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Welcome!
When we are focused on balancing and integrating our
mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual lives, we often find
it helpful to hear from others on the journey. Our deepest questions
may be articulated by others. We may feel less alone, and more
connected to those around us in meaningful ways.
It
is my hope that the words of this occasional letter will touch
your life and heart- that you will see how a life of more awareness
leads to a life of healing the deepest hurts- a life of compassion
for self and others, and a life worth living! You are invited to share your insights, questions, and requests
for future articles.
| In this issue |
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| A Question
of Interest |
Is
Personal Guidance Essential?
In our everyday
life, personal guidance comes in
different packages. A book may
speak to us on a deeply connected
level, or a friend or family member
can help us with a fresh perspective.
There is actually an endless supply
of helpful professional guidance
available from psychotherapists,
counselors, psychiatrists, health
practitioners, as well as competent
plumbers, carpenters, and electricians!
Here, we are speaking about the
kind of guidance we seek when we
are feeling deeply confused, and
have enough clarity to want a different
perspective from the standard Western
approach to the suffering caused
by our mental confusion. We are
imagining something better than
this, and feel drawn to a life
with more clarity, compassion and
honesty.
Read more about meditation teachers
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| Fresh Perspectives |
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Faith:With
Eyes Wide Open
An excerpt from Let's Not Call
It Meditation: Practical information for people who
think they can't sit still and quiet the mind.
By Nina Livingstone
It's difficult to define what faith
is. It's easier to describe what it looks like. We
know when we see other people living a life of faith.
They appear to move effortlessly through their work
and family challenges. We notice them fully rejoicing
when there's good reason. We notice their stability
in chaos. They are the ones that keep on going when
the going gets tough. When they lose a job, they say
things like, "This could mean new opportunities." Or "Something
better must be waiting for me." They are the ones
who recover from divorce, illness, and death of a loved
one, with resilience and openness for what's next. They
feel safe and seem to move on solid ground.
So, how does faith fit into a life of awareness and
meditation? Faith usually becomes an issue whenever anyone
is caught up in pain, and suffers emotionally, physically,
or spiritually. Faith brings us out of confusion, seeking
the light of clarity. Having faith in something better
than this, is what keeps us going.
Finish
reading this article about faith
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| Helping the
Body Heal |
What you can do for yourself when you feel physically
out-of-balance with pain and injury, or any physical dis-ease.
Welcome to this new addition to our newsletter!
This section of The Open Letter provides helpful information
for those who are curious about how they can help the
body heal on a daily basis and in acute situations.
The Inner Smile
Mantak Chia was the first Qi Gong master
to write and teach in our country. He taught The Inner
Smile as the most powerful self-healing tool.
Getting the Most Out of The Inner Smile
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Smiling is a way of sending loving energy to someone,
even ourself! Loving energy carries healing energy with
it.
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Visualizing, imagining or pretending, is infinitely creative.
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Any loving expression visualized at the site of pain or
discomfort sends a direct healing message at the cellular
level.
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When we send a smile inward, directing it within the silent
beauty of our inner being, we send healing energy where
it is needed.
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Some people have a difficult time with the idea of smiling
into themselves. Just imagine the face someone or something
that makes you smile in each area, as you turn your attention
inward.
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Also, please relax about the references to specific organs.
If you wish, you can buy and color The Anatomy Coloring
Book before you do The Inner Smile, but that is really
not necessary. Having a general sense of where you are
smiling in the body is all that is necessary.
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You may have a sense of stuck energy as you explore the
inner realms. When you sense a block of any kind, just
notice it and smile into it. You may even notice the smile
goes in easier in some places than others.
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Use your imagination when you smile
into painful places. Sometimes I pretend to write the
word "smile" on
a hurting place, and then smiling there is often easier
the next time I do it.
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Pushing or getting upset defeats the purpose of this work,
so simply notice what happens as you move through the exercise.
Let any thoughts of right or wrong just pass through the
mind, as clouds pass through the clear blue sky.
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Stay focused on the smile, and let one appear on your
face as you do the exercise!
Please click below and follow the simple directions.
P.S.You will probably want to read it through once, to
get a sense of it.
Find out about Medical Qi Gong
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| Suggestion
Box |
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 Useful Tools When You Need Them
These practices are useful when we are stuck in confusion
and pain. They help us experience an alternative way of being
with our pain, and help us directly encounter what is in
the way of finding more honesty, joy, balance and freedom.
As with all tools, please remember to let go of them when
they no longer serve a purpose.
Speaking the Truth
If you think you can't do it,
feel the feeling,
pretend you can,
and do it anyway!
"I am that I am" is actually the only completely
truthful words we can ever say about who we are, because it
includes all of our physical, mental emotional and spiritual
reality in the moment. Anything else we might say would only
be part of the truth, as "I am breathing" doesn't
include the reality that I am also hearing, or seeing, or talking,
etc. When we can say, "I am that I am" simply, without
adding anything, just as it is, "I am that I am" brings
us right to the moment. All thoughts of worry, anger, frustration,
judgment and blame fall away.
Here's a suggestion for the New Year, or any time. Right
now, close your eyes for a moment, and notice what's going
on in the body/mind.
Notice any thoughts popping in, any sensations arising
from the thoughts, and just let it be. Take a few moments
and then open your eyes and continue to read.
Now, close your eyes again and say
quietly to yourself, "I
am that I am" three times. Notice what happens.
The wonder of these words is that they bring us right
into the moment because they are the truth. That's why
it works the way it does. It's not magic, it's just the
power of speaking the truth. That's what happens any time
we speak the truth; we are fully alive in the moment.
So, use "I am that I am" anytime
you need to be more present. Say it a few times, until
you feel yourself come into the moment. It's great when
you're nervous before a job interview, a test, or if
you are meeting someone who has been unkind in the past.
It's a great tool but, Beware! Tools
always need to be put down when they become something
else, like another habit we use to avoid being in the
moment! If you use it too much, you'll know what I mean.
Besides, if you're using it too much, there won't be
any room for the most important question you can ask
yourself which is, "Who am I?" More
about that next time!
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| An Invitation |
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Happy New Year!
Are you thinking about projects
for the New Year?
I am looking for opportunities
to give talks to any group interested
in promoting well-being and happiness
to its members or employees.
These one hour talks will be
available to organizations in
the local Rochester area and
will include the following topics:
Meditation for Anyone
The Flowering of Inner Growth
Angry at Work? Heal the Heart
of It!
Opening to Change at Work (at
Home, or in the World)
What is Awareness?
A Forgiveness Meditation
A Meditation on Compassion
And more!
10% of all proceeds
will be donated to a local charity.
A list of charities is available
on request.
Please keep me in mind for a
talk or workshop when your group
discusses schedules in the New
Year!
Please
Spread These Words
Offering
others the opportunity to connect
expands our community! Please
consider forwarding this issue,
with a personal note, to anyone
on your email list you feel
would be interested in it.
Fall
Classes.
Join
Nina for any or all of her
remaining Fall classes. We
will find a personal meaning
for Healing with Awareness,
and experience forgiveness,
compassion and meditation together.There's
still room available in the
classes being offered at Mystic
Moon on Park Ave. and Meigs
St. OnThursday, November 11,
classes start in Spencerport
at The Dove Gift Shop and Reiki
Healing Center.
Go
to the link at the bottom of
this section for class descriptions,
evening class times and fees
for classes.
Meditation
CDs
If
you haven't explored Nina's
meditation CDs, you can read
about them, listen to audio
samples, and buy them at www.healingwithawareness.com/cds.htm.
Group
Awareness Meditation
Monday
evening meditation and discussion
sessions continue at Nina's
home in Penfield. The group
is small. Donations only. Beginners
are always welcome. Call or
email for more info.
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