Today is the Solstice--use its power to set the tone for the next phase

Today is one of the most powerful days of the year. It is a good idea to finish up incomplete projects and begin the next phase cleanly. What you are doing today sets the template for six months, so envision something wonderful for yourself. Treat yourself well. Use the energy of the Universe to your very best advantage. Happy Solstice!

Compromising your integrity drains your energy

Integrity is one of your most precious possessions. Every time you do something that is not worthy of you--not repaying a debt, for example--a bit of your energy is caught up in that little lapse of integrity, and held there until restitution is made.

As you go through life it can go one of two ways--you pile up these little lapses, losing more and more of yourself. It can become easier and easier to let things slide. That's one way. You can be successful doing it this way, but it may feel hollow.


The second way is to realize, sooner or later, that the most important work you can do is to evolve out of the old pattern of moral short-cuts into a fuller and freer expression of yourself. That requires getting your personal integrity into the best possible shape. The lapses are not forgotten, as you know. They are there, waiting to be rectified. So, you find the person who loaned you some money ten years ago, and you pay them back. You find the person you cheated and find out how to set that right. You attend to your behavior every day, and fix up little lapses as you go along.


Your integrity will start to repair. You reclaim more of yourself. The possibilities for your life will become larger and more fitting to the person you are. You will find that success is defined differently, responded to differently, and is more satisfying.

Depression can be a stagnation of energy

With mild depression talking and exercise are often advocated, with good reason. They allow the energy that has stagnated throughout the system to begin to move. Talking gets whatever is stuck moving out. Exercise just gets it moving. From the cellular level on out every iota of our being is in motion. A down mood and dark thoughts put a damper on that movement, and the whole structure slows down.

It seems hard to move a muscle, maybe, and goes against everything you may feel, but there's wisdom in it. Talk to someone, keep a journal (that gets the stuck stuff out of your head and onto paper), take a little walk--and do it again tomorrow.

Being conscious is a moment-by-moment activity

Zen Buddhists work to achieve enlightenment--for some, apparently, it arrives in a flash. Tibetan Buddhists view it more as taking the elevator, with stops on every floor. Personally, I experience it more as an endless staircase, and I'm on step one!




Being conscious means being in the present in the moment. We are generally pulled by regrets of the past or anticipation of the future. To the extent that we are in the past or the future we are not here, in the moment. The only one there is.




When totally present, in that rare conscious state, everything is vibrant, brilliant, thrumming with life. It always is--we just don't often rise to the occasion to be in it.



It's the work of a lifetime. And in a way there's nothing else to do.

Suggestions on how to increase consciousness

Every moment is an opportunity to be more conscious. It's no big secret thing, you don't have to be a monk. Even monks struggle to achieve constant awareness. We're just human.

Be aware of your body. Take a deep breath and see where you feel that. Then just observe your breath. Just let it be and see how fast or slow, how it naturally changes. As thoughts arise, notice them and let them go. Return to your breath.

It's the nature of the mind to produce thoughts. Don't berate yourself for having them, just quietly acknowledge (oh, I'm thinking that) and let it go. It may take a while for the thoughts to slow, or maybe they just won't. But if you can take little breaks and turn your mind toward your Self, maybe you'll be a bit more present for the next thing you do.

If you exercise, eliminate distractions, like TV, music, conversation. Slow your movements down. Pay attention to your every move. Feel the muscles tighten and release. Feel all your structure cooperating in the movements. Make each move purposeful, smooth, graceful.

Feel the difference.

Create good energy for yourself and others

What you think affects how you appear to others--if you have negative thoughts you are more closed to receiving input. People find you less approachable, less interesting, and they may avoid or ignore you.

Before you go out, try adjusting your attitude. Pretend that you are in love with every person you meet. Notice the difference in their response. They may spend a few more minutes with you, may ask your opinion more. If you like them, they will like you!

How a good beginning makes for a good result

If you wonder why a relationship or a project isn't working out, reflect on how it began. The seeds of trouble are sown in the very beginning. A flaw may look insignificant but if overlooked it can be enough to sabotage the result. Take a lot of time in the beginning to insure a happy ending.
With a relationship, when you're too drunk with love to see straight, consult friends who see clearly--they're seeing what you will see when the glow wears off.
Some ways to get off to a good start are to visualize how you'd like it to be, make a collage or painting that pictures your great result, make a business plan, talk to a variety of friends with different points of view and find out how they have done it (or should have done it). And, think big!
Mistakes are how we learn. Every situation contains life lessons. Get adept at using your learning opportunities well. Professional help may be a good investment. It may be expensive, but nothing compared to a bad marriage or a failed business!

Making your commute less stressful

When you are driving you have an opportunity to generate either positive or negative energy around you. You can see the results of bad energy and bad behavior all over the place. Your thoughts have energy that go out there and affect people, you know...

When you're on your cell phone, texting or otherwise distracting yourself, your energy is not totally engaged in driving. Keep in mind that you are driving a potentially lethal weapon and drive as if your life depended on it--it does.

Instead of calling slow drivers names, silently give them gentle directions, "move over, please move over..." Often, they will. Or you may find yourself to be more tolerant. Research shows that we don't get where we're going any faster if we allow people to cut in front of us or if we just stick to one lane.

Consider that a human being is driving--maybe badly--and maybe for good reason. Maybe someone they love has just died. Or they're very sick. Or just home from a tour of duty. Things go wrong. It could be you, one day. Keep that in mind, and be as kind as you can.

It makes a difference.

A thought on telling the truth

Share whatever is in your heart. People are enlivened by hearing the truth, even if it's a hard truth. Whatever is withheld creates distance.

Types of dreams--processing, premonitional, prophetic, and lucid

There are different types of dreams. First, there's the usual kind, where your unconscious is processing the events of the recent past and the issues that have arisen in you that need resolving. The dreams provide an assessment of where you stand in your life at the moment, and they help move the process along.

A second type of dream is one of premonition. It gives you information about people or events that have happened, are about to happen, or could happen. If you have a dream of an accident, take note of who was involved and where it was. It you were in it, take particular care, and avoid the site of the accident, if you know it. If a friend is involved in something harmful to them, I take the precaution of mentioning it to them (in a casual way) so they can take whatever action that seems appropriate. It may not happen, but it might.

By the same token, if you wake up with a strong intuition that something is wrong (like a person is not being straight with you) or something is right (taking this job feels great) it's a pretty good bet that you're right. Your unconscious has been thinking it over and has come up with a conclusion.

A special dream state is that of lucid dreaming. That's when you are aware that you are dreaming, and you make changes to the dream AS you are dreaming. Very powerful. You may dream of a negative situation and change it to a positive outcome. It feels great.

Another type of dream is a prophetic dream. Many cultures once (and maybe still) planned their lives around the dreams of the dreamers. They foretell changes of great scope--seismic shifts in geography, cosmology or consciousness. Our culture is not predominated by this intuitive wisdom--but dreamers still exist. Many people have similar dreams of the future.

We all dream about every 90 minutes, whether it's recalled or not. The last dream of the night is generally a summation of all the dreams, so if you catch that one you'll have an idea of what your unconscious is working on.

You can use your dreams. If you want information about something that is bothering you, you can make a dream intention. Before you go to sleep you can ask (never demand, it doesn't work) to know more about X. For example: how can I have more positive interactions with people? Just phrase whatever you wish in the form of a question. Work with your dreams. It's a most powerful tool, just waiting to be used.

Each of us matters, and among us we can change the world

Avalokiteshvara had a headache. It was almost intolerable. Because of his good life he had the choice of moving beyond his body into the next life, or of staying and bearing the pain. He chose to stay, saying he would remain until all people were free of suffering. He is the Buddhist exemplar of compassion.

Sometimes the pain of the world is hard to hear about--what can I do? I can't stop bombings or senseless brutality. Every time I feel helpless in the face of our violent world I end up with the same conclusion: all I have to work with is me.

The world reflects what is in each of us. How can I change myself so no violence lives in me? That brings me back quickly to observing what is going on around me and seeing how I'm interacting with it. Am I as thoughtful as I could be? As tolerant? Am I reflexively negative?

The work of changing myself is there to do at every moment of the day. Every challenge is an opportunity. With each positive change I become a bit more conscious, and maybe the world becomes an iota more gentle. If all of us were to do that, what would happen?

The Chinese have a saying: Drinking a cup of green tea I change the world..

Using a Jin Shin technique to balance your energy

An energy exercise from Jin Shin Jyutsu helps balance the energy of your emotions and its corresponding organ. Anger, for example, corresponds to the liver. Coincidentally (or maybe not) this emotion is represented by the middle finger!

It's very simple. You can do it unobtrusively when you're in a meeting or watching TV or anything where you're sitting still.

You gently grab your left thumb with your right hand, curling all your fingers around it, and hold it firmly. A nice, solid, friendly grasp. After a minute or so you may feel a very soft pulse or tingle--that's energy flowing more freely through that thumb. Do the same thing with the index finger, and then each finger in succession. Then switch and do the same to the right hand, one finger at a time.

After you have held each finger, then put your hands together, thumb to thumb, finger to finger--making a bridge between the hands. Hold this position for a minute or two. This balances the energy between the left and right sides of your body.

You may feel the gentle movement of energy or not. It depends on experience and your sensitivity level. The main thing to notice is, do you feel more balanced? You might leave that meeting a little more charged up.

Thank you, Jin Shin..

Alice Burmeister's book, The Touch of Healing, has the details of this and many other energy practices.