At the onset of this week's Winds of Change time, I was gathering up my letter writing materials at Peaks Cafe, where I had enjoyed the company of the two owners, Lisa and Ellen, as they worked on a picture puzzle of Slavic decorated Easter eggs while I wrote to my dear friend Loanne.

I packed my shoulder bag, donned my turquoise patterned fleece vest, button-up, grey wool sweater, wool hat, and mis-matched gloves, and headed out the Cafe door. I meandered up the hill towards home, walking the winding "back way" road, taking you all with me. Just this morning, I had seen two male cardinals, or perhaps the same cardinal, from both living room and kitchen windows, harbingers of a day of Self love. I crested the hill, and as I followed the northwest turn in the road, I heard chickadees calling, smelled the scent of mud as I felt the squish of soft earth under my boots, saw bags of garden soil in neighboring yards, and spotted newly turned flower beds. In the distance, between seaside roof tops to the south, was the glistening sea, beckoning me to her.

When I arrived at my doorstep, I entered my kitchen, pausing long enough to put down my shoulder bag and pocket a small pair of binoculars, returning to the out-of-doors and the short, ribboning roadway to the ocean side. Following the lead of some other calling, I clambered across rocky beach to a sheltered stand of ledges, finding a perfect shelf to sit on, facing the receding tide. 

The play of sun in and out of clouds patterned the sea with long slices of white glitter and muted slate grey in whatever way sun and cloud tagged the sea. I closed my eyes, feeling the sun's warmth caressing my face, releasing any tension into a slow and easy smile. It has been weeks since I've formally meditated, as moment-to-moment has become a meditation on Aliveness, so the stance my body was taking was like a homecoming, a familiar invitation to stillness, silence, and peace.

As I was let go, there was the sensation of the middle space of my body, from shoulders to hips, expanding into grey ocean like ripples, the very ones before me, as my head and my legs remained solid. I returned, laughing with a gull I heard overhead, wondering if he saw me, this head floating above water, with legs bent in a sitting position. I peeked open my eyes, seeing the sea, and closed them again, to the very same sensation of head above water, and feet planted firmly on rock solid earth. Was I dissolving into the Beingness that Tony Parsons describes? And is it my head - my  mind - and my legs - my movement through this world - that are resisting this transformation? I laughed again, opening my eyes to the moment before me.

Soaking in warming rays, I took off my hat and gloves, then removed the binoculars from my sweater pocket and lifted them to my eyes. Out on the sea was a flock of maybe 30 ducks, most of them looking to be younglings to my untrained eyes. They swam westward together, intermingling, then one by one, disappeared under the waves, only to emerge again, repositioning themselves, instinctively improvising this dance over and over again. Putting the binoculars down, I gazed at the large rocks by the water's edge, some splayed with seaweed, others wet with sea spray, and one particular formation glistening like seals huddled together, shapeshifting from rocks to seals and back to rocks again.

I took up the binoculars, looking to where I thought the ducks would be, and they had disappeared. As I scanned back over the waters towards the east, they had backtracked and were turning back around, heading in the direction I had first seen them swimming. What were they doing? I thought. "Simply being," came the answer, "riding the Winds of Change" without a need to how or why. And so have we, I thought, during this shared hour and a half. 

Please feel free to share your experience of the Winds of Change time or your thoughts on my experience in the comment section of this blog. Namaste.

I set today aside as a Mindfulness Day in keeping with Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings - "to be mindful means to dwell deeply in the present moment, to be aware of what is going on within and around us."  

In that light, I was so grateful to acknowledge the presents/presence of all of you in my life as I am experiencing a bout with vertigo, which I understand many of you have come down with as well. At the onset of this Winds of Change, I felt a communal embrace, and it was comforting. 

As I gazed outside my kitchen window, there were huge flakes descending, an unpredicted freshness added to my day. I finished making my vegan "chicken" salad, searing the tempeh in marinating juices of balsamic vinegar, Braggs liquid aminos, and dijon mustard, as I blended soaked raw cashews, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and a bit of rice milk in my blender for homemade vegan mayonnaise. Once the tempeh had cooled, I toppled it into a mixing bowl, adding the cashew-naise, chopped celery and onion, and a dash of poultry seasoning, stirring it all together, covering the bowl, and placing it in the fridge to set. I then decided to clean up the kitchen at a slow and steady pace, and proceeded into the living room, sitting at my laptop and writing this blog post.


Oftentimes when I'm not feeling well, I check in with my sisters for clarification of possible causes. My sister Anne is usually ready with a reading from the book Heal Your Body by metaphysical lecturer Louise Hay. This "little blue book" as it's referred to, includes an alphabetical chart of physical ailments, the probable causes, and healing affirmations. I've misplaced my copy, and decided to e-mail my sister Mary instead, whose response was, "I don't see you being 'sick," per se...more spiritually 'off.' Does that make any sense?" It most certainly did!

I've been so off-kilter in my day-to-day spiritual practice, I feel like everything in my life is topsy-turvey, and my responses are so unpredictable. As one small example, while at work two days ago, I received a phone call in the middle of my shift. Because employees are only allowed emergency calls, my mind immediately ran through possible disastrous scenarios involving my mother, my daughters and my grandchildren. By the time I reached the phone, all of my flight-or-fight responses had kicked in. As I listened on the phone, it was the hospital calling to update my medical records. I calmly and clearly conveyed that it was not an appropriate time to call, hung up the phone, and returned to my shift, heart still pounding. 

I was angry, coming down from what felt like a near panic attack, and at the same time, surprised at my vehement response. I finished the 20 minutes of my shift before breaking for lunch, still fuming in the break room, preparing my lunch and walking down the stairs to the cafe, where I found a seat in the sun and stared out the window. It wasn't until then that I was able to break through the illusion of the moment, observe the totality of my reactions, acknowledge them, and shift my focus from my reactions to simple beingness. I felt an immediate release. 

Just as Anne wrote in her comment to the previous post, my life is "...taking unexpected turns every day - somehow not playing out the way I imagined or even planned. And it's all okay and often even better than what I thought or at least DIFFERENT." Indeed!

These days, I feel like I'm breaking down old concepts and the new has yet to settle in, so I'm in a temporary limbo. Thoughts and feelings, ideas and no ideas are coursing through this identity called Claire, and yet, there is no Claire, not even clarity. As Tony Parsons says, "It just is." Thank you for the opportunity to share this experience of the great shift that is taking place, and please, if you are moved to, feel free to share your own thoughts here. Namaste.

Winds of Change will be held Saturday, February 4, from 10:00 - 11:30 am EST.
Please join me in being consciously aware of your thoughts, words, actions, and deeds, as well as the presents/presence of other WoC'ers, during this time. Sharing your experiences is encouraged and welcomed. Namaste.

For today's Winds of Change time, I first lit 2 incense sticks - Awareness, for myself, and Devotion, to all of you, turned on the Himalayan salt lamp, and then started a fire in the small wood burning stove, bathing the living room in a soft glow from shimmering flames and lamp light.

I sat on the floor by the wood fire, mesmerized by the play of orange flames, rising in bursts and settling into flickers, over and over, around and through different parts of the 3 igniting logs. I then lay down, knees bent, in silence, listening to the the hum of the Rinnai heater, the crackling of birch bark, and a gentle whirring of the ceiling fan blowing a warm breeze over my body. I watched through the south windows as the sky turned from sunset to stars, like magick, with mighty warrior Orion appearing ever brighter in the heavens. 

I basked in the stillness of my body, the coziness of my home, and the community of you all. As my life is enriched day-to-day, moment-to-moment, through a conscious effort to be presently aware during routine tasks at home, daily walks, commutes to and from work, work responsibilities, and communications with family and friends, I am finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and sacredness in the mundane. Lying on my living room floor, I felt part of something much bigger, beyond words.

In my contentment, I was moved to listen to several Tony Parsons' audio clips, sensing the aliveness he speaks of with humor and simplicity and directness. I contemplated separateness and Wholeness, this illusion called life, ego and the dissolution of ego, and Consciousness vs. Beingness. I realized that when I first started Winds of Change, I opened my home to weekly hour and a half group sessions in hopes that it would spark routine conversations about the very same concepts I was contemplating today. 

Perhaps it is time for me to once again try to organize discussions about the great leap in consciousness evolution, however it translates for each of us, and how each of us is navigating these forceful Winds of Change. I would love to hear if there's an interest in this, and if so, your ideas about the frequency and location of such meetings. Let me know what you think.

January 21st Winds of Change

In the past several months in particular, I've been very aware of a shifting in perspective in my life which I attribute to the great shift in consciousness that is taking place on all levels - personal, local, global and universal; physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I see and hear of its impact on a day-to-day basis, in the news - weather patterns, the Occupy movement, toppling of governments - and in the lives of family, friends, and acquaintances.

I recently read and have re-read the Tony Parsons' book As It Is: The Open Secret to Living an Awakened Life, in which he attempts to describe Beingness, which I experience as "the Field." Like many other sources I've read, he describes this life in our physical bodies as a play, "an illusion of a journey in time."

During one particularly striking instance in his life, while walking across a park in London, he describes his own shift: "What happened then is simply beyond description. I can only inadequately say in words that total stillness and presence seemed to descend over everything. All and everything  became timeless and I no longer existed. I vanished and there was no longer an experiencer."

He goes on to write, "Oneness with all and everything was what happened. I can't say I was 'at one' because 'I' had disappeared. I can only say that oneness with all and everything is what happened, and an overwhelming love filled everything."

What I am experiencing in bits and pieces of my life feels similar to what Tony Parsons describes, and also feels like a "crises" in awareness, only in that it is critical - of decisive importance - to my life as I know it. I've been sharing my path for years, through letters to my friend Loanne, who in turn shares her journey. I also have been sharing my evolving with my mother, while at home growing up, and once I left home, in meetings, letters and conversations.

At times, it is difficult to use words for what I am experiencing, and yet, I find it significant to share with others. During this Winds of Change time, I spent the entire hour and a half with my mom on the phone, talking about what has no words. (This makes me smile as I write it.) We've discovered in these past few months that we our experiencing very similar alterations in our awareness to the point that, if there is such a thing as "soul mates," I believe that is what my mother and are to each other, just as Loanne and are "celestial soul sisters," and each of us together are WoC'ers, harnessing the Winds of Change, for which I am truly grateful. With that, I look forward to your comments, and to our scheduled time together tomorrow. Namaste.

Greetings one and all.
Winds of Change will be held from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm, EST, Saturday, January 21st. Let's  join together at that time in being consciously aware of our shared presence/presents wherever we are and whatever we may be doing.
Namaste.
Claire
--
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”
  ~ Rumi

It was a chilling -9 degrees this morning as I began my Winds of Change, a low sun reflecting off a pristine hard-crusted snow cover, with elongated shadows of tree trunks patterning themselves amidst the sparkle. I offered a prayer of gratitude for the beauty surrounding me both outdoors and indoors, the warmth of propane heat, the coziness of my living room, the comfort of a thick rug on which to stretch and meditate, the awareness of our shared time together. Knowing where some of you were, I pictured you in your own spaces, walking, sitting, gathering together, driving.

I wanted to skip my stretches, a good indicator that I should indeed do them, which I did cautiously, having experienced a bout of vertigo yesterday, not the debilitating dizziness, but the feeling of being top heavy in my head, as if I would topple over at any moment from the imagined weight. Though none of it lingered this morning, I felt light headed and nauseous. I invoked the healing presence of each of you to steady me through my stretches, each movement a prayer of thanksgiving for your "presents."

I then decided to lie on the floor, knees bent, hands resting on my solar plexus. I chose not to listen to any soundings or music, but simply to feel presence deep within, as my mind wandered in opposing directions. It was an exercise in ebb and flow, wandering and centering, breathing in and breathing out, being aware of stiffness in my body and letting go to relaxation, hearing the Rinnai heater turning off and on and listening to stillness within, listening with my ears and listening with my heart, holding the image of my spinning chakras and not holding any image at all. 

In the past, I would have struggled through this meditation, considering it a failed attempt. Today, as I experienced the differences in my state of being, I remained calm, accepting each occurrence as part of my meditation, with gentleness and nonjudgment. There were no visions and sensations, no quivers or sounds. My meditation was quite ordinary, and yet there was an underlying extraordinariness (extra: outside of; ordinary: commonplace) about it, a genuine joy and an all encompassing peace.

I know that bringing all of you along through the Winds of Change enhanced my meditation, which I experienced as a collective meditation, and as a result, I was able to find wonder in my meditative wandering. Thank you for participating in the Winds of Change.

I invite you to share your response or your own WoC experience by posting it here. I would love to hear from you. Namaste.

As I sit to write about my Winds of Change experience, I gaze out from my living room windows, seeing a dark sky and a layer of newly fallen snow blanketing trees, rooftops, and earth, our first real snow of the season.

In preparation for Winds of Change, I re-played one of my favorite Om chant videos as background music, having just finished watching the beautiful array of colorful mandalas fading one into the other. As I listened, I built a fire in the small wood stove cornered along the north wall of the living room. With every action - crumbling old newspapers, opening the windowed doors to the wood stove, placing the crumbled papers on the grate, gathering sticks stacked beside the stove, strategically placing them over the papers, selecting two sticks of wood, one a birch log, my favorite wood scent, positioning them on top of the pile, striking the match, lighting different pieces of paper, putting the protective screen in place - I was conscious of sounds, smells, textures, positionings and motions. I also opened myself up to the "presents" of each of you, wherever you were, whatever you were doing, inviting you into my experience.

As I entered the kitchen to freshen my cup of Egyptian licorice tea, I heard my phone ringing in the living room. Though I missed the call, when I checked my phone, I noticed that it was from my mother, so I decided to call her back. Talking with my 86-year-old mother is always inspiring - in~spire - in~breath - to take in a fresh breath - and the entire hour and a half was dedicated to our sharing. I wish I could have recorded our talk, it was that powerful, uplifting and holy. Our topic - our own day-to-day, moment-to-moment evolution in consciousness - was truly aligned with my original idea for Winds of Change as a conversation about the great shift that is taking place on a global and universal level. I am eager to hear how your own WoC was, as you all were WoCing along, side by side with my mother and me. Please feel free to post your experience here. Namaste.

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!