Brothas and Sistas ~ the days of self-improvement are over; we are now entering an era of raised consciousness that is all about self-acceptance.

This dawned upon me as I was teaching Yoga over the weekend in Byron Bay. I was sitting in my room, before I was about to teach my morning class and I was drawn to pick up this book, which I coincidentally discovered planted under my bed. And I pulled open to the page that expressed a quote by Yogi Bhajan that said:

“Yoga is not about self improvement. It is not another ‘self improvement’ craze. Yoga is about self-acceptance. You are perfect the way you are; and Yoga allows you the space to realise this, and accept the divine perfect you, your true nature is happiness and bliss.”

It seems really quite simple and it just really struck a thousand and one chords within me. Then I realised …

~ There is no need to keep striving to achieve ‘a better version of who we are’. This craze is over. This is just all linked in with the ego, and totally taking us out of the present moment. Because we are led to believe that when we reach that ‘best version of us’, oh yeah that’s when we will be finally happy. Screw that! I realized we already are the best version of who we are; on the condition that we accept who we are, and embrace that perfect being fully.

In perfect synchronicity last night I stumbled upon a video over at my fave online hangout Mystic Mama, in which I was exposed to an interview with ‘Panache Desai’ about this exact topic, he explains ~

“It’s not about becoming something but about embracing who we already are. The more we are at peace with our humanity, the more that light and luminosity shines through us. We need to end the resistance of being you and watch what happens. Be in acceptance of yourself, don’t create conflict with you and your experience”.

He then talks about how he suffered from years of depression, because of the fact that he was just not embracing and accepting who he was.

You know what this just all has come at divine timing. A beautiful epiphany if you will. For me personally I know the years of depression I suffered were a great deal linked with my non-acceptance of who I was. I was living the life, ‘they’ all expected of me. I was searching for validation of who I was through my expressions of ‘beauty’, ‘fashion’, and ‘lifestyle’.  I was so confused by all the mixed messages around me telling me how to live, who to keep in company, what to wear, that I had no bloody idea who I was at the end of the day.

This is why during my ‘full blown life detox’ a few years ago, I cut out everything ~ magazines, television, mainstream music, the whole shebang. It all went, down the, what I call “life colonic drain pipe”.

So I invite you to explore the following…

~ What you like doing?

~ What tickles your fancy?

~ What lights you up?

~ Who do you want to be surrounded by?

~ Where do you want to live?

~ What do you want to spend your days doing?

~ What does your body want to really eat?

I am all about empowering others to realise these simple truths within them. Each and every one of us know these answers for ourselves, it is just a matter of de-cluttering our lives, simplifying back to basics and unveiling the greatest truth ~ acceptance of that perfect you.

The more and more of us whom embrace the wild, weird, wacky, wonderful, joyous beings we are, the more we give permission to those around us to also ~ and we realise, happiness, love and joy is not some end destination, that has to be arduously worked towards; it is our true nature. And no material possession can buy the power and truth you have within you.

So go forth and let your wild self shine baby!

Panache Desai Video ~ watch here

image courtesy of emma & nadine’s May Goddess photo shoot

In light of this cosmic pull to speak our truth, today on the blog I am getting honest. Real honest. Today, I am revealing a part of my journey that has not yet been explored in much depth. So here goes ~ to be completely honest, along with my history of depression, I simultaneously suffered from years of an Eating Disorder. Bulimia, Anorexia, Calorie Counting, Self Loathing, Poor Body Image, Yo-Yo dieting, you name it, I’ve been there.

I spent years and years seeking externally for my happiness. I felt as though I had absolutely no control over my life, and the only aspect I could control was essentially my weight, and how I appeared to the external world. I was miserable and completely disconnected from myself. I was hungry, hungry for a sense of connectedness to the core of who I was, to my truth. I was never satisfied with how I looked, even though I was a mere 45kg at my lowest point. It was never ‘good enough’ in my eyes.

Until one day I hit rock bottom. And as most of us know who have been there, when we hit rock bottom. The only way to go is up.

In the east ‘illness’ on any level, be it mental or physical ~ is considered our first gateway … inwards. It makes complete sense. Depending on what school of alternative medicine modality you look at, they all lead to one end conclusion, that is:

~ On the spiritual level, illness, literally forces us to go within.

My eating disorder, my depression, my suffering, was my ticket in. It was the gateway inwards. It was the gateway to healing and connecting to that which I am, that which is pure and ever changing.

So to put it all into perspective, I figured the first thing I could do for myself was learn about nutrition. And this is so often the first gateway into healing for many. Food and the human psychology is a fascinating correlation and it is often our first gateway into something much deeper, which has turned out the case for me. In order to heal my wounds around what I thought was educating myself about nutrition, has led me to much much more. That which is my spiritual path. That which is my truth seeking quest inwards, to healing, in order to heal the greater good of humanity, raising collective consciousness and bringing about positive change.

We do have the choice however ~  as ultimately it is up to us if we chose to, as one of my teachers put it ‘go down the rabbit hole’. Down the spiritual spiral, down the spiral to uncovering what these illnesses are here to force us to do.

That is ~ To go within and connect to all that is real. And that is love. Divine love, the purity of who we truly are.

The western medical system looks upon mental illnesses (and illnesses in general) like depression, anxiety, eating disorders as a disease that can be simply fixed by messing with your hormones and serotonin levels; and this is absolute B.S. I have been there, on meds yes. And I was swung even more far from attached to myself than before I went on the meds. Detached, and consequently even more depressed. Yeah sure I was numb from feeling pain, numb from even feeling happy. I was a mellow, hollow, detached soul ~

A teacher of mine recently said to me the way we are going evolutionary “We are either on the bus, or we are going to get hit by it”. Essentially, we are either on this path of evolutionary change, or we will too eventually be struck by illness, that hits us in the face, and forces us inwards to get back on the bus.

By no means am I saying I am completely healed, no way. I am a humble; and on a mission to keep peeling back layer by layer, what this catalyst in the form of mental illness has come to me to force me into something much deeper. Each layer that is uncovered reveals a deeper understanding of myself and the connectedness to the universe at large; in an attempt to stay on the bus; and inspire and understand why others aren’t too on the bus and help them to also get on and let their own unique lights, talents and gifts shine.

In my eBook The Goddess Diet ~ Eat Live Love Authentically & Intuitively, I share tools that helped me take this first plunge out of rock bottom. Things that pulled my ass out of the shrink’s office and onto the Yoga mat. Nuggets of wisdom that gently allowed me to peel back the layers of B.S that were clouding me and disconnecting me from connecting inwards, and thus relying on my happiness from external forces, vs. internally.

So I will leave you with a little wisdom around Body Care, as we are on the topic:

“Your body is an instrument, that, when well tuned, emanates greater harmony. Your spirit is like the grand piano, and it is asked that you maintain that piano.” ~ Doreen Virtue.

image courtesy of my bare bum in nature.

MYSTIC MUSINGS ~ by Astrologer & Mystic Sarah Varcas from Astro-Awakenings

The June 8th New Moon marks a shift from identification with others through common interests, world views or values, to finding our place in a widely diverse world which contains every opposite and extreme you can possibly imagine! It’s not a shift we can make overnight and sometimes it’s far easier to do than others, but at the time of this New Moon we have an opportunity to focus our energy and attention upon the whole wide world in all its glorious diversity and paradox, truly knowing it as  a reflection of our own inner complexity.

This is an impersonal but contact-oriented Moon. That in itself can sound paradoxical, but the contact this Moon desires is that of one open mind to another, not the contact of one headstrong ego to another with a subsequent battle to clarify who’s right and who’s wrong. This is contact which recognises we all have thoughts, feelings, beliefs and opinions which make perfect sense to us at the time we have them, no matter how they may appear to anyone else. Everyone has their story and their understanding of what life’s about. We can all justify our views on the things that matter to us, even when those views are in direct opposition to someone else who can just as readily justify their position.

So what does this Moon want of us? ~ She wants us to stop, just for a moment, and remember that each of us lives within our own story, our own drama, out of which we fashion our lives and until we can bring a compassionate awareness to that fact we may miss the clues in someone else’s words or behaviour that say ‘Underneath all this anger I’m in pain or fear’; ‘Behind this arrogance I’m terrified’; ‘I don’t listen because I fear what you may have to say’. It can be a real challenge to listen in this way, to experience the deeper truth beneath someone’s words, especially when those very words arouse anger, objection or bitterness within us. We are all of us trapped within a labyrinth of thoughts, feelings and associations from the past, but the more we can step outside of them even just for a moment, to listen with pure awareness to the words of another, the more likely we are as a global community to eventually come together in a state of peace and understanding.

This New Moon seeks that very peace. She sees the barriers to it and offers a helping hand to those who want to step over or break them apart rather than stop at them and hurl stones across. She encourages us now, in the theatre of our everyday lives as much as on the world stage, to listen to the truth behind the words, both our own and other peoples’, remembering that suffering is born of suffering and peace is born of peace. And if each of us can, just for a moment, bring a compassionate awareness to an exchange which would previously have been one of conflict and discord, seeds of peace are planted which can, in due course, grow into a collective harvest of healing and unity.”

© Copyright 2013 ~ Sarah Varcas All Rights Reserved

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I have received a few beautiful emails, and friends coming to me asking ~ ‘How Do I Find My Purpose?’ And the simple answer I give them is … just be YOU! Yes it really is as simple as that you gorgeous soul!

This whole idea of finding your life purpose, this never ending quest to discover what it is we are here for, can be exciting at the best of times, it can in an ironic sense ‘give us purpose’ – our ‘purpose’ becomes to find our purpose ~ it gives us something to work towards ~ but damn it can just add another layer of stress to our lives. To be honest it can take our sweet selves totally out of the present moment in a quest to reach that state of ‘ultimate purpose’ that we are led to believe is the only path to true happiness ~ when we reach that end goal. Quite frankly, we all know when we aren’t present is when we end up depressed and anxious, well I know I do when this occurs.

We put all these pressures on ourselves to have it all worked out by a certain time frame, and when we don’t ‘figure it all out’ by our intended time, we end up frustrated, and disappointed in our selves.

People can spend their entire lives trying to ‘discover their purpose’ when in actual fact the thing they are yearning to discover is …

~ The true essence of who they are  ~

Once we are connected to the core of who we really are, the beautiful soul behind the layers of conditioning, limiting beliefs, fears and external ‘stuff’ ~ bingo we have discovered our ‘life purpose’. All we have to do is simply put that beautiful soul forward each and every day.

But in a nutshell this just means ~ You’re purpose is to be the divine you. Your purpose is that you are ALIVE. Nothing needs to be done to improve upon this fact, it simply is.

Your purpose cannot be summed up in a ‘title’ ~ it cannot be packaged into a box and sold. Your purpose, you will realise, is just to simply be you. And each and every day this purpose will change, according to where your heart leads you.

I invite you to reflect upon this simple idea ~ you are a brilliant being. You, yes you, deserve to be here. You out of the millions of little sperm made it through the fertilization process and it is in fact a miracle you are here! There is no need to ‘prove’ your worthiness of being alive. You, yes you have every right to be here.

All that is asked of you is this one simple thing ~ to let your unique talents and gifts shine.

As I write this, I am sitting amongst the rainforest up at Mount Cootha, Brisbane surrounded by the many trees, and all the other living animals. Each tree standing tall doesn’t have to ‘prove’ its worthiness or its ‘purpose’ for its spot in the eco-system. No, it is simply just ‘being’. That is its purpose, and it will most likely change each and every day. One day it may provide shelter and shade for a family whom wish to picnic under neath it; the next day it may provide nutrients for some birds whom wish to eat its fruits.  Plain and simple, it is just flowing and working with all the other elements, but standing tall and playing its part in a much bigger connectedness of life. It does not have to prove its worthiness to be here. It is not in competition with the other trees, each and every tree has its purpose and they all work together for the greater good.

So I invite you to go forth and stand tall and let your unique talents shine and play a part in a much bigger game. Your purpose right now is to be reading this and realising this beautiful revelation, so go forth and let YOU be seen.

~ The world is waiting, it needs you!

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Staying grounded amidst your spiritual gallivanting can be a challenge at the best of times. We are spiritual beings, all of us. Yet getting too connected up in the Astral planes can often send us off balance, and too ‘up in the air’ as some like to refer to it. It is just as important that we stay grounded to the Ether plane, in order to integrate all we learn in our spiritual lives, into our physical lives and use what we learn for higher purposes, aka what we are here on this crazy planet to do.

This is where the big B word comes in ~ Balance.

This has been the theme / mantra of my past couple of weeks pre and post that epic Lunar Eclipse Super Full Moon we just had on Saturday. And because we are coming into Gemini astrologically we are experiencing all things dualistic and polarities at their extremes. We may have experienced being pulled more to one extreme than the other in the past months and going forward we are to focus upon integrating the two polarities and weaving them into one greater purpose.

Without going too in depth into the ‘out there’ stuff, we essentially in a nutshell, LEARN & GROW on the earth plane (ether) and we ASSIMILATE knowledge on the Spiritual plane (Astral). We can easily dance between the two and find a splendid blissful balance. However ~ we can also easily get too bogged down in one or the other, throwing our pretty selves off balance. We may experience too much earth plane, we are too serious, too cynical, we are disconnected form our true nature, from our soul centre, we are depressed & anxious as a result. So too we may be too much connected into the spiritual realms and experience a feeling of disconnection from the earth plane, that ‘no one really gets me here’ and we can end up resenting our experience and those who “just don’t get what I’m going through”.

Therefore it is so important to stay grounded in the middle. Where our souls are dwelling in our physical bodies on earth. This is so we can essentially assimilate all the spiritual knowledge we gather in our tool kits, and use them to learn and grow in our physical bodies; so too result in connectedness to our true nature and as a result ~

Living an authentic life, and doing what it is we are here to do. The perfect balance.

So how to stay balanced and grounded amidst your spiritual adventures?

~ Grounding Foods } I find naturally when I am feeling too far up in the astral spiritual realms, my body naturally craves ‘grounding’ foods. Foods like: Root Vegetables (carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes), Grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet), Root Herbs (dandelion root). Another reason why DIETS DO NOT WORK! Listen to what your body wants always, it knows best.

~ Allowing for Play } When you’re on the spiritual quest it can be sometimes so damn exhausting. Processing, healing, reflecting, meditating, practising. It is important to remember we are only human. To be gentle and kind and allow yourself to play, do fun things, not to get too serious in all the spiritual stuff… bring about the balance.

~ Not Holding a “Spiritual Ego” } Realising you are not a superior being because you are on your spiritual journey. Come back to earth, ground yourself. We are all on our own individual journeys, no one is more ‘special’ than the other just because they can meditate for longer or can survive only on oxygen – ala breatharians.

~ Being in Nature } I find being in nature grounds me back onto the earth. Sitting by a huge tree at the base, feeling the roots of the tree under neath me helps me get two feet back firmly on the ground. Literally!

~ Physical Grounding } Yoga is great for grounding. But hey I’m a bit bias here. I like to really do a lot of grounding yoga poses like strong warrior standing poses, eagle pose for concentration, tree pose for grounding into the earth, badakonasana for getting the root chakra connected as possible to the ground. You can also dance but focus on grounding your feet into the ground when you dance, dancing from the feet not up in the arms/neck area.

I will leave you with the mantra from Kaypacha’s Pele Report for the week from Mystic Mama.com ~

“When I am torn between the left and the right ~ Caught in the darkness or longing for the light ~ Rather than fear the one or the other ~ I weave them together for my true soul to discover”

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“How do I just get on with it, follow my spirit despite what others think?”

This is a topic very close to home for me personally. I can relate completely and wholly as I was once here too, it is essentially what inspired me to write my first eBook The Goddess Diet ~ Eat Live Love Authentically & Intuitively.

You see, coming into your authentic self, by beginning to live your life according to how you want to; and according to what your heart yearns for, seems simple and effortless. But it can often cause a bit of a ruckus in the process. During this transition is a massive amount of change and whenever there is change, there is often an adjusting period, not only within ourselves, but often more dramatically with those whom surround us externally, in particular our families, and those closest to us.

~It is through such change, we experience growth.

When we have been living our lives a certain way, in the reflection of often our peers, society and family, we are unconsciously playing a role in which we are expected to play out. Say hello to your friendly ~ ego. We are living according to what they expect of us, and that satisfies them, but leaves us feeling empty, lost and without that external validation of who we are, unsure of who we are without those external influences. So you can only imagine what happens when we start to shift away from what they expect of us, and the roles in which we have played out over years of history.

Both them and you are bound to experience a little adjusting freak out period. They may begin to criticise you because you are no longer the person they once ‘knew’ and their own insecurities may begin to arise as they feel they no longer have control over whom you are and their expectations of how you will react in certain situations is disappearing before them. There may be a sense of ‘loss’ that arises within them which can create a bout of suffering, fear and sadness within them.

They may feel as though they no longer know who you are, can relate to your new chosen path and this can create a sense of fear within them. And us interesting human creatures we all know when we feel fear and insecure we can often go into ‘attack’ mode. We attack and judge those things we know little about, because we are ~ basically scared of the unknown.

I myself have personally been down this all too familiar road. As I began to come into my own not only did I reap the attack of certain old friends, work colleagues at the time, but most hurtful – my own family. It was a painful yet powerfully transformative period. As I was adjusting into my truth, which felt so good to me, the outside world was not responding the same way.

~This, though I believe … was the ultimate test!

You see, I like to relate to this period as my ‘bambi’ period. I was wobbling to stand up on my own two feet, to stamp my two big feet on the world. Although I was so determined to do so, to stand up I kept wobbling and it was really easy for others to see my insecurities and push me over. When those around us can sense the slightest bout of insecurity it is so easy for them to put their fears onto us about our evident transformation. Because they actually fear that they could never do the same too.

When we are unsure of ourselves and our path it is so easy for others to see that and project their fears onto us. But if we are strong, and believe whole heartedly in our cause ~ it is virtually impossible for others to bring us down. And just remember people who criticize you are just going through their own personal journey, normally they are naive and uneducated on the subject at hand, which generates a fearful state for them. So, I invite you to see it all from a higher perspective that its ‘their stuff’ ~ not yours. This will ease off any back lash you experience as a result of their fears.

As we come more and more strong and sure of who we are and who we are becoming. It is virtually impossible for those around us to knock us down. And if they do, it doesn’t hurt as much because we are so much stronger in who we are and sure of ourselves it is like water off a ducks back.

Some final wisdom for you to part with:

~ surround yourself with those people who are supporting of your journey. This may be difficult as you may need to let go of certain people who are no longer serving you. But as we start living from our truth, more like minded folk are going to flood into your life once you create space for them.

~ remember it’s their fears being projected onto you.

~ haters, critics + debbie downers are all there to test your resilience and to make you stronger.

~ those who support who you are becoming are showing true love. They want the best for you ~ these are true friends.

~ during transition/bambi phase frequently revisit to your truth, breathe, meditate come back to your centre & only do what feels right in your heart.

~ if it feels right, keep fighting for your cause, no matter how crazy, wild, off-centre it may seem. The world needs more people like you!!!

N.xx

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You know the feeling when you have multiple options to chose from yet you feel somewhat paralyzed as to which one to take? It often seems as though we go through a dry spell, option-less; then wildly swinging to its vast extremity of too many options! Decision-making: the most exciting yet often challenging thing for many of us to take on. Especially when they are life-changing decisions at stake.

So how do you establish whether your making your decisions based on fear or intuition?

It’s simple…chose love, align yourself always with love!

One experiment I have always been fascinated in trying out is to overcome a fear of mine of safety and security, is to put myself in an extreme situation. For example, actively choosing to be financially destitute at $0, and then facing my fear straight on by allowing miracles to unfold. How? By simply aligning myself with a loving vibration.

Crazy as it may seem, but I feel it would be the ultimate test I feel to not only surrender completely + entirely. But to, in that fearful state, transcend that fear and still remain open to following & trusting my intuition and aligning with a loving vibration to see me through.

You see this is such a great fear of mine, yet it has never ever even come close to happening. Which I do believe is because I feel I am transmitting a loving vibration, so as long as that is in order, then everything else including finances will always take care of themselves. Yet I do find myself sometimes slipping into fear mode, and making decisions based on fear, not love – and as a result nothing productive or useful gets achieved.

What is a loving vibration?

Raising your vibration to a place of absolute essence. Connecting with yourself on a deeper level through meditation or other self practice that allows you to connect to source energy. This ensures that our decisions are always coming from a place of love and intuition rather than from fear.

You know those people that you come across that are literally radiating, you can feel just so much positive vibes emitting from them, that you and everyone else is drawn to them. So it is not only human energies that are drawn to this type of person, it is situations, finances, amazing opportunities, experiences. All because they are simply living from their heart, and not their head. They are so in tune with their loving vibration, that that is the world that is attracted towards them. We all want to be that person, and we can!

We might feel as though we have to stay with our current partner we are no longer in love with…out of fear of ‘no one better being out there’; or stay in our unfulfilling job because of fear of ‘the economical crisis’. By making these unconscious choices based on a fear state we are actually slipping into a lower vibration and therefore less amazing things are attracted to us, as like attracts like so we are going to continue to not only stay in a fear state but also attract every person, every situation around us that is also resonating on a similar frequency.

I am really getting into my Kundalini Yoga of late down in Byron Bay, and we do a lot of exercises that actively connect us to breathe and raise our pranic and energetic fields. So we work towards bringing ourselves in line with that flow of pure essence energy that is love, then we actually don’t have to ever ‘seek’ out anything, it all just comes to us. Sounds like magic? Well yes it is somewhat magical, but it’s a result of purely tapping into what is true to you, close to your heart. So absolutely anyone can access this stuff, its not just for the “spiritually inclined” folk.

Therefore making decisions is never about fear, its always about love. Because our internal dialogue is transmitting some serious in line loving vibes, then consequently this is always the decisions and circumstances we attract into our life.

Then when it comes to multiple decision makings, it is not necessary to consider fear, because we know what ever we chose is in line with our flow at that point in time, and trust is so crucial in love, so we trust ourselves and the universe that we have made the right choice. We always have, at any given time that is the thing!

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Do you know what you really want?

What does your heart desire? What does it yearn for? Once we get clear on what we want, or what our higher self requires of us life flows effortlessly and seamlessly in a blissful fluid exchange of marvelous high frequency energy.

Sounds a bit ‘out there’? Let me explain…

Scientific Fact: You see everything is just made up of energy. Once we are clear of our intentions, which become our thoughts, which become our actions, and thus our reality we attract everything into our world that we initially set intention for. Welcome to the world of manifestations my friends!

Manifestations is not something only a select few of us are capable of, we all have access to this magical and powerful tool. We have the power to create the exact reality we are living, the first step is just getting clear of what the heck it is we actually desire.

So how to connect to what you desire, what you want???

Get into alignment with your heart, with your soul, and surrender to a higher entity.

Sounds simple, and actually it really is. Once we let go of the bull shit of what we think we are meant to be doing, meant to be thinking, meant to be wearing, eating, feeling and start literally stripping back to the bare us to our vulnerable raw authentic selves. It is so effortlessly simple to revel in what it is our heart so yearns for. Once we have alignment with this we can easily ask and effortlessly receive.

You have the power to create your reality, it is just a matter of getting clear.

I love all this quantum physics stuff and the Sagittarius moon in me thrives off the out there metaphysical realms of the universe! I live for manifesting! I believe I am a manifestation machine! Ever since a young girl I knew I had super powers if you will he he (its fun to play modern day witch). I have always manifested everything I have ever wanted and it has always been delivered in a round a bout way, the difference is the clearer I am with my intentions, the more accurately it is delivered. Thus the importance of clarity of asking for what you want is the most important part!

How to get clear on what you want? Well that is the million dollar question isn’t it! I do know for a fact, the closer aligned I am with my truth and what my heart so desires brings more clarity. Meditation always helps me personally connect back to source energy, and allows space for clarity. Once there is the space created within us clarity and creativity effortlessly flows.

We all have the access to our inner witch – every single one of us have the magical wand at hand, it is just a matter of aligning ourselves with the magic and learning how to use our ‘tools’ – magical wands to grant our every wish.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves : Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You’re a child of God. You playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others”. - Nelson Mandela

image: own image from India travels 2013

I much prefer this method of accountability to myself vs. tangible goal setting. Because I personally believe when we are feeling a certain desired way, we automatically shift our vibration and therefore continue to attract those ‘tangible’ things we may so desire at any given moment. Hence working from the inside out always is the name of my game, and essentially the only way that works.

It was interesting because on my list of qualities of how I want to feel every day, which ranged from – centered and grounded, balanced emotionally, inspired spiritually and creatively, joyous, calm and loving.  There was one particular theme that arose to the answer to all such things… and that was complete and utter presence.

I know I am constantly banging on about the power of presence. And most of us have read old mate Eckhart Tolle’s ‘The Power of Now’ countless times and we practice spiritual practices in order to find that even 5 minutes of complete presence, whether it be meditation, yoga, dance, paint, nature dwelling. Yet, as most of us spiritual beings know – putting it into practice is so much easier said than done.

I know that presence in the now is what is needed in order to reduce stress, create balance, be inspired creatively and spiritually, be joyous and grounded. However it hit me harder than ever before. Maybe it was the LSD I was sipping on ha ha (joke). But it all seemed to just make sense completely.

In order to connect to our higher self, fulfill our duties in this life and therefore feel a ‘desired’ way we must always remain 100% present.

As soon as we step out of the present moment is when it all just goes to shit. The worry comes in, the what-ifs, the useless wasted energy that essentially cuts us off from our truth, therefore from the present moment and paralyzing us from feeling anything positive at all. It is as if a black cloud hovers over us monitoring our every single thought and feeling.

So how to gain more presence in your daily life? Below are a few tips:

Breathe | Coming back to your breathe instantly brings you back to the present moment. Fresh oxygen circulating through your body rejuvenates cells and allows for stillness and space.

Gain perspective | Remind yourself that you are enough right here right now. Everything you need is always with you in every single precious moment. You are having this experience right now, because this is exactly where you need to be, and what you need to be doing. Yes you are meant to be reading this article right now.

Daily rituals | I personally have a 90 minute daily yoga and meditation practice I commit to every morning or afternoon (whatever the day allows for me). I rarely compromise on this time. I feel this practice resonates with me completely to connecting to myself and the present moment. For you it might be anything, walking for half hour in nature, or making yourself a cup of tea and sitting silently with yourself. Anything that you can do daily that slows you down and brings you back to yourself and the stillness within – do what feels right for you.

Trust in higher powers | Whether its God, the universe, Gaia, Deities, whatever higher power resonates with you, trust in it. Trust that everything is in divine order and you are being divinely guided every step along your journey. Nothing is a coincidence, everything happens to you for a reason in order for your own personal and spiritual growth, in order for you to fulfill your purpose in this life. Trust that everything will always work out okay, because that is just the way it is meant to. Trust me this takes a lot of pressure off ‘future freak outs’.

Connect with nature | The power of nature is so mind blowing. Whether you believe in souls evolution or not, you can’t deny the positive power nature has on our states of mind. You see nature is a form of pure consciousness, meaning that it is an evolved soul, that no longer needs a physical body in order to fulfil its purpose, aka nature is the highest state of consciousness there is, complete and utter presence, they are some powerful enlightened beings right there in the rainforest. So there is no denying the impact upon which nature has over us human beings. It automatically shifts our consciousness into a more natural, connected and present state.

I hope this helps in some way. Remember when all else fails, just breathe.

Please do share by leaving a comment below: How do you bring yourself back to the present moment?

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GUEST POST BY VIENDA MARIA

Where to next? That is the question that every modern day gypsy asks whenever the north wind blows. Where in the world will this journey take me next? Who will I meet? What will happen? How is this going to roll out?

In the previous post here, on listening to your intuition and when the wind blows, I discussed how I know when it’s time to go. But once I know that I’ve been called to keep moving, it’s really good to know what direction to start moving. For me, there are four main ways that I recognise my direction, and they tend to generally occur simultaneously, once I have made my decision to move.

1. My Heart Yearns

More often than not, the next destination has already been imprinted into my heart and my heart yearns to go there. This feels kind of like being in love with someone and missing them dearly, but instead of having that feeling for a person, you have that feeling for a place which, more than likely, you’ve never been to before. I don’t wildly choose to just go anywhere though. I always choose to go to places that are in harmony and flow with where I’m at right now. I don’t like too travel too far or too fast, and try to remain in the same country or continent as long as possible, until I am satisfied that I have completed all the things that I am to do, in that specific, geographical area. Sudden, fast movements into obscure, far away directions aren’t good for either body nor soul.

2. My Soul Directs

This is where I go back to my feeling practise which I illustrated in How To Be A Modern Day Gypsy: Listen to the Wind. When I sit and connect with my intuition and Soul, I can feel which way it is swaying towards. The name of a town, city or country will pop into my mind and imagination and I am filled with a sense of joy, warmth and ease at the prospect of going there. This step of discerning where to go is really fun, some and easy. It can however be obscured if you have other worries, fears or concerns around moving forward, which often have nothing to do with your next destination and everything to do with some deeper blockages that you need to take a look at and process. Sometimes I just write a quick love note to the Universe with something like: “Dear Universe/Life/Source, where do you wish me to go next? Where am I most useful and can I give the best of me? In love and gratitude, Vienda.” And then I wait and see what happens. And always, always, always I receive an answer in some way or another. Sometimes from a phone call or an email. Sometimes I just have an inspired idea. It varies, but the point is to listen!

3. The Place Calls

I love it when a place calls my name so loudly and clearly! It makes itself heard and apparent by showing up serendipitously through people talking about this particular place, reading the name in books, overhearing about it in conversations or films, and generally being bombarded by the calling of a place in various and frequent ways. It wants you and is making itself heard by appearing to you over and over and over again.

4. People Connect

Finally, this is always the clincher for me. I know that I am meant to go somewhere when there are people asking me to come. I remember about 6 months ago I was in Germany, and I knew that it was time for me to move on but I simply had no idea where to. So I went through the process described above and within two days I received 20 emails from friends asking me to come to London. And so, clearly, thats where I went. I hadn’t asked any of them to direct me. I asked only my intuition to guide me. But this just shows how connected we all are. Again, more recently, I had to decide what to do after the event in Costa Rica that I worked at finished, and although I had options and opportunities in Mexico and Los Angeles; San Francisco called the most strongly to me. The people who I have connected with in this area were most compelling and here I am.

Choosing where to go is made so much easier when you know you have a friendly, sweet and smiling face greeting you at your destination and I am always overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that has been extended to me and can only give back all of me in return as I live the modern day gypsy life. But it is important to ensure that your decision isn’t based only on one of the tools outlined in knowing where to go, but equally balanced across all four to ensure that you are covering all your bases and your decision is harmonious and in line with your highest good.

ABOUT VIENDA MARIA | Vienda Maria is a writer, empowerment coach and modern day gypsy. She is the creator of the Build Your Own Business Blog guide + The Empowerment Project. You can immerse yourself in her musings over at Vienda Maria (www.viendamaria.com),  connect on Twitter, or join her on Facebook.

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