Cara Lumen | Sing a Deeper Song

Sing a Deeper Song

Self Mastery

What Do you Need to Leave Behind? 

By

feather

In order to bring something new into our life, we have to let something we’re holding on to go. If things are not flowing into your life as easily and rapidly as you desire, perhaps you should look at what you need to leave behind?

Explorers travel lightly

Backpackers pack efficiently because they know they have to carry the full weight of whatever they take with them. They make things do double duty. They re-use things. They choose the few vital things like a compass and a knife and a canteen and a sleeping bag and carefully select and add one thing at a time, noticing the weight and the time it takes to put it into action. They leave a lot of things behind.

Since life is constantly changing and we are on a continuous adventure of exploration, we should learn to travel lightly.

Chuck the outmoded beliefs

Begin by looking closely at what you think can happen. If those beliefs are not big enough they can keep you from seeking, considering, choosing and expanding the new choices.

For instance, as I grow older, some physical things look and feel a little harder. So I simply make physical adjustments in how I participate. However, I never let physical restrictions stop me from taking part in some manner. I can participate, but I have to make room to explore the possibilities of how.

What do you need to leave behind to have time for the new vision?

Life is a series of choices. If I want to do one thing, I may have to do less of some other thing.

We change and our needs and desires change. Look closely at what is calling to you and make time for what resonates the most.

Honor your own process. I like to immerse myself in a project, so setting aside ten days to focus on one aspect or one project suits my personal rhythm and my learning style. I also like to create more than complete, so I have added a “Completion Day” in which I get things out the door.

How do you like to work?  And what do you need to make that happen?  Take only those actions on your journey forward.

Who do you need to leave behind?

Take stock of the energy exchanges between you and your friends. Is it balanced? Has a friend grown too needy, too demanding?  You always have a choice. Make room for supportive, nurturing empowering people in your life. Let the others go.

I love to learn but I’m realistic about how much I can absorb at one time and how much time I’m willing to spend on a specific class. I choose the best and most productive and most enjoyable use of my time and leave other opportunities behind.

Be prepared to cross a new threshold

Where are you going next and what do you need to take with you? What do you need to leave behind?  You don’t pack snow boots when you are going to the tropics. You may need to leave some habits behind. You may need to find new, more streamlined versions of something that nurtures. Where are you going, and what are the most supportive ideas and relationships you need to take with you?

As I explore subtle group energy work in many forms, I have to make some choices. I take parts of what I’m learning and creatively adapt what I keep into practices that fit my personal purpose, my physical energy and my time. I don’t know exactly where I’m going or what will be required but I’m definitely leaving space to explore what shows up.

As new doorways open, new opportunities appear

What happens if you lay every thing down that you’re carrying around and step through the new door with just you and an open mind?  Trust that whatever is needed will be provided. When you leave the “old” behind, you have room to embrace and explore the new. You are free and open to the new experience. You let the experience shape you.

As you end each day, lay down all your burdens, beliefs, and expectations.

As you begin each day, pick up only the tools you need for that day. You will become more productive and more joyous in moving through the opportunities you’re now free to explore.

What do you need to leave behind?  Will you let go so you can move on?

To Sing a Deeper Song Consider:

Find and Use Your Power Within 

What Seeds Do You Allow to Grow in Your Garden?  

How do You Put your Spiritual Insights to Work

What is Self-transformation?  

VLOG: Insights of a Deeper Song 

PODCAST: Reflections of a Deeper Song 

Accept Yourself As You Are

By

woman hugging self

The people who stuck with the same thing for 40 years are in a different place than those of us who wandered around exploring a wide range of concepts. And I wondered if I had been wrong.

Don’t compare yourself with others from your past

I recently come across a group of people that I followed and learned from when I began my holistic professional career in the 1970’s. They have been developing their place of service for a long time and it’s both interesting and discouraging to see how far they have come.

But that’s not me

Before I began to beat myself up for not having as much to show for my life as they seemed to for theirs, my inner self hollered very loudly at me: “You don’t like to repeat things. You never have! You are an explorer and discoverer”. Now that doesn’t make me a good or a bad person, but it does make me an adventurer rather than a settler and that’s very helpful to know. We need both types in our world.

I don’t like to teach the same thing

I teach to learn. And once I learn something, I don’t want to repeat it. The fun and challenge and reward for me is in the creation of the system or exercises or material that moves both me and the student from here to there. But once we are “there” I don’t want to return; I want to keep exploring. Therefore, the trail I leave is a narrow one, not a well-traveled path.

But that’s OK.

I have actually been doing the same thing

There’s a pattern in your life — based on your passion and your gifts. I’ve been writing all my life, I’ve been exploring philosophically, and I’ve been seeing overviews and connections all my life. Those three things are what have nourished and inspired me and helped me grow into the person I am today. Just because it doesn’t look like you’ve been doing the same thing all your life, look closely and you’ll find a pattern.

Honor who you are

After moving to New York City years ago and finding all the budding holistic adventurers that lived there, my life totally changed. I jumped from one teaching to another, taking from it what resonated and making up my version that fitted my needs and passion. When you are taught something, it’s yours to shape. You keep some of it, you toss some of it, you modify some of it. And that’s perfect. Honor your unique way of learning and doing and appreciate your life.

Wherever you are is perfect

I am in the right place at the right time — for me. Just as you are. So we get to look around and see what we’ve created, decide what we want to keep and chuck the rest. Then we move forward.

The reason I’m back in touch with these pioneers from my past is that I’ve come in a circle and have met them further down the path. However, I still take only parts and pieces, the concepts that align with my current exploration and thinking.

So there is to be no jealousy, no regret. My life is good, just as theirs is. I, too, am in service. Perhaps not on such a grand scale as they are, but that wasn’t what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to do exactly what I have been doing and I needed to arrive exactly where I am now.

Just as you did.

Accept who you are at this point in in your life. Don’t compare yourself with others. Simply turn and look at the richness of your own life and deepen your own place of service.

You are who you need to be. You are where you are meant to be. Accept yourself as you are.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

Are You Inspired By Your Own Life?
Where Do YouPlant our Stake
How do You Put your Spiritual Insights to Work?
The Emergence of Collective Individual Spirituality
How to Grow fromYour Inside Out

My Three Words for 2017

By

Planet

At the beginning of each new year, I select three words to guide me on my journey. These are qualities or values or concepts that I want to explore, develop, embrace and emphasize during that year.

I learned this from Chris Brogan several years ago. Choosing three meaningful or motivational words allows me to evaluate what I’ve accomplished, notice where I am, and make choices that’ll guide me in a direction that’s aligned with my core purpose.

For 2016, my words were “determination”, “trust” and “explore”. I determinedly explored my connection with nature through Shamanism and expanded my connection with the world through a course in subtle group energy. I deepened my trust by following my instincts that said I needed to venture further online to connect with the people who would nurture and guide me on this next phase of my journey.

As I continue to let my life unfold, I deepen my trust. I trust myself to recognize the nudges and insights that keep coming my way. I trust the universe to offer signs and signals to guide me.

Would you like to choose three words to help shape your experiences in the coming year?

What is your overall objective?

What qualities or values would you like to develop or explore in the coming year? What is your over-arching objective?

For 2017, my overall goal is to immerse myself more deeply in my spiritual exploration, to find meaningful and effective ways to direct energy to the well-being of our universe and share what I discover in a clear, insightful and inspiring manner.

My three words for 2017 are “broaden”, “deepen” and “change”

Broaden. I expand my spirituality and my personal awareness by broadening my participation in the planet, particularly in the form of focused energy. I broaden my personal awareness by questioning all my beliefs to make certain they represent my current values and that they’re based on my truth rather than on the truth of others.

I broaden my empathy and develop the core value of inclusion as I increase my understanding of others by actively listening to the concerns of persons who have a different frame of reference than I do. I broaden my participation in the world by joining with others in meditations for peace and harmony and balance. I open myself to ways to extend the reach of my words into the lives of people who will benefit from them.

Deepen. Deepen relates to my inner work. I deepen my awareness of nature and allow its organic flow to guide me. I deepen my awareness of the natural cycles and allow myself to flow with them. I deepen my knowledge of subtle realms and dimensions and apply concepts that resonate. I deepen my understanding of the concepts in Shamanism and Taoism that call to me. I take what resonates and learn new ways to apply those concepts more consciously in my daily life.

Unfolding is at the core of my life. Increased mindfulness continues to deepen my connection with my inner world. I mindfully move more consciously through my day, seeking to hear the messages of nature, my body, my soul and the invisible world around me.

Change. I feel myself being drawn on a great adventure. It has to do with the exploration of subtle realms and higher dimensions. I’m willing to change. I’m open to new possibilities. I feel myself being pulled to a level of exploration that’s taking me deeper within than I’ve ever gone before. I’m connecting with the “nowhere that we came from”, the great nothingness, the universes beyond the universes. Although I’m human, I’ll explore beyond the limitation of my body suit and report what I find.

Awareness + choice = change.

Broaden
Deepen
Change

I’m certain these three words will take me on great adventures and lead me to awareness I didn’t expect.

What are your three words for the coming year?

TO SING A DEEPER SONG, CONSIDER:

My three words for 2016
My three words for 2015

How to Design an Unfolding Routine

By

list

“Unfolding” and “routine” don’t seem to go together but there are certain things we would like to do every day. Some we do willingly like shower and eat. Others are more loosely organized. How, I wonder, if you allow your life to unfold, do you establish a regular pattern that you want in your life?

Piggyback onto triggers

Let’s take physical movement. The idea of a specific time each week or each day does not follow an organic life pattern. However, you can piggyback new habits onto things you have already chosen to do on a regular basis.

Every time you go into the kitchen, use the sink for some stretches. You can click on the microwave timer for five minutes or three minutes or assign yourself a specific number of moves.

I have a small stepper platform and it is “conveniently” in my way between my desk and the bathroom. Each trip calls for a pause to take 10 or 15 steps.

Brushing your teeth is a good time to do some abdominal tucks.

See how this works?

Look for organic triggers

I watch The View every day. First I stretch and then I have a cup of tea. Combine activities to expand your routine.

I have a timer by my computer that I set to remind me to change my body position, to relax my shoulder, look out the window to rest my eyes and take a few deep breaths.

A little prep work goes a long way

I eat when I am hungry. That turns out to be some rather odd times. One major change I have made it to set aside some time twice a week to cook things that can be easily assembled on other evenings.

I’ve begun to try new recipes and do some meal planning. That gives me a tight grocery list and lets me make certain I’ll take the time that week to cook the meals I’ve planned. I want to begin to turn on music when I eat and add a bit more ceremony of gratitude and mindfulness around each meal.

What else is in your daily routine that you could piggyback some movement on? Or surround with some more mindfulness?

Measure

This can be a painful step. If your focus is around health, write down your starting pace like weight and distances you can move.

If it’s around a business goal, take thorough and conscious stock of where you are now and what you need to do to move in the direction you desire. Then design one piggyback move that’ll gradually and steadily move you forward.

Substitute

Music makes you move. Music makes you happy. I’ve selected one rhythmical music that I like, which I play at least once a day. I find myself dancing and strengthening my body and moving in a way no amount of repetitions can provide.

How can you sneak in an activity by finding another source of motivation?

Push yourself a little

If you spend a week doing 10 of whatever it is you choose to do, up it to 12 or 15 the next week. Keep adding until you hit a number you’re willing to sustain.

My body is doing odd aging things and I have to fight off that un-cooperative inner voice that says, “That’s enough, this is getting hard.”

Make a choice. Do you want to preserve the health you have? Do you want to regain a bit of what you lost?

Do you have some business habits you’d like to change or develop?

Then you know something has to change — you, and your choices.

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:

Mindfulness and the Moment
How to Track Your Self-Awareness
What Do You Save Space for in Your Life?
Live Like Water
Mindfulness as a Path to Self-Awareness
06– Unfolding And The Art Of Wu Wei

How Do You WANT to feel?

By

Stuck head in sand

It’s time to test my belief system. If I believe my thoughts create my reality, what have I done! If I believe all change begins within myself, how do I change? If I’m faced with more negativity than I’ve seen in my entire life, what am I going to do about it?

“Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all of yourself.” 
- Rumi

Where do I begin?

I am now clear that I’ve been very unaware. I was moving along in my own bubble without truly understanding how a great many people in this country think and feel. And most of all, I wasn’t aware of what they need.

Like everyone, I was focused just on what was working for me. We all do that. We’re all operating from what we need. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s natural, but it would serve us to develop a broader viewpoint — to see the other person’s need and beliefs.

What do You WANT to feel?

Feeling safe is at the top of a lot of lists. Safe to live our lives in the freedom of expression that we cherish in this country. I’ve managed to quieten my own personal fears because I’m pretty clear that taking away things from seniors is not very high on the list but there are many people in this country who have good reason to fear the current change in our country.

When you rely on and deepen your spiritual connection with everyone else on the planet, you can begin to heal. The group energy of oneness has the power to connect and balance.

What do I want to feel? Not scared. Not appalled. Not unbelieving. Not judgmental about the emergence of the total opposite of what I believe at my core — that we are one.

How do I feel like I’m one with someone who holds an opposite viewpoint?

In my daily life I avoid persons who don’t share my interests and viewpoint. I don’t hang out with them. I don’t have conversations with them — because our interests and beliefs are so polarized.

But that won’t heal me, or them.

It’s all very well to talk about loving others, but when high school students are making racist signs there is only one place they learned that — from their parents. And that means there are huge pockets of hatred alive and well in this country.

I thought we had moved beyond that.

How do you counteract what you feel is evil?

How do I want to feel? I want to feel accepting of others and somehow — I can’t even write this down — I need to feel love toward those who are expressing thoughts and emotions that I’ve worked hard to remove from my life.

All I can do is work on myself

How do I want to feel? Safe. I want to keep the planet safe. I want people to be safe. I want there to be kindness and cooperation and support. How do I do that? What do I do?

I don’t know. I visualize our wholeness. I join with others in group meditations to help feel and heal our oneness. I send energy to the well-being of everyone and everything on the planet. And I go within and trust. I trust that my spiritual belief and my spiritual practice will see me through this.

Peace begins within me. It begins with my own thoughts and actions. It begins with my understanding and empathy for the wide range of self-expression that’s present in our world.

We have power

I don’t mean power over others, but power to balance and heal ourselves. We have power to not participate in harmful words and actions. We have power to deepen our spiritual commitment and expression, whatever we choose to have that look like. That power is within us. It’s ready to respond to our choices. What do you choose? How do you want to feel?

Go within and heal yourself

Change what you can change in your own life expression. And trust. Trust that healing is possible, alignment is possible, compassion is possible. And begin working on yourself. Strengthen your own spiritual practice. Begin there. And hold to the emotion of connection that you want to feel.

We are one. Truly we are. It just doesn’t feel like it right now.

How do you WANT to feel?

To Sing a Deeper Song consider:
The 50/50 split
How Labels Dehumanize Us
In Gratitude for the Opportunity to Grow
The Creation of an Armchair Activist
How to Use our Interconnection to Heal the World
45-How to Become a Mindful Presence
43 – Intolerance and the Need to Be Right