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Yoga as Prayer

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Today as I was taking my place on my yoga mat at the gym, I asked myself the question, “Why do you do yoga?” The question struck me, and I’ll admit at first I didn’t have an answer. I decided to take this question into my practice today. As I was moving around the mat, breathing, taking in the sounds of the gym, I had a realization was over my heart. Yoga is how I pray. For me, yoga is devotion. When I am on my mat, I am stepping onto sacred ground. I feel my soul come alive. My breath joins my body more deeply, and for a moment all that exists is the flow.

Stepping onto the mat is stepping into trust. We spend much of our day trying to get away from the body, we rush into our expectations, or are bound to the anchors of our past. We hold judgement against ourselves. We eat foods that lack nourishment. We engage in distractions (television, social media, etc). We numb ourselves. When we take a step onto the yoga mat, we are saying to the soul, to God, to the universe I am here, and I am ready. The very act of showing up sets the intention, and brings us into presence.

As I move through the asana, I pause and deepen my breath. Too often in classes we try to rush through the sequences. Each pose is a meditation, the breath the mantra, and when we move slowly we are honoring the sacredness of that union. Sequences do not need to be complex, you don’t need to be fancy with how you breath, just let the body move. Yoga is an act of surrender. I try not to plan too far ahead as to what I want to do on my mat. I ask my body what it feels like doing today. I let each asana guide me to the next. I invite in my emotions, the ambient sounds and colors of whatever space I am in. Yoga is not about escaping, its arriving into to presence.

Yoga is a prayer that is said by the body, on the altar of our soul. Each movement is an intention in action. Each breath is a sacred mantra that whispers through us, taking us deeper into each heartbeat.

Take a moment to honor your path by dropping into the breath. Hold your awareness at the rise and fall of the chest, take your hand and place it over your beating heart. Feel life moving through you. Let this be enough.

Namaste

The power of sacred silence

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“silence is the language of god,
all else is poor translation.” – Rumi

Inhale deeply.

Now release it.

Be present in this moment.

Silence is powerful.  What do you hear in the silence?  Take a moment to breathe this in.  Don’t reach for it, let it come to you.

When is the last time you unplugged from everything.  Turn the phone off.  Turn off the computer. Take a breath, and have a seat.

What does silence sound like?

“Silence is an empty space, space is the home of the awakened mind.” – Buddha

There is power in silence.  We are able to take in more of the landscape. Life slows down a bit. We are able to bring awareness to the present moment.  We are able to arrive.

Silence allows us to be okay with the chaos of life.  It is the space between each in breath, and out breath.

Words are not always necessary to convey the message of our soul. The next time you are with a friend, a lover, a family member, or every a companion animal–sit with them in deep silence.  Take them in.  Look deep into their eyes.  Let the heart and soul speak through the language of silence.  You’ll be surprised at how much more of that individual you see.

Now do this in the mirror.  The silence allows us to see, and to be seen.

If you are finding that you are more in distraction throughout your day, than in connection… take a silence break. Go outside, touch the earth, feel the sky above you, breath it all in.  No reactions, just observe.  Stay with the breath, return to the breath if you need to. Be present.

You. Are. Loved. 

Michael Brazell

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.facebook.com/mbrazell

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

www.youtube.com/soulinteraction

Stepping into 2015: Release, Power, and Love

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As 2014 draws to a close, I feel the call to set some intentions for 2015.  2014 was a year of release for me.  My intuition and my soul have been taking me deeper into my life, and onto my path.  This has been a year of release.  In order to move forward we often have to let go of the anchors that keep us bound to a past that is no longer ours.  Detoxing the mind, the body, and spirit allow us to have clarity without it being through the lens of our past.  There are still things I am working on releasing, but I’ve learned never to rush this process.  Moving with grace and kindness allows for deeper growth to occur.  When we are able to take ownership and responsibility for our lives in profound ways.  What do you need to release as you move into 2015?  What lens of your past are you filtering your present through?

I realized that by taking responsibility of my past, I am able to stand in power.  Owning my difficult parts as well as my beautiful parts allow me to be whole.  Journaling has really helped me to gain perspective on my life.  If you are not journaling, i would recommend that you set the intention to make journaling a part of 2015.  Journaling is tangible.  The journal becomes the altar deep-breathto our soul.  Write down whatever makes you shine from the inside out.  I love to include quotes, prayers, passages from sacred texts, pictures, and things that inspire me.  By carrying my journal with me, I feed it my life-force.  I give it life.  The journal is a living extension of my being.

Love is powerful.  Learning to love through the chaos of existence has not always been the easiest of tasks.  I’ve had my share of challenges this year.  Relationships and friendships were challenged, some survived, and others did not. I’ve learned to hold the pain and the joy in the space of love.  Even with people leave my life, I’ve never put the out of my heart.  Learning to hold even our enemies in the light of love is powerful. It releases us from the binds they might have over us, and it lets us be whole.  Taking responsibility for our lives is empowering.  This allows us to forgive ourselves.  When we can offer forgiveness to our past, to those that have brought us the lessons, and to the current moment we are able to be liberated.

As I move into 2015, I am setting some clear intentions and goals.  I feel it is time to make a lot of changes.  Making a public declaration of these intentions allows me to hold myself accountable to them.  What intentions are you setting for the new year?  What goals are you going to try to manifest for the upcoming year? Write them down, put them in your journal, and carry them with you, take them out often and look at them, breath them in, and live them.

Here are my 2015 intentions:

  1. Its time to be a raw vegan.  I’ve done this in short spurts, but now it is time to make the transition.  Cleaning up my diet, my life, and my connection to the food I am putting into my body is necessary this year.
  2. 365 days of yoga and meditation.  I need to take my personal practice to a new level. I need to live my yoga this year in a new way.
  3. Finish my book.  I’ve stutter started and stopped this for way to long.  This is the year that the book comes to life.  Stay tuned.
  4. How I do my sessions is changing.  I am expanding and letting go.  Opening to new ways of doing things, and coming back to the reasons why I started this work in the first place.
  5. Im pulling back from social media.  I am making social media outlets a place to expand the soul, and open to deeper consciousness.  Rather than just sharing what others have done, I am going to make a conscious effort to transmit the words and works of my soul.
  6. Travel, travel, travel.  I am looking to make 2015 a year of getting out into the world to meet other seekers.  I want to visit ashrams, spiritual communities, and festivals.  Still planning things out, but as soon as things firm up, I’ll be posting them here.
  7. Youtube, blogtak, and this blog are going to blossoming this year.  I am going to engage my platform in new ways this year.  You’ll want to stay tuned.  I plan on doing weekly videos, weekly posts, and of course the radio show.  This is exciting and I look forward to brining this to all of you.
  8. 365 days of poetry.  The poet in me has been asleep for a while, and now I feel it’s time to process some of the life lessons through poetry.  I hope to release my chap book mid year.  I’ll be posting poems to this blog.

These are just a few of my intentions for the year.  There are others that are more personal, but these are just a few that I felt would be appropriate to share on this blog.  I’ve learned a lot about myself this past year, and I look forward to what 2015 brings.

What are your goals and intentions for 2015?

May you be blessed in light as you move forward.  May the light of your soul radiate like the sun.

You are loved. You are Beautiful. You are Divine.

Mike.

Weekend Specials, Radio Show, and Life

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rtrbuddhaI hope that everyone is doing well.  Life has been up and down for many (myself included).  Be sure that you are taking time to breath.  Take a few moments each day to be in gratitude for all that life is bringing you–yes, even the struggle.  The struggle that we go through is a teacher, it helps to bring us to our edges, and helps us to initiate change.   Take a moment and just breathe. Place your hands on your heart, and feel the drum of your life beating, moving life force through your very existence.  This is what life is really all about.  Finding a bit of stillness in the chaos.  Don’t get so hung up on the small things.  Allow yourself to have grace, peace and love.  The world will bring its challenges.  Life will be difficult.  Decisions will not be easy… and even in all of this we can find love.  The grass is already green where you are.  Stand in power, stand in love, and let your breath move you.

 

–I’ve just loaded up my website with the reading specials for June!  So head over and check those out.  I am also offering some really great offers for this weekend (5/30-6/1).  If you purchase a 30 or 60 min reading this weekend, you’ll get one free.  You can share the extra reading with a friend, use it for a follow-up, or just keep it for a future “soul check up”.  The sessions are good for 6 months, so you don’t have to book them right away.  This is a great deal since they are combined with the already reduced rates!  Click here to go to my site, or fill out the form below.  If you are currently going through a financial hardship and still want to get a reading, do not hesitate to contact me.  We can always work out an exchange, a payment plan, etc.

–I am also offering $6 email readings.  These are great if you want a bit of a soul nudge, or just have a few questions.  These usually take me about 24 hours to respond to, and you can ask up to 3 questions you’d like guidance on. For more information or to schedule a session just click here. You can also fill out the form below.

Soul Interaction Radio is up and running!  Be sure to check it out.  I am going all out with it, and really hope that we can keep the momentum going.  We are currently airing 5 days a week, and I have some AMAZING guests lined up for the show.  Here is the current schedule.

Monday- 7pm EST Soul Meditations (meditation talk and guided meditation)

Tuesdays- 7pm EST Soul Interaction Radio (Topics and Free on air readings)

Wednesdays- 9pm Applied Spirit.  Learn how to apply your spiritual life to your everyday life

Thursdays- 7pm EST Soul Interaction Radio (Topics and Free on air readings)

Fridays- Soul Satsang: This show is a divine transmission. It is about creating and solidifying our touchstones for truth.  I tune into spirit, and we flow through guided meditations, channeled messages, healing, and spiritual discussion.  I am working out the time and format, and that will be found on the BlogTalk channel.

– I am also getting more active on YouTube, so be sure to check out the Soul Interaction Channel!

****I am going to be hosting classes via Google Hangout.  These will be mini workshops on meditation, channeling, A Course in Miracles, and the Oneness Transmissions.  If  you are interesting in learning more you can email me at:  michael@michaelbrazell.com  and follow my facebook page to get the updates:  SoulIntuitive

 

Just remember, take some time for you.  Start living your life to the fullest NOW. Stop tiptoeing around your soul journey and start living it.  Trust your intuition, and take the leap!

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.  

 

Michael Brazell CFT CST MAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.facebook.com/soulintuitive

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

michael@michaelbrazell.com

108 Day Challenge

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I finally made it down to South Carolina.

New starts, new changes, and coming into new alignments can always bring struggle.  One of the things that I like to do when I get to a new area is a cleanse and detox.  Upheaval can bring a lot of stress thorough our entire system.  For me, cleansing the body, mind and spirit helps to harmonize me into my new experience.   Since this time I am also in a process of building a new life, I thought I would take this cleanse a bit deeper and also offer myself some challenges.  The challenges help to re-align my system, and well… keeps things from getting stagnant.  Getting into a new routine is always a good thing when leaving an old one.

I’ll post the details here, and will do a daily post as I move through the cleanse.   This is my personal challenge, but if you are finding yourself in a rut, why not do something to help move you deeper into your experience.  Before I start a cleanse, detox or challenge like this

My challenge:

  1. Food and nutritional detox: no sugar, gluten, processed foods
  2. Reading 1-2 books/week.
  3. Writing, writing, writing…. one blog post a day, one poem a day, and daily journaling
  4. Daily mediation and yoga practice
  5. and some other things that I am keeping personal 😉

The challenge should be something that is out of the ordinary for you, it should allow you the opportunity to step into something “new” as far as a routine, or spiritual experience.  Taking you a bit out of the norm, or bringing deeper awareness to something that is more routine.  If you meditate already, challenge yourself to shift it up a bit.  Do something a bit differently.  Breaking up stagnation helps us to keep our practice fresh, and we also get to take a deeper look at ourselves in the process.  The path is about learning to grow through engaging the process, rather than just going through the motions.

Do you have questions on setting up a cleanse, detox, or personal challenge?  Feel free to write them in the comments section below and I’ll answer them.

You are Loved.

You are Beautiful.

You are Divine.

Michael A Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.facebook.com/soulintuitive

Farewell Washington, DC

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Four year ago, I never thought I’d be leaving DC… but here it is.  Life changes quickly, and in an instant a new chapter begins in our lives.  The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster, trying to see everyone before I head out, trying to get one last visit to my favorite places, but those all just become reasons to come back.

I often tell my clients that DC is a spiritual training ground.  That many of us end up to go through the paces.  My time here was not always the easiest, but in the end it helped me to grow into who I am now.  We grow through the experience of living a complete life, one that both embraces love and pain fully.

This is one of the first times in my life that I am stepping into complete uncertainty, and I am okay with that.  I am okay in the “not knowing”, not having to control the next steps of my life, and this has helped to realize that for the longest time I was not living in the present, and I really missed out on the people and experiences in my life.  The past few months have shown me that we have to breathe into each moment deeply, and to just be present.  DC has a way of getting you caught in the hustle and bustle.  People tend to be movement driven, and I’m not saying that is a bad thing, but when it is not balanced with presence we really miss out.  I see so many people tied to their electronics here… how many sunsets do they miss looking at “memes”?    I realized I was doing a lot of this as well, but more caught up in my mind’s patterns of worry, doubt, and judgement.  When the rug gets pulled out from underneath you, and there is nothing left to cling to, it changes your perspective on things, but closure does that.

Being closer to family, and coming back to my literal roots is going to be a positive thing.  I’m going to work on developing my yoga practice, my healing work, and finally write the book I’ve been putting off for so long.  My work is far from done, but sometime we need a change of pace, and a chance to gain clarity on our experience.

I will be back to the area to visit, to teach, and to be with friends/soul family.

I will miss many things here in DC, but I am looking forward to the next adventure, the unfolding journey, the next breath.

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Namaste.

Mike Brazell

Finding Closure, Embracing Impermanence

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Everything dies.

Nothing lasts forever.

I am in my final week here in Washington DC.  I never thought four years ago that I’d be saying goodbye.  This has not been an easy process, but I’ve learned that pain is teacher.  Everything that enters into our lives does so for a reason.  In reality, nothing on this plane of existence lasts forever.  Our bodies are in a constant state of decay.  Relationships end.  Jobs end.  Life ends.  We are constantly faced with closure.  One of the things I’ve allowed myself to do over the past few days is to soften into the awareness of impermanence.  Many of us try to stop the shifting that is happening around us and we cling to what no longer is, and in turn this causes us to suffer.  It also causes many to harden to life.  “I’m refusing to let myself be hurt again”, “Love sucks”, “Better this than nothing” and we feed ourselves a plethora of excuses to get us out of just being present with the death current.

When we soften to what is right in front of us we get to be with all of it.  When we allow our hearts to soften, we can love all of it.   Yesterday as I was walking around DC I was noticing things with a different clarity.  I allowed myself to love all of what I was seeing, experiencing and noticing.  Now that I am leaving this area and will no longer be a resident, my time here is in the death current.  Rather than clinging to what no longer is, and not projecting into some imagined future, I let myself be with all of it.  I got on the an escalator that I’ve taken many times over the past four years, and for a moment I loved that escalator (sound silly, I know), but I was noticing something that I have taken for granted over the past four years.  Something as simple as an escalator, when fully noticed, can crack you open to the “now”.

One of the things I am trying to do more of is to invite a gentle awareness of impermanence into all that I do.  It has allowed me to deepen my friendships, to taste life a little differently, and to not take for granted what is right in front of me.  I am learning to love all of it.  Even the pain.  Pain reminds us what it is like to feel, and like impermanence it is also part of life.   I am not saying that we need to go around and fear that at any moment everything can be taken away from us (but in reality it can).  When we soften to this reality, we get to really appreciate where we are, now.  What is right in front of you, in this moment is all that really exists.  The past no longer is here, the future is just a figment of your imagination, what is here and now is all that is.  The eternal now.  Shifting our awareness to being with all of it is a powerful tool for transformation.

Many of us spend a lot of time looking for closure.  We need validation that things are in the final throes.  Closure is not something we get from an external source.  In a relationship that is ending, looking for closure is just keeping necessary doors open.  I find that true closure is just being able to say “thank you” to the entirety of the experience.  Thank you to the joy, thank you to the pain, thank you to all of it.  Thanking our pain is not easy, thanking the experience might be even tougher, but hating it doesn’t change it either.  This is not something that we just rush into, but this also comes from the space of softening our hearts and opening to love.

So, I’ve rambled on enough.  I promise to post with more frequency now that the move is happening.

I am also posting videos on my youtube channel so head over and subscribe:  www.youtube.com/soulinteraction

you can also follow me on twitter:  www.twitter.com/mikebrazell

oh, cant forget facebook:  www.facebook.com/mbrazell      www.facebook.com/soulintuitive

As always,

You are Loved.

You are Beautiful

You are Divine.

Michael Brazell

Embracing 2014, and Bringing Back Soul Interaction Radio

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2014 is up and running and for many of us, we are feeling the sweeping flow this year is bringing.  Each day I am grateful and blessed to be able to do the work that I do.  Working in the spiritual realm also allows me to have a front row seat to the many ups and down that my clients face as the year begins.  There tend to be themes that run through the sessions I give at the beginning of the year.  The theme going into 2014 is transition.  I am going through my own personal transition, and have seen that echoed in many of my clients and friends.  We are getting the test of uncertainty, and this is not an easy thing.  When we embrace uncertainty with trust something magical happens.  We begin to open up to possibility.  The constricting energy of limitation begins to wind its way out of our experience and we are then able to find foundation. 

My path moving forward is in that deep realm of not knowing, and I am okay with that. In a few weeks I’ll be making a move to South Carolina.  This is a chance to reconnect with my roots, be with family, and find stability as I let the universe open up the next phase of my life.  One of the things I promised I would do this year is to create a Soul Community.  This blog is one tool in that effort, and the Soul Interaction Radio Show is another.  I put the show on hiatus for a few months, and my intuition has been pinging me to bring it back to life.  We’ll be kicking off our first episode Thursday January 9th at 11pm EST.  I’ll be discussing the 2014 transition energy, how to gain firm foundation in trust, and embracing your soul journey.  I will also be taking your calls for live on air Soul Sessions. 

Here is a link to the show!

Soul Interaction Radio: Welcome Back Episode Live 11pm EST, January 9th, 2014

Also, if you haven’t check out my new Facebook Fan Page, please do so!  I’ll be doing giveaways, insights, soul guidance, and more!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Brazell/570870039656296

You are Loved.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Goodbye to Yogawitch.com (for now anyway)

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The journey of life takes us in a multitude of directions.  When I decided to start this site, I wanted to dive deeper into magick and paganism, to test the intersections with yoga.  This journey was wonderful, and opened me up to a lot of ideas, it allowed me to venture deeper into a path that I previously had not explored.  Yoga is still a very magical path, but for now my personal spiritual journey is taking me away from the study of witchcraft and paganism.  I am diving deeper into my core spiritual practices, my writing, poetry, spiritual/healing consultations, travel and who I am in this moment.  My world has changed a lot over the past month.  My intuition is guiding me, and I’m learning to listen more deeply, and my life is coming full circle in a lot of ways. 

My work is, and has always been on Soul Evolution and Growth.  As I move forward I will be posting at www.soulinteraction.com

Soulnteraction.com is where I’ll be posting updates about my journey, my poetry, and my insights into the sacred soul journey.  So, be sure to follow along. 

I also have a new facebook page:  Soul Intuitive Michael Brazell

I am also going to be bringing my radio show back online in January: www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

I am continuing my journey into the sacred.  My focus is not on diving deeper into my personal sacred journey, engaging my community, and getting out into the world.  I plan on doing a lot of traveling this next year, and also have a move on the horizon.  I am going to leave this blog up, as I believe everything that we do is part of the sacred journey.  I may revist from time to time, and if anyone would like to contact me you can email me at: soulinteraction@gmail.com

I want to thank all of you for following me here, for sharing this part of my journey, and hope that you will continue to walk this road with me as the new year unfolds itself. 

Namaste

Michael Brazell

www.soulinteraction.com

www.michaelbrazell.com