How to change the world - Be yourself...

The email below, received this morning from Colleen, made me think of Pierre Martheze, who has just bought a brood mare from Argentina, in foal. I recently attracted a beautiful black crystal from there too. (Tourmaline? can't offhand remember the name).

Hello Philippa
How to change the world
It seems perfectly appropriate to be e-mailing you from Argentina when the topic for this week’s lesson is social and global transformation. In the words of a local, Argentina has been going through a silent civil war for decades and is suffering. No matter where I travel, it is clear that our countries are facing their own peak challenges right now. We can no longer separate ourselves from our world. What used to happen “over there” and “to them” is now “over here” and “to us”.
Our sense of family is expanding to include a much larger collective global family. Though cultures and languages may differ, we bleed the same, cry the same, laugh the same and need the same.

So as I sit here looking out of my hotel apartment in Buenos Aires, having struggled to speak to the few Spanish-speaking people I have just met, I am filled in awe once again that no matter where I go, when you learn to open the heart you will find family.

Given half a chance, if you offered most people the opportunity to change the world they would want to. Do you?

So the question is how? How do you make your life count towards a better world for us all?

Here are 3 real and deep truths that will help you to help your world.

1. Don’t look outside without also looking “in”.
When we look outside of ourselves at the world, we can feel overwhelmed at the sheer size of world problems. Because it all looks too big, we don’t believe that we can do anything of real value. We also go into a denial born of hopelessness, and then we close our eyes and hearts, to just focus on our own survival. We separate our hearts from “them” to try to feel safer.

TIPS:
a. Become aware of when you do this, and ask yourself to not let fear push you to close your eyes or your heart. b. Then go inside of yourself to build the peace and the strength to not shrink back from the world.c. Go inside with prayer or meditation to share the emotional burdens you carry with peace. Sharing the load is powerfully healing.

2. Don’t ask “What can 1 person really do?” Rather ask, “What can I be?”
There is simply too much for any 1 person to do. By focusing on what needs to be done you will feel inadequate and overwhelmed. Rather focus on being the person you were born to be, trust that when you do this, your presence will make the difference you were born to make. Ironically from this perspective you will also likely DO more for the world, but it will feel natural and based on inner peace rather than fear.

3. Your personal and spiritual growth is your greatest contribution to world healing.
Social transformation is a result of personal transformation. Because we are all connected, like drops in the ocean, know that:

• Your greatest contribution to world peace is inner peace. • Your greatest contribution to world healing is personal healing.• Your greatest contribution to global financial empowerment is personal financial empowerment.• Your greatest contribution to world spiritual awareness is a personal experience (not concept) of spirituality.

We make a difference. You make a difference. Just like science tells us that the flap of butterfly wings can change weather patterns on the other side of the world, your personal healing and growth can ripple to contribute to new futures and global healing.

This week's on campus course: Social Transformation - Wednesday morning 28th May at The Academy of Metaphysics and Wednesday evening at The Naturally Yours Institute in Bryanston. Please e-mail pages@iafrica.com or call 011 469-1666 for bookings. Seats are limited.

Look out for next week's teaching until then...Be all you were born to be!

All my best, Colleen-Joy

The Colleen-Joy CompanyTel: (+27 11) 469-1666www.colleen-joy.com http://www.colleen-joy.com Enrol for Colleen-Joy's free weekly teachings, enjoyed by +6500 online students for over 6 years.

On Psychic Matters by Dr Susan Hull Bostwick, USA

Very Right Rev. Dr. Susan Hull Bostwick, Executive Director of the Berkeley Psychic Institute; President, Church of Divine Man; Founder and Managing Editor of the Psychic Reader Newspaper

I love what I do–communicating, healing, and teaching people spirit to spirit. I am a teacher. I love introducing beginners to their own aura, chakras, and their personal psychic meditation space. It is no small task to keep the formula the same as it was originally intended to be and what has worked over the years. I love psychic kindergarten.

I see that meditation will become more of a lifestyle necessity, a way of going within for one’s own answers, yet calming the body, releasing stress, and self-healing. In 35 years, science will prove the amazing health benefits of using one’s psychic ability to its fullest. I see the East Bay becoming even more of a resource for seekers, a place where the spiritual quest does not end, but is empowered. Psychic reading and healing is on the rise. The children born today and those born in the past 30 years are seeing things, hearing things, and knowing things that they can actually clearly speak of and that was not happening before. Being labeled psychic will become normal in 35 years. The New Age child needs, more than ever, protection in the sense of being taught psychic tools. I see more schools such as Yin Yang School for Psychic Children, which I started in 1979, where students are validated for their clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience.

Every morning I arise and assess my spiritual bubble and perform a ritual of setting the energy for my day: this involves seeing the color, vibration, intent, goals, and mock-ups–or energy wishes–that I have going for me this day. I validate and bless all aspects of my life: spiritual, personal, and career. It is kind of like asking for what you want and getting it. If I want the Church of Divine Man or the Berkeley Psychic Institute to take a big step in a specific direction, according to my vision of the future, I imagine it right now. This imagining process–meditation–is what inspires me and brings me to the realization that I can accomplish anything.

http://www.dejavupublishing.com/

http://berkeleypsychic.org/

How to Create Space Internally to Hear the Divine

by Heather Ash Amara

When you clear your mind, express your emotions, and cleanse your physical body, you release what you are not. You create space for the Divine to enter and remind you who you are. The more space you have internally the easier it is to listen and tap into Spirit's wisdom and clarity.

When I worked with don Miguel Ruiz (author of The Four Agreements) our Toltec community did a physical cleanse once a year for Lent (40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter). This was always a sacred time for me, and a time of huge growth.

This year at Spiritual Integrity, Raven and I are starting a new tradition by setting intent for community cleansing from Candlemas (also known as Imbolc) on February 2nd to the Spring Equinox (also known as Eostar) on March 19th. Candlemas is a cross-quarter day that marks the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, and is a time of taking stock. For our ancestors who lived by the cycles of the land Candlemas was a time to feel into how much longer the winter was going to be, and how much grain and provisions needed to be saved to get through the final stretch.

The light is returning, but we are still in winter, waiting for the shoots and buds of spring to appear. We can use this time of year to gently release what no longer serves us and gather our energy and focus as we prepare for a rebirth at Spring Equinox. We invite any of you readers to take on a cleansing period as well.

There are many ways to work with the energy of this time of year to create space and healing.

The focus is to lovingly break up old routines and remove distractions that keep you separated from Spirit. You can choose a focus for yourself, and make sure that you choose from your heart and desire for more space for Spirit, rather than a subtle punishment or creation out of frustration, judgment, or self-punishment. This commitment is to yourself and is a prayer and offering, a sacred gift to clean your temple to receive more of the gracious presence of the Divine in your being.

Here are some ideas for cleansing in the three areas of your life: mental, emotional, and physical. When you choose one, or brainstorm other ideas, choose a solid focus that takes into account where you are on your path. Challenge, but don't overload yourself.

Mental Cleanse
* Opinion fast

Refrain from sharing any opinion you have with others. This is especially useful for controllers. Start by defining what is an opinion, and have a focus for what you are going to do instead of sharing your opinion. Where you are moving towards is not even having the opinion arise in your mind.

* SilencePartial or Full Silence:

Pick one day a week to be in silence, or go into silence for a longer period of time. It is possible to continue to work and interact in silence; it just takes creativity. Read more about my 40 days of silence online in Spiritual Integrity's articles section.

* Mindfulness practice

Pick a place where you tend to go unconscious and create a mindfulness practice, such as saying a prayer before eating and giving your food your full attention, staying conscious of your breath throughout the day, or sitting quietly instead of reading or watching TV.

Emotional Cleanse
* Repression fast

If you tend to bottle up your emotions this is a good cleanse to take on. The fast is from any type of repression of your emotions, which means you consciously express any emotions that arise in the moment. You might dance, vocalize, or beat on pillows. This does not mean "going off on" other people and venting your emotions; it means allowing your own energy to move, in a way that is safe for you and those around you.

* Expression fast

On the other hand, if you tend to cycle emotions or stories, getting caught in emotional drama, then choose an expression fast. This cleanse invites you to pick one emotion or feeling state (e.g., anger, fear, being a victim) and consciously choose not to express it. You will need to give yourself a focus for what you will do instead of expressing that emotion or story.

* Distraction fast

Pick your favorite distraction (TV, video games, alcohol, looking in the mirror) and stop doing it. Choose what you will replace it with, i.e. what you will do instead with all that time.

Physical Cleanse
* Refrain

Pick one food and stop eating it. Practice staying open hearted and soft around the item, not closing to it. For example: if you pick chocolate, after a week or so put yourself around chocolate or people eating chocolate and watch what arises when you refrain. Be curious about its purpose and effects in your life.

* Partial Diet Cleanse

Choose a category of food to refrain from: sugar, bread, coffee, etc. See notes above for staying open hearted.

* Full Internal Cleanse

Commit to a thorough cleansing program and stick to it. We recommend Arise and Shine, which is the best cleansing program we have found. For this cleanse you first need to get your body alkalized. For any full cleanse make sure you start slow so the detoxification process is gentle. Educate yourself first.

All of these cleanses, from mental to emotional to physical, are interwoven. When you do a mental cleanse, emotions may arise and you will have the opportunity to cleanse your emotional body. When you do a physical cleanse you will get to find loving discipline with your mind. Whichever cleanse you choose, from the most simple to the most challenging, be conscious about how you set it into motion. Identify the length of time you will do it, and plan a ceremony to initiate yourself into your commitment.

Be impeccable with your word: Watch how you think and talk about your cleanse. Remember it is a joy to make more space, not a chore.