Balance For The Quarter Moon

During this First Quarter Moon we find ourselves in the flowering portion of the balancing cycle. We are moving along into the “Enjoy” step of LEAP (Love, Enjoy, Appreciate, Play). If you are just now joining us, you may look back at previous posts to try and catch up or just move forward with us today and when the next cycle comes around you will find yourself learning the beginning you missed. It’s time to take action and expect success but first realign with your chosen goals and get focused.

Active focus towards your goals can be difficult for us with lack of time in our busy lives, but if you steer your thoughts and attention where it matters, you will find your goals readily available to you. For example, if you find yourself reading useless negative stories about celebrities online or sports teams and their athlete’s poor off-field behavior, stop yourself. Actively take your mind somewhere else. Find an online site, (there are tons of them), that provides great positive quotes everyday and sign up, or find a daily devotional book with a collection of insights from a wide range of spiritual teachers. Or a great exercise – track your time. You can use this here to clock how long you spend throughout one day reading negative news stories that do nothing for your soul. This will probably leave you in disbelief, “Did I really just spend an hour and 45 minutes reading that crap?!” We’ve been there, and it can be quite the eye opener. Forgive yourself and take that time to do something positive or the activities we list here today.

Eckhart Tolle speaks about the flowering of human consciousness in his book, A New Earth, “Earth 114 million years ago, one morning just after sunrise: the first flower ever to appear on the planet opens up to receive the rays of the sun.” This is a simple and yet complex picture to imagine for us – an Earth without us or animals or plants. The image can also motivate, as we see how amazing this planet and our loved ones are in their basic existence here today. At one point all of us were a version of a desolate Earth; dry, lifeless, and longing for something to change. But now we can take action with the seeds of knowledge and with some sun (attention) and water (nurture) we can begin to expect that our flowers will grow to cover our entire surface with expansive loving gardens.

However, a single flower or even a few does not make a sweeping landscape of gardens.  As Mr. Tolle continues, “The first flower probably did not survive for long, and flowers must have remained rare and isolated phenomena, since conditions were likely not yet favorable for a widespread flowering to occur.” Just as you are beginning to find yourself in this process of flowering towards your goals, it is in fact, a process. You will not have a garden in a day. The conditions of your soul and your heart’s desires are more than likely not yet favorable for a widespread flowering to occur. You have to allow for TIME in working towards these goals.  Ahh, time. It’s that annoying reminder that you are not where you should be, nor where you once were, or where you could be in the future. These are everyday, normal thought patterns that come into all of our minds. However, like Eckhart Tolle teaches and lives, take control of your thoughts and be in present the moment. Find ways to be grateful for where you are and what you have right this second. It can be difficult some days, but It IS possible, even in the worst of circumstances there is always something to be grateful for.  A lesson of patience, as all the motivation and time in the world may not make you a different person overnight, but you can find your soul feeling new and different as you grow and move along in line with your goals.

Let’s focus on your enjoyment. Dictionary.com defines “Enjoy: as to experience with joy, take pleasure in, undergo an improvement”. If you find yourself laughing about something silly with a co-worker you are at that moment experiencing joy. If you take a break and just listen to the water, birds, wind, or people around you, weather you are in the city, at the beach, or on your lunch at a fast food restaurant you are at that moment taking pleasure in it all. And as we move forward with exercise, activities, and implementing our goals we slowly undergo self-improvement. As we move forward in this, you are like a young flower just beginning to open itself up to the world. You will be noticed in this change, sometimes in great ways and some in bad. Keep your focus on the good and keep the bad attention you may get in perspective. A newly open flower is vulnerable to being picked by the next small child who passes it, or admired by an old woman who sees the true beauty and lovely evolution the flower symbolizes. Unhappy people do not enjoy the act of happiness in others. This is obvious as we grow a more and more unhappy culture indulging in the great mishaps and tragic life occurrences of others at the “impulse” section magazine stands next to the checkout. A terrible news story will run far more times than an uplifting one. This can, and we believe, IS changing with the overall flowering of human consciousness. The earthquake in Japan left most people, even the unhappy ones, sending thoughts of love and prayers through their social media outlets in support of all those affected by the event. If you find someone making fun of your silliness, it is more than likely because of a fear they have of expressing their own enjoyment. Feel for them and continue in your joy. Eventually, your personal choices of enjoyment may assist in that person letting go a bit around you and then growing into that act of letting go for themselves.

For the next few days, choose activities to partake in that you are passionate about and can enjoy while participating in them.  We do not advocate a “no pain/no gain” attitude.  In our belief, pain is a red light telling you to stop and evaluate why you are feeling it.  Are you pushing too hard, are you in poor form? Walking, jogging, hiking, swimming, bike riding, kayaking, surfing, skiing, dancing, martial arts, Tai Chi, gymnastics are all good examples of exercises that you can choose to enjoy during this time. Many exercises you can find at your local community center, gym, and even at home online or by purchasing fun videos.

Enjoy a good book, a nice meal, a relaxing bath, sporting event, shopping, leisure activities, even a silly kid’s movie!

Try the following yoga poses that will encourage movement – they primarily focus on opening and strengthening your legs, hips, lower back and abs. Make sure to repeat each pose for the other side of the body as some of the examples only show you how to do one side.  If you do not feel comfortable doing any of the exercises simply skip and go to the next.  We remind you to please not push too hard.  If you feel a pain or strain somewhere stop immediately.

1. Hero
2. Sun salutation
3. Triangle
4. Wide legged forward
5. Half moon
6. Dog
7. Wind relieving pose
8. Double leg raise
9. Bridge
10. Full boat
11. Locust

This movement meditation exercise is an excellent way to connect with the earth while opening yourself like a flower.

Sit in lotus position and do the breath and navel meditation found here.  If you cannot sit in full lotus you can try half lotus or simply just sit cross-legged.  Use the hand mudra “Om” with the index finger touching the thumb with the back of your wrists resting on the inside of your knees.

Try the color yellow during this time. It represents happiness, sunshine, focus. With it you will feel cheerful, empowered, self confident and a boost in your ability to believe in and follow your goals and dreams. Lemons are yellow and their scent does the same for you as the color. Burn a lemon verbena candle or cut a few lemons in half and place them around you home for the day.

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Wishing you great abundance & growth!

Lonny & Kristen