Tag Archives: prayer

Bring on More Joy!

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Do you want more joy in your life? Who doesn’t?! The good news is it’s quite simple to start allowing more joy in on a regular basis; we just have to get used to it. This is a great exercise to remember if we’re in a funk and want to get out of it. There is nothing wrong with feeling down, but eventually we’re ready to move on.

A quick note on negative and positive emotions – all are good and necessary. Negative does not mean bad; it is just relative to other emotions. It’s a scale, negative on one end and positive on the other, or terror and rage on one end and joy on the other end. The more we intentionally feel joy the more we move up the scale on a regular basis. Because most of us prefer to feel happy and joyful!

This exercise is so simple you can do it almost anywhere you are comfortable closing your eyes for a minute.

Bring to mind something that makes you very, very happy. It can be anything – a loved one, a pet, music, friends, art, mountains, food, elephants – truly anything; no one is judging you. Anything that just thinking about brings a smile to your face or makes you bust out laughing.

Once you have it in mind, set your timer for 17 seconds (“Siri, set timer 17 seconds”) and then just dive into that object of love and feel the joy; live it, feel it, surround yourself in it, swim in it and get it all over you! Feel the happiness and joy like it’s the only important thing in the world.

Once the timer goes off – how do you feel? Doesn’t it feel great to take the time to do nothing but sit and feel that joy? And it was less than a minute.

As you practice this more and more, you’ll find you instantaneously recall it throughout the day, lifting your mood more and more frequently.

Do this at least once a day every day for a week; two or three times a day is ideal. Feeling this every morning encourages good days to follow!

 

The Automatic Truth

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If you’ve ever felt like you don’t know how to get an answer on a pressing issue, or you are looking for some clarity, you might want to try automatic writing. I find it especially useful when I need a little direction, and some people use automatic writing as a regular practice. Whether frequent or occasional, automatic writing helps the flow of insights come to us in a way that our subconscious can’t filter out.

And it’s easy! It’s as simple as a pen and paper or a computer keyboard. My experience is that my flow from the Divine is interrupted less with a pen and paper, but if a computer is best for you, then you do whichever way is most comfortable.

The key with automatic writing is to never stop writing. The pen is always on the paper, or the fingers are constantly moving on the keys, no breaks.

If you’re new to this practice, start with 10 minutes. If you have a smartphone or home assistant, take a few deep breaths, then tell it to “set alarm for 10 minutes,” and go!

It’s best to know the leading question or phrase that you’ll start with, particularly if you do have a pressing question you want an answer to. When the timer starts, write out your question first, for example, “What is the next best action for me to take in my business?” and then never lift the pen up until the timer goes off. Don’t worry about punctuation, don’t dot your i’s or cross your T’s, no judgement of what you are writing, and don’t worry about how neat it is.

During the process, there should be no critical thought going on. Once you start with the opening sentence, just let it flow, no matter how ridiculous it might sound. Removing all thought about it really allows your Divine Wisdom to show up, so let it.

When you’re finished, take some more deep breaths, and if you need to, step away from your writing for a few minutes. Don’t step away too long, as you’ll want to reread and make notes on some of it before you lose the train of thought in the parts that are too illegible to read. Reading back over it, you’ll likely get some additional insights you didn’t even realize you wrote down!

This is really a good way to hear your deep Truth, so I recommend doing this frequently, especially when you’re in need of guidance.

Reading as a Spiritual Practice?

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If a spiritual practice is something that helps open us up to knowing ourselves better, or opens us up to receiving Divine Wisdom and Love and Truth, moving us forward to help create a better life, then Yes, of course!  The best part is you don’t have to sit down and read a whole big book at once, and in fact it’s probably better to be on a slow, contemplative journey.

There is no rule about the exact book either, as long as it is uplifting, mind opening or inspiring. If it can create just a small crack or opening in your brain that allows you to receive a new idea about life, to think a little differently, then that’s all that is necessary.  Creating a big opening is even better, but not required.

There are many effective ways to study books of wisdom, here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Morning study:

Before your days sets into full swing, take 10 or so minutes to read a few pages of inspiration or uplift. Then sit for a few minutes and contemplate the reading and how you might incorporate the lessons of it into your day.  Set a daily intention for the day of ease and wonder you will have.

Evening study:

Similar to the morning study, read just a few pages from an inspiring book and then contemplate the meaning and application of it to your life. Connect events from your day to the previous night’s reading and intention. Having good thoughts of an intentional life before bed will allow for more restful sleep.

Journaling:

You can add this any time.  After reading, write your contemplations, intentions or successes in a journal.  Writing helps to firm, and discern, our ideas and thoughts, and allows for easier callback if you had deep insights

Discussion:

I like the idea of adding discussion to any other practice but it also stands very well on its own. I like it so much that I lead book discussion groups, so if you haven’t found any have a  look on my events page.  The power of discussion is not to have a teacher tell you what a book means, but to allow you to put words to your thoughts and also be open to insights from other members.  We learn a great deal from others, and we also find community in shared experience, so a discussion group can help you go deeper quicker.

 

Some possible books might be poetry by Rumi or Hafiz; Chicken Soup for the Soul, the Bible, Science of Mind meditations, a piece by Meister Eckhart, but the options are unlimited and I would really love to hear what works for you!  Please share your journey on my facebook page.