That silly ego of mine.....
What would you think if I told you that I’m beginning to smile and giggle when ego tries to intervene with judgment and limiting thought? Something has happened to loosen and lighten my hold on what ‘needs to happen’. So when ego starts up with ‘should’ and ‘have to’ and ‘got to’ and expectations and disappointments, I instantly know that, in the wry words of Bryon Katie, ego is ‘trying to teach a cat to bark.’
Now, picture it…trying to teach a cat to bark! Fat chance, right? Well, that’s what ego attempts whenever it pits itself again reality. The resistance that is created is all about trying to make reality different from what it is. And that is what causes your suffering…and mine…and everyone’s.
But you say, what am I supposed to do, just cave in to every reality? Well, consider for the moment that if what you want is to be happy and peaceful, then yes, giving in to reality is what is being asked of you. That’s not as wimpy as it sounds. In fact, it is the bravest act in the world to give up trying to control.
Does it mean you are powerless? Only over that which you have no power to change. Paradox? Not really. You have power over yourself, your reactions and responses, and your thoughts and feelings, and over what you ultimately manifest out of those thoughts and feelings. Doesn’t feel like you have that power? I get that. I really do. We are often so immersed in trying to change things outside of ourselves that we completely ignore the very real and huge power that we have to change things FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
The reason I can laugh at ego as just as silly as my two year old grandson when he pretends that he’s going to get into the boat that the two-inch tall Curious George figure belongs in, is that my grandson giggles like crazy and I with him, at how SILLY it is to imagine that we can ignore reality. My little guy knows that it’s pretend and that’s what makes it so FUNNY.
So see if you can approach ego in the same way…as a beloved child who is pretending to challenge reality…making himself fit into Curious Georges’s teensy-tiny boat, or trying to teach his kittycat to bark when he knows full well that he only meows, or demanding that anything be other than what it is.
Fear is what drives us to take ego seriously. Fear that we won’t be safe, secure, needs won’t be met unless we get to control/change reality. And of course, we can’t and so we suffer because of what we IMAGINE might happen if we can’t change reality.
Next time ego challenges reality, see if you can find the ‘silly’ in it. See if you can find the fear that drives your ego to try to control things. See if you might find some compassion for that fearful part of your Shadow…precious ego. And know that every intervention by ego is an opportunity for enlightenment for you! What a gift!
Appreciate ego and see what happens. And know that you are safe and secure and loved beyond imagining in every single moment. I have always had a very silly side to me—ask anyone close to me-- and I love that it’s helping me now to maintain my peace and my JOY!
Blessings!
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
http://www.everydayjoy.com/
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
HAVE A DOWN-TO-EARTH SPIRITUAL AWAKENING
Have a Down-to-Earth Spiritual Awakening
In the East they say you need to wash your teacup before you meditate. What that tells us is that you need to be fully grounded in physical reality before zooming off into the ozone of spiritual adventure.
For some people, the ozone is a place they feel comfortable in. They like the experience of sort of floating in the ethers, playing with metaphysical concepts, doing the airy-fairy thing. That’s all very nice, but if you’re not grounded, you’re completely missing the point of being here on Earth.
If what you wanted was to float in higher consciousness and fly with angels, then you wouldn’t have decided to come to Earth at this time. In your physical body and in the physical world around you the levels of experience where you learn about what it means to be a spiritual being having an earthly experience.
I’ve met people who are deeply spiritual and don’t take care of their physical environment, their bodies, and are quite ungrounded—very airy, distracted, not really present. The dichotomy between their spiritual awareness and their physical functioning is quite extreme. That’s probably not the case for you, nor is it for me.
For most of us, we are ungrounded in the present moment because we’re not paying attention, we’re not in awareness. Ram Dass entitled one of his first books way back in the 1960’s, GRIST FOR THE MILL. The reference is that everything that we experience on the physical plane has the potential to lead to enlightenment. Everything. But only if met with present-centered awareness. Only if embraced with the acceptance of higher consciousness. Then, BAM! Washing your teacup could lead to satori. Really. So could brushing your teeth, or tying your shoes…you get it, right?
Emotions are another area where groundedness is essential for ascending higher on the spiritual spiral path. We experience emotions in the body. So….you gotta be present in the body, not numbed out, in order to allow emotional energy to flow through and out the way it’s supposed to.
Take a moment and breathe into your belly. Feel the rise and fall of your chest and belly. Allow your energy to sort of ‘plop’ into your pelvis. Feel your butt on the chair. And your feet on the floor. Now ask yourself what you are feeling and where you are feeling it in your body. Tension? Where? In your shoulders? Anxiety? Where? Solar plexus? Distraction? Where? Head?
Doesn’t really matter what the answers are. The simple act of awareness in the body is grounding. It is the presence to Being, and the consciousness that are key to your Ascending into Mastery.
Make the commitment to check in with your body a few times a day. Notice what your present-centered experience is. Ground yourself in being. You’ll climb much higher in a shorter time if you take the time and care to do this for yourself, honoring your human self.
You are not just a divine being. You are human and have come to dance with both sides of your nature. Have fun, pay attention, and do it in the world with the rest of us!!
Blessings!
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
www.EverydayJoy.com
In the East they say you need to wash your teacup before you meditate. What that tells us is that you need to be fully grounded in physical reality before zooming off into the ozone of spiritual adventure.
For some people, the ozone is a place they feel comfortable in. They like the experience of sort of floating in the ethers, playing with metaphysical concepts, doing the airy-fairy thing. That’s all very nice, but if you’re not grounded, you’re completely missing the point of being here on Earth.
If what you wanted was to float in higher consciousness and fly with angels, then you wouldn’t have decided to come to Earth at this time. In your physical body and in the physical world around you the levels of experience where you learn about what it means to be a spiritual being having an earthly experience.
I’ve met people who are deeply spiritual and don’t take care of their physical environment, their bodies, and are quite ungrounded—very airy, distracted, not really present. The dichotomy between their spiritual awareness and their physical functioning is quite extreme. That’s probably not the case for you, nor is it for me.
For most of us, we are ungrounded in the present moment because we’re not paying attention, we’re not in awareness. Ram Dass entitled one of his first books way back in the 1960’s, GRIST FOR THE MILL. The reference is that everything that we experience on the physical plane has the potential to lead to enlightenment. Everything. But only if met with present-centered awareness. Only if embraced with the acceptance of higher consciousness. Then, BAM! Washing your teacup could lead to satori. Really. So could brushing your teeth, or tying your shoes…you get it, right?
Emotions are another area where groundedness is essential for ascending higher on the spiritual spiral path. We experience emotions in the body. So….you gotta be present in the body, not numbed out, in order to allow emotional energy to flow through and out the way it’s supposed to.
Take a moment and breathe into your belly. Feel the rise and fall of your chest and belly. Allow your energy to sort of ‘plop’ into your pelvis. Feel your butt on the chair. And your feet on the floor. Now ask yourself what you are feeling and where you are feeling it in your body. Tension? Where? In your shoulders? Anxiety? Where? Solar plexus? Distraction? Where? Head?
Doesn’t really matter what the answers are. The simple act of awareness in the body is grounding. It is the presence to Being, and the consciousness that are key to your Ascending into Mastery.
Make the commitment to check in with your body a few times a day. Notice what your present-centered experience is. Ground yourself in being. You’ll climb much higher in a shorter time if you take the time and care to do this for yourself, honoring your human self.
You are not just a divine being. You are human and have come to dance with both sides of your nature. Have fun, pay attention, and do it in the world with the rest of us!!
Blessings!
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
www.EverydayJoy.com
Saturday, February 21, 2009
WHEN AWAKENING IS NOT EASY
WHEN AWAKENING IS NOT EASY
For some people spiritual awakening is instantaneous, clear, permanent, somehow effortless. That is not to say that it is easy, because any way you get there, things change. BIG things change in BIG ways!
For many of us who are not struck by a bolt out of the blue, but are gradually rubbing the sleep from our eyes and waking up, the changes squeeze us until we think we’re gonna pass out. At least they did for me!
When we are not consciously choosing to perceive reality differently but have asked to grow, the Universe has no choice but the old “cosmic two-by-four between the eyes”. Situations and relationships will begin to change until we can no longer ignore them, remaining asleep and numbed. They will bang on the door of both your ego and your consciousness until they have your attention. And then the real work begins.
Some of us, like me, have been in an Awakening,Ascending process for decades. Mine started around 1970 and has come in one strong wave of shifting energy after another, each accompanies by HUGE life changes. At first, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming. That’s how attached to being right my ego was... in its insecurity. But even the most dedicated of left-brainers has a tipping point! And so gradually I began to release conventional ways of viewing and judging things and expand my thoughts, my consciousness. In hind sight, I had a ton of old paradigm stuff to release, and release I did.
But energies shifts have intensified powerfully in recent years--Mother Earth has quickened her vibrations, they are affecting us, and so too the challenges that Ascending presents have intensified also. My family most recently, squeezed me into where I am now. Those who know me and my Sicilian-American background understand the perfection of Spirit’s choice of “la famiglia” as the ground of my struggle. But I have developed a practice I call “sacred selfishness’ and it served me very well through these shifts and changes in relationships, expectations, and events. If you have any self-esteem at all, there’s only so much you are willing to suffer, especially when you begin to realize that the suffering is at your own hands!
So then dealing with the demands of ego is essential when wanting to allow Awakening, Ascending to occur for yourself. Reaching for higher thoughts and beliefs neutralizes egoic thinking and illusions. Compassion for self and others as a choice is vital when floating higher and higher.
When Awakening, Ascending is not easy, it is ONLY because you are in resistance to what is. And the path to acceptance, while fraught with the thorny passages of ego’s beliefs and judgments, will bring you to freedom… and to Ascending Mastery.
More to come…..
Blessings of Joy and Peace on your path,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
www.EverydayJoy.com
For some people spiritual awakening is instantaneous, clear, permanent, somehow effortless. That is not to say that it is easy, because any way you get there, things change. BIG things change in BIG ways!
For many of us who are not struck by a bolt out of the blue, but are gradually rubbing the sleep from our eyes and waking up, the changes squeeze us until we think we’re gonna pass out. At least they did for me!
When we are not consciously choosing to perceive reality differently but have asked to grow, the Universe has no choice but the old “cosmic two-by-four between the eyes”. Situations and relationships will begin to change until we can no longer ignore them, remaining asleep and numbed. They will bang on the door of both your ego and your consciousness until they have your attention. And then the real work begins.
Some of us, like me, have been in an Awakening,Ascending process for decades. Mine started around 1970 and has come in one strong wave of shifting energy after another, each accompanies by HUGE life changes. At first, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming. That’s how attached to being right my ego was... in its insecurity. But even the most dedicated of left-brainers has a tipping point! And so gradually I began to release conventional ways of viewing and judging things and expand my thoughts, my consciousness. In hind sight, I had a ton of old paradigm stuff to release, and release I did.
But energies shifts have intensified powerfully in recent years--Mother Earth has quickened her vibrations, they are affecting us, and so too the challenges that Ascending presents have intensified also. My family most recently, squeezed me into where I am now. Those who know me and my Sicilian-American background understand the perfection of Spirit’s choice of “la famiglia” as the ground of my struggle. But I have developed a practice I call “sacred selfishness’ and it served me very well through these shifts and changes in relationships, expectations, and events. If you have any self-esteem at all, there’s only so much you are willing to suffer, especially when you begin to realize that the suffering is at your own hands!
So then dealing with the demands of ego is essential when wanting to allow Awakening, Ascending to occur for yourself. Reaching for higher thoughts and beliefs neutralizes egoic thinking and illusions. Compassion for self and others as a choice is vital when floating higher and higher.
When Awakening, Ascending is not easy, it is ONLY because you are in resistance to what is. And the path to acceptance, while fraught with the thorny passages of ego’s beliefs and judgments, will bring you to freedom… and to Ascending Mastery.
More to come…..
Blessings of Joy and Peace on your path,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
www.EverydayJoy.com
Friday, February 20, 2009
ARE YOU BEING BOMBARDED WITH SHIFTING ENERGIES?
BEING BOMBARDED WITH SHIFTING ENERGIES?
This past week has been a pretty tough one for so many who are awakening. The plane crash in Buffalo, New York on February 12th took fifty souls Home. It has been a searing, wrenching experience for those left behind. Many of the souls who left Earth in this event were powerful people who had impacted thousands of lives through music, human rights activism, spiritual outreach, etc. And the others had touched lives in their own personal way as we all do. My own family in my hometown of Buffalo was directly impacted by this event and the loss of a dear one, Susan Wehle.
One dear friend, and another acquaintance of mine, had cherished, precious dogs they had loved for a decade or more, pass over suddenly at about the same time. Their sadness is deep and wrenching at the passing of Dios and Rugby.
Two of my neighbors who had been friends for over 47 years passed on the same day-- and on the same day as the plane crash and the doggies--within hours of each other, ‘unbeknownst’ to each other. Jean passed first, and Jan remarked within an hour of her passing, that Jean had ‘called to say she’d pick me up to go shopping’. Then within that next hour, Jan passed. Their families were comforted by the thought of them together, shopping and having coffee.
Why are these things worth mentioning? Because they impact us in very powerful ways and they challenge our conventional ways of thinking about things. One of my family members in Buffalo said that she will now try to carry Susan Wehle's message of spiritual unity forward into her own life, acknowledging that 'we are in charge of so very little'. That we don't get to decide for others what is right for them. That's awakened thinking. That is nudging ego out of the way..and in the process reducing suffering. Would Susan's message have reached her eventually? I don't know. I just know that it did reach her by way of a tragic event.
The energies are moving at the speed of light-- fast, powerful and shifting so many things, inner and outer. My intentions to amplify and share my spiritual message has been supported in unexpected ways and by unexpected people. My desires are manifesting FAST! When desires manifest quickly we better be paying attention to what we are intending. Consciousness is vital!
I thought today about Twitter and realized that it moves at the speed of light—and us with it-- connecting, informing, supporting, offering, receiving, celebrating, mourning, arguing, being human! It’s how we’re operating these days. Fast! And if we don’t clear ourselves to allow the quickened energy to flow without obstruction, it won’t feel so good. In order to ride the stream of pure, positive energy as it flows naturally, we need to be open, clear, willing, conscious and focused. We need to be Awake.
We are in the midst of strong energetic realignments. We have been for some time now, but it’s a process that is intensifying. Whatever you want to say about the Age of Aquarius and when it began, we are being pushed to align with Love. Whatever is not Love will cause us to suffer. Anything that is other than Love will cause us pain. Choosing that, is choosing suffering. It’s up to you.
I had that experience just today. A dear friend of mine and I had an email skirmish. Things have been shifting for us for a while and it’s been somewhat confusing and distressing. We love each other so deeply, soul sisters, we are. We share and support each other on a profoundly intimate level. And we had both been feeling neglected and let down by the other. A verbal ping pong match started, our shadows came out to play, and I quickly realized that this was NOT at all what I wanted with her. I shifted into Love and communicated that to her genuinely from my heart space. I have not heard back from her yet, but that’s not the main thing here. Taking responsibility for MY shift is the main thing.
These things are challenging. They squeeze us emotionally as if to ask "are you ready to say UNCLE? Are you ready to surrender to what is? "
They are about Awakening, Ascending. They are about Mastery.
What are you dealing with right now that feels like this?
How are you handling challenging circumstances?
How well are you managing these energies and the way they squeeze you?
Are you conscious of your choice between limitation out of the illusion of Wounded, and the infinite Love inherent in Ascending?
Breathe, Breathe, Breathe. Know that all is well. We’ll all get there together. Our job right now is to help ourselves and as many others as we can to Wake Up to Love.
And I am here to serve you.
Wishing you all that you desire for yourself…or better..
Peace,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
http://www.everydayjoy.com/
This past week has been a pretty tough one for so many who are awakening. The plane crash in Buffalo, New York on February 12th took fifty souls Home. It has been a searing, wrenching experience for those left behind. Many of the souls who left Earth in this event were powerful people who had impacted thousands of lives through music, human rights activism, spiritual outreach, etc. And the others had touched lives in their own personal way as we all do. My own family in my hometown of Buffalo was directly impacted by this event and the loss of a dear one, Susan Wehle.
One dear friend, and another acquaintance of mine, had cherished, precious dogs they had loved for a decade or more, pass over suddenly at about the same time. Their sadness is deep and wrenching at the passing of Dios and Rugby.
Two of my neighbors who had been friends for over 47 years passed on the same day-- and on the same day as the plane crash and the doggies--within hours of each other, ‘unbeknownst’ to each other. Jean passed first, and Jan remarked within an hour of her passing, that Jean had ‘called to say she’d pick me up to go shopping’. Then within that next hour, Jan passed. Their families were comforted by the thought of them together, shopping and having coffee.
Why are these things worth mentioning? Because they impact us in very powerful ways and they challenge our conventional ways of thinking about things. One of my family members in Buffalo said that she will now try to carry Susan Wehle's message of spiritual unity forward into her own life, acknowledging that 'we are in charge of so very little'. That we don't get to decide for others what is right for them. That's awakened thinking. That is nudging ego out of the way..and in the process reducing suffering. Would Susan's message have reached her eventually? I don't know. I just know that it did reach her by way of a tragic event.
The energies are moving at the speed of light-- fast, powerful and shifting so many things, inner and outer. My intentions to amplify and share my spiritual message has been supported in unexpected ways and by unexpected people. My desires are manifesting FAST! When desires manifest quickly we better be paying attention to what we are intending. Consciousness is vital!
I thought today about Twitter and realized that it moves at the speed of light—and us with it-- connecting, informing, supporting, offering, receiving, celebrating, mourning, arguing, being human! It’s how we’re operating these days. Fast! And if we don’t clear ourselves to allow the quickened energy to flow without obstruction, it won’t feel so good. In order to ride the stream of pure, positive energy as it flows naturally, we need to be open, clear, willing, conscious and focused. We need to be Awake.
We are in the midst of strong energetic realignments. We have been for some time now, but it’s a process that is intensifying. Whatever you want to say about the Age of Aquarius and when it began, we are being pushed to align with Love. Whatever is not Love will cause us to suffer. Anything that is other than Love will cause us pain. Choosing that, is choosing suffering. It’s up to you.
I had that experience just today. A dear friend of mine and I had an email skirmish. Things have been shifting for us for a while and it’s been somewhat confusing and distressing. We love each other so deeply, soul sisters, we are. We share and support each other on a profoundly intimate level. And we had both been feeling neglected and let down by the other. A verbal ping pong match started, our shadows came out to play, and I quickly realized that this was NOT at all what I wanted with her. I shifted into Love and communicated that to her genuinely from my heart space. I have not heard back from her yet, but that’s not the main thing here. Taking responsibility for MY shift is the main thing.
These things are challenging. They squeeze us emotionally as if to ask "are you ready to say UNCLE? Are you ready to surrender to what is? "
They are about Awakening, Ascending. They are about Mastery.
What are you dealing with right now that feels like this?
How are you handling challenging circumstances?
How well are you managing these energies and the way they squeeze you?
Are you conscious of your choice between limitation out of the illusion of Wounded, and the infinite Love inherent in Ascending?
Breathe, Breathe, Breathe. Know that all is well. We’ll all get there together. Our job right now is to help ourselves and as many others as we can to Wake Up to Love.
And I am here to serve you.
Wishing you all that you desire for yourself…or better..
Peace,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
http://www.everydayjoy.com/
SHIFTING THE ENERGY
AN ENERGY-SHIFTING SESSION
I joyfully and gratefully facilitated an extremely empowering energy-shifting session today with a dear client. She is a Spiritual Messenger and is in the process of clearing residue of a limiting fear-based pattern from her old Wounded Healer paradigm/identification that was keeping her from participating fully in her spiritual mission and message. The wonderful thing was how quickly she recognized that she had already truly cleared the limiting energy, and simply need to name it, claim it, step into the ALREADY nature of it, become more completely aligned with it.
She started the session by retelling a dream she’s had that contained powerful symbology that heralded the integration of Divine Masculine energy with Divine Feminine energy within her experience and her beingness. Both energies are essential in order to be a powerful and effective Messenger. Standing in the integration of these beautiful vital energies was eye-opening for her. It was lovely to see how delighted she was to truly feel that she was ALREADY there and to lovingly allow herself to play in the experience of that.
We intuited that she needed to release some blocking residual energies from her heart chakra and make them available to the Universe for recycling. As she did this, her heart became the center of the integrated Yin/Yang energies necessary for her empowerment and ability to act in an inspired manner toward her goals.
The shift from Wounded to Ascending is one that cannot be overlooked on this spiral path of Awakening and Ascending. What is the blocking energy for you? How strongly are you identified with Woundedness? What will it take for you to allow all of you to be aligned as an Ascending Master? Can you imagine releasing your identity as a Wounded Healer?
Please feel free to participate by commenting and sharing on this blog, Hopefully it will become a resource site filled with information and support for our spiritual community. That is my intention.
Our experiences are parallel and we are discovering that we are already a very connected group of Messengers. Let’s celebrate the reality that when one of us is Ascending, we are all floating higher on the same stream of pure, positive energy!! And so it is!
Love and Blessings,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
www.EverydayJoy.com
I joyfully and gratefully facilitated an extremely empowering energy-shifting session today with a dear client. She is a Spiritual Messenger and is in the process of clearing residue of a limiting fear-based pattern from her old Wounded Healer paradigm/identification that was keeping her from participating fully in her spiritual mission and message. The wonderful thing was how quickly she recognized that she had already truly cleared the limiting energy, and simply need to name it, claim it, step into the ALREADY nature of it, become more completely aligned with it.
She started the session by retelling a dream she’s had that contained powerful symbology that heralded the integration of Divine Masculine energy with Divine Feminine energy within her experience and her beingness. Both energies are essential in order to be a powerful and effective Messenger. Standing in the integration of these beautiful vital energies was eye-opening for her. It was lovely to see how delighted she was to truly feel that she was ALREADY there and to lovingly allow herself to play in the experience of that.
We intuited that she needed to release some blocking residual energies from her heart chakra and make them available to the Universe for recycling. As she did this, her heart became the center of the integrated Yin/Yang energies necessary for her empowerment and ability to act in an inspired manner toward her goals.
The shift from Wounded to Ascending is one that cannot be overlooked on this spiral path of Awakening and Ascending. What is the blocking energy for you? How strongly are you identified with Woundedness? What will it take for you to allow all of you to be aligned as an Ascending Master? Can you imagine releasing your identity as a Wounded Healer?
Please feel free to participate by commenting and sharing on this blog, Hopefully it will become a resource site filled with information and support for our spiritual community. That is my intention.
Our experiences are parallel and we are discovering that we are already a very connected group of Messengers. Let’s celebrate the reality that when one of us is Ascending, we are all floating higher on the same stream of pure, positive energy!! And so it is!
Love and Blessings,
Jan Masters
The Everyday Joy Coach
www.EverydayJoy.com
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