Archive
Monthly Archives: May 2012

Book Review

Open Your Mind to Receive by Catherine Ponder

This little book is well worth the couple of hours it’ll take you to read it. Ponder, who is a beloved author and teacher of manifesting skills, always uses plain language and simple stories to illustrate exactly how to create success and abundance for yourself. What I love about her books is she gives you the exact phrases to invoke—in capital letters!—to align yourself with Universal law and Source power to achieve what you desire. Open Your Mind to Receive is a recipe for making yourself a perfect vessel to receive all best that you desire and that the Universe wants to give you. My favorite section spoke of creating an Elimination List, to release that which no longer serves you and leaves room for new to come forward that is in your higher good. Lots of practical stuff here—and you know much I love PRACTICAL Conscious Creation advice!

Find Your Mastermind

One of the great joys of my life is to participate in a twice-a-month conversation with six like-minded women who are heart-centered wisdom teachers. We share our experiences, support each other, provide business expertise, participate in each other’s offerings and marketing support, share newly found opportunities, help our partners through difficult challenges and celebrate each others achievements. You can develop one of these mastermind groups yourself for business, spiritual and emotional support. Find at least four other people who are willing and who share some aspect of interest, and then just get started. Create a format that works for you and establish same-time meetings weekly, semi-monthly or monthly. Happy Masterminding!

Assorted Wisdom

Believing that the world is big enough for everyone’s success opens up the opportunities for our own success.  Like attracts like, so when we act in a loving, giving manner – without thoughts of competition or expectations for what we will get – we naturally become a magnet for other people’s generosity and good things to flow to us.

from Let Go, Let Miracles Happen by Kathy Cordova

Why We Fail

According to Shiv Khera, author of You Can Win, failures most often occur for one of the following seven reasons: 

Lack of persistence. More people fail not because they lack knowledge or talent, but just because they quit. It is important to remember two words: persistence and resistance. Persist in what must be done and resist what ought not to be done. We all have had setbacks in life. Failing does not mean we are failures! 

Lack of conviction. People who lack conviction take the middle of the road. But what happens in the middle of the road? You get run over. People without conviction go along to get along because they lack confidence and courage. They conform in order to get accepted even when they know that what they are doing is wrong. 

Rationalizing. Winners may analyze but never rationalize. Losers rationalize and have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not succeed. 

Not learning from past mistakes. Some people live and learn, and some only live. Wise people learn from their mistakes. Failure is a teacher if we have the right attitude. I’ve always said experience is the name we give to our mistakes. 

Lack of discipline. Anyone who has accomplished anything worthwhile has never done it without discipline. Discipline takes self-control, sacrifice and avoiding distractions and temptations. It means staying focused. 

Poor self-esteem. Poor self-esteem is a lack of self-respect and self-worth. People with low self-esteem are constantly trying to find themselves, rather than creating the person they want to be. 

Fatalistic attitude. A fatalistic attitude prevents people from accepting responsibility for their position in life. They attribute success and failure to luck. They resign themselves to their fate, regardless of their efforts, that whatever has to happen will happen anyway. 

If you see yourself in any of these, you have the power to change your “failures” into future successes. This is a corrective roadmap for your success and achievement…Take it and drive forward!

Morning Rituals

Morning is rebirth, renewal and re-ignition! It is a beautiful time to engage your connection with the divine, set your intentions for the day and step fully into your empowerment as a heart-centered light-being on the planet. 

Each morning you can leave behind what was, what you did before, who did what to you in the past and how you did things previously. It’s a new day! But we often tend to slip backward if we don’t deliberately and consciously create separation from the past. Morning Rituals are a wonderful way to create that divide, and remind us of our brilliant power for reinvention of ourselves…a power that is indeed supported by our supreme Source. 

I use my Morning Ritual to make a deliberate connection to God each day, to establish my gratitude, to ground myself, to consciously choose to come from a place of love, to set my intentions for the day and to infuse myself with the essence of spiritual light for that which I wish to manifest in myself. 

You can create or build your Morning Rituals around whatever purposes you deem most empowering in your life. So here are some that you can mix and match to create the ideal Morning Ritual for you.  

  • Grounding—Oftentimes we are very much in our heads or “have our heads in the clouds.” This is especially true for people who exist more in their spiritual or intellectual world than the practical world. But even for those who are savvy at negotiating the “real world,” it is important to first ground yourself each day. Plant your feet shoulder-length apart, and see roots coming from your feed embedded into the Earth. You can also see yourself connected by a string of golden light coming down from above through your meridian and then into the ground. Another way to ground is to wrap your arms around a tree.
     
  • Opening to Source, Connecting to Source—Deliberately open the portal between you and Source, allowing energy, wisdom and guidance to flow into you. Personally, I sweep my arms up and around in a welcoming or opening gesture and say, “I am in the flow” to ensure that I am aligning with the Universe.
  • Setting General Intentions—Each morning I set my intention to have a day filled with joy, love and prosperity, and to be of service to others. I ask for ease and effortlessness in all things. I seek to be more in my heart than acting from my head. I set my intention to trust the Universe and listen to guidance. My newest intention is to find wonder and beauty everywhere. What intentions can you set for yourself?

 I’ll let Rita Roberts, my dear friend and colleague, share with you what she does  for her Morning Ritual intentions: “When I wake up in the morning, before my feet touch the floor I set my intentions and align myself with them (important to do both).  I say: ‘Today is a great day and EVERYTHING I need is in my path.’  I make a commitment to stay true to what’s in my heart and follow those desires because this is the path that’s lined with answers and provision. I pray that God opens my eyes to see the answers that He’s already provided. I remind myself that I too will be an answer for someone today. I also remind myself that I am well loved and provided for.  I set an intention to give my best, appreciate myself and see the best in others and to be of assistance to others.  I am then poised for love, progress and adventure at every turn. With all of this in mind, I set my feet on the floor beside my bed and take my first step of the day into purpose and provision. ” 

  • Setting Specific Intensions for or Consciously Create Your The Day—Create, review, construct specific intentions for that particularly day…what would you desire to see happen, with who would you like to have peaceful, successful and collaborative meetings, how will you care for your health, what will you see yourself accomplishing, how do you see your relationship unfolding…etc.       
     
  • Infusing Spiritual Light—Select the light that you would like to infuse in your body for protection, for change, for enlightenment, for manifestation or for personal growth. Here are the ones I use daily: golden light for empowering Source energy, a mix of sparkling silver and gold for manifestation, sparking pink for love, sparkling peach for joy, yellow for wisdom, green for health, blue for calmness and serenity, purple for spirituality. There are a number of books in our ManifestBooks.com inventory which provide guidance on the various colors.
     
  • Expressing Gratitude—Beginning your day with an expression of gratitude helps clear out negativity and raises your frequency. You can write or recite lists of things for which you are grateful or just allow your heart to express what inspires it that day. I always begin my Morning Ritual with “Thank you for the blessings of this beautiful day.” And often conclude with the statement: “Thank you for all the blessings I have now and all that are yet to come.”
     
  • Being Love, Flowing Love—It is always my desire to be more loving and compassionate, to continue to open my heart. If this is also your desire, than put yourself in a state of love when you do your Ritual. Be love, see it flow from your heart throughout your body, or up from the ground through every pour or down from the heavens into your crown chakra. Then stay for a minute in that state before flowing your love out to the world.   
     
  • Clearing Chakras—It is often pleasant to do a little energetic housecleaning to start the day. This means doing a short meditation to clear your chakras of all blockages and expunge the dark unwanted energy that clogs up the free flow.  
     
  • Meditating/Guided Meditations—Your Morning Ritual can include a period of meditation to create inner peace and to allow for guidance to come through. You can do this on your own or with a guided meditation on CD or iPod.
     
  • Going to the 5th Dimension—Imagine you are in the fifth dimension where all dimensions are connected by a grid of light. See yourself as you desire to be. Then ask to see all those individuals who can assist you with whatever you may need that day. Imagine them lighting up on the grid and then once identified, connecting to you by a beam of light, heart to heart. 
     
  • Affirmations—Speak any affirmations that you have created for yourself that inspire you to become what you desire and who you desire to be. 
     
  • Doing Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong or other slow-movement spiritually-strengthening exercise—Many people like to add a physical component to their day. General exercise is great, but these types of intentional slow-movement spiritual practices are very compatible with a daily Morning Ritual.
     
  • Asking Questions…Ask questions that can open guidance, wisdom and opportunity for you. For example, “How can I experience love today, How can I serve, How can I have a day of grace-filled ease and effortlessness, How can I be in wonder?”
     
  • Burning Candles, Incense—These types of sensory aids can also help open the door for morning spiritual inspiration and anchoring intention.
     
  • Listening to or Dancing to Inspiring Music—You can set the mood with music or start your day with body movement to music that inspires you and opens your soul to joy.
     
  • Singing, Chanting—Whether you sing in the shower, sing praises to God, sing Buddhist chants, or just sing whatever is in your heart, uplifting your voice in song is a wonderful way to enhance a Morning Ritual.

 Journaling or Writing Lists—Grab that pen and starting writing. You can put your intentions in writing, pour out whatever is in your mind and heart or write lists of affirmations. Writing is a way to deepen your connection with God and create alignment.  

So go forth and create or refine your Morning Ritual so that it serves to manifest your highest soul purpose and greatest joy!

Quote of the Day

“The Universe is transformation; our life is what our thoughts make it.”—Marcus Aurelius Emperor ofRome (121-180)