Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

Search Results for: Sacred Garden

How Has Your Path Widened With Opportunity?

By

   

How Has Your Path Widened With Opportunity?

Living Our Deeper Song

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

You know the saying “When one door shuts another one opens.” So how has your path widened with opportunity lately and have you even noticed?

Slowly and gradually give yourself more space to move in and you may also discover all sorts of interesting off shoots that invite you to go exploring. You always have a choice. But first you have to notice what changes have presented themselves and what you want to do about them.

I’m a writer and I have dry macular degeneration which means I am gradually losing my eyesight. There is no known cure.  I’m working on it metaphysically but I also know I have to work on my own belief system of what is possible and what I deserve.

There is a reason that I have been given this opportunity (I’m not going to call it a challenge) because I have some serious work to do and my calling is to share what I learn with you. And I have begun to find ways to adjust to this new opportunity.   

When we hit a bump in the road one of the first things we ask is “why me?” And if you think about it you will ask “What is my lesson here?” 

If I were to make a guess about my own situation it would be that this is a really strong challenge that I must move through and share my process with you in order to encourage you, perhaps give you ideas for your own solutions, and maybe even alleviate some fear as I hopefully and successfully move through this process.

So my first largest lesson is to trust that I have the strength to work through it. I know I do. I’m a very creative person and I will find creative new ways to work around or with this “opportunity” as I choose to call it.

Because so many people have written me in response to my series of shares on downsizing and moving into long-term care facilities, I know that sharing this process around my eyes will offer some solutions and encouragement to others. 

What new opportunities presented themselves to you in the form of what could be viewed as a challenge? And how do you plan to move through it? How has your path widened with opportunity? Where is it leading you?

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I look closely at the doors that open and the opportunities that unfold before me. I go exploring.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Sit down and make a list of the opportunities that have presented themselves in the past year.  
  • Choose one or two that really resonate and go exploring. 

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

Follow The Nudges

I was never much of a dreamer. My opportunities seemed to open up spontaneously as I enthusiastically and perhaps impulsively took a lot of different classes in   New York City.That impulsive, in-the- moment pattern has continued most of my life with seemingly impulsive but on-target choices.

I’m not as much of a dreamer as I am an impulsive responder. And I think I’m an easy mark because I love to learn. 

So I’ve really never had a grand plan or an unfulfilled dream. I resonate strongly in the moment of choice and follow my inner calling. I guess that makes me more of an adventurer than a planner.  

I never had a dream. And I’ve been handed a great many positive things in my life. College was simply an expectation. For that matter, so was getting married and having children. But then I hit the 80s as a single woman in New York City and began adventuring. That’s when I became a metaphysician.

And even now I trust my life to simply unfold. I follow my nudges and hunches and go adventuring. 

Do I have a dream or a plan? Not at 90 I don’t but I do recognize the path is opening and I have a strong calling to follow it. And I didn’t expect that to happen at my age. But here I go exploring – again. 

What Do Pagans Believe In?

“Pagans believe that nature is sacred and that the natural cycles of birth, growth and death observed in the world around us carry profoundly spiritual meanings. Human beings are seen as part of nature, along with other animals, trees, stones, plants and everything else that is of this earth.”

I am a pagan.

“Pagans have been broadly defined as anyone involved in any religious act, practice, or ceremony which is not Christian. Jews and Muslims also use the term to refer to anyone outside their religion.”

That still makes me a pagan, a follower of nature and a caretaker of our planet.

Are you a pagan?

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Set Up Protection

I now live in a long-term care facility. That means there is a lot of unbalanced energy coming from the residents. I set up protection around me and strengthen it even day. Each morning, I clear out any negative energy that was released during the night through my dreams and sleep. I set up a transformative sphere that keeps negative energy out and transforms my own energy to keep them positive.

I can use the Transformative Sphere in any situation – from being alone to being in a group of people. The Transformative Sphere is there in an instant to transform any negative thoughts or energy you come across.

Offer gratitude for the protection and proceed along your path.

Be aware of the times you need protection. You can put it up in a second.

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

What Do You Need To Release?

The Winter Solstice December 21 was the beginning of a time of release that extends to March 21st. This is a time of release, to let go of the old self, and to prepare for new beginnings—the new growth of spring.

What beliefs do you need to examine and which ones do you need to release?

Since I’m no longer living alone and now have this great group of support people around me, I need to  change my beliefs and intentions around how I want to participate in the world now. This is a perfect time to let go of the old and to bring in the new.

What do you want to bring into your life? What choices and habits do you need to change for that to happen?

I need to be less anti-social. I have recently begun to sit in my wheelchair in my doorway and speak to anyone who goes by. It makes me feel a tad social and helps me to know who is here too. 

What do you need to question? What do you need to release? Do that.

What Is Missing From Your Life And What Steps Will You Take To Correct It?

Sometimes you don’t know you’re missing something in your life until it shows up again. I thought I had an abundance of friends with whom I talked on Zoom on a regular basis until I moved and suddenly had a great deal of in-person interaction with vibrant younger people in deep service on the staff here. It was this dramatic change that made me realize what I had been missing in my life. It has brought out a different aspect of me that I haven’t shown for quite a while, as in I’m kind of wise-cracking funny sometimes.

Fixing something is not as hard as figuring out what is missing in the first place because things just gradually disappear or are replaced in your life and you don’t notice they’re gone.

I had several things I should leave out – like watching too many reruns of Diagnosis Murder and Murder She Wrote and playing Spider Solitaire. I have not done any of those in my eight weeks over here. And I’ve been a lot more productive online writing on my computer. And I’ve had more in-person conversations than I’ve had in the past 13 years.

I think the hard part is that whatever is left gradually changes and you’ve made subtle adjustments all the time as it just snuck away. If something left abruptly, you would probably notice it. 

I can truthfully say that physical activity was pretty much missing from my previous life but now that I have access to the recumbent bike in physical therapy. That’s a three day a week bit of exercise that I get to do. And I’m counting sitting in my wheelchair Pearl and exercising my legs to rock back and forth but I want to increase my daily practice – by quite a bit. I am the only guy that can make that happen.

You get busy and don’t take time to see your friends. Or you make a new friend and leave some of your old friends behind because you don’t have time for all of it.

Life is like a river flowing. It moves around and over but progress is up to you because you always have choice in your life and the things that are important to you. Do that.

What is missing from your life and what steps will you take to correct it?

How Do You Offer Comfort?

I actually have no business writing this because I don’t think I’m particularly good at offering comfort to anyone. I walked this world alone for far too much to know how to accept comfort let alone give it. That’s because I know that my response to my feelings are totally up to me. So I guess my version of comfort would be to help people find their own inner strength to keep going. Not to say “I’m sorry” but more to say “How can I help you regain your balance?”

That’s an interesting idea actually because people are given a problem and are looking to regain their balance so they can continue on with their life. What steps would I take to help someone regain their balance? 

I don’t have a clue. Because on one hand the person has to have time to grieve what she’s gone through. To help someone in grief is to help them regain their balance and tread a new path without whatever has gone away. So I suggest that in a very gentle fashion you help someone look to the path ahead and make some choices around how they want to continue.

I haven’t been in that situation many times in my life. How would you like to the comforted?  Do that for someone else.

Mindful Eating

I don’t eat mindfully but I wish I would. There was a scene in The Wedding Planner where Jennifer Lopez who obviously lived alone, very mindfully brought her TV tray to the couch, and carefully laid her napkin in her lap and set about to eat alone. She was a wedding planner making people happy but she was also taking care of herself even in her aloneness. She was treating herself with love and dignity.

On the other hand, I continue to watch the alarming and depressing news as I eat. I have a better choice and I need to make it. I will turn and look out of my very large windows to see what changes I can observe in nature I can see. That’s pretty simple – actually turn my view in a new direction. Will you join me? 

The People We Serve

I recently had the most fascinating conversation with a nurse from the agency who works for the jail in Jackson County, Missouri which is a tough neighborhood in Kansas City. She has worked there for five years and is the most no-nonsense woman I have met in my life. She is young and seasoned and likes working there because the doctors give her a fair amount of autonomy.

It was interesting to hear her talk about people repeating their offenses simply because they were mean. That’s an interesting take on it.  I don’t know anyone who is mean and I’m glad I don’t. I guess the opposite of mean is kind. I started to write that I’m too self-focused to turn and be kind but I have certainly been open to meaningful conversations with many of the staff here and in filling my own openers and curiosity I am undoubtedly filling a need of theirs.

Are you aware of how you serve others? It may be as simple as your presence with your upbeat view of life and your motivating work ethic. Know that your mere presence has an effect on others. Be a light in the world.

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

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

Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice is a major turning point. The explanation I needed to hear and pass along was in Nick Polizzi’s newsletter. (Founder of The Sacred Science)

“Ancient cultures like the Egyptians, the Maori, the Maya, the Celts, the Druids, the Inca and so many others – all celebrated Solstice. 

In the Chinese Taoist tradition, winter solstice is considered the most yin (dark / feminine / damp) day of the calendar. Energy comes to a momentary point of pause, before it gives birth to yang (light / masculine / heat).

Yin and yang form the basis of Chinese medicine and according to this school of wisdom, one cannot exist without the other. These two seemingly opposite forces are intimately connected and complementary.”

Winter Solstice is a time of deep change. What do you want to create in the coming year? How are you looking to expand your place of service in the unfolding new year? What changes will you make at this energetic point in time?

My current path is new and unfolding. The person who gave me a shower today is James and he came over from Africa at the age of 18. He likes to listen to African music and I showed him my Kalimba (thumb piano) and Djembe (drum) and made a new friend.

My path widens. And deepens.

===DEEPER SONG DISCOVERIES===

Insights and Resources to Explore

The Top 10 Guided Meditations of 2022 from Mindful Magazine

===GUIDANCE FROM OUR COSMIC COUNSELORS ===

Listen Beyond the Voice Within 

How Can We Deepen Our Place of Service?

My Journey to The Cosmic Counselors:

I find myself in the misty circle in the center of the forest. I stand in a circle of light workers.  We are there to be placed in service. There is a humming noise. It is the sound of the gentle flapping of the wings of a lot of butterflies. They fly around us. We understand that we are to take flight and go beyond the familiar to seek our place of service. We are to climb the nearby mountain and view the entire valley. We are to contemplate on our choices and select one or two to explore to see where we most resonate and how we might serve. We make our decision based on what we observe, what we feel, and what our inner guidance tells us.

It may be an entirely new place of service or it may be a deeper expression of what you were doing now. Explore the possibilities before you make your choice. We, as butterflies in service, understand and fly off to find our next adventure.

I find myself back in my Sacred Garden. The Directors sit by my side. “What did you discover,” he asks. “That I have found my next place of service – the staff here at Evergreen. And that form is unfolding. I am to follow my inner guidance and go exploring to find the most impactful place and way that I can serve.” My journey ends. 

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

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

Participate

We had a Christmas party for the residents here. Many people had a staff member bring them. Maggie brought me. I met more staff – the manager of the website to whom I immediately offered to write a couple of articles and the CEO who asked if his daughter, who is into crystals, could come visit me. I guess I’m getting known for my different ways. 

My lessons are two-fold.  Do you own thing and reach out in service where you feel called.

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future

In Honor of Winter

In the depth of winter, 
I finally learned 
that within me there lay 
an invincible summer.

― Albert Camus

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

Expanding Awareness

The Backpack Journey

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

===CARA’S CORNER===

My New Helper

My newest helper is a wheelchair. She is sleek and black and tells me her name is Pearl. She was measured to fit me and she has a bag on the back to carry the foot holders. And she is going to be a great new place for me to sit during the day. She’s very comfortable. And she will take me on adventures too. I mentioned to a nurse named Stephanie that I wanted to have some flowers for her and she said “We have lots of flowers around, let me go look for some.”  She soon came back with a perfect purple fake flower and promptly put it on the front of Pearl’s arm.  It is a jaunty effect. 

So now I have another friend and helper to get me where I need to go.

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

The Helper

Help comes in all forms. We just have to learn to recognize it and accept it. 

Help comes in all forms. We just have to learn to recognize it and accept it. It may be an idea or something physical that helps us move forward.

Help comes in all forms. We just have to learn to recognize it and accept it. It may be an idea or something physical that helps us move forward. Stay open to the pathways that the Universe opens and go exploring.

-Cara Lumen, December 2022

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

Namaste,

Cara

Come Sing a Deeper Song  

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

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

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

Our Global Deeper Song Community

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

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

My Books

The Seedling

By

The Seedling

Living Our Deeper Song

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

I was sitting at the edge of a sandpile in Central Park in New York City while my granddaughter, Kimberly, played on the slide. I looked down and at the edge of the sandpile was a very straight, very green, very healthy and very small 4-inch seedling. I looked up at its parent and saw an exceedingly tall tree proudly looking down on this tenacious seedling. It was a very brave seedling. But it had chosen the wrong place to grow. It would not be allowed to stay there very long. I greatly admired its tenacity and its beauty. My granddaughter, who was four had just transplanted with a major change into my custody even though I was in my 50s. Her mother was not capable of taking care of her. It was a good move for her to change her environment. It was in fact a very major transplant for her. She now had room and encouragement to grow.

Here’s the point. We get to choose where we plant ourselves. Perhaps not as young children, although I believe we agreed to that particular set of parents and circumstances before we came in. But if we, once mature, find ourselves in an unhealthy environment, we owe it to ourselves to change where we are planted. That could mean beginning or ending a relationship, it could be changing jobs, it could mean moving, it could mean learning a new skill or making new choices in your life. What do you need to change about your environment that will assure you of healthy growth?  

I have made several cross-country moves in my lifetime and I knew in an instant that I was to do them. In an instant, I knew it was time to move from Kansas City to New York City. 13 years later, I knew in an instant that it was time to move from New York City to the San Francisco area of California. 17 years later, I suddenly knew it was time to move to Kansas City so I could be close to my daughter as I age. And recently, I suddenly knew that I needed to move into long term care.

Do you trust your instinct, your intuition, when it comes to major decisions? Are you able to reach your full potential where you are now? Where would you fare better? Will you make that change?

Our world is suggesting we embrace all manner of change in order for it to survive and for us to heal ourselves. We must be flexible and creative and experimental about where and how we choose to live in this chaotic evolving environment. We must continue visioning a positive and inclusive and self-healing planet.

What changes do you need to make and will you make them? If you need a new place to grow, go plant yourself there. We have more work to do.

Be a spot of ground where nothing is growing,
where something might be planted,
a seed, possibly, from the Absolute.

-Rumi 

I’d like to think I am a seed, spreading awareness.    – Kahlil Gibran

He is planted in his own integrity, and there he stands, gnarled and knotted, perfectly at ease with himself, his roots deep in truth, his branches held up to let the light in.  

-Stephen Mitchell, Second Book of Tao

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I look closely at my environment to see if there is a need to change. Then I respond to what I discover.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Look closely at where you are planted and see if it’s the best place for you at this point in time. It may be a job, a relationship or a location change. These times are asking for new growth and commitment from us. Are you planted in the right environment?

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

Incubate Your Ideas

All things need time to grow, to mature, to reach fruition. And that includes ideas.

For me, what evolves begins with a nudge that I receive. It often comes as a single core concept that I am drawn to and I pause to examine it for myself first in writing.  The writing helps clarify and anchor it for me. 

It’s a little like talking to myself in order to discover new abilities and potentials.

An important part of incubation is to try out your ideas in different scenarios and different forms. And then give yourself time to reflect on the possibilities that emerged.

You can try different versions, different approaches, and different processes to see what and how you want to bring your idea into manifestation. You can actually try on different versions in your imagination and see where they take you.  Go exploring, look at it from different angles and see where it takes you.

Allow yourself to end up in an entirely unexpected place. 

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

Life Is What You Make Of It 

Here in long term care, some seniors sit and watch television – all Game shows and Turner Classics. But there is a man who sings and leads the karaoke sessions. I also saw two men in wheelchairs going down the hall and one said “If you hold onto the railing, you can go faster.” 

Life is what you make it. Are you living your life in the most productive manner? Are you achieving the goals you set for yourself? And are they good goals? Productive goals? Impactful goals? Life is what you make of it. How are you doing?

The First Step

“A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step”
– Lao Tau

Just begin. Take a step and look around at the new views you have just acquired. New opportunities appear with every new view. Keep exploring. 

This week Occupational Therapy removed the holders for feet from my wheelchair to make me use my feet to move forward, which is a really good exercise. Later that day I was taken down to get a shower and needed to use my feet and the railing along the wall to move forward. There were two young high school girls, Katie and Emily, who are in training and we had a wonderful conversation about everything from my crystal to my flutes and rattles that I have in an altar shelf.  It was great fun to reach out to connect with several generations below me too. When they left, they thanked me for the conversation and I enthusiastically thanked them back.

The bed here is magical in that the top and bottom move up and down separately and the whole thing moves up and down with the press of a button. Occupational therapist Kristy showed me how to get in and out of bed. My previous version has been to throw myself backward into bed and hope the legs followed. Hers was similar but there was a purposeful approach to it which I can now emulate. 

And I love their version of a reclining bicycle which of course is a big machine with pedals and arm movers and I really love how it is freeing up my body.

The Midwest is a very kind part of the world and because they are all social workers who want to help people, it is a lovely environment. I have three extremely tall windows looking out over a Gazebo and a gardening area and I have a bird feeder outside my window. I can watch the sun rise here and I watched the sun set across the street where I moved from.  I wonder if that’s an omen.

My Life Coach Patricia said she had had fearful  dreams and I sent her a link to my podcast  The Transformative Sphere and she tried it and it worked for her.  She forwarded the link to her boss who was excited to explore my website. I knew I had a new path unfolding but I never dreamed it would be here.  You just never know where you will be called into service.  My role is to support these kind people on their deep path of service.                       

===OUTER WORK==

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

What It Means to Be in Service

I get help from a physical therapist, occupational therapist, doctor, dietitian, nurseand I actually had my haircut for the first time in over a year because I didn’t have access to one. She cut off 5 inches. I’m having all sorts of intake experiences. I know it will slow down. Meanwhile I am getting medical help I could not get to because I can no longer get in the car. All my needs are taken care of through Medicaid. I get $62 a month. But they supply everything. This is long term care. The willingness of the staff to help is touching. There is a shortage of service individuals which is going to be hard as the boomers age and need this type of care. Willingness is the corner stone of their service.

We are in service in many ways. Some ways seen so small as to be unnoticeable to others. All acts of kindness have an impact. Up your game and reach out to more people in service.

Where Do You Find A Teacher?

You choose a teacher because they provide an answer to questions you have at this moment in time. You may follow that teacher for a long time or it may be a one-time experience. 

I have recently begun to turn to my teachers of the past. I’m rereading some of their poetry and books. Those words will have a different meaning for me now because I have matured and gained insight and wisdom. The messages will go deeper and resonate more broadly. I attend a lot of free on-line summits and often find wisdom and sometimes teachers I want to experience.

Know when you are on topic. For instance, I’m tempted to take a new Qigong class and I must stop and think about how much I’ve already studied, how much work I need to do to really absorb that into my spiritual practice. Go exploring to put yourself in a position to learn something new. 

It’s also important to be able to know when a certain topic is not what you are to explore right now. I know how to do shamanic journeys and I would like to do those daily again. Look closely at how you spend your time and see what you need right now. Teachers are everywhere. It may be a moment with one of your friends, a statement on the television, or maybe in more formal settings, a podcast or an actual class. Go exploring and see what teachers call to you.

A Life Lesson From A Dramatic Change

I’m on my sixth day without watching television because my television does not work. My daughter and son-in-law are buying me a new one which is not here yet. Meanwhile I have not listened to one piece of news nor have I bothered to go look for it online. What a huge difference that is making. Partially because it’s scary out there. We have a huge election coming up which has the demise of our US democracy at stake. I need to change my focus and particularly my concept of how I spend my time. 

My daughter helped me learn how to use my Bluetooth headphones with Spotify. There is an outstanding classical station and I am humming and singing and loving every minute of it. I want to notice how my personal vibration changes with this withdrawal from dramatic daily news. I also have not played the game Spider Solitaire in seven days. Mainly because I can’t figure out where to put my tablet. But also because that was one of those things I did while I watching the news. 

Sometimes we take vacations to rest and restore and examine our habits and modify them or choose new ones. This is not a vacation, it’s a permanent life change, but it is a perfect opportunity for me to examine the choices I continue to make and have made. I have a feeling that this change from mindless habits to conscious choices will make a huge difference in my life. 

What are you doing too much of? What would you like to do more of? How will you rearrange your choices to accommodate that? 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

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

Build A Stable Spiritual Practice

A major goal for us in this time of turmoil is to build a stable place within where we can put our roots deep into a spiritual practice that helps us find balance and insight and the right action we make through all the changes we are experiencing.

There are many ways to communicate with and experience the unseen realm where we can receive the guidance we seek. When we listen, we are shown how to live a centered, focused, compassionate life. We must create and explore a path of positive change for ourselves and for the collective. You may choose ceremony, you may choose meditation, you might find yourself writing down ideas – whatever method works that brings you a deeper understanding of how we can work to facilitate positive change. Our meditation practice, our ceremonies, our beliefs and expectations bring us a deeper connection with the unseen world and the guidance that it offers. 

Be aware of what your mind is focusing on. Look at your choices and see which ones have become less than positive for you and stop doing those. 

We are part of nature and nature is always changing and unfolding. It is expanding and contracting. Notice how your life is changing and evolving and make conscious choices to explore your path. 

Notice the dimension of life where you have chosen to spend the most time and move from the 3-D world into the spiritual realms using your imagination and insights to listen to the guiding nudges of the universe. 

We can choose the dimension we live in – fear and suffering or positive expectation. We build that by deepening our awareness of ourselves as a natural part of the unfolding process. We can design our own inner landscape, plant in it what we choose and weed out what we do not want. As we deepen our inner spiritual awareness, the landscape on the physical plane will change to a more positive expression. 

Use your words and thoughts to create your reality. Watch the vibration and frequency of the emotional energy you choose to share.  Ask your helping spirits to show you how to use frequencies to create an interesting landscape that both comforts and elevates your expectations by the thought you think in the words you use. 

===GUIDANCE FROM OUR COSMIC COUNSELORS ===

Listen Beyond the Voice Within 

How To Respond To Turmoil

I have not had a TV for a full week. I came here with my old one which didn’t work here because it’s on satellite not cable. That whole week without news. When I began to see how our world is changing, I went to the Cosmic Counselors for guidance. “What are our next steps? What is our role in this unfolding shift?”

I go to my Sacred Garden. The Cosmic Counselors are once again moving in a circle around the planet which is slowly turning within their sacred circle. “It is unfolding,” says a beautiful butterfly that is flying around the planet in a counter clockwise circle. “For those of you who are aware, you must touch hearts and help to expand the vibration across the cosmic consciousness so others can see it. You can do that with your mind and your intention. And then you listen, listen for guidance for the next step. The next step is fluid and graceful and very creative. It unfolds as you explore your imagination. Give it free rein.  You can discover some of it with obvious choices that you have to make. Look for the unformed energy waiting for direction.  Listen to the signs. Look at the spaces. Be prepared for a new adventure. Hold High  Watch for your own continued balance and the new choices that are making themselves known. Keep your heart focused and expect the best to unfold for the highest good for all. That is your part of it.”

The Director sits beside me on the bench. “Unfolding. Look for your role and trust”.

When I return to my home space, I realize my role continues to be to expect the vibration, to see it and experience it and emanate it. We are Light Beings and we are to show others the higher path.

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

Expand Your Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

Listen With Your Heart

Next time you have a conversation, listen with your heart. Listen beyond the words to the core need or emotion and what is not being said in the moment. 

When you listen with openhearted silence, you see beyond the words. You move into the core emotions and needs and beliefs that are being expressed. And you can respond to their core need. When we listen with our hearts, it lets us connect to others on a soul level, taking us beyond mere words into the realm of truest and more honest communication. Use your heart center to listen and see what new dimensions of understanding appear.

Communicate From Your Heart 

Years ago, Chris Brogan interviewed me. I have no idea how he came to choose me and I was so new to the Internet that I could barely get onto Skype. I have followed him in his newsletter ever since. He is now an executive and he recently wrote this in his newsletter which I think is a very powerful consciousness to have, particularly if you are in a position of leadership. 

“An Executive Approach to Business (And Life)

“Before You Communicate – I wrote the next idea first, then added this. Before you reach out to anyone in any part of life, ask yourself the following few questions:

  • How can I co-create the best experience with this interaction?
  • What do I need or want to convey?
  • How do I want this person to receive it?
  • How can I say this briefly? (Remove the garbage, backstory, etc)
  • Does this serve everyone well?

If more people did this step before EVERY communication in ALL parts of their life, verbal or written or otherwise, life would be much more magical!””

=== DEEPER SONG PHILOSOPHIES ===

The Web of Life

“Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” – Chief Seattle

We must be conscious of our role in the universe and keep it in mind as we live our life and make our choices. Everything you do impacts the web which in turn will impact us and how we live our lives, focus our intention, and encourage others to do the same. 

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

How Vibration Heals

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

==== DEEPER SONG EXPLORATION ===

Free Global Joy Summit, Nov. 13 – 16 

I love to attend free Summits. They teach you about the topic and it is a good place to find a new teacher. Here’s one I’m going to attend this week: Join the Global Joy Summit, Nov. 13 – 16 and be inspired by the contagious Joy and timely message of the Dalai Lama and the late, great Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and learn from 30+ renowned joy scientists, spiritual teachers, changemakers, and artists.

Register now for this FREE event >>

The lived experiences of these two global icons, and self described “mischievous brothers,” serve as a profound example of the power of Joy in the face of adversity.  They teach us that Joy is an essential key to meeting the many ordinary and profound challenges we now face, individually and collectively.

The summit will include a free screening of Mission: JOY — the laugh-out-loud funny documentary that shares the magical friendship, practical wisdom, and historic final in-person meeting of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu — as well as inspiring and practical sessions with 30+ speakers.

The summit November 13-16, will explore:

●     Practices to transform stress, anxiety, grief, depression, despair, isolation, challenging emotions, and difficulty

●     Practical tools to cultivate well-being, connection, love, compassion, and Joy

●     The relationship between Joy and sorrow (they’re not opposites)

●     Joy as a “clean fuel” to power transformative action

●     Ubuntu, Interconnection, and Compassion as essential keys to healing our planet and creating a good future

●     A special keynote with His Holiness the Dalai Lama

●     Live interactive workshops and musical performances

More than ever, the world needs each of us to tap into the innate love, compassion, and Joy that the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu remind us are at the core of our beings. Come for 1 session or all 20+ and join the celebration and exploration. Register now for this FREE event >>

===REFLECTIONS===

Creative Adjustment

For all my apprehension about moving across the street from where I’ve been living for 13 years, it has all gone very smoothly. And I’m exactly where I am meant to be. Much of what I anticipated did not unfold. There’s more space in my space than I expected. And I’ve never had this much help in my entire life from kind, thoughtful, willing people. When you need to make a major change be flexible, experiment, and expect the best.

===CARA’S CORNER===

Feeling Cared For

I have moved into Evergreen and I’ve never felt so cared for in my life. The first few days were very busy with everyone figuring out their role in my well-being. I will receive Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, access to a medical doctor. And I got my first haircut in 14 months. She took off 5 inches! I’m back to the real me. I’ve had a bath in the Jacuzzi and I will see the doctor here and come under her care. I get to sit beside a window using my computer again, and there is a bird feeder right outside my window. It turns out this is long-term care, not assisted living. But it is the right place for me.  It seemed like there were millions of people to come offer different types of services and all of them are wearing Covid masks so it’s hard to recognize let alone remember them all. They can help you with everything. I am eating better than I ever have, even though I’m the only vegetarian in this entire population, although some of the staff are vegetarian. I get lots of vegetables in a variety that I could not have managed as a single person buying groceries for myself. I get physical therapy. I love their version of a recumbent bike and in three days it’s making a difference. Having both physical and professional help makes a huge difference in how I can take care of myself. 

Patricia, the Life Coach Manager of my wing said her mother lived to be 113. So maybe my 13-year-old cycles of change will hold. Golly gee.

My TV was too old to work here which is on satellite instead of cable so I have been without the news for seven days which is probably a good thing. But I will modify my news watching.  My daughter and her husband are very generously going to buy me a new television with a voice remote.

I voted this week with the help of one of the section managers. That’s one of the things I can do on the physical plane to help to heal the planet.

So here I go on my new adventure.

If you find it’s time for you to receive more help, go exploring and find a place that you can call home for the next phase of your life. 

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

A new cycle begins. A cycle of change, a cycle of evolution, a cycle of discovery. 

A new cycle begins. A cycle of change, a cycle of evolution, a cycle of discovery. I change my thinking, I change my actions, and I listen to and look for the myriad of nudges and insights the universe gives me. 

A new cycle begins. A cycle of change, a cycle of evolution, a cycle of discovery. I change my thinking, I change my actions, and I listen to and look for the myriad of nudges and insights the universe gives me. I trust the unfolding. All is well in my world. 

– Cara Lumen, October 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!

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

My Books

 Release the Old Paradigm

By

Release the Old Paradigm

Living Our Deeper Song

Ashe

(“Ah-Shay”)

 The Creative in me honors the Creative in you!

We have been living in a patriarchal society for many centuries. No wonder the emerging feminine needs to come on with the strength of a warrior. It has been a world of capitalization, patriarchy and colonization. It is a language the masculine understands. 

It is time to move out of that paradigm. It will be hard for the masculine to accept and challenging for the feminine to define and establish her role. It is about all of us, male and female, releasing the old and creating an inclusive and empowering new world. 

If you are anything other than a prosperous white male, you will feel left out. When I look back at my early formal religious life, I remember that God is perceived as male. That lets me out. When I got divorced, I had no credit rating because all the money was in my husband’s name. I had no employment record even though I ran a big house and raised four children.

It was very freeing when I went off to New York City and followed my own passion and spiritual path. I found my own voice and expressed it with enthusiasm.  

Whatever age we are in, whatever gender we are, this is a time for introspection, releasing, and major change in our belief system, and our expectations of each other, both male and female. 

As we move into this new paradigm, we must open our hearts and change how we perceive our personal role in the unfolding of this new world pattern.  

Our existence is beyond our human expression. Ask yourself, “What is my existence beyond what I see?” Then listen to the feelings and emotions and unspoken concepts that show up. 

We are one energy and when we understand and experience that, there is great power and deep inner peace. We are all one energy – no division, no male, no female, only one. No animal, no land, no ocean, no sky. No separateness. Only one all-encompassing energy.

How do I manifest this shift? By releasing my feelings of separateness, and embracing an awareness of our shared energy, our collective consciousness. Experience yourself as the all-encompassing energy of the universe. 

Everything we do is important. Every thought we think, every act we take, has deep and far-reaching impact because we are all one energy. We must be aware. And we must choose carefully. We have a responsibility as part of this unfolding cycle of oneness to choose for the highest good for all. 

What is possible beyond what we can see right now? What potential is waiting to be recognized and released? In the midst of this chaos, understand that we are one energy and each of us has an impact on the whole. Monitor your beliefs. Aim high. Choose wisely.  Keep your thoughts and actions focused on the greater good for all and travel the higher road with an open heart.

So much is possible that we cannot see. We must trust. We must be observant and aware. And we must respond from the strongest sense of unity and oneness that we can manage.

Release and heal old paradigms of capitalization, patriarchy and colonization. Confront the wounding that has made us see ourselves as separate from Spirit.  Let us work together to create a new world of inclusion, equality and love.

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I release my sense of separateness and immerse myself in the universal energy of oneness

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Become more aware of how the belief in the paradigm of capitalization, patriarchy and colonization impacts your thinking, your expectation for yourself and your life.
  • How do you change your beliefs and your spiritual practices to acknowledge and expand your experience that you are an integral part of the all-encompassing web of life? 
  • Share what you discover with those around you and with me…

===INNER WORK===

Deepen Your Inner Awareness

Find And Honor Your Own Rhythm

It’s hard to find your own rhythm when you are in a relationship or in a job that has specific demands or while raising children who need you. I live alone, I do not work for anyone else, and what I choose to do is totally up to me. I can sleep when I want to, play when I want to, and work when I want to. I just have to tune in to my own rhythm and honor it. I am responsible for my own choices and the outcome they produce.

Do you give yourself space to hear your own nudges? Do you give yourself time to explore what shows up? Do you pay attention to where you are on your own priority list? Your self-care? The exploration of your gifts? Your needs? We are the only ones to truly provide for ourselves and we must continue to be aware of our own intuitive nudges and take time to explore them.

Explore and experiment until you find your own rhythm, then honor it in how you live your life.

Stay In The Present Moment

I’m still spending too much time in the “could be – what if” facet of my life. Now that I have figured out the mechanics of this eventual move, I need to stop thinking about it because I’m only making stuff up about aspects I don’t know yet. 

How much time do you waste thinking about the what-if’s? What is not yet here? What may never happen? We have this beautiful, gorgeous, sacred moment in which to be fully present. 

Whether I sit here and feel my heartbeat or close my eyes and experience the energy around me, those are much better uses of my time than making stuff up about the future that isn’t here yet. How present are you during your day? 

Become aware of those times your mind wanders off and make certain you pull it back into experiencing the sacredness and gift of each moment. Stay present in your life. 

===SELF-HEALING===

Take Responsibility for Healing Yourself

The Power of Gratitude

I sometimes forget to be grateful for the many blessings I have in my life currently and the many blessings I have received along my path. I want to change that. I’m going to add more moments of gratitude into my spiritual practice, and at the end of my day, and take time to look back over the gifts I received, the doors that opened for me, the new insights that deepened my awareness. I actually have a little song I made up that I sing before sleep: “Day is over, night has come, please watch over me. Renew, restore, replace, refresh, make me a better me.”

Even when something is not working out exactly the way you want it to, look closely at what you can be grateful for. I need to be in gratitude for a safe, caring place to go to in assisted-living even though the space is small and I’m having a hard time adjusting to the idea. And it’s not even time yet. 

Stay in the moment. Look for the small gifts of the day. Thank the universe for them. Gratitude is a very powerful way to deepen your awareness of how you are being supported by the universe.

Heal Yourself

All of our choices have a great impact on our body – our physical body, our emotional body and our spiritual body. Who we spend time with, how we spend time, affects what we experience, what we create for ourselves. Every choice we make affects and impacts some part of our human existence. Self-healing begins with monitoring where you are focusing your attention. And what you believe is possible.

Changing our beliefs around what is possible can be sometimes challenging. According to Western medicine, the dry macular degeneration I have is not curable. I’m not sure what to do with that. 

Maybe I can stand up straight again and maybe I can’t. I’ll never know until I try, until I work at it. It’s like training for a competition. I should be walking the halls more to strengthen my body but it’s a bit challenging, I don’t really like to do it, and I’m not doing it as frequently as I should. But I could practice my Qigong longer because I do like to do that. 

What you decide to do will depend on what you want to accomplish. For instance, I want to keep writing so I’m going to keep exploring how to make that happen. I will get someone to help me with posting this newsletter if I can’t see to do it. I already dictate and work in a very large font. Get creative with the ideas you develop for the problems you perceive. And don’t give up hope.

We’re back to that cornerstone belief that you get what you believe you deserve and what you believe is possible. Check out your belief system and see what you need to change. 

Qigong to Heal All Your Joints

I was actually looking for a video of the Qigong shaking exercise to share with you when I found a lovely video on usingQigong to Heal Your Joints by Steven Washington.  It is easy to do and feels really good. Check it out online and add it to your spiritual practice. 

===OUTER  WORK===

Explore New Potential and Possibilities

Create Your Own Power Circle

Did you ever have an accountability partner? You set some goals and then check in with each other on a regular basis to report how you’re doing. You can create a supportive circle around any objective, any purpose, any task. Your circle can be large or small but the objective is to gather around a topic that everyone wants to explore.

These can take the form of individual conversations or group conversations. They can be structured or organic. You can take turns leading when you get together. You can each offer different lessons and insights. The group helps you expand your understanding of a topic and how to apply it in your life. Do you want or need to form a group around a specific topic? Just do it. It begins with one other person. 

Your Language Shapes Your Life

“I can’t” is one of the biggest saboteurs of a positive life experience. As things get more challenging physically for me, I have to really watch the affirmations I give myself for they are determining my experience and the outcome. 

How are you allowing your body to shut down simply by the affirmation “I can’t” or “It’s hard”? I’m not sure I can go as far as to say “It’s easy” but I can say, “I can do this”.  Even better is “I can do this easily and effortlessly.” I can give myself those affirmations.

Take a close look at your belief system, particularly around your aging process and begin focusing on what you do achieve.  Focus on what you can do and rejoice. Thank your body each day and continue to ask a little more of your physical self.  Your language shapes your life. What are you telling yourself? 

Change Your Learning Style

I’m a visual learner and I’m losing my eyesight. I have to make some adjustments to what I think I can do. I’m a note-taker. Currently I’m writing things down so I will remember what I think I need to remember. But my writing is so bad I can’t read what I have written! 

Audio is a whole new way of learning for me to explore and master. I have to trust I will remember what I need to remember. I still want to write down ideas that I will turn and write about in this newsletter but surely I can make my notes readable when I do choose to write them.

This is nearly 90 years of visual learning that I have to shift. All I know to do is to pick simple things to listen to so I don’t have the urge to take notes. I have to be willing to let go of everything I listen to in case I can’t remember it. This is an experiment. A work in progress. How do you change learning styles? And why do you need to? 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

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

How Thoughtfully Do You Use Time?

I do not use time well. There are huge chunks of time that are spent in mindless activities that do nothing to enhance my life experience. I know we cannot be intensely engaged at all times. My downtime choices are really useless and that’s a waste of time. 

I’m not sure what to do about it. I love to learn but I can’t do that the entire day. That’s too intense. Too demanding. I love writing, but again in moderation. 

There is a huge chunk of time that I am not using well. I use time trying to learn and share or deepen my spiritual experience. And the rest I do not use very well. I seem to move from deep metal stimulation to total numbness in my mind.

How do you use your time? If you have a job, what do you do with the precious moments that are left? If you are home, do you have some projects you enjoy?  Take time to find activities that will make you feel useful and keep you mentally and emotionally and socially engaged. What do you do to bring balance to how you spend time? 

===GUIDANCE FROM OUR COSMIC COUNSELORS ===

Listen Beyond the Voice Within 

Opposing Forces

I seek the Cosmic Counselors because I am distressed over the violent opposing ideology that is emerging in the world. I go to my Sacred Garden and there across the reflecting pool are my three Classic Counselors. They sit in a circle. In the center of the circle, floating in the air, is our planet. They hold their hands facing it as it rotates. They are healing it. 

We are each an inhabitant of this planet. There is one planet and we are responsible for its well-being. If we turn and focus on protecting our planet, we will unite our efforts. If we focus on our own small lives we will self-destruct.

“Choose the overarching good for all” comes the message over the reflecting pond – the over-arching good for all. We are on the same team, working to heal ourselves and our planet. 

Not everyone can shift their gaze away from their own personal issues to focus on the unifying concept of one planet that we must all take care of. There is a growing number of thoughtful humans focusing on the greater good. The majority of the world exists in several levels of survival. Most are focused on their own individual existence. 

“What are we to do?” I ask, because the Cosmic Counselors are still focused on the revolving planet between them. “Do the work” comes to mind.

I understand. The work is to hold High Watch for the planet. It is to energetically support and encourage those who are walking the higher path and working for the highest good for all. My work is energetic. But if I were younger, I might have engaged more on the physical plane.

Are you working for the highest good for our entire planet? We have to think big because it’s a really big planet and it’s in really big trouble. What role has just been identified for you with the Cosmic Counselors? Will you fill it? 

The light begins to glow from the heart of the revolving planet between the three Cosmic Counselors, who are all women by the way, and I understand. I must hold onto the planet in my heart. I am to hold the people on the planet in my heart. Hold all the inhabitants on land and sea and air in my heart. 

The revolving planet between the three Cosmic Counselors begins to light up from within. The emerging light transforms it as a low humming sound emerges.

The healing begins in our hearts. It begins in the experience of the human being living on this planet at this particular time for a particular purpose.  

What is the music of your purpose? What song are you to sing?  How will you know?

I sit on the bench beside my reflecting pool and my carillon, my indigo bell-tower, chimes and send this message to all those who are listening. 

What is your role in preserving our planet and its inhabitants? Get to work.

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

Expand Our Role in the Rapidly Evolving Universe

What You Focus On You Get

Where are you looking and what is it drawing to you? This is a huge metaphysical principle we need to understand and utilize. We get what we focus on. We get what we expect. Changing our life is as simple as changing our expectations. 

Expect the best. Expect the perfect outcome. Expect it to be easy. Expect it to be perfect. And it will be. 

Notice what you expect and see what you believe you need to shift in order to change what you get. 

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

Raise Your Sights and Your Expectations 

The Power of the Collective Conscious

I get overwhelmed sometimes by the sheer number of people on the planet and the variety of approaches and beliefs and insights they bring to the human experience. I feel less than powerful when faced with the huge amount of imbalance in the belief systems in the world today. But we each have tremendous impact, particularly when we choose to consciously focus our attention for the highest good for all. 

Thoughts create our reality. So as we move through our life, as we move through our day, we must monitor our thoughts and our expectations, our impact, and what we think is possible. We must make sure we expect the highest good for all.  We must believe in our own individual power to affect the collective consciousness. In so doing, we join with others who hold the same high vision. Together we have great power. 

Keep the faith. Keep a clear vision and trust the power of keeping ourselves attuned to and immersed in the highest consciousness. 

Collectively we can change the world.

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Support and Encouragement for our Unfolding Role in the Future

What If You Lost Everything?

The news is filled with the destruction of hurricanes and stories of people who have lost absolutely everything. Nothing is left. What would you do? How would you feel? 

My very small example is the downsizing that I am moving through as I let things go. Sometimes I have to hold on to something just a little bit longer even though I know I cannot take that particular thing with me. But I’m choosing. And I have time to get used to my options. A hurricane just takes whatever it takes. 

How attached are you to personal possessions? How resilient are you in the face of losing the security of a home or the destruction of your business? We have to know and believe that we can handle whatever we are given. Then we get to become very, very creative in order to walk on the new path that opens up. Just know that you will be capable of handling any challenge that you are given.

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

Journey to Our Ancestors to Expand Our Consciousness  

Listen to my 

Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on

Apple / Spotify / Google

and the 

Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

Changing a Habit

I have never been particularly good with money. But I’m going to have to change my ways because this assisted living will take a majority of my Medicare money and give me a small amount. My money will cover my place to live and my food but I will not be able to buy very much. Which is a good thing actually. 

I have begun to monitor my impulses and encourage myself not to buy something that someone who is downsizing a lot really doesn’t need. Buying anything more is a very unwise choice.

Why do we buy things? If you were in the habit of spending a lot of money, you might want to look at the “why” behind that one more closely. 

Do you have a need to change your spending habits and if so what steps will you take?

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

Control An Impulse

I will control my impulses by examining what lies behind then.

I will control my impulses by examining what lies behind then. I will find a substitute for what I need among the things I already have.

I will control my impulses by examining what lies behind then. I will find a substitute for what I need among the things I already have.I choose to simplify my needs and desires and find contentment in simplicity. 

– Cara Lumen – October 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!

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

My Books

What Do You Believe is Possible?

By

What Do You Believe is Possible?

Living Our Deeper Song

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

We get what we believe we deserve and what we believe is possible. What do you believe is possible? It can be either a limiting belief or a very powerful freeing belief. For instance, I do not believe that my body can run a marathon because I never could at any point in my life (although walking all over New York City for 14 years has to count for something) but also because my body is old in this moment. But I do believe that my body can self-heal and restore some of its strength – enough to get back to normal things like standing up straight and walking perhaps without a walker. It’s very important that I have that belief. Or it won’t happen. So even though I am going through bumpy times with my body, I have to believe it is possible for it to restore and rebalance to some extent. No marathon running, but perhaps a comfortable walk down the hall. Or outside. 

How are your beliefs and expectations limiting you – particularly when it comes to what you believe is possible? Raise your sights. Raise your expectations and support the resulting change.

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I examine and raise the expectations I hold for what is possible in my life.

DEEPER SONG PROCESS

  • Notice an area where you are limiting yourself by what you believe is possible or not possible. See what you can change about those beliefs.

===INNER WORK===

Honor Your Daily Victories

You need to become your own cheerleading squad. You have to notice your daily wins and acknowledge yourself – no matter how small the win. One step at a time will get you there.

I’m trying to stand up more. It’s pretty boring to simply focus on standing up. I do notice muscle changes and posture changes as I work my body more. I look out the window and I sing a song of encouragement to my body. I just keep making up verses and listening to what my body tells me it needs and wants.

I want to make sure I learn Wuji Hundun Qigong and incorporate it into my daily practice. So each time I practice, each time I study the videos again, I get to acknowledge myself for a job well done, a step well taken. Notice your wins, notice your steps, acknowledge yourself. And keep doing the work. Honor your daily victories. 

The Power of Music

I love classical music. Not every day, but when I do listen I am fascinated by the imagination that not only created the themes but created the interlocking movement of the other instruments with amazing harmonies. I started to write that I didn’t have any idea how one’s mind did that except I do. Because that’s how I write. I get an idea and I turn and start dictating and out comes whatever wants to come out. I’m just not writing it down and creating harmonies and counter melodies with other instruments. 

I like soundscapes and I like jazz but listening to the intertwined intricacies of classical music is an amazing experience. A theme may be echoed by different instruments in solo places that show the true range of the instrument. I can hum along with the themes in a lot of classical music. 

Not too long ago I came across the online recording for the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor by Camilla Wicks which has touched my heart for 50 years.  That led me to the recording/video by Hillary Hann of that same piece which is amazing to watch.  I want to look for videos of Yo-Yo Mah and his cello. 

What kind of music do you like to listen to and how does it make you feel when you do? Perhaps go exploring and go deeper into the style of music that calls to you. Be still and just listen. 

===SELF-HEALING===

The Inner Space You Live In

Everything we manifest comes from within. In order to change our lives, we need to work on the inside, our beliefs, our expectations, our choices. What is the framework you are building your life around? What beliefs are driving you forward or stopping you? All change begins within, in the universe of self-love. Notice what you get to appreciate about yourself, the gifts, the talents, the quirks. Notice what you’ve accomplished so far by the choices you’ve made. What changes do you need to make to enhance your future? What areas need to be improved?

I can’t tell whether I’m working on loneliness or depression but I’m basically an optimistic person so I need to simply focus on the things that excite me and challenge me and nurture me. Know yourself. Know what you need. Know what you have to give. Know what you want to do. And let your inner voice support you in taking the highest path. Lean to live in a space of grace, peace, serenity, balance and ever-deepening connection to self.

Maintain a Supple Spine

This is a most amazing, easy to do, and effective Qigong move. It was sent to me by my healer friend Christina Gerber: “I was watching a hip relaxing Qigong video and the way to keep the spine limber it is suggested, is to do the same move as we do for our necks.
Trace an egg in front of your pelvis. So you move down and back and up in front to trace the egg at your lower spine.”

It is easy to do and I found it really strengthens your abdominal muscles. Give it a try.

Free Your Shoulders

Here is a powerful move from Daisy Lee’s Wuji Hunan Qigong class. Cross your arms and place your palms over the lung points on the front of your shoulders. You are going to gradually rotate your head. Tilt your head to the right with your ear towards your shoulder. Then move your head back by lifting your chin. Put your ear toward your left shoulder. Then put your chin to your chest. Repeat this four times one way and four times the other way. Go slowly and gently as you stretch your neck. You’ll be surprised how your shoulders also free up in the process. 

To release your crossed hands from your shoulders, gently extend your arms forward with palms up in an offering of gratitude to the universe.    

Willingness

We have to do the work. We have to experiment and notice the results we get. Build on that insight. I got immediate and fairly dramatic results from moving my spine in an “S” movement. Notice the results and then make choices based on what you find. Whatever it is you’re trying to add to your life, make a conscious choice to do it, practice it, experience it for several days if not a week. Notice what changed or didn’t so you can make new decisions about how to place it into your daily life. Explore, be willing to experiment, and add what works to your life. 

===OUTER WORK===

Go Where Your Soul Feels Nurtured

With the unfolding of the chaos of today’s world, those of us who are sensitive and aware need to hang out where our soul feels nurtured. Where is that for you? Is it in nature? Is it in music? Is it in writing something? Know what nurtures you and do more of that. It is your job to place yourself in places and situations and conversations that support your highest vision and your expanded awareness of all that is truly possible. Hang out where your soul feels nurtured.

Know How You Learn

As I set about to learn these 18 moves of Wuji Hunan Qigong I try various methods of learning that I have developed over the years. Do you know how you learn? Do you know the steps it takes for you to own an idea or concept? Is it easier for you to understand the overview than remember the details? That certainly is the case for me.

I am determined to own this system so not only am I learning physical moves but I am remembering a sequence. I’m taking notes. I’m watching the videos a lot. I’m practicing several times a day. What steps do you take in order to own an idea or concept, a new way of doing something?

I have a friend who remembers everything and even how to spell everything that she learns. I am the overview guy and not into details, so I have to create systems and practices that help me draw the detail into my big picture so I can use it and work with it.

Know how you learn and develop creative ways to help you learn. It may be speaking out loud, it may be drawing a picture, it may be moving your body. Experiment with learning methods until it’s easy to incorporate something that you want to learn into your life. 

One Step at a Time

A road is traveled one step at a time. A home is built one brick at a time. What steps do you need to take that will move you closer to your goal?

Do the work even if you can’t do it exactly how you want to. I cannot yet stand up to do Qigong very much. But each day that I try I make it a little longer and it gets a little easier. One step at a time will get you there.

I have a friend who is evolving from a professional job into her healing business as she prepares to retire. Her healing business is evolving and changing but she can put up a website even if she changes it so that she can ask people to join her list and keep track of how her offerings are evolving.

The step doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be a movement in the general direction. What new steps have you added recently that are guiding you toward your new goals? Do more of those. 

Offer, Let Go, and Trust

Do the work even if you can’t do it exactly how you want to. I cannot yet stand up to do Qigong very much. But each day that I try I make it a little longer and it gets a little easier. One step at a time will get you there.

I have a friend who is evolving from a professional job into her healing business as she prepares to retire. Her healing business is evolving and changing but she can put up a website even if she changes it so that she can ask people to join her list and keep track of how her offerings are evolving.

The step doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be a movement in the general direction. What new steps have you added recently that are guiding you toward your new goals? Do more of those. 

First of all, I live in a senior center in the conservative Midwest so the idea of wanting to share Qigong practices with the seniors here may be really out of line and far-fetched or even of no interest. But I wrote the Complex Manager and the Social Services Director telling them about the book Head-to-Toe Healing by Master Chuny Lin and suggested they put it in the library. I have a hunch the idea will not resonate even though I know the simple acupressure moves are a powerful way to have input on how your body evolves as you age. Sometimes you just put out an idea and let go.

You can get Head-to-Toe Healing by Master Chuny Lin on Amazon or at springforestqigong.com or chunyilin.com. If you get on his mailing list, you will get one of the moves by email every week. 

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Trust The Universe

The package arrived. I actually thought I had ordered three small Mookaite points, but here was one Mookaite Tower that was absolutely gorgeous with all the colors that Mookaite carries. It was fabulous. What also arrived in the package was a small quartz crystal in a purple net bag. It was a gift from the vendor. When I sat down to meditate with the Mookaite tower, I found it is a communicator – a very powerful one. It will guide me in expressing the ideas that surround me. When I picked up and held in my left hand this small half-inch quartz crystal I was blown away by its power. I have many powerful crystals but this one may be the most deeply powerful I’ve acquired in quite awhile. We’re talking half inch here. I’m going to keep it in its purple net bag so I don’t lose it. This is worldly wisdom and a depth that makes me want to cry. It is guidance in this time of turmoil. It is wisdom and intuition and sacred meaning. It is a small quartz crystal given as a gift by the vendor. I will figure out a way to wear it around my neck all day. It’s a reminder to me of the power of the small stuff, the power of the shifted gaze, the power of the high intention that will make more positive change happen. We’re talking a half-inch crystal here with a huge impactful message. Take your guidance where you find it. Trust it.  Act on it.

Listen To The Reassuring Sounds of Nature

There is something so reassuring about the rustling of leaves or the sound of a bird call or the steady rhythm of rain drops on the window. There is a calming rhythm in the sounds of nature. We should pause to listen more often. Listen to the silence. Quiet your mind and simply be.    

Sit in nature with your eyes closed and see what you can identify. I live in a part of the country where there are crickets at night although I haven’t been outside at night for a long time. And there are lightning bugs. And don’t forget the powerful phases of the moon. Notice the small leaf emerging from the bush. Is there the sound of water in the nature where you are? Close your eyes and listen. Feel the energy of nature. Feel the all-encompassing power of nature. Let it seep into your body and restore and replenish and heal you. Connect with nature, it has many gifts to offer you.

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

Hang Out With Like-Minded People

Are you aware of the people around you that pull you down? What do you do about it when you figure that out? Do you excuse yourself and go find happy people to be with? Do you turn off the news? Be aware of what brings you down and avoid it. Find your personal version of a happy pill.

Do Not Make Rules For Others

No one likes to be told what to do. We all want the ability to make our own choices and live our own lives. Besides that, your way is simply your way, it is not anyone else’s way. We each live our own life according to our individual consciousness. It is not the consciousness or beliefs of another person. So we have no right to tell someone else what to do and what you suggest will not fit with their version of their own life. Be aware of the structure you try to impose on others around you and ease up on them. We are each walking our own path in our own unique way. Honor that.

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

Build on the View From Each New Step

I added one lower spine straightening exercise and it brought such powerful and immediate results that a whole new view of what is possible has opened up. Self-healing really feels not just possible but closer to happening. 

Each step you take, each path you explore, changes the view, the outcome and the possibilities. Perhaps at the end of your day, take time to look back over the new choices you made and see if you can tell the difference they are making. Perhaps keep track of the changes you make during your week and at the end of that week, journal and notice what shifted and what changed. My experience with the spine-straightening exercise was so profound and so immediate that it changed my expectations of what is possible by a whole lot. And I, of course, am doing that exercise more often throughout the day.

Notice the effects of one small step. One shift. What changes? What new doors open? What path are you now going down? Notice change and be willing to build on the new possibilities it suggests. 

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Dismemberment

Dismemberment is a shamanic practice in which you go to your Sacred Garden and ask your guides to help you release what no longer serves you. They will lead you on a dismemberment journey. You may find yourself in an ocean where everything washes away. You may evaporate into thin air. Your guides help you release everything that you are. Then they help you make conscious choices about how you want to reassemble. Trust them. 

Sandra Ingerman recently pointed out that what is happening in today’s world is that we are going through a dismemberment. That means we have to be prepared to allow everything to cease to exist and a whole new version of ourselves and our world to reassemble. It would be a good thing. I wonder what that would look like. Guess we’ll find out given time.

It makes sense to release all that does not work and replace it with a new form that does. We are building a new world and first we have to clear the space. 

What would a new world look like? There will be great support for each other. There will be many people on the high road helping others to raise their sights and join them on the highroad. There will be kindness and inclusiveness. No harm will be done to anyone or anything. What will it feel like as a person living in that space? There would be less individual striving and more choices for the overall good of all. 

I’m a pretty self-focused, independent woman and I’m not sure how well I can do that. But I would definitely do no harm. And that’s a good place to start. Make certain that the choices you are making today harm no one. Begin there.

A Bigger and Broader Perspective

Try to see the overview. Try to see the brighter perspective, the path it is opening up, the journey we are on. Let go of how things were and how things are. And begin to look for how things could be, might be, will be, and set your sights there. Focus your work towards that expression of wholeness and oneness and inclusiveness.    Expand your vision to embrace a bigger and broader perspective.

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

Expanding Awareness

Are You Afraid of Change?

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Google

and the 

Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CRNER===

Embrace the Possibilities

I have made three new changes in my life this week and I’m getting very powerful results. I am practicing Wuji Hundun Qigong every day and I’m only on class one. I added five new crystals to my altar to work with – a Golden healer, Blue Kyanite, two Mookaite, and a small gift quartz. I added a new lower spine-straightening exercise. And I have walked the halls two days running. And amazing things are happening. 

What is working for you that is making a change that you need to do more of? Keep experimenting, keep doing the work, keep noticing results, expect positive change. 

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

Build on the Small Changes  

The change was immediate. The step that created it was very small.

The change was immediate. The step that created it was very small. Notice change. Notice what prompted it.

The change was immediate. The step that created it was very small. Notice change. Notice what prompted it. Awareness + choice = change.

Cara Lumen, July 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!

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

My Books

Explore The Rewarding Path of Change

By

Explore The Rewarding Path of Change

Living Our Deeper Song

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

I’m not exactly in limbo but there is change occurring all around me and I don’t know where it’s leading or what my role is to be. I can’t force it. But I keep looking for ways to help it be revealed to me.

I pulled some tarot cards to get some answers. The first one I drew was “changed and possibilities.”

“Possibilities” is a door opener.  It is a game-changer. What do I need to let go of or do more or change in order to open up new possibilities? Sometimes all we need to do is sit still and contemplate the changes and openings in the new path that show themselves.

We must explore.  We must identify what calls the most to us and walk down that path a bit to see where it might lead. See how it feels. See if it’s a direction we want to go in. We must be willing to change.

We must explore our new interests deeply enough to have a sense of the possibilities it opens up. Their potential. The direction it will lead us. The gifts it will bring. We can’t always identify what opportunities and challenges a new choice will bring so we need to stay alert as we travel the path and keep making changes, keep exploring, keep questioning. We need to know how it feels, what changes would be possible and where they might lead. And with each step, we must reevaluate the new perspective it reveals. Consciously explore each developing new pathway, make your choice, and move forward. We must be persistent in our search, resilient in our exploration, and patient for the path of change to be revealed. 

DEEPER SONG AFFIRMATION

I stay open to change and the new possibilities for me to make a difference. 

DEEPER SONG PROCESS 

  • Keep a lookout for new concepts and choices that open up new possibilities. 
  • Explore those that call to you. 
  • Draw them into your life and go exploring.

===INNER WORK===

Create a Shamanic Ceremony for Guidance

Several things will influence the experience you have creating a ceremony. You will get better with practice over time.

The first is the skill and life experience you bring to the table. 

There are many ways to design a ceremony. It can be short or long it can be elaborate or simple. Explore different forms of ceremony and perhaps identify several that are applicable to different situations you find yourself in. 

My major form of ceremony is a shamanic journey. I journey all the time. My process is very simple. I decide on the purpose of my journey.  It may be guidance, it may be self-healing, usually I have a question and seek clarity. 

Begin your ceremony by centering yourself. I could play my flute or look out at nature. Or close my eyes and focus on my breathing.

In a quiet place, I use my imagination to go to my Sacred Garden and ask for guidance. The images that show up are mine to interpret. They are my spiritual guides speaking directly to me. The first three times I journeyed I saw nothing but a campfire and only sensed others around it. Be patient with yourself as you learn to journey. And don’t be surprised with the form it takes.  Trust what shows up.

The second contributor to your ceremony/ritual is your relationship with the unseen world and the guides that show up which deepens over time. 

I have a resistance to angels and when one started to appear in my journeys, it was only her feet and the tips of her wings that I could see.  It took awhile for me to let her in but now the Angel With The Golden Wings is often present to guide me on my journeys.

Trust the images that appear and trust how you choose to interpret them. All of these images are metaphors for only you to interpret. If you are not clear, ask them for clarity.

What you do with the guidance you receive is also an important influencer on the effectiveness of the rituals and journeys that you take. Do the work. Explore the suggestions. Let your guides help you unravel the question you’ve asked. 

Be willing to believe what you see. Be willing to listen to talking rocks and fly on the backs of big birds and communicate with dolphins. Listen and interpret whatever images and thoughts and ideas show up and trust your interpretation. Keep practicing and you’ll get better at it. This is one of the ways that the inner world speaks to you.

Always give gratitude for all the guidance and awareness that you’ve been given. Your guides are there to be helpful.  Thank them for their insights and wisdom.

Keep a journal. Take notes right after you have your journey or ceremony. And be aware of any changes and ideas that show up in the days and weeks that follow. Record those too. It helps to clarify the overview.

Our shamanic work comes with the obligation to honor the power and spiritual magic and not take it lightly.

Know that you are safe. 

Have a clear intention.

Treat the experience with great respect. 

Add a shamanic journey as one of the forms of ceremony in your spiritual life and gather to you the insights of the inner world.

You are responsible for your own experience.  Keep exploring. 

===SELF-HEALING===

Trust the Stillness

How much time do you spend in silent stillness? There is no better place to heal and regroup than in the silence of our inner world. I don’t mean sleep, I mean meditative stillness.  A time when you go within and create space for your inner wisdom, your inner guidance, to make itself known.  

The form that guidance takes may vary.  Allow it time to evolve.  

I was to lead a segment in a Zoom call.  I had an idea.  As the days progressed, I got ideas for different versions the experience could take.  I explored them as they came up, taking them a step deeper or in a slightly different direction.  I trusted my inner voice to take me in the right direction.  I gave the concept space to evolve and trusted the process. 

Set an intention and then sit with it.  Notice what comes up without judgment.  You will know when to choose and what to choose.  Let the stillness nurture and clarify. 

(It turned out to be a powerful experience for all of us on the call…)

===OUTER  WORK===

What Makes Life Meaningful?

The facets of your life that are meaningful in the moment change over the years as your life changes, as your focus changes, and your expectations change. What is meaningful for you right now? My mind is meaningful. Without it for me there’s nothing because it’s entertaining, it’s informative, it’s creative, it helps me reach out to others. 

Do you have a gift that you particularly enjoy or find meaning in sharing? Do you need to do more of it? Do you need to find a broader audience to share it with? How are you using your gifts? Who are you sharing them with? And how can you widen your reach? 

What Do You Want?

What do you want? What are your priorities? Is it your health? Your relationships? Your work? Your future? Choose one and begin to do some active work on it – both inner and outer. That means visualization. How could it unfold? What does that look like and feel like?  How will the choices you are considering affect others? The world? Your own life? Take a few steps.  See how it feels and where it is leading you.

Perhaps you need to work on not just what you want, but what you need right now in your life. That could help you sort out your priorities. Do you need friendship? Do you need money? Do you need better health? What is your main need right now and what are you doing to make it happen? 

On the physical plane, I want my body to feel better. On the spiritual plane, I want the world to feel better. I can work on both of those. But I need to know that I need them both and I want them both, so I can choose the right steps to take and the right beliefs to hold to help it come into being.

Make a list of a few things that you want and then prioritize them. Pick the first one and design three steps to move you forward in your awareness of its potential and impact. Your future is yours to design. It is yours to create. It is yours to cultivate. Choose in alignment with the highest good of all. And get to work.

Ideas and Discipline

I get tons of ideas. They crowd my head. They crowd my day, they crowd my work. I love them. But I continue to develop criteria by which to choose and measure the usefulness of an idea. 

Not all ideas are yours to do. They may be an idea to give to someone else. They may be an idea to be done at a later time. Don’t let yourself get so crowded with ideas that you don’t act on any of them. Learn to be selective and choose the ideas that take you the furthest in the direction you want to go next.

===DEEPEN YOUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE===

Above and Below

More and more healing practices that I come across begin by connecting deeply with Gaia and bringing up her powers, then turning and connecting with the cosmos, your Soul Star, Source. We bring both of those energies into our humanness and use them to release, restore, repair, and rebuild. I sometimes feel those energies coming from above and below turning into a counter-clockwise spiral, releasing, repairing, and replacing all throughout the column of my body. Use your imagination and take time to bring the energy from below and from above where you do your self-healing work.

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

Work With Another Light Being

When my daughter retires in a few years she wants to move into animal healing using energy techniques like Reiki. I’ve connected her with a friend of mine who is a very gifted animal healer. She will have an example and a mentor and a guide as she moves into her new field.

I have a small group of women that I interact with regularly and each time I do, I find insights and meaning and often new steps to take to enrich my own life. Do you have that kind of circle of friends? Start with one person. Find a friend that is on a similar track and arrange to talk on a regular basis, to encourage each other, and to share what you have learned.

I have a primary longtime friend that I was paired with when we were in one of Sandra Ingerman’s shamanism classes and we have continued to talk weekly for five years or so. We have grown alongside each other. We have supported each other in that growth. We know each other’s patterns so we can be supportive.

You will have different friends for different facets of your life. Encourage that. Explore that. Expand on that. In my case, I’ve introduced those friends to each other. They have developed their own relationships.

As you grow, your friends will change. Allow that to happen. And seek new friends that will help you move higher on the new path that you’ve chosen.

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

Adventure and Potential

How do we know our potential if we don’t go adventuring? If we don’t try new things? Or explore new venues? How much exploration are you doing currently? Do you go a little way down the path you’re on to check out what else is there? Are you turning and exploring a whole new path? Will it take you on an adventure that will lead you places you cannot imagine? Be aware that you must continue to explore. You must adventure down unexplored paths and look around and see what calls to you.  When you go exploring you will find a new adventure and your greater potential!

===OUR EVOLVING FUTURE===

Choice

There sure are a lot of us on this planet making a lot of different decisions, going in a lot of different directions, not at all in harmony with each other. It’s kind of a mess. I suppose it’s a growth stage. Each person trying to expand and find their role. Some are more aware of the consciousness of the earth and some have more compassion and empathy than others. It’s an eclectic collection of people all here on the same planet and we are not working in harmony. 

We must consciously define and follow our own path, our own heart. We must constantly strive to take the higher path – the path of inclusion. Not everybody’s going to be on that path. But we must continue our journey on the highest road we can find and keep making conscious choices for the highest good of the most people.

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

Expanding Awareness

Journey to a Chamber of the Seven Sacred Rays

Listen to my
Reflections of a Deeper Song Podcast on
Apple / Spotify / Google

and the 

Deeper Song Website

===CARA’S CORNER===

Building My Web of Life

As I look around to see how my “next” will unfold, the lesson of the spider calls to me. She weaves her world from within herself and builds on what she finds around her.  She also can’t see so she works only from vibration.  Hummmm. I want to create like a spider.

I am probably forcing my search for what I am to do next. In fact, I’m pretty sure I am. So if I take a lesson from the spider, what do I do? 

I am patient. I pay attention to what is inside of me. My thoughts, my urges, my insights. And I wait patiently to discover where I might apply those ideas. It’s the patient part I’m not too good at. But there is a serenity and surety and resilience about building on what you find around you and building from within you. I will keep practicing.

===SING A DEEPER SONG ===

The Nudge

One idea.  One nudge.  I explore.

One idea.  One nudge.  I explore. I experiment, I imagine. I vision.

One idea.  One nudge.  I explore. I experiment, I imagine. I vision. My new path opens up, my new calling unfolds, and I move into a new adventure!

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.

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!