Search Results for: Expand Your Spiritual Heart

How Do You Nurture Yourself?

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

What does the concept of nurturing mean to you? How do you nurture yourself? How do you nurture others?

Nurturing is more than just providing the essentials, it is about caring for yourself at the deepest levels. Not just your physical care, it includes your mental, emotional and spiritual care. Are you aware of how or if you are nurturing yourself in all those areas? What would you like to change? What would you like to do better? 

I like to think of nurturing as cultivation, making sure the right conditions for physical growth are there but also tending to self-awareness, inner growth and spiritual growth. Those are all things we need to do for ourselves.

My most active nurturer is my mind. It takes me exploring and adventuring and it helps me bring new patterns of awareness into my life.  To remain nurturing I must take self-responsibility. I must choose the right foods to eat. I must give my body enough movement to help it keep strong and get stronger. I must establish and maintain a spiritual practice in ways that support me in expanding my awareness as well as my place of service.

List five things you do to nurture yourself. Mine includes using my curiosity and my mind to figure out ideas that call to me and share that with others. I am also being enriched by the people around me who are professional caregivers with a great heart. I nurture myself through my spiritual practice and my body strengthening practices. I am enriched by the love I feel for my mind. I love who I am right now and I love the direction I’m going. 

I see that I am nurturing others when I express an interest in who they are, how they reached where they are, and what they are going through.  As I write this, I realize that the reason I’m not drawn to older people is because in most cases there is no drive or ambition. I have a 10-year plan and I am 90. Who knows, maybe it’s a 13-year plan but I do have a flexible, inquisitive plan. The point is that I have a plan and I have a direction I want to go in. I know some of the steps to get me there and I’m always open to change. 

To nurture means to encourage growth or develop. How do you nurture yourself?

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I am open to change, I eagerly explore the new paths I am shown.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

• Identify several ways you actively nurture yourself and write them down in the order of their effectiveness for you at this point in time.
• Identify one area that is under nurtured and then list two things you can do to nurture it. Do that. 
• Repeat as desired.

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

An Altar Is How You View It

I have several spaces in my small space that can be viewed as altars. An altar can be a simple, personal expression of what you want to focus on.

On my desk is a small wooden tray that is an altar. I have an arrangement of bear figurines and pinecones and feathers and a bell. It just takes a small portion of my desk. I have several eagles which to me is about having overview. I call the three small bear figurines Insight, Intuition and Imagination. 

On the dresser that also holds the TV I have a Himalayan salt lamp that my on-line friends and I turned into a charging station for anyone who comes in here to give them centering and peace and serenity. Across the top of the dresser is a piece of fabric I chose a long time ago as an altar cloth. 

I have another table that has my Quan Yin statue in royal pose along with some plants. She is my reminder of my strong abilities and the power of the Divine Feminine.

All you have to do is set an intention for a space to hold the energy of support, insight, forward motion and gratitude. 

Altars can be made of anything. I could look at the wicker basket that holds my gardening equipment as an altar. It has a specific purpose to nurture plants. 

The idea of an altar is ancient. It is used to help manifest transformation. It is a place of gratitude and a place to focus our intentions. 

You may want to periodically rearrange the altars that you create around you. As you continue to explore, your understanding expands and your intentions may change. Then you may want to re-choose what you put on your altar as well as your intention. Choose pieces that mean forward movement to you.

Used an altar to focus your attention, remind you of an intention, or offer gratitude. 

It can be a tray I use for my meals that I can treat as an altar of gratitude and thanksgiving for the nourisher it provides. I could have an altar beside my bed to watch over me in the night and help me release what no longer serves me. 

There can be many reasons to have an altar in several places.  Look at the surfaces around you and arrange the objects on it with intention and purpose. You have created an altar.

Let Go Of What You Have Outgrown

This time of year is filled with the promise of possibility and new growth. You are invited to reconnect with your own power to create the life you desire. Now is the time to let go of what you’ve outgrown, take thoughtful action toward your dreams, cultivate confidence, strengthen your physical body, and step into greater leadership within your own life.

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Pull Out The Weeds

When we garden, we keep making space for the plants to grow. That means we have to not only pull out invasive plants but we sometimes have to trim or remove some of the flourishing plants in order to make room for another plant to grow. 

The same is true in life. Is it possible that you have too many things growing in your garden? What do you need to pull out? What do you need to prune? How are you going to do that?

Sea Vegetables

I am adding sea vegetables to my diet to deepen my nutrition and help heal my body. I sprinkle a little in the miso soup I eat most days. I have begun to experiment with other ways to eat them. I can sprinkle them on salads or potatoes or – I continue to experiment.  I have Dulse (alchaline), Nori (eyes), Spirulina (Immune system), Wakame (blood purifier), and Nutritional Yeast (which tastes like cheese and is great on popcorn and lots more). I have also added in capsule form Irish Moss (edema) and Aloe Vera (boosts immune system). If you are interested in these, do the online research for what you seek to heal.

I’m working diligently to heal myself from the inside even as the medical staff works to heal me on the outside.  

What change in your eating habits will bring you greater health? 

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

Pick And Choose

Are you clear about your priorities? When it comes time to choose between two things, what are the criteria you use to make that choice? 

Sometimes we just have to sit down and examine our lives and figure out our priorities. What criteria do you base it on?

Self-care has to come first. It can be easy to put that behind making a living or relationships. But you are the only one who can do that so you better do a good job of it.

Providing for yourself is near the top of the list which includes how you earn your money. If you are not fully satisfied in your work perhaps you need to look for another role to play in the work world.

Relationships are certainly a key element in our lives, whether it is an intimate family relationship or a few valued friendships. Those interactions deeply influence how we feel about ourselves and those we love. You want your relationships to be supportive and encouraging – both ways. Don’t hang out with anyone who pulls you down. 

Take time to thoughtfully investigate these areas of your life and make any corrections that will move you forward. Then pick and choose what excites and motivates you.

Periodically Restructure Your Life

It’s very easy to fall into a pattern that we do not take time to examine or question. Our choices are built on habit, convenience or simply a reaction.  When we take time to examine our unconscious choices, we may very well make new ones. I’m going to begin with what I want to add and let other things go to make room for it.

Things I will add: 

• Time to play my bigger skin drum – I like the richness of its tone.
• Stand and move throughout my day. 
• Do the Qigong forms of self-healing I have learned at least twice a day.
• Set aside reading time each day for the books that are calling me.
• Design a ceremony of well-being for the environment and add it to my spiritual practice.
• Listen to more music.

Things I will do less of:

• watch news
• sit

Periodically restructure your life. Examine how you spend your time and make certain it reaps the greatest rewards.

10 Ideas A Day

I got this idea from Chris Brogan who has been my online friend for years.  In his weekly newsletter he mentioned that in his daily morning ritual, he writes down 10 ideas a day. I haven’t tried this but I think it’s a great idea.  I’m writing this in the morning and my ideas are:

1. Write more about our unfolding role in the world.
2. Write to help young generations face and deal with the dramatic changes that are unfolding.
3. Begin to talk to the young people here about their thinking.
4. Read the Qigong Self-Healing book I have.
5. Stand up more often during the day and move my body.

Those last two are more like a “To Do” list that an “Idea List” 

When I get an idea it’s usually about something to write about and I immediately turn and write about it so I have a first draft. But then I have the luxury of being able to pause to do that at any point in my day.  I just read Chris’s newsletter, and turned and wrote this to figure it out for myself and to share it with you.

You get the idea – it’s your list. What ideas will you put on it each day? 

I don’t act on each of the ideas but writing an idea down can lead to another idea. The act of writing opens doors to new ideas to consider and explore.  It is a great opportunity for a free flow of ideas.

Chris did not say good ideas, he just said ideas.  When you let your imagination go, it may take you down some strange paths but you never know when you will hit the jackpot. I’m going to give it a try.

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

The Power of Journaling

I have begun to journal again and I’m very much enjoying it. I take time at the end of each day to reflect back over the experiences I’ve had, the insights that have been revealed and any new awareness that has presented itself. It is a time for reflection and anchoring of awareness. I don’t necessarily expect to ever re-read it, it is the process of taking time to reflect by recording it that is important. Sometimes it helps me change directions and other times it helps to anchor me in place. Will you make journaling part of your spiritual enrichment? 

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

Life Is Not About Luck

Whatever shows up in our life is because we attracted it to us by our thoughts, our choices, 

our actions and where we focus our attention. What are you looking for? What do you expect to happen? What do you think is possible? You can shift the outcome by shifting your attention.

I have to be careful about this because my body is coming up with more physical things for me to fix and I have to make certain that I’m focused on the concepts of wellness and wholeness rather than the opposite.  We get what we believe we deserve and what we believe is possible. And I get to look at both aspects of that. What is manifesting in your life and how do you need to shift your gaze?

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

Healing The Collective

I have never been an activist in a group but if you have and do, this may be a very good time to get active again. One way is to protest and another way is to educate and advocate.

I had only been in touch with one person whose thinking was totally opposite from mine and there was no point in our exchanging ideas because he was listening to and reading only the ideas he agreed with and supported this belief system – just as I am I suppose. Neither of us were interested in changing our minds. Unless you have a curious mind and you’re willing to explore other viewpoints I’m not sure how to encourage a change in thinking.

Make certain you are exploring several versions of the core cause of a situation and identify new solutions and deepen a new reservoir of possibilities 

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future

Enjoy Life’s Journey, But Leave No Tracks

Are you walking softly on the planet? Are you conscious of your impact in every aspect of your life? I doubt we are, but it would be good if we were.

We know about walking softly on the planet but what about the effect we have on the lives of others? Some we know, some we don’t. We should become more conscious of our impact on others by our thoughts, our words and our actions. Enjoy life’s journey, but leave no tracks.

=== DEEPER SONG PHILOSOPHIES ===

New View – New Path 

20 years ago in Michael Port’s first Book Yourself Solid Coaching Certification, I learned to write a who-and-do-what statement.  My latest one will send me soaring into unexplored territory and take us on great adventures:

I help Transformational Leaders
deepen our relationship with the Unseen World
and expand our role in the New Consciousness.

Now all I have to do is to figure out how to do that…! 

Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your calling. – Aristotle

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

Your Role as a Visionary Harp

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

How Am I To Lead?

It is time for me to deepen and expand my role. It is time for me to turn my gaze and address our role as light worker leaders on the planet. What does that mean? What does that look like? 

It’s time to examine where you are and where you want to go.  How do you plan to make a difference next?

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

How Do I Make A Difference?

I want to deepen my impact. I want to broaden my reach. I want to make a difference.

I want to deepen my impact. I want to broaden my reach. I want to make a difference. Where do I turn? What do I do?

I want to deepen my impact. I want to broaden my reach. I want to make a difference. Where do I turn? What do I do? The answer lies within. I begin there.

– Cara Lumen, March 203

We create our future with every thought we think, every action we take.  Move forward mindfully as you sing your Deeper Song.

Namaste,

Cara

Come Sing a Deeper Song  

I help Transformational Leaders

deepen our relationship with the Unseen World 

and expand our role in the New Consciousness

Please forward this newsletter to a friend and suggest they
Join the Deeper Song Community

Past Issues of this newsletter are being curated on my site on a page called Insights.

Our Global Deeper Song Community

Our Deeper Song Community extends throughout the planet. Welcome new Deeper Song Explorers. I’d love to hear of your experiences –  caralumen@gmail.com or let’s discuss on the Deeper Song Explorers!

Subscribe to this weekly Deeper Song Newsletter at www.deepersong.com

My Books

Free Yourself Of Limitations

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

I didn’t like it. It was weaving in concepts and visualizations that are not taught in the original form of Tai Chi and Qigong and yoga.  We are supposed to stick with the original format, right?

Well, after going through the imaginative interpretation that was being given these traditional moves, I realized I had been given the freedom to explore, to experiment and to discover Qigong and Tai Chi are martial arts that are meant to give you the balance and strength and advantage to protect yourself and win a fight. These two teachers that I listened to on the Shift Network Qigong Summit were simply adding imaginative interpretations to the moves. It was much like once having developed the skills of an instrument, you give yourself permission to improvise from your heart and soul.

This may not sit well for those of you who spent years developing your yoga practice or meditation practice or martial arts practice based on centuries old traditions.  

I haven’t exactly made peace with it either. But I am giving myself permission to explore. To use my imagination to deepen and enrich my physical plane practice.

I have gone online to find moves for the kidney meridian. The instructions were to reach down and pull up the energy of the Earth into your body. I love that. I love that image. I find that putting an inner imaginative feeling beneath a specific move enriches it. 

I just heard a metaphor in the Qigong Summit that really resonated with me – being aware of the female and male energy in the move and the image of being in the flow of the waxing and waning of the Yin-Yang symbol as you make the moves. It is a very fluid metaphor for me. 

For instance, Yang energy manifested in the movements that expand, extend, open out, rise up, lengthen, elongate and out, and the Yin energy manifested in the movements of contraction, relaxation, close in, and sink down. I like applying those metaphors as I move. It helps me address the move internally and adds to the experience. It’s just a very strong image for me that will influence the subtleties aspect of the moves I make – beginning from within with an internal feeling. Just having those images beneath the moves adds a fascinating dimension to my experience. 

I’m not sure I am explaining this well. I am both learning the correct form and adding the dimension of my imagination to power it from the inside out.

Is there an area of your life that you are following the instructions so exactly that you have not given yourself the freedom to experiment, explore, and improvise?  Perhaps it’s time to go exploring and free yourself of limitations.

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I examine my life for places of rigidity and turn my imagination free to loosen it up.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

• Look at an area of your life you would like to free up and expand. Let’s begin with a physical expression. The image of the tennis serve comes up because it is a multi-faceted move that needs a fluid execution.  What I place in my imagination beneath it will help direct its flow.
• Experiment with different images and see how it affects the physical plane expression. 

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

Fluid Structures

How does one build a structure that is fluid? If it’s fluid how does it ever get completed? How sturdy is a fluid structure? Or is it simply meant to be a framework for adventure.

I like that idea of my life being a framework for adventure. That means that every day I get to look at my life for a fresh perspective. 

Is this still how our choice are made? What new nudges have you gotten from the universe? Where do you want to go exploring next? Or do you need to finish the path you are on before moving in a new direction? 

Move within to a centered stillness to await the voice of your inner guidance. 

The Spring Equinox is Monday, March 20, 2023 4:24 PM

I suggest we each create some sort of an honoring, refocusing ceremony for ourselves. The obvious metaphor is what are you going to plant? It may be a new crop or it maybe more of what you’ve got growing now but look at this as a time to pause and make some conscious choices about how you want your life to unfold over the coming year. Then plant the seeds to make that happen.

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Experiment

The occupational therapist said that my edema was associated with my heart and my lungs. I found awesome Qigong exercises for both. And boy, were they effective. There was much coughing on my part with the lung exercises and a literal shortness of breath on the heart moves.  Remember these are simple moves in which you move the Chi energy and I am getting huge physical results.

If you have a physical problem go online and see what meridian it is on, then type in Qigong for that meridian and see what shows up for you.  Experiment and find something that works for you and you’re willing to do.

Talk To Your Body And Listen Well

My body is going through healing process that is a little on the dramatic side. What I get to do is listen really well and get very creative about how I answer what I hear. 

Do you listen to your body’s needs when it asks for something you’re not supplying. Or something it needs less of than what you are asking of it. 

When you get involved in life, it’s hard to answer your body’s call for a nap in the middle of the day. Getting in an evening 20-minute meditation would help me. I need to get more creative and I need to get more open to different approaches to meet the physical implementation that is being requested. Sometimes it’s as simple as a pause for some deep breaths or a moment to stop whatever forward motion you’re doing mentally. 

How well do you listen to your body’s need and how creative are you in answering it?

The Power of a Jacuzzi

I’ve been in hot tubs a handful of times in my life but I now have access to a Jacuzzi here in Evergreen and it is now my new favorite thing to do. As I read about what it does for you, I see it will help my arthritis, it’s going to help this situation I have with my legs, and it is an incredibly nurturing experience. 

I was offered one my first week here, but it turned out the tub was broken and I hadn’t thought to ask about it since. I was offered one, took it and is now my new favorite thing. What new step can you take to add a special treat your life? Do that. 

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

Where Is Your Passion Leading You?

And more importantly is your passion changing?

I can identify a great passion for learning and turning to share what I learned but the focus of that inquiry continues to change. That requires me to be flexible and inquisitive.  I wish I could say that I pay attention to the needs of others but I don’t. My passion is so strong that I simply follow where it takes me and explore what I find and then turn and share what I learned. 

Be aware of what passionately shows up that you need to explore. See if that direction holds merit for you. Explore a little. Try out some possible paths. See what others are doing and adapt what calls to you. Most of all, let your passion guide you into a new adventure often. 

Stop Over-Thinking

I spent several hours trying to solve a problem that actually did not exist anywhere but in my mind. I found lots of different solutions even though none of them would be necessary. But I should have not put any time and effort into overthinking the situation.

I’m not sure how you extricate yourself from that kind of rabbit hole. My plan got pretty detailed and it turns out it wasn’t necessary at all.  I have no idea what happened to “Go with the flow.”

Do you let your mind get carried away? Keep you awake? Do you picture worst case scenarios and try to figure out ways to get out of them? I think we have to learn to be more trusting that the universe will not give us more than we can handle. Trust the universe to give you the lessons that you need and the opportunities that will open new pathways for growth.

Sometimes the lesson is about how much you do not want to take that particular path. That was the reason for the lesson – for you to know that choice was not appropriate to you. 

Learn to have more conversations with your inner voice. It is actually very wise. 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

Sing And Drum

I’m going to add something new to my spiritual practice. It came from listening to a presenter on a Shift Network Qigong summit who sang and drummed. I don’t know what language he used and it doesn’t make any difference because he set an intention and the experience was very profound – just by singing and later adding the drum. 

I like the idea of singing tones rather than words that I can drape in my intention. But I am going to use my voice along with my drum and see what kind of experience I can create. I think I’ll start by using vowel sounds rather than words and simply set an intention for the experience and see what happens. I have been using my drum and singing songs that I composed to the directions but I think I will let it slowly evolve and see what shows up. I will go exploring and see where it takes me as an introspective experience.  What unusual feature will you add to your spiritual practice?  

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

Make Space For New Growth

In gardening we make room for new growth by pruning. We cut back what has gotten too unruly in order to encourage the less vigorous plants to reach their potential.

What does that mean in your life?  It means it is very easy to let one facet of our life take up too much room. It sort of creeps up and crowds out some of our favorite things because we’re giving too much time and energy to one facet of our life.

Has that happened to you? Can you identify a part of your life that needs to be scaled back – pruned if you will. And how will you do that? 

Your job is probably the biggest offender and may be hardest to prune. I spend a huge amount of time at my computer because I really like to think and learn and write. But I need to make time for more physical movement. I will identify several times during my day to do my Qigong and go for a walk or any other form of movement that I choose to do. I should turn and stand and look out the window at nature to change my rhythm and address the needs of my body to shift my attention. 

What will you prune from your life in order to make room for new growth?

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

The Calling

I don’t know whether it’s the generation or the profession but as I ask the healthcare workers in this long-term facility how they got on this path, their stories share they knew they wanted to help people. Since these are the only younger people that I am around, I have no idea if other younger people are being called into a specific profession so strongly.  

Some of the staff are nurses of course, but a Med-Aide’s work is helping people with their daily lives. That means bathing and dressing and eating and other bodily functions. Some of the people here have dementia. And I have had Med-Aides help me hang my stained glass in my window and also put my sea vegetables in the new spice containers, so the work can vary.

A newly licensed nurse I talked to wants to go work in labor and delivery. Another person knew she was going to become an OB/GYN surgeon. Another wants to work with handicapped children. Another really likes hanging out with older people. Of course the underlying motivation is that they want to help others. 

In my recent trip to the hip surgeon which requires a Med-Aide to accompany me while I get to ride in a wheelchair in the back of the big van, I was escorted by the same person who took me on my first trip. And I remember asking her then what the qualifications were for doing this job. And she said, “You have to be a really kind person.” And they all are. How lovely, to know your own calling and have it beckon so deeply. 

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future

My Foray Into AI

I’ve seen two demonstrations of ChatGPT on MacMost and I’m going to begin to use it. There is a free version. I think I’ll use it a little like I use Google to do research. It sure does get the answers fast.  Welcome to the world of artificial intelligence. 

You can access ChatGPT by going to chat.OpenAI.comand logging in. If you’re on OpenAI’s website, you can log in to your account, then scroll down until you see ChatGTP on the bottom. 

=== ===THE UNFOLDING DIVINE FEMININE=== ===

Explore and Interpret the Guidance and Messages of the Divine Feminine

The Fight

What is unfolding in the United States is very scary. There is a portion of the population that wants to disavow huge other parts of the population – everyone who is not white – and they want to get rid of all women by preventing them from having fundamental healthcare.  

One way to look at it is that the Divine Masculine is fighting to keep the control it has had for centuries.  

What has the Divine Masculine shown us over the centuries? Domination and subjugation. In my cynicism I might say that’s about it. I’m a woman – a woman who has worked to get out from under male domination for a good portion of her life. And we have not achieved that yet.

Even as we fight for our freedom, we must bring forth the feminine traits of inclusiveness and caring. I’m not sure how to do that. It’s a tricky balancing act.

As mothers we can teach our sons about equality and inclusiveness and our daughters about knowing their true value and cultivating their individual path. As wives we can teach our husbands about equal partnership. As daughters we teach our parents how to embrace the new version of the role. As coworkers we can stand up for our rights without running roughshod over our male counterparts. As bosses and leaders, we teach everyone in our lives about inclusiveness.

How do you do that and where do you begin?  

=== DEEPER SONG PHILOSOPHIES ===

On The Shift Network I discovered Roel Crabbe and I am drawn to his work and his energy. Ho is the meditation to connect you with a deeper awareness of the Web of Life. Enjoy

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

We Are Cosmic Consciousness- A Deeper Song Expanded Perspective   

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website

==== DEEPER SONG EXPLORATION ===

Acupressure For Pain

My friend and gifted healer Christina Gerber taught me these acupressure points for pain.

“Your legs and feet are your thumbs and pinkies on your hands.  Pressing each inch of each hand is like massaging your whole body!  Your pain relates to your middle finger down to your wrist.”

===CARA’S CORNER===

Take Charge Of Your Own Health

I’m going to start learning and doing Qigong exercises for specific organs to assist in my own health. I have found videos for the Heart Meridian, Lung Meridian and Kidney Meridian as starters. These seem to be the meridians that are affecting my current physical imbalances.

Illness is about imbalanced energy and energy moves through meridians that flow throughout our body. What more direct way to self-heal than to strengthen the very channels that carry the energy through our body. What meridian will you start working on today?

Here are two places to start:

Heart Meridian With Lee Holden

Boost Your Kidney System with Alex Hui

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

Energy Flow

I have to visualize the energy meridians in my body because I cannot feel them directly. 

I have to visualize the energy meridians in my body because I cannot feel them directly. But they are there and I must encourage their clear flow.

I have to visualize the energy meridians in my body because I cannot feel them directly. But they are there and I must encourage their clear flow. I do the work to clear the path for them and I heal. 

Cara Lumen, March, 2023

We create our future with every thought we think, every action we take.  Move forward mindfully as you sing your Deeper Song.

Namaste,

Cara

Come Sing a Deeper Song  

I help Transformational Leaders

deepen our relationship with the Unseen World 

and expand our role in the New Consciousness

Please forward this newsletter to a friend and suggest they
Join the Deeper Song Community

Past Issues of this newsletter are being curated on my site on a page called Insights.

Our Global Deeper Song Community

Our Deeper Song Community extends throughout the planet. Welcome new Deeper Song Explorers. I’d love to hear of your experiences –  caralumen@gmail.com or let’s discuss on the Deeper Song Explorers!

Subscribe to this weekly Deeper Song Newsletter at www.deepersong.com

My Books

How To Design Your “Next” 

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

I had been living in Santa Rosa, California for 17 years and in order to afford the house I rented, I needed to have a housemate. One was not showing up this time. I suddenly knew that it was time for me to move and begin a new phase of my life. My daughter had said that when I needed physical help, I needed to come to Kansas City where she lived and worked.

I got online, looked at apartments near where my daughter lived, called her and told her I was coming. She checked out the apartments I had found and I rented one.  Within a month I was on my way moving from California to Kansas. 

What I didn’t know was what would unfold next. My daughter took one look at me and said I need knee replacements which I had never even heard of. In the process of doing that, I stopped earning my living as a Content Development Coach and it became evident that financially I needed to move into subsidized independent living where I could live on just my Social Security. This happened in the space of a year.

Give some thought to your   aaging process. Understand what you can afford. Anticipating how much help you need to manage physically is a whole other challenge because it definitely sneaks up on you. Then actively start designing the next part of your life. 

It was hard for me to give up my car as my eyesight diminished. It was a strong loss of freedom and independence. Then it became hard for me to walk to do my laundry or take out my trash. Notice your physical changes and be prepared to make a major change in order to have the physical help that you need. Find the people who are trained and willing to do that. 

Although I needed a lot of help to make this move, I have never wanted to be dependent on my daughter. Taking care of an older person requires physical stamina and a definite degree of skill. The people that are caring for me now are professionals who chose this line of work. Don’t leave the physical care you need as you age to your children. Keep on being responsible for your own life including your aging process.

See if you can identify what is important in your life and try to keep providing it. It was important that I get to bring two live plants to my new space. And if someone would give me a third plant with maroon leaves, I might even cry. Having that life around me is that important.

Explore all types of communities for seniors to determine the type of support you need and the social life you have in mind. My computer supplies so much learning and entertainment and connection with my friends that it is a cornerstone of my daily life. I am a loner so my computer is more important than any social activities a place may provide. Just know those kinds of things about yourself and honor them when you make your choice of a new place to live.  

Don’t try to stay in your home when you are no longer capable of taking care of yourself. My daughter and her husband live in a split-level house which is going to get harder for them to live in as they both age. 

Be clear about what physical support you need your new environment. I am being more productive with this extra physical support than I have in the last five years without it. 

They are not building very many more of these subsidized independent living facilities in the US and the waiting list can be as long as two or three years so make your choice and get on the list before you need it.

Decide what is really important for you and keep in your life as long as possible but not at the expense of your family. 

My sense is that there is subsidized housing everywhere but because the Boomer population is coming up, there will be a scarcity unless they build more. Go exploring and see what will work for you. The waiting list can be several years, particularly as the older population proceeds to grow faster than the community is being built to support it.

Take a close look at what do you want to have in your life during this next stage of your life. Then go exploring until you find the perfect place for you to move to next. Design your own future living experience and make sure you have the assistance and care that you need as you age. 

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I go exploring to find new living opportunities and thoughtfully design the next phase of my life.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

• Do some very specific assessments of your current physical, emotional, and financial situation to begin to assess your future housing needs.  
• Literally make a list of what you want in your future life and prioritize it.
• Begin to network with your friends and relatives to find out what types of independent living or assisted living are available. Go exploring and perhaps get on a list or two.
• Begin to visualize how you want this next phase of your life. Do you want to be with people? Do you want to have access to learning? Do you need to be in nature? Identify the aspects that appeal to you and prioritize them.
• Network to get recommendations. Go exploring. Check out a few places and get on a few lists if something appeals to you. Imagine yourself in these various situations and begin to select the elements that you want in this next portion of your life.
• Know yourself. Know what you need emotionally and physically. But also listen to what your family describes as your limitations.
• We have control even as we need more help. Go exploring while you are physically able to examine potential living spaces and then get on a few lists and see what unfolds. Take charge of your future as you age. But be honest about what you truly need.

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

How To Create A Ceremony

A ceremony can be simple or elaborate. It begins with establishing the purpose of your ceremony. Do you want to release or receive or honor? 

A ceremony begins with an intention.

A ceremony can be focused on releasing something, blessing something, changing something or honoring something.  Or a ceremony can be made in order to attract something into your life. Set your intention. What is the purpose of your ceremony? 

Create Sacred Space 

Preparations for your ceremony can be simple or elaborate. It can be indoors or outdoors. Set your intention to create a sacred space and let your inner voice help you arrange it accordingly.

Decide on the form the ceremony will take. 

If it is a ceremony of releasing what form will the releasing take? 

Will you burn something or tear up a piece of paper? Will you dissolve something in liquid? Would you blow it out on soap bubbles? What symbolic move will you make that indicates you are releasing whatever it is you choose to release? 

If it is a ceremony of honoring or attraction, what are your offering or attracting? 

Is it a blessing? Is it an affirmation? How are you going to express your intention to attract something different into your life or into a situation? 

Open Your Awareness

Choose your intention, focus your awareness and set up your sacred space. Think of this as creating a small receptive surface to focus your ceremony.

When you’re ready to begin your ceremony, place yourself in a state of receptivity. You might begin by taking calming centering breaths. You might use a mantra like AUM. You might light a candle or use flower essences. Create your own method for bringing yourself into the heart of the ceremony.  Let your inner voice guide you. As you proceed with your ceremony, trust the nudges you get from your inner voice. Whatever images and ideas that show up are meant for only you to interpret.

You can sing. You can play music. You can state affirmations. This is your ceremony. Craft it so that it speaks deeply to you.

If you move into a meditative journey, go to your Sacred Garden, trust what shows up. They are metaphors only you are to interpret. Ask for the guidance and clarity that you seek. 

Journal to Go Deeper

When you take time to write about your experience, it captures your surface awareness and allows you to explore what lies beneath it and move more deeply into the more subtle message and insights that you received. 

Before you close your ceremony, pause to review your experience and notice what has shifted within you both energetically and in your expectations.

Close the ceremony with gratitude

When your ceremony is complete, bring it to a close with gratitude. Offer gratitude to your metaphorical guides that offered you insights into the universe and large.  When you feel complete, honor the energy of the items you used in the ceremony by placing them carefully away in a sacred place. 

Create ceremonies for many purposes.

Honor the Solstice or the Equinox with ceremonies you design. 

Create ceremonies to release. Release worry and anxiety. Release energy and ideas that no longer serve you. 

Create ceremonies to attract positive energy to a situation or circumstance. 

You could create a ceremony to begin your day, to end your day, to begin or end your work,  to honor a family member or friend, or to attract positive insights and ideas to help you move forward. 

Ceremonies can be simple or elaborate. Set your intention, create your steps, and conduct your ceremony with strong intention. And then watch the results that manifest.

Take Time for Contemplation

Contemplation is about thoughtfully and mindfully considering an idea or topic by examining it from various angles to see if it is still aligned with your goals, your philosophy, and the path you have chosen. 

It is a good idea to thoughtfully contemplate your profession, your relationships, your health, your spiritual growth, and your role in the world on a regular basis. That means you take time to look at each of those areas from different perspectives to see if you are going in the direction you want to go and if you are taking advantage of all the new opportunities that are presenting themselves. 

As we move along our lives, we are presented with new concepts, new opportunities, and new possibilities. New objectives appear and we must make adjustments and course corrections to make certain we are aligned with our innermost awareness and goals.

Make time to contemplate various aspects of your life, to make certain that you still want to go in the direction you’re going, and decide what you can do to change that direction if you choose.

Look closely at your profession to see how it is changing, what new opportunities are opening up and decide if what you are doing still resonates with you. Re-choose and make a course correction. 

Look closely at your relationships – your friendships, your professional interactions – to make certain they are nurturing, rewarding and aligned with your current goals. Change what is necessary. Look closely to see if that change needs to come from within you.

Go exploring to see what new elements you might add to your spiritual practice that would bring you deeper insights, greater understanding and new adventures. Explore the new paths that have opened up and create and adjust until you find the right balance for this point in time.

Take time to rethink and re-choose on a regular basis. Perhaps align these moments of reflection with phases of the moon or the seasons, but several times a year look closely at where you are, what got you there, what has changed, where you want to go next, and what you need to do to make that happen.  Then re-choose, take action and move forward. 

Answers From Within

Your inner voice is your best friend. It can help you figure out what to do next. It can give you answers to a problem. All you have to do is turn within, and ask and listen. Do you do that? 

Trust the answers. Follow the thoughts and insights to receive the guidance you seek. That’s your inner voice speaking to you. Learn to interpret it. Learn to trust it.

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Surrender and Accept

Sometimes things just need to be the way they are. We have to accept that and we have to move on. It doesn’t mean you don’t try to change something but it does mean you recognize when changes are not going to happen and accept it.

That may mean that you have to change some plans, perhaps even a major focus. It may mean that you have to put off a dream or get busy and make it happen now. We do need to think big. We do need to use our imagination to explore new possibilities. We do need to vision. We need to feel our own creative ability as we move through life, but we also need to recognize when change is not going to happen and move around it or through it or beyond it.

How Well Are You Caring For Yourself Emotionally?

Emotions are subtle. They begin as small pokes and nudges but sometimes they get out of hand and we can we find ourselves out of balance. 

How do you do an emotional wellness check? I think you need to create your own system but there are certain aspects of your emotional and over-all well-being to keep track of. Here are some I thought of. You may want to add to it. Perhaps begin by rating these on a scale of one to 10 – 10 being very satisfied 

• Overall Happiness
• Physical Well-being
• Feel appreciated/loved
• Mentally stimulated
• Interestingly interactive with the world
• My impact in the world
• What action steps will I take?
• Satisfaction/Contentment

Answer these for yourself before you read on. 

Here’s what I discovered. This is what is true for me at this point in time. 

Overall Happiness – 8

I am very happy considering my body is still recovering from hip replacement surgery and my whole body is a bit grouchy. But I am in a good place to live and I’m experiencing an extremely positive response to the kind,loving, caring people around me on the staff. My mind is my best friend and entertainment. We stay very busy.  

Physical Well-being – 3-4

At this moment in time, I’m doing major body healing but there are still a ton of things that need to keep healing. I am gradually being able to stand up straighter than I have in years and that’s calling for all sorts of physical adjustments. And I still have to contend with my diminishing eyesight both physically and psychologically. It looks like there is a lot that still needed here and a whole lot of work on my part to heal my body. 

Feel appreciated/loved -10

I have a few longtime friends that I speak with regularly online that nurture and support and stimulate me. We are important in each other’s lives. My move to long-term care has put me in contact with a kind and loving and smart staff and I am having some of the most stimulating interactions of my life. 

Mentally stimulated -10

This is a very important area for me and I’m really good at making it happen.  I am going to have to get very creative in order to work around my diminishing eyesight. This is an opportunity for me to get really innovative.

Interestingly interactive with the world – 10

I’m doing the work. I keep listening to understand the overall direction our planet is taking. I know that more and more of us are recognizing the light within ourselves and are raising our vibration so others can see that soul light in themselves. This is inner awareness work and I am consciously expanding it.

Impactful in the world-10

I am doing daily energy and contemplation work to impact the world. I explore and write about ways to be in the world. I encourage others to be active, aware Light Workers in raising the consciousness of the planet. And I have a strong and fluid spiritual practice. I continue to deepen my own awareness and share those insights with others. I know I’m changing some lives but I actually don’t know to what degree. This journey of mine that I share with others is for my growth as well as to stimulate a deeper awareness of choices in the lives of others. I’m not actually impacting the world at a rate of 10 but my intentions are high and I’m giving my all. 

Satisfaction/Contentment- 8

This is all up to me. If I am not satisfied and content, what am I going to do about it? What do I need to do more? Less? Differently? I’m focused on healing my body. I’m trying not to be scared about my diminishing eyesight. I have great friends online who are loving and nurturing. 

What action steps will I take?

I have four areas of focus – my physical recovery, my mental expansion/simulation, my spiritual expansion and how I can help change the world for the better. I am active in all of these areas.

What did you discover when you took this quiz? What steps will you take to expand your life experience? 

===OUTER WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

How Thoughtfully Do You Fill Your Day?

How do you fill your days? Do you make mindful choices? You go with a spontaneous flow? Do you live deliberately in each moment? Or are you kind of a free spirit floating through your day? 

Being both deliberate and spontaneous can make for a fun day. I deliberately read my email every morning but I spontaneously stop and write in this newsletter when an idea from what I’m reading calls to me. I interrupt my day often to explore ideas through writing. 

In my depressed days before I moved to long-term care, I’d waste hours on Spider Solitaire and reruns. Now that I am happier my days are much more interesting and productive.

Continue to explore and learn as you age. Perhaps you expand a hobby that you have enjoyed all your life – maybe even turn it into an income stream. Perhaps you now have time to volunteer to help a cause that is dear to your heart. Notice how you spend your time and see how you would like to adjust it. 

What do you want to learn? Do you want to learn to play a musical instrument? I’m playing my drums and thumb piano. Do you want to study a specific topic? I want to finish the Joe Dispenza’s book and read the third Michael Newton book about life between lives. I’m taking Deng Ming-Dao’s newest Tai Chi class. There is a great deal of exciting work for me to do there. And I keep getting nudges. I’ve begun to reread some of the books I have found meaningful in the past. I’m adding more mindful movement to my day that will help my body strengthen itself. I would like to listen to more classical music. I would like to journey more.

How do you spend your time? Does it deepen your awareness, or expand your knowledge or lead you down a new path? Examine how you spend your time and see if it is producing the results you desire. How thoughtfully do you fill your day and what changes do you need to make? 

Are You Sharing Your Gifts With Others?

We have been given gifts in our life to help us live an impactful life and we have gifts we are to give to others. Are you aware of those gifts? How are you sharing them? What is changing as a result?

I have been a metaphysical explorer for a good portion of my life and that continues today. 

I feel I am at the beginning of a new phase of exploration but that’s all I know. I get little glimmers but no major light how shown up to show me the way yet. What is calling to you? And how are you exploring it and how are you turning to share it with others?

Put Yourself Out There

I have begun to sit in my wheelchair in the doorway of my room that leads into the hall. I’m doing it because I can move my legs back-and-forth to free then from the stiffness of sitting. But the benefits have been unexpected. I have begun to meet some of the residents. I’m also going to greet more of the staff who probably know me better than I know them even though I have a list going in an effort to keep track of everybody. 

Today Ruth stopped by on her way down the hall. Ruth is 94 and told me there are several people here are in their 100’s and one who is 104. I get to change my vision and start planning what I want to do for the next 12 or 13 years. That’s a long time.

Another person stopped by whose husband used to live here.  She is now leading some of the volunteer activities several times a week. I’m not a huge fan of group activities but it was lovely to see how touched her heart was by this place of service she has created for herself.  

Two of the staff members went on a hunt for my navy blue cover with sleeves which has gone to the laundry and had not come back. We have name tags on everything. Leah from laundry remembered that she had put it in the closet of someone named Carol since our names were similar. We found it. Those were some of the adventures I had simply because I chose to put myself forward and sit in the hall and speak to whomever passed by.

What small steps can you take in your life that would change your experience simply because you placed yourself in a different environment? Go exploring and see what gifts you receive. 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

Forgiveness

Who do you need to forgive? Who would you like to forgive you?

I made an unusual choice 40 years ago that impacted my children and they have not forgiven me. However, if I had not made that choice, I would not have been able to explore and travel the deep path of service to others that I have been on for 40 years. I have been following my inner voice and have made some very dramatic changes all my life. 

Who do you need to forgive? Why? Who are the people that you wish would forgive you? 

I have followed my deepest calling all my life because it has been so strong in me. Many of the people in my life have no idea the depth of passion that drives me because my choices are not something they would ever consider doing. 

My life experience has been that I come together with people who share a current mutual interest and when those interests change so does our friendship. 

It makes sense that even family members do not all like the same things. Our job then becomes to find figure out how to love them and at the same time give them space to follow the unique path they are called to take. 

Who do you know in your life who has made unusual choices that you have not forgiven them for? Is there anyone in your life who has not forgiven you for a choice you made from the core of your being?  

Look carefully at the grudges you hold. Let them go. There was a reason that lesson came into your life. Did you get it? 

I know that my choices have been unusual but they were done with passion and commitment and a deep sense of being called along a particular path. I have a deeper song to sing and I can only do it if I am free to follow its call. 

There are people who don’t approve of me or of my choices. But I answered my own strong calling and continue to deepen my song. 

Give people space to answer their own calling.

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

What Are Your Priorities?

How do you prioritize the events of your day? How do you prioritize the tasks that you undertake? The fun times you schedule? What is the criteria by which you choose them?

Entertaining my mind is usually my top priority but healing my body from my hip replacement is a close second.  

Do you choose the task because it is easy? Because it has a timeline? Because it is more fun? All of those are reasons we give ourselves to prioritize the elements of our day.   

You have to decide. Sone people do the hardest things first. Some people do the fun things first. What are the qualities by which you prioritize your day? Give that some thought.   

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

The Upper 10%

I’d be willing to bet that everyone who reads this newsletter is in the upper 10 percentile of intelligence. That makes us responsible in this world in a way that others are not.

Sometimes that makes it hard to find friends because we have to find other ten-percenters. Sometimes it makes your choices seem unusual to the other 90%. We have special work to do, unique places of service to fill and high examples to set.

Knowing that you are in the upper 10 percentile is not about being special, it is about being responsible for holding up our light to show others the way. It is about saving our planet, exploring the higher path and marking the trail.

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future

Care For Mother Earth

Our home is Mother Earth. She supplies the air we breathe, she supplies us with water and food and air to sustain us. Because we no longer live close to the land, we sometimes forget that caring for Gaia is our responsibility every day.  

What kind of a footprint are you leaving? Are you stomping around cluttering litter on the land? Or are you moving mindfully in nature?

I know what it’s like to live in a city where there is only concrete beneath your feet. I lived only a block away from Central Park but I remember walking five or six blocks to Lincoln Center to be able to see a full moon. But in California I could watch the moon from my front stoop.

I now live in a retirement center where the rooms encircle a garden tended by master gardeners and a Koi pond to meditate by when the weather is warmer. There is a bird feeder outside my window and I can watch the sunrise and feel the sun on my body all morning. A few days ago, I saw a very large raccoon walking up the sidewalk.

Find a way you can communicate with nature every day. That may mean standing at the window to observe the subtle changing of the seasons. It may mean taking a walk in the woods. It may mean taking a few moments before you get in the car to look up at the sky, to look at the trees, to listen to the sounds of nature. And of course, spend a few moments in nature when you return in order to change the rest of your evening.

Are you aware of the footprints you leave on the Earth? You know how to do this. Carry cloth bags to hold your groceries so you don’t use either plastic or paper. Convert to solar power as soon as you possibly can.  Consume organic food so you don’t support businesses that used pesticides that harm the environment. Help others to become aware of their role in protecting Gaia. Be a visible protector of Mother Earth. 

What percentage of people who you know are consciously and actively caring for the Earth? It is much fewer than those who are mindlessly harming it. See who you can educate today in a way that will help them take better care of Mother Earth. And keep doing the work yourself. 

=== ===THE UNFOLDING DIVINE FEMININE=== ===

Explore and Interpret the Guidance and Messages of the Divine Feminine

The Young Women of Today

The news today is that young women of today are depressed. There’s more detail about that but I want to talk about the fact that the Divine Feminine has actively begun to emerge and is this future of our world. There is much work to do and they are depressed. Does their future seem overwhelming? Does it seem impossible? Or does it even seem futile? This is not true of a majority of young women but there are enough that it made the news. 

There have been many times in our history where women have stepped forward to take the lead and make major changes to raise our status and influence in the world. This teenage population has many strong women that have already opened the path before them. There are very strong teenaged activists stepping forward – both male and female. What do they know intuitively that perhaps we do not? My belief system is that in between lives we choose exactly how we want to live and what we want to accomplish when we come out of the plant.

I’m still working to help expand the influence of women in our world primarily by writing these messages of encouragement to both men and women who are more active than I am. I see our role as continuing to explore the possibilities. I see us as a growing circle of light workers who are finding each other and are being bolstered by the presence of other light workers that we can recognize.  It’s one thing to raise your light and your intention and another thing to go out and do the work and make stuff happen. I’m at the raise-my-intention to insert energy into the world stage of participation. 

There’s a lot to overcome. And I’m sure we have more battles to fight and win. But we will win and we will continue to change the world and bring in more of the qualities of the Divine Feminine.

Where are you on this path? What is your role? And are you stepping into it?  

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

Expanding Awareness

What Makes A Friend A Friend?

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

Recognize Where You Are Now. Do Not Backtrack. 

I was truly excited over the idea for about 48 hours. I was going to turn all my books into audiobooks. Then I found out how complex it is to create an audiobook. It’s not like a podcast that you can edit and post yourself. But I sure had fun for about 24 hours dreaming this possibility. 

It’s good to dream. It’s good to dream big. Your imagination is good for you and you need to get carried away with an idea periodically in order to make sure you still can.

But here was the catch – don’t go backward. However much I might like to have some of my books in audio format, that is not where I need to spend my time and energy. I am to continue to move forward and explore new pathways and leave markers for others to follow. My job is to keep exploring and keep sharing what I discover and figure out in the present moment of my evolution. It was a huge realization for me.

How do you choose to use your time – going back over the past or moving steadily towards the future?

I know that I’ve shared this before but when I became a Reiki Master teacher in the 80s, they asked each of us what we wanted to do with the Reiki. The person who spoke before me said “I’m going to help all the poor people by giving them Reiki.” And I knew immediately with my choice was. I said “I’m going to help all the people who are already flying high to fly higher.” And that has been my role for 40 years. I had to keep going and flying higher and inviting others to join me. 

Keep your eye on your goal. The overarching core purpose of your life. I am a way-shower and I have to keep exploring. 

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

Don’t Lose Sight Of Your Calling

The idea was so intriguing it pulled me totally off track. I even wandered down the wrong road a bit.

The idea was so intriguing it pulled me totally off track. I even wandered down the wrong road a bit. Until I realized I was going backward not forward.

The idea was so intriguing it pulled me totally off track. I even wandered down the wrong road a bit. Until I realized I was going backward not forward. But I heard the call in time. I took a shortcut back to the main road and started moving forward again. 

– Cara Lumen, February 2023

We create our future with every thought we think, every action we take.  Move forward mindfully as you sing your Deeper Song.

Namaste,

Cara

Come Sing a Deeper Song  

I help adventurers who are ready to explore the new possibilities in the emerging energy of the Divine Feminine to align their dreams and choices with what is emerging as possible today so that they go beyond their own expectations.

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My Books

Expand Your Vision

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

If we create our world by using our imagination, we have some serious work to do. I’m not exactly sure where to start. 

Before I can envision for the planet, I have to vision from my own small world, my own sphere of influence, my own actions and choices. Begin with yourself and your expression in life to make the changes you hope to see reflected in the world. 

I have a great start on the kind of people I want to be with because of the kind and caring staff here at Evergreen long-term care. I can actually use them as a place to begin my vision for this New World. I envision a world full of kind, caring, smart, people who are very deeply in service to others. So much will change in the world if all of us are in service to each other.

I envision our planet as a place where all of the products we use are very environmentally friendly and nothing, absolutely nothing gets dumped on Mother Earth to hurt or harm or destroy her. That means that a lot of human hearts and minds have to change.

So I have envisioned caring people caring for our the planet. What about me? What about my vision for myself? 

First of all, I’m 90 so I can vision for 10 or so years ahead but I won’t put a time frame on it. How do I need to change? How might I be a service? What do I need to do to make all that happen? 

How do I need to change? I watch meaningful and impactful interactions with kind, caring people in service here and I seek to copy them even in the few months I have been here. And I know that following their example is going to make a huge difference as I move forward.  So choosing to be around the right people is a primary place to start defining your place of service -real life, aware, thoughtful, kind people. Are they living successful lives with some degree of calm certainty? How are they doing that? Are the activities you choose to do nurturing you and expanding your awareness and supporting your work in the world? That’s a lot to get from a day’s worth of living. 

How might I be a service? You can go deeper into your place of service at any age. Look around at how you are helping people right now. It may be that your support of others is simply through positive thinking and ever-deepening contribution to others.

What do I need to do to make all that happen? 

If I spend contemplative time visualizing peace everywhere on the planet, I can work with communities of people or herds of animals or individuals.

I get to imagine what clear, sparkly water looks like and feels like and that it is everywhere. I get to envision forests growing safely without the destruction of a fire. I’ve been a vegetarian for 50 years so I’m not a part of that process of killing animals for food.

I will envision my life as projecting positive, inclusive energy full of health and balance.  

Each of us has a place of expression. My physical plane seeks some answers through self-healing. I have my eyesight to work on and not worry about.

Where do you need to change? What do you need to change?

Be creative in how you expand your vision and make it become a reality. 

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

Expand your vision of what you see for yourself. and raise your expectation of what is possible.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

• How do you envision the survival of the planet? Become more aware of what is happening and create your own very strong spiritual practice focused at least in part on the survival of our planet.

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

Add More Elements To You Spiritual Practice

I am drumming more in my spiritual practice since my flute playing is less than stellar with my arthritic fingers. I use several of my rattles to bless my work and send energy to heal my body. I make up songs to heal my eyes.

I like to do my spiritual practice as the sun rises and sets.  I have a ceremony before I sleep to focus on releasing and restoration. I could do better about offering gratitude for my meals. I will make up a song of focus for my computer and the ideas it helps me express.

I haven’t done this yet but I will start thanking my two plants for their wholing energy when I water them.

How will you expand your spiritual practice?

Water Meditation

 I live in the middle of the country in Kansas and have no real way to do a water meditation in person so I will have to find a recording that speaks to that particular form. Sit quietly and listen to the innate rhythm and flow of the tides as the water and the waves help us find a soft, ongoing, nurturing sound. Find a water sound that you like and begin to meditate with it and see what journeys it takes you on. 

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Do The Work

As I come to the end of my eighth Qigong class, I realize that I am not doing the work.  Part of it is that I can’t stand up very well – yet. But the other part is that I am not doing the work.  I’m not practicing.

Where are you falling behind simply because you are not practicing or have not added it to your daily routine? Rearrange your day until you find the right sequence.

Your Body’s Response to Fear

I’m experiencing a shortness of breath and my PT facilitator Maggie said she noticed it when my hip replacement surgery was scheduled. Hummm.  I have never felt less in control of my own destiny as I do now when I have to depend on so many others to get me ready and get me to the hospital and back again. I have been an independent woman the majority of my life and I don’t like how it feels to have that not be within my capacity anymore.  I need to make some creative adjustments both in the form of self-empowerment and beliefs. I’m not sure where to begin but recognizing the need is a good place to begin my exploration.

Self-Care

I am so well cared for here at Evergreen, things I can no longer do for myself are done for me but I have to make certain I do my part – exercise that only I can provide for my body, the food choices that only I can make, the rest that only I can give – these are still totally my responsibility.  Don’t give up your role in caring for the well-being of your body. It is your temple for you to live in.  Care for it wisely. 

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

Try New Things

What do you want to do in the coming year that you’ve never done before? It may range from trying a new food to going rock climbing.  It’s good to experiment. It’s good to try new things. 

I’ve recently begun to read Joe Dispenza’s book Becoming Supernatural and it is going to change my life. It is taking me in a direction I never dreamed possible.  I’ve had the book for one year but now is when I need it.

I have a role to play here at Evergreen and that is unfolding.  I am eager to participate more. 

What new things do you want to explore? What new paths will you go down?  Keep trying new things, it makes life an adventure. 

Explore Other Cultures

There is a fairly diverse population among the staff here at Evergreen. Two people have come over from Africa in their teens one of them worked her way through college as a long-distance runner. I have been exposed to more diversity in population and cultures in the last three months since I have been here than I have in my entire 90-year life. I’m loving it. 

Where do you go to expose yourself to diversity?  As a young girl I remember having dinner at a neighbor of my grandparents and we ate squirrel. Only in later years did I realize that was what they could afford to eat. 

In New York City I had a Jewish friend invite several of us for Passover where she explained the ceremony. But other than eating at restaurants that serve culturally specific food I have not done much exploring and have had no chance to get to know people from other cultures. How will you broaden your world view today?

What Do You Miss Doing?

I used to walk all over New York City, now I use a walker. I used to garden, now I have two philodendron I need help watering. Music has always been in my life. With my arthritic fingers making my native flute playing a bit odd, I have turned to my drums and my voice to add music to my spiritual practice. But I keep the elements I love in my life in some form.

We let slide all manner of favorite nurturing things in order to make our living or raise our children or…

Get that old band instrument out of the closet and play it again. Find time to do things that you used to love to do. Whatever you miss doing, find time to do it again now.

One of the big lessons I learned about moving into a smaller place is to start with an empty space the size of the space you are moving to and put in it only what you really want to keep around you. The rest you leave behind. Sometimes that is hard to do but necessary. 

We can apply that principle to the agenda you choose for yourself for the coming year. If you were to begin again with a clean slate, what top three things would you put on it? 

I would put exploring and writing about what I learn in order to clarify it for myself and others. Oddly my spirit practice is third on my list but when I was downsizing, it was my spiritual items that I had to cut down on the most. 

I realize that there are two vital elements to my life – my spiritual practice and my writing which are deeply entwined with leaning. That’s good to know. 

Make a list of what is important for you and prioritize them. Are you doing what you really want to do? How do you need to change to make room for your priorities? Start with a clean slate not a full slate and consciously write what you want in your life.

Love Your Work

Life is too short to not do work you love. We spend a huge portion of our time at work. We deserve to have it be something we love to do. 

It is very important that you really like your job because that energy shows through in the smallest thing you do. 

Do you need a new job? Look around for what that might be.  Are you even in the right field? 

Ask for an information interview from some in a field you are interested in.  I did that in New York City – asked for an introduction to film distribution. The sole proprietor had a great time telling me about the work he loved and I learned that it was not a field for me. Network to find what interests you and what skills and talents are required to be successful at it.

Don’t settle, keep doing only work you love.  

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness

Create a Nightly Ritual

There are several steps to creating a night ritual.  One is to offer gratitude for what has unfolded during the day. When you reflect back over the events that unfolded, you can see the gifts and the lessons and the insights it brought. Contemplate the new possibilities they suggest.

I always set up protection for the night. Mine is in the form of a song and I also experience myself being tucked into a transformative sphere which not only protects but transforms any negative energy I might emit or encounter during the night. 

And of course I clear that sphere once I’m awake in the morning and set it up as protection for the new day.

I do refresh the protective sphere in my room each morning because there is a lot of traffic in an out during the day.

I am now up early enough to watch the sun rise and play my drum and sing greeting songs to the directions and offer my services. How will you expand the rituals you use for opening and closing your day?

I Got My Drums Back!

I had given away a drum that I made 40 years ago two times – It just came back to me which is perfect. I didn’t know I get back my big blue djembe drum which is a pretty funny thing to own in a nursing home. They have already suggested drumming circles but I’ve never even been to one. Since my arthritic fingers are making my flute playing less than delightful, I can certainly improve my drum playing. The drum that I like the best is the frame drum. It has no ties in back. A long time ago women were not allowed to have drums so they use their grain sieves as drums which is why it’s different than other ones. You use your thumb to hold the frame. I can play it softly and look out the window at the world. I have six drums in a collection as a resident of a long-term care facility.  But the world wanted me to have a way to celebrate life and I have it. 

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.

Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.

Because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

— Rumi

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

Build Your Leadership Skills

As I watch the mess the US Republicans are making, I once again see a self-focused group who are only interested in power. 

I understand when people are self-focused because of survival but I do not understand the need for power. It is an ego driven need and if I were guessing I’d say part of it was a need to bolster their ego because of feelings of insecurity. And I guess I also have to leave room for it to be part of a “mean streak.”

Examine your willingness to compromise. If you are in a leadership position – in work or in your family – do you listen to those you lead? Do you encourage them to contribute? Do you help expand the ideas they bring to the table? Do you take time to explain the strengths and weaknesses so everyone in the group can learn?

Strong leaders help build other strong leaders by encouragement and mentoring. How are your leadership skills? 

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

Expand Your View Of World Community

I have not been around this diverse a population since I walked the streets of New York City and even there, nationalities had a tendency to congregate in their own neighborhoods. But here at Evergreen I have met several people who came from Africa in their teens and a nurse/executive who says she is the only Asian, named Nancy. One Med Aid plays the viola. Another put herself through college doing cross-country running. Our chef started out in finance and after ten day was told to go find another field.  His brother owned a restaurant so he found his calling. 

There are so many stories from so many cultural backgrounds. I have expanded my view and experience of our world community.

What happens when we do that? We begin to see the lives of others from a more inclusive viewpoint.  We learn of the richness of many cultural heritages and we experience ourselves as members of the planet rather than of a specific country or race or religion. And once we raise our gaze and become focused on the survival of our planet home, we unite in caring for it.  

What changes for you when you experience yourself as a citizen of the planet? How does your responsibility change?  Get to work on that.

=== DEEPER SONG PHILOSOPHIES ===

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. 
– Mother Teresa

Pay attention to the ripples you send out.  Fill them with compassion and love. 

===A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===

Spiritual Practice

The Two Vital Sides of Your Spiritual Practice

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

 I Had Surgery Last Week

I’m not going to write a blow by blow but I am sitting here at my computer at 4AM having just taken my third anti-bacterial soap shower and I am dressed and ready to go in an hour for my hip replacement. It is 5 AM and I am the first surgery patient.

I have sent energy ahead as have a few of my reiki friends, to the space, to the doctor and staff who help him and for my body’s response to this adjustment as well. And I get to trust.  An aide will come get me in an hour. She will be given a packet of information by the nurse to convey to the hospital staff. A van will come pick me up and load me and my wheelchair “Pearl” into the back. It is 33 degrees so I had a warm poncho I got in Mexico years ago and lap robe. I will spend overnight in the hospital tonight.

I have to trust a lot of people to do their jobs really well. And they will.

Later: I stayed in the hospital six days.  My big discovery was that I’m going to sleep in a recliner from here on. They had one waiting for me at Evergreen.  So I am tucked in, sitting in my wheelchair at my desk back at my computer again. The hip surgery went fine – it was just other things like my oxygen levels that kept me in the hospital for a while. And I can stand up straighter than I ever have. All is well in my world. Cara

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

The Year Ahead

There is fog on the road ahead. I do not know what it will reveal.

There is fog on the road ahead. I do not know what it will reveal. There may be a choice to make and what I choose will determine my destination. There may be a detour I take to go exploring. But I will keep going. 

The is fog on the road ahead. I do not know what it will reveal. There may be a choice to make and what I choose will determine my destination. There may be a detour I take to go exploring. But I will keep going. I am an explorer and I am an adventurer. Bring it on!

Cara Lumen, December, 2022 

We create our future with every thought we think, every action we take.  Move forward mindfully as you sing your Deeper Song.

Namaste,

Cara

Come Sing a Deeper Song  

I help adventurers who are ready to explore the new possibilities in the emerging energy of the Divine Feminine to align their dreams and choices with what is emerging as possible today so that they go beyond their own expectations.

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