Wild Sister: SPIRIT Edition

ISSN: 1839-2318

Musings on meditation

wild sister of the month

seven tips to tune in

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October 2013

#28

spirit

What’s inside 3

Editor’s Note

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Letter to the Editor

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What You Thought Last Month

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Contributors

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Let us Know What You Think!

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Musings on Meditation

Cover image: Lori Portka http://loriportka.com

How to Strengthen Your Spirit by Carrying on the Spirit of Others

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Affirmation of the Month

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Yoga to Feel Your Spirit

Wild Sister of the Month

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A Love Letter From Spirit

Science VS Spirituality: Why It’s not a Debate for Me

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7 Ways to Tune in to Your Personal Spirit radio

Spirit Freedom Passion

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Let Your Spirit Rise, And Soup

Let Your Spirit Guide You Home

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How to Reconnect With Spirit

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Quotes of the Month

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40

Infinite

My Heavy Spirit and 6 Ways to Prevent Cancer

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My Secret Affair

Feet on the Ground, Head in the Stars

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Embrace Your True Essence

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7 Tips to Tune In

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Contribute

Latest on the Blog

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Connect with us

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October Love

editor’s note Hello beautiful, How are you? And I don’t mean that in the generic, conversation filler kind of way, I mean...

How is your soul? How is your heart? How is your spirit? I hope it’s glowing.

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But if it’s not, if for some reason you’re feeling disconneted or alone, the wisdom in this edition will guide you home.

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We go deep into spirit in this edition. It’s not about religion, but it is about the root of all faiths; love and oneness.

I’m especially drawn to Tahlee’s article about science and spirituality, it made me realise that I really am in awe of the Universe - both scientifically and spiritually, and those two can, in fact, go together nicely. Brilliant.

There are many different paths to spirit, and if you haven’t found yours yet, I hope you find some guidance within these pages. I know I did.

In spirit, Jen

3 1. Being Infinitely Wild.

2. Spring flowers.

3. Meeting the first Wild Sister sponsor girls!

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wildsisters

{october 2013}

Editor Assistant Editor

Creative Director Jen Saunders Wild Sister

Dani DiPirro Positively Present

Danielle Tate-Stratton danitatestratton

Writers Dani DiPirro

Cinda Stevens Lonsway

Ina Sahaja

Tahlee Rouillon

Brenda Rodriguez Donna Morin

Lisa Consiglio Ryan

Anne-Sophie Reinhardt

Karina Ladet

Sonya Forrest

Natalia Chouklina

Paula Jones

image: Paul Bickmore

Lyn Thurman

image: Bryan Wesel

Guest Writers Jani Franck

Ester Nicholson

Want to join this amazning group of women by contributing to WILDsister? Click here to find out how.

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Devon Carrow

Letter

to The

Editor I want to know what you think of this edition!

Has a story inspired you? Want to share your thoughts on this issue? Or you just want to say hi and be featured in the next edition?

To share your feedback on this issue, email us with your name, city and country at yoursay@ wildsister.com.

You can also connect with us at facebook.com/ wildsistermag or tweet us at @wildsistermag.

To get exclusive updates from the editor, sign up to the Wild Sister newsletter here.

For subscription options go to wildsister.com/ sisterhood.

(Letters chosen for publication may be edited for length.)

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What you thought of last month’s Happiness edition @ @ @ @ @ @ Lauree Ostrofsky @SimplyLeap Yes! RT @wildsistermag: “You have to consciously choose happiness.” ~ Jess Carlson in the Happiness edition.

Jodi Sky Rogers @JodiSkyRogers A lazy warm afternoon of inspirational reading, the new issue of @wildsistermag and zesty lemon grass in the garden = bliss

Anne-Sophie @theannesophie Hot chocolate, a blanket and the latest edition of @wildsistermag. How much better can this day get?

Stephanie Capps Dyke @stephcake Reading: Happiness edition of @wildsistermag

Renee Avard @ReneeAvard @wildsistermag makes me happy :) #imawildsister

Elizabeth Tyson @witchkittybell Getting happy with the latest edition of @wildsistermag #imawildsister

ConqFearSpiritually @conqfearspirit Yeehoo! The new edition of @wildsistermag is here! This month’s topic: #happiness #gratitude #inspiredwriting

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let us know

what you think...

instantly

Take a photo of you reading this issue, post it on instagram + tag it with #wildsister.

I’ll re-post it and give you a shout-out on our Facebook page!

Tweet it!

Here are a few tweetables you can send out right now {I’ll re-tweet it!}: Exploring Spirit with @wildsistermag http://tinyurl.com/ b7426lo #imawildsister {clicktotweetthis} Reading: Spirit edition of @wildsistermag http:// tinyurl.com/b7426lo {clicktotweetthis} Loving the latest edition of @wildsistermag http:// tinyurl.com/b7426lo #imawildsister {clicktotweetthis}

image: Paul Bickmore

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pg 25

MUSINGS

on meditation

by Dani DiPirro

Though

I’ve read over and over about the benefits of meditation—an easier time being present, better sleep, more mindfulness, a greater sense of peace, a more calm demeanor, improved health, etc, etc, etc.— I’d always been hesitant to even give it a try. With a mind that’s often going a mile-aminute, I didn’t think a mind like mine would ever be able to be calm enough to sit in peace for any significant period of time. But a few weeks ago I finally gave it a try...

My boss, my coworker, and I went on a department outing to local yoga studios that also hold private meditation sessions. Not quite ready to be seated on the floor for a full hour of guided/silent meditation, my coworker and I opted for chairs while my boss and the meditation leader (guide? is there a special name for them?) sat cross-legged on braided blankets. I was oddly nervous, wondering silently if I might pass out from sitting still for too long—or, worse yet, have some sort of panic attack from attempting to silence my ever-racing thoughts.

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I attempted to calm my nerves by listening intently to everything our guide was saying. I’d only been in a meditation situation once before—in high—and all I can remember about it was giggling and acting childish only to late feel guilty for mocking the teacher who was trying to expand our young, closed minds. This time, I wanted to act like an adult, to really give it an honest try. And that meant listening—an act I’m sad to say isn’t my forte. I’m much more of a give-my-opinion, raise-my-hand, share-my-thoughts kinda girl. But I remained quiet, only speaking when she asked us what our goals were for learning to meditate.

“I’d like to be more present in my life,” I told our guide and my colleagues. “I always find that I’m thinking about what’s next, in a rush to the next thing, and I want to be able to stay more in the moment.” She nodded understandingly and I felt hopeful, like maybe she might actually be the one to help me slow down my racing thoughts, to finally make me one of those people who is fully, completely living in the now.

Getting Started Our guide started us off with guided meditation before allowing us to sit in the silent kind of meditation (are there more specific terms for these things?). The guided meditation was oddly familiar to me. It was a tactic I used frequently when I’m having trouble sleeping—focusing on all five senses to distract myself from my racing thoughts. Doing it on a wooden chair in a room I’d never been in before guided by a voice that was not my own was a bit of a challenge at first. It was hard to let go of my thoughts about the new environment, my hopes that I’d really be good at meditation, and the nagging notion that I might be missing something happening in the world of my iPhone.

With a little effort, I find myself more and more in the moment. I found myself getting just a little bit better at steering my thoughts back to whatever sense we were supposed to be focusing on. As we moved on to the next part of the meditation—paying attention to various parts of our bodies—I felt more relaxed. I was using some of the breathing techniques we’d learned at the beginning of the session. I wasn’t able to completely focus on the now (I desperately wanted to know how much time had passed), but I was making a valiant effort.

Third Eye Meditation In the last stage before silent meditation, our guide taught us third eye meditation. This was the kind of thing I’d always been a little wary of (mostly because the idea of a third

eye kind of grosses me out). This was the stuff that was crossing into what I thought would be unfamiliar territory. However, it ended up being the part of meditation I liked the best. We were encouraged to close our eyes and focus on the spot in the middle of our foreheads. There we were to imagine a movie screen and playing on it were our thoughts. Any time we had a thought, we were supposed to visualize it on the screen and, rather than judge it or try to get rid of it, we were encouraged to watch it as an observer.

Watching my thoughts on the tiny screen on my inside of my forehead was something that, while it sounded odd, was actually quite interesting. Instead of judging myself for being distracted, which would only result in more thinking, I was able to see the thoughts objectively and let them go. This didn’t mean they didn’t keep popping up on the screen, but I was able to look at them in a different way and not cling to them as I typically would. I was able to let them go.

At the end of the session I found myself more relaxed. I wasn’t completely presentmoment focused yet (my mind was already wondering what I’d missed in the hour I’d been away from the office), but I was happy to have some new tools to use when I found myself unable to focus on the now.

Though I haven’t meditated since that day—it’s so much harder to be motivated to do it without the guide!—I would gladly do it again. It helped focus on the present moment without external distractions and it taught me a few new tricks for learning how to deal with my internal distractions.

Dani DiPirro is the author of Stay Positive: Daily Reminders from Positively Present and Live Happily Ever After Now: A Guide + Workbook for Living in the Present Moment. She is also the founder of PositivelyPresent.com a site dedicated to helping people live positively in the present moment. To check out Dani’s latest book, and watch the Stay Positive video, visit StayPositive365.com.

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affirmation

I am ready to receive

guidance from spirit.

{clicktotweetthis}

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How to Strengthen Your Spirit by Carrying On the Spirit of Others By Devon Carrow

Click the picture to watch on Vimeo. Password: devoncarrow

Hey

Wild Sister Magazine readers!

My name is Devon Carrow. I am nineteen years old and the founder of The Love Spreader.

In this video, I am talking to you about this month’s theme; spirit. I think it is very important to keep up the spirit and legacy of a loved one after they have passed away.

powerful thing and I highly suggest you do it. Next time you are upset or frustrated, have a good cry, then sit down and pray.

Releasing the emotions that are built up inside of you will make you much happier and ultimately, help those around you Ws be happy.

Try keeping pictures of them around, think of what they would do in certain situations, and do positive things you know they would probably do (like helping a neighbor in need, smiling at someone who need it, etc.).

Another thing you can do to boost your spirit and connect with your deceased love ones, its to pray. Praying is such a 11

Connect with me on Twitter, Youtube, or Facebook.

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