Go SLO=W

If Only.  If only the passing of time would slow down.  Here we are, poised once again, on the brink of a brand new month.  If you are anything like me, you are asking yourself where in the heck did it go.  I can look back on my calendar, of course, and see all the events and appointments filling up those precious days.  Sure, it makes sense, but still it just seems like time is moving in hyper speed mode.

Does it seem that way to you too?  If so, maybe you can benefit from learning how to Go SLO=W.

No matter how busy we get, we can always consciously choose to do this.  It requires no special equipment, no special clothing, no membership fee.  All it requires of you is practice.

Are you ready?  If so, here it is:

How to Go SLO=W

Now, one thing I must add, I use this practice.  Yes, and time still moves way too quickly for me.  So I guess I have to admit it won't solve the hyper speed time going by phenomenon.  What then, is the point?

[Insert a bit of laughter here]

Perhaps the point is that even though time will still go by in a flash, if we use this practice we will, at the very least, consciously pay attention to our inner voice.  Perhaps, in spite of the speed at which our day goes by, we will have shown up 100% for at least a few precious minutes of that day.

Go SLO=W  Stop.  Listen.  Observe.  Wisdom appears.

What could be better?

Wisdom in our hyper speed days.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

Let me know if you agree.  Try to Go SLO=W.  Today.

Your Soul Catalyst,

Verna

Welcoming in 2020

Yikes!  Where did January go?  As I sat at the computer I realized if I wanted to write a post for the first month of 2020 I had to do it now, right now, today.  So here I am and here we go.

How's your 2020 so far?  Mine has been great.  Of course I'm not really sure where this first month has gone and that may be a sign of what's to come but I can't complain.  I think that's a win, don't you?

I hope you can say the year's a win for you so far too.

The most exciting personal news for Integrative Wisdom is that we are "this close" to getting the Soul Catalyst card deck printed!  Thanks to an amazing neighbor and friend, Steve Potts, the cards were professionally designed.  And, they are off to the printer too, just being mocked up, or however you say that.  I am hoping to then get the books printed and at that point, dear friends, I will be blasting the "Get Em Here" news all over the place.

Yes, you will most certainly want your very own deck.

And I will help you achieve that worthy goal...

I'm nice that way.

In other news, I am now a proud teacher on the app, Insight Timer.  Here's your direct link to my work:  Meditations for You

There are 10 there now but the plan is to add many more.  Stay tuned.

And, as always, if you ever feel you are ready for some personal coaching, please reach out and let me know.  I would be honored to assist.

And...here's to your best year yet!  With 2020 vision how can it not be?

Your Soul Catalyst,

Verna
562 505 0778

True Grit

As I sit down at this computer, my mind is pondering what in the world it should offer on this important last day of this year and in fact, of this decade.  What is rolling around inside this head of mine that is important enough to bring forth, to share with others?  As I looked around for the myriad of notes I stash in no one particular place, I find one sheet of paper with only a few words on it.  One word stands out:  Grit.

Immediately I knew this was the topic for this post.  Grit.  Many folks may remember the movie with John Wayne, True Grit.  That's the first thing I usually think of when I hear this word.  Funny though, I really didn't remember what the movie is about.  So, I googled it.  Do you remember?  It's about a 14 year old girl who wants to bring the man who killed her father to justice and she engages John Wayne's character to help her.  He, of course, doesn't want her to come along, but she will not stand down.  She goes along, determined to achieve her goal.  She displays true grit.

Moving into this new year, I think about the past year.  So many of us experienced deep challenges that required true grit to get through.  And, we were able to make it through the tough times.  My question is:  At what cost to our health, our well-being, our stamina, our spirit, our very soul?  This leads me to consider another possibility, one I learned about from a mentor,  Mike Jay  He taught me CPR.  Not the kind you are probably used to though.  This CPR stands for Creating Personal Resilience.  And I think we should all learn this type of CPR.

So, that is what I wish for each of you today.  I imagine each of you with enough knowledge and expertise to not only white knuckle through life's slings and arrows, but to rise above and to soar with grace and confidence to face whatever this life challenges us with.  Integrative Wisdom says it's not enough to "get through" the pain and suffering and sorrow.  We must somehow also come out of these moments able to shake off the dust and emerge, not diminished by the experience, but rather enhanced by it all.

Many of you may scoff at the idea of being able to create a practice that is able to accomplish this.  I agree that it will not happen simply by wishing it so.  I have learned by personal experience that it is only through dedicated effort one is able to move beyond habit and personality to arrive at the doorstep of conscious choice.  We can choose our responses and we can honor our experiences without being permanently harmed.  We, however, must create our unique personal plan to tap into the true grit, the resilience we deserve.

Science has proven that our bodies and our minds work in tandem.  Our bodies will react to our thoughts.  To keep our bodies from taking on the effects of those "true grit" moments, we must be sure to release and let go of the energy that our emotions and thoughts create in our bodies.  Be sure to debrief, or take time to shake it out, or process without the emotional attachment.  Take time to go into the quiet, to breathe, to let go of shoulds and judgments.  Let your body know that, no matter how things turned out, you are ok and you did your best.  

I hope this will help you consider creating your CPR training so you will be prepared for whatever 2020 brings.  My wish is that you will not ever get stuck in the quicksand of life's yuck, but that you will be able to move through it with, yes, true grit, but also a resilience that offers to erase any negative effects from the encounter.

A lofty goal perhaps, but Integrative Wisdom believes it's possible.  And your Soul Catalyst wishes it for you.

Here's to 2020 and CPR for your Soul!

Life's Magical Moments

What Magic is Brewing in Your Life?

Happy Brand New Month!  OMG a few of us might exclaim.  How in the world did we get here already?  Where did this year go?  I'm not ready... (Just a few other exclamations we might be making!)

And yet, we are here.  Right here at the end of a whole year.  AND to make it even more surreal, we have arrived at the end of a decade and are facing a brand spanking new one.   Usually just the coming of a new year sends out the call to make those resolutions but the coming of a new decade?  What might that milestone trigger within us?

Maybe you have been so busy you haven't even thought about the new decade.  Maybe you are so busy with the Christmas season, you haven't even thought about the New Year.  If not, I'm here to put a bee in your bonnet and set your mind to conjuring.

What better time than the magical season of Christmas to envision our future?  One question I have been pondering for a few years now is this:  As an adult, what would I ask Santa for?  For some reason this question has not been easy for me to answer.  I think back to my childhood and the joy I felt when I realized that Santa had listened to me and thought enough of me to fulfill my heart's desire.  I truly loved the gift, whatever it was, and skipped and jumped around for days, while reveling in my prize.

But, now as an adult, the magic has shifted slightly.  Now I am more inclined to believe the gift will come due to my actions, not Santa's.  But...if I returned to those days of blind faith in a bringer of my deepest held desire, what would I ask for?

I have considered those beauty contest answers like "world peace" and "justice for all".  Maybe I don't even think those are possible and I don't want to waste a wish. Or maybe I'm just selfish and want the gift to only benefit me and my life.  As I have said, I am still in the middle of discernment.

I will pause here and let you ponder what you might ask Santa for...

Dear Santa,

So, what is your wish to Santa?  Was it easier for you than it has been for me?  I hope so.  Here's to that magical moment when Santa grants your deepest desire.

But...if you were more like me and found it hard to know what to ask for, why do you think that is?  I'm really curious.  I think part of it for me is the understanding I now have about the fragility of life and the knowledge that, all too soon, life comes to an end.  I find there isn't any one thing I can ask for that will live up to the enormity of this fact.

Instead, I find myself simply wanting to show up to each day.  I find I want to show up, more to the process of asking rather than the end result of receiving.  I revel in the magic that I am here at all and in the magic that one day, a day I have no knowledge of, that it will all be over.  I want to revel in this moment, this magic that is simply being able to ask the question.

So, back to this, end of the year-last month of 2019, moment.  Back to this end of a decade moment.  I am choosing to be held in this magic by consciously marking my days, by listening with my inner ear and discerning what to do, not what to get.  I find have goals, milestones I want to achieve that stand for the idea I was given a responsibility in this being born, a mandate to listen to an inner call and somehow manifest this out into the world. 

I am excited that I am achieving all three of the goals I set for myself back in May.  These will be the gifts I give to myself I suppose.  These coming to fruition is the magic I will cherish.  And, as I finish out these last 30 days of this decade I will give thanks for the gift of life, for the gift of magic, and for the gift of believing.  And I extend my belief that you, too, will be able to discern your end of the year, end of the decade magical moments and revel in them.


Lastly, Integrative Wisdom will be offering an envisionment gathering in January 2020.  Yep, I just made up that word.  It works for what I am envisioning... If you have any desire to partake in the magic, stay tuned.  The date will be set one day soon.  I hope to see you here.

Your Soul Catalyst,
Verna

11:11 AND a New Decade in 50 Days! Oh, AND the Mercury Transit!

Oh me oh my.  Chances are you won't be reading this on 11/11, but still maybe you will be able to recall the excitement surrounding this day.  Or maybe you will just recall this day as Veteran's Day.  At any rate, it felt like a big day to me so I really wanted to mark the day with a new post.

What was kind of funny to me is that I was thwarted today several times.  You see, I forgot it was a national holiday and so my trips to the credit union, the bank, and the library were for naught.  And you would think the first closed governmental building would have clued me in, but alas, nope.

Anyway, I did go look for a website that showed the Mercury transit, which is watching a tiny black round thing cross the sun, with the aid of very powerful telescopes of course.  It was pretty darn amazing.  It also was a great way to remind oneself that no matter how much it feels like this planet is stationary, it is definitely not.  And that's a pretty big deal if we think about it.

Miracle.  Magic.  Marvelous.

Mercury's Magic

Lastly, and this one really stunned me, even though I know we are nearing the end of the year.  We are only 50 days away from a brand new decade!  Now, that's the potential for a fresh start isn't it?!  I mean, can you imagine the new journal you should get to mark this occasion?  An entirely new 10 years!  And, from what I hear from various astrologists out in the wild world, we are moving even more deeply into a new age...wait for it...yes, it really is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

The Age of Aquarius

However, the dawning details are just way too complicated and daunting to add to this humble post, so we will just leave that here as we hum a few bars...

What I think is most important, especially if you are one that loves fresh starts, is that you also make a concentrated attempt to end this decade with intention as well.  For the next 50 days, see if you can reflect back on the last decade and track your growth, your understanding, your insight into who the heck you are and why you are here on this planet now.

What is waiting within your deepest self for you to find?  What is waiting for you to finally release and let go? Maybe you can set aside a special notebook or maybe even make one with 50 pages in it and take a few minutes for the next 50 days to write stuff down.

Let yourself be with yourself for a change.  Give that YOU some true quality time, not for worldly endeavors, but for soulful ones.  Decide to Go SLO=W.  Stop.  Listen.  Observe.  Voila, wisdom appears in the form of knowledge, self knowledge.  And as Bruce Lipton has said in his book, The Biology of Belief, "self knowledge is self empowerment".  What better way to usher out the old...decade, and usher in the new...decade than by empowering yourself FOR yourself!!!!

And lest you think this selfish, dear one, please know that the more you know and understand you, the better partner, friend, daughter, spouse etc you will be.  SO in reality, one of the least selfish things you can do.  It's way more selfish to wallow in your self doubt, your self pity, your self depreciation...well, I think you get the gist.

So, dear reader, go forth and get quiet for a bit.  Let your soul shine a bit and let it talk to you.  You will be guided I am sure.  And it may be a little bit scary, but nothing like those horror movies we are encouraged to see.  You can do this.  I have faith in you.

Be fierce.  Be brave.  Be present. 

Be You.

OK, I think that's it for this love letter for the wonderful 11:11 Mercury transit, New Decade in 50 days post.  Hope you will take this to heart and mark the passing of this decade with purpose!

Your Soul Catalyst,

Verna

Letting Your Soul Shine

Letting Your Soul Shine

Thomas Moore, in his book, Care of the Soul, states that the soul is not a "thing" but rather a "quality or dimension of experiencing life and ourselves."  I don't know about you, but while I like the idea, I find it harder to relate to a quality than to an entity.  That's why I will write about the soul today as if it is a "thing", and a precious thing at that.  And the cool thing is that every single one of us has one...no need to be jealous or covet another's soul.  We don't have to do anything to keep it either.  We can't lose our soul, ever, no matter what.  But this doesn't mean we don't have responsibilities to our soul, just because we can't lose it.  In fact, if we really could understand how important the soul is, we would spend more time cherishing it and taking it into consideration more often.

But now that I think about it, we aren't very good at taking care of us on most levels.  Often, we struggle to take care of our physical health, we ignore our emotional health, we disregard our spiritual health and we don't even have a clue about our soul.  Or we have wrapped up the world so tightly with our cherished beliefs, we never stop to examine whether those beliefs are still valid in this day and age.

What the heck is going on?  With all the knowledge available to us these days, you'd think we could do a better job of providing our "self" with better TLC.  Tender.  Loving.  Care.
Before I go further, take a minute to reflect.  In what ways have you taken care of your "self" today?  Body?  Mind?  Spirit?  And yes, Soul?

Body    _______________________________
Mind    _______________________________
Spirit   _______________________________
Soul    _______________________________

Did you have at least one thing you did today for YOU in each category?

These don't have to be huge.  Simple is often best.  Taking one second to pause and breathe intentionally counts.  Stopping before you eat and saying a word of thanks.  Choosing to forgo that sweet snack.  Listening to your heartbeat and saying thanks.

Anyway, for this post let's focus on the soul.  Do you have a definition of soul?  Check out the dictionary for interesting responses.  I think I like the one that says that the soul is the "essence of a living being".  Now, let's define essence.  Here's one definition: the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.  Hey, we're back to the idea that the soul is a quality, not a thing!  Interesting.  At least to me and I hope to you.

This brings up a question:  would you say your day to day life reflects the quality of your character?  What quality does it reflect?  Wait, what's the definition of quality?  OK, here's one:  The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.

Degree of excellence.  Interesting.  Sounds to me like letting your soul shine means living with the sense that how you live your life matters, that getting in touch with the deepest, truest essence of yourself matters.  And, importantly, it seems that would include all aspects of our nature, not just the ones we accept or think are acceptable to others.

How might that play out for each of us?  Maybe it means we increase our self knowledge.  Maybe it means we take the time to sit in silence and listen to our soul talk.  The mind, the body, and even our spirit can override our deepest intrinsic nature.  Our ego often likes to take control and can really lead us away from our essence.  It's not that the ego is bad, it's just not always trusting of the quiet, the stillness, the vastness that is the soul.

Today, stop and find the time to listen deeply.  Find a way to communicate with your soul.  Then find a way to let your soul shine out in the world.  We need that light.

Let Your Soul Shine

The Soul and Fall Time

Fall Time

So, what's on your agenda for Fall?  Probably Halloween and Thanksgiving preparations.  Anything else come to mind for Fall?  Used to be the start of school, but most kids now do that while it's still summer.  Oh and now the big push is for all the pumpkin spice latte or whatever other "fall-type" flavor gets hyped.  Seems a little bit boring if you ask me.  Of course, I know you didn't ask.  But I decided to go ahead and share a bit more about what Fall Time agendas might look like, if we really wanted to go deep.

Fall Time comes after Summer Time, which is all about planting.  So, it makes sense that Fall Time is all about...

Harvest!  

So, if you were to humor me and go deep instead of just drinking one more cinnamon flavored drink, what might you be ready to harvest in your life this year?  What have you been tenderly caring for and gently nourishing for the past 3 months?

Any idea?  I hope so, cause it's time.  You got three months to reap the fruits of your labors. This is if you take any stock in working with the seasons.  I know we live in a time when we can almost forget about seasons.  We can get almost any fruit or vegetable at any time of year.  We can experience the exact type of weather we want in the moment just by driving or flying to another part of the world.  We have options.  At least some of us do.  Others of us are not able to be quite so mobile or have endless resources to buy whatever season we might take a fancy to today.

Problem with that, is that's all artificial.  There are prices to pay for not living in harmony with nature and blooming right where you are planted.  If you lean to agreement with this, you may want to rethink your fall agenda.  

Can you take a few minutes to stop?  To get quiet and still?  To ask your deeper self if there's something that is ready to come to the surface and live more completely and center stage than it has been doing?  If you are living within the seasonal shifts, you might already know exactly what is ready for harvest.  But, if you haven't, this may cause a bit of unease.

That's really OK though, cause being uneasy may mean you are very close to discovering gold.  Gold ready to be dug up and purified.  Let yourself listen in, then move it.  Take the steps you need to bring forth your soul's bounty.

Your soul is waiting for you to recognize and claim its gifts.  In this time of harvest, won't you begin to reach out your hands and gather in the prize?

Steps to Harvest:

1.  Identify what it was your soul planted this Summer.

2.  Recognize if you have completed the preliminary steps needed for growth.

3.  Get busy and complete those steps if not yet done.

4.  Create a ceremony to honor your work.

5.  Enjoy!

In love,

The Soul Catalyst