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Start Where You Stand

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Start Where You Stand

“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” – George Herbert, poet and priest

Wherever you are right now is a perfect place to begin.  Take a step.  Followed by another step.  Then look around at the new view.  

When a new idea pops in, explore it.  Let it take you wherever it does.  Do with it whatever it calls on you to do.  Each time you go exploring you learn, your experience is deepened, your skills are sharpened.  

Where are you now and what do you simply need to start doing?

For a Deeper Exploration: 

Follow Your Personal Drumbeat 

Build on the Distance You Have Come 

Does Your Path Have Heart?

What are the Foundations Stones Upon Which Your Build Your Life

Discover Your Spiritual Heart

Immerse Yourself in the Oneness of the Void

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Immerse Yourself in the of the Void

Living Our Deeper Song


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

When we immerse ourselves into the oneness that is the Void (Rumi calls it the “Nowhere that you came from”) we experience ourselves as whole, perfect and complete. There is no striving. There is no separation. There is only oneness. We enter the void through our inner world. We sit or stand quietly and go within and keep going until our body disappears and we are void.  

In that void is everything. It is wholeness. It is serenity. It is the highest vibration that exists. We don’t connect with it, we are it. When we allow ourselves to move into the silence within, we have the experience of being everything. All that is. All that will be. We are part of a void that includes everything. Wholeness. Unconditional Love. Serenity. Wisdom. It’s all there. In the All-That-Is. In that silence within. 

How do you get there? How do you experience it? By moving within. Closing your mind to the external and moving into the void. The void of wholeness. The void of All-that-is. The Nowhere That We Came From. As we immerse ourselves in the experience of the void, our body responds with healing. Balancing. Restoring. And all we are doing is residing in an awareness of being one with the void. Allow the void to restore balance to your physical body, to expand your spiritual experience. Give yourself over to the void. Trust it. And let go. Let go of anything and everything that no longer serves you and is no longer relevant.

In the void of wholeness, the void of oneness, the void of All That Is, know that you are whole, perfect and complete. Experience that in your life. As you stay in that void, feel your entire being respond and realign and replenish and restore. Then, when you are ready, gradually come back to your experience as a human being and trust the expanded awareness flowing through your life, the void of wholeness. Trust it. And let it bring you into balance.

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I make it a practice to move into the void every day and experience the wholeness and unconditional love and inclusiveness that is there.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS

  • Perhaps you want to record a guided meditation for yourself that takes you into the void. That lets you return to the vibration of wholeness, the experience of wholeness. Or just do it in meditation.
  • Notice what shifts and self-correct if appropriate. 

===INNER WORK===

How Do You Nurture Your Inner Self?

We mostly know how to take care of our bodies with good diet and exercise, but how do you consciously nurture your inner self? Do you have a meditation practice? If not, maybe you want to establish one. Do you walk in nature? Or at least sit and contemplate as you look out the window at nature every day? Perhaps watch the sunset or the sunrise?

Do you meditate? Do you listen to music? Do you write poetry or make up songs? Do you spend time with a dear friend? Do you hug your pet? Those are ways to nurture your inner self. Perhaps go exploring today to find a new way, a new experience you can create that will deepen your awareness of your inner self and its messages and guidance.

The Healing Power of Solitude

I live alone so solitude is a major part of my life but what I want to talk about here is actually choosing a specific time to be still within. To be alone with your thoughts. To be alone with your feelings. To be alone with your body. To be alone with nature. To let yourself immerse yourself in the ebb and flow of the ongoing cycles of life. To become part of the flow. And be nurtured by the love, be nurtured by the compassion, be nurtured by the peace that resonates in the silence. You can turn it into gratitude for the day or a blessing for the day but find a time in your spiritual practice to be aware of the sound of silence as you sit in solitude and listen to your Inner Self.

Send Love Ahead to Your Day

Vibration is not restricted by time and space so you can send the vibration of love ahead to your day and simply step into it as you move along the way. Isn’t that a nice idea? To send love ahead. Send love ahead to a meeting. Sounds love ahead to a conversation. Send love ahead to something you’re going to work on. And when you get there, love will be waiting for you. Lots of love. Give it a try. And watch the miracles happen.

Surrender Box

I get a lot of good ideas from Daily Om and this is one of them. It is the idea of a Surrender Box. 

There’s a great deal in our life that we need to leave up to the organic flow of the universe. So instead of trying to wrestle something to the ground or manhandle it into place, we let the Universe take care of it. We put it in a Surrender Box and let the universe handle it. Instead of worrying or feeling defeated, we just let go. Perhaps we say something like “please resolve this for the highest good for all” or “I release this to its natural unfolding.”  Then we turn it over to the all-compassing, compassionate universe.  

Have a real box. Write down on paper what you want to release and put it in the box knowing that it will all work out the way it’s supposed to. Let the universe and its all-encompassing all-knowing wisdom provide the next step whether it’s to let it go or to take action. The Surrender Box allows you to let go of any worry and concern and turn it over to the unfolding of the universe which is going to make it happen anyway. You just get to step out of the picture and stop worrying. 

===SELF-HEALING===

Feeling Empowered by Qigong for Self-Healing

I just finished Heal Yourself & Others With the Power of Qigong, with Master Chunyi Lin. on the Shift New and it has completely shifted my belief system and expectations about being able to self-heal. That Qi (energy) knows what to do. You just have to point it in the right direction and trust. You do that with your mind (Yi).

I’ve taken four or five other Qigong classes but I was doing that only as a meditative exercise choice. It wasn’t until I took this class that I realized that everything is changing including my body because I am actively directing Qi with my mind and trusting the Qi to know what to do. I just have to point it in the general direction. That’s huge.

I don’t know what’s going on in my body, I only know what is manifesting and that change and rebalancing continues to happen.  I have an idea of a possible cause of this realignment from a past life. So I sit here and direct Qi energy to the parts of my body that are being grouchy and the Qi energy is restoring balance to my body.

Here’s a link to the class. They have scholarships that are half price. This is his website. springforestqigong.com.  He sends out self-healing topics weekly. A self-healing class is taught there too. I really like what I’m learning in Spring Forest Qigong and what it’s helping me to do to heal myself. 
Grandmaster Chuny Lin, chunyilin.com

Positive Pause

Establish a time every day that you pause to realign. The form could be a nap. But the form could also be a few minutes of deep breathing while looking out the window at nature. Or meditation using a mantra. The point is to find at least one if not more times in your day that you really stop and recenter yourself into that Still Point into an awareness of you as pure vibration. Into a consciousness of releasing the frenetic energy and bringing in peace and calm. And love. And compassion. A pause. Possibly several times a day. It will rebalance you, it will recharge you. And it will keep you going in the right direction

Relief from Lower Back Pain

Qigong Pressure Point to Relieve Lower Back Pain with Master Chuny Lin.  Easy to do. Share it with those who need it.

===OUTER  WORK===

The Power of a Small Change

If I stand here and I turn to my left one step, and then start walking, I will end up in entirely new destinations. One step. One step can change my entire outcome, take me to an entirely different place. What is that one step? How do I recognize it?

Some of it is about experimenting. If I do this differently today how does it feel? What difference does it make in how I feel at the end of the day? Does it lead me to a different outcome? What small shift will you make today that may lead you in an entirely new direction? Go exploring and find new adventures.

Do The Work

In the second Qigong class with David Penn, he taught us some Qigong moves that I can’t even come close to doing. Not because they were hard. Simply because they required me to stand up straight – which I can’t do at this moment in time. But what they motivated me to do was to do my version of it. To try. For instance, he was teaching a standing squat. Well, I can hang on to things and stand up and move more or less, into kind of squat. So it inspired me to do what I can do. And build on that. I’m going to review the class because it is very rich in ideas. But the core shift is to just start doing the work. The best you can. On a consistent basis. And expect your body to respond and get stronger and better and more aligned. What do you need to begin to do even if it seems like you’re pretty far away from being able to achieve it? 

Cultivate Curiosity

Curiosity can take you on great adventures. It takes you into unknown corners and down unexpected panels. Curiosity cultivates new experiences and deeper wisdom. Learn to listen to your inner voice. Learn to notice the nudges in the universe that open new doors of opportunity and learning. Listen to the nudges of curiosity and go explore. Have a great adventure. Find a way to both stretch beyond your usual world and hold a space that is deeply, personally embodied. 

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

The Far Reach of Embodiment

Can you think of someone who has a quality that is so richly embodied that it resonates from something she/he does? It makes you recognize the quality and it encourages a desire within you to embrace that quality in your own life. That’s the far reaches of embodiment.

I am drawing two of my friends into a circle of three because we are all healers. We have mildly different approaches but we are at the core drawn to and interested inour role as healers. One friend I have known for 20 years, the other for six. And now we are three friends walking a similar path.

Who is in your life that is setting an example of qualities and experiences you would like to increase in your life? The wonderful young woman who comes to clean my home calls herself my Gal Friday. And her willingness and creativity and joy in doing the numerous things that keep a home going is inspiring. She loves to clean. Do you have something you love to do that people will notice your joy in doing it?

When we are joyous and enthusiastic about what we are doing that joy radiates out and inspires and motivates others. We are the embodiment of our beliefs. How are you doing with that?

I am a good friend to people that I want to interact with but I’m not so good with people that I’m not particularly drawn to. So I’m not sure how I’m seen in this senior center, but that’s OK. I have connected with friends online who are walking a path similar to mine.

How are you perceived? And is there anything about that you would like to change? Do that.

Self-Responsibility

I don’t know what my living accommodations are as I get older. This is independent living. Which means I have to stay independent. But now I have help with cleaning and taking trash out and picking stuff up off the floor. What do you do when you age and become less self-sufficient and have no family? When you are on your own and are not capable of being on your own? What are your choices? What are your resources?

Yes, I get more and more creative about how to get dressed, how to care for myself, how to feed myself. I’m aware of the type of help that I need. I have Shelly who comes to clean every other week and do my laundry, and this week I hired her to come for 20 minutes on her way home on the opposite week to take out trash and change my sheets and pick up things off the floor that I can’t reach anymore. It was a relief to make that commitment to hire that extra time. Look around for an older person that you might do some small deed for. It will be greatly appreciated.

Support – Giving and Getting

We each have a support system. It may be a big one or a little one. But there is someone we can call upon. And there are others that can call upon us. Support is about both giving it and receiving it. 
I need support in caring for my home as I age. I hope I give support in my newsletter as I explore life and figure out ways to do it thoughtfully. It’s an exchange but it’s not an exchange with the same people. The wonderful person who comes to clean my home does not read my newsletter but she says I am her favorite hippie… So this flow of giving and receiving support is not necessarily an exact exchange. It is a pattern of moving energy in our lives. How is the balance of your giving and getting? Are you getting enough help? Are you giving enough? Do both. 

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Leadership

How does one lead in this volatile environment of strong and opposing viewpoints? It’s probably not going to be through reasoning. Somehow the communication of inclusion has to come through the heart. It is up to each of us to make room for the individuality of another and respect their choices and not impose ours on them. It’s a live and let live approach. I can show you by example what compassion looks and feels like. I can show you by example what respect for other cultures and beliefs looks like. But words won’t do it. We lead by doing. We lead by example. And those who are aware look at us and say, “Oh, I want to do it that way. I like what that feels like to be receiving that energy inclusion. I like how that affects my awareness.” 

What kind of example are you being in the world today and who are you sharing that example with? And what changes is it making? Lead by example. 

Filter the News – A Choice

I watch way too much news. It is depressing. And as I sit here in my 89-year-old body I don’t know how to help. Perhaps I can’t. It is not mine to do.

But I do have control over how I nurture my body and my soul – by what I think and focus on and consider is true. This is a period of massive self-destruction. There’s so much wrong about thinking that I don’t even know where to begin. What I do know to do is to focus on what is working. The people who are doing good things. The people who are having positive and creative ideas. Change may be as simple as shifting my focus. Not to ignore what’s going on, not to not prepare for it or look for solutions for it, but to hold a vision of a higher energy, a higher belief system. And inclusive, interconnected, loving way of being. What do you look for as you move through life?  How do you expect to change and contribute?  Where are you focused? What do you expect and what are you getting? Look for the positive that exists and support that. It will change the world. 

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===
Expanding Awareness
How to DeepenYour Cosmic Consciousness
Listen to my 
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the 
Deeper Song Website

==== DEEPER SONG EXPLORATION ===

Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.  – Betty Friedan

Here is A Qigong experience of the Void with Master Gadu Doushin.

===CARA’S CORNER===

Next

I have a comforting belief system about dying. It comes from two books where a psychologist hypnotized and interviewed people about their life between lives. Michael Newton did pass life regression with people specifically asking about what their life was between lives. He wrote Journey of Soul and and Destiny of the Souls.

The time between lives is a time of checking in, regrouping, rethinking, replanning and re-choosing. Even re-choosing whether we want to come in for another lifetime. For me that is very comforting. 

At 89, living in a senior center where people literally move on a lot, I am acquiring a philosophy of death and “next” that works for me. We all have to do the same. My vaccinated son-in-law at 75 got Covid. I can’t tell him my philosophy or the joy of a potential “next” because he’s very conservative and not receptive.  Nor would it be any comfort to my daughter who is 12 years younger when there comes a time for him to move on. I’m such a stand alone person, even as I find I have to ask for more help on the physical plane than I used to. I’m not afraid of being dead. I’m not too excited about the process of becoming dead in case it is uncomfortable. So I want my mind to continue to identify and reformulate and share philosophical ideas that help me and others with the concept of death. 

What do you do that gives value to your life right now and are you doing enough of it? Embrace the gifts of each day, each moment, each awareness. And let the rest unfold.

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===
Next

My “next” comes from “now”.  How I see it. How I expect it to be. How I use it. 

My “next” comes from “now”.  How I see it. How I expect it to be. How I use it. What is the foundation I am standing on? What is the belief system that moves me forward? Will they serve me well?  Are they what I want?

My “next” comes from “now”.  How I see it. How I expect it to be. How I use it. What is the foundation I am standing on? What is the belief system that moves me forward? Will they serve me well?  Are they what I want? Shifts I now make will make a huge difference in my “next”. I choose thoughtfully.

Cara Lumen, May 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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You Are the Composer of Your Own Song

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You Are the Composer of Your Own Song

Living Our Deeper Song


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

It’s an interesting state of affairs when your belief system says you are the one responsible for everything that happens to you and you’re not exactly excited about what is showing up. Do you feel helpless? Do you feel angry? What do you do when you feel that you are totally responsible for every part of your life and things are not going well? Hmmm.

You get busy. You get creative. You try new things. Self-responsibility is an opportunity. It can be challenging and it can be unnerving. But most of all it is creative.

Here’s the problem I want to solve, the situation I want to change. What am I going to do about it? What resources do I have? What do I need to learn? Self-healing is an interesting opportunity to change your belief system. What are the tools that you are going to use in order to create your wholeness? That’s true of every level –  mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. You design your path. You design your journey, you compose your own song. 

That doesn’t mean we can’t look around and see what others are doing. Would that work for me? I would do that differently. Let me try that for a while. A great part of self-healing is being aware of what needs shifting or changing or releasing. And then do that. What’s not working in your life? What choices do you have that might change the outcome? Go exploring. Try them out. Observe what happens. See how you feel. If you don’t get the results you want, try something else.

Yes, we are part of a huge all-encompassing high vibration. We have access to that all the time. We don’t always take advantage of that. So expand your expectation of what is possible. Expand your expectation of what you believe you deserves. Those are game changers as far as creating outcome.

Go exploring. I’ve studied Yoga and Tai Chi and I am into Qigong right now. I’m working with tuning forks and native flutes and drums. I’m into shamanism and Reiki and bio fields. All of these are a part of my personal adventure. How diverse is your path of exploration? What new adventures await you? You are the weaver of your own life. You can pull into it any threads that calls to you. Pay attention. Go exploring. And compose your own song.

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I broaden the range of my exploration as I continue to compose my own song of life.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS

  • Try one new self-healing technique and see where it takes you. It can be meditation or toning or tuning forks or Qigong or whatever comes to you. Try something new and notice what happens.
  • Continue to explore as your life evolves. 

===INNER WORK===
The Gift

My friend Martha Lacy offered to make an altar piece for me out of clay. She is an accomplished potter. I immediately got an image of an infinity shape representing the cycles of life in the past and in the future and how they intertwined. The images I wanted on each side appeared immediately – a butterfly for the organic changes in the waning cycles and a spider weaving her life from within in the waxing cycles.

In the first on Zoom session Martha shaped the altar piece with me making choices and decisions all along the way. The image of what I wanted was very strong. In the second session we began to put the design on. Again my internal images were very strong. I watched as Martha interpreted what I was seeing. The songs I would sing in ceremony with it began to emerge. It was truly a combining of our imaginations and an extraordinary experience. She also made me a rattle she designed and again I had string images for the decoration of that. We put specific intentions into the clay beads that are inside.

They have now been glazed and fired and I have a unique, one-of-a-kind ceremonial piece for my spiritual practice.

I have never entwined my imagination with someone in this manner before. She was interpreting my vision and I saw my vision take shape through her skill. I’m not sure where you get that kind of experience in life. I’m sure there are other places. Do you have a collaborative relationship with someone in which you nurture each other’s purpose and imagination? This was a first for me and it was very, very special. 

===SELF-HEALING===
Two Powerful Self-Healing Practices

I have added two powerful self-healing practices to my daily life and they are making a difference. I shared them in this newsletter before but they are turning out to be a remarkably effective combination so I thought I would repeat them in some detail. They come from two separate people and I learned them on that Qigong Healing Summit of the Shift Network.

The first one comes from Teja Bell TejaBell.com Rōshi (老師) Teja Fudo Myoo Bell – 84th Zen Ancestry Heir – Roku Dan Aikido. His talk was Integrating Embodied Mindfulness: Qigong and Meditation With Teja Bell. The movement I found so pwerful was a preparation for meditation.

He said that Qigong practice is an integration of your attention with the underlying principles though mindfulness. We are to cultivate a field of presence, a field of being. In our Qigong practice we move the chi and encourage its uninterrupted flow. 

He showed us several movements but the one that resonated with me most dramatically is one I now use many times a day. It feels literally like pumping chi. Begin with your hand in front of your heart to center and balance you. Lower your hands beside your body and with palms facing, gradually bring the qi energy up your body to your head.

At the top, turn your palms to face downward, close your fingers over your thumbs and begin to move your arms down as if bringing that energy back down into your entire body. 

It was the fingers over the thumb in the downward movement that energetically caught my attention so dramatically. I was surprised at how powerfully I felt the energy move. So I began doing that on a regular basis to begin my meditation and before I go to sleep.

The other addition I added to my meditation practice came from Master Chunyi Lin, Creator and Founder of Spring Forest Qigong (springforestqigong.com and chunyilin.com)

The movement is to breathe into the lower Tan Tien which is behind the navel and breathe out all the imbalance and negativity and stuff you don’t want as smoke. I often experience a very large and deep yawn when I do this.

The hand movement seems to simulate the breathing and the breath movement clears the chi. They came from two different people. They are very powerful combination.

I use the hand movement as the foundational movement and inevitably as I bring my hands up, I find myself yawning and taking a deep breath to exhale. I make it a point to bring in everything I don’t want into my lower Tan Tien and release it on the exhale which very often becomes a very large yawn. At that point my hands have reached above my head, my fingers close over my thumbs and as I lower my arms it is a very centering and focused motion that makes me feel like I am filling myself with positive Qi. 

I am making remarkable progress using a combination of two Qigong moves. 

===OUTER  WORK===

In my self-healing Qigong class, Master Chunyi Lin springforestqigong.com,  chunyilin.com taught us that there are six causes of illness: emotions, diet, injuries, change in weather or seasons, wrong medication, and living environment and that all qi blockages can be removed. Then you clear the space and give energy back.

Those are pretty easy to identify. Whatever’s going on in my body is from an injury in a past life. I don’t have any idea why the dry macular degeneration is showing up and Western medicine cannot cure it. They can only describe what happens. So I’m on my own with that one. I’m going to look for it’s cause and release it. 

An easy first look for the cause of illness is your environment. I love my apartment space. But because of my specialized interests I don’t have any friends here. My friends are online. So I’m missing periodic in-person conversations. And I know I fluctuate between boredom and depression. I could work on that.  It’s pretty easy to become more aware of the seasons in your response to health as well as the food you eat. After years of not eating dairy, I seem to be drawn to cheese and yogurt. I get to watch that.

What’s going on in your life that is emerging as imbalance and can you identify the cause of the illness as either emotions, diet, injuries, change in weather or seasons, wrong medication, and living environment? 

Master Lins deep breathing sequence to empty the Lower Tan Tien is a good place to begin. All qi blockages can be removed. Get to work.

What If You Keep Getting the Wrong Results?

Our thoughts create our reality so what shows up is a result of your thoughts and intentions. How are you doing? Do you expect the best? Don’t settle for second best. Do you expect a situation to change, to heal? It won’t if you don’t. What do you think is possible? What needs to change? How willing are you to change? What are you doing to help the change occur? Monitor your thoughts. Notice what shows up and change your thoughts accordingly. 

Test The Market and Your Focus for the Future

Several of my friends are getting ready to retire. That means they have another wonderful 30 years to do nifty stuff in. It’s a good time to test the market. Not only to see what people want from you but what you are excited to give.

One friend is both a healer and an artisan. When you start to build a business, you need to look at time versus income. That needs to be tested. Can you be paid enough to do the work the way you want to in the time you need?  Or do you have to modify it and offer it in chunks that are more affordable? You simply go exploring. You try things out and see how you like doing them and you see how people respond to what you offer. You can go exploring long before you retire. Begin to figure out this second career path. This flexible freedom that also inspires and motivates and stimulates your life experience. You can begin exploring any time. What do you want to create next? 

Do You Organize for Priority?

I’ve got a pretty good system on creating this newsletter. I have a template. I often write something every day, dictating in what I think just to capture the ideas. I often have so much material that I find I’m working ahead on the following week. So the first step in creating anything is to do something. Take some steps, get some ideas and explore them a bit. 

Two days before I want to publish it I begin to read what I wrote and see if it makes sense and see if I like it and edit it for clarity and focus. Sometimes I leave a whole segment out. So the second step is to look what you created and see what you want to work on. The third step is more detailed because it involves things like checking the spelling and the overarching message. And of course, final steps are having it proofed and then putting it in out to the Deeper Song Community and on Facebook and on my website.  Those are all separate steps leading to the outcome I want. 

Can you bring your attention to one step at a time so you don’t feel overwhelmed? Do you know what steps you need to take in order to get the product or idea completed? Break it down into steps. See where you are and perhaps make new choices before you take another step. One step at a time will get you there. 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===
Past Life Work and Time Lines

I believe in past lives and I also believe in parallel timelines so that everything is happening all at once. I have no proof. It’s just an idea that resonates with me. Particularly since this physical adjustment in my hips seems to be coming from a past life and has manifested through several dimensions. At least I hope that’s what’s happening. So rather than feel hopeless or helpless, I feel expectant.

I don’t know how these parallel timelines work. I’m pretty sure my choice today goes both forward and backward. As it has always done. But that can feel like a big burden if you consider you have many lifetimes. But when I work with it right now, my energy is now, my choice is in the now and my expectations are formed in the now.

I have looked ahead 10 years and there I am doing jumping jacks which I can’t do right now so something good is happening today. I’m also planning a new garden in that future life. It’s still an experimental garden but there are new crops there to explore. 

As for past lives, I have gone back beyond this injury on my right leg in a past life to see that I was part of a circle of very strong women friends and the injury was an accident, not a battle. And I had a very strong circle of very strong women around me then as I do today.

So what action do I take today to continue self- healing and to bring harmony among my many lives? I don’t know. I’m making stuff up here. But I keep going back to the core belief that I get what I believe I deserve and what I believe is possible. So it all lies here within me. What do I deserve? What is possible? Do I expect to be able to walk without a walker again? Kind of. Do I expect for my eyes to reverse so I see clearly? I have to work on that. Western medicine seems to have no cure and that’s an interesting blockage for my belief system since I am bringing things forward from a past life. Do you think I could just handle the eyes as part of simply affirming “I see clearly within or without.”  I’ll try that. And “I now release anything that no longer serves me from this lifetime and all my past lives.” And maybe I’ll start lobing light balls into the future.

How are you working with your time lines?

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===
Jupiter/Neptune Conjunction April 12

If I had known about this earlier, I would’ve written you in time to help you celebrate it. This conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune only happens every 154 years! I got some lovely information from Astrology Hub forwarded from a friend about creating a lovely altar as an invitation to your guest. But I kept my ceremony very simple. I focused on two things – self-healing and the next part of my path. I decided to take a dismemberment journey where I put myself back together in the energy of these two powerful planets. It was an interesting journey and I went to the misty circle in the middle of the redwoods and I got help from a whole lot of squirrels. I’m still working on figuring it out. I did not dismember but my team is now bigger!

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===
Where Do You Find Your Answers?

There is only one place to look for the answers you seek – deep within you in the silence. Insight comes from your inner voice. It comes from your intuition. It comes from simply knowing. Be aware that it may not be time for you to have an answer. If I go looking for a solution to the world crisis of today, I may not get a whole lot because it’s unfolding, there are many choices that will take it in a different direction, and my role has not been clarified other than I simply send energy for clarity and knowledge when the time is right. Be patient with unfolding. But bepersistent. Be aware. Be flexible. And go exploring. 

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===
Expanding Awareness
Stand Steady in Your Own Truth
Listen to my 
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the 
Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===
The Cycles of Life

My friend did the clay work while I watched on Zoom and designed the piece we were making together. It was a powerful experience. The vision of what I wanted was very clear at every stage. We were making an altar bowl and a rattle. The altar bowl concept began with the sign of infinity. The cycles of both past and future that are ongoing and ever connected. So how do I use that concept of connecting cycles in my spiritual practice, my daily life, my expectations?

The first thing is that everything is vibration, the same high vibration so whether I am in a cycle of the past or a cycle of the future or in the moment where cycles begin and end, it’s all the same energy. My choices don’t affect the energy, they affect how I perceive the energy and where I see myself in the energy. Think about that. Where do you see yourself in life? I’m at the end of my physical plane life but I see it as a high point, not a low point. I see that as being at the top of a tall mountain that I’ve climbed with more to go to reach the top. How do you see where you are in your life? Are you going downhill or uphill, racing to higher heights or lower depths? That’s important to know because it’s a viewpoint you can shift and it will make a huge difference.

So here I am building on a lifetime of wonderful adventures with a great deal of wisdom and knowledge and interests and introspection to build upon. And I feel useful as I find ways to share that information. That knowledge. That wisdom. That awareness.

At 89 I’m not exactly planning years in advance but I am holding steady on my path. I’m taking conscious steps to continue to explore and deepen my awareness and my wisdom and my expectation.

You need to be creative as you age. There are always choices to be made and expectations to be changed, not lowered, just changed. It’s part of the cycles of infinity – increasing and decreasing cycles of energy and our place in them.

Be present. Be aware. Explore and experiment. Find what works right now in the here and now of your current life. Be creative. Make changes. Expect positive results. 

Different aspects of your life will be in different parts of the cycle. The waxing, the waning. Just notice and be positive and creative and expect the best. Life is a series of interconnected circles of expansion and contraction. Go with the flow. 

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===
This Day is Mine.

This day is mine.

This day is mine to spend as I choose. 
I will fill it with peace and serenity and love. 
I will use it to encourage self-healing. 
I will use it to raise my vibration and deepen in my inner wisdom. 

This day is mine.
I use it wisely.

Cara Lumen. April 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.

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!

Trust Your Intuition – Follow Your Inner Voice

By

Trust Your Intuition – Follow Your Inner Voice

Living Our Deeper Song

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

Our intuition is the first sign of our inner voice speaking up. It comes as a subtle feeling, an awareness and when we pay attention it opens up a new pathway.

Do you follow your hunches? Do you listen to your intuition? Check it out. See where it leads you. Test it to see how on target it is all the time. Learn to trust those subtle thoughts that seem to come out of nowhere.

I use my intuition to make choices. Sometimes it’s as simple as what I’m going to eat and other times it’s more complicated – like what I am going to write. And sometimes my inner voice talks so fast I can only sit here and dictate what it says into my computer. 

The more you listen to your inner voice, the louder and more clearly it speaks. When change is going to happen in my life I get a feeling, a hunch, an awareness. I don’t know what is going to happen, I don’t know when it’s going to happen, I just know that there is a change in progress.

So I keep listening and I keep considering and I keep exploring whatever shows up to see if that’s what I’m supposed to be doing. And then one day it’s totally clear. My next step is right there in front of me. My next project, my next pathway, my next offering, my next place of service. All right there as clear as day. My inner voice has spoken.

First, learn to listen and then learn to trust. Notice the hunches, notice the thoughts, and pay attention to the gradual unfolding process. If they unfold. When they unfold. How they unfold. Keep tuning in as things progress. Learn to trust your intuition. Follow your inner voice. 

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION
I explore my hunches, my nudges, my intuition as they appear in my life. I learn to trust them.
DEEPER SONG PROCESS

  • Learn to pay attention to those random thoughts that are not actually random but are simply not noticed. Notice them, consider them, and see how they unfold. 
  • Listen, explore, and learn to trust.

===INNER WORK===
Do Not Second Guess the Future

It’s a natural tendency that when you get really old you start to think about how you might die. And you hope it doesn’t hurt. In fact, you very much hope it doesn’t hurt. But in a recent journey, I clearly got that it’s not time for me to consider that right now even though I am rather old. I am to get on the ball and do my work and make every day a meaningful and loving experience full of joy. I could keep really busy doing that. 

What are you anticipating with some dread and how is it sapping your energy and spoiling your present moment? Take life one day at a time. Savor it. Enjoy it. Do your best work in it. And expect the best!

I realize that I’m counting pretty heavily on this new self-healing Qigong class I’m taking to help me make changes in my body. But there are subtle changes for the good taking place even now. I just have to notice them and build on them and encourage the subtle changes.

For instance, it hurts very much to get up out of a chair. And I was beginning to sit there and rock back-and-forth in anticipation of the pain, which only makes it worse. And yes, it hurt to stand up. Then one day it didn’t. And I had to teach myself not to anticipate that it would. Do not anticipate, particularly in the negative. And if you can’t hold a vision of ease, at least hold a neutral space in which the action can unfold organically.

Remember that what you get is what you believe you deserve and what you believe can happen. So if I believe I can stand up easily and effortlessly that’s what I can create. That’s what I am creating. That’s what I have created. Stay positive and expect the best.

Come From Your Spiritual Center

It’s easier to get pulled off track – by a situation, by an interaction with a person, by something not working the way it is you want it to. Whatever shows up in your life, take a breath, pause to return to your spiritual center, and rebalance. That moment will change how you view what is unfolding and will also greatly focus and enhance the way you respond. Keep mindfully coming from your spiritual center.

===SELF-HEALING===
Don’t Give Up

I get discouraged sometimes when my body takes its own sweet time getting better because it hurts. And yet, there is progress.  Small steps in the alignment of my body. There is progress but it sure is slow.  I have to keep holding my vision of wholeness and give it time to evolve.  I get discouraged but I know I must keep focused on the successes. When you get discouraged, what do you do?

Create a Self-Healing Segment in Your Spiritual Practice – The Wide Reach of the Vagus Nerve
As I continue to take more and more responsibility for self-healing my body, I’ve begun to look at the meridians. I know very little about them and I want to learn. Somehow I’ve started with the vagus nerve and there are two ways that I’m really attracted to stimulating it. One is the Lower Dantian Breathing Technique with Grandmaster Chunyi Lin. I do this one many times a day.

The other practice I’m going to establish is to massage the vagus nerve manually. As part of my self-healing program, my intuitive healer friend Christina Gerber is going to teach me about the meridians. She says the vagus nerve runs the length of the body so Kegel exercises help the vagus nerve reset. Also, moving your tongue in your mouth side to side to reset it and massaging from your clavicle upwards along your neck to your temples front and back of the ear resets it.

The vagus nerve has a huge impact on mental and gut health. It’s known as the “wandering nerve” which encircles the digestive system, lungs, and heart and as a result, impacts nearly every part of the body. From immune to inflammatory response, to fight or flight, the vagus nerve plays a major role. As a result, stimulation of the vagus nerve is important for both physical and mental health. 

Keep adding self-healing techniques to your spiritual practice. You and your body deserve it.

Imbalance as a Lesson

If I work to heal various parts of my body, I am very aware that the imbalance that I experience is meant to be a lesson for me. A lesson of correction. A lesson of self-healing. Perhaps even the doorway to an entirely new path.

It’s not my favorite way to get a lesson. But there are messages in any imbalance and an opportunity for you to create change in your life. 

Along with my hip adjustment, my dry macular degeneration is also a lesson that is kicking in. Something for me to heal. Even though there is nothing Western medicine can do about it. I know the acupressure points around my eyes and massage them every day. I know I will learn more ways to help it in my Qigong self-healing class, and I look up exercises for the eyes online and go exploring. What prompts me to keep exploring is the belief that my health, my well-being, my self-responsibility and my choice of actions can create positive change. If I don’t, I sit here and just let stuff happen to me. And I’m a victim of this whole aging process. I’m not gonna do that. I keep adding self-healing practices to my self-care. I am taking a course on Qigong self-healing. And I am putting specific self-healing segments into my day so that I consciously stop and pay attention to these areas of my body and life that need to have adjustments made. And I get to work on it with my own energy and my own intention. Don’t just accept an imbalance in your life. Do some research, choose the steps that call to you and do them. Take responsibility for self-healing and expand your spiritual practice to include a regular self-healing time. Pay attention to the results and adjust your self-healing practice as those results unfold. How is your self-healing practice shaping up?

===OUTER  WORK===
How Do You Make Your Choices?

Some people make their choices based on an in-the-moment response and their instinct. Other people spend a lot of time weighing and considering what their options are and where they might lead. Where are you on the spectrum?

The choice of what to eat might be made out of instinct in the moment. Many of the things I write about come in the moment. I find a couple of words or a phrase that calls for explaining and I sit down and write about them. It happens pretty fast actually. I’m not one to spend a lot of time considering the options but perhaps I should be. How do you make your decisions? How do you find the balance between logic and emotion? Or do you?

It’s fine to make a choice between what kind of cookie you want to eat but you need to take a little longer when you’re making a choice between some major change in your life. We do need to consider options. At the same time, we don’t want to overthink them and make ourselves not do anything because we’ve got too many things going on in our minds. How do you find that balance between what your heart wants, what your instinct says to do, and what your mind says is a reasonable and logical step to take? It may depend on your personality and it may depend on the type of decision you’re making.

I write in the newsletter all the time. I find an idea and I write about it and put it in the newsletter draft. However, when I review it, I can just as easily take it out depending on what else I have written that week.

Noticing results is one indication of how your choices are working out. For instance, I had some fairly obvious body responses to some Qigong moves I started doing. So I continue their practice and increase the frequency I do them. That choice was made from the observation of a result.

Some of your choices will depend on how much you trust your inner voice. How much do you trust it to be on target for you? I knew in an instant that I was going to leave Kansas City and go to New York City. No questioning, no wondering how it’s going to happen, not even concerned about what that meant when I got there. It was just instinctual I knew I was going to do it. That sudden, instant knowing decision came two more major times in my life – when I moved from New York to California and when I moved from California to Kansas City.  In each of those huge decision-making moments there was no questioning, only a complete knowing it was what I was to do next. 

In looking over my life I’m pretty much an in-the-moment let’s-do-it person. That’s not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes examining the options might’ve been a better choice. But these were all wonderful moves.

How do you make your choices? Do you lean too much towards deep analysis or do you instinctively and intuitively jump on anything that calls to you? Both are extreme responses. Find balance in how you make your decisions. Whatever that looks like to you.

Adjust as the Situation Changes

I’m having a hard time playing my native flutes. Some of the tones are not clear. My fingers feel like they cover the holes on the flute correctly. But then I noticed the end joint on some of my fingers are being bent to one side by arthritis. So even though I feel like I am still bringing my fingers straight down to cover the hole, in actuality the ends of some of my fingers are not covering the hole completely to make the pure tone. That’s disturbing and I’m not sure what I do with those jauntily curved fingers but I am learning to adjust my fingering now that I know why the unclear notes are occurring. It is easier to play my wider double flute than the round single flute.

What physical changes have come up in your life? Make adjustments in order to continue forward. Stay flexible and creative and keep going…

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===
Add Music to Deepen Your Meditation

I play music as part of my daily meditation.  My native flutes for certain but I get a lot of pleasure from myKalimba Thumb Piano. It is soothing and easy to play.  It is also an inexpensive addition to your meditation practice.

The Kalimba is an African musical instrument consisting of a wooden board with attached staggered metal tines played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs. Here’s what it sounds like: Kiss the Rain

It is believed that the thumb piano was invented twice in Africa; one version originating on the west coast using wooden or bamboo tines around 3000 years ago, and the other version originating on the southeast coast using metal tines around 1300 years ago.

It can be a solo instrument or as an accompaniment to singers, musicians and dancers. I use it for meditation and my cat, Sebastian, is particularly fond of its sound. Here’s the one I have Kalimba Thumb Piano

===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE DIVERSE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEINGS===
Stay Balanced

I’m trying to stay balanced between me and the bravery and the horror stories of the Ukraine while keeping my spiritual focus on the higher vibration that embraces all of us. I’m not always successful.

I wish I had an attention thermometer. It would help me stay on track. It would make me notice when I was focusing too much on the physical plane and need to go spend more time on the spiritual plane. I just have to teach myself to recognize that in myself. I could listen to less news and spend more time reading books and looking at videos that help me raise my own vibration. What kind of balance are you maintaining in your life and how do you need to change it?

===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===
Self-Healing

I started my Qigong class on self-healing this week. And it certainly is an interesting concept to know that you are responsible for what your body presents to you in wellness or sickness. And it is through energy, because we’re all energy, that we can change how it is manifesting. That’s really neat, and it’s also a very sobering responsibility. I don’t want to blame myself for what’s going on in my body because I know in fact it’s a healing of a past life experience because that’s where it started- in a healing session around a past life experience. I have to look closely at this very subtle change toward wholeness that has recently taken place. And trust that more signals and results will follow. Because I am the guy responsible for getting well, I have to stay open to the nudges and clarification that comes with what I am to do. I’m getting results.

When you undertake a self-healing process or self-correcting process, keep track of the steps you take and the results that occur when you do. I have two simple breathing exercises that have begun to make more shifts in my body. Look at what you do and look at what happens when you do it. Then adjust. 

I’m probably gonna take a second Qigong class about ceating longevity because as an old person Qigong seems to be a very powerful way to change and support my physical body. Keep exploring, keep practicing, keep changing.

I’m taking Heal Yourself & Others With the Power of Qigong and the class I will probably take is Live Long QiGong with Robert Peng. Here’s a free online event with him: Premiere: Saturday, April 16, 10:00AM (PDT) 
Encore: Tuesday, April 19, 12:00PM (PDT)

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===
Why Are We In Each Other’s Lives?

How did you find me? Why are you reading this? Why am I writing this? We are in each other’s lives for a reason. Do we know what it is? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Trust the fact that we are connected.

Why are certain people in your life? What gifts are you giving each other? What lessons are you offering each other? Sometimes the exchanges are uncomfortable. And sometimes they are full of joy. Know that with every interaction with any individual there is a gift exchange involved. You give something to them. They give something to you. Be aware of this lovely gift exchange.

Why are we walking this part of the path together   I’m glad we are.

===THE UNFOLDING DIVINE FEMININE===
A Dramatic End of an Era

The era of the old white male is coming to an end and they are fighting like a flounder on a hook. The very worst of male dominance is in evidence in our world today. A stark contrast was given with the hearings to install Ketanji Brown Jackson for the Supreme Court of the US. The bullying techniques exhibited by some of the white male members of the senate were reminiscent of high school bullies. Those insecure people who had to pick on the people they see as stronger and potentially more powerful than they are. Do you know any of those?

And this lovely, gracious, extremely smart, extremely well-educated woman, who happens to be black, sat there with grace and integrity and patience with the bullying and childlike actions of the men who were theoretically there to infirm her. 

Could you do that? As a smart, educated, proven professional woman could you and would you sit there and let anyone try to bully you? She has to in order to gain the position she is so overqualified for. I would’ve lost the job because I would’ve had something to say about their behavior. But then I’m white and she’s black and she’s smarter than I am. She just stayed calm and centered and polite and the belligerent senators were taking the their last gasp at trying to feel relevant. 

Are you experienced enough and confident enough to know your own worth? So that no one and no circumstance can rattle you and make you move off of that focused centered position? I may have to practice that. 

Know your own worth, believe in your own value and trust that knowledge. 

I wonder what the world will be like when the Divine Feminine sets the tone. 

My Two Favorite Books

There are two foundational books that always strengthen my spiritual awareness when I read them. One is The Prophet by Khalil Gibran which I discovered in my 30s and actually provided me with the name of my current business.

On the last page. in the next to the last paragraph, it says, “And I shall return and you will sing to me a deeper song.” I caught my breath because I knew I wanted to sing my deeper song. And so I am. And so are you.

The Tao Te Ching is the other book that is foundational for me. I like the Stephen Mitchell translation the best. It is so much about how to live a spiritual life, a mindful life. I have read them both many times. Do you have a life-changing book that you return to throughout your life? If so what is it? Is it time to read it again?  

===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===
Spiritual Practice
How too Build a Launching Pad for Your Inner work
Listen to my 
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Google
and the Deeper Song Website
==== DEEPER SONG EXPLORATION ===
Save The Animals

Spring is the time of year I take time to donate to organizations that help save animals: World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy,Sierra Club– whatever way you want to support the nurturing and growth of nature.  

===CARA’S CORNER===
When You Are Ready the Answer Will Appear

I’m into self-healing. My collection of skills is expanding. My holistic friends offer me insights and skills of their own to add to my own physical growth practice.

When you make a major shift the key is to keep an eye out for the results it produces. Or doesn’t produce. I am feeling shifts in my body and it still hurts. So I will continue to explore additional options to help it rebalance.

Part of allowing change is to realize the changes to be made. I’m getting extra help on the physical plane as my son-in-law drives over to take out the trash which was becoming quite a challenge for me. My dry macular degeneration is kicking in and I have to get creative working around that too.  I’m not sure how that’s going to work and look like. What kind of adjustments are you making in your life to accommodate the changes that are showing up? Do you want those changes? How do you want them to unfold? Do you have a great deal of choice in the outcome? Get to work.

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===
My Work

I am the only one who can fix this. I’m the only one who can make change. I’m the only one.

I am the only one who can fix this. I’m the only one who can make change. I’m the only one. I explore, I experiment, I make choices, and I do the work.

I am the only one who can fix this. I’m the only one who can make change. I’m theonly one. I explore, I experiment, I make choices, and I do the work. I keep exploring and experimenting and change keeps happening.

Cara Lumen, March 2022

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

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.
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!

Weekly Deeper Song Newsletter Subscribe at  www.deepersong.com

Are You in the Right Place of Service?

By

Are You in the Right Place of Service?

Living Our Deeper Song

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

My daughter’s job is making her sick – literally.  It is a big job that she created in a reorganizational move at the company she has worked in for twenty years and it is working very well. But it is a big job and it is making her sick.  I don’t know why. It may be that she cares too much. Maybe because she met with some resistance to change in general as they reorganized departments and combined some.  It’s never very easy when the people you are trying to help resist and make it harder on themselves. She has had to fire some people which was very hard for her to do. Her job is literally making her sick. And at the same time, she keeps getting large raises because management recognizes the value of what she is doing. 

Here’s the other catch.  She is just a few years from retirement and the insurance coverage she needs. Plus, they keep giving her more money. There is motivation to hang in there. When I asked who she was grooming for the job, she said, “No one else wants it.” That says a lot. 

Does your work still make you happy or are you simply hanging in there until retirement?  Is your work rewarding and satisfying?  What will you do if it is not?

We deserve to be happy and productive.  Are you making choices that provide you with the depth of life experience that you want and deserve or are you locked into one facet of your life so deeply that you are giving more of yourself than you are receiving?  That’s called burnout.  And it sneaks up on you.

My work is certainly changing rapidly, not in what I do but in what I explore and share, the direction my exploration is going, and the new insights that are emerging.  With the rapidly changing technical world, I think a good majority of people now working may not be able to change directions partially because of the unknown skills and knowledge that are needed in the new industries. 

I don’t have an answer.   

But after we retire, we have another 30 years to be proactive.  Are you looking ahead?  Are you learning what you need to know?

For instance, I have come to realize that the training and reasoning behind internet marketing that I have worked with for a lot of years may very well be not as effective today. Only a few digital entrepreneurs are actively exploring to discover how to build entrepreneurial businesses in the current environment. On top of that, we the people don’t know what is possible let alone what we want to choose from in this new smorgasbord of opportunities.

I don’t have an answer here, it’s more of a question.  Are you still in the right place of service and if not, where do you want to be, and how to you plan to get there?

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I look more closely at where I am, where I am headed, and where I really want to go and I make changes to take me there. 

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Notice how your work has changed. Is it still something you want to do?  
  • What new cause, industry, or need is calling to you?
  • Go exploring and see how to do that work.

===INNER WORK===

Life is a Series of Options

In every moment you have a choice. Do this or not. Think this or don’t. What is the standard that you hold that helps you choose from the options presented to you? Do you choose what is easiest? Do you choose what nurtures your mind? Do you choose what nurtures your inner world? Life is a series of options. What are the standards by which you make your choice?

I Don’t Pray, I Connect

When I was in my 20s, I met a man who said he was an ex-priest and I said, “If I believe that God is within me, what do I do when I need help?” He said, “Dig deeper within yourself. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” That was a game-changer in my life and has made me a very self-sufficient person all my life. I am responsible for how my life unfolds.  I am the one to make the changes I desire.

My belief system says that we are all one huge interconnected web. So I see everything as one energy. That means everything I need is within me. There’s nothing out there to pray to. I am responsible for my own outcome. What I do is go within to my Still Point and connect. And listen. And ask questions. And get answers. All by sitting still, going within, and listening. The guidance you seek lies within you.

===SELF-HEALING===

Release, Realign, Restore

In my own self-healing, I realized there were three steps I needed to take – release, realign, and restore. It looks like a pretty good pattern for life. 

The first thing you have to do is release. Release all the layers. Release the damaging thoughts. We have to make room for new growth and new possibilities and new potential. How do we do that? 

We stop doing whatever we’ve been doing that has contributed to the condition we wish to restore.  What is crowding your life? What is keeping you from doing what you want to do or need to do? How can you release that? Or devote less time to it? We have to make room for self-healing. 

The example that prompted this is my body which is slowly realigning. It is restoring its alignment, restoring its strengths. Slowly, but steadily. And not very comfortably. But it is realigning and that makes all sorts of things possible that were not possible before. 

The second step is realigning.  Have you ever emptied a room with the intention of rearranging it for your new needs?  If you empty it out you have room to observe each new placement, each new choice of what to include. And you leave a lot of stuff out.  Do that with your self-healing process. Examine the basics of your self-care and be choosy about what you bring back in.

Gradually, over time, the space you have changed is restored – not to the way it was but to the way it needs to be right now in your life to keep you moving in the new direction you have chosen. 

What do you need to release in your life/body/relationships? What does that newly cleared space allow you to realign and make room for? And what balance is gradually restored in the new space you have created? 

===OUTER  WORRK===

See The Gifts in Others

Pause a moment and think of someone who adds to your life.  Three that immediately come to my mind for me are the staff here where I live who keep the building and grounds repaired and clean and organized. It is a lovely place to be. The second is my new friend and homemaker Shelly, who loves to clean and is making my life possible at this point. The third is my cat Sebastian who is my friend and companion and cohort. So my question is when was the last time you thanked or acknowledged or even thought about the people that add so much grace and beauty and thoughtfulness to your life? Look around. Offer your gratitude to those who are making a difference in your life.

What Are You Avoiding?

It’s easy to put off the hard things for another time that has yet to be decided. But all that does is keep the hard things staring you in the face. What are you avoiding that you need to handle that would make room for a whole new door to open?

I could use more movement in my life. My body would be happier if I did. So I have to think up clever and entertaining ways to move my body. I may put on some jazz music and wiggle. I can put in pauses to stretch as I move around my apartment during the day. I can walk the halls more often and go on a little further. I can practice and get better on my four-wheel walker “Adventurer” so when the weather gets nice again I can go outside more. Then there’s always room for more Qigong. 

What do you need to do that you are avoiding? And what steps will you take in order to move forward?

Meet the Challenge

I had really been putting it off. It was hard to do and I know it was good for me. The day I pushed through it all sorts of positive changes happened. What are you putting off doing that you know would be good for you?

I have a small set of portable rotating foot pedals that I can sit in a chair and pedal that would be good for my hips. However, it is hard to lift my legs to get my feet in the pedals. I’ve tried several methods.  I finally figured out a way to use a strap to lift my leg into the stirrup. Once I was paddling, I was aware of how much good it was doing my hips. The result was pretty immediate as far as how I felt and how I was able to stand. And still, I keep putting that off because getting started is hard for me – a bit of a physical challenge to get my feet in place. But the change and the gift it brings is tremendous. What are you putting off that is a bit challenging but you know if you do it it will have a major impact on your life? Do that.

Qigong Video Recommendation

Qigong for LongevityVideo with Robert Peng. Easy- quick effective. Everyone can do Qigong.

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Keep it Simple – Sit in Silence

We can get so enthusiastic in our exploration that we clutter up our spiritual practice with too many choices. Pause in your spiritual practice and pick the one thing that moves you the most. Try simply doing that one thing for a few days and see how you can deepen the experience. Experiment with form.  Experiment with timing.  Experiment with intention. Focus on one aspect of your spiritual practice at a time. It could be meditation. It could be vibrational work.  It could be Qigong. It could be reading deepening material. Do one spiritual practice at a time for three days, see how it deepens and how it resonates. Explore another spiritual practice by itself for a few days to expand your awareness of its gifts. Continue to explore and experiment to create the most balanced spiritual practice for you right now. Be flexible in your spiritual practice and keep it simple.

Find Stillness

It takes just a second to take a deep centering breath and move into stillness. You just have to remember to do it. As you move through your life, notice when you start getting rattled or too busy or stressed, and pause, take one deep slow breath, and let stillness seep into all parts of you. Move into that stillness of your mind, take a second breath, and anchor that centeredness.

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

Are “What-If’s” Stopping You?

The interesting thing about trusting your inner voice is that you learn not to question it. You learn to trust it. You learn to explore what it suggests. You may want to imagine how it will play out, but make certain the “what if’s” are not stopping you. What if this happens? What if that happens? What if they don’t? We don’t know how something will play out until we step on the path and explore it. I can’t tell if I’m going to enjoy a book until I start reading it. I can’t tell if I’m gonna have a good time at a party until I go and start interacting with people.

I am diligently and actively looking for my role in the unfolding of the Divine Feminine. What will I miss out on if I don’t explore that next option? I would miss out on a whole adventure. Know that in each moment there is a door opening and step through until you see what it leads to.

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

An Informative Interview

Years ago in New York City I learned about an informative interview. You literally call up a business and say you would like to understand your business better and the opportunities it contains and its requirements. May I please have an informative interview about your business? It works will small business owners. 

I had an informative interview with a film distribution company in NYC. Well, it was more of a film distribution person but it was his company and he had a really good time telling me about how his business works. I learned, he shared, and it was a good exchange. I left knowing I had no desire to go into the film distribution industry but that was my gain – I had new knowledge that would guide me on my career path. 

I think we could do the same today with the new industries that are unfolding. I would think that the person in charge of hiring new employees might be a person to ask for an informative interview about the demands and needs of their business so that you might better assess if your skillset has a place in that field and what new skills you need to acquire. I wonder what you would learn. You would learn the skills you need. You would learn the functions of the various jobs. You would learn the culture of the company. And who knows, maybe you’ll get a new job. Go exploring in this day of change and see if there’s a new path for you to embark on. 

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Dismemberment

Sandra Ingerman had an interesting idea in her latest newsletter – The February Transmutation News.  She suggests that this is a time of dismemberment for us so the Sacred Feminine can emerge. “For dismemberment happens by some destructive force breaking up life as usual so something new can be reborn out of the death of the life we once knew.”

So this is a healing process we are going through, but just as a boil must erupt and a wound must drain itself of the infection, it seems as though the negativity and divisiveness in our world are making sure that we know that negativity is there so we can choose not to let it be there anymore. Awareness plus choice equal change. This is a time of becoming aware and each day we must make conscious choices for the highest good of all in order to manifest the change we desire. Look for the healing. It is there. Nurture it. 

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

The Divine Feminine in History – Sekhmet

There are not many female role models among the Gods of Ancient History, Sekhmet is a great one to begin with. 

The Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet was depicted with the body of a woman with a lion head wearing a sun disk. She is best known as the Eye of the Sun, the violent, dazzling, and protecting aspect of the creator god, Ra.

That’s a very big, responsible job. She was seen as the protector of the pharaohs and led them in warfare. When she was in a calmer state she would take the form of the household cat goddess Bastet. Sekhmet was associated both with disease and with healing and medicine.  

She seems to be a woman of eclectic interest and powers. A good example to explore. 

I have begun the book Sekhmet: Transformation in the Belly of the Goddess by Nicki Scully

I plan to connect to Sekhmet through shamanic journeying to gain insights on our role as guardian of our planet. More to come on this new adventure. 

=== DEEPER SONG  PHILOSOPHIES ===

===REFLECTIONS OF 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 / Google

and the 

Deeper Song Website

==== DEEPER SONG EXPLORATION ===

Changing of the Godsis a very powerful documentary about the universal forces that effect our planet today.  Sign up to watch the documentary on 2/22/22

Shift Network Breath Summit   Free speakers February 7 -11. 

===CARA’S CORNER===

Heeding the Call

In our exchange of emails, my friend and international author Deng, Ming-Dao wrote, “If you write a book about the Divine Feminine, I would read it.”

Now I had not thought about a book.   I have been exploring the emergence of the Divine Feminine in this newsletter since for several months but one other prompt had crossed my path when a friend commented that I had already had a lot of powerful interactions with the Divine Feminine in my life.  Looking back that would explain some of the bold and unusual and dramatic choices I have made in my 89 years. 

I know how to create books.  I have a few on Amazon.  I know I like a short form.  There are tools to make preparing them for self-publishing easy although I will have to learn the new versions.  So I have begun.  And I will complete this project because writing is how I figure out things and I want to figure out my role and perhaps our role as the Circle of Light Beings in helping the Divine Feminine take her rightful place of leadership.

Listen to the nudges and calls that come your way and go adventuring.  That’s how you learn what you are to offer the world. 

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

The nudge was not subtle, it was more like a bop on the head.

The nudge was not subtle, it was more like a bop on the head, but it set up a resonance I could not ignore. 

The nudge was not subtle, it was more like a bop on the head, but it set up a resonance I could not ignore. I heeded the call, stepped onto the path and began my new journey.

– Cara Lumen, February 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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