Conscious Community

Sunny and Myo

always conscious, fully present,

giving love

with a dose of mischief

~ oh ya, believe it ~

When you close your eyes and imagine Reno, Nevada, what comes to mind? Saloons, gunfights, and tumbleweeds of olden days? Quickie marriages and divorces? Slot machines and craps? Or winding roads to mountain lakes, crisp air, and ski slopes?

Or do you think of a place where people find encouragement to live intentionally, embracing love, integrity, courage, service, and respect? Or where people collaborate to create strong community ties that promote spiritual growth, cultural transformation, and a sustainable local economy?

We're all that here in Reno, and much more...

Conscious Community is a movement, building in strength and influence for several years. The goal is spiritual as well as cultural transformation. Embodied first in the way we live, transformation radiates outwardly into our families and into our social and work lives.

In February, I attended a Weaver Group training as part of the Conscious Community movement. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, exploring spiritual concepts and community development principles. Many of you know how these align with my passions. Mostly, I enjoyed the wonderful angels in earth suits who came. Everywhere I turned, I met smile after smile, loving hearts, and warm energy.

There I learned all about facilitating Weaver Groups, a grassroots strategy within the Conscious Community movement were we get back to the basics of our humanity by breaking down barriers that divide us. In Weaver Groups we connect heart to heart with one another and also with the positive aspects of our community.

Through this movement, and through our connections in Weaver Groups and in the community, we consciously create our community - one that supports and nurtures us, and one that inspires us to live in compassion and love.

Do you want more honest, authentic, loving relationships in your life?

Would you benefit from the support of others in your spiritual journey?

Would you like to see your community transform culturally, economically, spiritually?

Are you inspired to be a catalyst creating a better community?

If you are interested in joining a Weaver Group right here in Reno, please join us on March 24 at 6:30pm. Contact me, 775.970.5476 or denisesheehan@yahoo.com, for more information, or call Richard Flyer, the visionary and creator of Reno's Conscious Community, 775.851.2993.

Ah, but so many of my friends live outside of Reno. Bummer! Not really, because Conscious Community can come to you too. It works better when we spread the love! Richard has resources to help you get started, and I've listed links to some below.

I'm totally jazzed about Conscious Community. I'm ready to embrace transformation on many levels. Are you?

To learn more about Conscious Community in Reno, visit: http://www.itstimereno.org/

To access information on the training guide, visit: http://www.instimereno.org/calender.asp

To watch the new video about Reno's Conscious Community, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gK-QOf1HDfs

Being at Choice

Everyone asks me,

What's going to happen?

I don't know.

What will you choose to do?

Proterrian

During the Bruka Theatre's delightful Valentine's Day production of "Love Squared," a character in the scene "Breakfast One" demonstrated his obsession with food by creating a cream puff. He told of how he lovingly rises before dawn to fire his wood stove to bake the pastry. On stage, he dolloped custard sauce and fresh cream between the pastry slices, then dabbled chopped hazelnuts and drizzled hot chocolate sauce on top of the decadent creation. With my mouth watering, I mumbled, "amazing." My friend, Lucie, turned to her husband and whispered, "I want that." The character handed off his creation to a lucky lady in the first row just as intermission began.

When I returned from freshening up, Lucie was eating the cream puff! Lucky Lady returned the puff to Nicky's Bar, and Lucie's husband asked for it. "Wow, Lucie, you're a powerful creator!" I told her. I must be too, because she shared huge bites with me, each one creating an eye-rolling ecstasy. In that moment of joyful awareness, I realized how most of the big intentions that Dana and I shared during our New Year's manifestation ritual have already come to pass, even before Valentine's Day! Remarkable!

My friend, Tim Glenn, is a spiritual reader, metaphysical teacher, and sound healer (soulpurposereadings.com). He's also a channel for Proterrian, quoted above, who are a collective of ascended master beings who offer us guidance during these times of transition and transformation. Tim, Proterrian, and other spiritual leaders practiced in the Law of Attraction, tell us that we are manifesting our desires more and more quickly these days. It's important, therefore, to safeguard our thoughts, to focus on what we truly desire rather than what we don't want.

However, in these days of crumbling systems, economic downturns, doomsday prophecies, and overall uncertainty about how our future will look, many of us are frightened, i.e. focusing on what we don't want, and desperately seeking answers out there in the world.

What are you envisioning in these times of turmoil and transformation?

What emotional response do you have to your vision?

What vision would bring you more strength and joy?

What inner guidance do you receive about how to prepare?

This is a time to turn away from fear-based thinking and much of our old programming. It's time to open our hearts. Proterrian offers advice for any season, but it's particularly helpful now:

1. Come from a loving heart

2. Put one foot in front of the other

3. Walk in faith

What and who in your life opens your heart?

How can you be more patient and present in the moment?

Where do you find faith and inspiration within?

I notice more and more that my heart holds my passion to make a difference in service to my community. My heart serves as my compass.

My mind helps to create the path for my loving, creative expressions, as long as I don't give it too much control.

What my heart creates, I hold as sacred. What my mind desires, I hold without attachment.

Reiki for a Vibrant Life

What in the world is Reiki? Reiki (pronounced "ray-key") is spiritually guided "universal life force" energy that promotes stress reduction and relaxation and contributes to healing. Reiki works on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels, restoring balance to body, mind, and spirit. Reiki also helps to remove barriers and challenges, while empowering goals.

People often think of "hands on" healing. It's different than massage, because it's not invasive. Light touch, or even just hands over the body, are all that's needed. It's super easy and fun to learn. Once we learn Reiki, we can offer it to ourselves and to others. I know first hand, the results are amazing. In addition to the huge benefit of healing from chronic illness, here are some of the benefits that I've experienced and shared with others since I integrated Reiki into my life:

• Minimizing negative or self-defeating thought patterns
• Feeling more bliss, joy and gratitude
• Attracting more abundance, beneficial experiences and joyful people
• Feeling more love and compassion for myself and others
• Enhancing intuitive abilities
• Relieving stress during times of external pressures and transitions
• Accessing quick relief when feeling fearful, hurt or angry
• Feeling love energy more deeply in day to day life, using that to guide choices
• Feeling more connected to my life purpose
• Accessing spiritual guidance more readily
• Healing archetypal patterns (such as saboteur and victim energies)
• Balancing heart and mind energies
• Relieving acute and chronic pain
• Clearing rooms and other spaces of negative energies
• Helping others to heal
• Helping others to transition from this life

Reiki has been nothing short of a transformational force in my life. In truth, part of me didn't fully believe in it when I first learned Reiki. Once I had nowhere else to turn, Reiki really pulled me along on my healing journey. For those who already enjoy vibrant health, what a gift to have the added preventative healing energy of Reiki in stressful times like these. How wonderful to offer healing, loving energy to our aging loved ones just by touching them.

How would you benefit from Reiki's healing energy?

With whom would you like to share the gift of Reiki?

For information about my special Valentine's Reiki workshop, please contact me at denisesheehan@yahoo.com or 775.970.5476.

Living with Incongruence Part III

To change, a person must face the

dragon of his appetites with

another dragon, the life energy of the soul.

Mevlana Rumi

In "Living with Incongruence Part II," we explored the different ways that incongruence shows up in our lives. Whether doing or not doing what we know we need to stop or start doing, or whether buying into limiting beliefs that hold us back, we may experience excessive mind chatter, energy drains, diminishment of our personal power related to not exercising our will power, and even disease. In this part of the series, we'll explore the role our heart's desires and thinking play in awakening our willpower. Aligning our hearts, minds, and willpower are essential to effecting positive change in our lives.

Here are some ways that incongruence between mind and heart shows up. We may find that our heart isn't into something even when our logical mind knows exactly what must be done. For example, we know we have to earn a living, but we might hate the time we spend at our current job. We may find that our mind is only interested in playing it safe without considering the whole of our lives. For example, we may stay in a destructive relationship because we're afraid to hurt the other person, live on our own, or begin life anew. We may find our mind vacillating wildly from one way of thinking to another. For example, when receiving a pep talk from a friend, we may feel wildly courageous, but then we go home or to work and feel much more humbled, even fearful of change. Believe me, living with incongruence can make us feel a bit crazy, especially as we face a major life transition when we must dig deep within, over-riding our mind chatter, in order to find our authentic way in this world.

Caroline Myss, in "Energy Anatomy," (http://myss.com/) suggests that when our hearts and minds are not aligned, like in the examples above, addictions will rule our willpower. Addictions, as Myss defines them, are not necessarily related to alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sex, or gambling. They are connected to anything we believe we need for tranquility, perhaps a person, a job, or a system of beliefs. In order to transcend our addictions, we may consider strategies to realign our heart's desires with our thinking in order to awaken our willpower. The path for all of us will be different, based on our own needs and desires. I will offer a few things that have worked for me, in hopes they are of use to you too. When practiced together, the strategies below created a synergistic transformative energy that wouldn't have occurred using each in isolation.

The most important strategy for me is to be on fire with my life purpose. However, when I feel my purpose is too big, or when I become lost in the details of making it manifest, I sometimes become overwhelmed. I may distract myself or self-sabotage my efforts with procrastination, indulgences, etc. in order to slow down the pace of my life, as well as to my destiny, making the journey more comfortable. Paradoxically, it doesn't work! It just creates mind chatter, guilt, shame, and even disgust. It's a bad trip! I find that it's healthier for me to remind myself of my life purpose each day, to say it aloud, and to feel the joyful vibration it brings to me. It fuels my sense of purpose for the entire day, empowering both heart and mind, while leaving less space for my addictive, self-sabotaging behaviors.

I also like to keep my busy mind collecting data from a place of curiosity. As a personal example, I mentioned before that my healing process has been connected with diet, so I open myself to whatever and however information appears related to my energy. I notice how I feel when I eat a salad versus a garden burger versus cheesecake. I notice how high and empowered I feel when I make a commitment that honors my higher self versus how guilty I feel when I break my commitment to myself.

Then I work to change my programming to match the data I've received. Affirmations, especially when stated aloud, can be really powerful in reinforcing new neural pathways that align with what I'm creating. When I create succinct, present-tense, powerful beliefs - Everything I eat nurtures my vibrant health! - that replace my former thoughts that keep me stuck - No matter what I eat, I never seem to heal - I find that my heart and mind align in ways that support positive changes and growth.

Affirmations help to build my internal strength for positive change. Another way is to live in a space of gratitude. I've found it helpful to journal ten things for which I am grateful each night as I process my day. It's also essential to surround myself with others who accept and invite my most authentic self to emerge, those who are not afraid of life changes I make, and who agree to support my journey.

For challenging and changing my thinking, especially with over-riding old programming that doesn't serve, I find Byron Katie's web site, http://www.thework.com/ or her book, Loving What Is: Four Questions that can Change your Life very useful. Our thoughts are much too powerful in creating our reality to allow them to run wild, especially when they work against us.

If you seek change and liberation from your mind chatter and self-sabotaging behaviors, and if you struggle with creating the changes you desire, you may want to work with a life coach to create a life purpose statement that lights you up and helps you stay focused. Life coaches support your path in an on-going way to creatively address the mind chatter and to minimize other internal and external challenges. They help you to uncover the secrets within you that will help you create the most fulfilling life you can imagine. Reiki, a form of energetic clearing and balancing that promotes healing, is another wildly valuable resource for aligning heart and mind. Treating yourself to Reiki sessions can support your positive growth and help you to release addictions and attachments.

Life is so complex, it's no wonder we humans come with so much incongruence. By exploring our own patterns consciously, we may learn to embrace our quirks and creativity and to see all the possibilities that exist in our lives, all while accepting our humanness. It helps to know that wherever we are is exactly the right place for us to learn and to grow more deeply into who we are becoming. We may release judgment or our tendency to make ourselves wrong, which only fuels what we wish to diminish. By being open to what is in this moment, and by loving ourselves just as we are, we open the doors to infinite growth, transcending our old programs, addictions, and paradigms, and embracing the world of possibilities.

What would your heart and mind like to tell each other?

Where do you find your distractions and addictions?

What strategies help to align your heart and mind?

What is one way you would like to honor your inner knowing?

What commitment would you like to make to yourself from this space of knowing?

If you would like to learn more about life coaching and/or Reiki, please contact me at denisesheehan@yahoo.com or 775.970.5476.

Living with Incongruence Part II

When I initially wrote what became my former blog post, "Living with Incongruence, Part I," I felt certain that this would be a creative, whimsical topic and nothing more. Then, shortly afterward on a road trip, my Sweetie and I re-listened to "Energy Anatomy" by Caroline Myss (http://myss.com/), and I couldn't ignore the synchronicity when Myss began talking about incongruities. I realized there would be something more to explore around creating congruence by aligning our thoughts with our actions, and so this discussion follows. What I offer below and in my next post is but a taste of a much larger, remarkable work by Myss, with some of my experiences peppered in as they relate to what she shares. I offer this because I'm seeing how this shows up in the lives of so many of us.

Myss explores incongruities in our lives, how they drain our energy, how they relate to willpower, and how they point the way to growth potential. Incongruities show up in different ways, and their effects in our lives can be quite dramatic.

First, Myss suggests that incongruities can show up as things we want or need to do, things that continuously nag at us, but that we never seem to get to. Similarly, there are some things we are doing that may be better left undone. We know better, but that doesn't seem to stop us. I see these struggles come up often with regard to exercising, changing diet, and other health-related choices that are easy to put off for another day, month, or year. When we focus our energy on what we should or should not do, but neglect to empower our will to make the changes we know are in our best interest, we lose energy. Energetically, we relinquish our power and authority over our lives to our "shoulds."

Yet the path to claiming our power and authority over our lives is not always easy or clearly laid out for us. Here's an example from my own life. During a particularly intense meditation, I had the insight that I would have to radically alter some of my habits in order to further my spiritual development, and that the process would involve something around the healer archetype. In that moment, I had a delicious sense of possibilities in stepping into my destiny, but I knew it wouldn't be easy for me to override my epicurean and workaholic tendencies, and that I would need assistance to alter my life patterns. In that moment of bliss and bravery, I embraced the transition and requested help, however it might show up. I leapt into the unknown in total trust and abandon. Turns out, I almost immediately developed a physical condition that was strongly related to diet, environmental energy (good vibe vs. bad vibe) effects, the quality of my thoughts, and my habits around workaholism. I would have to choose between either my attachments to certain foods, environments and habits or my vibrant health. Putting off the changes that I needed created lots of suffering and energy loss. Eventually, I just had to do the work, release a lot of attachments, and create life changes in order to heal. Truth be known, I still struggle at times, especially when I lose site of the grander vision of what I wish to create in my life. Also, it wasn't always easy to accept ill health as the blessing it proved to me. Yes, there were intense moments of self-pity, which were not at all useful in reclaiming my personal power. I'm so over that now...

Another way that incongruities show up, according to Myss, is through limiting beliefs that we know aren't good for us, but that we picked up during childhood or that were transmitted through our culture. Common ones that I've encountered include: I don't know enough to take the next step; If I make this choice, the people in my life that I love won't understand me and I'll be separated from them; I will have to do this all alone; If I follow my bliss, I'll never make enough money to survive. Here's a clue: These thoughts are not yours! They are old programs from years of social conditioning. Here's a new one to try on: When I break away from old beliefs that hold me back, I find amazing new freedoms!

Here are some examples of limiting beliefs that have created and perpetuated fear and victim consciousness in my life: No one can succeed starting a business in an economy like this one; I'm not good enough, ambitious enough, or smart enough. And then there's the big one, a ghost from my way-back past: Who do you think you are? Oh, ouch. Now, I don't walk around like Eeyore all the time. Most of my moments feel like wild clarity, optimism, and appreciation for the yumminess of life. Still, in recent years I've grown very accustomed to noticing the background presence of these fleeting thoughts. I've witnessed the destructiveness that they can create in our life patterns and even our health as they keep us stuck in avoidance of anything that feels like a risk. The messages grow in intensity with the degree of change we contemplate. I've learned that as quickly as the thoughts come, I must release them without judgment. To make myself wrong only feeds them, and dis-empowers me, further.

Until I release Part III of "Living with Incongruence," you may want to just notice your thinking patterns that show up for you.

What does your mental chatter should like?

What is the impact on your life?

What have you been putting off far too long?

What are the consequences of putting off your decisions to change?

If you made a choice you're not honoring, what are the consequences?

Living with Incongruence Part I

I came upon this topic first by imagining a photo shoot that would result in the photo above. This image struck me first thing one morning, even before tea, petting the pups, or kissing Dana. Perhaps it was a lingering stream in my consciousness from a dream that came before. I rushed to my journal, started the kettle, and began to write about the incongruence, or sense of disharmony created, by including such mix-matched images in one moment of time. Business suit with tractor? Drinking from an elegant champagne flute too? I couldn't help but muse over the "Green Acres" sense of things. As I pondered why such an outrageous idea formed in my head, I began to wonder:

How does our inner incongruence demonstrate our quirks and creativity, our way of showing up in the world?

What does it tell us about what we like to create in our lives?

How does it help us to connect more fully with our own authenticity and with others we care about?

The suit with tractor symbolizes how I've always been able to live in multiple worlds, dress up, dress down, and get dirty. I can be articulate, profound, and professional, or my mind can become so wild I barely make sense. Although I'm not the most mechanical person in the world, I can operate small or large equipment on a good day. I can dig into the earth, paint a wall red, or clean pond scum, even on a cold day. I connect with the earth in multiple, magical ways. The crystal champagne flute, an heirloom from Auntie Gitta, symbolizes my love of life, my longing to express gratitude for all the joy in my life, and my honoring of family. Gitta always reminded us, "enjoy, enjoy." What a powerful, wise woman. And there's something else. Though I value family and tradition, I also like to consider options outside the lines defined by my culture, even if it means I don't fit in sometimes.

What I find in these musings is an unveiling of some of my values. By being conscious of my values, I empower myself to align my choices accordingly so that I feel less conflict and tension in my life. Similarly, I find myself journeying towards more and more fulfillment as I align my choices with my values.

If you were to pose in a way that makes transparent your incongruence, how would that look?

What do you learn about yourself and your values from this place?

In what way would you like to align your values and choices?

In addition to feeling my rich calling toward my values, this whimsical photo and my thoughts around it help me to remember to play when I become too serious, or my drive to work and produce results dominates my life, or I over-commit out of habit, or I lose track of the present moment and forget to be joy-filled. So I offer the above as my playful, creative, whimsical learning around incongruence. And, there's something more to explore here, around creating congruence by aligning our thoughts with our actions, which will come in my next post, "Living with Incongruence, Part II."

How can you bring more playfulness into your life?

What of your incongruence would you like to share with others?

What Happens to Intuitive Hits, Creative Downloads, and Darn Good Ideas?

During my last blog, I talked about my struggle to discern intuition from fear-based thinking. I've since heard from clients and friends that you've faced the same struggle. You've inspired me to share a story and resource with you that I hope you'll find useful.

About eight months before my university position would end, my partner, Dana, and I found the home of our dreams: small home, lots of property and privacy, and enormous potential. It also came with a price tag somewhat higher than what felt like a play-it-safe deal. About the same time, I began reading The Energy of Money: A Spiritual Guide to Financial and Personal Fulfillment by Maria Nemeth, Ph.D., found of Academy for Coaching Excellence (http://www.academyforcoachingexcellence.com/).

Dr. Nemeth offers a model of the process great ideas must go through before they become outcomes in our lives. First, she explores physical reality that we know so well. This is the place of cause and effect. Much of what we wish to accomplish in this realm involves taking simple steps. In order to balance our checkbook, we have to actually sit down and crunch the numbers. Holding the intention to balance isn't quite enough to get the job done.

But there's also the metaphysical reality where energy is "free-flowing and unbounded" (p. 21). This is the place where we receive ideas, visions, and dreams, which are weightless and inspiring because we haven't yet weighted them down with promises and commitments.

In the space between physical and metaphysical realities, we hold our life's intentions, which may include to be a writer, to be a healer, to be a leader, to be a visionary. They connect us to concrete goals, to write a novel, to take a Reiki class, to run for political office, to publish a theory. To accomplish our dreams we need the inspiration of metaphysical reality, but it's equally important to find the drive and courage to take needed steps in our physical reality.

However, right there between the metaphysical and physical we find "Trouble at the Border." When our weightless ideas encounter the density of physical reality, we may meet, "doubts and fears so strong that they seem to stop us in our tracks almost before our journey begins" (p. 26). We may hold subconscious beliefs that limit our potential, such as life is hard or no pain, no gain. This phase is inevitable in the process of overcoming our own inertia.

I've found that it's easy to discount these fears and doubts as intuitive. Rather, they are of "monkey mind," a term borrowed from Buddhism to describe, "a self-criticizing aspect of our mind that swings us from doubt, to worry, and back to doubt" (p. 27). In my coach training, I've also learned to identify this voice as the "saboteur" or "gremlin." By any name, it's a survival-related mechanism of our brain designed to prevent change or risk-taking. Whenever we try to reason with these doubts, they only become louder and more provocative.

To say the least, the Border is uncomfortable. We have a choice to use that as a teacher, an opportunity to express our courage as we step beyond our comfort zone and address any challenges we experience. Clearly examining our intentions and our choices helps us to create a realistic plan to get where we want to go. It helps us to identify where and how we will direct our energy and actions. Dr. Nemeth tells us, "life is hard when you don't do what you truly value because you are putting all your energy into trying to get rid of your fears rather than into materializing your dreams" (p. 31).

In the process of deciding whether or not to purchase our home, Dana and I encountered doubts, but we couldn't differentiate them from intuitive hits at first. We wondered: Could we afford this even as I ended my university career? Could we interpret the plumbing and mechanical problems on the house as signs that we were off track? Could we also afford a four-wheel-drive tractor for snow-removal and landscaping? Would we sell Dana's house quickly enough to avoid two mortgages over an extended time?

Well, we now have the home and tractor. All the plumbing and mechanical problems are resolved, with compensation from the former owners to cover the repairs. We received an acceptable offer on Dana's house the first full day it was listed. Yes! Even in this housing market! We are now living the life of our dreams! Now if I could only get Dana to come in off that tractor for dinner...

What does intuition feel like in your body?

What do fear-thoughts feel like in your body?

What do you notice about your thoughts in general?

How do you respond to your thoughts?

Which conscious and subconscious fears keep you from approaching your dreams?