“I’m too busy to relax!” In the mid-90’s, that ironic yet familiar phrase prompted the creation of my second spoken-audio recording, Relax – Quick! Even back then, the pace of life was fast enough that many of my students and clients felt they simply didn’t have time to relax. And that was twenty years ago! So I put together a series of simple, short processes that could be done anytime, anywhere – just good, basic breathing exercises, mindfulness practices, simple visualizations and affirmations, such as “With every breath I take, I’m becoming more and more relaxed.” Or “There is nothing better I should be doing right now than to just… let go…and relax.” It sold very well, because it spoke to an ever-growing need.
Now, fast-forward twenty years…
That CD, and my other early ones – the classic Relaxation/Affirmation Techniques, Finding the Peaceful Place Within, and Deep, Healing Sleep – are still selling well. Why? Because that need to slow down and “re-center” has continued to dramatically increase.
Time is literally speeding up. I don’t know about you, but it often feels to me like things really are on “fast forward.” Life is so incessantly busy, things are changing so quickly, and stimuli of all sorts are so relentless, that sometimes I just want it all to stop for awhile!
This is really quite a time we’re living through. There’s an immense amount of energy brewing these days. I find that taking time to breathe and unwind, to be quiet, to experience the grounding influence of Mother Nature, is hugely important in order to maintain balance and centeredness in the midst of some pretty challenging stuff.
Individually and collectively, it seems that whatever has been unresolved is now presenting itself, one way or another, for healing. To put it more simply, “the shit’s hitting the fan.”
In the Big Picture, this is great news. The Shift we intuitively know needs to happen is happening.
But any paradigm shift involves a period of chaos, as the old systems break down. Which means, on the mundane, “just trying to make it through the day” level, it can get pretty crazy. I know for me, as I continue to wholeheartedly invite deep clearing and vibrational refinement, it gets to be quite a ride sometimes!
Yet, as I say on several of my more recent Relax Into Healing CDs, in order to experience true healing, we must “become large enough to embrace it all.” We must have the strength and courage to move through those darkest, scariest, loneliest places. We must be willing to turn and face that monster, to cease running from the fear-based illusions that have limited us and kept us stuck.
Sometimes we all need a little nudge to make that deep level of healing a priority in our over-busy lives.
One of my biggest Cosmic Nudges came in Dec of 1998, when diagnosed out of the blue with endometrial cancer. As a result of my diagnosis and healing journey, there were many times I called upon that deepest, innermost source of strength and courage, and reaped its indescribable rewards. Then, in some ways, I called upon it even more so during my beloved daughter, Mieka’s, cancer healing journey, in 2005.
As Mieka, (now nearing thirty, healthy, happy and thriving) said at that time, “Mama, what do people do who don’t have someone like you to guide them through all this? You’ve got to record this stuff!”
So I did. I thought I was doing one cancer-related CD, but out came seven! Cancer: Embracing the Healing Journey is the double CD that does indeed guide you through from diagnosis shock, to being a proactive patient, choosing from amongst mindboggling alternatives, to powerful healing visualizations and affirmations, and finally through “re-entry.” (The other topics demanded their own full-length CDs: Chemotherapy, Radiation, Surgery, Pain, and Healing Affirmations & Harp – the latter three not specifically for cancer.)
These CDs are now in widespread use in hospitals and cancer centers, and have helped thousands of listeners worldwide. My primary intention with each of these CDs, is to assist the listener in connecting with the deeply relaxed, centered place within, the place of physical, mental and emotional calm which greatly facilitates the healing process. It’s the place where we’re most connected with our innate wisdom, strength and courage, where we’re most attuned to a Higher Love – the greatest healing power of all.
Through my personal experience, and in working with countless clients over the years, I firmly believe that often the most important part of the healing begins well after your treatments have ended, when you’re officially “cured.”
The biggest question at that point is often: “Who am I?” This can be likened to a veteran returning from combat. You’re changed. In ways that are really hard to explain… perhaps, most importantly, to yourself.
This kind of profound inner change, of course, can result not only from combat, trauma, or a life-threatening illness such as cancer, but from any inner or outer occurrence that affords us the opportunity to let go of previously held definitions of self. Whether it’s an illness, a relationship, a financial challenge, or any other major life shake-up, we have the opportunity to emerge from these “dark nights of the soul” with a new depth of understanding, a new sense of self.
It can be a very rich, but often disorienting and frightening time of “rebirth.”
For aside from having the courage to move through our darkest and scariest places, we must also have the even deeper courage to acknowledge, and act from the true Essence of who we are – the tremendously powerful Source within us that is Unconditional Love. As Marianne Williamson astutely stated:
“Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”
So why is opening to Love, embracing who we really are, sometimes so scary?
Because it means giving up a whole lot of who we’ve always thought we were. And even if not all aspects of that limited self-definition are who we really want to be, it’s familiar. So letting go can be more than a bit challenging sometimes. It can feel downright life-threatening. So we don’t go there. We retreat to what we know.
By simply recognizing that this is the ego’s way of doing its best to protect us, we can experience a deeper level of compassion, we can be gentler with ourselves. When we really get that all this old stuff is not “me”, then we can let it go.
One of my greatest passions these days is sharing my Alchemical Crystal Singing Bowls with private clients, and with attendees at my concerts and events. The power of these amazing instruments, combined with purity of intention, has deepened and elegantly augmented this “letting go” process, and many other aspects of the healing work I’ve been doing for thirty-some years.
On the cover of my newly released Seeds of Peace CD (the first of my titles with my crystal bowls on it,) I invite you to “Experience the Ancient Art and Emerging Science of Sound Healing.” Utilizing the high energy frequencies of quartz crystal and various gems and minerals infused into these magical bowls, these vibratory elements help attune you to the higher vibratory realms, our unified Essence. Remarkably quickly. In this higher frequency realm, our shared visions, such as the title-track guided meditation for planetary healing, are greatly enhanced and empowered.
As we attune to these higher frequencies, we are also able to more easily let go of limiting beliefs, thought and behavior patterns which no longer serve us. We create new neural pathways, and in so doing “become large enough to embrace it all.” We learn to see and celebrate the miraculous in the mundane. And life becomes a whole lot more fun!
Could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy. -Kahlil Gibran
These are times of great pain and suffering for many on our planet. And yet, it brings me great joy to see the spiritual awakenings occurring all around (and within!) me. Thirty-some years ago I was a pioneer in integrating mind-body medicine into the mainstream. Now, I feel privileged to ride the crest of the Sound Healing wave – one I absolutely believe is ushering in the next generation of “medicine” – a medicine that restores balance, opens hearts and minds, and returns us to our Essence. For true and lasting change, to ensure our very existence on this beautiful planet, this is the level of healing that must occur…quickly. We must, indeed, become the change we seek. It is with this intent that my Seeds of Peace recording was created. May it serve the Highest Good.
During these times of great challenge, and great opportunity, I wish for you the heart-opening compassion and infinite joy that comes with remembering who You really are.