spirituality

Spiritually Fit: Simple workout routine (Playing Cards)

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12--183086-playing cardsThe challenge for many people when it comes to getting into a fitness lifestyle is that it can be pretty overwhelming when we start on the journey.  There are so many options on where to begin that it is easy to freeze in place rather than move forward.  So, I thought it would be great to periodically post some of my personal workout routines and tips that keep me moving towards health and fitness.  I go to the gym, and I love it.  I love the environment, I love having access to equipment that I normally would not if I was at home, and I also realize that the gym is not for everyone.  The difficulty with at home training is that it requires a bit more motivation to get up and do the workout.  The idea is to keep your  home training as simple as possible, but to also make it fun.  “Working out” should be all work.  It is a chance to dive into the sacred temple that is your body.

For this routine all you need is a deck of playing cards.

If  it is a new deck you want to be sure to shuffle it up pretty good.  If you want a longer workout you can take two decks and combine them into one massive stack.

The next thing that you will need to do is assign an exercise to each suit:

  • clubs= push-ups
  • hearts= sit-ups
  • spades=squats
  • diamonds=diamond push-ups
  • non suit cards= 30 second rest

You can really use any combination of exercises that works for your level of fitness and enjoyment.  I recommend staying with your choices for about a week or so, and then switching to another exercise for each suit.

Now the fun part.  Place the deck face down, draw a card, and you are going to do the exercise for that suit and your rep count will be whatever number is on the card.

Using the above example:  If you draw the 10 of clubs, you will do 10 push-ups.  If you draw a face card, or an ace you can call these “11” , and aces can be “1” rep… or you can assign your own numbers to those cards.

This is a fun way to dive into a home routine.  The exercises cycle through, and it becomes a randomized circuit training session. You can pause however long you want between each card draw.  If you are just starting out I’d recommend giving it 45-60 seconds between cards, more advanced can do 15-30 seconds between the draw.

I feel that engaging the body is as important as engaging spirit.  When we are able to connect to the body, achieve greater states of health and well-being, we are allowing for greater alignment in all areas of life.

Before starting any workout routine, be sure to check with your doctor.  Do what you can, and remember it is not a competition.  It is you getting in touch with you.  Keep a journal of your progress and how you are feeling before and after you workouts.  You can do this 3-5 days a week and you don’t have to cycle through the entire deck in one sitting.  I use to do 1/2 the deck in the morning, and the other 1/2 in the evening.  Have fun with fitness!

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

Mike Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

 

Monday Reflections: Own this moment fully

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Life is a constant ebb and flow.  It is movement.  Sometimes we get smashed across the rocks, and sometimes we land on the shore with ease and grace.  I hear a lot of people getting stuck in the “why me” mode of thinking.  Then binding to the moment as if it will never end.  When we take ownership of the struggle as much as we take ownership of the joy, we open a door to the experience.  We are not longer distancing, or holding onto.. but acknowledging what is happening.  Sometimes when we are eating, the food goes “down the wrong pipe”… we panic, grab for our water, slow our breathing, and calm begins to present itself.  Life is like that at times.  We struggle, but calm follows the storm.  We have to be careful to not bind to victimization.  We have the power to move through our situations, and this process opens up when we learn to trust our intuition.  When we are able to take a step forward into the struggle we are able to move through it.  We also have to be careful how tightly we hold to joy.  Holding onto joy can often ignite comparison.  “That cupcake is the absolute best cupcake in the world, it brought me so much joy… no other cupcake will ever compare”.  We do this in relationships, situations, and even in friendships.  This robs the moment of presence and binds us to the past.  It is important to acknowledge those moments that have built us into who we are, but we can’t hold so tightly that we do not allow new experiences to be experienced fully.  If we were to hold onto the love of our lives, who may now be an ex, and then do not let anyone else have access to our hearts or compare all those that enter into our lives as less than.. we are denying ourselves the beauty of a new experience.

Take this moment to offer thanks to the joy and the struggle.  Each are teachers that will present themselves to us, how long we stay with them is often up to us.

And remember You are loved.  You are Beautiful. You are Divine.

 

Mike

Soul Interaction Weekly Update 4/28/2014

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“Today I stand in Power and Presence.  I am whole.”

 

Good morning!

Today let’s make the commitment to commit to our lives more fully.  Stand in your power.  Stand in your presence.  When is the last time you truly focused on the act of breathing?  Take a moment now to just breath.  Bring your hand to your chest. Feel your heartbeat. Feel the rise and fall of your body as you inhale and exhale. Be with the breath. This is the essence of standing in presence and power. Do this a few times a day. This is a very simple act of “in the moment” meditation that you can do.

Here are some updates and announcements for the week:

I’m offering discounted sessions this week!  Here are a run down of the prices:

This week all readings will be offered at a discount! So if you want to schedule a reading, drop me a line and we can set it up.

These prices are only valid through 5/3/2014

15 min session 45.00 (25.00)
30 min session 70.00 (35.00)
45 min session 90.00 (45.00)
60 min session 110.00 (90.00)
75 min session 130.00 (110.00)
90 min session 150.00 (125.00)

All distance healing session with email or phone followup 50.00 (25.00)

Email readings will be donation only 

You do not have to book the session right away.  As long as you purchase the reading while in the window for the reduced rates, you’ll have up to 30 days to schedule your session.  This is a  great opportunity to get in a session, gain some direction and step more fully into your soul purpose.

BlogTalk Radio Schedule for the Week:

Monday 4/28 11pm EST- Let’s talk meditation and Free on air mini soul sessions

Tuesday 4/29 11pm EST- Soul Meditation (30min Live Guided meditation)

 

If you haven’t like my Facebook page yet you should!  Here are my social media links so you can stay in touch and follow along on my Soul Adventures.

http://www.facebook.com/soulintuitive

http://www.instagram.com/mikebrazell

http://www.youtube.com/soulinteraction (I’m in the process now of getting some videos up and running.  Def be sure that you subscribe)

http://www.twitter.com/mikebrazell

 

That’s it for now!  I hope you all have a beautiful week.  I’ll be posting more blogs through the week.  Be sure to share the blog, comment, tune in and be part of this expanding soul community!

You are Love.  You are Beautiful.  You are Divine.

Namaste.

Mike- 

 

The Cleanse: Hitting the Spiritual Reset Button

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istock_000013005656xsmallI want to start off this post by saying that the cleanse I am posting here is my journey.  Some of you may like it, others may not.  I only share it because we can all learn from each others trip along the soul highway.   I often find myself called to do a cleanse when I feel it is time to do a reset.  My spirituality is my life, my profession, and my passion.  Having come through a big transition, I feel that I am still carrying some old resistance, habits, and patterns.  Doing deep, and honest self inquiry allows us to go into a cleanse with clear intention.  I am also feeling that things are shifting for me spiritually.  I am starting to work deeper in the intuitive space, communing with my guides, my angels, and higher vibration beings.  When engaging these higher energies, I find it of value to detox and purify the body as much as possible.  It is also important to have a plan of action in place for going into your cleanse.  This helps keep you focused and aligned with your intention.  I am hoping to do a daily video post for this as well, and you can check out my YouTube page here.  If I do the videos I’ll also try to post them here as well.

So, for this cleanse and detox I am starting with 10 days.  I am starting with a 3 day master cleanse and then going into 7 days of water only.  Each water day is going to be dedicated to a particular chakra.  I bought 7 jugs of distilled water.  On each of the jugs I am going to draw the sacred symbols associated with each chakra, and will charge the water by chanting/toning the chakra sounds into the water.  I also have some wonderful chakra incense that I’ll be using for my morning meditations.  This cleanse is a bit more intensive than other things I have done in theChakras-in-Lotus past, but I feel that this is what I need to do right now to clear out some stagnation.  I am also structuring my reading time, online time, and yoga practice to support this adventure.  I’ll end the 10 days by doing 3 days of green/raw protein shakes, and I’ll allow my intuition to tell me what comes after that.  I am cutting gluten, sugar, soy, and processed foods out of my diet moving forward.  I have been receiving a lot of clear messages from my guides to start doing this, so I am.

When stepping off the ledge and into something like a cleanse, or detox be sure that you allow yourself time to prepare to go into it, but also be kind and gentle with yourself as you exit the cycle.  The most important part of a cleanse is your journal.  What emotions are coming up?  What body reactions are you having to the cleanse?  Write down your weight at the start, and track it throughout to be sure you are not losing too quickly.  What are your dreams telling you during this time?  I find that a cleanse usually brings up much more than our dependence on certain foods and additives.  Remember also, that cleanses and detoxes do not need to be food centered.  Taking a break from the computer, TV, the bar scene, clubs, or even pulling away from certain people might be a good thing.

For me, this is also a chance to reset parts of my life.  To come back to center, to bring my power home.  I do lots of energy work, self-healing, self-reflection, readings on myself, and this allows me to also be of service to my clients, friends, and soul family.  It also allows me to work more closely with this new and wonderful energy that is coming in.  I’ve had a lot of resistance stepping more deeply onto my path, and this process helps to clear away some of that muck.  I am also going to be working on cleansing and balancing the energies in my physical space.  Lots of work ahead, and lots of great things that I’ll be sharing here in the next few days.

What in you is calling you forward?  What in you needs to be cleansed right now?  Are you able to pause now for a moment, and bring awareness to that area of your being?

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

 

Mike Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

www.yogawitch.com

www.facebook.com/soulintutive

www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelbrazell

 

Total Revamp, New Services, and Connecting to Community

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I am diving into the land of website revamping and narrowing down my focus for the services that I am offering spiritually.  There is a lot moving and grooving in the Soul Interaction world.  I am hoping to get some videos up on my YouTube page in the next few days, and the radio show is also going to be launching again next week.

Over the past few days I’ve had the chance to sit with my personal spiritual journey, and I’ve come to some wonderful realizations about what I want to do with my path both personally and professionally.

Radio show:

Soul Interaction Radio is still going to bring you no fluff connection to spirituality, but we are also going to be structuring the show so that I can take your calls, answer your questions and do on air readings again.  We had stopped doing them for a while because we wanted to focus on the topics, but I feel that it is time to make the show about connection and community.  I love helping others connect to their paths, and the show offers the perfect platform for us to do that.  Be sure to tune in and follow the show.  I’m going to be posting the schedule this weekend.

New Services:

I am also available for regular sessions. My schedule is pretty open, so if you want to set something up… Skype, phone, or in person (Columbia, SC area) let me know.   You can go to www.michaelbrazell.com for more information or to schedule a session.
Channeling sessions: My guides will speak to you directly. These sessions are energy transmissions. The purpose is to help you connect to your soul journey with greater intensity. My guides will open up to you directly, addressing what they feel is most pressing for you at this time. These sessions are geared towards helping you grow and open spiritually (these are not the sessions for “do the love me” questions). The sessions last 45-60 min. Introductory Price: 90.00

One on one guided meditation: We will begin with a soul session to connect deeper to your present moment. I’ll then take you through a guided meditation that is offered directly from spirit. The session helps to bring gentle awareness to issues that you might be going through, but also allows us to directly engage the multiple levels of your experience with presence and awareness. Sessions are between 45-60 min. Introductory Price: 70.00

Soul Mediumship (Spirit Connection): These sessions allow us to connect directly with those that have crossed over. We invite your guides, your guardians, your ancestors to step into presence. We open up for communication. The purpose of these sessions is to offer healing, closure, and to allow guidance from those beings. When doing one of these sessions I ask that my clients be open to whoever comes through, and to allow for fluidity in the session. These sessions usually last between 30min-60min. Introductory Price: 30min/ 60.00 60min/100.00

To schedule a session you can head over to my service page at: http://michaelbrazell.com/Readings_services.html and fill out the contact form on the page.

 

I really appreciate everyone’s patience as I get everything back online and functioning.

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

 

Mike Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

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

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

Finding the flow, when you are caught in the waves

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oceanI haven’t been on the blog in a while.  Like many, I am feeling the upheaval of this time of year.  Life changes in an instant, and sometimes the entirety of our experience can shift.  When the waves are rolling in, it is important to start using all of those spiritual tools that we have been collecting over the years.  One of the questions I get asked a lot is,

“How do I stay centered in all of this upheaval?”

Now, what I am about to say is going to sound counter intuitive, but it is something that holds a lot of truth…Don’t try to stay centered in all of it.  Let yourself feel the entirety of the ocean.  Feel the waves of emotion that come through life experience, and acknowledge all of them.  Let yourself be present in your presence.  Staying in the moment is not an easy thing to do.  Holding steady, and just allowing the rain to fall on us when we have forgotten our umbrella is not easy.. but will running really get us less wet?

Many of us are taught to either push away the emotions that upheaval bring, or to pull them close to us.  The other option is to do nothing except give what arises within you your gentle observation.  In upheaval we can cling to that which is moving away from us, and this keeps us in a pity puddle.  Some of us get use to being the victims of our experience.  We get use to false refuges, and we stay in situations that feel safe.   Pushing things away can be equally harmful to our experience.  When we suppress emotions, when we do not acknowledge that grieving is a necessary part of any transition, we allow ourselves to move through anger, hurt, or heavier emotions with grace.  We allow tears to flow, because “being strong” means being vulnerable.  We we move into this type of grace with ourselves, we do not resist, but allow.

Another important part of finding our flow is allowing detox to happen.  Whenever we go through the currents of life, when we feel the loss, we have to allow a period of detoxification.  Part of suppression is moving too quickly into the next experience.  If we do not take time to process our lessons, we will have to go through them again, and they only get closer too us.

In the end, it is not about staying centered, but staying with the flow. YOU are the center, and where you are is where you are supposed to be. It might not be pretty, but it is the reality of any given moment.  This acceptance allows you to be in the flow, and in a place of balance with the forces around you.  So, don’t look for the center, be the center.  Be all that you are.

So, getting back into the blogging flow.  I’ll have more to post soon, new things are coming, new projects, a move, and new experiences.   I am not sure what comes next, but the flow is wonderful.

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

Michael Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

www.michaelbrazell.com

michael@michaelbrazell.com

Finding inspiration, moving deeper into practice

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There has been a LOT going on over the past few months.  It seems that life is shifting us in a multitude of directions.  We are learning to swim the hard way.  When we go through the struggles, we get a chance to see where we need to place extra plaster, we get to test the seams of our experience.

I’m personally feeling the call to dive deeper into my own spirituality.  Recently a good friend of mine Pheonyx Roldan Smith passed away.  I believe when a soul like his leaves the body a sonic boom of energy occurs.  He lived his life in the deep spiritual planes, but also reached out to many of us to dive deeper into our own experience.  I have found myself sifting through things on his blog www.thocgproject.com.  I felt inspired by what I was reading, his journey, the trusting, and the opening of experience, and moving through the fear.  I see a lot of my own path in his work.  I am also aware of where I am holding back, where I need to trust more, and there is a lot of new energy that I will be bringing through in the next couple of weeks.

“If not now, when?”

That becomes the mantra that plays in the back of our minds when we place that “thing” spirit is giving us, that “thing” that is begging to come in and shift the world.  We have to start trusting our intuition.  We have to start asking the deeper questions.  We have to start honoring our bodies by giving them proper nutrition and exercise.  We have to get away from our technology and BE part of the world around us.

I am starting a fast.  When I start I tend to go deep into the experience of fasting.  I go for an all water fast for a few days as a reset.  Starting next week, I am going to do a chakra specific cleanse.  Engaging and dedicating a charka per day.  This will be a week-long ritual of clearing the energy so that soul conversation and guidance can be more clear.  Journaling is becoming more direct.  I usually keep two journals.  One that I capture my personal moments throughout the day, my personal insights, growth points, moments of reflection/contemplation and planning.  In the second journal I focus my intuition into the space around me.  I am making it a point to pay closer attention to the news (alternative and mainstream), predictions that intuition is giving me/ and those I am seeing others present, engaging discernment and tuning into the TRUE narrative.

I am also going to be doing a better job of capturing and dialogue my experience here.  Videos are coming (yoga, QiGong, meditations and teaching).  I need to do deeper, more specific meditations as well.  I’m feeling the call to connect to others doing this work.  I am also going to be doing a few community projects as well.

The journey is more than just what we as individuals are going through.  When we as individuals show up to the work, dig deep, work through the process of ascension we elevate all those around us.  We elevate humanity.

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

 

Michael A. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT

 

 

The world has not ended…but everything is changing

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imagesWhat a beautifully chaotic time we are living in.  I know that many are struggling at this time.  Struggle is part of the process.  We are entering into a global and personal cleansing.  Life is not meant to be “easy”, but it is meant to be lived… All of it.  The perceived good, the perceived bad.  Everything we move through happens so that we can engage this life experience fully.  We are all experiential beings.  We live in this wonderful 5 sense reality and we are being stimulated with greater frequency.

Right now our stability is being tested.  The ground is not as firm as it use to be, and that is okay.  When we have things taken away from us (jobs, health, money) we are given a chance to move into gratitude.  The same people who use to complain about their jobs prior to the government ‘shutdown’ are now in a different relationship to those jobs.    Another thing that is being offered is the chance to rise above the moment, to tune into your other gifts, and to create a new experience.  Nothing is really as stable as it seems.  As a yoga instructor I know that I am just an injury away from not being able to teach a hardcore yoga class.  I’ve had that tested, and learned to adapt.   We can look at these challenges as opportunities or we can look at them as life pooping on us and sulk away.  I am not saying you shouldn’t feel the emotions that are coming up, just don’t get trapped into the limitation spirals.   Sit with the entirety of the experience.  What is coming up for you emotionally, spiritually, mentally?  What are you resisting?   What needs to be loved in this moment?  What needs to be put on a shelf?

I think too often we as a society get too busy to say a simply thank you to the wonder and mystery of our experience.  We’ve learned to take things for granted, and too often do.  Now is the time to find gratitude for all things big and small.  Find gratitude in your struggle.  It is the sandpaper that is shaping you into something wonderful.

Just remember…..

 

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

Michael A. Brazell