Macha and I get on the horn to discuss why I’m changing my birthing plan and how to navigate social and medical standards that you don’t believe in–and what makes Macha want to throw a temper tantrum!
Here’s the Mp3:
Enjoy!
Natalia
Tag Archives: consciousness
After the Transfiguration
In the last installment of our transfiguration discussion, I described how any living being is one great interconnected organism, conducting life-generating force through its every cell–be it a microbe, a plant, an animal, an insect, a human, or a planet. This interconnected network is conducting living-light energy and promoting the evolution of every single living organism within its larger context, whether we are conscious of it or not.
But our level of consciousness does determine how much of the generous flow of life force we actually receive from this energy network. If we’re not consciously connected with it, we are doomed, like fish out of water, to struggle for basic sustenance. To exacerbate matters, when we cut ourselves off from the conducting network, we consequently also harm all the organisms and living systems that we interact with. Our lack of support triggers the demise of our fellow organisms, and that negative ripple effect triggers a continuous downward spiral into collective non-viability.
We are all dependent upon each other to maintain life-generating conductivity. Our failure to participate, to help conduct positive energy, causes all living things around us to degenerate. For example, when we cut down trees, we receive less oxygen, robbing ourselves and other oxygen-dependent organisms of our most basic sustenance. When we pollute the air, we breathe in unnatural amounts of carbon monoxide, which causes system-wide disease. When we spray methane gas on the plants we eat, we feed ourselves the very toxicity we have introduced to the earth, creating cancers instead of bringing nourishment.
The result leaves humankind gasping for life. However, our culture is so far removed from unity consciousness, from honoring the true source of our health and happiness, that we are like fish out of water, flapping and struggling and gasping for air, feeling that something is missing but not sure what. What is missing, of course, is the ocean.
How do you show someone who is hypnotized that he is hypnotized? You can’t. You can only present information and exercises that may help to dissolve the mental lull. Just as some are more easily hypnotized than others, some are more receptive to coming out of it than others. This is what the art of transfiguration offers – an opportunity to awaken from the hypnosis!
The process is purifying. It lifts the veils of misperception, clearing the way for true perception and self-actualization. When the hypnosis is broken, you can see for yourself what life is made of, you can recognize that you are designed to be a vital part of a much larger network, and you can start to reconnect with it. Seeing is the biggest leap, because with sight comes understanding, with understanding comes resolve, and with resolve comes the courage to defy the herd mentality that has led us astray and journey back to the Source.
So the goal is reconnection. Reconnection brings deep healing and, ultimately, full self-actualization: full awareness of what’s real, of what we are made of and capable of, and the ability to act accordingly. There is nothing more life-affirming than to awaken to the beauty and power of this living-light network. It’s like flipping a switch and awakening from a nightmare of doom and gloom to a whole world of possibility. This is the purpose of the art of transfiguration. Transfiguration is not an end unto itself. It is a pathway out of hypnosis to clarity.
This is why I have been like a dog with a bone on this topic. I feel this awakening from the nightmare is the most essential undertaking for us all now. If we don’t wake up, we’ll spend the rest of our lives in a losing battle with disease, weight gain, mental illness, and countless other modern ailments. We’ll forever be like fish out of water, gasping and flailing about on the floor of a boat, when all we ever needed to do is jump back into the water, which is all around us!
Transfiguration is not about becoming someone else or turning into something else. Rather, it’s a way to return to our natural element, to reconnect with the Source, to tap into its healing energy and wisdom. The goal of transfiguration is to awaken from hypnosis, to begin to feel whole again, and ultimately blossom into a full human being.
From this perspective, you can see yourself more clearly; the impulse to judge and blame falls away; forgiveness of others and of yourself comes more easily; and you calmly see the difference between the way you used to perceive the world and how you see it all now. You become, in a word, sane.
Inner Nectar
Hi Everyone,
I haven’t been blogging for a while because I’ve been integrating another stage of increased perception. With each leap I’ve taken in consciousness, I’ve had to retreat. As a wife and mother of two school-aged children, that does not mean disappearing into a cave but rather only doing what is necessary to maintain a balanced, well-operating, loving home.
Raising your consciousness and integrating new levels of seeing, feeling, and being requires space, attention, and much rest. If you do not claim these for yourself, in order to facilitate this period of personal growth, your leap will be inharmonious and may actually become a liability–a curse, rather than a blessing.
People around you will not always understand what is occurring, and when you disappear from communication and social interactions, they can sometimes take offense. I’ve learned from experience that this is often a time when some relationships show their true stripes and fall by the wayside and others reveal a strength and understanding that lead to greater intimacy and depth. I’ve learned not to be too attached to either outcome and just to be grateful for the chips falling where they will, remaining in a state of non-judgment.
I have wanted to write about my experiences before now, but I haven’t been sure if it was time, as the leaps are still taking me into newer and newer territory. But then it occurred to me that perhaps it would still be worthwhile to share the steps along the way.
What I will share here with you here, very humbly, is simply my own personal experience and nothing more. It’s what has occurred as a result of a practice I call “keeping my eye single to the Light.” I have managed to clear this statement of any religious orthodoxy or connotation. For me, it simply means that I strip away all illusions of our world as projected inside our minds, hearts, and cells–as well as outside of us, in the world we perceive–and focus only on the source of all life: the Light.
I held this focus for brief moments at first, then for hours, then for days, weeks, and so on–until I saw my whole life through this lens. Not only did it bring me a sweet nectar of peace, which filled my heart and coursed through my bloodstream with pulsating living energy, but it also caused even the most stubborn programs, fears, and illusions to dissolve.
The process enabled my heart to open to Love like never before. It also transformed my physical energy as I reconnected with Mother Nature, awakening the cord between my heart and my physical being and the heart of the Earth. This opened a powerful portal, allowing life to flow between us. It created a new synergy that greatly enhanced my ability to access and comprehend universal and cosmic knowledge. This knowledge came–and still comes–in flashes and epiphanies, like puzzle pieces linking together all at once.
This state of being is the only state of being I desire now, and I have learned to keep vigilantly away from anything that would decrease it or separate me from it. I have been working on the fine art of participating in the world without being sucked into its anti-energetic influences.
I care for my family, enjoy wonderful friendships, am physically active, and continue to work on projects that I deem valuable contributions to society, all while maintaining the sweet flow of this inner nectar. This requires vigilance above all. I craft my life around the internal and external activities that support this connection, and then, as external things come up, as they inevitably do, I hold them up to what I now know to be true to my heart and work with them accordingly.
Keeping my eye single to the Light has brought me peace in a world of madness. It has helped me see the life-deteriorating stories, labels, programs, and conditions of our world so much more clearly, so I am more fully aware of them, so they cannot sneak up on me, hook me, or carry a charge for me. I believe this makes me much better equipped to raise my children and to communicate effectively with others.
True spirituality–which, for me, means connection with cosmic consciousness–is simple. But, like true health, true spirituality faces much obstruction and interference in the modern world. Our ability to reconnect to our Source is only equal to the extent to which we can dissolve and release our spiritual blocks. We must be ready and willing to move toward lightness (physically and spiritually) and walk away from the things that do not serve our greatest good, however hard it may initially be.
The approach is the same as the physical cleansing approach: awaken (acknowledge/see the obstruction) and release (recognize how it disempowers you on all levels and gently let it go). Then, remember: we do not detox to retox. This is where vigilance comes in: keep your peaceful warrior at the gate, interviewing anything that should desire entrance into your consciousness, knowing what is welcome and what is not.
Each time you undertake a new integration like this, you will receive a huge amount of energy. That is consciousness returning to you. Increased consciousness = increased energy. Decreased consciousness = decreased energy. However, before that increased consciousness is fully anchored and integrated into your being, the shift can make you feel very sleepy and mentally overwhelmed. It’s really important to sleep when this happens. Catnaps are wonderful and are sometimes needed, even in addition to a solid 8 to 10 hours of sleep at night. You’ll dream more deeply than usual and have very meaningful dreams that are worth contemplating and reflecting upon.
It is important to make time just to be with yourself. I like to sit in the lotus position or lie down with my right palm on my heart and my left on my belly and just feel the Love growing in my heart. My hand on my belly keeps me grounded and aware of the importance of the body’s powerful connection to the mineral energies of the Earth and to all the physical laws.
I have a tendency to move into the upper chakras, so I continuously reinforce the value, beauty, and power of the natural, physical world and of Gaia to help balance this aspect of my nature. We all have our spiritual inclinations. In my case, I suspect I gravitate toward the mental energies because I felt burdened by the body early in life. I subconsciously tended to look for ways to leave or reject it, so I tended to value the mental energies and focused on the higher tones. Recognizing and integrating the Earth tones and the physical expressions of Light were key to opening my heart, and also to bringing the living energies into my body to support my physical experience. I noticed a distinct improvement in my physical power, posture, skin tone, musculature, agility, and general youthfulness once I fully reconnected with the Earth’s power.
If you are interested, I will share more about this with you as I progress. It is the most exciting experience I have had so far on this journey. And that is saying a lot, because the whole process has been one of magical discovery, liberation, inspiration, and blessed knowledge. I am so full of Love, Praise and Gratitude. My cup runneth over! And it’s all a result of staying true to the place from which Life, Light and Love flow.
Measure Your Progress Through Holistic Success
Macha and I offer some insights into measuring your progress in a new way. Enjoy!
A Nation of Addicts
Why is just about everyone you or I know taking a pill or some other substance to suppress emotional pain? Why is everyone numbing themselves, and why is it accepted as normal? What is the common denominator here?
A slow but steady detour away from the independent values that made our country great two hundred years ago has landed us in a nation addicted: land of the numb, mind-controlled, programmed masses. As a people, we have lost our consciousness, and with it a tremendous amount of wisdom. We have confused what is considered desirable with what is life-generating. We have lost touch with our true emotions—that voice within which speaks for inner balance and self-knowledge. Too many of us sleepwalk through life following a set of socially programmed norms that can only lead to ruin: physical, mental, and emotional.
The hard fact is that just about everyone is an addict today because a sinister social conditioning has quietly snuck its way into “normal” living: the consumption of foods unfit for the human body. These foods are profoundly harmful and highly addictive. That’s right: the most insidious addiction today is not to recreational drugs, but to grains, sweeteners, food additives, and preservatives (including hormones and antibiotics, just for starters) in the mainstream diet. Addiction, therefore, is a problem not only for the drinker, the smoker, and the drug abuser; it is a problem for every human being who is not aware of what he or she consumes.
But here’s the gem: the cause and cure of addiction hinge on the same all-important factor—consciousness. We can understand addiction as a loss of consciousness, and it’s ubiquitous in today’s diet-lifestyle, which in myriad ways poisons the biochemistry of the blood and ravages the intestine, cells, and tissues. Yet, we keep eating and living according to the customs that have been programmed into us by the so-called authorities, the media, and the influence of our peers. We have thus become little better than a nation of addicts.
When our inner voice knows better, when our spirit rises up to question the status quo and to resist the whole program, we are quickly labeled “depressed” or “chemically imbalanced” and written a prescription. In the meantime, the dictates of mainstream culture urge us to silence our distress with “comfort foods,” alcohol, drugs, and other mind-numbing diversions.
How long will we slap names on diseases without truly understanding them? How long will we continue suppressing the symptoms so that more virulent forms of illness crop up? How long will we blame the imbalance rather than its source? After all these millennia of medical achievements, we have missed the obvious universal law of nature: when there is pain, it is a call for change, not a call for suppression!
Social norms dictate not only how we should live, but also how we should feel. We are taught to avoid “negative” emotions and embrace only the “positive” ones. Over the generations, we have completely lost touch with the wisdom of our emotions. We have learned to repress undesirable emotions without even knowing that we are doing it. These repressed emotions become the harbingers of addiction.
All the spiritual leaders and great minds of history—including the Buddha, Christ, Socrates, and Jung—emphasized the importance of awareness. And contemporary teachers like Eckhart Tolle have made the concept more familiar to people today. However, there is still a great chasm between the desire to practice this virtue and the practical application of it. For so many people, living in the present is so hard to do. Nonetheless, it is the single most essential tool of personal liberation available to us. Once we start to live with awareness, we gain clarity about ourselves and the world around us. We see through the clutter of social expectations to hear our own authentic voice.
Any set of social expectations that fails to honor a person’s spirit and allow for its honest expression is an agent of repression, and is therefore antithetical to life. The emotions of pain, anger, and fear arise to tell us to pay attention. They come to us as friends, to pull our hand away from the flame. In heeding rather than repressing them, we can let them go, and also let go of our addictions. Soon, we can bring awareness to any situation, ideology, or question with a penetrating power of discernment. We can ask ourselves: “Is that a social conditioning or is a life-generating truth?”
We are a nation of addicts because we have been living in the dark. Too many widely accepted norms are destructive to our bodies, minds, and spirits. Our authority figures perpetuate the madness by creating more drugs for more illnesses and building more infrastructures to keep the vicious cycle alive. Frittering away personal power, we get ever more lost in the quagmire, blind to the road signs of our emotions. Addiction feels like a normal life experience rather than an aberration of nature. The modern ethos is to pacify feelings with all that glitters and sells. “Don’t feel this,” our culture whispers in our psyches. “You don’t need to feel sad. Here, take this instead. Have a donut and a latte. There, there. Now, isn’t that better?”
The cure for depression, obesity, and even cancer may be far simpler than we ever realized. It is time we (a) correct our biochemical imbalances through cleansing, and (b) expose destructive social norms for what they are and cultivate the power of conscious choice. It’s time we wake up to what we are really made of—as fully empowered human beings who know our own authentic needs and desires, not mindless automatons of an addiction-fueled society.
We all want to lead great lives and achieve wonderful things, but a great outer life is only possible through a healthy, balanced, and beautiful inner life. Let us feel deeply and let our emotions nourish our personal growth through smart, life-enhancing choices.