Embracing the New Year: Gratitude and Possibility

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gratitudeSo, it seems we made it through the Mayan prophesy, and we are moving towards year that is filled with possibility.   This past year has not been easy for many.  2012 was an energy that really shook many of us up, and for better or worse we are here.  We are entering a time where possibility is unlimited, but we have to begin focusing on what is important–what is it that you truly want from the experience and what are you willing to create?

As we move into this new year it is important to not set resolutions but to set intentions.

I did feel the rocking that this year gave.   Things came into fruition that I never thought would be possible, and things also have started to fall away.  The ending of this year for me was filled with accomplishment and alignment.  New beginnings are a daily thing, and each day brings new breath.

I have a lot that I want to do this coming year, and finishing up my writing projects is going to be a big priority.  I am also evolving not only my client practice, but my personal practice.   Stagnation is not something that needs to be embraced this year, and holding oneself back from a fully embodied spiritual practice is not something we are going to be allowed to do.

This is the year of the embodied warrior.  The spirit of movement, flow, transition and owning our many parts.   The shadow elements will still be there, but it is important to recognize that they are there to help nudge us along on our journey to self discovery.   Breaking free of expectations and letting your life unfold as you want it to.

What are you holding yourself back from completing, accomplishing, or doing?   Where is your resistance, invite to the table… work through it.

My commitment to this year is going to be to get his blog up and active in a new way.   I want to take my personal writing to new heights.  I was able to finish a manuscript for the Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) challenge and now have to edit and organize it.  I am also working on a new book on Yogic Witchcraft, and have a new blog  www.yogawitch.com and a wonderful radio show on blogtalk that is really picking up steam (www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell).

I am also taking my personal practice to a new level and am claiming my many parts.  I am a student of BlackHeart Feri and recently had the opportunity to ground new energy at the Between the Worlds conference.  I am excited to begin this new path of study, and it has already had a profound effect on my life.

Yoga is going to be taking a forefront in my journey this year.  I am deepening my personal practice but am also going to be offering new classes, workshops, and events geared towards helping others tap into their unlimited potential through yoga, ecstatic practice, and magick.  Stay tuned!

My partner David and I have done a lot of joint projects this past year, and I am thankful that I have had such a wonderful partner standing beside me through the ups and downs of the spiritual journey.  Living a spiritual life is not often an easy one, but having someone who you can share this life with is an absolute gift.  He has inspired me to finish my book this coming year and submit it to publishing.  He has also inspired me through his tireless work with community to deepen my roots here in the area.  I am working on creating and re-launching several of my meetups so that we can create the sacred space needed for touching the sphere of possibility in 2013.

There are lots of things that I neglected in 2012, and some things that I did not complete, that I will take into 2013 with renewed energy.

I thank all of my teachers, my friends, my clients, my students, my colleagues, spirit, and I thank the breath for keeping me moving–even when it seemed like giving up would have been an easier option.

Be ready to see new stuff!

What is in your sphere of possibility this coming year?  What are you leaving behind in 2012, what are you carrying forward?   What are you most grateful for?

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”- Golda Meir

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

Namaste!

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com 

www.yogawitch.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

Poem…

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Haven’t done poetry in a while.. tho, I’m in a poetic mood, so here goes….

 

Tonight I am wrapping myself in blankets of memory, some of them warm, some of them are patchwork quilts.. memories stitched together, the seams sometimes blurred.. Like me…

The poems elude me.. I am dancing in the silence of my own symphony… Sometimes wondering if all this meaning has purpose, and if that purpose will carry all of us to a new tomorrow… and tomorrow I’ll get up and start over.  Sometimes the knots in my stomach remember your hands…  You hands, they were brutally soft.  They knew all the right buttons to push, self destruct was the easiest to find… I’m still looking for the off button, but for now I’ll settle for a cup of grace… two scoops of hope, and memories that sometimes keep me up like a heavy dose of caffeine…

But for now,

the knots they keep me from coming undone…

Soul Satsang: Spirituality as an Escape

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I was recently listening to a wonderful podcast by Swami Ramakrishnananda on the subject of spiritual escapism.

Working in the spiritual domain I often hear people say “I am so thankful for my meditation, it helps me to escape reality for a few moments.”

I am so thankful for my “spiritual group” they help me to escape the mundane nature of my life

… and this is just a few of the avenues that many of us use to escape what is presented.  We often forget that what is presented (even if it is not what we want to face) is also part of the divine experience.  Escaping into spirituality takes away from the sacredness.  When we use our spirituality as a game of hide and seek, eventually the other stuff catches up to us…. Which is why I also hear “every time I try and meditate my brain is flooded with thoughts”… Just because you hide from reality it does not mean that she wont keep looking for you.

When we engage our spiritual outlets as spaces to just be present.  To just be whole for a few moments it allows alignment instead of disconnection.

Instead of running from– Run into.   When you run from something it only will chase you faster.  Run into each moment as a divine experience.  Let your spiritual outlets be moments of transcendence instead of avenues of escape.

What do you feel the need to escape from?

What are you running from?

What do you find yourself running towards in times of stress, chaos, or disconnect?

Does escaping into the spiritual lessen the sacredness of the experience, or does it facilitate a release… define release.

Here are some questions for you to sit with

Love and Light.

M.

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

http://www.yogawitch.com

Overcoming Seasonal Depression

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We are at the end of the year.  The collective energy of all that has changed, grown, and faded away tends to catch up to us when we slow down.  The temperatures are also falling.  Our joints become stiff, the cold naturally slows the blood flow through the body.  The dark energy of the closing of the year surrounds us.

Connection and disconnection exist in this time of year.  One of the best ways to move through the darker aspects of the year is to connect with community.  When seasonal depression sets in, we draw inward.  Connecting to friends, family and making new connections is important.  Tangible human connection is important, it is one of the great losses we’ve faced because of the rise of technology.  Start a club, a group, connect to others through Meetup.com or visit sites around town.

Engaging your spirituality is also important during this time of year.  Introspection is important but we cannot allow ourselves to get stuck there.  Deepening of the connection to our practice is important in keeping us grounded.  Expanding our spiritual circles also allows us to explore and open up to new avenues of growth.  In pulling away from things during a depressive state, many also pull away from spiritual practice.  We have to remember that even if there is struggle we have to show up to our spiritual practice.

Movement also helps us to keep things moving.  The body becomes rigid in the cold.  Things like yoga, working out, jogging, going for walks, dancing, and engaging the body allows a tactile connection to the flow of live.

The idea is to keep simple, but get started.  When depression binds us, we become stagnant and disconnected.  We also have to remember that there is joy just beyond the darkness, but the darkness is also important.  Depression takes us to the dark edges of our reality.  We have to be careful how long we stay there.  Journaling is also an important thing to add to your journey.

Daily gratitude lists are also important during this time.  We often forget the smallest things in our experience… start with small gratitude and they will lead you to bigger ones.

What are you grateful for?

What brings you out of depressive states?

Also, remember… if you are finding life to be difficult, reach out.  Sitting in our spaces alone only keeps us disconnected.

 

 

 

 

Engaging the Path

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It’s time to move into the flow of your experience.   Run screaming into the wonders that are waiting for you.  We are entering into a time of uncertainty, and this is a beautiful thing.  Not knowing allows us room to be creative.  There is so much waiting for us beneath the veil of our experience.

The hardest part of the spiritual journey is showing up.  When we show up to our experience we are able to be part of the greater journey.  The road is not always an easy one, but the life we are opening up to is a beautiful one.

Engage your journey fully.  Breathe into each moment and allow the expansion of your light to shine in all places.  When we breathe we move, and when we move we create ripples of light that tear through all that binds us.  Live your life loudly, don’t hold back, and shine like a beacon of love.

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

 

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

 

Nanowrimo and Commitments

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So, I’m taking a break from writing.. well, to write.   I am participating in the National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo), and the idea is to finish a 50,000 word manuscript in 30 days.

The original intent was to do fiction, butt (true to my nature) I’ve decided to be a “nano-rebel” and am working on a non-fiction book that has been sitting on my mind for the past 2 years.  I am excited.  There is something powerful about having the energy of this event to show up to.  The beautiful thing about this type of daily commitment is that we can ride that energy beyond the 30 days.  When we have an engaged energy and daily practice it makes it easier to stay on the path of commitment.  Before this event, I had the desire, but not the willingness to show up.

Aside from my new daily writing practice, I am including a few other stipulations in my Nano journey.

– To stay committed to only eating a raw diet for the month

-1 hour of personal yoga practice a day

-30-45 min of cardio a day

-Focused meditation and prayer (I’m doing focused Japa in the evening and rosary in the morning)

-Writing 2000 words a day to not only meet but to exceed the Nanowrimo requirement

 

In the scheme of things this is not a lot extra, but in reality this is what I should have been doing all along.  This is a chance to re-commit myself to doing the work that I’ve been wanting to do all this time.  To take things to completion and to allow this new energy to flow through me.

What are you committing to as we get to the end of the year?  If not a writing project, what do you feel drawn towards, and what’s stopping you from doing it?

I’ve had the honor of seeing my partner David not only take his work to completion, but to see him achieve his dream of getting it published.  I’m constantly inspired by all the beautiful people in my life.

You are loved.  You are beautiful. You are DIVINE!

Michael A Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

Seance: How to Safely Reach Through the Veil

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Halloween tends to be a time that brings an allure to what lies just out of the normal scope of reason.  The veil between worlds is said to be at its thinnest, and for many the desire to reach through is enhanced.

A seance is one method that people use to collectively reach through to connect to those on “the other side”.  There are a variety of books that give process and detail the “how-to” for spirit connect, but I am going to share my personal process for connecting and doing it safely.

Anytime we open up to spirit we want to enter this space through protection.  Spiritual protection can simply be reciting a prayer before starting, smudging the space and self, or creating boundaries with stone (onyx, black tourmaline, or hematite).  Entering in through protection allows us remove fear from the process, it allows us to engage the connection through a place of love and openness.  If you are doing this in a group setting it is important to be sure that everyone is engaging in the protection for the event.  Creating a group dynamic of protection keeps the intent set for love and a positive connection on all sides of the veil.

After you engage in opening up to your protective work, you’ll want to set up sacred space and set and intent for the connection.  A lot of people assume that seances are solely used for contacting those that have crossed over.  You can open up to the energy of guides, angels, guardians, or your higher self.  Set the intention for the event.  Set the desire to open up to those external energies and then allow that intention to drive the event’s energy forward.  If there are loved ones that you wish to connect to set the intention to allow their energy to come through.  One way to do this is to have an object of theirs, a photograph, or their name on a piece of paper.  Focus tools allow you to deepen the connection of the experience and to call their energy in directly.  You can sit in a circle, or just create a relaxed environment that everyone feels comfortable in.

Once you begin the session, trust is the next stage you have to enter.  We have to trust that when we engage the process, that we are allowing this flow of information, energy and love to occur between our dimension and theirs.  Some people use spirit boards, automatic writing, pendulums, tarot cards, or just opening up your natural senses to the space.

A lot of people assume that they will get profound messages, but you have to be open to sounds, smells, sensations as well as anything vocal that might occur during the session.  Be sure to keep notes of what you are feeling, thinking, seeing.  Sometimes the message is in the process of opening up, inviting in our loved ones, and sharing in the energy of the moment.

We often forget about those connections until holidays  or other events connected to the passing.  They are with us when we need them, just a heart beat away.

To close the session, thank those that have stepped through.  Thank the energy, the divine, and sit in the energy of the experience.

Also remember you don’t have to wait until Oct 31st to connect, and you don’t need a medium to reach through.  We all have the power of connection, and everyday is sacred.

Love and Light

Michael A. Brazell

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

 

Working out in a Storm

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Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on us, and the Metro system will be shut down tomorrow.  If we are lucky we’ll maintain power, but knowing our local power provider that is unlikely.  So, no power–no access to my gym–whats a workout-a-holic to do?

Work out at home!

Here is a quick and dirty workout routine that you can use to take you through any storm environment:

All you need is a deck of cards.

The next part is pretty easy– Until you begin that is.

There are four suites (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades).  You are going to assign an exercise to each suite.

Ex:

Diamonds- Diamond pushups

Clubs- sit ups

Hearts- squats

spades- flutter kicks

Shuffle the deck.  When you pull the card off the top of the deck you do the corresponding exercise at the number given.

10 of Diamonds = 10 diamond pushups, etc.

Go through 1/2 the deck, or the entire deck.  Try and choose exercises that give you the use of multiple muscles or big muscles groups.  There are a multitude of variations on pushups, planks, sit up/abdominal exercises.

Be creative, have fun!

Michael A Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

The Expansion of the Spiritual Self

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What are your limitations to living a spiritual life?

Where do you find divinity?   Do you see the divine when you look in the mirror?

What is God/dess?

What inspires you to breathe?

Can you feel the spark in your heart center keeping perfect time with the flow of your life?

Where do you let go?

What does freedom feel like?

How often do you say “I love you” to your own heart center?

How often do you laugh?

How free do you feel right now?

When is the last time you looked at the tops of the trees?

When’s the last time you gave from your soul?

 

Expansion of the spiritual self happens through the space of contemplation.  Sitting with our various “life questions” and letting them sit with us.  We spend so much time looking for answers, but often we don’t remember the question… and well, sometimes the question is the answer.  We have to take time to take account of our many pieces.

Alignment is something we work at.  Where do you feel off-balance?  Take that deeper… do you feel spiritually, emotionally, or energetically off-balance?   What do you need right now to come back to center?  We have to take life in slices of “now”.  What do you need in this moment to expand and let go?

Sit with these questions, ponder your existence, and live not just the answers, but the questions… Don’t be complacent–

Seek and ye shall find….

 

Namaste

Michael A Brazell

 

Mastering the Master Cleanse

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Ahhh.. delicious… Lemons, cayenne pepper, molasses and water.

 

This is the basis for the Master Cleanse.  I’m not going to go into a bunch of history on why this cleanse is in existence, but I will share my own personal dealing with it so that you can have a new perspective on an old technique.

The energy this year has been heavy and in many ways chaotic.  Many of us are feeling this shifting force hitting us in magnitude.  We are experience a variety of new emotions, changes (both external and internal), and energies as we align with our higher purpose.  Taking charge of what we are putting into our bodies is vital as we come into this new alignment.

The Master Cleanse is an easy reset button.  Sometimes we come to a point where we know we are not in alignment.  We’ve reached out for the wrong foods, or we might be more aware of the foods that are limiting us.  I do not however follow the traditional mixture.  I have found a concoction that works for me, and it does the trick.

I usually get one of the large bottles (1.5L) of smart water or Whole Foods Brand H2O.  I use 3 Lemons, and I prefer agave nectar over molasses.  Molasses costs a lot more, and agave nectar has a bit few calories and sugar.  I do a couple of pinches of cayenne  pepper, and Ta-Da a delicious drink for the day.  I get up early so that I have time to make my drink, and it typically lasts me through the day.

Leading up to “Lemonade Only”
So, being the realist that I am, I know that if I jump straight into the mixture on its own right away that I’ll throw my body into “Craving every piece of cake in a 50 mile radius” mode.  I typically do not change my diet for a few days, but add the lemonade mixture.  This gives your stomach a chance to get use to the pepper and lemons, and it also provides a mild detox.  The idea is also introduced into your consciousness that a cleanse is on the way.  It’s like buying the cleaning supplies and keeping them in your messy room.  I usually do this for a couple of days, and then slowly begin cutting out different food items, until it’s just me and the lemonade. 

I typically do the cleanse for 3-7 days, and the go into a raw food eating mode for about a week (or longer).   Set a timeline that you know will work for you.

Set an intention for your cleanse.

“As I take in this cleansing liquid so does clarity flow through me”.

Personalize the cleanse and make it yours.  Allow yourself to be fluid with it.  If you feel like doing the lemonade along with raw foods– Great.  If you feel like just adding the lemonade and changing nothing–Great.  The idea here is that you are also including the intention that you are cleansing.  Cleaning happens and a multitude of levels.

Just a quick breakdown of the ingredients.  You want to use purified water if possible.  The agave nectar gives you calories to burn.  The cayenne pepper ups your metabolism and immune system, and the lemons are great cleansers.  Lemon is a natural diuretic, which will help you flush your system

I recommend light activity during the cleansing cycle.  Yoga is a perfect match for the master cleanse.  Yoga allows you to dive deep into the muscles and joints to facilitate release of toxins and limitations.

Trust yourself, and give the body what it needs.  If you need calories, eat.  If you need to modify, modify.

Have fun with the cleanse, open up to intention, and share the journey with those around you.
Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

Michael@michaelbrazell.com