SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 18 The Pranic Power of Summer Solstice

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 18 A Blog Post from Anne Townend-Duffey Director of Opening Lotus Yoga The Pranic Power of Summer Solstice!  Summer Solstices are powerful times of potent prana flow as the sun hits its peak. For this week and next, it's a good time to lighten up a bit, drink lemon water to cleanse, move and awaken your body and most powerfully choose to meditate on the exact Solstice day, either early in the morning before 6am or the time of the exact Solstice which will be Sunday June 21 at 12:39 pm EST. Your intentions and alignments will be strongly magnified with this Solstice and that energy will carry on for the next 6 months so take some time over the next few days to clear distractions, be it mental,emotional , physical or material. Make space for what is true and in your highest integrity and let the peak power of the sun radiate that into an illuminated beam of well beingness. This Solstice sun will mirror our inner sun. Our life force. Our energy, vitality and brightness of being! "The Yogis know that the Solstice time is a time of powerful energy. When the cycle of sunlight reaches its peak, there is a tremendous amount of Prana available. It's an important time for study of spiritual teachings, for yoga practice and for meditation. The cycle of the sun, and many other subtle rhythms, have a profound effect on our lives. When we pay attention to them, we are able to harness our inner energy and accelerate ourselves forward in the direction of the Dharmic mission that we have incarnated to fulfill. " Jai Dev Singh Happy Summer Solstice All! Namaste Anne Christine * To access the full archive of SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH , Go to www.openinglotusyoga.blogspot.com-Lotus Love Click here to Reply or Forward 1.2 GB (8%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 11 minutes ago Details

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 17 Soul Listening A Blog Post by Anne Townend-Duffey

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 17 Soul Listening

Hello all on this beautiful late Spring morning. The birds woke me up early at dawn as they begin their morning songs. How beautiful if we humans began each day in song! Lying quietly and really tuning into what I was hearing, I could discern layer upon layer of sounds. The birds of course, the whirring of the wheels of the cars driving by, a dog barking, my dog breathing in deep dreams, my heart beating, my breath breathing.

Listening is the other half of the equation of communicating and deep listening tunes us into the songs of our Souls who whisper to us in waves of intuitive insights through our feelings and sensory body. Within the Yoga subtle body teachings, communication rules the throat chakra, the 5th chakra whose element is ether which is space and subtlety. When we speak too much or are silent too much our throat chakra can be skewed and not balanced. We may find it confusing to really sense what we want to say or when we want to be silent. Clarity of communication begins with stillness.

I have taken a vow for the next 40 days to begin each day in deep listening. I already meditate daily but felt called to bring more attention to this aspect of Soul listening. Really dedicating time in my practice to deeply be still and listen. To send an invitation to my Soul that I am inviting myself into her presence which is already here but I am desiring to engage with her in a deeper more intimate way. To know no separation from my soul is to live in alignment with our Truth of our Beingness. Everything that gets in the way of that is clutter be it mental , emotional, physical, or material.

The Soul love simplicity. The ego loves complexity. If you are consumed with your mental thinking, your Soul doesn't have a space edgewise to be heard. Listening is the simplest of acts yet can be so challenging to truly be present and listen deeply from your heart space. It seems to be that we need to invite this presence into our daily experience and practice it like any other skill we want to strengthen. If we are to be good listeners with others it begins with us and one of the most basic human desires is to be heard and understood. That takes presence. That takes a capacity to listen from the vantage point of your heart.

So that is my intent. To deeply engage in Soul listening . I am looking forward to what she has to say and will share any insights in the next few weeks.

" Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard". -Anne Sexton

Namaste & Blessings for a Deep Listening Day!

Love & Light
Anne Christine.

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