Creating a Life of Love

You are a divine being made of energy from the Source of All-that-is.  When you are experiencing life, you are experiencing that energy to which you are attuned, aligned and allowing with consistency.  This earth plane allows you to create your experience through free will.  The Creative Source of Life has given us that liberty....to manifest into physical form whatsoever we are willing to allow most consistently into our inner being as thoughts and emotions. 

If you are experiencing life as a struggle, do not judge this whatsoever.  To shift your energy takes consistency of practice.  At your core is the essence from which you were birthed: pure love.  This essence energy can pour into your being by deliberately tapping into it then focusing this energy through your intention. 

Given that we have a mind that is habitually ruminating on things, places and people it cannot control but wish it could - connecting to and allowing divine love into your being takes concerted practice.  But doing so is not only possible, its your powerful purpose as a human.  

Begin with simple steps. 

1) Breathe into a Loving Life.  Take a deep breath right now, into your belly.  Fill your lower abdomen and then your chest fully.  Now elongate your exhale.  Try breathing in on a count of 4 and exhaling on a count of 5.  Breathe in through your nose and exhale out your mouth.  Practice breathing deeply, calming the mind, body and emotions and allowing yourself to saturate your being with the power of breath.  Notice how breathing deeply calms your body.  

2) Call in Light.  Light is a consciousness that will follow thought.  Call light into your being and envision it permeating your whole body.  Imagine Light filling your breath, saturating your cells.  See light illuminating every aspect of your whole being until you are radiant.  Expand the light into your skin, hair.  Now radiate the light into a sphere surrounding your whole body.  Bask in this light and notice how you feel. 

3) Radiate Love.  Once you're breathing deeply and have brought light into your being, imagine someone or something that you love unconditionally.   Feel the love in your heart expanding as you intentionally contemplate unconditional love.  Radiate this love throughout your being, as you simply allow the image of your loved one to fade.  Love is within you always.  Your attention upon it allows the infinite well of love to flow in the direction of your thoughts. Radiate love intentionally and notice how you feel. 

4) Expand Your Energy.  As you continue to breathe and radiate loving light throughout your system, radiate love into the room your sitting.  Notice how you feel as you bask in this radiant love.  Now expand your light and love into your whole community unconditionally.  Simply allow your light to grow.   Notice how your feel as you radiate this love and light outward without conditions.  Now expand your love and light around the earth.  Enfold the earth in your light.  Expand your light to include all of humanity; all animals; all plants; all of earth and all life on earth.  Radiate your light freely.  Notice how you feel.  Radiate your light to all in spirit: the divine helpers, all your ancestors...now all of your descendants.  Notice how you feel. Bask in this sensation.  

5) Direct Your Energy. Continue to bask in the love and light that you are radiating into the universe.  Notice the sensations associated with this practice.  Now radiate your light and love into your day today.  Simply imagine this day and radiate your love and light into this whole day.  See the day unfold as an expression of love.  See yourself doing mundane tasks radiant with light; see each person in this day and radiate your love and light to them.  Enfold the day in love.  Notice how you feel.  Now radiate your love into a key relationship.  See this relationship in your mind and no matter its status, radiate love and light into it.  Feel light flowing from you to him/her and fill that person with light and light.  Seem them radiating with so much light they are glowing.  Radiate light until they are so filled with love and light, that its flowing back to you.  Bask in this sensation. 

Practice radiating this love and light in any situation you are ready to improve.  Radiate your love and light into your finances; into your your body; into your work; into your past; into your career.  Radiate this love without conditions, expanding your light into whatever you choose to think about.  Let your love flow.  Feel the sensations of love without judgments.  Attuning, aligning and allowing love into your experience in this moment will transform now.  

6) Give Thanks.  Once you have radiated your loving light into the areas you choose, give thanks to your heart for this infinite love. Give thanks to your mind for seeing or knowing this energy and focusing on love.  Give thanks to the creative source of life (Aka God, Divinity, The All-That-Is, etc.).  Give thanks to the divine helpers who are always present and willing to assist your expansion of love and light.  Give thanks to your body.  Give thanks to you for practicing this exercise.  Give thanks to whatever you see.  Give thanks to the miracle of your life and the miracle of your ability to love here and now.  Give thanks. And notice how giving thanks feels.

Practice this process daily and notice what happens when you deliberately attune, align and allow love into your conscious experiences.  You are born from love and have the power to experience this divine essence in every facet of your life. Love is who you are.  Put this into practice and create a miraculous life of love.  

written by Frederick Russ with Lori Lipten, M.A.

As young children we were spontaneous, joyful and creative. Children are pure energy in motion responding to life without questioning emotional fluidity.  They give voice and action to their innate needs and wants openly. Inevitably, parents weed much of this spontaneity from a child through seemingly harmless attempts to support healthy development, create boundaries and nurture culturally accepted behaviors within their children.  Authentic behavior is summarily discouraged. Among other effects, this process creates the labeling feelings of pain and discomfort as “bad” and therefore, something to resist. 

When emotions rise into our body and awareness, this triggers an evaluation process.  Based on our early life experiences, we habitually judge our emotions as “good” or “bad”.  As uncomfortable feelings call to us, we often feel distress due to the combined judgment and stored energies from our past that have been trapped, blocked, and controlled within.  We can identify these emotions by many names, but usually they include fear, anger and grief. Regardless of whether the triggers manifest as physical discomfort; mental turbulence or emotional distress, an invitation is being delivered.  

Will we accept and explore feelings of discomfort, pain and suffering unconditionally with curiosity and compassion? By accepting the invitation, we hold the keys to our personal freedom.

It is understandable to react to discomfort with dread. We humans are hardwired to resist or control what we fear.  But consider this: what if pain and discomfort were here to assist us and not hurt us? What if we viewed pain as an invitation to freedom? Rather than being at war with pain and discomfort, we can choose to be with ourselves unconditionally.   We can greet our distress and begin to understand what it is trying to say to us. 

How would our life be different if we simply stop running and say, “yes” to the pain and discomfort? Stay with me on this. 

This approach can be incredibly transformational because it changes the way we relate to pain and discomfort. Instead of seeing uneasiness as the enemy, we open to whatever shows up.  We stretch into our feelings and with compassion, even our love - we witness what is present and gently comfort each sensation with unconditional positive regard.  We offer ourselves what we would offer a child in pain. 

Resisting pain and discomfort may have turned into a lifetime momentum for most of us.    Throughout development, we learn to control and distract ourselves from uneasiness.  We view pain as the enemy and work hard to escape or conquer our nemesis. But our pain does not go away, no matter how strong the effort. This energy has stories to tell us and will seek our attention until we finally listen.

Consider that the appearance of pain and discomfort may very well be a phenomenon that has purpose and is occurring intentionally.  Pain is leading us to the truth of what we have endured, how we have coped in an imperfect world.  It is opening us to our perceptions about self and life.  As we open to seeing this, we discover beneath the discomfort, our true nature.  We discover our innate peacefulness and wisdom and our ability to witness pain and even allow the sensations to pass.  By welcoming whatever shows up into our present moment without judgment, we shift.  But to truly integrate all the unaddressed energy from the past or even this moment, we have to feel it without resistance. By choosing to place unconditional attention upon our pain and discomfort, we can be witness to the changes in sensation with compassion. 

This can be accomplished simply by the act of saying “yes” to whatever life sends our way.  We have the right to choose, and we are always invited to respond with our free will. Resisting the feelings of pain and discomfort is essentially saying no to our needs and life. In saying no, we stop the process of finding out what these feelings really mean. This effectively silences the knowledge that waits beyond the threshold of pain.  Our uneasiness – anxiety, sadness, depression or any kind of suffering - has the power to be portal into a much deeper knowledge of self. 

Saying yes, however uncomfortable it may be, allows for integration and greater sense of wholeness, peace, and greater access to self. It helps facilitate our healing and evolution by letting everything to be included.  It grants us access to the hidden pearls of wisdom residing underneath emotionally charged sensation. When our feelings are finally seen, heard and felt not as the enemy but as the purveyors of wisdom that they would bring to the table were we to give them audience – we move into collaboration with our power and true essence, rather than the wounds that keep us hostage. 

Our natural state is to be open, calm and peaceful.  By accepting discomfort as an invitation to our true self we can feel safe when any kind of pain arises, trusting where it leads.  We have the power to choose to replace resistance with openness and thus regain the spontaneity, creativity and joy we experienced as children.  We have the power to move through the discomfort, into wisdom and freedom.  By doing so, we return to pure energy in motion. 

Opening to the Divine Solution

It was last year when my colleague and friend, Megan, asked me to create a women’s retreat with her.  Turning for the divine for guidance, we both engaged in shamanic journey to discover a higher plan than our minds alone would reveal.  To our amazement, I was led to the plush setting of Costa Rica.  We had our sights set on Italy or Hawaii – but it seemed the divine had a different plan for us.  My guides explained that the specific location held a very high vibration that would uplift and enhance the experience for all concerned.  Within journey, both of us discovered the purpose, location and content for the retreat.  

By letting go of my mind’s ideas for a retreat and opening to a divine plan, I was led to a place I would have never considered and into one of the greatest experiences of my life. 

What extraordinary blessings are you holding back from yourself by listening to your mind’s ideas for your life over your soul’s truth? 

Several months ago I was confronted with a situation that challenged me as a mother.  My daughter was attacked by a dog; the doctors told us that her injuries would take a year to mend and that she would need corrective plastic surgery at the end of a long, grueling healing process.  So, I turned to the divine.  Not in fear or doubt.  Instead, I released all attachments to the ideas I held in my mind about the situation and opened to a divine solution.  Within journey, I was taken through a remarkable process of soul retrieval and energy healing that moved me to the core.  I was shown that Archangel Raphael was standing over my daughter, mending her torn face.  During the shamanic journey, I also forgave all the participants involved in the incident.  And then I let go and trusted that this situation was in the hands of that which is greater that my mind.

The next morning, my daughter and I went to change the dressing on her wound.  And to our amazement – the large open gash was almost completely healed.  “What happened mommy?” my daughter squealed.  Tears burst into my eyes, as I thanked the divine for whatever miracle had occurred.

A Course In Miracles teaches that a miracle is a shift in perception.  By opening to a solution far beyond my mind’s fearful perceptions of the situation did the divine potential of the situation manifest? Breathe deeply and tune into your soul's truth for that answer. 

Life has no shortage of challenges.  Still, no problem you face is greater than the Divine.  Whether it’s planning a work situation that you believe you have no idea how to create; tending to a sick loved one or simply moving in concert with your divine path by shifting from thought into intuitive truth, you can unleash the exquisite power of spirit.  Tune up, tune in and allow.  And witness the miracles unfold.

Signs of the Spiritual Awakening within the 2012 Shift

~Sleep patterns change as your vibration increases. It will settle back down as you acclimate. 

~ Physical sensations increase such as: tingling and/or pressure in crow, third eye (forehead); feelings of electricity moving within body; flashes of inspiration; intense dreams; chills/goosebumps; heart expansion. This is opening of higher energy currents in the body.

~ Sudden intense waves of emotion. As your body attunes to higher energy, you will release all blocked energies. Compassionate, non-judgmental, witnessing frees the energy.

~ Old issues return – that you thought were complete. These arise for the final release. The imprinted energy within your ethereal bodies is purging all old perceptions/energies to allow for higher frequencies of divine truth to be present.

~ Willingness and action to change habits that do not serve you increases. You may suddenly feel motivated to eat healthier; engage in yoga or inspired exercise; meditation; quit unhealthy habits; change relationships; begin the soul career you've put off.

~ Intuitive and psychic experiences increase. You may notice spheres or sparkles of light; hear your name called or whispered in your ear; notice spirit out of corner of eye or simply right before you; notice synchronous thoughts with others.

~ Your compassion increases and your become more inclusive; feel altruistic toward humanity and all world. This is the upper heart chakra activation linking to crown and higher self.

~ You notice the universe speaking to you through signs, symbols and messages coming from multiple sources throughout your day. These are not random and you know it and begin to feel connected to all that is and supported by divinity and life.

~ Events, people, places converge to serve your highest good with greater ease. You begin to notice that your world is moving into flow as you are allowing and not resisting these changes.

~ You recognize who you are: a spirit in a physical body with limitless source power. You are not alone. You are loved and supported to live your highest life.

~You become increasingly aware that you are the creative source within your holographic experience called life. that as you attune, align and allow your soul's truth to emerge throughout your daily experiences everything conspires to uplift, inspire and empower you.

Wake Up and Create a Miracle

Many think of my work as an intuitive medium, shamanic practitioner or guide as being about communications with spirit.  But intuitive abilities, while core to my work, are not really the point.  Intuition and my work are about exposing the illusions that limit us and revealing the truth of our exquisite potentials. 

Intuition is the communication system of wakeful living.  It shifts you from identifying with the limits you have learned and integrated into your creative process and come to believe as “fate” or “reality”.  By opening to your intuitive truth, you shift out of the restrictions of the stories that define you and make you feel the need to be “special; more than; better than; young; gifted; rich; successful” in order to be happy.  These needs arise from the identification with the tool meant to give you a physical journey as an unlimited creative spirit.  That tool is known by many names: the ego; the personality; the mind; the thought machine; the lower self; the identity; the false persona; the illusion and so on.  No matter what you call it, that tool is not the truth of you.  It is merely a tool given to assist your spirit in having a full immersion experience within the physical world. 

At this point in human evolution, most have come to identify fully with the tool aka the ego – and have given it full power to rule life and create reality.  In short, it’s become a god.   It determines your perceptions; shapes your emotions and physical wellbeing and dictates most of your experience as a person when you live with the ego – stories of your life – as your power source.

We are all invited to live awake.  Wakefulness is the presence or remembrance that you are a spiritual being with unlimited power to create your reality.  Your ego cannot accept that statement as truth.  So it will work hard to prove you wrong and explain how a power outside of you pulls all the strings for your life. 

To live an intuitive life means never accepting what you hear, see or feel as the end game.  It means living in the question.  It asks you to be open to seeing the truth with full awareness that your mind wants to dominate your perception by feeding you lies about who you are and what you can be. Intuitive living is the invitation to discovering truth through direct experience.  Find out – are you truly what you believe?  Do you hold the power to unleash limitless miracles in this lifetime?  Are you truly capable of experiencing unlimited joy, love, health and prosperity without buying into the illusion?  Are you capable of experiencing unlimited joy, love, health and prosperity when you buy into your story (the illusion)?

The video below reveals a light show projected onto a building in Portugal.  Watch the video and notice what appears real.  Projections can seem very real.  What do you notice when you see the movie on the front of the building?  Do you know that you too are creating a movie that is your life? That movie reflects your deepest beliefs about who you are; what you can be and have; what is reality; how much love, joy, health and prosperity is available to you.  What is true?

Watch and let me know what comes up for you…

This Holiday Send Your Love

This is a time of celebration for many.  Across the globe we honor the Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Bodhi Day, Yule, Ashura and Kwanzaa. These holidays symbolize how deeply we connect with divine spirit through our cultural and religious orientations.  The holiday celebrations can be an opportunity to connect consciously with the divine or feel disconnected throughout the glamorized and material focus of season. A willingness to honor the season, your celebrations and your loved ones with integrity to your deepest values and spiritual core will enrich your holiday experience. 

As you move through the next few days, consider the following:

1.  Take time to connect. Before engaging with the demands of your day, take time to breathe deeply into your body, practice mindfulness meditation, guided visualization or journeying to experience a direct connection with spirit.

2.  Proclaim your intention for the day.  State your intention for the day.  Examples are: to be present; to radiate loving kindness; to cultivate compassion; to bring joy and laughter into the world.  Give yourself a way to consistently remind yourself of that intention.  Examples include: to place a coin or crystal in your pocket; set a tone on your iphone; or tie a ribbon around your wrist as ways to remain true to your intention for this day.

3.  Smile freely.  Research shows that facial expressions impact emotions and behavior.  So lift your spirits and those around you through the simple act of smiling.

4.  Stay true to the meaning of the holiday.  Why are you celebrating?  What does this holy day mean to you?  Are your actions reflecting that meaning?  What you eat, drink, say, share and receive can be in direct alignment with the meaning of this holy day(s) or an excuse to abandon that connection.  When your actions and words reflect your deepest values, you will experience spiritual fulfillment throughout the experience.

5. Give more to those in need.  Give your time, energy, smiles, laughter, loving kindness, food, financial support to those in need.  Most of us do not need another toy or trinket.  But we all thrive on compassion, kindness, loving attentiveness; soulful connection.  Seek out those who may be isolated and struggling during the season - in hospitals, homeless shelters, Veterans groups, grief support groups, hospice, animal shelters, senior citizens homes  or within your circle of friends and family - and give your loving support in whatever way spirit moves you to do so.

6.  Write a thank you note. Take a few moments to appreciate all that is present here and now.  And write a note of thanks to the source of what you are experiencing.  Your note can be written the divine; family; friends; loved ones in spirit; yourself; colleagues....you get the idea.

7. Tell people how you truly feel.  One thing I've noticed over the years of speaking with those in spirit is the need to express more love and truth.  Every one in spirit seeks to communicate the love that transcends all physical limits and tell truths that promote healing, connections and living in alignment with the divine. Do not wait or hold back; share your truth and your love openly and honestly. 

8.  Let go.  Learning from those in spirit once again, those who forgive and love freely ascend without issue into the highest realms of divinity.  Those who resent or cling to having things "made right" suffer and struggle in after life.  This is the same experience in the physical world.  If you are hurting - acknowledge the truth of your experience compassionately and move into the willingness to release all resentments.  Let go and let the divine uplift, heal and free you one moment at a time. 

I wish you blessings for a loving holiday created through consciousness. 
Lori

http://youtu.be/eScjBaZ0_ZU

Send Your Love

Sting's song (similar to William Blake's poem)

Finding the world in the smallness of a grain of sand
And holding infinities in the palm of your hand
And Heaven's realms in the seedlings of this tiny flower
And eternities in the space of a single hour

Send your love into the future
Send your love into the distant dawn
Inside your mind is a relay station
A mission probe into the unknowing
We send a seed to a distant future
Then we can watch the galaxies growing

This ain't no time for doubting your power
This ain't no time for hiding your care
You're climbing down from an ivory tower
You've got a stake in the world we ought to share

You see the stars are moving so slowly
But still the earth is moving so fast
Can't you see the moon is so lonely
She's still trapped in the pain of the past

This is the time of the worlds colliding
This is the time of kingdoms falling
This is the time of the worlds dividing
Time to heed your call

Send your love into the future
Send your precious love into some distant time
And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love


There's no religion but sex and music
There's no religion but sound and dancing
There's no religion but line and color
There's no religion but sacred trance

There's no religion but the endless ocean
There's no religion but the moon and stars
There's no religion but time and motion
There's no religion, just tribal scars

Throw a pebble in and watch the ocean
See the ripples vanish in the distance
It's just the same with all the emotions
It's just the same in every instance

There's no religion but the joys of rhythm
There's no religion but the rites of Spring
There's no religion in the path of hate
No prayer but the one I sing

Send your love into the future

And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love
Send your love

There's no religion but sex and music
There's no religion that's right or winning
There's no religion in the path of hatred
Ain't no prayer but the one I'm singing

Send your love
Send your love

Creating an Authenic Holiday

The holiday season is upon us and most of us find ourselves invited into the habitual choices that we now call traditions.  Some of the patterns inspire and open our hearts while others lead us to feeling disconnected, pressured and overwhelmed at this time of year.  So how can we change the trajectory of this season’s dance and create a holiday filled with love?

1.     Remember who you are.  You are the very essence of love.  Love is the pure, unconditional essence at the core of all life.  It streams from the Divine Source without barriers, without judgments, without needs.  It is a constant flowing energy that is your true essence.  It never pulls back or shifts from your being. 

2.     Cultivate a Love Practice.  What you focus on expands.  Take time each morning to be silent and connect with your true essence.  Begin by  sitting in a comfortable position, spine open and upright, arms resting at your sides.  Breathe deeply into your body and elongate your exhale.   Relax your jaw and facial muscles.  Breathe in and out deeply  several times and then normalize your breath.   Picture someone you love unconditionally.  Feel the love within your being and appreciate your heart’s ability to radiate love so freely, so easily.  As you connect with this love, expand the energy so that love saturates all the cells of your body.  Expand the love outward until your whole space is illuminated with love.  Make a decision to bring this loving energy into your day.  See the day unfolding in your mind as you radiate pure love.  Bask in this radiant love.  Bring this energy throughout your day and notice what happens.

3.     Practice presence.  Presence is the portal to love and equanimity.  Our culture believes love, happiness and fulfillment are dependent upon circumstances and others.  Love, peace, prosperity, wisdom and more are energies within us.  Where you put your attention, will expand.  Take a moment right now, to breathe deeply into your belly, elongate your exhale and do this several times.  Allow your breath to normalize.  Let your attention focus on breathing in and breathing out.  Breathing in, breathing out.  Let thoughts float by, without giving them your any more energy thatn simply noticing their presence, while focusing on your breath.  Love is always present within your heart.  It is not conditional.  Love is not dependent upon your fulfilling your to-do list; getting things perfect; giving or receiving the right presents; meeting someone’s needs; or being worthy.  YOU are born from the essence of love.   When you learn to be with your breath and right here and now, you access your innate power through presence.  You discover love, peace, joy and prosperity as energies within you ready and willing to expand through your presence. 

4.     Act with kindness.    Make a decision to be a force of love through kind actions this season.   Instead of joining into the hustle bustle; slow down and give someone your space in line; lend a helping hand; give someone your full attention.   You never know what burdens another person is carrying within their being - so breathe, access love and practice random acts of kindness throughout your day.  The energy upon which you focus expands.

5.     Cultivate appreciation.  Gratitude is the essence of our presence to love.  Set a timer to ring several times in the day: make this your gratitude alert!  Notice where your attention is at that moment.  Breathe deeply and focus on 3-5 things your deeply appreciate. Breathe and appreciate your ability to experience and cultivate gratitude and love.  Whatever you focus on expands.

6.     Create a New Tradition.   With the focus on material gift giving, children learn to associate abundance with stuff.  Perhaps you can do something different this year and create an appreciation book for members of your family filled with statements and images expressing your gratitude.   Have your children do the same and include their drawings.  Take time to write those things you deeply value about the individual.  Decorate the book as an expression of loving appreciation.  Notice what expands in your life. 

7.     Discover true meaning in your holiday.  What do you celebrate and why?  Spend time discovering what the holiday truly means to you.  Cultivate a meaningful connection to the event your honor – Christmas; Hanukkah; Winter Solstice; Kwanza or others.  As you discover the meaning of this holiday, align your choices with this significance.  Where you spend your time; the gifts you may exchange; the celebrations you’ll create or attend can deepen that connection to your holiday or serve as a distraction from it.   Bring meaning into every action associated with the holiday and notice what happens.   

You are the essence of love incarnate.  You are pure potential awaiting your focused attention to bring forth exquisite creations into abundant experiences and forms within the earth.  Awaken to your authentic power.  Connect with the miracles associated with your holiday, the infinite well of love within you and the power to expand that love and appreciation throughout the season.  And notice what happens.
Seeing you in the miracle of love now and always,
Lori