Rest is Good!

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Leslie Evelo

On Sunday, I found myself feeling guilty for not being “productive.”  There were several things that I “should” have been doing — laundry, cleaning, etc.  I was standing in front of my kitchen window, looking out upon the woods behind our house, and running through the list of chores that I had been ignoring.  But I could not get myself to move!  It was as if my body was frozen to that spot.

It occurred to me then that perhaps my body’s wisdom was in charge in that moment!  No matter that  my mind continued to play its perpetual list of “should’s,” my body wasn’t budging.  It was telling me to stop.  Stop moving, stop thinking, stop fretting.  Just stop.

We are so geared toward constant productivity and action that we feel as if we are breaking a rule when we stop.  We apologize for feeling tired or for moving slowly.  We catastrophize and fear dire consequences if we don’t get just one more thing done before we rest.

The truth is, we are not machines.  We can’t — either physically or emotionally — keep going on and on and on without rest and refueling.  If we don’t expect our cars to run forever without fuel and some time to cool their engines, then why do we expect our bodies and our minds to work without rest and renewal?

When I was frozen in place at my kitchen window, I saw a huge buck nibbling on a tree at the edge of the woods.  I counted the points on his antlers — six.  And I noticed that deer antlers are fuzzy!  Have you ever noticed that?  I had not!  I wanted to run out to the buck and touch his fuzzy antlers!  Luckily, my body wouldn’t let me move to do that, either.

I emerged from my frozen state smiling, and contemplating fuzzy deer antlers.  Now, what was it that I had been thinking about earlier?  I couldn’t recall, and I didn’t try.

Remember that down time — rest — is not a luxury.  It is as basic a need as oxygen.  I encourage you to gently remind yourself of this the next time you are feeling pressured or panicked by the list of “should’s” in your mind, or by the nonsensical notion that you are worthless if you are not being productive in every moment.  Or think of it like this:  in rest, you are being productive — of a calmer, happier, healthier you!

Posted in Bigger Picture, Emotional Healing, General, Healing, Inner peace | 1 Comment

The Angels Made Me Laugh Out Loud

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Cathy Thomas

It has been a challenging couple of weeks for me and my family. I had a day in which I was acutely aware of my worries and then the angels decided to help me out. I had connected my ipod to my car system and for the life of me could not get it to play for the drive over to see my chiropractor. At every red light I was looking at my maintenance manual to see how to get it to connect. Nothing worked. Ok, forget about the ipod.

I saw my chiropractor who gave me some sage advice about getting back into the flow of my life in a positive way. Then I got into my car to drive to my next appointment. I was thinking that maybe I just needed to meditate most of my days and just disconnect from the craziness around me.  Boom, my ipod is playing, without me doing anything, and it is Adyashanti talking. He says that it is important not to simply disconnect from life and meditate constantly. He compared that to only exhaling, which is so relaxing but without the inhale will kill you. He talked about keeping the balance between being in the physical world and detaching from it. The advice was just what I needed to hear. And suddenly his voice was gone and Jo Dunning was talking.

I could not figure out what in the world was happening because I assumed it was playing my list in alphabetical order and I had hours of Adyashanti before we got to the next name, which would not be Jo Dunning. So there is Jo Dunning talking about how many people (that would definitely include me) were facing ” bumps in the road”  that were causing us concern. She wanted to remind us that these bumps were only there to help us clarify which of our beliefs or thoughts were no longer serving us. She encouraged us to simply allow our thoughts and beliefs to gently shift to our new understanding. And just as suddenly her voice was gone.

I was now listening to Candice Glover sing the song that won her the American Idol title this year. When she sings “I Who Have Nothing” I feel deeply moved and much stronger in my core. It just really makes me feel more powerful. And then that song was over and Jo Dunning was back.

By now you know that I realized that the angels had taken over complete control of my ipod and were speaking to me directly!! Jo Dunning  began talking about how people are feeling afraid because it seems like what they have known is breaking apart. She said to remember that something awesome is beginning to arise in the world and must break apart what was in order to come into being. She encouraged all of us to stay focused on the wonderful new world that is coming, and to hold that faith as we see things breaking up. It is important to stay in our knowing that something amazingly good is on its way.

And then my cellphone started playing music. I had not touched it. I could not find out how it was doing it and it would not even allow me to turn it off. Then I just started laughing out loud. I said to the angels that I knew they were helping me and now I knew they were just playing with me. I thanked them for the laughter and the lightness that they offered to my day.  We are not alone. There are angels trying to help us every day if we will listen and pay attention. I for one am very grateful for this day of messages and laughter.

Posted in Emotional Healing, Personal Growth | 1 Comment

The Value of Quieting the Mind

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Cathy Thomas

In previous posts I have talked about the need to practice quieting the mind, trusting the process of life and being in gratitude. This past week while we were in Minnesota for a family reunion, I needed to use these steps in a big way. We got a call from our local vet saying that Sophia, our young Australian Shepherd,  had been lost, and almost hit by a car. A woman had called in for information about who she belonged to. The vet assistant  gave us the number for the woman who said she had Sophia.

Believe me our hearts were in our throats as we began calling to piece together what was happening. When we called the woman, she said someone had just taken Sophia, but she had no description of that person. When we asked where she lived, it was miles from our home and at this point we did not know where our other dog, Chelsey, was. We texted and called our pet sitter repeatedly with no response. I had to simply focus on quieting my mind, which quieted my emotions. I had to tell myself to trust that what was happening was meant to be happening and then I struggled to find what I was grateful for in that moment.

I began to think that at least Sophia was no longer roaming the streets. I was grateful for our neighbor who went to our house and saw that Chelsey was safe at home. I prayed for angels to help everyone involved and then I began to quiet my mind again. I actually had moments of inner peace in the midst of the fearful experience.

Slowly Kit and I began to figure out what must have happened for Sophia to be so far from home and that gave us some comfort that she had not been running wild for miles. Back to quieting my mind, trusting and being grateful. After an hour, we finally heard from our pet sitter who had left her phone in her car as she went on foot searching for Sophia. She was a wreck. Sophia had just run off from the barn that she was at and did not come when called. We realized as time went by that Sophia did not come because the other woman had picked her up and had her in her car.

We were all very grateful that Sophia was fine and on her way home. In a few minutes our pet sitter sent us an email with photos of both of the dogs at home “on house arrest”. We were flooded with feelings of relief and I was grateful that I had been able to get through the experience with a little less distress by using the spiritual practices that I had been learning.

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Trusting the Process of Life

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Cathy Thomas

Sometimes it is difficult to imagine that what is happening is for my highest good. This past year, I have struggled with Balboa Press to get our book completed and I really was challenged to see how it was a positive thing. But as is so often the case, with time I  begin t0 see the blessings, particularly if I look for them.

I have been listening to Jo Dunning’s recordings on the “Five Steps to Enlightenment” and steps 2 and 3 are Trust the Process and Be in Gratitude. So for today I focused my attention on my past year’s experiences and looked for the blessings. And found them immediately! We were delayed in getting our book printed for months and because of that, I had the time and space to grieve the death of my father who died at the end of January. If our book had progressed in a ” normal” way I would have needed to be focused on promoting this book almost immediately after his death. This extra time was a huge blessing and something for which I am honestly grateful now.

I also looked at how both my father’s illness and our book publishing experience, led me to develop some endurance skills. I have always seen myself as a sprinter, not a long distance runner. These experiences required me to hang with the process for an extended period of time and to learn patience, and how to pace myself for a long race. I believe that I have learned some vital lessons through these prolonged passages and I am grateful to know that I have that strength within me. I see myself differently now.

Jo Dunning calls on us to trust the process of life and I believe this is a worthy endeavor. Practicing this way of dealing with the world is something that I am committed to doing and I trust that every time I work through this process, I will be able to do it more easily. She suggests we start practicing this way of thinking long before we have a serious situation so that we have a little experience with it while it is not so intense. Life is throwing alot of us some curve balls right now, and it helps to know in your gut that it is all for the good. I am practicing  trusting that this is so. Join me.

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