Retreat Insider

Now that nearly every high profile living room elephant across the land has been revealed, many of which were not really a surprise (were they?), are you wondering when the next shoe will drop? Are you glued to your TV, waiting? Or do you begin your day with newspaper headlines guaranteed to make you wish you could spend the day under the covers, hiding out?! Bad news affects our psyche and our thoughts, which can be worrisome, anxious and worst of all, NOT true. I don’t know about you, but when I attach to some of my thoughts, I am in a bad neighborhood or running on a gerbil wheel of discontent. Times being what they are, there’s no time like THE PRESENT to seek a remedy … but keep your helmet handy “just in case” …LOL…

Where to begin?

I have three resources to offer you. The first is written by world-renowned intuitive and respected lecturer in the field of health, intuition and contemporary spirituality, Caroline Myss. It is her Thanksgiving Message: A Much Needed Injection of Hope. With each pass through it, I deepen my understanding of what I can do to turn chaos into opportunity. Here are some excerpts …

“No one is untouched by these changes, and from that perspective we are being drawn together in uncharted waters. …So, how do we interpret this? Where do we begin? …This has all the “experts” scrambling – and if I’m not mistaken, it was also experts who got us into this mess. Or was it? Perhaps the greater truth – the cosmic truth, as it were, is that this period of chaos was always scheduled to happen…

…The reason you study spiritual and mystical literature is so that you can learn to “reason like a mystic” and apply that skill precisely in times like this, so that when difficult crises arise your response is not, “What have I done wrong?” but, “Ah, so change is constant.” So let’s “reason like a mystic” as we examine the chaos in the world around us…let us look through the lens of mystical law, those laws which govern the collective field of energy and the collective soul of humanity. This is where you need to cast your attention to “see clearly,” not on the piles of mess on the earth. Once a system has collapsed or is screaming for help, its energies are already exhausted. The first step in learning to reason like a mystic is to understand what “has” to happen, because of the level of psychic free radicals in the collective consciousness. READ MORE

How to Cultivate Holiday Compassion for Your Family
by Robert Ohotto, Intuitive Astrologer

You think you’ve really grown, changed, evolved, and can rise above the old family patterns, but when holiday visiting begins, remember what spiritual teacher Ram Dass once said, ‘If you think you’re enlightened, spend a weekend with your parents.’ Well, friends, you’re not alone … and Robert Ohotto, Intuitive Astrologer, is right there with us. If you grok family systems and value your sanity, you’ll find Robert’s article of great solace and it is essential reading BEFORE the family visits begin! Robert offers experience based insight and the article is laced with his playful good humor. When it arrived in my email, I immediately printed it and have been in study mode, re-membering the art and wisdom of cultivating …”authentic compassion that will allow me to transform some of that Family Fate into Family Destiny!” READ Robert’s ARTICLE

Are you ready to be a student? No time like the PRESENT, to begin!

I can read and recommend wise teachers and their articles all day long, but at the end of the day, I am still alone with my thinking process and sometimes, cleaning up the consequences of my unskillfulness. The truth is that being in balance requires diligent, wise effort. Balance is grounded in values, principles, following a spiritual or wisdom path. At some point in your life, you may choose a teacher to help you find the path again and again.

James and I have been fortunate this year to become students of a wise, compassionate mindfulness teacher, Ferris Buck Urbanowski, who is a resident of the Mad River Valley in Vermont, where we live. Ferris is known internationally and has taught mindfulness meditation since 1980. From 1992 to 2001, she was a senior teacher at The Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the UMass Memorial Medical Center, teaching in the Stress Reduction Clinic.

The foundation mindfulness meditation (or stress reduction) classes that Ferris teaches include a few easy to follow CD’s that are available for purchase on her website. If you are beginning or re-vitalizing a sitting meditation practice and want some support and guidance, you can outfit yourself with the CD’s for about $30. Even with our experience in various meditation centers, teachers, settings and retreats, James and I have found that Ferris’ teaching and the CD’s give us a structure and provide invaluable support and practical wisdom, which help us to stay in practice. This makes all the difference in the results we’ve achieved and yes … I believe we are more balanced and better equipped to recognize chaos when it arrives and to turn it into golden opportunities!