SPIRITUAL LIFE LESSONS FROM LAWYERS

Let’s start with a joke…

A lawyer died and arrived at the pearly gates. To his dismay, there were thousands of people ahead of him in line to see St. Peter. But, to his surprise, St. Peter left his desk at the gate and came down the long line to where the lawyer was standing. St. Peter greeted him warmly. Then St. Peter and one of his assistants took the lawyer by the hands and guided him up to the front of the line into a comfortable chair by his desk.
The lawyer said, “I don’t mind all this attention, but what makes me so special?”

St. Peter replied, “Well, I’ve added up all the hours for which you billed your clients, and by my calculation you must be about 193 years old!”

Let me preface this by saying I dislike lawyers a lot! Sorry to my family (many of whom are lawyers) but I’ve had bad mojo with lawyers and let’s just say I keep my distance J My husband told me when we met he’d been considering law school, let’s just saying that luckily he became a CPA (wink).

So one of my clients who is in law school had a session this week. She calls every few months to fill me in and we consult the guides and she’s good for a few months and so forth. This week she was filling me in on school, boys, roommates and classmates. Several things came up in the reading and self-esteem is something she’s struggled with, as most of us have, for a while. Boundaries are key when it comes to self esteem. If you cannot say no or are “shy” to say what you need to say for fear of hurting someone or not being liked then this is a sign of low self esteem. So my client goes out one night with her school friends and one girl is dressed inappropriately. The girl turns to my client and asks, what do you think about my outfit? My client says well, it’s inappropriate for law school, my suggestion is to do so and so…the girl gets mad, barges out and refuses to talk to my client again. My client, as most people with low self esteem suffer from, worries, feels guilty, should I have, what if? Etc…you never hear a lawyer second guessing what they said or how they won a case. They do what needs to be done and YA! Lawyers say what they have to say, whether their client likes it or not. They get paid to say what the client NEEDS to hear not what they want to hear. If you are being honest and coming from a place of love, say what needs to be said (if solicited) and move on. If you stay stuck in that place you’re depleting your energy.

One of her boyfriends is a bit possessive and all-consuming. She’s embarrassed to tell him  that she needs to study and just wants to be alone. The guides said her life/time needs to become like “billable hours”! Lawyers charge for everything! Sent an email, charge! Make a phone call, charge! Dream about your file, charge! Why should any of our lives be any different? Our time is money but most important it’s energy! Our energy shouldn’t be given to just anyone, anytime. When we have difficulty with boundaries and we don’t limit who and where we waste our energy we are basically working for free and giving away or time, money and energy. If you think of your life in terms of billable hours you will be more focused on who and what you spend your energy on.

Charge a lot for your time, you are worth it!

New Country of…..YOU!

How many of you are trying to take control of your lives but old relationships, family quarrels or past behaviors sabotage your efforts? I see many clients that want to rip themselves away from old patterns especially with relationships but can’t. So it’s time to emancipate  yourself! When you go back to old habits and old ways of thinking you’re relinquishing power to that person, idea or thing. It’s time you take charge and become an immigrant of a new land…your own!

Immigrants struggle with leaving everything behind, customs, family, clothing, home,  yet they’re on a search for a new life. If you truly want a new life you need to do the same thing. Go onto any nation’s government website and print out the application for citizenship/visa for that new country. Cross out the name of the country and put your name there instead! When it asks what citizenship you’re relinquishing put in the names of the people or things you want to get away from, put everything in there, don’t hold back. Get passport pictures made, purchase a passport holder for the new visa/citizenship and print out a card with your country’s name on it, your picture and citizen number (#1)!

Get a stick or piece of wood and place a map of your “current state” on one end and your new land (i.e., Country of Frances/Franmany) at the other end and walk from your current state to your new country holding your new citizenship paperwork and your new mind set. Anytime you see yourself reverting back to your old ways, customs, beliefs, thoughts or habits, realize you’re in a new land where you make the rules! Release yourself of the old hostage/baggage required by the old country, you’re in a new land now and you’re in charge!

Are there trans-fats in your spiritual life?

Are there trans-fats in your spiritual life?.

Are there trans-fats in your spiritual life?

I am a functional nutritionist and in all of my years of giving spiritual readings the guides have never used this analogy; however, how relevant!

The client had recently lost everything! He lost his business, his lover and all of his “friends”. He was in total despair and came for some guidance.

The guides opened up with an image of trans-fats. Trans fats, as is well-known, are the unhealthiest fats and they’re man-made. Back in the 80s trans fats were believed to be the new great thing! We’re always looking for the new great thing right? Well, scientists came up with the idea of trans-fats to make fats more stable. Normally, fats like unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature and separate and these didn’t “look” quite good enough on a shelf so man invented trans-fats. They thought let’s take what NATURE made unstable and make it more stable in a laboratory! Trans-fats would have had the benefits of unsaturated fat, but they would be stable and “pretty” at room temperature. Now many years later we know that trans-fats are the unhealthiest fats and these man-made fats cannot compete with nature’s original product.

This client was told that his life had been one comprised of trans-fats. Fake friends, fake love and most of all a man-made base, not a spiritual or nature-made foundation. The guides explained that even though things in his life appeared “stable”, like the trans-fats, they were toxic and soon proved to be harmful to his health. Spirit was nowhere near his heart and money had become his God. The Universe made sure all fake, unhealthy “stable” appearances would be removed to bring back his true nature, no matter how unstable it appeared.

The client had recently lost 100 pounds. The guides told him that as he slowly adjusted to the new weight he would slowly start re-introducing certain foods back into the diet without gaining weight. His weight would become stable. They explained that as Spirit re-emerged as the core of his life he would slowly create stable friendships, attract stable love and his bank account would stabilize.

All of us at some point, in some area in life have chosen to appear “stable” rather than show our unstable nature-made selves. Are you pretending to be someone you’re not at work to impress your boss? Are you acting as if you’re interested in a certain topic to impress a potential life partner? Think about what you’re pretending to be? For whom? Why work so hard to be fake and something you’re not? This is harmful to your health! Has God been pushed out to accommodate fake friends and lovers or a new God like money, an bodily appearance or a new home? What are you doing to honor your Spirit?

Trans-fats are found in processed foods and contribute to inflammation in the body. The government now mandates that manufacturers label trans-fats since they’re harmful to your health and the FDA is trying to ban them entirely. Isn’t it time to eliminate (or at least label) the toxins and processed people and things in your life? Isn’t it time that trans-fats be banned from your life?

Bring true stability back into your life with Spirit as the center!

 

Happy Spiritual New Year!

Happy Spiritual New Year!

Today’s post is a New Year’s homework assignment the guides gave this morning in meditation. It will be short and sweet, but I invite everyone to do this resolution, if it sticks, I guarantee your life will change!

“We are not our body, we are not our emotions, we are not our thoughts or our intellect. We are a soul.”

It is known in energy anatomy that we are comprised of several bodies or sheaths covering the truth of who we are, our soul. To the naked eye you can only see the physical body, but to the developed eye we have many more “physical” bodies. The densest body is the physical body which is comprised of the food we eat, the astral body is our emotional body. Next is a mental and causal body which includes thoughts and the intellect, and finally the soul.

There is a spiritual adage that states “as within so without” so when you’re experiencing things in your outer life, be sure this is an accurate reflection of what’s going on inside. One thing I see in readings often is how a person’s physical house reflects the state of their internal “house”.

This morning the guides gave me a tour of most homes in America! You have the kitchen which responds to your physical needs. Your bedroom meets the emotional criteria. The computer room or home office satisfies the intellectual stimulation, the living room satisfies your mental layer, but what about the spiritual body? What about your soul?

Most homes don’t have a corner, much less a room, dedicated to their inhabitants spiritual development. How can things go “right” when the only true aspect of you is getting no attention? How can things flow, when you aren’t carving out space for your soul? We are not our body, thoughts, emotions, or intellect. We are a soul. Start carving out space for your soul and start seeing changes happen immediately. Create a space to honor your soul. Throw a pillow on the floor, light a candle and sit in silence. Build out your garage and create a meditation room. Make room for your soul is making room for your true self. Invite your spirit back into your life this year, that’s the only new years resolution you’ll need and everything else will fall into place!

Happy New Year!

Spritual Flatlining

A client of mine received some scary news earlier this week. It affected his state of mind for several days and I could tell he was trying to fake being ok when really he wasn’t. A few days after that, he received some really exciting news and I saw him turn ecstatic. It was a complete change, instantly. Have you ever thought about how many times a day your happiness level spikes or declines based on what you were told, what you thought or something you heard? The guides told me they call this spiritual flatlining. They said we should all track how our state of peace and joy changes throughout the day. If we were hooked up to a monitor we’d show up like a patient in a hospital room in critical care. Our hormones, blood pressure and endorphins would be all over the place depending on what information we were fed at that precise moment. Even though we’d show with a lot of neural and cardiac activity on the monitor the guides say this is proof that we are all flatlining spiritually. We are pretty much dead.

We all say we want happiness, peace, joy, but in actuality we aren’t comfortable in that state. Peace isn’t a state that is affected by what you have, what’s been taken away or what news you’ve received at a particular moment. Someone who is truly at peace has a steady flow of joy on her monitor that isn’t shaken because she is losing or gaining something materially. What are you doing to ensure you don’t spiritually flatline? Are you doing anything for your spiritual health? If you’re not, start today. Just like the doctors would put you on a healthy diet and medications for a cardiac arrest, put yourself on a spiritual protocol to avoid spiritual flatlining.

Start meditating, spending time in nature, saying prayers before meals…anything to keep you connected to your spiritual self. Your spiritual life is the bedrock of health. You’re a soul within a body so keep the body healthy, but focus on your spiritual health most importantly and trust me the next time you’re hit with something not-so-easy to swallow, your monitor will show a steady line because true spiritual health isn’t shaken up by anything!

Earlier this year I created a spiritual app called the Soul Tracker. It’s on iTunes for free. If you don’t know where to start recovering from spiritual flatlining this is a great tool. It helps you track the spiritual activities you’ve done each day and helps you begin a spiritual practice.
Want some homework to test your spiritual health. Step One: Take a notepad and draw a line graph 1-10 on the side. At each moment during the day when you get information, hear sad new, get great advice etc…track how you quickly jump from one state of mind to the next. This diagram will demonstrate what is going on internally. Step Two: Meditate, chant, do some deep breathing exercises and wait for the next “hit” of slightly distasteful information to head your way. You will automatically reduce the spike in how it effects you. These are proven ways to resuscitate your spiritual life, so start enjoying your new health right now!

Home Alone with Buddha

In a session last week, Buddha appeared and repeated his famous aphorism “attachment is the cause of all suffering”. He told the client that she is attached to things people say, what she thinks people should look like and what people “should’ do. Buddha suggested that her ideas were outdated and the true source of her unhappiness.
He offered the image of an obscure character in the movie Home Alone 2. If you had kids or were a kid in the 90s you might get this reference. Do you remember the scene with the homeless woman covered in birds in Central Park? This is what our energy bodies look like when we invite outdated, useless ideas to hover around us. We wind up covered with bird feathers and poop! Imagine your body plastered with bird feathers. Better yet, cut some feathers out and start really thinking about ideas, beliefs and thoughts that no longer serve you. Tape them all over yourself. Now look in the mirror, don’t you look ridiculous!? If you’re wondering why things aren’t happening for you, consider this… What space is there for a new job, lover or spiritual pursuit if you’re clinging to dirty, stinky old ideas?

Remember “birds of a feather flock together” – this adage supports the same idea – the vibration we send out influences what we receive.

Sit with the feathers attached to you for a while. Sit down and really have a heart to heart with yourself about what no longer is useful. Are you still holding a grudge because Sally stole your boyfriend 5 years ago? Let it go! Rip that feather off and replace it with a new one! Are you still bitter because your husband forgot an anniversary? Again replace that feather with something more useful. Our energy bodies hold on to everything, both positive and negative. When you walk out into the world, it is your energy body that people are seeing, not your physical body. If your feathers scream “victim” then you will be treated as such and this will repel people and opportunities. If your energy body says “open to anything” suddenly you will receive offers from everywhere, for all types of interesting adventures. It is time to RUFFLE YOUR OWN FEATHERS and let go of what is holding you back!

When Buddha manifested in the session he showed up as the jolly, round fat Buddha we are all familiar with. He volunteered that most of us have an “idea” of who people should be and how they should look or behave; however, our ideas do not change the essence of “what is”. He said that he appeared in this way (large and round) to teach the client that the outer appearance of a person doesn’t alter what’s inside. If you google Buddha a whole host of images will appear, but the essence and the truth of his message is unchanging. If you find yourself living by appearances, pretending to be something or holding onto something (a relationship, a house, a title) just for the outer appearance, the true essence of that will still shine through, and usually represents as misery, unhappiness, health problems or depression.

It’s no coincidence that Buddha chose the image of feathers to spread his message. Feathers represent flight and freedom. In ancient times birds were considered the animal closest to God so their feathers signify a higher truth and a spiritual purpose. When you dream of feathers it is a reminder of your own divinity, free and light. In Egyptian mythology, souls were weighed against a feather to determine if it was a pure soul and could pass on to higher realms after death. Do you want to be weighed down or transcend into higher spiritual planes? Then it’s time to be as light as a feather and remove those heavy burdens weighing you down.

Start to free yourself of things that no longer serve you. Start swapping out your heavy heart for a lighter path.
How will you know when you’re on the right path? You WILL find a feather to confirm you’ve made the change…how can I be so sure? A little (Buddha) bird told me….. 

What’s for dinner?

Ever feel you spend your whole day catering to everyone else’s needs? Most people do, especially women. So for Mother’s Day here are two great exercises the guides want to gift all mothers (and dads too).

Imagine you go to the grocery store, buy the items you need to make dinner, go home and make the meal and when you serve it everyone at the table says “I don’t like that, make something else”. You go back to the grocery store, buy more items, go back home, make anther meal and serve it again and someone says “I don’t eat that”. You rush back down to the store, pick up something else, heat it up when you get home, serve it, and again another voice “Eew, that’s gross, I don’t want that”. By the end of this escapade you would be exhausted, I’m tired just writing about it; however, when we are in people-pleasing mode this is exactly what happens to our spirit and let me tell you IT’S EXHAUSTED!

The guides say to look at life like a salad. If you fill your bowl with delicious greens, and healthy veggies you have the foundation of a nutritious meal. If you load up on croutons, cheese crumbles, and bacon bits, the meal might taste great, but there is little nutrition. When you give time and energy to debilitating thoughts and waste energy on people that don’t deserve it you’re eating the unhealthy salad. How will you feel after that? Bloated, fat and unhappy. If you eat a salad of greens and veggies, you feel nourished, alive and full of energy.

So here are two homework assignments – Yes, the guides love to give homework 

First, find someone who can help role play the first scenario. Pick a day you can dedicate to this activity. Go to the store buy the items for your favorite meal let’s say spaghetti and meatballs, make it and serve it to your friend. Have him say he doesn’t like it and he really would love some chicken and rice. Physically go back to the store, purchase the items come home, cook it and serve it again. Have your friend role play again “Oh, I only eat white meat I’m sorry I didn’t tell you”. So now go back to the store a third time and buy the ingredients for lasagna. Make it and serve it once more. Have your friend remind you he is lactose intolerant. By that third trip (you will need a whole day for this activity LOL) you will be angry, tired, resentful, sad etc…just like we feel when someone is dissatisfied with us or we are with ourselves. When you feel this physical representation of what your negative thoughts and people-pleasing activities do to your self-worth you must STOP! You need to feed yourself first and once nourished then worry about others.

Now your second homework assignment is to make picture salad. You’ll need to gather some photos, a paper plate and scotch tape. In this salad the greens are photos of you, so fill up your plate with selfies. Next, take the photos of your loved ones – the protein if you will – and place them in a tighter circle around the center of the salad leaving the images of yourself fully visible around the edges of your plate. Finally, sprinkle pictures of friends, co-workers, pets, bosses, etc. on top of the foundation of your healthy salad. This picture salad is representative of the people you need to give importance to in your daily life. If you focus on those on top, the bacon and croutons, you won’t feel satisfied, but if you focus on yourself first you will feel healthful, invigorated and nourished. You will be able to enjoy the candied pecans and blue cheese in the small portions they are meant to represent and will feel full and energized.

The best part about this kind of diet is that it’s self-perpetuating. If you engineer your plate to these proportions today, it’ll make you feel so good you’ll want to make another again tomorrow.

So what’s for dinner? Whatever you want as long as it nourishes YOU! If the others don’t like it, let them have a bowl of cereal 🙂

If you’re interested in a reading please visit http://www.bigbangastrology.com

Are you Thin Obsessed?

Are you thin obsessed?

You’re probably thinking this is a blog about weight loss or dieting, but it isn’t. It’s no secret that we are a thin-obsessed nation and most everyone is on a diet at some point. Each morning on my way to my prayer altar I take a glance in the mirror as a walk down the corridor and nasty thoughts always creep up. They sound something like this… “you need to start working out your upper body, you could stand to lose a few pounds, you ate too much last night”. Within the first few minutes of waking my ego has taken over and has found a way to pummel me to the ground. This morning I lay awake and didn’t get up right away. I said my initial prayers in bed and asked my usual question ‘what do I need to know today?” The guides quickly responded…”this society is thin obsessed”. My initial reaction was “Duh!” but then they elaborated.

It’s needless to say that we are physically thin-obsessed. Dieting has become a multi-billion dollar industry, there is a gym on each corner, and every third commercial is for a weight loss supplement. Even the spiritual practice of yoga has become a workout trend for the physical body. Are you aware that in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras the asanas (the poses) are a miniscule portion of the writing? The reality is that the poses were meant to strengthen the spine to sit longer in meditation. This has been taken to our thin-obsessed nation as another weight loss modality to honor the physical body rather than the spiritual practice it was intended to be.

The guides continue…we are also thin-obsessed with our mind and thoughts. We as a society are unable to remain focused on any one thing for more than a few seconds. We jump around from thought to thought and never remain present. Our thoughts are focused on what we need more of or what we haven’t done, rarely enjoying the moment we are living in. We are confused, thinking happiness lives in the past and future… “When I had…when I am…When I don’t have to …” …rather than in the right now. These thoughts lead our actions and why so few are satisfied at this moment. To paraphrase a parable noted by Thich Nhat Hanh which says… the most important person in the world in the person in front of you and the most important thing you have to do is what you’re doing at this moment; however, we pride ourselves on multitasking and we are always planning ahead or looking behind. Children within a few months of birth are handed an iPad or LeapFrog and are welcomed into our ADHD culture. We have picture in picture so we don’t miss a show and can watch 2 at once. No wonder our thoughts are thin! Try sitting in silence for 2 minutes. Analyze the amount of thoughts racing through your mind and consider their content – this will usually indicate where your focus lies.

Another area we are thin-obsessed with is in our relationships. So little of us reach outside our comfort zone to develop relationships with our neighbors or those in the community. Our focus has shifted from the family to the workplace. We spend more time on the phone talking to our boss or talking about work than knowing what is going on with our children. If you do not have a child in sports, I invite each of you to slow down and drive by a park in the evening. Watch the dynamics on the field. The children are playing and the parents are on their phone or iPads working. In the Devil Wears Prada, Adrian Grenier says to Anne Hathaway “You know, in case you were wondering – the person whose calls you always take? That’s the relationship you’re in.” The point is that we have thinned our relationships to those who will give us a promotion, make us feel good or receive praise from. This is temporary satisfaction and means nothing. Being an obsessed workaholic was never written on a tombstone as praise, but I’m sure there are many buried in this country. If those that matter do get a speck of our time, we cannot concentrate on the conversation because we are staring down at our phones. But let’s forget about failure to cultivate a relationship with others. Most of us cannot sit still with ourselves or God. “Man Know Thyself” is inscribed at Delphi. But how many of us do the work to really know ourselves? If we have a few moments of free time we are bored or googling something because the quiet time with ourselves is scary. What if we find out something we don’t want to know. What if God does speak through us and we don’t like what we are told? We prefer to silence the intuition and the space where our divine-self resides with Google and Instagram.

So we are obsessed with our body and mind….what about spirit? Thin? It’s practically absent from the picture! The true antidote to everything the guides mentioned is engaging in some sort of spiritual practice. Whether it is meditation, yoga, breathing, chanting or prayer, we have a lot to gain from regularly incorporating some spiritual aspect into our lives. When we pay attention to our breath we start slowing down. And, you will notice that as you count your breaths you don’t have time to listen to your thoughts. When you chant, it raises your spirits and instead of wanting to be in a gloomy work atmosphere you run home to your kids or loved ones to help you maintain that same elevated vibration. When meditating, you become centered and clear your mind. You have silence (which is what we all need) to hear the inner voice of God that lives within (BTW the only messages you’ll hear are of true love!). When you pray, you are surrendering to something higher and there is no more special relationship.

Our weight obsessed, work obsessed culture doesn’t produce. We are sick and unhappy. Incorporating one spiritual practice into your life, that you do consistently, will help to keep you in balance and re-focus your life on what really matters.

So FATTEN UP YOUR SPIRIT and the rest will all work out!

Life Isn’t Adding Up? Here’s the Solution!

Life Isn't Adding Up? Here's the Solution!.