What is a Fire Puja, you ask?  It is a sacred ceremony designed to clear away old negativity and bring in new positive life-giving energy.   Prayers are written in chalk on the base of the fire pit in preparation for the puja and the wood is then placed in the pit.  He gathers in a large mixing bowl an odd combination of things.  Everyday staples like flour, sugar, salt, milk are placed in the bowl then he throws in potato chips, chocolate and whatever else we enjoy.  The object is to gather those things that make up your everyday life and pour the mixer over the fire releasing, cleansing and purifying the energy.  Tibetan prayers, chants and joy abound.

A House Blessing involves saffron water being sprinkled over every nook and cranny of our home while Lama Lobsang chants Tibetan prayers interrupted by fits of laughter.   As a fun-loving Lama, he dares not skip blessing my son’s Legos, my daughter’s American girl dolls and our puppies.  Small in stature but strong in body, mind & spirit- Lama Lobsang has graced our lives with his effervescent  spirit.

He escaped Chinese-occupied Tibet at age 18 and is a  gifted healing practitioner who has received His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s blessing. His expertise is in teaching Tibetan Yantra Yoga and Tibetan Healing Massage.  He travels the world teaching & lives in Chicago with his family.  As you can see, his joy captives the hearts of all!  Learn more about our inspiring friend at www.lamalobsang.com

Meditation is the simple yet profound practice of stilling the mind & the body long enough to unhook ourselves from the never ending drama of past & future.  When we learn to practice the present moment, effortlessly we slip into the expansive experience of being fully conscious… free from all distractions and at peace.  It is the simplicity of it all that seems to trip us up.  We expect it to be elusive, exclusive and effortful when it is in fact the opposite.  It is at our fingers tips, open to all who simply practice and it is effortless when practiced without agenda or judgement.  Why meditate?  It is the doorway from fear to freedom.  It releases us from feeling tethered down by that which detracts from the precious gift of life and awakens us to live more fully each and every moment.

I give thanks for Deepak and his timeless teachings.

St. Valentine lived in third-century Rome during a time of political unrest. He was believed to be a doctor and a Christian priest which made him quite the rebel and he was considered to be a threat to Rome.  He deeply loved God & shared his love with all people. His compassion led him to write notes encouraging those who’d been imprisoned for their faith- to take heart and not lose hope.  Considered an enemy of the empire and unwilling to renounce his faith and  he was sent to prison.  There his presence  changed  the heart of the Roman emperor Claudius II, who spared his life.

In time, he won over the heart of Arterius, a key roman soldier and was believed to have healed Asterius’s daughter from blindness.  This created such an uproar that Asterius and St. Valentine were put to death. St. Valentine was a radical who dared to love and shared that love in such a way that others were threatened by its transforming power.

This Valentine’s Day, let’s remember the Soul of this Celebration and dare to step out and love as St. Valentine did.

Enjoy the children’s book-  Saint Valentine by Ann Tompert

Begin by setting aside a hour or two with a few of your favorite magazines, scissors, double sided tape & poster board.  Put on your favorite music, brew yourself a cup of tea & get cozy.  Turn your phone off & allow this time to be yours.  Try not to over think it- instead notice what colors, images, words & phrases you are drawn to & cut or rip them out.  The more the images & words capture your heart for whatever reason, the more compelling the experience will be.  Involve your senses as much as possible so you can feel, taste, smell, experience what it will be like to LIVE YOUR VISION.

Be sure to place your VISION board  somewhere that you see everyday & have a chance to engage with it.  Envision yourself living this life and your entire subconscious goes to work for you.  Begin to experience each choice you make as one that feeds your future.  In time, you will discover that in many ways you are taking significant steps towards living your truth.  Once you capture a VISION for your life- you awaken to what is possible rather than sabotaging yourself with limiting thoughts or beliefs.  Capture a VISION for your life for the time is NOW to Live Your Truth.

With each exhale, let go of fearful thoughts and imagine the fear cascading out of your body, mind, soul & emotions.  Experience the lightness that comes with letting go of that which chokes the life out of you.  Then with each inhale, know that this breath is fresh & brand new – bringing with it hope, courage and freedom.  When we hold our breath, we are often stuck – not wanting to let go of the old & familiar.  When we expand our lungs, we cannot help but open ourselves to more of life.

Breath is Life.

Did you know that we can live up to a month without food, a week without water, three to four days without sleep, but only three to four minutes without breathing? All the cells in our body require oxygen. Without it, they couldn’t move, build, reproduce and turn food into energy. Our inhalation brings in fresh oxygen needed to fuel our cells and our exhalation releases the waste products our body cannot make use of and if not expelled would be toxic.

The connection point here IS our Breath!  Breathing IS the letting go process…Want to turn Fear into Freedom…EXHALE the Fear & INHALE the Freedom!

Now take a moment to practice this Tool for Life:  Imagine the fear is chocking the life energy out of you.  Now envision that fear being swept up in the strong current of a waterfall as you exhale- beginning at the center of your forehead & cascading down through your body & out your toes.  Imagine the current of your exhale sweeping down behind your eyes, your jaw, your throat & neck, your shoulders, down your arms & out your fingers, continuing down your chest, your abdomen, your hips, your thighs, your lowers legs & out your toes.  Experience the sensation of releasing by hearing the waterfall & your exhale in sync.  Imagine Exhaling Fear.

Then gently turn your attention to your inhale & imagine it beginning at your navel point then moving directly to your tail bone rising up your spine vertebrae by vertebrae, up the between your shoulders, the back of your neck & rising up the back of your head until it reaches the center of your forehead.  Imagine Inhaling Freedom.  Each inhale is fresh, brand new, light & energizing.

Practice 3 Exhales & 3 Inhales each day releasing the Fear & Embracing the Freedom.  Over time, you will let go of what you are so terribly fearful about & live in freedom.  

At that moment, standing by my car, everything went into slow motion.   I watched myself stressing about something so utterly unimportant yet all consuming.  In disbelief that I could be in such a stupor, I woke up, walked into the store directly in front of me determined to end my search with “good enough”.   I put the napkins out at the party that evening & watched as a part of me was aware of how the colors were not quite right.  No one else even remotely noticed, but I did.  I was conscious of the fact that it continued to bother me – just the kind of red flag that tells me this was one lesson I needed to take to heart.

So I began practicing letting go, in small “unimportant” ways, of my pursuit of perfection.  Letting “good enough” be “good enough” was difficult at 1st then became easier with practice.   My focus began to shift from the unimportant to the important.   I began to enjoy the moment more in a relaxed sort of way, had more energy for what was important & began to actually take myself less seriously. What I most cherish from this awakening was I began to laugh at myself & my silly quirks.  What a relief it was to let go of the pursuit of perfection.

But what if we have perfection all wrong?  What if perfection is something entirely different?  What  if perfection IS what IS?  What I mean that is, what if each moment regardless of what it holds for us, IS perfect?  What if the bumps, the bruises, the disagreements, the struggles, as well as, the joys are perfect?  What if they are exactly what we need to learn, grow, wake up and make a difference and without them our lives are perfectly imperfect lacking all the components of an exhilarating, meaningful life? What would happen if we welcomed the challenges as friends not foes & embraced what they had to teach us?   What if this IS the way things are meant to be?

I, for one, am banking on it.  I have come to believe that whatever finds us, no matter how impossible it may seem, is there as our teacher.  Not to abuse or misuse but to awaken & challenge us to our potential.  It hasn’t been easy to see things this way & I must admit I’ve gone through periods of time when I lost sight of this truth.  But in hinds sight, I can honestly say, that the most painful experiences have been my most beloved teachers.  The lessons, while, difficult beyond words, have been perfect.

So here’s to embracing all that presents itself in 2012 as perfect!