Yesterday was Christmas, a time when some of us think about our own brand of spirituality, some of us take joy in giving, and some of us are all about getting (I won’t even call it receiving).

I was a little bummed as I put out the Christmas stockings, and mine was only half filled. There were no presents for me under the tree (well, there was one, kind of – it was for me and the rest of my family). I didn’t let my slump last long though. There were quite a few presents for my boys, and I had been a little worried that they would have precious few gifts to open. And I did buy myself a present a few days before Christmas.

I enjoyed seeing them get excited about the items my husband and I had found for them. I started seeing the abundance all around me: the abundance of gifts for my children, the abundance of birds in the trees outside, the abundance of love in my home, and food in my cupboards, and activities to keep my mind engaged.

I spent the day cooking for my family, and was gifted with the thanks of full tummies throughout the house (which, in a house with three growing boys, is a rare blessing indeed!).

I even went for a walk in the sunshine with my sweetheart for the first time in many weeks.

By the end of the day, I was feeling full to overflowing with blessings in my life. And so I share some of my blessings.

Until January 15th, 2012, use the coupon code “holiday11″ to save 50% off your next order of guided meditations. And may you be blessed with abundance this year!

Blessings,

Mary

I just got back from my water aerobics class.  This isn’t really big news, I know.  But it is for me, because the pool was supposed to close for renovations last Friday.

Almost three weeks ago, I sat down with a couple of friends to set some goals for ourselves for the rest of the month.  I introduced them to Raymond Aaron’s Monthly Mentor goal setting program.  I don’t make any money from endorsing this program; I just believe it is an excellent system for making progress toward your goals.

I haven’t used it myself in quite some time.  So it was good for me to introduce it to my friends, and have others to support and be supported by in moving forward. One of the goals I set for myself was to start going to water aerobics again.  I set myself a goal of  attending a minimum of two classes, a target of three classes, and my outrageous goal for myself was attending five classes.  I thought I had three weeks to acheive this.

Then I found out that the pool was closing June 25th for maintenance and renovations.  So I had only two weeks to acheive my goal! I made the comment several times that I was disappointed that just as I was getting back into going to the classes, the pool was closing and I would not be able to keep up the momentum I was creating for myself.  I pushed myself in my schedule, and I managed to get to five classes in two weeks!

At class last Friday morning, it was announced that the pool would be open for four more weeks.  The architect needed more time.  The fitness schedule would be quite limited, but the deep water class I attend is on at the time I prefer to attend, and on the three days of the week I attend.

However indirectly, I told the Universe that I wanted to continue with water aerobics, and the Universe provided the opportunity for me!

This isn’t the only experience I have had of manifesting I have had recently, but it is one of the most obvious.  What I observe about myself in this situation, is that I did not directly ask the Universe to keep the pool open.  I took action, going to the deep water class at every opportunity in my schedule.  I enjoyed the feeling of working out, and I expressed disappointment at the thought of not continuing.

I find I am often challenged in the manifestation process by not taking action, or by getting stuck in the feeling of what I don’t want.  Or I manifest unconsciously.  I don’t always consciously choose what I want to create in my life.  Between The Peaceful Woman’s Inspired Living Coaching series, and getting back into utilizing the MAINLY goal setting system, I am working on becoming more conscious of being a co-creator of my life.  I am creating my reality in alignment with my intentions and desires.  I AM a powerful manifestor, and I am so grateful!

What tools do you use to set goals and stay focused on your visions?

Blessings,

Mary

Happy Summer Solstice!

On Sunday, my spiritual circle held a potluck at the beach to celebrate the Summer Solstice.  Before we dug in, we did a short ceremony to heal the waters.  With the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico growing daily, many groups and individuals all over the world are turning their focus to healing the waters.  I’ve gotten many emails over the past few weeks from different organizations planning events to heal the water, as well as ideas for planning your own event.

This is what we did:

I filled a bucket with water from the ocean.  I reminded everyone that just as we are all One, from the same Source, water is all One, and it all connects.  So what we do to our bucket of water resonates out to water everywhere.

I had a rock that had the word “Peace” inscribed on it, and I dropped that into the bottom of the bucket.  Dr. Masaru Emoto has proven through his photography of water crystals that words and intentions have a definite effect on water.

Water Crystal exposed to the words Love and Thanks

Then I poured in water that was collected from a similar ceremony nine years ago, water that was collected during a full moon eclipse in 1996 and 2007.  (I’m a Pisces, and the energy of water fascinates me!)  We then had everyone put their hands on the bucket (or at least direct their hands towards it), and sent healing thoughts and energy to the water.  I asked those who have had Reiki attunements to send Reiki to the water.

We repeated a tradition I have with my family.  Each day, as we leave our neighborhood, we face the ocean before turning on to the main road.  We all say, “Hello, beautiful water! Thank you! I love you!”  Our group said this together three times.  And we sang a song honoring the ocean.

The ocean is the beginning of the Earth.
The ocean is the beginning of the Earth.
All life comes from the sea.
All life comes from the sea.

When we dipped our hands in the water after singing, it was very soft.  It was salty, but there was no sting from the salt.  I pulled out a small jar of the water to carry forward for the next time I do this, and then we went to the water’s edge, singing again, and poured the newly charged water into the ocean.  I asked everyone to visualize the healing rippling out farther and farther, to touch all the waters of the world.

You don’t have to do anything as organized as this.  Blessing and thanking your tap water before you drink it is a small thing you can do every day.  Visualize the water, particularly the Gulf of Mexico, clean and pure.  And you can support the efforts of companies like Natural Solutions North America, Inc, as they work to clean up the Gulf Oil Spill.

Blessings,

Mary

I recently returned home from The Peaceful Woman Maui Facilitator Passage.  This is the third time I have gone, and it continues to amaze me.  Or rather, I continue to amaze myself.

How do you describe your own inner journey to someone else? How do you put deeply personal and meaningful “aha” moments into words?  The Peaceful Woman Maui Passage is a week long journey into your own truth.  And each time I return, I learn more and more about myself.  I learn how to cut through the noise in my own head, to drop into that still place inside myself where my soul resides.  I learn how to be the observer in my own life–how am I occurring in this situation?  And what does that say about how I occur in the rest of my life?

I arrive open to the teachings this time and this place have prepared for me, vulnerable in the knowledge that I have manifested the experiences that will take me to the next level.  I am here to support the other women on their journey, and I allow myself to be supported, by conscious women who become soul sisters, as well as by Mother Maui, a magical island that has much to share.  I tune in, listening to the requests of the women with me on this Passage, my body,  and Mother Nature all around me, knowing they are all reflections of my innermost Divine self.  I share my experiences and insights, and soak up the breakthrough moments like the rays of brilliant sunshine.

I dance the ancient dance, blessing the land, and walk the labyrinth to my center and back.  I am cleansed in the river of feminine energy, and purified in the ocean where the ancients landed their canoes.  I am teleported to the sacred place where the sky meets the land, from which messages are sent and received.  I walk the fields of heat and passion, sweat out the stones that block my Light, and claim my blessings.  I sway with strong bamboo, bathe in healing waterfalls, and am pampered into a state of relaxed bliss.  I unite with my sisters to carry us swiftly across the waves to sing to the turtles, and swim amidst rainbow colored fish.  I celebrate the journey with dancing, singing and feasting!

And throughout I am treated to the wisdom of the Hawai’ian culture.

Experience is a better teacher than any book, and nature is the best classroom there is.

This is my truth, and I choose to live from this place of peace and power.  I invite you to join me, to know your truth, and live your truth. I am leading Peaceful Woman Maui Passages August 15th-21st, and September 12th-18th, and there are other dates with other incredible facilitators available. For a limited time, you can get 10% off the full price of your Passage.  Please enter coupon code “MM”.  There are also limited spaces for facilitators still available.  Contact me here if that is something you are interested in.

Here’s my experience from my first Passage:

Blessings,

Mary

It’s tax time for many people, and so money is in our thoughts a lot right now.  Money has been a big issue for me, and one of the things that I have been working to retrain my mind about in the last year and a half is that money is just another form of energy.

There are lots of cliches about money.  Consciously or not, these cultural teaching affect how we interact with money.  I have been working on my abundance mindset, and being in the flow of money, having it flow to me and through me effortlessly and abundantly.

The other morning, I found myself slipping back into some old thought patterns: I need more money for ______; How am I going to pay for _______; I still owe ______; etc.

Then I gave myself a mental shake.  I recognized the old pathway my mind was travelling down, and I consciously stepped off of that old path.

“Wait a second!” I thought to myself.  “I have just had an abundance of energy and money flow through me in the past couple of weeks!”  Ok, it flowed through me, and went out just as fast as it came in, but I was in the flow.  My bills are paid, and the money I needed for a couple of unplanned things (car repairs!) was there for me when I needed.

In that moment, my whole energy shifted.  Instead of being worried and tense, I was relaxed and peaceful.  Instead of being anxious, I felt extremely grateful.  I am now aware that an experience I was looking for in my life is present, right here and right now, and it gives me the sustaining faith that I will continue to have this experience.  I AM in the flow, and I AM manifesting abundance in my life!

To what do I credit the shift in consciousness?  It started with the Millionaire Mind Intensive in October of 2008, which helped me to start changing my beliefs about money. This led to other courses and events with Peak Potentials, which helped me break through some of the fears that were holding me back and build a network of supportive, positive people who have goals and beliefs similar to mine.  Then my husband and I attended CEO Space in May of 2009, which expanded my vision of what I am here to do in the world and led me to The Peaceful Woman.  Most recently, I have been taking part in The Peaceful Woman’s Inspired Living Coaching Program, and that has helped me be aware of what I want to manifest, and become conscious of when I am manifesting those experiences into my life.

Here are a couple of the books I have read that have helped me create this positive change:

• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
• The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth Ph.D.
• The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist (this one made a particularly large impact on me!)

I’d love to hear about your relationship with money, and any tips you have for making it a positive one!

Blessings,

Mary

Today’s the day…
Miracles are happening in my life.

Today’s the day…
I leave the past behind me.

Today’s the day…
My life is changing
For the better!

Today’s the day…
My dreams are becoming reality.

Today’s the day…
The work I have been doing
Bears fruit.

Today’s the day…
I am aligned with my purpose
And success comes easily.

Today’s the day…
The goals I have been working toward
Are realized, and new goals
Spring up before me.

Today’s the day…
The pieces of the puzzle
The Universe has been moving for me
Fall into place.

I don’t know what.
I don’t know where.
I don’t know who or how.

All I know is
Today’s the day!
I feel truly blessed
And I am so grateful.

Blessings,
Mary

I can’t believe it’s already been two weeks since I returned home from assisting with the most recent Maui Facilitator’s Passage.  Since it’s officially March, I can even say it was last month!  How quickly the time passes.

As always when I return home from a retreat or course, or really any time I have been away on my own, I am faced with the opportunity of integrating what I’ve learned into my daily life.  Sometimes it is easier than others!

It was very interesting to experience the Maui Passage through new eyes – having gone through it once already six months ago.  Here’s a video of me on the last day of the Passage last August:

Aside from getting to meet 10 incredible new women and deepening my connection with four women I met last time, going through the Passage for a second time helped to anchor a lot of the things I had learned on my initial Passage.  For example, in August I had some challenges with “Flow Day”.  When the day didn’t go as I thought it should, I became upset.  I’ve been working on that over the past six months (my youngest son is a wonderful teacher who goes with the flow all the time), and I felt a lot more ease this time around.

And I learned some new things as well.  On “Volcano Day”, I went and visited a heiau, a sacred place, up a hill that I had missed visiting in August.  On the way back down to the beach, I had an aha message: “Stop searching for the significance of every moment, and allow each moment to be significant.”  I saw that many times I work really hard to figure out why something is special, or push for the message I am supposed to receive.  I don’t always get one.  But when I am able to be truly present in an experience, rather than observing myself in it, I find much more profound meaning and insight.

On “Waterfall Day”, the experiences and the women in the February Passage reflected back to me that I am strong and a good leader.  I saw that while my body may not look or feel much different, the work I have been doing to take better care of my physical body is making a difference.  I was able to run up a hill at one point, something that would have winded me even six months ago.  And when I planted myself in order to assist other women, I was stable and unshakable.

Going back to Maui completely reaffirmed for me that this work is what I want to be doing, and this company is totally in alignment with my purpose and values.  I am excited to announce that I will be starting a Peaceful Woman Meet Up group this month, and I will be facilitating Maui Passages August 15th-21st, and September 12th-18th, 2010.  I would love to have you join me!  You will be expanded, enlightened, and peaceful, in your own way and through your own experience.

Blessings,

Mary

This email has been sitting in my inbox, unread, for two weeks.  It’s from a writer I respect very much, Barbara De Angelis.  It was totally perfect timing for me today.

HOW TO MAKE 2010 THE MOST MEANINGFUL YEAR OF YOUR LIFE

PERFORM THE SEVEN ESSENTIAL ACTIONS© ONCE EVERY DAY

1. Thank someone you would normally not thank.
2. Express your love in a way that is unexpected, or to someone who is not expecting it.
3. Honor yourself for something you did today that reflects the best of who you are.
4. Forgive yourself for something you did today that reflects less than the best of who you are.
5. Feel compassion for someone you would normally judge.
6. Notice or experience something as miraculous that you would normally take for granted.
7. For one full minute, stop whatever you are and be deeply grateful for the gift of this day of your life. During this minute, contemplate the fact that yesterday, approximately 154,300 people on Earth passed from this world, and that even while you are practicing this very sixty seconds of gratitude, 100 souls will leave their physical forms. Send them your prayers as they journey onward. Then, with great joy and humility, proclaim these words out loud:

“TODAY, I AM ALIVE!!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2010  Barbara De Angelis  All rights reserved

www.barbaradeangelis.com

I just got this movie in my inbox, and I had to share:

Watch the Magic New Year Movie here… and know that I wish the same for you!

Blessings,

Mary

While doing some research for my guided meditations recently, I came across a site that I am quite looking forward to making a regular visit to:

The Life Balance Institute‘s “Take a Moment” page.

Each week on Monday they release a brief video moment, an opportunity to reflect, think and be inspired.  I can’t wait to see what nect week’s moment is!

Take a Moment, and treat yourself!

Blessings,

Mary

Take some time, and get your life in balance…