soul evolution

PBP2012: “I” is for Intuition

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A lot of people ask me if being psychic is something that you are born with, or if is something you can learn.  We all come into this place with a deep knowing of where we are supposed to be on our path.  It is like we are born with an internal GPS system that allows us to steer into and away from different lessons and situations.  The response I like to give is:  “We are all born intuitive.  Some people come in with AOL dial-up, and others come in with SAT LINK, but we can all choose to upgrade when we are ready.”  As magick workers and those on a spiritual path we have to work on the deep listening aspect of our chosen crafts and path.  Magick and intuition do not just flow through us when we are in ritual or in front of our altars.  Our lives are an action of living in spirituality and our intuition is always there guiding us.

Being intuitive means that you receive that guidance from the “soul space”.  There is always something talking to us from within.  That little voice that only has our best intent and compassion for us.  It is the driver in the car with the better map.  I personally know when I take the wheel and refuse the directions that life becomes more bumper car than Sunday drive in the country side.  Our intuition is how the divine relays that deep guidance and information to us.  In degrees of separation it is: self-soul-divine.  This allows us instant access to everything that is outside of us, but it comes through us.  There are many theories on how the intuition works, where that information flow originates from, and depending on your tradition you relationship to your intuition might vary a bit.  How we connect is not as important as connecting.  Establishing a daily connection with your intuition is important for not only deepening your practice but for establishing trust for self and our divine connection.

What is your relationship to your intuition?  What is your process of deep listening?   How does intuition play into your daily practice or your ritual work?

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

michael@michaelbrazell.com

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.deviantyogi.com

Grounding Through Gardening: My Unfolding Journey

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So, I have never been one to garden.  It’s not that I have a black thumb, but for me time seems to move so quickly that I barely have time to breathe much less connect to nature.  In one of my recent meditations I was asking what I could do to ground more, and the answer came in very clearly “Ground though touching sacred earth”.   I love nature and being outside, and it makes sense that connecting to the earth in a very tactile way would be fundamental in grounding down all this new energy that is coming in.  I’m lucky in that I have some wonderful friends that are avid gardeners and I can pull from their wealth of knowledge.

It will be a new way for me to engage my spirituality as well.   For me tactile spiritual experiences are important.  It lets me see spirituality in action.  I’m planning a little indoor garden and a small outdoor box garden.  I am having fun choosing my herbs and many of them I plan on using in my Deviant Yogi hoodoo mixes.  I’m also looking forward to the depth of discovery that I know will come from connecting to the souls of these plants.  The essence of life and spirituality in action moving through them as they breathe into this world.  I am going to work in specific meditations, utilize focused healing, and music.  I’ll also document my entire process so that you can all share in my joys (and struggles) as I move into this new and fascinating direction.

It is also important to have plant life inside.  It brings life and love into a home. I know this will be a great addition to my yoga room.  Plants are one of the most tactile ways we can connect to the divine.  There is a scent, touch, life, death, silence, and breathing– and they are all manifest at the same time.

What are your favorite plants?  What are your most memorable encounters in a garden/while gardening?  Share any spiritual experiences you’ve had in nature!

 

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

http://www.deviantyogi.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: G is for Grace

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One word that you will hear a lot in religious and spiritual circles is “grace”.   If you look up the word grace you’ll find a multitude of definitions ranging from how we move to blessings bestowed from the divine.  I feel that grace transcends definition.  It is more like a state of being rather than something that can be lock into words.  In our practice we connect not just to ourselves but to the world around us.  When we extend compassion to those that hurt us we are moving into a state of grace.  When we love the shadows in our past, we are loving ourselves gracefully. One of my teachers always taught me about the importance of leaving situations gracefully.  When we do we do not take with us any of the anger or resentment.  You could almost say that grace is a form of compassion.  It goes to the core of our being, and becomes a deep extension of our soul’s light and energy.  We can see aspects of grace in a ballerina’s movement, can we extend the same into how we connect with those around us and even to ourselves?  To move with mercy.  To look at one another and to see the soul reflected back.  Practicing being in a state of grace is important for bringing the soul into alignment.  The soul is perfect divine light.  When we look at one another typically we only see the shell, the third dimensional self.  If we were to look at the world through the soul’s eyes?  To see only the shining light of God Herself that rests in everything.  When we engage in our spiritual practice and path work it is important for us to see where we might be holding on to limiting emotions.  Where are we holding our anger, resentment, guilt?  Breathing into those areas of our life that need love, embracing the depths of our darkness, and loving ourselves fully.  In yoga we talk about Ahimsa.  The action of living a non-violent life.  In Wicca the rede “and harm ye none” is one of the core statements.  The thing we forget to do is turn this internal.  Many of us are in a constant state of judging ourselves.  We have to take our practice “within” so that we won’t be “without”.  This can be difficult to do, but it is an important part of the journey.  We can’t just strive to see God Herself in the world around us, but we must also see her in our reflection in the mirror.  When we show mercy to ourselves, we are in turn showing mercy to the divine within us.  Grace then becomes the extension of mercy out into this sometimes chaotic world.  We each get to choose how we embrace grace and mercy.  How do you extend these concepts into your practice?  Into your life? and into the relationships that you carry?

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.deviantyogi.com

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

PBP2012: “D”- Daily Devotional Work

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The sun breaks through the window first thing in the morning.  We open ourselves up to the day, and we begin with a deep inhale, followed by an even deeper exhale.  Well, in truth… we often dash out of the bed to the sound of a screeching alarm, trip over everything we can on the way out the door to a full work day.  How we start our day can determine how we move through the day.  Starting the day doing a devotional practice can keep us connected to our divine self as we move through the day.  We live in a world that constantly makes demands of us.  We move into those moments, and often times we move unconsciously through these experiences.  We seldom take time to be with spirit unless something forces us to stop and slow down.  Recently I got laryngitis.  I very rarely get sick, but often I find myself rushing through life, giving my energy away constantly.  Having no voice forced me to slow down and take into account where I was giving my energy away.  It also made me take a deeper look at my personal spiritual practice.  They say never run faster than your guardian angel can fly, and in a world full of distractions and temptations this can be valuable advice.

A great way to start the morning can simply be sitting in silence and taking a few deep breaths.  If we have a particular tradition, we can sit in front of our altars, connect to the divine, and open ourselves up to guidance.  There are many ways to connect and ground into the day. Even talking a walk before work connecting to nature, or simply looking up as you make that morning walk to the office.  Consistency is also important in ground ourselves in our divine nature.  When we have a steady practice we have a way to connect into our day and to detox from a stressful day through positive release.  We only need to do a little each day to have a profound effect throughout the day and into our lives.  This allows us to be fully engaged in our spiritual work.  Here are a few ways to do daily devotional work:

  • Yoga
  • Affirmation work
  • Morning tarot or general reading for the day
  • Prayer work
  • Chanting or working with a mantra
  • Singing
  • Dancing around the room while the sun rises
  • Going for a brief walk in the AM/PM and being conscious while you are in that space.
  • Contemplative reading from a sacred text
  • Holding a stone and connecting into its energy
  • Doing a healing practice like Reiki, energy healing, or stretching
  • Breathing.  Focusing on the inhale and the exhale fully.

All of these can be done with just a little bit of time.  Getting up just a little earlier, or coming home and immediately going into your practice can give you a little bit of structure in that spiritual place.  Your daily devotional work can be complex or simple.  It can last 30 seconds or several hours.  Get into a practice of daily divine connection.  You’ll feel more grounded, more connected and more centered.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

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

 

The Ritual of Fitness: Intergrating Intention into Your Gym Workout Routines

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Intention, Motivation, and Connection to Your Physical Practice

The alarm clock goes off, and your feet hit the ground, and of course the first thought on your mind is heading towards the gym.   I can already hear the “Yeah, right” screaming from the recesses of your soul.  Many will sleep in until the very last possible second, some rush to the computer the moment feet touch the ground to check email/Facebook/twitter/or the latest foursquare updates.  Then after a long day at work, we are faced with our second opportunity to step into the sacred grounds of the gym, yet… we would much rather curl up to Netflix and catch up on the latest episode of Cake Boss.

The toughest part of any workout routine is setting up a steady routine.  There is a frustration when it comes to working out.  We have to remember that it took us a while to get to where we are, and it is going to take some time to see the results of our work.  As spiritual people we know that when it comes to manifesting things take time.  The universe/God/Goddess hears our call and life begins to synchronize and align to bring about the desired  outcome.  Our time in the gym is a microcosm of grand universal effect.  The first step is to set a realistic goal for yourself.   Ok, let’s pause right here.  Many of you immediately added up some magical goal weight that must be achieved, some of you might have seen muscles ripping out of every crevice of your clothing, others may have seen themselves coming across the finish line of their first marathon.  Let’s take the goal to an even smaller and simpler place:  Just show up.  That’s it.  If you do not show up to your workout, then the goal will just remain a dream.  The dream is also dangerous, because it can hold us in an expectation that is too far for ourselves to reach.  If my goal is to run a marathon, but I’ve never even jogged a mile, I might be frustrated if in one week, I’m not wearing that gold medal around my neck.  We have to be realistic about our expectations when it comes to our fitness.  Even better is to release all expectation.  Just show up and engage your experience.

You’ll also need a workout plan.  Not knowing what to do in the gym can be intimidating.  The machines can be complex, the classes can be intimidating, and at times we might just be overwhelmed by the multitude of choices in front of us.  Simplify your direction.  Start with cardio and build, do not be afraid to ask questions and take a class or two.  Group fitness classes are a great way to burn calories, connect with others that are moving towards similar goals, and just have fun!  When I was teaching and taking classes at a gym in Norfolk, I looked forward to my class, they became my “gym family”.  You share stories, and get excited in each others progress.

Now, let’s take our workout a step further.  What if I told you that you could add to world peace simply by engaging your process in the gym?   Take a moment and think of something that is important in your life, something that you want to dedicate energy to.  The next time you are in the gym set your intention, and dedicate your workout to that goal/place in the world/or person that might need it.  A simple affirmation might go like this, “I dedicate the energy from this workout to all the homeless in my area.  May they find peace, love and happiness this day” “I dedicate the energy of this workout to my friend Jim, who is going into surgery today, may the energy created guide him into greater health.”  You get the hint… Be creative.

By setting an intention, you create a deeper connection to your workout.  It gives the action new life and purpose.

Set the intention the night before and you might feel new drive to get those feet moving towards greater health the moment that alarm clock screams you awake.

I’ll be posting specific workout plans and tips to help ease the process and to make gym life less overwhelming.  For those of you that are not members of a gym, I’ll be posting specifics for you as well.

So, let’s recap:

1) Just start by showing up.  Not just to the gym, but to your life.  Choose health, choose life, choose to better yourself on all levels.

2) Set a goal for yourself.  Be realistic and release all expectations other than to be present in your gym experience.

3) Ask questions, have a plan of action.  If you can spend 10 hours on Facebook, you can spend a few minutes looking up workout routines.  Also feel free to email me directly if you have questions.  I will also be posting a resource list in the next couple of days.

4) Give your workout a greater purpose by setting an intention.  By doing this you make it more than just about you.  You are creating and giving energy to the world around you.  This alone should help drive your desire to get moving.

You are loved, you are beautiful, you are perfect in all of your imperfections.

Mahayogi Das CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

 

Expressing Peace in Turbulent Times

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We only need to look around us to see that we are in a state of upheaval.  Times are changing rapidly and everyone is moving to the streets to have their voices heard.  Many are also taking this time to go into an internal space to create change within their own lives.  The road ahead might look bumpy, but it is only as turbulent as we choose it to be.  This is an important time to trust your intuition.  The one thing that we have to do is give ourselves permission to be angry.  Be angry!  Get Angry! —  but then allow yourself to move into a state of release and growth.  Why plant weeds in your own garden?  Holding onto anger will only attract more of it in your life.  We are all looking for change, growth, and we cannot expect others to provide that for us.  It is important to have a message of equality on all levels heard in the public forum, but we must first ask “What am I doing to create peace and change within myself?”  Too often we get caught up in the energetic tsunami of others.  This is why we are currently not seeing a unified message within the ranks of the “Occupy” movement.  As time passes I feel that a true, underlying message will begin to bubble to the surface.

Here are a few ways to express peace in your life right now:

1) Say I love you to someone next to you

2) Give forgiveness

3) Ask for forgiveness

4) Smile at a stranger

5) Volunteer and help those that are in need

6) Love yourself fiercely

7) Pray

8) Sing

9) Dance

10) Look in the mirror and love yourself

11) Write a list of all the things you are thankful and appreciative of.  Be in a constant rampage of gratitude.

12) If you feel negativity coming on, pull out your list from line number 11 and begin your gratitude flow.

13) Love your enemies.  Hate, never erases hate.

What are some ways that you bring peace into your life?  What do you do to bring yourself back to center?

Share your posts below!!!

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

http://www.michaelbrazell.com

757-839-3531

Michael@michaelbrazell.com