How Do We Deepen Our Relationship With The Unseen World?
Living Our Deeper Song
Ashe
(“Ah-Shay”)
The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!
We deepen our relationship with the unseen world by going within and listening to our innermost thoughts. We move into contemplative meditation and listen and experience and interpret what we find there.
We can do that through meditation, through writing, through music – there are many ways to explore the unseen world.
I happen to like taking Shamanic journeys but I am also aware that even as I sit here and dictate these words into my computer, I am being guided and prompted by the Unseen World and what I am doing is simply listening and passing it forward.
I’m always amazed at my ability to pick up a crystal or even a river rock and feel its vibration in a certain part of my body. I’m talking to a rock.
Music lets us communicate with the Unseen World. I listened to the Carole King song “You’ve Got A Friend” and found myself sobbing and releasing some old past feeling of loneliness. I love the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor with Camilla Wicks It makes my spirts soar. And the interpretation of the same piece by Hillary Hann stirs me to action. We hear messages from the Unseen World in many forms.
I love my inner voice and the more I listen, the louder it becomes. A long time ago, I would find myself writing incredibly powerful sentences and I thought, “that’s not me, it couldn’t possibly come from me it’s too good.” So in my imagination I created a little trio of bearded Shakespeare types with quill pens and figured they were the ones giving me those good words. Until one day I realized those words were truly coming from me. And they still are. Trust your gifts.
I love it when an insight pops into my head. That is the Unseen World speaking to me. I love it when an unexpected circumstance changes the trajectory of my day or even my life. That is the Unseen World speaking to me.
I think that everything that shows up in our life is the Unseen World guiding us and guarding us and suggesting changes that we might make.
Look to the Unseen World to provide you with insights. Trust what you are given. The Unseen World is there to guide us.
Deeper Song Affirmation
I increase my awareness of the nudges and unexpected opportunities and insights offered to me by the Unseen World
Deeper Song Process
- Begin to notice the unexpected thoughts that show up in your life. Explore them and see what new doors are opening. That is the Unseen World communicating with you.
===INNER WORK===
Deepen Your Inner Awareness
Follow The Insights Gained From A Deep Inner Experience
When was the last time you had a deep inner experience that changed the trajectory of your life? My three intuitive and spontaneous cross-country moves fall into that category. There was no questioning. It was only action.
The unfolding of a new role at this stage of my life came from a deep inner experience as the result of my move to long-term care. I can identify many choices made in my life that changed my trajectory and deepened my awareness and insights and actions.
Sometimes my inner voice spells it out for me very clearly. Other times it is more subtle and I have to look closely and deeply to find the message.
I make changes based upon an awareness of deep inner experience. My whole exploration of intelligence on other planets is coming from deep inside and it is very powerful. Once I began that journey, the Universe started popping resources and answers into my lap. And I have barely begun to explore. I do interpret this unexpected help from the Universe as a sign that I am on the right track, that this is where I am meant to go adventuring next.
Do you follow your intuition? Do you explore the insights the Universe puts before you? Listen to your inner voice. Notice the unexpected nudges and opportunities placed before you. Then go exploring and follow your inner guidance and calling to go on a great new adventure. Follow the insights gained from your deep inner experiences.
How To Cultivate The Experience of Tranquility
When I think of tranquility, two times in my life come to mind. One was lying in a hammock in the shade on a sunny afternoon. There was a feeling of not needing to meet any responsibilities, not have anything else to do but be with my inner awareness and nature.
The second time was also in nature – a Sunday morning in suburbia with my family still asleep and the entire neighborhood unusually silent. I lay on my back in the grass by my garden feeling a deep connection with the earth, immersing myself in the serenity of the stillness and soaking in the sun while I watched the clouds. I was alone with nature.
It’s not always easy to find moments of tranquility. It’s not about being drowsy or sleepy, it’s about contentment and feeling peaceful within.
How do you achieve that? Are you so busy that you can’t take time to see if you even remember what tranquility feels like let alone the last time you had it? We get to look at that.
I use attention and intention to find tranquility.
Cultivate a habit of pausing to take long slow deep breaths that help you consciously relax your entire body. When you get up from your desk, pause to take a deep centering breath before you exit or enter a room or change tasks.
I’m talking about mindfully cultivating a sense of tranquility that lets you move through your day peaceful, calm and focused, centered and fully present.
You might begin your practice of cultivating tranquility by getting up 20 minutes earlier than you usually do and move into centered stillness and meditation. When you go to bed, consciously lay aside your day and make a peaceful transition into restorative sleep.
Place yourself in nurturing places in nature with the slow, gradual changes that nature encourages. How do you cultivate the experience of tranquility? Will you do it more often?
Stay Willing To Change
Change comes with intention. Change means you are looking at a new view, a new possibility and expect a different result. Change is about what you want, how you need to change and what you need to change to make it happen. Sometimes change comes from a new awareness – like my physical therapist reminding me how much I actually have going for me.
I’ve made some changes like going outside to play my flute in nature rather than taking a nap. When I can walk better, I plan to go adventuring more often. I want to stay aware of what is working and what is making a difference so I can do more of that. The Universe will always open new doors for us – we need only walk through. Stay willing to change.
How Do You Adapt?
How do you respond to new circumstances? Are you excited about change? Do you look forward to a new adventure? How do you open yourself to adapt and thrive in your current circumstances?
I’m in a new group and find myself looking for ways for us to get together over an interesting game. I have not felt social with people my own age for a long time.
I had such a powerful experience with a mudra and have deepened my exploration and practice. My challenge is trying to find time to explore exciting things deeply and doing what I need to do at the core.
We need to explore. We need to experiment. We need to choose, examine, consider and re-choose. How flexibly creative are you? How do you adapt?
===SELF-HEALING===
Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself
Our Imagination Creates Our Reality
“I can’t imagine myself ever…” “I can just see myself….” Your imagination creates your reality. How creative are you in using your imagination to design your life? Do you have work to do?
As we age, we have to watch how our expectations for ourselves change. Our bodies show signs of aging and we have to be careful to expect enough of ourselves, to be expansive and adventuresome.
Perhaps we need to look beyond the physical to see our unfolding possibilities.
I am still very capable of change at 90. My mind is curious and I have a new role that is one of the most impactful of my life.
Are you imagining a path that’s wide enough for what you have grown into? Are you setting your sights high enough?
You might have some work-arounds to consider. I have some physical challenges but my mind is still roaring. And I have plans to work with and on my body.
As we change and grow and age, we get to be creative and inventive and use our imagination to define roles that are ours alone to fulfill.
I keep spreading insights about holistic healing to the healers here who have been trained in Western medicine. I encourage all the young people to register to vote. And I’m doing inner work to connect more deeply with the Universe and share that in this newsletter.
Let your imagination help you create your unfolding life.
Visualize Your Results
One of the most powerful ways to bring something into being is to visualize it happening, to visualize the results. We had great power to shape our lives with our imagination and our intentions and expectations.
Visualizing is a bit like sending energy ahead to a situation. You see the situation as complete and perfect. If you want, you can visualize the process itself using your imagination and your intention to visualize the results you want. How do you use your imagination to create your reality?
===MUDRAS OF POWER===
Working With The Shoonya Mudra:
I casually placed my hands in a position I use often in meditation and was surprised at how quickly and deeply I moved into a deep, inner peace. I decided to explore different mudras and how I want to add more of them to my spiritual practice.
Mudras is a Sanskrit word that means “seal,” “mark,” or “gesture”. In Buddhism and Hinduism, it is a symbolic gesture of the hands and fingers used either in ceremonies and dance or in sculpture and painting.
Use this mudra to calm and center yourself any time. It is powerful in deepening meditation. You can practice this mudra at any time of the day and as many times as you are comfortable with. The Shoonya mudra puts me instantly into deep centeredness and immerses me in All-That-Is.
How to do the Shoonya Mudra:
I use this in meditation with the back of my hands resting on my legs. Close your eyes and on each hand touch the tip of the middle finger to the thumb tip, while keeping the other three fingers straight and relaxed.
This mudra immediately takes me to another level where I feel I am in another serene world. You can use this mudra in the middle of any situation to center yourself.
Each finger has a meaning
The thumb represents fire. The middle finger is space.
I might interpret this as the connection of my Inner Fire with the Infinite Universe.
While writing the first draft of this segment, I stopped and put my fingers in the mudra position. My body immediately relaxed back into my chair and my shoulders noticeably released. I moved into a deep state of centeredness. I stayed with that feeling and meditated for a while. Now I know I have a private way to instantaneously center myself in any situation.
Give the Shoonya Mudra a try and see how it affects you and how you might use it in your spiritual practice and your life.
===OUTER WORK===
Explore New Potential and Possibilities
Try A Different Approach
It’s amazing what happens when you look at a situation from a different angle. It opens up new possibilities and new pathways for achieving your goals.
You may have to pry yourself away from your tried and true choices in order to identify and explore new possibilities. That’s the exciting part.
Look at a new opportunity from every angle to discover new pathways and new solutions. Look at the impact your new choice will have and see if that’s what you want to manifest.
Rearrange things. Put them in a different order. Create different priorities. See how that produces different results. Keep experimenting. Exploring is fun. Keep trying different approaches and see what new adventures it takes you on.
Give Yourself A Gift
I have always bought myself a gift for my birthday and Christmas. It is time for us to put in our gift list here at Evergreen. To my Insighters meeting, I took my Kalumba thumb piano and suggested we think of something fun to put on our list. I’m asking for a pan flute.
How often do you give yourself a gift and what will it be?
Do Your Job Well And Willingly
As someone on the receiving end of a fair amount of physical help, I know attitude makes a huge difference. Most people come in willing to help and they have your routine down and do it easily and efficiently. Others seem annoyed at you as you try to let them know what you need. When that situation shows up, which is not often, what I do is share with that person the negative energy I am feeling. They can do with it what they want. My share may help them become more aware of the energy they are expressing and different choices they might want to make – changes for the better. How do you help yourself and others do their job well and willingly?
Persistence
I spent four hours last week trying to get this newsletter out the door in a new free email program. Finally, with the help of my friend and technical guru Thuy Pham, I moved to the shorter lead-paragraph format with a link to the entire newsletter on my website.
It’s a good thing I am persistent because it was not a very good program and my eyesight made it even harder. So I guess this little segment is about not only persistence but knowing when to change your approach completely.
How persistent are you and how do you know when to give up and change directions? Does it depend on the situation, the circumstance, or your attachment? Do you know when to “cut bait” as they say, stop, give up, or move to another place on the lake where the fishing may be better?
Look at how persistent you are or are not and see if there is a balance and find a pattern that moves you forward. Adjust accordingly.
What Makes You Put Things Off?
It’s too hard, it’s not necessary, I’ll do it later – what kind of excuses do you use when you put things off? It’s true that it may not be important but there are some things that are important that we find excuses to keep putting off and we get to look at that.
I sometimes put off things because I don’t know exactly how to do them. It’s usually that I need to learn something technical. I want to start using audiobooks and even know which ones I want to begin with but I put it off because my eyesight makes it hard for me to read directions. I would like to do more Shamanic journeys but I keep putting it off. I don’t even know why. I need to find ways to not sit so much and add more movement to my day.
Sometimes forward movement means finding a new solution like I had to do when moving my mailing list. Sometimes it just means adding three or four minutes of a new practice that can turn into a habit.
We put things off because we don’t know how to do it so it sometimes takes time to figure out how to proceed. Sometimes we don’t even know that it needs doing. Then we run around playing catch-up. Some people discipline themselves and do the hard things first. Others find ways to work around the problem.
What kind of notice do you need to give yourself before making change? What kind of support do you have to identify? How do you move something up your priority list so you get it done? Don’t wait for deadline, choose your own time and get it done in the rhythm you choose to work in. No last minute crashes.
What might be interesting or fun to do next? Do that.
===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===
Self-Healing Spiritual Practice and Deepening Awareness of Our Cosmic Oneness
What Is The Purpose Of Your Altar?
I do not ask for anything, I set up a sacred space to remind me of my path and my goals. For instance, I have a figure of a howling wolf that to me represents my voice going onto the world. I have a small figure of a woman holding a torch that represents my journey that I continue to honor and pursue. I have a butterfly that for me symbolizes transformation. I put things in my space and on my alter that support my choices in my life journey.
I am not worshiping anything. I use the pieces to reaffirm my intention, my commitment and my path. I use them to focus my attention and affirm my choices and the major focus of my journey.
Each day in my spiritual practice, I think about and focus on the unfolding of my life and my choices. How do you use your altar in your spiritual practice?
===HOW TO BE A STRONG CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT BEARERS===
Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe
Let Your Interests Guide You
It’s good to go exploring to see if it’s something you want to learn or do, a path you want to follow.
As I look back over the years I notice how many paths I explored – everything from knitting to blogging, singing to writing poetry – with a wide variety of holistic training generously and enthusiastically sprinkled throughout. Each adventure broadened my range of possibilities and added to the depth of resources I have upon which to call.
What calls to your curiosity to explore? There are new paths to be discovered. Let your interests guide you.
===BROADEN YOUR HORIZON – EXPAND YOUR VIEW===
Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations
Exploring Versus Getting Off Track
Exploring is important. It leads you on new adventures. It can also lead you off track.
I love to explore, it is how I discovered new pathways. But we each need to learn to be selective. Periodically in our exploring, we need to pause and remember where we are and notice whether we have wandered too far off our chosen path. We might uncover some new information that enhances our major path and we may wander down another path to gain depth and breath, experience and understanding to strengthen our chosen path. Pause periodically and take stock of what you have manifested. Remind yourself of the choices you have made and see if they are unfolding as you expected. Or choose a new direction you want to go. Then keep exploring.
What Does Success Look Like?
How do you measure success? Is it the number of friends you have? Is it the amount of money you have? Is it the importance of a job you have? Is it how well your children are doing? How do you measure your own success? Or do you?
There are two things I seem to be tracking. My physical well-being and my impact in the world. I care about my physical well-being so that I can continue to have the energy to increase the impact and extent of my work.
I will consider it a success if, after my second hip replacement surgery, I can walk upright and well for longer periods of time. That would feel very successful to me.
Measuring my success and the trajectory of my path is a little trickier because it has a wide range of possibilities and potential. I will stay open to any changes the universe might suggest and what I am to explore, how I am to explore it, and how I am to share it with others. I am open for new views.
Perhaps take time to journal what your life reflects right now and put a date on it so that a year from now you can look back and see where you were and where you wanted to go. What does success look like for you and how will you recognize it?
===RELEVANT AGING ===
How to Stay Fulfilled No Matter What Your Age
Are You Truly Happy?
When was the last time you laughed out loud? When was the last time you had a big smile on your face because you were just plain happy?
Most of the time I am in a relatively good mood but there are not many times that I laugh out loud or even get a big smile on my face because of something I experienced or heard or thought about. You don’t have to laugh out loud if you are happy but do pay attention to the times that you feel content and satisfied and joyously happy – any of those noticeable emotions that are indicators of how you are doing inside.
At the very least, begin to notice what brings a smile to your face. Is it the morning sun, a laughing child, the antics of your pet? Notice what makes you smile and do more of that. How truly happy are you?
=== INSIGHTS FROM THE UNSEEN WORLD===
Guidance to Consider
I Put Out A Call
All I have is an idea. I am interested in the idea that there are other intelligences in the Universe. I just don’t know to connect with them so I’m just going to begin with the intention. And then I will pay attention to what shows up. It may come in an insight or a book I can across or in the phrasing of something that stirs my imagination. I just know that I am putting out the desire to explore more deeply and the universe will help me figure that out.
How do you explore the unknown? How do you find out more about something you barely understand? Part of it is about paying attention to what shows up because when you put out an intention, the universe will offer you nudges and unexpected insights and information.
In my case, I’ve started with IONS. People involved there have written books but they are older ones and I want to know what is new on the topic. I will have to trust the universe to put the exact form of information I need in my hands so I can begin to explore.
===REFLECTIONS OF A DEEPER SONG PODCAST===
The Backpack Journey
Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Googleand the
Deeper Song Website
===CARA’S CORNER===
It Was A Bit Unnerving
I have been going outside every day to sit by myself for a while. I cannot do it myself because there is a sloping downhill walkway that will land me in the middle of the Koi pond if I got loose. I have a Care Partner take me out in my wheelchair and ask them to set the timer on their phone for 50 minutes and come back and get me at that time. That makes me feel safe. I have a portable call button and I have the main desk number programmed into my phone so I have several ways to call for help.
Recently the person who took me out did not set her timer. I used my call button and still no one came. Fortunately, someone came out to do another task and I was able to ask to be taken in. I saw that Care Partner in the hall and she said, “Is it 3 o’clock already?” It was 3:15 so she had not set her timer.
So I learned two things. I got another lesson on using my portable call button. I was not using it correctly. And I do want to be sure the nursing station knows where I’m going to be.
There are many ways to be self-sufficient even when you need help. Get creative and set up your own resources and solutions.
===SING A DEEPER SONG ===
Many Answers
There are many answers to a situation.
There are many answers to a situation – up, down, over and around.
There are many answers to a situation – up down, over and around. Pick one and do it.
– Cara Lumen, October 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
Cara Lumen, explorer, spiritual philosopher, teacher, guide, leads us on a journey of self-awareness, spiritual expansion and impactful service. She helps us believe in our value, trust in our gifts, express our passion in a unique manner and build something meaningful around our wisdom and expertise. She helps us sing a deeper song.
Live in the nowhere that you came from,
even though you have an address here – Rumi
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