I hope this finds each of you centered in your present moment. If not, take a deep breath, yes, right now, ~breathe in~  ~breathe out~ one more time, ~breathe in~  ~breathe out~. Welcome to the present moment.

Today's Winds of Change time began while I was talking on the phone with my mom. I was reading her the latest essay by Minimalists Josh and Ryan, The Difference a Year Can Make, which I sent to those of you on the e-mail list. My mom and I have shared our progressive steps in the evolution of consciousness for over 40 years. She is my mentor, my confidant, my mother and my friend, so it seemed appropriate that I would begin my year's end Winds of Change time with her.

After hanging up the phone, I surprisingly lingered on the Internet, re-reading the essay above, then clicking on an essay my elder sister Anne had sent me Change is Easy?!!!! about the impact a small number of people can have on a global scale. This, too, seemed to fit right in with Winds of Change and our commitment to set aside shared time in our individual lives to consciously connect.

I tuned into a beautiful song Devi Prayer - Hymn to the Divine Mother, invoking the presence of the Divine Feminine, as I mindfully walked through the rooms of the house, aware of the "presents" of each of you, lighting candles, then returning to the living room to light a stick of Devotion incense.

I've compiled a number of Tom Kenyon's sound healing songs in varying combinations which I use in meditation. As I lie down to meditate, covering my body with a beautiful gold, sea green and white shawl gifted me by my former husband Don, I listened to several chakra attunements and energy meditations to enhance my connection to higher states of consciousness and Mother Earth. 

Envisioning our combined energies as a web of light, I was able to slip into the between space of the tones that were vibrating through me, experiencing total serenity for several moments at a time as tears flowed and ebbed. As I opened my eyes out of the meditation, I gazed at the white ceiling above and through the windows to the white cloud cover and white birch trees. What I experienced in the whiteness was an expansion of my meditation to the real world, seeing with real-eyes, real-eyesing the Unity of all things. This sense stayed with me for several moments, before I rose from the floor and continued on with my day.

I would love to hear of your experiences as well, to share here on the blog, or via e-mail. Please let me know if it is all right to publicly post your response here. Namaste.

11.11.11 Invitation

You are asked to join us for the Winds of Change Friday, 11.11.11 from 11:11 am - 12:41 pm EST in whatever manner you choose to honor our ever evolving individual and group consciousness.

I am unable to readily access the Internet, so there will be a hold on my posts until further notice. My post for the last Winds of Change is saved on my laptop at home. Hopefully, I will get it out to you soon.

I have so much to write about and share, and in turn, am eager to hear from each of you about your own shifts - this is a fascinating development for me. All good. Namaste.

Meeting time

Time will be set aside this Friday, Nov. 4, from 10:00 - 11:30 a.m., EST, for the Winds of Change. May we all join together at this time to be consciously aware of ourselves and each other, in whatever manner we choose. 

I would love to hear of your experience, so please feel free to post to this blog! Namaste.

A Summer-Like Winds of Change

At the onset of Winds of Change, I welcomed each of you into my awareness. I was sitting at a picnic table in front of Peaks Cafe, a few buildings up from Jones Landing, where the ferry shuttle between the Portland mainland and Peaks Island temporarily docks over a dozen times a day. The morning had warmed up unseasonably, as I took in the glittering waves of Casco Bay and the sights and sounds of ring-billed, herring and laughing gulls, blue jays, and a surprise mourning dove.

I packed up my writing materials to continue my letter writing to a dear friend Loanne (yes, the very Loanne who shares her own WOC experiences through e-mail) at a later time, and shed layers of over-shirts before heading home, walking uphill "the back way" on semi paved and dirt road ways. I breathed in the scent of freshly mowed grass, and enjoyed the sights of landscaped yards and roadside wildflowers like chicory and daisies, vetch and yarrow still in bloom.

Upon arriving home, I spoke briefly with my daughter Sarah on the phone, encouraging her to enjoy the last vestiges of summerlike weather. I then chose to don shorts and a tee shirt, and venture to the seashore, less than a 10-minute walk, for an ocean side meditation. Finding a comfortable rock formation to sit on while facing south and the sea, I closed my eyes, focusing on my chakras. I have to admit that I was repeatedly pulled to the moment before me, opening my eyes as sunlight glistened the waters like diamonds, or a ring-billed gull called raucously, or then again, as I heard the trumpeting of 24 Canada geese overhead, each moment a blessing shared with you.

I breathed in and out, in and out, and again focused on my chakras. In envisioning each of the 7 centers of energy, my crown chakra appeared as a white lotus with pale violet tipped petals, with the remaining 6 chakras each as a swirling wheel of light, the individual colors of the rainbow - indigo for my third eye, blue for the throat, green for the heart, which always appears three to four times larger than the other energy discs, yellow for the solar plexus, orange for the sacral chakra, and red for the root chakra.

I then sensed a column of white energetic light flowing from above my crown chakra through the other chakras to my base chakra, as my self dissipated and I became the column of light and rainbow discs. I envisioned a vortex of energy whirling around me, "charging" me, as I remained centered for about a half hour. This image is similar to the one sound healer Tom Kenyon and the Hathors refer to as the Holon of Ascension. 

I elongated the WOC time beyond the hour and a half, as I enjoyed observing sea birds through binoculars, bared feet soaking in refreshing Atlantic waters, the slow clamber over the rocky seashore, and the barefooted walk home with each of you "accompanying" me on this Summer-like Winds of Change.

Stretching and Meditating

The setting for Winds of Change is my living room, painted yellow, and today, dappled in sunlight shining through the 4 south-facing windows, as north winds pushed clouds across October blue skies, and rattled drying leaves on birch, aspen and oak trees.

I began the session finishing up an e-mail to my sister Anne, whose birthday is today (Happy Birthday!). I'm an avid letter-writer, but couldn't find her just the right card, so I sent her a birthday greeting from one of my favorite websites www.e-cards.com, which has an array of virtual greeting cards and promotes wildlife and the environment.

I then proceeded with my morning stretches, as I listened to the holy OM chant which is accompanied by beautiful mandalas that dissolve one into the other during the video. 

As I held various poses, I counted within, "I am that I am One, I am that I am Two, I am that I am Three....", honoring the I AM presence with each posture and gesture.

During my standing poses, I faced south and was able to see outside my windows - between trees and housetops - a glittering ocean which reflected my inner visualization of the cells of my body as essences of light. For one of the stretches, as I bent from my waist, holding my calves, elbows bent outward, I pictured myself as "Om Mane Padme Hum" ~ the Jewel in the Lotus ~ as I breathed in and out, counting.

I then lay on the floor for further stretches, stilling myself for several minutes while focusing on the spaces within and between my cells. In doing this, the concept of my body as separate from the room dissolved, and I expanded into the room and beyond, with each of you there with me, before finishing up with my exercises.

Feeling centered, I decided on a very powerful meditation The Rite of Balance found at the Children of the Sun website. This was the second in a series of 7 weekly chakra-clearing meditations, each session focused on one of the chakras, which, according to yogic tradition, are the energy centers located in alignment with the spine. 

What I especially like about this series is its synergetic reach, as today I focused on the 2nd chakra, located at the sacrum, the attribute of Balance, the Mid East, the 7 healing centers above areas in the Mid East, and the much needed restorative feminine energies of deities such as Isis, the Blessed Mother, Shakti, and others. Though I was in deep meditation, at one point, I heard my physical self crying and saying thank you aloud. Several times during the meditation, as I was aware of the web of light connecting me to myriads of others, I saw each of you as well. At the end of the meditation, as I opened my eyes and came back to my sunkissed room, I was awash in gratitude for yet another shared Winds of Change. Namaste.

 

Connecting through everyday activities

This was truly a unique Winds of Change session for me, and as always I held each/all of you in my awareness throughout.

It began with a phone call from my sister Anne, which is oftentimes a dip into the Divine. Through Anne's well-honed listening skills, I was able to "Claire-i-fy" recent steps in my journey, which I described as "finally touching down" into myself - a wonderful merging of Spirit with the physical. More and more, I find myself light-filled and grounded at the same time, and it's a wonder-FULL feeling.

Once the conversation was ended, instead of entering into a deep meditation as I often do during Winds of Change, I visited my daughter Sarah's art website which is always inspiring - in~spire, an in breath, a breathing in of the miraculous. I also entered Michele Bernhardt's whimsical website to hear the monthly forecast, which for this month, is about relationship, in particular, the relationship we have with ourselves. How serendipitous, given my earlier phone conversation with my sister!

I then performed my morning stretches to an Om chant which helps me stay focused. I have faithfully repeated my stretches almost daily for several years now, so that they've become a meditation of movement and breath, very powerful.

I then returned to Michele's website as I preferred a guided meditation today. I chose Sunset at the Ocean: Remembering Your Purpose, and basked in Michele's soothing voice as she lead me through a simple yet profound full body relaxation, a mystical late day visit of release to the ocean, and an inbreathing of sun's light and angelic songs, before returning to my physical presence.

I ended our WOC time together by starting to make an organic three bean and corn soup.

As I widened my scope to include each of you during this time, my experience was enriched. I really felt our gathering energies, and I was refreshed and renewed. Thank each of you for your presents!