Be Present & Stay Grounded

5 Ways to Love the Present Moment – NO MATTER what!

POSTED BY FELRETREAT ON OCT 19, 2013 IN UNCATEGORIZED | 0 COMMENTS

Recently, a small black mole appeared on my ankle. I had a sinking feeling when I saw it. A biopsy and a personal call from the doctor confirmed that the spot was indeed cause for concern and I would need surgery to remove a larger section of the surrounding tissue.

I got the news the day before I left to lead a weeklong yoga retreat in Maui. I wouldn’t be able to practice yoga for at least three weeks after the procedure, so the doc told me to enjoy my vacation and we would schedule surgery when I got back. Enjoy my vacation? Obviously, the doctor didn’t know me well enough to know that you can’t say the words melanoma and enjoy Maui in the same sentence.

My mind instantly started spinning. One moment I was blissfully packing for a trip to paradise and the next, I was packing for what might be the last trip of my life. My thoughts dragged me down a slippery slope of what ifs. What if it’s cancer? What if the surgery doesn’t remove it all? What if I need chemotherapy and lose all my hair? What if I need to have my foot amputated?

Each thought was feeding on the negativity of the last, sending me down a deep, dark rabbit hole. The fact that my mom died last year from cancer only made the rabbit hole deeper and darker. As I boarded the plane to Maui, I asked myself the most important what if. What if I released my fears and allowed myself to be fully present? My retreaters deserved my full presence and so did I. The truth was, I felt great. I could still spread my toes on my yoga mat, stretch my arms up to the sky and breathe in gratitude for the blessing of this moment.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali tells us “Heyam duhkham anagatam.” Pain that has not yet come is avoidable. If we allow our present to be filled with the fear of future suffering, we suffer twice.

As author and activist Corrie ten Boom beautifully put it, “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength – carrying two days at once. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” There is no more powerful medicine than making peace with the unknown of tomorrow and saving our strength for today.

As I sit here writing this, the dull ache in my ankle from the surgery I had upon my return, reminds me that I am still alive and more whole than ever before. And that rabbit hole? It no longer exists, because this time, the call from the doctor came back all clear.

Here are 5 ways to let go of your fears and embrace the peace of the present:

1. Practice yoga.

Yoga provides a physical outlet for the release of emotional anxiety. The mind has a hard time wandering when you’re firmly anchored to the presence of your body and your breath.

2. Meditate.

Find a quiet space to sit still and just be. Be present to the sound and sensation of your breath. Observe your thoughts and let them come and go without attachment or judgment. If you feel yourself starting to identify with a thought, simply draw your awareness back to your breath to ground you in the present.

3. Every day, write down three things for which you are grateful.

As Eckhart Tolle says “Pain can only feed on pain. Pain cannot feed on joy. It finds it quite indigestible.” Eradicate your fears by inviting gratitude and joy into your life.

4. Acknowledge & accept.

That which we resist, persists. Sometimes the simple act of acknowledging what we fear is the most powerful way to release us from its hold. If your fears are rational, like a serious illness, first accept whatever the situation is. (Note that acceptance does not mean giving up or giving in!) Use this acceptance as a way to move into positive action.

5. Try light visualization.

Darkness cannot survive in the presence of light. When you feel dark thoughts creeping in, visualize yourself as light. See a tiny ember of white light glowing in your belly. Fan this ember with slow, rhythmic breaths and watch the ember grow into radiant white light. Let this light radiate out from your center, flooding your entire body in a brilliant bath of healing light.

Article byLiz Arch is the creator of Primal Yoga®

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Do you believe in Past Lives?

Do you believe in Past Lives?

POSTED BY FELRETREAT ON OCT 5, 2013 IN UNCATEGORIZED | 0 COMMENTS

Here are 4 Signs You May Have Had A Past Life ~

If you’ve ever wondered why you have a fear of heights or look into the eyes of a stranger and feel as if you know them, the answers may be found in your past lives, says Brian Weiss, MD, the author of Miracles Happen.

As told to Joan Podrazik

1. That Old, Familiar Feeling
Through past-life regression, Dr. Brian Weiss says it’s possible to heal — and grow — your mind, body and soul, as well as strengthen your present-day relationships. He says one of the most common signs of a past life is déjà vu — the sensation that you have met a person before or have visited someplace previously. Sometimes, this déjà vu feeling is a sign of a past life with a particular person or in a specific place.

For example, a patient of mine began having anxiety attacks while on her honeymoon in Greece. When she and her husband left for Rome, the anxiety attacks completely disappeared. When she saw me as a patient, we did a past life regression and found that she had been killed in ancient Greece. Her anxiety attacks stemmed from that lifetime even though she did not know why at the time.

2. Your Dreams Are So Real It’s Like You’re Actually There
Do you have vivid, detailed dreams of yourself in different times and places? That might be a past life memory emerging. As I’ve written in my book, past-life recollections aren’t always actual memories: they may also contain symbols and metaphors that need to be interpreted so that their meaning and message can become clear. These symbols are no less powerful than literal ones. Think of these past-life scenes more as a poem than a history text.

3. You Got An A In History (Without Even Trying)
Talents and abilities, likes and dislikes, and attractions and aversions can also be clues to past lives. You might feel yourself being drawn to certain people or to certain cultures, even if you’ve never visited them. You might find you are able to learn certain subjects or prepare for a profession more easily than others. For example, a particular foreign language might come quicker to you, while others are more difficult. Or you may have an intense interest in certain historical times and events, such as ancient Egypt or the Civil War period.

4. You Have a Soul Mate
It is very common to travel through different lives with the same group of souls — I call these groupings, soul mates or soul companions, or soul families. We seem to learn our spiritual lessons and accumulate or resolve our karma with our soul groups. Relationships may change from life to life, but the souls are the same. For example, your grandmother might reincarnate as your grandson. In this sense we never lose our loved ones, because we are always being reunited either on the other side or back here in physical bodies. In Miracles Happen, I describe many cases of soul recognition. In one case, Michelle, whose mother died when Michelle was a small child, was comforted to find that she and her mother were together before in the Middle Ages. They were husband and wife at that time.

Brian L. Weiss, MD, is the author of Miracles Happen.