become cohesive entities that are greater than the sum of their parts.

More and more, we seem to have the idea that relationships are about “doing” for one-another.

We don’t realize that a better model is simply being together and appreciating each-another.

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Connect with Others and Build Trust Fortunately, we’re free to let go of this habit of doing for one another. We can begin to practice just being present. This doesn’t mean that we never do anything for the other person.

But, rather, we understand that the main point of our relationships isn’t to be helpful or useful to each other.

When we shift our goal to being present with one another, a lot of wonderful things can happen: closeness grows, trust builds, understanding blossoms, and when a real need arises, it’s naturally responded to.

We won’t be responding to the other person’s need because it’s what we’re “supposed” to do or because we’re giving now to get later. Instead, our response will be based on empathy and a natural outgrowth of the closeness we feel.

It takes an awful lot of energy to constantly do for

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one another, but it requires very little energy to just be with each other. We can use that extra energy to be more loving, more creative, more productive, and to enjoy our relationships even more.

Seeing as we’re human beings, not human “doings,” I can see no reason why we shouldn’t start practicing this new model of interacting with oneanother; connect with others, starting today.

About the Author Dr. Marcia Sirota is a Torontobased board certified psychiatrist. She specializes in the treatment of trauma and addiction, and is the founder of the Ruthless Compassion Institute. Marcia’s new book, Be Kind, Not Nice: How to Stop People-Pleasing, Build Your Confidence and Discover Your Authentic Self, is now available on Amazon.com and Amazon. ca. Sign up for her free monthly wellness newsletter: http:// marciasirotamd.com

Looking for Love in all the wrong places?

How to Make Friends with Your (Inner) Enemy

by Debbie Peluso Is There an Inner Enemy in Our Memory?

“Here comes the rain again…

Falling on my head like a memory…. Falling on my head like a new emotion,” ...words we all relate to in this ever-changing, moving flow of energy called life.

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Yet, it is also difficult to accept as we experience it.

Resistance is the Inner Enemy We Know Best

There is a story in the Talmud (Hebrew scripture) about how an angel is assigned to each of us when in the comfort of our mother’s womb who whispers to us the wisdom we need for living in this world. As we are born, she touches our upper lip in a gesture of silencing us to this knowledge. It is said the indentation above our lip (philtrum) is there to remind us that the answer to anything we may ever question is within us, not outside of us.

Within us all lies an enemy. We call it resistance! We convince ourselves we are open and expressing loving kindness and evolving through our many physical activities such as engaging in yoga, chanting, attending church, serving the community, but do we have complete acceptance and loving kindness towards ourselves in all matters arising from the depths of our core?

Are the actions the mask we wear out of fear of allowing ourselves the freedom to expose what we feel?

We could say yes, that’s a beautiful story, but why would an angel give us this knowledge to only silence us when we arrive to the destination where we need it most? Maybe because we are meant to cultivate and retain that wisdom through our own self-exploration and direct experience for evolvement. So where do we get lost? What blocks us from accessing this information when needed most?

One of the four Noble Truths in Buddhism speaks to suffering. There is discomfort in life.

There is no avoiding it! People also live in poverty, are hungry, live in war zones knowing loss and deprivation. It is part of duality. We turn our eyes from it avoiding “feelings” of suffering and discomfort.

This is what we do in our own

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lives, as well. We put on an armor of protection from emotions we may feel such as anger, depression, pain, judgment, cynicism. Our ego resists showing the world our vulnerabilities out of shame for being judged as unacceptable or “bad.”

Acceptance and Making Friends with Our Inner Enemy But it is through acceptance of our own sufferings and making friends with this inner enemy that allows us to cultivate authentic emotion and loving kindness towards ourselves which in turn develops towards all sentient beings. It is being in the flow of oneness with the energy of life rather than resisting it. This is how we can be of “true” value and help to others’ sufferings. Courage to have acceptance, make friends with our emotions and forgive the enemy within known as resistance.

“Today is cynical with a touch of self-pity. Check your attitude and prepare your Kleenex!”

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Does that maybe sound like one of your daily forecasts?

Just as the weather changes from rain to sunshine to wind, our emotions are just as changeable. One day we could feel excessive anger wanting to tear apart the whole house.

On another day, we feel such emotional pain we can’t get out of bed. We should not feel shame for these emotions, but rather have acceptance knowing that just as the weather, they shall pass.

Turn the Inner Enemy into Internal Wisdom This doesn’t mean you get a “get out of jail free” card!

If your neighbor complains about your dog barking, you don’t lash out at them calling them whatever expletive you can think of. Rather, becoming friends with that anger, acknowledging it as a changeable emotion allows you to be less reactionary. If it rains, we run seeking cover because we don’t want to get “wet.”

Embracing the rain allows us

to recognize its nourishment as it cleanses the earth cultivating food and vegetation. It is the same with our emotions. We seek refuge to avoid judgment of ourselves or from others. If we experience anger, embodying and grounding it we can awaken to its wisdom using the energy towards beneficial and fruitful actions.

How to Best Befriend Your Inner Enemy Take off the armor. Use courage to face the weather.

Detach yourself from it. Same with any emotion arising.

Embody, redirect, embrace.

Wait for it to blow over just as when the weather changes. Have acceptance, not attachment.

Sit in silence, recall the wisdom of the angel whispered to you so beautifully and awaken it. Let go of the enemy of resistance. “Our everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to

all situations and emotions and people, experiencing everything totally without reservations or blockages so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself.�

(Trungpa Rinpoche) This is the wisdom imparted to us, teaching us to cultivate loving kindness, compassion first for ourselves and then others resulting in peace even with our physical enemies: One life; one love!

About the Author Debbie Peluso obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Metaphysics in association with the University of Sedona in Arizona. She is a certified practitioner in Meditation, metaphysical/ spiritual counseling, yoga instructor and is also a working astrologer and co-owner of Zion Yoga Studio in the Washington, D.C. area. Debbie is a facilitator of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and is an OMTimes Expert and Spotlight writer.

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Metaphysics

The Power of Energy in Motion

by Crystal Presence

Energy in Motion is Important Energy in motion is important to processing life experiences.

Have you ever been struggling inside, and someone says, “Oh, just snap out of it! Stop

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thinking all that negative stuff and be positive!” Sounds like a great idea, right? But for many of us it is not that easy.

Thoughts and feelings are an integral part of us. They sometimes get all wrapped up inside and drain our power to make the changes we want.

No matter how many positive thoughts we conjure up, when our energy is not moving freely, stagnant energy lingers in the background.

People often call it “being stuck” for a reason. Without our energy in motion, the miserable thoughts and feelings we wish would go away, keep popping up repeatedly.

Yep, the same old thoughts and emotions keep circling round and round again!

The Ease in Letting Go People often say, “It’s hard to let go” when letting go is the easiest thing we ever do. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and personal power to

hold ourselves back. Letting go is our natural ability to free up our power to do the things we love.

Moving our energy opens space for the release of depression, repression and the struggle we feel. A good example is when we constrict the muscles around our lungs and heart. We literally suffocate ourselves with shallow breathing and compression of our blood flow. This stresses our bodies and makes us feel uneasy, dis-easy. Dis-ease is an early warning sign of what we commonly call “disease”.

Try this exercise as way to better understand: Hold your arm out in front of you.

Squeeze your fist as tight as you can.

Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze tighter and tighter…and do not let it go!

Keep holding it as tight as

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you can. Squeeze, squeeze... tighter and tighter. Do not let it go!

Notice any discomfort you feel in your fist, arm and the rest of your body.

How is your breathing? Does the rest of your body feel relaxed? How relational do you feel? Do you feel free?

How is your thinking? How present are you with the rest of what is going on around you? Is your focus of attention narrow?

Keep holding it tight and think about what it means to be “uptight”.

Then slowly start letting it go… slowly uncurl your fist.

Notice if your hand is feeling any resistance to letting go? Is there any discomfort in letting it go?

And when you’re ready...

Let it go! Relax, and Shake it out!

Notice how good it feels to let go and shake it out.

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Energy in Motion Supports Continuity Dancing, shaking, vibrating and expressing ourselves makes it easier to let go. It allows our thoughts, feelings and behaviors to be flexible and move more freely. Motion also supports in shifting our continuity while going through withdrawal from the habit of holding back.

When we keep our energy in motion many of the following benefits are: Experiencing a sense of well-being where thinking positively comes naturally.

Allowing the space for old beliefs and stories about ourselves to dissolve, resolve and evolve more readily.

Circulation of our blood and release of our muscles allowing us to experience the joy of being alive.

Allowing our emotions to express, feel happy, inspired and ready to take the next

steps in our lives.

Freedom, power and the ease of being in alignment with ourselves and all that is.

Experiencing what it means to be in the flow of life.

Space for envisioning and bringing forth the bodily felt sense of how we want our lives and our world to be.

Now try this exercise as a whole-body experience: Take a deep breath in and hold it as long as you can.

Hold it...hold it...hold it...and do not let go!

Now tighten your whole body.

Wrap your arms around yourself and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze!

Keep holding, squeezing and noticing.

How happy do you feel? How clear is your thinking? Do you feel friendly? How powerful do you feel? How present are you?

Notice that you have literally have tightened up. Uptight, right?

Now relax, let go, take a few deep breaths and shake it out!

Shake, Vibrate, and Shake it all out!

Feel the relief of oxygen flowing through your veins, filling you up with what you need to be fully alive!

About the Author Crystal’s career began as a registered nurse and midwife.

With a passion to be part of ending suffering in the world, a five-day transformational event called “Freedom at the Core” was born. For the past 35 years, Crystal has been creating a safe, fun and nurturing space for people to discover what stands between their suffering and the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual freedom that they want. http://www.

CrystalPresenceOnline.com www.facebook.com/ crystalpresence www.facebook.com. crystalpresenceonline

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True Soul Mates — Who are They?

by Zinovia Dushkova

True Soul Mates, Our Other Halves?

People have always searched for their other halves; for the ones they are destined. However, often when people think that they have finally found their

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true soul mates, after some time that idea turns out to be wrong. So, two people who had seemed to be an ideal couple suddenly part ways.

To understand the depths of this question, we need to turn to the knowledge of antiquity.

Many sacred texts indicate the number seven is sacred. It was laid out as a code during the creation of our planet.

Therefore, everything in our world has a seven-fold structure.

For instance, these seven principles form a human being: physical body etheric double (lower astral body) energy body emotional-mental body (the higher astral body) Supreme Mind (body of selfconsciousness) Soul Spirit The Soul as It Relates to Above and Below In the traditional concept of body-soul-spirit, the body

represents the first three principles, the soul is the emotional-mental body, and the spirit is the unity of the Supreme Mind, Soul, and Spirit. Each of these principles, except for the physical and etheric bodies, is in fact only an aspect or state of our consciousness. These are also seven-fold in structure.

Unfortunately, the human mind is not able to track the activity of each of them.

The four lower principles constitute a quaternary, which is mortal. This is our personality. Meanwhile the three higher principles, called the triad, are immortal, and this is our individuality. It is the individuality which continuously reincarnates itself, each time “clothing� itself in a new personality.

True Soul Mates and the Human Triad The world at the level of the quaternary is binary, whereas it is androgynous, or unified, at the level of the triad. In

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the Higher Spiritual World, or in the Heavens, there is no separation of the sexes. That is, man and woman are a single creature at the level of their triad. When this single individuality is about to incarnate itself in our earthly and binary world, its triad divides at the level of the quaternary; thus, becoming the persons of a man and a woman. However, the invisible link between them always remains at the level of their triad.

The human triad has its own individual accumulations, frequency of vibrations, and energy formula. When it splits into two, this unique quality of energy is preserved and inherent in the two newly formed halves, which compose their lower bodies according to this formula. That is, each time it reincarnates itself, the human triad creates four lower bodies for itself, like sewing clothing according to a pattern.

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Creation of Other Bodies, Across Lifetimes In nature and the cosmos, everything is organized extremely wisely. As we know, the law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only transform from one form into another. Therefore, when the time comes for people to depart into the higher worlds, they throw off these lower bodies. Then they can wear these discarded garments again in their next earthly reincarnations, but other individuals can also “pick them up,� if the energy formula that created them is like theirs.

This means that we might have created many other bodies throughout our numerous lifetimes on Earth.

For example, the other seven halves of our own seven bodies could be somewhere in the world. So, suppose the emotional body dominates in us. Then, through the power of our vibrations, we

may attract the very person who has in their structure the other half of our emotional body. Or, it may simply be a body which is like ours in terms of its energy formula.

In this case, we may have the same emotions or thoughts; however, it will be human love, which is transient and short-lived.

True Soul Mates Know Each Other Meanwhile, our true soul mate is the one at the level of the triad, which was split into two parts in this binary world.

There is only one other half of our triad, but it may be in a completely different world.

And even if it is now embodied as a human being, that person will not necessarily be what we imagine: remember the symbol of Tao. The most important thing is to recognize them, because here divine love and vibrations are present.

Esoteric teachings say that such true soul mates have never met each other on Earth,

because of certain reasons that cannot be revealed to humanity. The only exceptions were the unions thanks to which Jesus Christ and other Saviors were born. The mystical union of the parents of the Coming Messiah will in turn give a powerful impetus to the future unification of all other soul mates. These, after reunification with each other, will start a new cycle of their evolution, but now in different and higher conditions of life.

About the Author Zinovia Dushkova, Ph.D., is an award-winning Russian author and researcher of ancient mysteries. Her spiritual quest has taken her to remote Buddhist monasteries. She visited sacred abodes hidden within mountains and deserts in Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, and India. There she has studied the most ancient manuscripts, such as the secret Book of Dzyan. For more information, please visit her website at: www.dushkova.com/en.

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Life Stages Heads up for next 12 Months

Make the most of meaningful events and encounters and lessen the effects of any negative experiences.

Life Stages alerts you to specific occurrences, where you should best consolidate, or when to experiment; otherwise where to be cautious; when it’s down to you, or someone else; when to wait and when to act.

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Personal Growth & Development

3 Tips to Forgive and Forget

by Julie Geigle

Is It Difficult to Find Forgiveness?

Has someone wronged or hurt you? Been insensitive or inappropriate?

If that weren’t bad enough, then the mental mind keeps Omtimes.com

replaying the story over and over in our head until the body oftentimes becomes physically ill. How can a person break this cycle of pain?

The #1 rule to forgiveness is to understand: It is never about the story, it is always about how the story makes a person feel.

3 Tips to Forgive and Forget - Move on with Love

there to uplift and inspire us.

The mind’s automatic response to pain is to keep repeating it over and over in the head trying to make sense of it and rationalize who did what and why. While there is some value in processing the experience so it doesn’t happen again, the mind tends to hang on much longer than necessary and often to the detriment of one’s health.

Here are three tips on how to forgive and forget so you can move on with love in your heart and joy in your life.

This is why being on guard like a soldier with positive affirmations can mean the difference between a miracle or more of the same.

1. Be vigilant. When the mind keeps wanting to drag you back into the story be prepared with a mantra or prayer to stay grounded in your power.

2. Be a victor, not a victim.

Victors rise in love. Victims stay stuck in pain. Choices allow freedom. Choose again.

It is easy to lose oneself in the story of pain, but we all have a story it is part of being human. Utilize all the tools and resources available to get out of that hole. YouTube has some great free videos to help shift a person’s energy. Many spiritual teachers offer free meditations and classes to expand our thinking. There are great movies out

Sometimes being a victim gets people a lot of attention, even if it is negative attention. Be careful to only tell the pain story one time. Repeating the story again and again to anyone who will listen can be a sign that there is a payoff for staying stuck in victim mode.

The good news is that we can choose again at any point in time.

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Tell your story (one time only), feel the pain, and then brush yourself off and keep moving.

3. Disconnect. Every time the story pops up imagine anyone connected to the story filling up with white light and exploding out of your energy field.

When we are in the pain of a story the energy of the people involved is in our energy field which is part of why we obsess over it in our head and can’t seem to get it out. By using this simple imagery tool, it will help cleanse the auric field of any negative energy and any unhealthy cords associated with the story so that a person can truly stand in their power once and for all.

When a person doesn’t forgive, they punish themselves with what happened repeatedly in their head. It is the thought that keeps a person imprisoned in pain. It is the thought that keeps the pain alive. And with the thought of this pain, they spend energy hating the other person.

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Forgive and Forget To Live Again When a person forgives, the thought of what happened releases them. It no longer has any power over them; they are truly free.

When a person forgives, they can go back to loving themselves. There are no longer any thoughts about other people hurting them.

When the thought goes away, the pain dissolves. So, forgive and forget; set the story free and live again.

About the Author Julie Geigle is a gifted channel of Archangel Metatron, a 4th generation Psychic Medium and Spiritual Healer. Book a private session with Julie at heavensenthealing.us, where you can sign up for her newsletter, listen to her weekly radio show, and purchase guided meditations. Watch Julie Wednesdays for a free psychic reading at 9 a.m. CST on Facebook live hosted by OMTimes Magazine.

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MAGAZINE

June A 2017 Contributors Writers Alan Cohen Christopher Buck Crystal Presence Curry Glassell Debbie Peluso Heather O'Neill John Holland Kartar Diamond Lisa Shaw Marcia Sirota, MD. Maria Khalife Tess Pender Tony Samara Zinovia Dushkova

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