integration

Radio Show, Leaning Into Joy, and Loving the Flow

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Tonight at 9pm, we’ll be re-launching our online BlogTalk Radio show, “Soul Empowerment Radio”!  We took a bit of a hiatus for travel, getting out into the world, and diving a bit into the soul journey. I’m excited to be on air again. Technology often gets a pretty bad rap, but if we can use this platform to connect, to deepen our connection to the journey, and to offer healing to the world then it’s a good thing!  My hope is to go LIVE Monday – Friday at 9pm EST. Each episode will start with a discussion and soul centered dialog followed by a guided meditation. I’ll also be opening up the lines for FREE on air mini-readings and healing sessions.  We are also working on inviting on guests, doing book reviews, and opening to community in whatever way we can!

Here is a link to join in tonight! Soul Empowerment Radio

Leaning Into Joy

joyIt’s been an incredible few months. Weather changes have bombarded our coasts, upheaval seems to be a constant trend in our media, and life for many has become heavy. It’s okay to feel whatever it is that you are feeling. You are human. It’s okay to feel the pain and the weight of the world. Taking steps toward joy can be difficult in times of global or personal upheaval. Joy is often elusive when we feel the weight of life on our shoulders, but we have to remember that taking steps toward joy gives us a chance to feel freedom, even in our chaos.

Joy isn’t meant to be used as an escape from what we are experiencing. We don’t want to use joy as a mechanism of suppression. Joy gives us access to perspective, balance, and understanding. When we over identify with our suffering, we do so at the risk of excluding other areas of life. Sometimes we have to make leaning into joy a conscious act. Here are a few steps to lean into joy when you might be experiencing upheaval:

  1. Find time to laugh. Laughter really is the best medicine.
  2. Take time to express gratitude. Now, this is different from just writing down the things you’re grateful for (which is also a powerful practice). Expressing gratitude through action allows us to participate in sharing joy. A few ways to express gratitude are: saying thank you to those that serve you in a restaurant, offering to do the daily chores, helping others in need, being in service to those around you in whatever ways feels best.
  3. Journaling. Journaling allows us to detox the mind. Creating a pressure valve for our minds allows us to have a bit more space in our life for joy.
  4. Do something silly. Color in a coloring book, play with play dough, paint, run through the sprinklers, have fun!
  5. Eat delicious food.
  6. Listen to poetry
  7. Talk a walk outside and experience nature (not just on your screen saver).

Loving the Flow

Finding balance in life allows us to move a bit deeper into the flow. It helps us to be in the experience of life, it allows us to feel this moment a bit more deeply. Life is going to come with its up and downs, it may even take you sideways, and that’s okay. It’s part of the flow. Joy is part of the flow. Love is part of the flow. Even if things feel heavy right now, know that you are moving, just as the breath is moving through your lungs. Live deeply, love deeply, be present.

Life Update: Feri, Yoga, and Writing

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Life is an interesting journey. I love the way it ebbs and flows, and thought I’d toss out a few updates:

-I started Feri training again. I did the training a while back, but came to a point in my life where I needed to step away, and it happened that at that time, I was marching towards some pretty massive life changes (move from DC to SC, break up, etc)… but, I never stopped the core practices that were given to me by my teacher at the time. What I’m learning as I move forward in my spiritual journey is that everything we move into, informs the journey. Feri training helped to create balance to the other areas of my life. Often when we are working in the world of spirit and dealing heavily with the intuition, we forget that the body is also a part of our spiritual path/practice. I’ll be doing some blog posts soon on my experiences with this tradition, and more importantly how I am integrating this work into the other areas of my life.

-Yoga, yoga, yoga!  I’m going to be teaching classes here in the DC area, and I am also talking to a new studio here in the Columbia, SC area. I’m breathing life into the LGBT Bears do Yoga program in DC, and I am also hoping to get this started here in the Columbia area as well. I’m also working to get some videos on youtube, so be sure to subscribe to my channel! I’m planning online satsangs, small group Skype sessions, and google hangouts. If you like information on the upcoming classes, feel free to email me at: michael@michaelbrazell.com

-I’m finally working on my book, and you can expect to see a lot more activity on this blog. I’ve been dividing myself a bit too far, and one message my soul has been offering is to streamline and focus. Poetry is also calling my soul. Poetry is a powerful tool for healing and transformation. There are a lot of things in my heart that are asking to have their voice echoed out onto paper. I am also planning some trips to open mics.. I miss the poetry slam scene.

-Lots of travel coming up. I’ll be in DC from the 15th of August through the 15th of September, and then again in October.

Just a quick life update. Hope you all are riding the energy shifts with balance and grace. Be kind to yourself,and love fiercely.