|
It has been quite a week, hasn't it?! The world has felt very tumultuous as we have watched changes rippling out politically in the US... and then the reactions being expressed from the rest of our global community. We are beginning a year unlike any other in our history, which can make us feel fear and judgment for the changes to come, or excited anticipation for the potential of all that can be co-created in humanity. Or perhaps a crazy mix of both at the same time! Life is a beautiful harmony of physical and spiritual and sometimes it all flows perfectly, and sometimes not, right? To add to the emotional global ride of this week, I also celebrated my 46th birthday, which in numerology is a One Year of new beginnings (4+6=10=1). As we are also in a One Year in 2017 (2+1+7=10=1), the "journey of change, new beginnings, independence, and becoming who you really are" is more intense, according to Creative Numerology. Typically I love my birthdays and soak up all of the attention and love like a big dose of sunshine. This year, it just felt more intense... almost too intense to receive. Have you ever felt that way? Like it's hard to let all of the love in? You know that it will feel amazing and yet there's some resistance in you to fully opening up your heart and feeling the beauty all around you. That was my experience over the past few days.  And the word I kept coming back to is Steady. Steady - "Firmly fixed, supported, or balanced; not shaking or moving." Meditation is my daily practice that brings balance and support. So on my birthday, I sat in the quiet and felt all that was moving through me... and found steadiness internally. I would like to share a little of the guidance I felt from within that brought me peace this weekend. How do I balance the Physical and Spiritual? "You hold steady. Feel each emotion as it comes up in you, and then breathe, get back to steady again. You pause. Be in the moment. Open your eyes and see what is happening around you in your environment. Notice the details. Use all of your senses - hear, see, smell, taste, touch. Feel the gifts of the physical. The Wonder. The Delight. Light, Sound, Breath are the Bridge to the Spiritual. So absorb what THIS moment is teaching you through these mediums. That physicality. Be Here Now Slow it all down. More. And More. Bring all of your attention and focus IN. Until all of your awareness is simply on Your Breath. And then Breathe slowly and deeply Until your mind becomes empty and you can't quite hold onto thoughts Sit gently in the Stillness. And find your answers." May you find the same peace I do in these words. My gift to you this week is a new guided meditation on how to stay steady as we navigate these changes all year. It's called Outrageous Abundance. And I invite you to join us as we find center again and re-align our physical and spiritual selves in the healing virtual community of our Viben meditation each week.  "Divine Teacher, Beloved Friend, I bow to you Again and Again Lotus sitting on the water, beyond all time and space, this is your way, this is your grace." ~ Ong Namo Vivienne Gerard - Healer / Guide / Lover of Souls and Humanity Clearing Past Patterns to Co-Create an Empowered NOW Join me on My Soul Journey on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.
0 Comments
Inauguration - "the beginning or introduction of a system, policy, or period; a ceremony to mark the beginning of something." Today is Inauguration Day - not just for the United States, but for all of Humanity. Our planet is shaking us awake and the time for sleeping through it in denial or pulling the covers over our heads to hide is over. How do I know? Because our new President issued a call to action today, heard by the world. One that I suggest we expand from his limited view of focusing only on America out to our whole world. Below are a few excerpts from President Trump's speech, with my suggested global-focused amendments in parentheses: "For too long, a small group in our nation's capital (world) has reaped the rewards of (one) government while the people (of the world) have bore the cost. ... The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country (world). Their victories have not been your (our) victories. Their triumphs have not been your (our) triumphs. And while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land (world). That all changes starting right here and right now, because this moment is your moment. It belongs to you. It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America (our world). This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America (world), is your country (our world). What truly matters is not which party controls our government (world), but whether our government (world) is controlled by the people. January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation (world) again. We are one nation (world), and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams, and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home (planet) and one glorious destiny."  Yes. We do. "One glorious destiny." A world in which every life has equal value and every Soul is expressing the pure gift of Love that he / she came here to share. There is an Awakening that has been spreading rapidly around our world over the past few years. A rattling of the old systems and beliefs. A questioning of what is True. A seeking for individual expression that can be received with love. We seem to feel or sense subtly that there is a "glorious destiny" just ahead, just out of reach in this moment. Well, I'm claiming that the moment is NOW. We start NOW. So, let's get going, why don't we?! Let's change the world as a collective, respectful, loving community of heart-based activists. How do we do that? Start by getting clear on who YOU are inside, what YOUR gifts are to share with our planet. And then express those beautiful, powerful, authentic Soul Gifts, please. Each one of us. Co-creating a new, empowered NOW. If you need inspiration for your next step, this week's Healing Our Souls video offers my reflections on "An Inauguration for Humanity." If it resonates, please share it and help me spread this commitment to healing our planet through every Soul's Gift rippling out. And then bring your own Soul and your reflections over to the Facebook Soul Shine Tribe! Let's bring our individual selves into the co-creative healing community space of our weekly virtual Viben meditation on Sunday. Details are below! Let's expand this new period of humanity together!  "Divine Teacher, Beloved Friend, I bow to you Again and Again Lotus sitting on the water, beyond all time and space, this is your way, this is your grace." ~ Ong Namo Vivienne Gerard - Healer / Guide / Lover of Souls and Humanity Clearing Past Patterns to Co-Create an Empowered NOW Join me on My Soul Journey on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.  Consciousness is "the state or quality of awareness, or, of being aware of an external object or something within oneself." Scientists, theologians, and philosophers have long debated the definition and mystical understanding of consciousness, often with no clear answer. I believe it is a concept that is personally defined and understood, perhaps best without words. But if I were to share my own definition, it would be that consciousness is "an internal level of awareness of who I am without my body or mind - when I am simply the Soul, the Knowing that continues after the physical drops away." And to take it one step further, "consciousness is one unifying thread that runs through all Souls, connecting all of us back to the one original Source of Energy." It's hard to put into simple words, isn't it? And how does this connect to an article about "Autism and Intention Grids"? Well, a little more spiritual philosophy first to help show the connection. I believe that Souls choose our human experiences here on Earth, and we do that as individual expressions of consciousness and also as part of a collective Soul agreement for what would most serve all of humanity. This can be a difficult concept to agree with when our human lifetimes feel so heavy, frustrating, or limited. And yet, the contrasting idea that a loving God would send us to Earth to simply suffer doesn't make much sense to me. So perhaps we can play with this idea of choice then. That we choose each body we incarnate into, we choose the family members we come to expand with, and we choose the physical and emotional experiences that will serve our individual and collective Souls at the highest level. Even if it doesn't make a bit of sense once we land here in these dense human bodies and forget all those wise Soul choices we made! Continuing with this idea of Souls and choice, what if, as Souls in between our human lives, we keep stretching and expanding our consciousness, our understanding of awareness and connection? So that each human lifetime makes us MORE than we were before. Makes the collective humanity MORE than it was before. And we share that collective awareness as Souls and keep expanding further and further together. Dr. Michael Newton, founder of The Newton Institute for Life Between Lives, hypnotherapist and author of Journey of Souls, describes in great detail that space between lives, where Souls advance in their lessons and awareness of consciousness. In doing so, he has identified that when we are between lives, each Soul reflects an energy-aura color that indicates their progression. "Beginner" Souls are a neutral white or grey; "Intermediate" Souls are shades of red, yellow, and blue; "Advanced" Souls are blue; and "Highly Advanced" Souls are dark blue-purple. (p. 103) In his 40+ years of regression therapy, Dr. Newton hasn't had "the opportunity to regress many Blues," and says "We may recognize them when they appear as public figures, such as a Mother Teresa; however, it is more usual for the advanced soul to go about their good works in a quiet, unassuming manner. Without displaying self-indulgence, their fulfillment comes from improving the lives of other people." (p. 169) Again - what does this have to do with autism and intention grids?  I believe that Souls who choose human incarnations with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), are "Advanced" Souls of Blue who agreed to come help slow down the pace of our Earth and bring humanity back into harmony and balance. A difficult, difficult human incarnation for any Soul. And a gift for every one of us blessed enough to be on this Earth with them. If you can, perhaps imagine having a PhD in Consciousness, studying here for lifetime after lifetime about Love and all other complex human emotions, and then arriving yet again to serve humanity - but this time in a body that doesn't follow your own commands, speak the words you know in your mind, communicate the Love you feel in your heart, or allow you to focus on even a simple task that others make look so easy. Can you feel the internal tension that must constantly exist in that beautiful mind/body/soul of a child or young adult with ASD? And their growing numbers are begging us to pay greater and closer attention. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "identified 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD)." The word "spectrum" used by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NIH) refers to a "wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of disability in functioning that can occur in people with ASD. Some children and adults with ASD are fully able to perform all activities of daily living while others require substantial support to perform basic activities." But what if, inside every one of these children and adults along this spectrum sits an "Advanced" Blue Soul, here to teach us a new way to communicate and be present? Naoki Higashida, a charming 13 year-old Japanese boy with autism shared his reflections in The Reason I Jump - a must read book for every child and adult on our planet, translated into English by author David Mitchell. Naoki offers this wisdom (through pointing his finger at one letter at a time, using an alphabet grid to create words): "(People with autism) are outside the normal flow of time, we can't express ourselves, and our bodies are hurtling us through life. (p. 71) I think that people with autism are born outside the regime of civilization. Sure, this is just my own made-up theory, but I think that, as a result of all the killings in the world and the selfish planet-wrecking that humanity has committed, a deep sense of crisis exists.  Autism has somehow arisen out of this. Although people with autism look like other people physically, we are in fact very different in many ways. We are more like travelers from the distant, distant past. And if, by our being here, we could help the people of the world remember what truly matters for the Earth, that would give us a quiet pleasure." (p. 111) If all of this is true, what other resources can we provide to children and young adults with ASD that perhaps have not been considered before? I believe that stone / crystal intention grids can be used as a tool to support the healing and play of these "Advanced" Blue Souls. The process of setting an intention grid combines nature, touch, and structure / order in a new energetic way. Naoki shared in his book that he has a deep connection to nature, to the living world around us. "To us people with special needs, nature is as important as our own lives. The reason is that when we look at nature, we receive a sort of permission to be alive in this world and our entire bodies get recharged. However often we're ignored and pushed away by other people, nature will always give us a good big hug, here inside our hearts." (p. 85) The stones and crystals used to set intention grids hold a living consciousness that is intimately connected to our planet. Each stone has a story of where it has traveled before arriving in our hands, with an energy that vibrates and charges all around it. Certain stones are known to heal specific chakra energy centers in our body or shift energy blocks from old stories that can't always be explained with words. Stones are as ancient as our planet and hold wisdom beyond our understanding.  And when Naoki was asked why children with autism like to line up toy cars and blocks, he said, "Lining things up is the best fun. ... What I care about - in fact, I'm pretty obsessive about this - is the order things come in, and different ways of lining them up. It's actually the lines and the surfaces of things like jigsaw puzzles that we love, and things like that. When we're playing in this way, our brains feel refreshed and clear." (p. 70) Intention grids of stones and crystals combine nature, touch and structure / order in a playful, powerful way. Hibiscus Moon in her book Crystal Grids: How and Why they Work, offers this definition: "A crystal grid is a geometric pattern of energetically aligned stones charged by intention set in a sacred space for the purpose of manifesting a particular objective." She connects grids to sacred geometry in nature, saying "Geometric patterns appear to be commonplace within our universe, seeming to be the favored means of energy transmission. Sacred geometry may actually be nature's means of manifesting a universal plan, tapping into just the right frequency necessary to communicate with Source energy." There is a magic that happens for me when I put my hands on my stones or crystals, feel the intention of what I would like to create next, and then physically place the stone on a velvet mat with a clear vision of that intention manifesting. It is an energy-based way to play, a space where my soul, my consciousness dances through my body and out into a physical, tactile world. What if this same magic can happen at a Soul level, at a consciousness level for children and adults with autism? This isn't a scientific or medical solution I am proposing that will heal the disorder. But perhaps playing with intention grids offers a "quiet pleasure" for "Advanced" Blue Souls. An opportunity for their Souls to whisper quietly through their fingers and into nature as they line up each stone in a way that makes perfect sense to them. Perhaps their Intention Grids are meant to help "manifest a universal plan" to heal our world and we are now handing them more of the tools they need to do their Soul's "work." What a beautiful exchange of Love we could co-create together. Even if this suggestion brings one Soul-human with ASD more pleasure and a deeper sense of purpose in their lifetime here on this planet, I celebrate with them! So a few logistics, if you are new to intention grids:  1. How do I start? If you or your child are a visual learner, you can watch me play with stones and intention as I share my process. I love creating intention grids, and just posted My 2017 Intentions video (photo on left). Last year, I made an Introductory How-To Video with a few of the basics, if you're looking for more info. 2. Which stones are the "right" stones? There are many websites that can offer guidance on which stones or crystals best support autism. My suggestion is to focus on stones that provide grounding energy or heart-opening energy (to support the easy flow of energy from your child's heart to everyone around him/her). But trust your own intuition as a caregiver or invite your child to participate in choosing what resonates. They might love a certain color - trust them! As you and your child begin to play with the stones or crystals, be sure to use them safely, taking your child's abilities into consideration. 3. Where do you get the tools / supplies? I buy many of my stones from The Crystal Guy in Cincinnati, and I know he ships orders if you're not local. My black velvet "Flower of Life" mat is from a beautiful healing store in Encinitas, California called SoulScape, which ships orders. They also have a wide variety of stones and crystals. And you don't have to be fancy - you can find stones locally in your own backyard or neighborhood by getting outside with your child and exploring together. 4. How long does the intention grid stay in place? This is where the magic will happen! Let your child guide the process. Trust them to know when a grid is ready to be changed and allow it to be their space to play, as much as possible. Let us learn from them because my belief is that they intuitively know so much more than we think we know about this topic! Enjoy the adventure together. Please share this article with others in the ASD community if it resonates. And I would love to hear from you if you and your child begin playing with intention grids. Let's learn and share as a community in this new year filled with possibility! SO MUCH LOVE to each of you... xoxo  "Divine Teacher, Beloved Friend, I bow to you Again and Again Lotus sitting on the water, beyond all time and space, this is your way, this is your grace." ~ Ong Namo Vivienne Gerard - Healer / Guide / Lover of Souls and Humanity Clearing Past Patterns to Co-Create an Empowered NOW Join me on My Soul Journey on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. * ADDENDUM: March 2024, I received an email from Milavetz Law firm in Minnesota regarding a resource guide they put together with information about Autism and driving. It offers information that you may find useful for your family or those you know. Please share if so! Driving with a Disability Guide "From a legal perspective, autism is classified as a disability. This means autistic people are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is a law, not a program. This means there’s no need to apply for coverage or benefits." * * My intention for these articles is to be as all-inclusive as possible, allowing space for everyone to bring their own interpretation and integration. I have no religious or other affiliations and continue to evolve on my path as I learn right along with you. I am in no way providing any medical or other health care advice as part of this article. Crystals and energy healing should be used as a compliment to other therapies and not as a replacement for regular medical care. Please contact your health care provider directly for the appropriate information and any health care related advice. *  Happy Friday the 13th.. and the day of a Full Moon! A perfect time to play with my intentions for this new year that is finally starting to feel like it's underway. Did it seem like the transition lagged a bit for you, too, as we stepped into 2017? Well, now it feels like we are full momentum forward! Becoming MORE. Expanding... defined as "becoming or making larger or more extensive; giving a fuller version of". Expansion used to feel like effort to me. I worked for a construction firm for five years, and any time a client mentioned the word "expansion," it implied lots of money (good for the firm!), time, manpower, and materials. Energy OUT. The familiar masculine / action paradigm. Pushing. Building. Making a change happen. Which in much of our world's history has been a good thing as we created more than existed before. I believe that effort is one of the old belief systems that is dissolving in this time of change in our world, though. So, what exactly do I mean by that? Have you ever been "in flow" with a project, where every piece seemed to fall easily into place, with this simple joy and alignment? No effort required, just a fun alignment and allowing. Being in the moment, feeling energy moving through your body and heart, dancing with delight in the play of it all. My hope is that you have many of those projects and moments come to mind! That is how life is meant to be. Like it or not, we are here as spiritual beings in physical bodies, and spiritual beings aren't full of effort! It's just the density of this physical world that makes us believe that we have to work hard and push to get things done. Expanding feels different to me these days. It feels like it happens IN-side of me FIRST. In my gut, my belly, my solar plexus, this third chakra energy center that says "I AM." "I AM here." Inside. Becoming more than I was yesterday. Expanding from the inside out. Aligning with the "fuller version" of who I AM already as the wise spiritual being living life in this limited physical body. There's no need for effort any more. Just a quiet listening, tuning in to what feels right in THIS moment, and then the next, and the next... Yes, there is still doing and action in my life. Often a lot of action! But it is from an inspired, aligned space, where it feels like everything is falling into place with ease and grace. And if it stops feeling that way... I STOP until I feel back in that flow! Because I know that pushing through, forcing things to happen means something's off. Something's not quite right yet. So I need to pause and tune back in again. This seems like such an important topic to contemplate as we begin a new year. Listening to our intuition, our own knowing of what needs to happen next. Even if it's completely unexpected or illogical - those are actually the BEST nuggets of guidance! And so today I share my own quiet, joyful knowing with you... my intentions for how I see myself expanding in 2017. Not because my intentions should be anyone else's intentions, but to provide an example of a process where I tune in and feel into a "fuller version" of myself. I allow a quiet, reflective space for my third chakra to say "I AM making myself larger or more extensive" in these ways next. I'm not figuring out the resources or action steps required, but feeling INside what most serves my Soul first. And then inspired action will follow. With no effort! I hope my intention grid process in this week's Healing Our Souls video inspires you to create time and space to tune into your own intentions for this new year, if you haven't already. As always, please share your reflections or perhaps your own intention grid with us over in the Facebook Soul Shine Tribe! One of the 2017 intentions I shared is to expand the weekly virtual Viben meditation community, as we become "more extensive" in spreading peace around the world. If you are new to our community, I invite you to learn more here. Wishing all of us an amazing year of becoming even more than ever before!  "Divine Teacher, Beloved Friend, I bow to you Again and Again
Lotus sitting on the water, beyond all time and space, this is your way, this is your grace." ~ Ong Namo It is a beautiful winter afternoon here with snow falling, changing the dreary grey landscape to white magic in front of my eyes. We had an unexpected school "snow day" that has everyone in my family cuddled up in our own zones for a few hours, relishing the extra time to pause our regular routines! In true snow day form, I decided to skip the Healing Our Souls video that I was going to make (Setting an Intention Grid for 2017 - it's okay, I'll do it next week!) and instead go take a bath. Yes, excellent choice! And with the deepest of gratitude for my ALL TIME FAVORITE BATH SALTS EVER, by the gifted Andrea's Alchemy. Ahhh... pausing. Defined as "to dwell or linger; to take a break or rest to emphasize meaning." It's been an interesting week as I can feel an internal push to jump into the new year, make plans, set a bunch of deadlines, take action... and yet my body has been tired, wanting to move slowly and rest more than usual. I can feel myself sitting on the threshold of change - transitioning from one year to the next. Lingering in the sweetness of all that I created in 2016 and allowing this pause first to emphasize all of the meaning. Perhaps you are in a similar space? Or maybe your body is forcing a slow down through illness? If so, lean in. Rest. Take a bath! Journal. Allow space to see what wants reflection or integration. We explored this threshold together on last week's Viben call, and I can feel the pieces still resonating with me days later. Sometimes the community meditation energy feels more comforting than going it solo yet again! And so I pause. Reflect. Meditate. Chat with my husband. Play with my puppy! 2017 is stretching out in front of me, wide open with the possibilities of all that is yet to be created and experienced. I'm beginning by just sitting in this Now moment. It's good! :)  "Divine Teacher, Beloved Friend, I bow to you Again and Again Lotus sitting on the water, beyond all time and space, this is your way, this is your grace." ~ Ong Namo Vivienne Gerard - Healer / Guide / Lover of Souls and Humanity Clearing Past Patterns to Co-Create an Empowered NOW Join me on My Soul Journey on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Happy New Year! 2016 is officially easing into the New Year, hopefully with grace and play in your part of the world! We have a blustery, chilly day outside here in Ohio, which is offering a perfect opportunity for me to cuddle up on the couch and daydream about 2017. Last night my daughter and I saw the musical movie LaLa Land and Dreamers became the topic of the evening and now of my newsletter. If you have not yet seen it by the way, it is well worth the watch, especially on the big screen of a movie theater! Webster defines a Dreamer as "One who has ideas or conceives projects regarded as impractical." Yup - any other dreamers reading this email?!  On the drive home from the movie, we talked about dreaming - and then dreaming BIGGER! Going from practical dreams to those most impractical, outrageous, not-to-be-believed dreams. Not compromising, but Totally Going For It! When did we stop doing that in our lives? For many, "REALITY" started creating limitations for us, and then we believed those limitations and forgot that we could dream outside of the box. The lyrics to one of the songs in the movie, "Fools Who Dream" captured it beautifully. So as we begin 2017, am sharing three of my Big Dreams for this year with you. By June, I am committed to:
"Bring on the ripples from pebbles"... as we claim and cast our 2017 intentions out into the world, the ripples vibrate from one person and one heart to another. Do you have intentions you would like to share with this Tribe of Dreamers? If so, join us over at the Soul Shine Tribe and let us witness your ripples going out into the world. If you are ready to go deeper into your intentions and be supported in manifesting what your Soul is claiming, I am creating Personalized 20-minute Meditations that tap into what most serves your Soul to hear each morning in your quiet time. They are an absolute delight to make and so much fun to receive, from what clients and friends have shared with me! We will be celebrating the New Year together on Sunday, January 1st for our weekly Viben call, if you are awake at 10 am ET! If not, you can listen to the recording later and allow the magic of 2017 to begin. Details are below. From one Foolish and Happy Dreamer to another... may 2017 bring you more delight and joy than all the years past!  "Divine Teacher, Beloved Friend, I bow to you Again and Again Lotus sitting on the water, beyond all time and space, this is your way, this is your grace." ~ Ong Namo Vivienne Gerard - Healer / Guide / Lover of Souls and Humanity Clearing Past Patterns to Co-Create an Empowered NOW Join me on My Soul Journey on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. |
AuthorVivienne Gerard Archives
December 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
© COPYRIGHT 2024 - INFINITE EMBODIMENT LLC - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.