We’re moving into deep summer … the air is often now hot and sultry first thing in the morning and still so even when the stars come out. The night’s lit with the magic of fireflies, and day or night nature plays for us her orchestra of song, bird-song and leaf shimmering by day, while the night air hums with the music of crickets, frogs, locusts, and nocturnal ones of all kinds singing their unique songs.
Nature is celebrating all around us, bursting into colors, calling us to join her in this celebration of life!We join her, as we take more time this season to gather with friends and family at cook-outs, barbecues, attend festivals, outdoor music venues, camp, swim, kayak, fish, get away to the beach, joining her in celebrating and bringing our attention to the beauty of her presence. We tend to mingle more with nature in this summer season, in the shade or sun, by night or by day, life calls us to be outdoors, whether we are aware of it or not, it happens.
So let us be conscious of this underlying celebration of beauty and life going on all around us as we gather in these fun and joyful ways.
Pay attention to the aspects of nature that call to you the most and notice the opening of your heart. Connecting with nature is one of the most effortless ways to open your heart. And opening your heart is the doorway to living life more in oneness, less in duality. As you notice the beauty of nature around you, zone in and connect with whatever calls to your heart, let your mind rest and just breathe in through your heart, shifting your awareness to this heart energy. As you do so you will notice your heart energy expanding, now allow this expanded heart energy to merge your awareness as fully as possible (without thinking) with this flower /river / insect / birdsong before you. Breathing in and out this pure connection, feeling the love, merging into the pure essence of this beautiful being your are one with. Bless this being, this connection, thanking God / Spirit / Divine for this opportunity for oneness.
This deep connection, these precious moments, are another way of celebrating! Don't miss out on this opportunity, always present and waiting for you to shift your awareness just slightly to tap into this layer of wonder, just under the surface, waiting to gift you with its presence.
Another layer of celebration to tap into also has to do with your heart, and it’s a celebration the world is in dire need of just now, the celebration of love!We celebrate love when we consciously choose to live with an open heart. Living open-heartedly may seem easy when you think about all the people, animals, plants, the earth herself that you love! But living open-heartedly can seem a bit more challenging when we consider those that live differently than us. It may not be as easy to love those that promote fear, those that tout hate, those that are against immigrants, those that use power for their own ends, etc, etc.
We live in an era in which it is easy to be a loving person, yet harbor anger and outrage and stoke the flames of ‘justified righteousness’ in our own hearts as we judge others for their ignorance. This difficult place to love is the perfect breeding ground for opening our hearts wider, and leaning into stretching the limits of our love. You see, it can be very difficult to live open-heartedly when we consider loving those that may be difficult for us to love.
Here are two key ways to shift into open-heartedness when you are up against a wall of judgement, intolerance or anger in your own mind: 1) Ask yourself, “How am I that?”It’s a profound question. Because if you are absolutely honest, you will find places in the secret recesses of your inner most thoughts in which you are indeed that, or where you suppress “that," whatever that may be, so strongly as to only show the opposite to the world. (Which means you are supressing a shadow aspect of yourself.)2) Set your intention to be conscious of this inherent human trait and ask for spiritual help in alleviating your judgement. Once your intention is set to live open-heartedly, you will begin to notice the signs of this lower vibration, such as spinning thoughts, negative thoughts, body tension, espousing righteousness (trust me, I know!), and then it is as simple as shifting your consciousness through breath. Begin by breathing into your heart, allowing this breath to quiet your mind, focus on the feeling of expansion in your heart center, while holding the image of one who is easy for you to love, letting your heart fill up and overflow with the sparkling light of pure love.As you celebrate with family and friends this season, drop into that deeper layer of your being and celebrate nature and celebrate love! Both nature and love open our hearts, and opening our hearts is the medicine this world needs right now. Our open hearts hold powerful medicine to heal our weary earth and to guide us forwards on our path of becoming the expanded beings we were born to be!
Enjoy the celebrations of this delightful season, and enjoy the expanded awareness of your journey!Join us for a heart opening meditation at our monthly group meditation on 7/9/16 or listen to any of our archived meditations at sacredhealingjourney.comMeditation for July: Much love and many blessings,Lynn and Cheryl