Month: January 2012

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tips 1/31/2012

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The goal this week is to eliminate some stress from our fitness journey.  Here are your Tuesday Tips!

Spiritual Fitness: So, one of the things that keeps most people from engaging in fitness is not knowing how to structure a proper workout.  Start simple.  I am going to list a few, easy to do exercises and quick routine that you can do anytime.  OBW=Own Body Weight exercises are the best for overall conditioning, strength, and weight loss.  OBW exercises should be included in any routine whether or not you use the gym or are just workout at home.  A lot of gym folks forget to include these very important exercises.  Here is an online guide that you can reference for exercise ideas:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/

Here are a list of a few of my personal favorites:

1) Push ups.  These are a classic full body exercise.  The entire body is engaged, the core is working to stabilize the body, and you do not need to very many to get the body moving.  There are literally hundreds of variations to the push up.  So, you can choose the ones that suit you.  The biggest precaution is to keep your lower back from swaying down.  Keep your navel engaged and pulled towards the spine.  You can even do modified versions of the push up to remove pressure from the lumbar, or from the shoulders depending on your personal limitations.

2) Squats:  These are another easy to do exercise.  One of the misconceptions with squats is that you have to bring your rear all the way to the ground, the moment your quadriceps engage you are doing a squat.  There are also hundreds of squat variations.  You can point your toes out, in, legs wide, narrow, etc.

3) Planks:  Holding the up position of the push up and resting in this position engages the core fully.  There are also a variety of plank variations you can do to add some variety to your core training.  You will feel this through the entire body.  A strong core will keep your protected from injury, it strengthens your muscles, and you actually burn fat because all of the body is in calorie burn mode.

These are just 3 simple exercises, but the fact that each has endless variations means that you can constantly keep your workout fresh and exciting, but also simple and quick

Here is a quick and easy routine that should not take more than 5-10 min to do:

1) Hold plan position for 10 seconds

2) 5 push ups

3) Hold plank for 10 seconds

3) 5 push ups

4) Stand up and do 10 squats, and 10 jumping jacks

5) 10 squats, 10 jumping jacks

Now repeat the entire sequence for as many cycles as you want.

Nutrition: The dreaded “cheat day”.  When transitioning ourselves to a healthier way of eating we often will eliminate everything from our diets right away.  For some this just means that we’ll be sneaking those cupcakes when no one is looking.  If you give yourself one day a month, or one day a week that you allow yourself some leeway.  This allows you to enjoy dessert when you go out with family, and puts you in a positive relationship with the food that you at one time may have had a negative relationship with.  Being in control allows you to decide when and how much you will take in vs that dessert taking control of you through emotional eating.  One thing to keep in  mind is that nutrition requires structure.  Keep a food journal and a log of what you are putting in your body.  In your journal include a calendar of days that you will be going out to eat, and days that you are going to have your “cheat”.  This way you can create structure in your caloric intakes through the week.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

The Power of Emptiness

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Emptiness can be a very scary thing.  For many of us, the thought of being “without” certain things in our life can cause anxiety and fear.  There are other times where we fill our lives with things that serve as place holders for other things, or we settle for less than what we know we deserve so that we can “feel” sustained or complete.  The act of hitting bottom, or coming to a place where things are taken from us, where we take some sort of control and purge elements from our life is an action of entering “the void”.

There are a couple of different ways at viewing emptiness.  We can sit in the darkness and be in dread of moving forward, or we can look at it as the gift of now being able to fill ourselves with “new everything”.  Loss takes us into a process of learning to have to move through attachment, emotions of fear, and we begin to take account of all that we have in our lives. Loss is powerful.  Losing anything that we’ve held onto, or has held onto us for a period of time creates a rift when it is no longer there.  An example that I will use to illustrate this is relationships.   Often times I see clients that are transitioning out of relationships that have gone on for many years.  When the relationship ends, we realize habits, patters, emotions that come to the surface that we might not have been aware of.  A tool for moving through this stage of transition quickly is to write down and become aware of those patterns, emotions, and feelings as they come up.  When we are able to sit with those in a tangible way, it allows us the freedom to examine them fully, and when we want to.  If we leave them in our mind we quickly can distract ourselves away from coming face to face with elements of the self and the parts we play in manifesting transition or loss.

The more important thing that I want us to take a look at is how to transition to a place where we look at loss as a gift rather than a burden.  When we go to a place where we lose, or chose to give up the things that bind us we regain a sense of power over our direction.   Rather than the cup being half full or half empty–pick the cup up, pour it out, and fill it up with anything your heart desires.  Sometimes a half full cup will sit too long, and we become attached to waiting for “something, or someone” to come along and fill it the rest of the way.  Finding power in emptiness is about regaining control of everything in your life.  Pick up your experience and fill it with something.

The first question I ask my of my clients that are in a place of emptiness is:  If you could do one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?  Often times the answer is “I don’t know”.  One of the reasons we don’t know is because we have never been given the chance to “be” or “do” anything we’ve ever wanted.  Another reason is that we’ve often surrendered our ability to “be” or “do” to others either through sacrifice or control.  The idea is to start small.  If you are coming out of a relationship where a former partner controlled every action even simple things as choosing which movie to watch or which restaurant to eat at can be difficult.  Having choice  can create fear when we’ve never been able to go to that place freely.

One simple tool that anyone can do is to create a dream list.   What things can you add to your life that will bring you overflowing joy and abundance?  To not limit the list.  Pick one or two small things that you can do right away.  Some small and simple things can be:  play with play dough, sing a song at the top of your lungs, go for a walk, bake a cake.  More complex things can be:  learn to oil paint, write a book, change careers,  start a new hobby, open a business.  Be creative and free of judgement.  There is nothing you cannot do and everything you do adds ripples to the endless stream of your life.  Somethings you might take on brand new and they will be permanent fixtures in your life, others will simply be momentary bursts of joy and connection.  We have to allow give ourselves permission to go into the darkness, but we cannot give ourselves permission to stay there.  Being in the dark only means that its time to turn on the light, even if it’s just a nightlight, we must shine.

Start today and shine.  Not everyone is going through loss, but these are steps we can take now to make transition easy if we are faced with it.  We can have speed bumps or mountains in our path.  How quickly we move through them will determine on the work we do before we get there.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

PBP2012: B- “Bindi” aka What does that little dot on your forehead mean

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Through my yogic journey, I have had the opportunity to take initiations into different aspects of yoga.  Through yoga we also learn different ways to bring a fuller connection to aspects of our practice. The “bindi” is one of the tools I was least familiar with, but now use fully in my practice.   Most of us have seen Hindu women with the traditional red marking on the center of the forehead, and a big misconception is that this marking only signifies marriage.

The “bindi” is also applied to bring awareness and attention to the third eye.  One of my favorite kirtan singers BhagavanDas says it best, “The bindi brings

Bhagavan Das

full awareness to the third eye.  People will look, you will see it when you look in the mirror, and this adds energy to your third eye.”  Just to be completely honest, people will stare… especially if you are male and wearing this symbol.  I personally feel most connected when I take a moment to apply it.  It’s a very personal act of connection with the divine, a deep connection to the third eye center.

There are a couple of important reasons to wear it, and I’ll also talk about application in case any of you reading might want to take the bindi for a test drive:

One of the reasons I like wearing it is not just the significance of the third eye energy, but that it helps me to connect deeper to my spiritual path.  When others stop and look, or even talk to me about the bindi it gives me a chance to share my journey with someone else.  We live in a world where life is moving quickly, and little things like this catch people off guard and it slows them

down, causes them to stop, and connect for a moment.  A bindi can be worn by both men and women.  It is a connection to the divine, and in some ways is an outward representation of that connection.  It focuses the energy into our intuitive center and helps us to focus.

The bindi is traditionally applied with sandalwood paste and kumkum powder. Sandalwood is important for many reasons.  It’s fragrance has calming properties, and when applied to the forehead allows us to smell it, feel it and embrace it.  We know that it is there, and the forehead is where we hold most of our worry, so it brings cooling to our “worry center”.   The kumkum is the red powder that is applied on top of the sandalwood paste.  You can easily find powders in different colors, and different methods of application.  I’ll detail my personal process, and feel free to apply it as you see fit.

Some people just apply the adoration as a fashion statement, and where there might be nothing wrong with this, there are deeper energies present in simple actions.  There are individuals that take yoga solely as a physical practice, but the spiritual aspect is inherent whether you want it or not.  So just keep that in mind when connecting to practices that may have a latent spiritual symbolism.

You can use as a tool to focus your meditation, you can use it to build your connection to your intuition, and it can outwardly help you connect to your spiritual path.

1)  I first take a moment to center myself and I call in my personal deity, guides and angels.

2) I apply a small amount of water to my left palm, and add a small amount of sandalwood powder then mix them with my left ring finger until a paste forms.

3) once the mixture has formed into a paste I take my right ring finger and apply it to the spot right above my nose, centered between the forehead.  I apply it by making small circles, and its usually no bigger than the size of a nickel.  While I apply it I usually say a mantra.  This mantra penetrates into the third eye during the application process.

4) Now to apply the kumkum powder.  What I have found best for getting the perfect little circle is to take the eraser end of a pencil, lightly tap the powder covering the eraser fully.  Then take the eraser and press firmly into the center of your sandalwood past circle.  I hold long enough for me to say the mantra one more time, then release.

Some people apply the bindi without the sandalwood, some use their finger when applying the kumkum, some use applicator kits, and there are many other ways of adorning oneself.  The most important part is finding what works for you, and finding your reason for applying it.

Have fun with it.  Even if you don’t find yourself drawn to using this spiritual tool, hopefully now you will have a deeper understanding of its meaning.  Namaste!

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip 1/22/12

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Here is  your Tuesday Spiritual Fitness and Nutrition Tip!

Fitness:  Affirmations are powerful in how we connect or disconnect from moving into fitness.  We have to take caution as to what we say less we create the experience or emotion.  If we were to say, “I have no time to workout, life is just too busy”- it becomes our reality.  If there is time to complain about there not being enough time, you just wasted time you could have been doing push ups, squats, or jumping jacks.  “I am too tired to workout”– in the time it took you to plop down on the bed, turn on the TV, and find the perfect show to watch you could have run a few times around the block.  We have to listen to what we are affirming.  Some of these affirmation are stored in the subconscious (I’ll be doing an entire blog on this in the next few days).  Some we speak daily.

Here are a few common negative fitness affirmations:

“I’ll never reach my goal weight”

“The gym frightens me”

“I’ll never have the perfect body”

“I’m too busy to workout”

“My life is too chaotic to spend time in the gym”

—What all of these are saying is simply this: “I do not have time to take care of the body that will allow me to be part of this wonderful physical experience.  My temple is in shambles, and will not take part in its restoration.  I willfully damage my connection to this divine vehicle.”

This is basically what you are saying by not committing to moving into greater states of health.  What will it take for you to show up to your life?

Here are some positive fitness affirmation to add into your day:

“I make time for my body, my health and my well being”

“I am committed to my health in all areas of my life”

“My body is the temple of my life, I am committed to its upkeep fully.”

“Each day is a new opportunity for me to connect to my body through fitness”

“Fitness comes easily to me”

“I am perfect, and all my imperfections add beauty to my experience”

—You get the hint, now right a few of your own.

Nutrition:  Simple, fresh and easy.  Nutrition needs to be simple.  This can be one of the most overwhelming areas when looking at making lifestyle changes.  Start with micro shifts into more sound nutrition choices.  Instead of eating fries or chips with your meal, have an apple.  Keep fruit, nuts, and veggies handy through your day if you are a chronic snacker.  Keep a food journal for a few days to see how many calories you are actually consuming.  Not eating enough calories can be just as bad as eating too many.  Many smart phones even have some useful apps that can help keep track of your daily intake.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

michael@michaelbrazell.com

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

http://www.deviantyogi.com

Pagan Blog Project: Bhatki Yoga- The Path of Devotion

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Bhatki Yoga:  The Path of Devotion

Many of us in the west are familiar with Asana Yoga or the yoga of the body.  Asana connects us to the body’s flow, it brings in alignment, and it gives us a pretty decent workout.  Asana practice in and of itself is not yoga.  Yoga is divided into four main forms and Asana is one method of connecting to a particular yogic path.  Bhatki is one main form of yoga that has its full roots in the spiritual side of the yogic experience.

Bhatki is the path of devotion.  This is also known as the “yoga of the heart”.   Most of us that walk a spiritual path have in some way devoted ourselves to our journey, our cause, and/or our community.  I want to take a deeper look at Bhatki and how we can apply its deeper roots to our personal practice in order to deepen our connection to the divine.  Devotion does not necessarily mean throwing ourselves in front of an altar to any specific deity, devotion is an action of commitment to the divine through our actions.  Bhatki truly is the embodiment of seeing the divine in everything around us.  To see God or Goddess in everything:  In the air we breath, in the trees on our walk to work, in the homeless person asking for change, in the sky above and in the earth below–and to the divine reflection staring back at us in the mirror.

The path of devotion can take many forms, it is up to us to decide where we want to find that connection.  In Hinduism, Hanuman is the embodiment of Bhatki.  He was fully committed to Rama.  Hanuman completely devoted his energy to serving Rama which freed him from the binding nature of the physical.  To be single pointed in our focus on the divine, allowing ourselves to transcend the physical.

Each day we have an opportunity to deepen our connection to our divine self.  Here are a few things you can do to deepen your practice through Bhatki:

1)  Say a mantra (prayer) to your chosen path, deity, or energy.   Do this through your day.  Say a mantra that connects you directly to that divine energy.  Hanuman’s mantra is:  Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama.  You can use anything that connects you.  It could be a line from Charge of the Star Goddess, or just simply a positive high vibration word like “love” or “peace”.  Doing mantra work through our day brings the divine into the randomness of our day.  We do not have to sit in front of our altars to bring in the divine energy.

2) See the divine in everything.  Connect through your heart.  Giving selflessly is one way to lead with your heart.  Volunteer at a homeless shelter.  Give to those that are in need.  Choose not to argue with those you love.  This allows us to BE the divine.  Take this further and connect to the world outside.  Touch a tree and see it as divine.  Pause and see the divinity in a single blade of grass poking its way through the concrete.  Go vegetarian for a day (or longer) to extend your compassion to

3) See perfection in all of your imperfections.  See yourself as the divine.  There is a story of Hanuman rushing off to get an antidote for Rama’s brother who was poisoned.  He gets to the sacred mountain and forgets which flower is the antidote–so he lifts the entire mountain and brings it back to Rama.  We aren’t perfect.  We sometimes forget about our connection and stop showing up.  We must show up, even if we forget the details, show up with a mountain of love on your shoulder for all of your parts.

The world is your altar, commit to your path, and devote yourself to this life fully.  Each breath is a mantra, each day another chance to be in that space of devotion.

Rock On Hanuman By MC Yogi

Tuesday Spiritual Nutrition and Fitness Tip 1/17/2012

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Every Tuesday I’ll be bringing you a fitness and nutrition tip to help move you your week.  Subscribe, share and don’t miss out!

Nutrition:  Don’t tell yourself that you “can’t have something”.  We are programmed from a very young age that when someone puts a limitation on us we will rebel and do it anyway.  Someone saying “Don’t push that red button”, just makes us want to push it.  The same works with nutrition and diet.  When we tell ourselves that we will never have sweets, carbs, etc.  we only create a stronger desire for them.   This is affirmation work at its best.  Affirmations can work both ways, so we have to use a positive affirmation to eliminate the buried negative one.

Negative Affirmation:

“I will never have sugar again, its what is causing me to gain weight”

–This makes all sugar negative, and when we inevitably have something containing sugar, we hold onto more guilt.

“I allow myself to enjoy all aspects of eating.  I am in complete control of what fuels my body to be at its very best”

An affirmation like this one still gives me permission to have that cupcake, and without the guilt, and with more enjoyment.  Life is about enjoying what we have in front of us.  Allow yourself to engage in treats, but give yourself permission to be in control.  If you get a cupcake, eat 1/2 and give the other to a friend, or save it for another day.

Our relationship to food is 90% psychological, learning to balance this relationship will help you moving forward, and will be the focus of future blog posts.

Fitness:  “I don’t have time to workout”.  Well, I don’t have time to listen to limitations.  There is always time.  We find time to watch TV, we find time to go to Starbucks, we find time to complain about not working out.  All you need to do is consciously connect to your day and find spots to add in a little fitness.  Take the stairs instead of the escalator, if you are going to Starbucks pick one that is further away (and if it means you’ll be late getting back to work, more reason to move faster–adding in cardio).  See how easy it is to simply add in a few moments here and there.

Here is a personal example:  So we are stuck at my shop doing in inventory this week.  I’ve been off my personal routine, but I am not going to let that stop me.  Every hour my phone buzzes, I take a break, go into the back and do 25-30 push ups.  In 8 hours I’ve done over 200 hundred push ups, an each time it only takes me 30 seconds.

There is NO EXCUSE not to add some fitness into your day.  Connecting to the body is one step in connecting to the soul.  So, stop complaining and start doing!

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Taking Inventory of Our Lessons

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Taking Inventory of Our Lessons

So, as we move into our store inventory I try to find some way to connect this into my spiritual world. There is a monotony and inventory is not fun by any means. To make these non-fun things a little more life bearable I try to connect some spiritual meaning to them. I try to find joy in the mundane, and in everything there is application to the spiritual on some level.  One of the biggest questions I get asked in my practice as an intuitive consultant is: “How do I let things go?”. The answer is simple: You cant. We are human, and we all have the need to hold on to everything in our lives. We become attached to memories–both good and bad, but more often the bad ones hold the highest energy. We tend to hold onto negative experiences in the hopes that we will never have to go through them again. Well, law of attraction says “THat which I focus on, I will constantly call into my experience.”  When we attach ourselves to anchors we will only drown. They keep us locked in negative and dangerous patterns. Many of us repeat negative relationships, find ourselves in similar unhappy work situations, or even stuck in negative habits. So, if we can’t let things  go–how do we move forward? We must transition the energy to something that is positive.  In ever experience, we learn something about ourselves. If we are unconscious to what we are learning, it means that we didn’t quite get the lesson. We understand the experience, but not the lesson. We have to go deeper. We have to extend gratitude into every life situation. Take a moment and let your mind drift back to a past experience that you might not want to repeat. There was something about that experience that you overcame, or learned to do for yourself. When you acknowledge the lesson you are more able to move forward from that point in time. You begin to see where your growth has been initiated.   Some of us are what I like to call “experiential learners”. What this means is that in order to fully engage life we have to “experience everything”. To understand joy, we really must go into our sorrow, to feel connection we must have periods of disconnection, to feel spiritual we have to first be angry at the divine. The previous are just a few things that I have noticed about my own experience, and how you go through your lessons might be different. The danger is that sometimes we continue to hold onto those negative vibrations because we feel we must have the balance, or we get comfortable with those low swings. We have to learn to live in the highest vibrations. When we hold on to only the negative we create a pattern. An example is the people who think that something bad is on the way because life is suddenly going great–of course it will, that is your affirmation! We must break ourselves out of these patterns of upswing and low swing. This isn’t to say that life wont have its sticky moments, but you will see that they last for shorter durations and that you are able to move through them with greater ease.

Here is a small process to take inventory of your lessons:

1) Get a notebook and at the top of the page write down a past experience that you want to focus on.
2) Write a small description of the experience. What you felt while you were in that space, how long you were in the experience, and who you feel the lesson bringer was. If this was a relationship it could be the person you shared the relationship with, it was a work situation it could be a boss, or a coworker that caused some struggle.
3) Start a list identifying what you learned about yourself in that place of difficulty. Did you learn that you anger easily. Did you learn that you had inner strength that was realized after you decided to leave an abusive partner, etc.
4) How do those lessons apply in your life now. Are you repeating old patterns? Are you a different person now due to those past experiences?

When we ae able to take account of all parts of self we begin a deeper process of
integration. We pull back any power we have given away to people, situations and circumstances. This is a new and exciting year. It is time to release all the anchors and move freely into what is coming. We are all who we are because of what we have gone through, what we do with those experiences will either propel us forward or bind us. It’s time for you to set sail.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT
http://www.michaelbrazell.com
http://www.deviantyogi.com
michael@michaelbrazell.com

How To Meditate: A Guide for Chaotic Times

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Most of us live hectic lives. We live in an age of deadlines, rapid technology, and fast-moving everything. The thought of  being able to still our minds amid the chaos of twitter and Facebook updates sounds like a great idea, but a more like a far off dream. Meditation is powerful in bringing clarity, which is vital to those of us faced with rapid decision-making, tough decision, or just the daily pressures of a fast paced life. Here is a little test to see where you are in your understanding of what mediation is–

There are no right or wrong answers:

1) How long should you meditate for?
2) What tools should you use to meditate?
3) What is the proper way to sit to meditate?
4) What is the right way to breathe for meditation?

Many people feel separated from the action of meditating because of questions like these. What if I told you that you are meditating right now? Would you belive me? WE are the ones that get to decide what meditation is and is not. Right now you are focusing in on the words on the screen in front of you. You are breathing deeply as your eyes move across the screen. YOu mind is still as you absorb the information. You are sitting, completely focused on whats right in front of you. That is mediating. The first goal is to make meditation accessible. It has to be something that happens easily, and with as little work as possible.

Rule number 1: DO NOT LET OTHERS DEFINE THE EXPERIENCE FOR YOU.

If sitting and chanting “Ommmmm” is not your thing, create your own outlet towards mediation. There are as many ways to mediate as there are stars in the sky, and there really is no wrong way to do it. Here are just a few that I have found effective for myself and some of my clients living in hectic vibrations:

A) Tactile Meditation: This is an action oriented meditation. Tactile experiences engage the senses, primarily beginning with touch. Holding a stone, doing japa mala, moving your hands under running water, touching the petals of a rose, etc. Be creative. It is hard for the brain to engage in multiple places at one time. While you are holding the object, try to engage it fully through touch, notice everything about it. In this space you are fully engaged by what is right in front of you. The little worries in our mind take a back seat and you are able to detach for a few moments.

B) Movement Meditation: This is simply being mindful while you are moving. Yoga, dance, walking, workout out– all can be forms of meditation. It simply requires you to be fully engaged in the action. I know personally that when I go out dancing there are times when I get “lost in the dance”. The music, the people, the moving all build into a disconnection from one plane of reality and allow us to transcend into another. The Sufi spin, yogis will flow through asana, and Buddhists walk. THe next time you are out for a walk take a moment to focus fully on one single step. Feel the heel touch, and then each part of the foot engage the earth. Notice everything around you fully, hear each sound, smell the air, listen to the trees, be part of the experience–even if it is just one single step.

c) Visual Meditation: Staring at a picture, a statue, a flower, or even focusing in on a video can also be forms of meditation. To take it a step further, allow yourself to draw, paint, or to doodle (combining movement/tactile/and visual). Find something uplifting to carry in your pocket–a photo of a guru, a deity, or just a funny picture of a cute cat will do.

Rule Number 2: MEDITATION NEED TO BE SOMETHING YOU CAN ACCESS ANYWHERE AT ANYTIME

I would love nothing more than to sit in front of my altar with nag champa melting me into oblivion, but I seem to find myself on the go more and more often.  Meditation is something you must be able to access anywhere.  Sometimes we need instant access to clarity, and being able to shift away from the world around us allows us that access.

Rule Number 3: NO TIME LIMITS

What is the appropriate time limit for meditation?  30 seconds.  If you can’t do 30 seconds, you won’t reach 30 min.  You have to allow yourself to go to the smallest level possible.  Do not time your meditation.  Just start, and stop.  For some, just knowing there is a ticking clock adds to the stress of the experience.  Allowing yourself to just go into meditation and then to come right out of it when you “feel” done is more than enough.  Do not let someone else tell you that it has to be 15 min, 30 min or even a few hours to be effective.  We have to give what we can, and be happy with that.

Rule Number 4:  JUST DO IT!

Just start.  Don’t put a lot between you and the action of just meditating.  Some people when they want to start meditating they first will buy a book, then feel they need to take a class, then they have to find the perfect incense, then the right music, and in all that time they could have just sat down and meditated.  You just need to do it.  Stop waiting around for an invitation from the universe, and be present.

There are mechanics that can help you to engage in a deeper meditative experience, and I will cover those in a later post.  For now just allow yourself to start adding meditation.

In these crazy times it is important for each of us to find balance, and to create sacred space even in our chaos.  We owe it to ourselves to disconnect into a happier place even if for just a few breaths.

 

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

michael@michaelbrazell.com

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

The End is Near: Using 2012 Energy for Creation

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The end is near, the end is near!  Well, here we are… in the most talked about year of our time, and there is not doubt that energy is changing and shifting around us. For some it will feel as if time is moving at an accelerated rate, and others will feel the pressure of trying to free themselves from last year’s anchors.  Regardless of where you are and what you believe will happen this year, it really is the best time to create the life you have always wanted.  There is accelerated growth opportunities for everyone, but we can’t be complacent and just let the opportunities pass us by.  So, the purpose of this post is not to discuss what will, or will not happen (or the million of scenarios), but o allow us to examine where we are through the lens of “an ending”.

Let’s assume for a moment that the end is coming on Dec 21st of this year.  That means that you have 11 months to really create the best possible life, why not go out with a bang, and if there is a day that follows, you’ll have done the work to continue moving into your goals.  Having certain doom looming over us does not have to be a scary thing, nor should you feed into fear.  Trust your intuition, trust your connection to source, and be prepared.

In the end, we all face a transition to a different energetic space–it could be death, or the world itself ending, either way why continue to wait to show up to your life.  Live with purpose, live fully, and engage your experience fiercely.  The beautiful part about doing readings and seeing others connect into their paths is seeing the joy they find with finally living in their own energy.  When we release ourselves from the expectations of others, society, or the ones we place on our own spirits we are able to fly.

Take a moment and follow these simple steps towards manifesting through the 2012 energy:

Write these down, create lists, and visit them often.

1)  If the world were going to end tomorrow, are there things that you wish you could have done, accomplished, said, experienced?

2) What is holding you back from fully engaging your life right now?

3) What can you do to release your anchors (past negative experiences, patterns, negative behaviors, habits)— Be simple, and forgiving with this step.  We do not want to hold onto guilt, nor do we want to create something new to bind us.  Just give yourself a simple action step towards elimination (ex: if smoking is holding you back from achieving health– reduce the amount).

4) What are the lessons that you’ve learned about yourself from your past experiences?

5) What are you going to do– TODAY– to make your dreams one step closer to becoming a reality?   It can be as simple as visualizing them as becoming part of your experience, or as involved as stepping into a new life.  Give yourself permission to engage the imagination.

 

These steps are basic, but they are powerful ways of starting a process of engaging your life.  It should not take a cataclysm to push you into living fully, but if it will motivate you, then use it to create–not to be fearful.

I’ll post more specifics on manifesting, connecting to your true self, and what you can do to engage this experience on all levels.

As always feel free to comment, ask questions, or contact me directly.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

 

The Dangers of a Vegan Lifestyle: Enemy On Your Plate

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The Dangers of Veganism: Enemy On Your Plate

So, did the title grab your attention. Good. Many of you clicked the link, ready to pounce with a slew of soundbites.  It is not what you think, but the day of the “unhealthy vegan” needs to end.  Polls are showing the many are making the transition to this healthy and wonderful lifestyle.  Many do it for more selfish reasons (personal health), but some will make transition into the compassionate side of the diet (care for animals).  WE then become the example to those around us for what it is like to be vegan, and for how to best connect to not only the world around us, but to ourselves in a more compassionate way.  Working at PETA I got to see first hand the dangers of what the vegan lifestyle could create.  Being aware of these pitfalls helps us to eliminate them.  In turn making us more effective in being the example of compassion vs the “unhealthy vegan stereotype”.  The biggest enemy to those moving towards a compassionate lifestyle are sometimes the food choices that are presented to them as “vegan”, the second is the stress some of us internalize due to feeling we are not doing enough.  Some love using the “we must have all billion tasty options to help those make the transition” excuse.  Well, once you are there it does not mean that your diet should only consist of french fries, Oreos, and fritos.  I agree that it is important to support vegan options at restaurants, but your diet should not be Taco Bell for breakfast/lunch/and dinner.  We have to not only be conscious of making “vegan” choices, we must also be conscious of making “healthy vegan choices”.

Enemy number 1: Sugar/cupcakes/cookies/and all things unholy from the vegan bakery case

While these delicious vegan doppelgänger to hostess cakes might be more compassionate for our animal friends, they are not forgiving on our waistlines and our health. Now, I am in full support of the “everything in moderation” mantra, but many of us have very loose boundaries when it comes to moderation, and even less connection to what an actual portion size looks like. When was the last time you actually saw a calorie sticker on that delicious vegan pastry you were chomping down? How much fat, sugar, carbohydrates, ect are you putting in your body? Are the ingredients natural or are there chemical substitutions to the typical non-vegan ingredients? I am also not saying that you have to stress over every single bite, but we do need to take responsibility for what we are putting into our bodies.

Enemy number 2: Assuming something is “healthier” just because it is vegan

While I would love to thing that Oreos and Pepsi were healthier to a Twinkie and milkshake, this is alas not true. We are at times hypnotized by the illusion of what certain words create in our minds. We hear the word “vegan”, “vegetarian” or even see the word “healthier” written on shiny packages and naturally assume that this is a better choice. If you took a moment to look at the label, you would see the amount of chemicals that you are putting into your body are just as damaging as their animal hating counterparts. We need to not only be conscious of what we put into our bodies. We have a responsibility not only to the animals but to ourselves to be healthy and informed.

Enemy number 3: Not reading labels— on vegan products

While some of us take an hour to look for the smallest non-vegan ingredient in a loaf of bread, we will quickly whip a box of Boca burgers into our shopping carts without question. Take a moment and read the labels on the vegan products you are consuming as well. It takes a lot of chemical process to take a soy bean and make it look just like a “hamburger”. Many vegan foods are also loaded with sodium. Too much sodium can add to elevated heart rate, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. Be mindful of everything you purchase. Do not just assume that the word vegan eliminates all damage.

Enemy number 4: Compassion

Now, you are probably wondering why our compassion can also be our biggest enemy. Stress, is one of the biggest causes of overeating. Many who chose a compassionate life do so because of the horror that many animals face on a daily basis. We do the best we can. Live through an action of making sound choices, treat yourself with just as much kindness as you would extend to those suffering daily on factory farms, circuses, and countless other horrible situations.  Do something daily to help alleviate stress.  Workout, do yoga, meditate.  When we internalize our stress it becomes a mountain and it damages us on much more than just the physical, it hurts our spirit.  Take your anger and turn it into something productive for your body.  Be proud of who you are and for what you do to extend compassion into the world.  We might not save them all by ourselves, but if we die because of our stress we can no longer be their voice.

Ahimsa is a word that is invoked a lot when it comes to veganism it simply means: non-harming.  We extend this to those that suffer at the hands of an uncontrolled and unregulated food production industry.  Most forget however, that we must also extend this sense of non-harming to ourselves.  We must be kind to our bodies, make compassionate choices, and then be a living example of better health.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

I just dumped a lot on you, good. Ponder some of these points, and these are just a few.  In the next few posts I am going to discuss some specifics of stress reduction, intention setting, and eating structure.

Think, grow, connect and love yourself fiercely!

 

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com