Welcome, Radiant Soul! It’s time to Spiral into Advent.

Love is the animating life force of creation. How is love made manifest in you? This week, may you know yourself as wholly and unconditionally loved. Continue to nurture yourself in body, mind, and soul by listening to this week’s yoga nidra and by joining us for a reiki self-treatment practice on Sunday, December 20th at 2 pm PST, 3 pm MST, 5 pm EST. Zoom link below.

Join us for a guided meditation and Reiki Self Treatment Practice.

Topic: Spiraling Into Advent - Reiki Self Treatment
Time: Dec 20, 2020 03:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

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Journal Prompts

• What limits you from experiencing love?

• What is it like in body, mind, and spirit when you experience love?

Christ Born

If Christ is to be born
it will not be in a manger:
that was long ago.
Now it will be in you.
You yourself: be Christ;
bear love into this world.
Dare to believe
that what is holy
may be conceived in you;
that the eternal Word
may be made flesh
in your flesh.
All God intends
is that love be embodied,
and you, child—you
are called to bear this love
into the world.
With Mary, say Yes
to the divine in you.

by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

My favorite Christmas book is the Glorious Impossible by Madeleine L’Engle. She writes, “Possible things are easy to believe. The Glorious Impossibles are what bring joy to our hearts, hope to our lives, songs to our lips.” What brings you joy this Advent?

As we spiral deeper into the layers of the body, mind, and spirit, this week’s supportive is practice is about cultivating awareness through open eye meditation or gazing.

If you practice yoga, you may be familiar with the practice of drishti, focusing on a focal point with a soft gaze while you’re holding a posture. Not only does this bring an external state of steadiness to the body, but it also brings an internal steadiness to the soul. Focused awareness, either through yoga nidra or open eye meditation, creates the opportunity to bring body, mind, and soul together in a state of union.

I learned about drishti by practicing yoga. It was only two years ago when I was at a women’s retreat in Ecuador when I learned about open eye meditation in the Buddhist tradition. In the Christian tradition, this form of meditation is practiced by gazing at an icon or a candle flame.

Yoga means to yoke, join, or unite. In yoga nidra, the meditations unravel the layers of illusion that keep us from perceiving our union with the Divine. The purpose of spiritual practice is to bring us into union with the Source of All That Is. This week’s supportive practice is open eye meditation. Try it and see what is revealed.

Open Eye Meditation

Before you begin, choose a focal object, preferably something from nature - a bouquet of flowers, a tree, a houseplant, or even your Advent wreath. You can practice indoors or outdoors. If you’re practicing indoors, create a sacred space free of clutter. You may also choose to meditate on an icon or a candle flame.

• Find a comfortable spot to sit with your back straight and feet on the floor.

• Set a timer for five minutes.

• Take a few deep breaths, noticing your feet on the floor.

• Choose a single point of focus.

• With soft eyes, gaze on the object in front of you, letting external stimulation fade away.

• If you notice your mind starting to wander off, return to your breath or close your eyes before returning to open eye meditation.

• If you start to feel uncomfortable, feel your feet on the floor, butterfly your knees, rock your pelvis back and forth, and focus on breathing deep into your belly.

• When the timer goes off, journal about your experience.

• You can shorten or lengthen the amount of time you spend on this practice.

Journal Prompts

• What limits you from experiencing joy?

• What is it like in body, mind, and spirit when you experience joy?

Rejoice Always

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances.
—1 Thessalonians 5.16-18

Seriously? Even with all the crud in the world?
Yes. In the rock-paper-scissors of life
joy cuts sorrow, crushes despair and swallows crud.
Grieve first... and joy comes with the morning.

These are hard days. But joy is bigger than these days.
Joy is not happiness with present circumstances,
but harmony with the goodness of God
and the overflowing of God's delight in us.
Joy includes the universe,
and all its beauty and sorrow.
Joy dances with gratitude.
Joy plays with hope, which is trust in the unseen.
Joy sings with love, which is self-giving for another,
who is the self—a return to wholeness. What joy!

Yes, people are suffering, and others don't care.
But some do. Rejoice!
You can rejoice during a pandemic.
You can give thanks at a funeral.
You can be joyful in prison.
You can lament suffering and injustice, and rejoice.
For joy is the healing of broken hearts,
the breaking of chains, the opening of graves,
the coming of God.

Christ does not come to make us happy,
but to stand with us in the pain of life
until joy like a seed rises.

All is swallowed up in joy.

by Steve Garnaas-Holmes

“We cannot give what we do not have: We cannot bring peace to the world if we ourselves are not peaceful. We cannot bring love to the world if we ourselves are not loving. Our true gift to ourselves and others lies not in what we have but in who we are.” - Marianne Williamson

Advent and Christmas are busy times of year. This week is about self-care and taking time to nurture yourself. I created a special shower scrub recipe that will help engage your sense of smell. Enjoy making the Bearing Gifts Shower Scrub, then post a picture on our private FaceBook group. If you’re not on FaceBook, email me a picture and I’ll share it on the FaceBook page or in a mid-week email.

Advent 1 - Hope

Advent is a season full of hope. We begin this first week of Advent in darkness, yet full of expectation and hope for the coming of the Christ child - the One who was, and is, and is to come. We need hope right now, more than ever. How is hope present in your life? Consider the following journal prompts:

• What limits you from experiencing hope?

• What is it like in body, mind, and spirit when you experience hope?

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - that perches in the soul - and sings the tune without the words - and never stops at all - Emily Dickinson