Listening To Your Body

 Ballerina from Microsoft Clipart

Each of us is unique - in our height, weight, colouring, and in what we enjoy doing.  We do the things that speak to us, as the ballerina in the picture does.  Not many of us can be dancers because we do not have the body or the desire to to dance in the fashion of ballet.  However, sometimes our bodies cry out just to dance for joy, or to sing because we are happy and love life!  How often do you suppress these joys?  How often do you dishonour your body?  It is a living organism that will survive without our working mind, as science has proven.

As I move further into the journey of spirituality and the path of the Shaman,  I find it easier and easier to listen and really hear my body.  I was looking for a way to explain this to my clients when I came across this quote from OSHO.  I believe this is more eloquent than any phrasing I may use.

"Your body has its own wisdom — it carries the wisdom of the centuries in its cells.

Your body is feeling hungry and you are on a fast, because your religion says that this day you have to fast — and your body is feeling hungry. You don’t trust your organism, you trust a dead scripture, because in some book somebody has written that this day you have to go on a fast, so you go on a fast.

Listen to your body. Yes, there are days when the body says, “Go on a fast!” — then go. But there is no need to listen to the scriptures. The man who wrote that scripture has not written it with you in his mind, not at all. He could not have conceived of you. You were not present to him, he was not writing about you. It is as if you fall ill and you go to a dead doctor’s house and look into his prescriptions, and find a prescription and start following the prescription. That prescription was made for somebody else, for some other disease, in some other situation.

Remember to trust your own organism. When you feel that the body is saying don’t eat, stop immediately. When the body is saying eat, then don’t bother whether the scriptures say to fast or not. If your body says eat three times a day, perfectly good. If it says eat one time a day, perfectly good."  ~~Osho~~

What Osho says is that our body, with all the past knowledge it carries, is both our Ancestor and our self in one.  We need to listen to the wisdom or our Ancestors.

In loving kindness,

Judy

Archangel Uriel’s Chant

 Picture from Angel Speaks – Archangel Uriel

 When I took my Angel Therapy Training years ago, one of the Archangels that I have really come to enjoy working with is Archangel Uriel.  I love the feeling of joy and love that flows around me when I work with this angel.  Below is one of the chants that Archangel Uriel shared with me.  I hope that it helps you.

*****************************************

Dearest ones of light!  I greet you!  I, Uriel, am delighted that you are all now looking at the changes taking place in a kinder, more loving light.  I give to you this chant to use to move forward with grace.

Chant for Grace

I call on the Goodness in the heavens and on the earth

To bring me to forgiveness of myself and all souls.

I call on all souls to forgive me for my actions in all my lifetimes.

I offer love and compassion to all those that I have scorned.

I offer loving kindness to all those in need.

I surrender my need to clutter my life.

I choose my actions each day, and accept the responsibility of my choices.

I now choose actions of love, health, and happiness.

 ***************************************

Use this chant to help shift all the thoughts that go around in your head and make you unhappy.  

Have a blessed day!

Sending many blessings,

Judy

Another Loving Kindness Version

Picture taken by Judy Hirst during 2023 winter with snow deeper than usual for beginning of March.

As we wait for winter to end, sometimes, we suffer from the blahs.

I have a solution for the blahs that also qualifies under “love” and is guaranteed to make you feel fine. Anyone that has studied with me knows that I believe in the power of meditation – not only “the sit in silence and let your mind be blank” meditation; I believe in active meditation. 

Active meditation means that you need to be part of the meditation and not have the meditation “happen” to you. Over the years, I have taught variations of the “LOVING KINDNESS” meditation. I have recently learned this one and wish to share it with you. 

Say it out loud when sitting in meditation. Say it out loud as a walking meditation, even when you walk your dog. My dog loves it! Say it at night before you go to bed. 

May I be free from inner and outer harm and danger. May I be safe and protected. May I be free of mental suffering or distress. May I be happy. 

May I be free of physical pain and suffering. May I be healthy and strong. May I be able to live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease!

This is actually the first step in the “loving kindness” meditation. However, it is a beautiful, empowering, feel good message that lets you feel fine.

Don’t give up if you do not feel a shift in the first several days. Keep trying.  This mantra works well to relax you and to help you fall asleep when sleeping seems difficult.

Many blessings 

Judy

Email - lightstationwisdom@gmail.com

On Being Happy - A Buddhist Story

 

 

  Picture of Buddha's first sermon - from Wikipedia

Clients come to see me for a variety of reasons.  Recently, however, clients come in and talk about how they feel, and they talk about how they are not happy.  The best teaching story about happiness that I have read comes from Buddhist teachings.  

Here is a story about happiness.

"Once I was staying with my mother in London. At the time she was the housekeeper for a very wealthy Canadian who lived in a luxury flat just off Hyde Park. They all went off for a while, and I had the flat to myself. There I was in London, living in this luxurious flat with two huge colour television sets and all the food I could possibly eat! I had enough money for whatever I wanted, lots of records, lots of everything. But I was so bored!  I told myself, "Please remember this. If you are ever tempted to think that physical comfort gives happiness, remember this." 

But then, another time I was staying in a cave, not my cave but another cave, which was very small. It was so small that you couldn't stand up in it, with a tiny box you could only just sit in, and that was the bed as well. It was full of fleas, so I was covered in flea bites. You had to go half a mile down a very steep track to bring up water. There was also almost no food at all, and it was hot. But I was in bliss. I was so happy. It was a very holy place, and the people there were wonderful. Although from a physical point of view the situation was difficult, so what! The mind was happy. I remember that whole place as being bathed in golden light. Do you see what I mean?"   from Ani Tenzin Palmo, from "Reflections on a Mountain Lake: Teachings on Practical Buddhism'

Each person reading this story will have a different take away, and that is a good thing.  What I hope that everybody understands from this story is that our happiness stems from how happy we are at the time we examine our happiness.

As the last line of the "Loving Kindness" Meditation says, "May you be happy!"

Many blessings,

Judy

Happy Valentine’s Day for 2023

 

  Poster from a collection of images from timesnownews.com

Valentine’s Day!  The day that we are encouraged, especially commercially, to express our feelings of love to our family, friends, and special someone.

My wish for you this Valentine’s Day is to find time to live life and find love where ever you can.  I wish that you find time to be kind, to be filled with loving kindness, and express love/compassion for someone who needs a show of kindness.  May your spirit be loving every day!

Many Blessings.

Judy

What Are The Valuable Things in Life?

 Picture from Microsoft Clip Art

 

I came across this lovely teaching story the other day in a Buddhist online journal.  The idea of staying healthy and fit is probably the one task that resonates for me at the moment.  We are in a short time of extreme weather when colds and flu are prevalent. Our temperature (in Calgary) changes from –20C to +9C in twenty-four hours.  The shifting – which mimics ascension shifting, is hard on the human body.  I digress.  Enjoy this story! 

Once upon a time there was a rich man living in Benares, in northern India. He had a son who was intelligent, curious and eager to learn. Even though he was only seven years old, he was determined to find out what is really valuable.

One day the little boy asked his father, "What are the ways to gain the most valuable things in life?"

His father said, "Only worthy ways lead to worthwhile goals. These are the six worthy ways:

• keep yourself healthy and fit;
• be wholesome in every way;
• listen to those with more experience;
• learn from those with more knowledge;
• live according to Truth;
• act with sincerity, not just energy.

************

After I read this story several times, I believe that sincerity means both compassion and kindness, depending on the situation.  

Many blessings,

Judy

Reach me at lighthousewisdom@gmail.com

What Makes You Tremble?

 

       A violent hail storm in July of 2021 with lots of thunder, lightning, and wind. Picture by J. Hirst

            

I had a conversation with some friends about what makes a person tremble, and in particular, what made each of us in the group tremble.

The words that first came up were:

• cold 
• fear
• anger
• grief
• excitement
• exhaustion
• a hard run (which to me seems like exhaustion but which my friends agreed was different)
• awe

We moved on to the physical things that make us tremble like:

• earthquakes
• thunderstorms
• storms
• hurricanes
• typhoons

And then we moved to the intrinsic things that make us tremble.

• the sound of certain music that raises you outside yourself
• seeing an animal being born
• seeing the majesty of the sky at certain times of the year
• something deeply spiritual 
• sudden kindness from a stranger
• the trust of a baby – human or animal

We had so much fun with this.  What I needed to remember was that each of these items seemed to be a force of Nature interacting with us.

What would you add to this list?

Blessings,

Judy

Trouble Sleeping? Use These Chants

 

                                    Picture is from an email so the original source is unknown.

Clients and friends tell me that they find it difficult to sleep at night between Christmas and New Year and even into January.  Part of the reason may be that the Sun is still low in the sky and the days are shorter than we would like.  Part of the reason may be too that as we move into the next year, we are unsettled.  Meditation and chanting can help improve sleep.

Most people think that chanting is part of meditating and that it needs to be done in an upright, lotus position as shown in the picture above.  That is simply not true.  

Yes, chants are used in meditation.  Fact, chants are meditation and can be done anywhere.  That is why, when I am having trouble sleeping, and say one, two or all of the chants below until I fall deeply into sleep.

My favorite chant is "The Loving Kindness" chant.  The version that I learned goes like this...

May I be filled with loving kindness.  May I be well.

May I be peaceful and at ease.  May I be happy.

May you  be filled with loving kindness.  May you be well.

May you be peaceful and at ease.  May you be happy.

May we  be filled with loving kindness.  May we be well.

May we be peaceful and at ease.  May we be happy.

 The chant that I learned back in the nineties is the OM chant.  "Om Mani Padme Hum".  I can say this chant for about twenty minutes before I am asleep.  You can look up the meaning of this chant.  However, the Dalai Lama says that this chant will...

“transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech and mind of a Buddha.”

The third chant or mantra that I use is the...Ra Ma Da Sa, Sa Say So Hung chant.  Again, you can look up the meaning.  This is a very sacred healing chant that I learned in 2003 and that I use to help heal aches and pains that keep me from sleeping.

Please try these mantras when you can not sleep and please post what happened when you used them.

Many blessings,

Lightstationwisdom@gmail.com

Feeling Kindness

Picture from unknown source

Over the last several months, I have been going through some health challenges.  I have been so grateful to the doctors and clinic staff for the kindness that they show me.  Nothing we do is a rush and the feeling in each specialized clinic is quite warm and friendly.  When I commented on the atmosphere, the nurse said that friendliness and kindness were easy to do and that she wished all people were kind.  

For some reason, her words stuck with me and I started looking at different articles online about kindness, and goodness, and compassion, and balancing one’s problems while being kind to others.  I love the article below, and hope that it helps you.

The following information came from an article on LIFEHACK at http://www.lifehack.org/387767/15-quotes-about-kindness.  It seems that we are lacking kindness and compassion in the world so I thought it was worth sharing. 

15 quote about kindness

1. “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop 
2. “Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.” – Nelson Mandela 
3. “There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent Van Gogh 
4. “Those who make compassion an essential part of their lives find the joy of life. Kindness deepens the spirit and produces rewards that cannot be completely explained in words. It is an experience more powerful than words. To become acquainted with kindness one must be prepared to learn new things and feel new feelings. Kindness is more than a philosophy of the mind. It is a philosophy of the spirit.” – Robert J. Furey 
5. “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” – Kahlil Gibran 
6. “How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straightaway. And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!” – Anne Frank 
7. “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” — Princess Diana 
8. “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. “ – Charles H Spurgeon 
9. “Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you — not because they are nice, but because you are.” — Author Unknown 
10. “During my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed through the questions until I read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our grade. “Absolutely,” the professor said. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.” — JoAnn C. Jones, Guideposts, January 1996 
11. “By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach.” — Winston Churchill 
12. “Sure the world breeds monsters, but kindness grows just as wild… ” — Mary Karr, The Liars’ Club: A Memoir, 1995 
13. “The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within; Strength, Courage, Dignity.” – Ruby Dee 
14. “I’m convinced of this: Good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.” – Maya Angelou 
15. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” — Plato D

Many blessings,

Judy

Loving Kindness For People

One of the challenges of being around people today is having to deal with people who have huge egos.  Through their ego, they believe that they are right all the time, that they know everything, including all the answers, and that we, the audience are just ignorant, and must listen to them.  Truly, it gets tiring!

We see the egos at work, in stores and restaurants, and sometimes in our family and friends.  When people are so egotistical and rude, it is really difficult to wish them "loving kindness".  Yet, the lesson for us is that those with egos are the ones that need loving kindness.  We can be humble and we can help others, quietly and lovingly, without the noise.

Many blessings.

Attitude and Gratitude

 

 

There once was a woman who woke up one morning,
looked in the mirror,
and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.
Well," she said, "I think I'll braid my hair today?"
So she did and she had a wonderful day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror
and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.
"H-M-M," she said,
"I think I'll part my hair down the middle today?"
So she did and she had a grand day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.
"Well," she said,
"today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail."
So she did and she had a fun, fun day.

The next day she woke up,
looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.
"YEA!" she exclaimed,
"I don't have to fix my hair today!"

Attitude is everything.

Be kinder than necessary,

for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
Live simply,

Love generously,
Care deeply,
Speak kindly.......

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...

It's about learning to dance in the rain.

This piece is from my friend Monique who knows that I love a story about seeing things in a different way!  Thanks! The pictures are ones that I took on a garden tour.  Enjoy!

Peace,

Judy