SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH - Blog # 7 Spring Cleaning Your Body Temple

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH- # 7 Blog from Anne Christine Spring Cleaning Your Body Temple

Greetings All. The bright sun is helping to continue the snow melt. Some patches of brown earth are peeking out after months of being hidden from view. Signs of Spring are slowly making themselves known. As the snow melts and the water element rises we move into Kapha season of Spring.

Kapha is an ayurvedic ( the medical sister science of yoga) term that means earth and water elements. In the season of Spring , earth and water elements are dominant. If we are imbalanced heading into spring from a demanding winter, a weakened immune system and feeling sluggish and fatigued, our earth and water elements may indeed combine to make mud and result in lethargy, depression, heaviness of body and mind and increase in congestion. Seasonal allergies are often the result. What to do?

Consider a Spring Seasonal Cleanse. Take a few weeks to reduce all inflammatory foods out of your diet including sugar, caffeine, dairy, wheat, nuts and animal protein. Add in lots of spring greens and liver cleansing veggies like beets to your diet.

Drink lots of warm lemon water, move your body in gentle stretching and walks in nature. Get to bed early and help your body get back into the natural rhythm of nature. Unplug and limit your screen time and use that time for practicing meditation daily for 5-10 min. Your body will respond with a natural release of held toxins from your fat tissues, you will feel lighter, brighter, more energized and inspired in sync with the wonderful rising energy of Spring itself. 

Our physical body's are the temples of our souls. One question to ask , am I treating my body like a sacred temple or like a trash can overloading it with a low prana diet, dwelling in patterns of negativity and inactivity ? Everything we take in through our senses and through our mouths either adds to our vibrancy or adds to our dullness. Choose Vibrancy.

If you would like some excellent guidance on this, I will be offering our Spring Seasonal Detox ,4 week course: Clear & Clarify your Life Force Beginning Monday April 6, 7:15-9pm.
There is an early bird $50 savings if you enroll by March 30.

In four weeks you will have some powerful ayurvedic wellness tools to help reclaim your Body Temple and optimize your energy, balance your weight and moods, and activate clarity with your connection to your innate life force intelligence! You also receive passes to attend 3 gentle yoga classes or one private yoga session with me to optimize your success !This is Spring cleaning of the highest order.
You can access the full course details at the website:www.openinglotusyoga.com

" Live is the dancer and we are the dance!" Eckhart Tolle

Namaste & Blessings for a Beautiful Day !

Anne Christine

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 6. This Planet is In Labor & Delivery.. What Are You Ready to Give Birth To?

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH - # 6 Blog by Anne Christine

This Planet is in Labor & Delivery Right Now ! What Are You Ready to Give Birth To?

Greetings all.! What an off the charts phenomenal, astrological, cosmic week this week! Even if you do not follow the guidance of astrology, you cannot help but notice what is lining up this week in unprecedented fashion. We are moving into an evolutionary leap that we have not witnessed before. This planet is in labor and delivery and something magnificent is pulsating to be born into our collective consciousness and expressed individually by our own unique creative expressions.

Here is the line up. Monday completed the 7th square between the two planets Uranus & Pluto over the past 2 1/2 years. These squares have served to apply pressure to bring awareness to us all what needs to be released in our lives. To become quite clear what is no longer serving us and actually inhibiting us moving into a deeper, more authentic and honest expression of who we really are and what are Dharmic mission is here on earth.
Today we enter a super New Moon phase which is about completions or ending of our current cycle of consciousness and friday we have the vernal equinox paired within an hour of a solar eclipse!

What does this all mean? We literally are being guided to give birth to a higher aspect of our True Self. The best thing we can do over the next few days is go into some seclusion time and meditate as there will be potent opening as this solar eclipse moves in , which will open a channel for all of us to receive deeper guidance on what needs to be expressed through us. The clarity and guidance we may have spent decades searching for in terms of knowing what our deeper purpose is, what our unique path is to bring our gifts into this world, that opportunity to connect to deep wisdom is upon us now! If you want to tap in, you've got to get still and listen in meditation.

What are you still holding on to that is weighing you down? This is a time of birthing . What is ready to be born within you? This is the BEST TIME to get grounded, centered and quiet to tap into this powerful time of wisdom transmission and the best way to be open to this energetic current is to practice gratitude for all you have been through thus far in your life, good , bad or neutral, because it has all served to shape this moment in time when the eternal realm will penetrate the temporal realm we live in of time and space.

 This is a powerful window opening for humanity and this planet. Don't miss it! Create a ritual of release of what is old and ready to go and create the space to receive by clearing out material clutter and  getting quiet and still in the next few days. The best time to set your intentions for the new energy is Sunday to Monday after the eclipse takes place. These intentions will have potency for the next 5-6 months so be clear about them.

Namaste & Blessings to you all as we welcome Spring and we open to a powerful opportunity to embody a deeper level of Light and Love of who we really are.

" Dream it,, See it. Bring it and GIVE IT!"

Anne Christine

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 5 Time to Stretch Out of Your Comfort Zones!

Seed for Spiritual Growth # 5

Time to Stretch Yourselves Out of Comfort Zones

Greetings All. Here in Central MA. we have had our first week without measurable snow and the temps are inching to 50! There is still massive amounts of snow on the ground 4-5 feet in some places so the melt will take some time and bring with it its own challenges such as flooding . Such are the cycles of nature. We take it as it comes and adapt as best we can.

As we near the Vernal Equinox March 20 amidst what is a super potent month of astrological events including super moons, Holy Friday the 13th and a Solar Eclipse on the Equinox.... our energetic bodies are being pressured by all these alignment towards higher vibration and an invitation to evolve to higher levels of consciousness.

Those in the know are aware of these shifts and taking good care to clear unessential debris out of their life, be it in the psyche or in your closets! Those not in the know may be acting out the felt pressure with irritability, emotional fluctuations , fatigue, fear or illness.

If you want to know the true caliber of your Spirit, notice how you are under pressure! A favorite quote I love from HH.Dalai Lama is " Practicing under ideal conditions is NOT a practice. Practicing under adverse conditions IS a practice."

This past weekend I participated in a full 8 hour day of Kundalini White Tantric meditation with 300 or so other yogis from New England , NY and beyond here in MA." White Tantric Yoga enables you to break through subconscious blocks so you can have a more enjoyable life. In the shortest time, one day, you can experience release from a lot of the burden you carry in your mind". It was described by the facilitator that doing a Kundalini Kriya or meditation is like getting your car washed. Doing White Tantra is like getting your car detailed! White Tantra is only done in one location on the globe at one time and organized through 3HO, Yogi Bhajan's global community of Kundalini Teachers and Practitioners.

It is said that for every blink of the eye, our minds release 1000 thoughts. Some of these get lost in the unconscious mind and most of these get filed in the subconscious mind and affect our conscious mind. It is also said that 80% or more of our behavior is driven by the subconscious mind. The more cluttered your subconscious, the more cluttered your mind, the more confused and misaligned your body is . Clearing the subconscious mind increases the clarity of your mind and thus enhances all energies of the body.

White Tantra is no joke! Your are not sitting in a cozy posture chanting OM and blissing out. Well, some may be that have less debris to release. You sit in long rows facing your partner, whom I just met that day, and you are instructed to practice meditation after meditation ranging from 62 minutes to 32 minutes. You are usually holding your partners hands or arms in some way elevated and the key here, locking your eyes together as your chant!

I am not a novice yogi or meditator. I have 22 years of practice and 12 of teaching and yet, these powerful meditations in a sizeable group within minutes started to unwind any aspect of blocks or stagnation or pattern in my body or mind that was in need of release. Your body starts to feel the pressure, your eyes might be dancing all over avoiding the power of the gaze, your brain starts to miss the beat of the mantra but over the 62 minutes or 32 minutes, as the clearing continues, you begin to open, release and yes surrender. Ego gets a super washing. By the end of the day, everyone has shed some significant layers of subconscious crud. You notice people meeting each other during the breaks or lunch with more love, more gentleness, eye to eye , soul to soul. " Your mind, body and soul act as one and this is the path of personal freedom and awareness that will bring more success to every area of your life."

I am still experiencing the effects of this a few days post, mostly fatigue and some energetic overload but we were told it will take 40 days for this new level of clarity and connection to be integrated. Would I do I do it again? Absolutely! Why? Because while I am on this planet , in this body with this mind, I have this passion to become the clearest embodied light of my soul and radiate that light to others. Its a passion that has had me on the so called spiritual path for decades. The path has had its curves,detours and ditches but at this point in my life the path is becoming so clear and really not something ahead of me to pursue but something within me to inhabit.

I'm not suggesting that White Tantra is for everyone. I am suggesting that each of us has an impulse to grow beyond the limits of our conditioned minds. Beyond our fears, judgements and struggles. Each of us is endowed with a deep memory of what we really are, which is the Divine Light of the soul.

I am suggesting this Spring that your stretch yourself in some way. Step out of your perceived comfort zones of behaving. Take a class that you have been thinking about, explore a new skill , learn to meditate! So many creative ways we can explore to reveal a deeper aspect of ourselves.

Namaste & Blessings for a Beautiful LAST Week of Winter!

Anne Christine

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 4 March is Coming in Like a Lion- Power & Courage!

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH- # 4
March Is Coming in as a Lion- Power and Courage

 If you are like me, chances are your eyes are feeling pretty tired from processing so much data, info and images. The astronomical speed of which information is exchanged in modern times is a new phenomena for us humans to adapt to and the word is, nothing in the data/tech world is slowing down anytime soon. In fact it will keep accelerating.

So that leaves us with a very clear decision. Do we try and swim with the information tsunami or choose a different approach by narrowing our scope. Dive below the tumult of the surface waves to the deeper calm below , turning inward on a daily basis to connect to what is always still, aware and holding the ground of our being literally right beneath our noses.

Its a powerful paradox that those of humanity that take the courageous invitation being sent now to cultivate a deeper connection to their higher consciousness ,embody and live from that awareness of who you really are, will be the guiding soul lights for the rest of the planet to not only survive but to evolve to a new ,expanded paradigm of integrated conscious beings.

Its happening already and this month of March, 2015 is a pivotal time of energetic initiation with all the planetary alignments moving into position of impulse, super moons, equinox and eclipse on the same day and more. Word to the wise, be prepared to meet your shadows and take it as clear guidance to grow beyond your small self, your egos fears, judgements and conditions. Its really time to get deeply honest with ourselves. Authenticity and honesty are the hallmarks of a spiritually awakened being. Are you ready to get deeply honest?

Start today , speak truthfully, honor all your feelings that arise, push nothing away, resist nothing, open yourself to your fears as they block the light of your radiance. Get still and meditate daily to create inner space. Meditating will not be a luxury anymore, it is a necessity for living a healthy human life.

   Between now and March 20, clear out the clutter from your life. Release what is unessential be it material possessions, mental or emotional baggage. If you clear space now, when the powerful Spring equinox and eclipse occur on the same day, you are open to receiving very powerful energy. If your space is cluttered with old ,unessential possessions, the powerful energy will still arrive but will be blocked with a logjam of debris, thus creating a vivid experience of compression and limitation. Make space now! Spend 15-20 minutes a day for the next 3 weeks decluttering.

We are truly living in powerful times. The potential for massive shifts of consciousness is at our fingertips. Will it be easy? Of course not. Will it be worth it?Absolutely! Is it necessary? Without question. A spiritual journey is not one of the mind but of the intuitive heart and it takes courage to step into that deep honesty with oneself. The alternative is to live in the limits of your shadows and on a global level, if we continue this pattern, the outcomes for our planet's health and capacity to sustain are very pressured. 

Sunday March 8 marks International Women's Day. Lets start with honoring the Divine Mother of them all, Mother Earth and proceed to honor the Divine Feminine within all of us. This is the path we are being shown. May we have the power, presence and courage of the Lion to embrace that.

Namaste & Blessings. 

Love & Light
Anne Christine

SEES FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH # 3 The Smell of Fear vs. The Sense of Trust

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH-
The Smell of Fear vs. The Feeling of Trust 

Hello All. Grateful the sun is out and the temps are above zero here in central MA. as we weathered another blizzard the past few days. All this surrendering to weather forces out of our control had me meditating about two powerful inner forces that often determine how we choose to perceive and act in the world. Fear and Trust.

Its commonly known that animals can smell fear as easily as we can smell a warm baked chocolate chip cooking coming out of the oven. Its known that we as humans can sense fear in its many forms from resistance, contractions, anxiety, worry, and stagnation to name a few. What if every time we sensed the inner experience of fear arising, we took a deep breath and allowed ourselves to actually embrace the fear experience with a sense of Trust. A Trust that resonates from our Higher Self, that reminds us of who and what we really are even if at the level of mind we don't quite know that yet, but we Trust anyway. What if we allow the movement of fear to rise and fall like a feather on the wind? We observe this movement from the vantage point of our soul that includes everything in our awareness. Nothing is booted out, judged. condemned or banished.

What happens when we choose to allow the experiences of fear to rise and we allow a sense of Trust to support that presence? What happens is you begin to realize you are not what you fear. You are not what you avoid, worry or obsess about. You are not some contracted limited being that is caught in an endless dead end of small mind cul-de-sacs. You may be a human being that has been conditioned to experiencing all of the above but now with Trust by your side, you begin to have a higher vantage point from which to view your experiences on the human plane. This TRUST is born of the connection and deep soul knowing and remembrance that you are Divine Light, nothing less than the light that animates the planets, stars and universe.

Do you trust the sun rises and sets each day? Do you trust the moon moves in a cycle of 28 days each month, that the seasons move in their cycles of 90 days , that the solar year is marked with two equinoxes and two solstices? If you answered yes to those questions then why do we stumble in Trusting we are a part of the universal wisdom and intelligence?

To support your Spiritual growth and awakening, notice each time some form of fear arises within you. Notice what it feels like, where in your body do you feel it, what thoughts are arising with the energy of fear? Then take a few deep , slow breaths ,which is in and of itself an act of courage to stay present to what can be very uncomfortable and allow a sense of TRUST in your Higher Self to be present. A sense of openness and receptivity to emerge knowing that whatever is arising is an opportunity for your growth and evolution IF we recognize we have that choice! We choose to grow each day more than the day before. To be present more today than yesterday, to love more today than yesterday.

 I learned an interesting fact recently regarding if TRUST has a smell like Fear does? Turns out the scent of  Lavender does in fact stimulate the part of our limbic system in our brains that communicates a feeling of trust and openness. We all know that lavender is highly relaxing and soothing to our nervous systems and now studies show that the scent activates a  connection to a deeper soul memory of trust and peace. So at the very least, if you suffer from the grips of fear and feel caught in those experiences, try diffusing essential oil of lavender into your home, office or bedroom on a daily basis. Support your nervous system realigning with its higher Truth.

We are constantly being invited to make that conscious choice to be present to what is arising  moment by moment, no matter what it is. The more you practice allowing Trust to accompany you when feeling fear, the less grip fear will have over you. Trust and fear cannot coexist.
Blessings for your Spiritual growth. Please share  this post with your friends and loved ones if you found it helpful . We are all on this spiritual journey together. 

Namaste 

Anne Christine

Seeds for Spiritual Growth # 2 : The Sweet Side of Surrender

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH- #2   The Sweet Side of Surrender

Hello and greetings from what is beginning to feel like a foreign landscape here in snowbound MA. We are surrounded by 6-8 foot piles of snow. Its quite difficult to get around the past few weeks and folks are starting to express the fatigue of experiencing storm after storm rolling in with very little relief. Even the dog seems depressed as she can't sniff her neighborhood as usual or get her daily long walks in.

So what spiritual truth can we glean from challenging circumstances we may be facing be it environmental or our own internal atmosphere ? Know when its time to dial it down and surrender to a Being that is Supreme to you. Often our egoic mind views surrender as some negative , passive form of giving up. In truth, surrender is a profound conscious act of realizing there are limits to what your mind can manage. There are limits to what our emotions can process. The Spirit has no limits with its infinite creative solutions available for our challenges, if we only get still long enough to experience that loving presence. This Being that is supreme to your ego is also benevolent and is longing to be embodied by all of us. Life without connection to our Spiritual Higher Self is quite frankly a pale shadow of your souls magnificence!

The sweet side of surrender is knowing that you are not alone, that you are always supported from Source, that all is happening for our highest good at all times. Surrender is a conscious practice of recognizing that truth and practice letting go into it, trusting that you will be guided on whats most important to focus your energy and effort on.

We do not have to wait until we are completely exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally, until we literally collapse to our knees and cry out and beg for help, albeit this scenario is one I am familiar with. We do have the choice to choose sweet surrender in any moment we feel compressed , confused or energetically drained. In surrendering to your Higher Self , your Spirit , you ask that Spirit take the wheel . We open to the loving expression of Grace . Grace happens when we get our egoic minds out of the way. Grace happens when we truly let go into the wisdom of who you really are, the light and love of the universe no less!

So my invitation for you this week is practice sweet surrender. Allow a still space daily for your Spirit to be felt and embodied. Trust this Source energy as Supreme to your egos limitation and benevolent in its intentions.

What can you consciously loosen your grip around this week and allow the healing energy of Grace to come in? Sweet Surrender! Its obviously not a 4 letter word to abhor. Its a path to peace! Please  SHARE with your friends and family  if you found this useful and share your comments below as we all learn from each others journeys!

Namaste and Blessings for a week of practicing surrender.
All LIght & Love
Anne Christine

NEW POSTS LAUNCHES TODAY! Vibrant Health Tips is Now : SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH - Life in the Slow Lane 

Greetings Friends. I am a few days late with the Vibrant Health post as we here in Central MA. have been deluged with an abundance of snow (4 feet and counting) and cold (-7 last night) that my creative juices were a bit on hold as just getting through the normal duties on ones day seems to take so much more effort and energy than normal but I have some quiet time this morning and want to take this opportunity to announce a change of my posts.

Starting this week, the formally VIBRANT HEALTH TIP OF THE WEEK posts will be changed to SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH. I've posted Vibrant Health Tips for the past 18 months and they will be compiled into a FREE E-Book available soon so stay tuned. Today plants the first SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH post for 2015!

In my own Spiritual evolution, its become clear to me that the epitome of vibrant health IS a Spiritually nourished, connected and activated life and my posts going forward will amplify this theme with weekly , contemplative prose to kindle your inner spark of Spirit and support you embodying your Spiritual energy as your primary source from which to perceive, act and live from. 

No doubt there is a massive amount of information being shared about optimized nutrition, finding weight balance, boosting immune systems, counter balancing the toxins we are environmentally exposed to and all these posts are great, many I have shared and will continue to when I feel they are newsworthy. That said, I feel the deeper yearning is not particularly on the next superfood phenomena, we are all versed in new language; chia, gogi, maca and quinoa to name a few. What I want to share is some inspiration for inner nourishment. The vital connection to ones Spirit as experienced through breath, meditation, mantras, yoga, and daily stillness. 

As our information age is catapulting ever faster, the only way to balance that trajectory is to nurture daily, inner stillness and connection to your inner nature and the expression of our spirit within Nature. STILLNESS ROCKS! It may sound counter intuitive when the flow of traffic of this data driven world is in hyperspeed to actually make the vital choice to pull over into the SLOW LANE! Put the virtual brakes on with slowing down your breath and taken a moment to re-embody your body!

When we stop, pause and breathe deeply, we reinhabit the domain of our Spirit. The body temple. We reconnect to Source through our awareness of the stillness that is always here , right now. All phenomena of thought, feeling, emotion and perception is arising from the ONE field of awareness that is always present. This is the ground of our Being. The question often is, are we present? The answer is , usually not. The consequence of not being present on a daily basis is the foundation for all forms of stress related experiences.

So thats the Seed for Spiritual Growth today. Recognize that your fundamental nature is stillness, is spirit as experienced through stillness and begin to take notice in this moment to reconnect to that truth. Stop, pause, slowly take a deep breath in and slowly exhale and do this a few times until you feel back in your body and present to this moment. Just be still and acknowledge the stillness that is already here.

I look forward to sharing weekly SEEDS FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH this year with you! As always, I appreciate your feedback and comments. Please feel free to post below and share these posts with family and friends.

Let me know how you are making daily steps to dial it down and get in the slow lane. Spiritual Awakening and Conscious Evolution is the calling of our time. The current paradigm of data driven , stress loaded, isolation and anxiety is not sustainable on any level.

Blessings & Namaste For a Week Sprinkled with Moments of Stillness!
Anne Christine