The Jewish Holiday Purim begins tonight, Saturday at sundown and is celebrated through tomorrow evening. It’s a highly festive celebration that invites us to explore our personal vulnerabilities as humans and to discover our innate ability to rise through them into a true empowerment! The holiday is a full-on fun celebration of reconnection with friends; celebrating the past and an invitation to create a better future!
If you're unfamiliar Purim, there are four basic parts to the celebration. Traditionally, the Megilla is read ~ that is the biblical Book of Esther who is the heroine of this story. As a Jew, she was living in a foreign land. Her beauty drew the attention of royalty and led her to become Queen. But Esther had to hide her Jewish identity. While Queen, she discovers that the King is planning to have all Jews killed due to erroneous information given to him by a man named Haman. Queen Esther has to dig deep within herself to discover her innate power to change the course of history. At risk of her own death, Esther cleverly exposes Haman’s true motivations to the King and the Jews are saved.
The story is about discovering one's inner strength. This Biblical Story isn’t about praying to G*d to save the innocent. Instead, Esther feels it is divine will that she has been put in a position to effect change. She goes within herself to unleash her innate power to confront the King and expose her Jewish identity even at risk of her own life.
Each person within the story has to confront him or herself in order to realize their true essence. It is easy to give one’s power to G*d or any external source as the characters of this story reveal. We can discover our innate connection to the divine and live consciously creative lives or we can live out a dependent fatalistic relationship with G*d that confines our pure potential. At Purim, we are invited to explore how we can avoid our internal power through blind faith instead of allowing the divine to be a resource for inner power and exquisite creative living! As I often hear from my guides "G*d will do for you, what you allow through you!" We have to participate in the process of allowing G*d or Divine Source Power to flow into our creative choices throughout each moment of life. And when we do, we move into the artistic dance of creating a miraculous and uplifting life for all concerned!
The second step in celebrating Purim is to give gifts to those in need ~ “at least one coin to two different people.” We are asked to give to whoever asks: regardless of who they are or what we think of them and/or their needs.
The third part of the celebration is Mishlaoch Manot ~ giving gifts of ready-to-eat foods to friends and neighbors. We share generously with those in need and give abundantly to our friends and peers. As we open to give so richly to life we consciously connect to the infinite flow of abundance always present to uplift, enhance and bless us all.
And the forth part of Purim's celebration is to PARTY!! And yep, it’s like a responsible Mardi Gras! We are even encouraged to drink...a lot! While I do not drink alcohol, I experience this invitation as a metaphor. When we allow ourselves to blur dualistic thinking, we have the ability to open to a love and joy that we may not realize is always there. By drinking into our soul self, into our divine nature we can feel the ultimate connection with all life. As we feel into the whole of life, we begin to see that we are all things, capable of all things and that we have the true power to create whatever reality we are willing to allow. We discover our true essence as infinitely connected to the Source of all creation and feel the exquisite well of love, joy, abundance and kindness that is ours to experience and share with all life.
Because Jews are one of the smallest religious groups on the Earth (less than 3% of world's population), it is fun to share my heritage and understanding of these rituals. Purim invites us to celebrate with full BLISS and abandon by honoring our connections to our innate power, to those in need and to all of our friends and community. This is a perfect metaphor for living a soul-centered life. Whether you celebrate Purim or not, perhaps today you can choose to spontaneously give to those who are in need, share abundantly with friends and neighbors, connect to your innate power and celebration the exquisiteness of life with FULL JOY!!
Simchat Purim! Happy Purim...Happy Day to all!!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Natural You!
Everyone is intuitive. Everyone has a soul and the ability to sense energy. We process non-physical energy daily through our physical and intuitive senses. But we have been conditioned to rely so heavily on our physical senses and thinking mind as the compass for how we live that we feel detached from our primary intuitive sensory system. Over time, we believe intuitive processing is some special ability born to a few gifted people or something elusive and strange and sometimes we believe its something occult. But intuition is an innate, naturally sensing process available to you from birth that can be used in alignment with your true values to serve your highest good.
Intuition is a natural tool meant to allow you to live your soul’s purpose with ease; to navigate through life without struggle; and to move in the direction of your greatest fulfillment. By fine-tuning your intuitive sensory system, you can avoid danger; enhance your health; cultivate compassion and empathy; open to higher levels of discernment, precognition, manifesting skills; awaken healing powers and deepen your spiritual connection to life.
Intuitive living is not fortune telling! It is the ability to navigate your life beyond the limitations of your belief system. It gives you direct knowledge of your spirit and the spiritual support system that is available to nurture your most profound living experience.
You can reconnect with your innate intuitive sensing through simple exercises. Like any muscle, your intuitive sensory system will develop through consistent practice that enhances its strength and accuracy.
1. Shift your Identification with your Mind. You are a sacred spiritual being. You are a soul living in a physical environment that is meant to master the physical creation process. When you view you as only a physical being confined to physical laws and logical concepts that is alienated or distant from the divine, you are unconsciously commanding your intuitive sensory system to sit quietly in the background of your life. By realizing your innate spiritual essence as the foundation of you, you open to the possibilities of your limitless self. As a spiritual being in a physical body, you have access the limitless energy within. You have innate access to wisdom, health, profound insight and understanding, empathy, compassion, love, joy, pre-cognition, telepathy, communication with divinity, healing powers and awareness of resources.
2. Use Supportive Language. Your typical self-talk is constantly reinforcing your unconsciously held beliefs. Most of your beliefs are founded in limited perceptions of you and life; rarely are they founded upon spiritual truths enhancing your intuitive processing abilities. Know your thoughts but choose not to agree with them or judge them. Practice using phrases like “I am a soul! I am open to knowing myself as a soul”; “I am willing to allow my intuition to lead the way”; “I am highly intuitive now”; “I receive, trust and enact divine guidance now”; “I am a limitless spiritual being having a joyful human experience”.
3. Breathe Deeply. Feeling fearful, anxious, worried? That is your thinking mind confined to the limited perceptions of logical and physical realities. The mental body of your physical being never silences. It is an active mechanism of energy meant to be used by your soul to navigate the physical world with ease. But it has become the pilot of your life and therefore, limits your experiences. Don't worry, simply shift. Begin with learning how to breath. Place one hand on your lower abdomen. Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of 5 allowing your lungs to fill from the bottom up. Watch or feel the hand on your lower abdomen elevating as you deeply inhale. Gently hold your breath briefly and then slowly exhale to a count of 6. Do this 3 or 4 times. This process slows down your nervous system, allowing you to feel deeply into the infinite well of peace readily beneath the surface of your racing thoughts. Deep breathing stops the “fight or flight” response within the nervous system which will respond to any energy it perceives as a threat to your mental, emotional, spiritual or physical well being. That reaction allows a significant amount of adrenaline to pour throughout the body so you can decisively respond to the perceived threat. The "fight or flight" response has been with us since we were living off the land, navigating hunts, foraging for foods and generally surviving within the elements. The "fight or flight" system has not yet adjusted to the technological advances of current life (constant barrage of negatively focused news reports; work that is not soul-centered; work environments with artificial lighting, heating and constant noise; television, radio, and other consistently impactful stimulation; artificial ingredients in foods; sleep based on unnatural lighting, schedules and alarms). All this new stimulation along with other emotional patterns learned in early childhood tend to hijack your physiological system into a state of over-reactivity or shut-down which then overrides your intuitive knowing. Deep breathing re-connects you with your soulful truth and allows the stimulation of a highly ego-centered world to move through your system more peacefully.
4. Learn to Meditate. Your thinking mind is an energy that is in constant motion, chattering away about all of your perceptions, beliefs, ideas. It never ceases to be active. We live in a world that is constantly inundating you with stimulation. Most of it is not soul-centered. Your soul is infinitely limitless, connected to Source, awakened to your purpose and potential and is fully aware of all the resources required to fulfill your joyful destiny. Your soul has no chatter; no fear; no illness; no struggle. Your soul is innately peaceful, calm and willing to guide your life through the moment-to-moment path of least resistance. Meditation is a primary tool for empowering your intuitive sensory system. It moves your spirit from the background into the foreground of your experience. It allows you to notice your thoughts without engaging them; to notice your physical body without identifying with it; to witness your emotions peacefully and to feel into your true nature by experiencing your spiritual being directly. Learning to meditate is the greatest gift you will give to yourself for intuitive processing, spiritual fulfillment, knowing your soul's path and allowing your greatest potentials to be realized.
5. You have a Purpose. You are a soul born into a physical world on purpose. Your soul has unique reason for being here with gifts to share and lessons to grasp. Your purpose is not meant to be elusive to you. Once you begin to identify with your physical body, logical thinking mind and learned perceptions of life, you may lose your connection to your intuitive sensory system and your soul's purpose. You can reclaim both with willingness and practice. Give yourself permission to know your soul and discover your soul’s purpose so you can open the doorway for meaning and miraculous events to flow consistently throughout your creative process.
Intuition is your birthright. It is available to everyone. You have the power to know your soul’s purpose and live a soul-centered life by accessing your intuition and allowing it to move into the foreground of your multi-sensory being. Intuitive living simply takes willingness and practice.
I too had to reunite with my intuition. Though I have felt a connection to my intuitive process throughout my life, the deeply ingrained perceptions formed throughout my childhood left me feeling alienated from God, my soul and my innate intuitive abilities. I judged my psychic sensory skills as something “strange” and kept them hidden from teachers, family and friends. Through deliberate healing, consistent meditation (which did not come easily to me), and a daily practice of aligning with a Higher Power, my intuition moved into the foreground of my life. Miraculous events ultimately manifested, allowing me to see angels, receive direct guidance from spirit and nurture the healing process of others! I had wanted to be a psychologist to support individuals in reclaiming their connection with soul. Who would have imagined that my soul was willing to have me surpass my logical mind's idea for service into something far more phenomenal! But I had to let go of my attachment to the path I thought was best for me and doing so has allowed me to serve thousands of individuals around the globe as an intuitive medium, healer and teacher. By opening to my soul's path, I have experienced a shift from daily struggle and depression into deeper meaningful, enhanced joy and profoundly fulfilling engagement with life.
Can you imagine what you soul has in store for you? It is far more beautiful than your mind can understand. By allowing your intuitive flow to unfold, you can realize the miracles that your spirit wants to create through you. You are innately wise and unlimited as a spiritual being. All that you seek is inside you awaiting your discovery. Learn to be the midwife to your own soul by discovering your intuitive sensory system with ease and joy. Cultivate trusting your inner knowing and develop a deep connection to your sacred soul self. By doing so, you allow the miracle of you to shine brightly into this world and therefore bless your life and all others!
Lori’s Live Your Soul Path 2010 is a workshop designed to facilitate your connection to your soul’s purpose and is offered this month, February 19, 2010 6:30 through 9:30 p.m. An Introduction to Intuitive Empowerment is offered from 10 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. Both workshops are being held at the Center for Creative Living 2011 Crooks Road, Royal Oak, Michigan 48073. Registration Information at www.lorilipten.com
Intuition is a natural tool meant to allow you to live your soul’s purpose with ease; to navigate through life without struggle; and to move in the direction of your greatest fulfillment. By fine-tuning your intuitive sensory system, you can avoid danger; enhance your health; cultivate compassion and empathy; open to higher levels of discernment, precognition, manifesting skills; awaken healing powers and deepen your spiritual connection to life.
Intuitive living is not fortune telling! It is the ability to navigate your life beyond the limitations of your belief system. It gives you direct knowledge of your spirit and the spiritual support system that is available to nurture your most profound living experience.
You can reconnect with your innate intuitive sensing through simple exercises. Like any muscle, your intuitive sensory system will develop through consistent practice that enhances its strength and accuracy.
1. Shift your Identification with your Mind. You are a sacred spiritual being. You are a soul living in a physical environment that is meant to master the physical creation process. When you view you as only a physical being confined to physical laws and logical concepts that is alienated or distant from the divine, you are unconsciously commanding your intuitive sensory system to sit quietly in the background of your life. By realizing your innate spiritual essence as the foundation of you, you open to the possibilities of your limitless self. As a spiritual being in a physical body, you have access the limitless energy within. You have innate access to wisdom, health, profound insight and understanding, empathy, compassion, love, joy, pre-cognition, telepathy, communication with divinity, healing powers and awareness of resources.
2. Use Supportive Language. Your typical self-talk is constantly reinforcing your unconsciously held beliefs. Most of your beliefs are founded in limited perceptions of you and life; rarely are they founded upon spiritual truths enhancing your intuitive processing abilities. Know your thoughts but choose not to agree with them or judge them. Practice using phrases like “I am a soul! I am open to knowing myself as a soul”; “I am willing to allow my intuition to lead the way”; “I am highly intuitive now”; “I receive, trust and enact divine guidance now”; “I am a limitless spiritual being having a joyful human experience”.
3. Breathe Deeply. Feeling fearful, anxious, worried? That is your thinking mind confined to the limited perceptions of logical and physical realities. The mental body of your physical being never silences. It is an active mechanism of energy meant to be used by your soul to navigate the physical world with ease. But it has become the pilot of your life and therefore, limits your experiences. Don't worry, simply shift. Begin with learning how to breath. Place one hand on your lower abdomen. Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of 5 allowing your lungs to fill from the bottom up. Watch or feel the hand on your lower abdomen elevating as you deeply inhale. Gently hold your breath briefly and then slowly exhale to a count of 6. Do this 3 or 4 times. This process slows down your nervous system, allowing you to feel deeply into the infinite well of peace readily beneath the surface of your racing thoughts. Deep breathing stops the “fight or flight” response within the nervous system which will respond to any energy it perceives as a threat to your mental, emotional, spiritual or physical well being. That reaction allows a significant amount of adrenaline to pour throughout the body so you can decisively respond to the perceived threat. The "fight or flight" response has been with us since we were living off the land, navigating hunts, foraging for foods and generally surviving within the elements. The "fight or flight" system has not yet adjusted to the technological advances of current life (constant barrage of negatively focused news reports; work that is not soul-centered; work environments with artificial lighting, heating and constant noise; television, radio, and other consistently impactful stimulation; artificial ingredients in foods; sleep based on unnatural lighting, schedules and alarms). All this new stimulation along with other emotional patterns learned in early childhood tend to hijack your physiological system into a state of over-reactivity or shut-down which then overrides your intuitive knowing. Deep breathing re-connects you with your soulful truth and allows the stimulation of a highly ego-centered world to move through your system more peacefully.
4. Learn to Meditate. Your thinking mind is an energy that is in constant motion, chattering away about all of your perceptions, beliefs, ideas. It never ceases to be active. We live in a world that is constantly inundating you with stimulation. Most of it is not soul-centered. Your soul is infinitely limitless, connected to Source, awakened to your purpose and potential and is fully aware of all the resources required to fulfill your joyful destiny. Your soul has no chatter; no fear; no illness; no struggle. Your soul is innately peaceful, calm and willing to guide your life through the moment-to-moment path of least resistance. Meditation is a primary tool for empowering your intuitive sensory system. It moves your spirit from the background into the foreground of your experience. It allows you to notice your thoughts without engaging them; to notice your physical body without identifying with it; to witness your emotions peacefully and to feel into your true nature by experiencing your spiritual being directly. Learning to meditate is the greatest gift you will give to yourself for intuitive processing, spiritual fulfillment, knowing your soul's path and allowing your greatest potentials to be realized.
5. You have a Purpose. You are a soul born into a physical world on purpose. Your soul has unique reason for being here with gifts to share and lessons to grasp. Your purpose is not meant to be elusive to you. Once you begin to identify with your physical body, logical thinking mind and learned perceptions of life, you may lose your connection to your intuitive sensory system and your soul's purpose. You can reclaim both with willingness and practice. Give yourself permission to know your soul and discover your soul’s purpose so you can open the doorway for meaning and miraculous events to flow consistently throughout your creative process.
Intuition is your birthright. It is available to everyone. You have the power to know your soul’s purpose and live a soul-centered life by accessing your intuition and allowing it to move into the foreground of your multi-sensory being. Intuitive living simply takes willingness and practice.
I too had to reunite with my intuition. Though I have felt a connection to my intuitive process throughout my life, the deeply ingrained perceptions formed throughout my childhood left me feeling alienated from God, my soul and my innate intuitive abilities. I judged my psychic sensory skills as something “strange” and kept them hidden from teachers, family and friends. Through deliberate healing, consistent meditation (which did not come easily to me), and a daily practice of aligning with a Higher Power, my intuition moved into the foreground of my life. Miraculous events ultimately manifested, allowing me to see angels, receive direct guidance from spirit and nurture the healing process of others! I had wanted to be a psychologist to support individuals in reclaiming their connection with soul. Who would have imagined that my soul was willing to have me surpass my logical mind's idea for service into something far more phenomenal! But I had to let go of my attachment to the path I thought was best for me and doing so has allowed me to serve thousands of individuals around the globe as an intuitive medium, healer and teacher. By opening to my soul's path, I have experienced a shift from daily struggle and depression into deeper meaningful, enhanced joy and profoundly fulfilling engagement with life.
Can you imagine what you soul has in store for you? It is far more beautiful than your mind can understand. By allowing your intuitive flow to unfold, you can realize the miracles that your spirit wants to create through you. You are innately wise and unlimited as a spiritual being. All that you seek is inside you awaiting your discovery. Learn to be the midwife to your own soul by discovering your intuitive sensory system with ease and joy. Cultivate trusting your inner knowing and develop a deep connection to your sacred soul self. By doing so, you allow the miracle of you to shine brightly into this world and therefore bless your life and all others!
Lori’s Live Your Soul Path 2010 is a workshop designed to facilitate your connection to your soul’s purpose and is offered this month, February 19, 2010 6:30 through 9:30 p.m. An Introduction to Intuitive Empowerment is offered from 10 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. Both workshops are being held at the Center for Creative Living 2011 Crooks Road, Royal Oak, Michigan 48073. Registration Information at www.lorilipten.com
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