embodiedliving

WASSA In Hawaii

 

  I just returned from a week of African Dance with WASSA Dance on the Big Island of Hawaii. We danced at Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center on the southeast side, close to the volcano. We drove down the road for a short walk to the viewpoint where we saw the lava flowing, steaming and sparking at night.

When I arrived on the island and before I left, I stayed near the City of Refuge--the most sacred spot on the island.  This photo gives a glimpse of the spot, known as Pu'uhonau o Honauanau.  Fabulous snorkeling, it is an exquisite place where the lava juts out into the water, containing small pools of water that offer the sea turtles places to nest and feed. My last day there, I ventured out to the edge of the lava shelf early in the morning. I had asked the whales to come during my trip, and had always just missed them.    As I sat there, I heard a low sound in the bay to my right.  I looked up and there were two humpback whales, a mother and her calf.  They swam over to the water just in front of me (30 to 50 feet from me) and played for hours, flapping their white tales, blowing water, flipping upside down and in circles, and carving the sea with their large curved bodies. In addition to their low sounds, they made the most beautiful singing sound.  I sang back, uttering "Mahalo," (thankyou) over and over.

This was a perfect ending to a week of daily dancing, communing and relaxing at Kalani. As Lara McIntosh (Wassa) wove her magic each day to the beat of inspiring world music, we followed in a state of kinesthetic bliss.  The floor became sand under our feet as we felt each step move through our feet and up into our bodies.  Our bellys became sea stars and jellyfish, our pelvises, bowls.  Lara's colorful and imaginative images connected us to our bodies in new and profound ways.  The music connected us to each other and the luscious, colorful environment.
 Now I understand why her students come back year after year. This is an experience that lives in each of us, that we bring back, wrapped in the spirit of Aloha. There is a law on the books of Hawaii, defining Aloha.  In part, it states, "The Aloha Spirit is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each person to the Self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others. In the contemplation and presence of the life force, Aloha, the following unuhi laulâ loa (free translation) may be used:

• Akahai, meaning kindness to be expressed with tenderness;
• Lôkahi, meaning unity, to be expressed with harmony;
• `Olu`olu, meaning agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;
• Ha`aha`a, meaning humility, to be expressed with modesty;
• Ahonui, meaning patience, to be expressed with perseverance."

Law as the Healing Profession

Lady Justice

I am linking to an article here that I hope you will read, whether you are a lawyer or a legal consumer.  A friend of mine, Michael McCormack, wrote this piece and from it you can see his love for the big picture, the way our social fabric hangs together (or doesn't). Move Beyond the Adversarial System of Law. One of Michael's themes is that law was originally a profession that helped heal relationships in the community. "... ways in which the law crafts and reveals relationships in our culture. Torts, contracts, constitutional law and politics—it’s all about relationships. If we recognize that the purpose of law is to craft and reveal relationships (for better and worse), we come closer to creating a core purpose for all facets of the legal profession.

Michael embodies this relational approach in his organization, Citizens for Health, a national nonprofit consumer advocacy group.

So how do we reclaim this core purpose of the profession?  Just yesterday I was talking to Paula Lustbader, in my mind one of the "stars" among legal faculty at Seattle University School of Law.  We were chatting about Atticus Finch and the way in which he epitomized the counselor role of lawyers back in the day.  Paula laughed about the movement in law now and how in many ways it is taking us back to the origins of law, when clients were in trusting relationship with lawyers who were seen as keepers of an ethical code and "justice." 

Perhaps it is returning us to those roots, though we now have the added wisdom of viewing the world through the lens of "both/and," the gift from quantum mechanics. (I love the image of Lady Justice holding the scales of balance!)  MIchael calls this" Co-Responsive Law" because it describes a “corresponsive” relationship among elements in a system. Its focus is on participation and inclusion. Its strategy is to foster correspondence and co-responsibility among all constituents. It is self-organized (a/k/a autopoietic ). It is philosophically holistic and trans-rational."

Michael goes on to note that the "most crucial component [of co-responsive law] is the “client,” the grassroots stakeholder. Co-Responsive Law shows up today in the form of collaborative law and therapeutic jurisprudence; in the use of “truth and reconciliation” efforts around the world; and in new statutes and court rules that give evidentiary protection to apologies."   He cites a 2002 ABA survey of clients, many of whom stated that they feel uneasy and vulnerable in the world of law and lawyers. 

Surprising?  Time for a change??

What do you think?

Marry your Inner Feminine and Masculine & Unleash Your Power

Man & Woman in Flower

I am someone who has ideas all the time.  And, I want to act on all of them.  Idea to action.  Never works. Why? 

As I explored the balance of masculine and feminine energy inside myself, I discovered what was missing.  The masculine conceives the idea.  The feminine nurtures and gestates the idea into life. The idea is FELT, not just thought about as a concept.  She gives it energy and connects it to all of our relationships. She cares for and supports its growth so that when it is time to act, the action (masculine) is inspired ("spirit within"). 

I found that the masculine in me was relentlessly driving me, without giving my feminine side a chance to participate.  I always felt "guilty" about hanging out, doing nothing, letting things "simmer" in the soup.  I dialogued with both sides and WOW, did I find some outdated beliefs.  Now my feminine and masculine know each other and trust that working together is easier for all of us.  The relationship opens the door for my true inner power to flow.

Just as with the idea stage, when the action is supported by both the masculine and feminine, it is taken in a way that preserves relationships, honors feelings and values, and is life-giving, not life-taking.

This integrated approach is the heart of creative process.  It is a true dance that allows for leading and following, attraction and response, logic and intuition, giving and receiving.  This is true power.

The Power of Heart-Centered Leadership

“The great become legendary when they teach by example.  It isn’t what they have, or what they do, but what they have become that inspires all of mankind, and that’s what we honor in them.”
                                                                                       David Hawkins

We all want to be inspired, moved, touched, and stirred from within to claim a nobler part of ourselves.  I just met with a young healing professional who inspired me. Because she had become her commitment to healing, I felt a renewed sense of desire to bring the qualities of the feminine and open heartedness into my life and work. We all need to be leaders today. As we step into leadership, the gap between vision and action will disappear.

In his seminal book on consciousness, Power versus Force, David Hawkins created a map of the energy fields of consciousness. They range from shame at 20 to enlightenment at 700-1000. At the 200 level (courage), we transcend from “force” to “power.” (The Constitution of the United States calibrates at about 700.)

Hawkins notes that force always creates counter-force; it acts in the face of opposition.  Power is still--like a lighthouse it energizes, illuminates, and provides support.  Power is associated with compassion while force is associated with judgment.

He then goes on to show that noble principles emanate from consciousness. We are motivated by those ideas that have meaning for us, whether they are logical or not.  Ghandi did not protest in the face of violence directed at him.  Logical?  No. Inspiring?  Absolutely.
Thousands of people followed him, leading to the withdrawal of the British Empire from India.

Values and meaning—these come from the non-linear side of our brain and from our feelings.  The invisible energy fields that seem chaotic at first are really coherent, unified patterns. The right brain “gets the pattern,” and the left brain “makes it visible.”

Hawkins tested attractor patterns with muscle testing in a large, representative sampling of people from all over the world; across the board, attractors such as compassion, love, and forgiveness tested strong, while weak attractors such as pride, judgment, and revenge tested weak.  He cites the book In Search of Excellence by Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman as a case in point. It shows that companies with “heart” are the most successful, rather than those that are strictly left-brain and scientifically managed.

Heart
Great leaders find their power in those noble sentiments and principles that live in the range of consciousness above 200.  How do we know when we are inspired?  We feel inspired.  The heart is where our truth lives, where we find our values-- that which has “heart and meaning” for us. And, of course, it is where we connect with empathy, compassion, and acceptance of ourselves as well as others.  These are not linear, logical, or rational qualities, and the left side of the brain cannot connect us to them.

Daniel Goleman’s work at Harvard has shown us that great leaders empathize with others, tune into the mood of the room or organization, and then create a force field that influences that mood.

From Heart Math’s research, we know that the electromagnetic field of the heart is 5000 times more powerful than the brain.  The heart has its own intelligence, just as the gut has brain cells. The heart signals can affect the brainwaves of those around us.  Have you ever spent time with the Dalai Lama?  His mere presence is enough to influence you deeply.

Mind 
Our minds are powerful when they are in service of higher consciousness.  If the mind leads by itself, we are likely to succumb to the insecurities of the ego and the emotional triggers that stem from our childhood. Without the heart’s leadership, we lose perspective, becoming trapped by our own emotional biases and distortions. When the mind serves the heart, it becomes our most powerful agent of change.

It is with our minds that we focus our energy and attention, whether on an idea, a commitment, spiritual guidance, or our feelings and sensations.  We can use our imagination to expand our heart’s desire and create vision. And through intention and resolve, we manifest our ideas. 

When the mind is in service of the heart, we gain the awareness and courage to recognize those childhood beliefs and emotional triggers that no longer serve us, and have the ability to change them through acceptance and love.

Body
Life happens in the present.  The only way to experience the present moment is to be connected to and aware of your body.
I find that the easiest way to come back into the present is to connect with my breath, my heart, and my center (lower belly or gut). Our center has its own intelligence and knows how to move in the world. Think of a great athlete or dancer--they move from center. 

Through our body and our center, we experience sensations, feelings, intuition, and instinct.  Often we know something in our gut long before we know it in our mind, if we pay attention.  It is with our bodies that we gather information about the world and our inner being, stand for what we believe, and ground our lofty visions.  The body is a powerful partner and one that we often ignore or “push” well past its natural limits.  Staying connected to our bodies is one of the best ways to tune into our hearts and feelings and provide a check and balance for our runaway minds.

Conclusion
I work with my heart, mind, and body to connect to the larger “field” of support and to tune into spiritual guidance.   My body is like a radio transmitter with the signals coming through my heart.  My mind creates new possibilities and ideas with the signals.  I think of the body and mind as partners, serving the higher consciousness that flows through the heart.

A former teacher of mine is a model for me.  She was so heart-centered that you felt her presence and love just by being in the room with her.  She deeply honored all life, and she responded through her feelings--when she talked about an experience, you were right there with her, feeling what she was describing, being inspired and transformed.  She was intimately connected to her body, laughing from her belly, walking her talk.  She trusted herself and her students trusted her.  Her mind was trained and disciplined to look at itself without sentimentality.  Through her leadership, I found my own greatness.

Lex Tweet-Twitter Empire for Lawyers

Ode to Twitter: words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither wildly as they slip away across the universe

Lex Tweet.....Check it out.  Noone will suspect that you are roaming the Tweetnet instead of polishing that contract that is due today.  To get you started, check out these profiles of some of the top Lex Tweets.  Just for fun.......Don't knock it till you have tried it!

Alexis Neely- Mom, Family Financial and Legal Expert on TV, Changing the Way Lawyers Think And You Think About Lawyers, Wrote a Book For Parents Who Care What Happens

Kevin Houchin- Bio Author, Attorney, Artist, Teacher, Freemason, Designer, Speaker, Marketer. Husband. Father. Helper to creative people.

Kevin O'Keefe---Lawyer, dad to 5, husband to saint, Cubs-Packer fan. CEO of LexBlog, provider of professional blogs to law firms & operator of LexTweet & LexMonitor.

US Supreme Court--neeed I say more?

Lessig- law professor/reformer

ElizabethPW-Attorney, CFP, Mom, Nerd, Homeschooler, Blogger, Author, Radio Show Host. Creating an internet empire with a toddler underfoot.

Whitney Hoffman--attorney podcaster

EEF -defending your civil liberties in a digital world

Darren Tabor-CEO of DevStart, Inc, easily distracted

David Barrett-largest linked in lawyer network

Painting our Future

Flickr/Paint Me with Color

In the last post, I talked about painting with sound. Today, I spoke to a former client who laughed as she shared that the picture she had painted for herself of her future during our work together had manifested. She had "become" the top producer she had envisioned herself to be.  And, she said, more than she had asked for had showed up, like delicious icing on the cake.

That is the beauty of what we do all the time.  And yet, when we do it intentionally, lining up our pictures with our values and all of the parts of our lives, we have the power to create what we want, or something better.

With NLP (neurolinguistic programming) we fast forward to a specific moment in time and step into the picture that we create with all of our senses. We see ourselves engaged in specific behavior in that specific context, and the mind cannot tell the difference between our experience and reality.  We create a neurological shift in that moment. (This is preceded by thoughtful exploration of what we REALLY want, versus what we think we want. What lines up with our values, our lifestyle, the important people in our life, our own self care and purpose?)

When we fully experience this scene with our senses and our imaginations, whatever old beliefs or emotional triggers stand in the way, pop to the forefront, allowing the client to release and heal them. It is like a timeline back, enabling us to clear interference so that we can reach our potential.

Then, it is about letting go-giving the envisioned moment wings to fly.  Not holding on to outcome and trusting that the Universe is our co-creator.  Something better is on its way. 

What are you creating right now?

David Lanz-Painting with Sound

         Photograph by bhpimages.com

  Have you ever had one of those moments when you felt so inspired that you simply glowed?  A friend invited me to Blake's Place at Providence Point to hear Grammy nominated pianist David Lanz create his magic.  It was the purest pleasure. As I write this, I am listening to one of the three CDs I couldn't help buying, along with sheet music even though I haven't played piano for years! 

He writes in his latest CD, called Painting the Sun, "The art of painting can be described as an act of individual artistic expression. The use of color, texture, shape and shading: ideas and feelings expressed visually that reflect the heart, mind, and soul of the painter.  The sun is not only the center of our solar system and Earth's primary source of energy and light, but has stood throughout time as a cosmic symbol of our life force, our radiant soul (sol), and has been worshiped and revered as a god; a celestial symbol of the divine. So here, painting the sun could be said to be an expression of artistic soul...the desire to describe, and embrace the divine...the eternal. 

Music wields the power to captivate and transport us to a place that is unlike any other earthly or imaginary realm.  The act of making music is surely one of painting with sound, added to with even more color and feeling by the experience of the listener. The soul, I believe is expressed and egaged in these acts and inner processes, each of us in turn...painting the sun."

As I read David's bio on his website, I realized that I was drawn to his work because of the genesis of his current style-the use of music as a healing medium.  His album, Heartsounds led the Seattle born artist into his current genre, after years as a rock and roll/jazz/blues pianist.  I am trained as a sound healer and I felt my heart literally vibrating as I listened to David's music.  What a gift-and right in our own backyard!

For a taste of his music, check out this 2007 You Tube video from a Benaroya Hall Solstice concert.  He will be at Benaroya Hall on April 3 for the Ten Grands concert benefiting the Snowman Foundation. (Scholarships and music for disadvantaged youth, organizations and schools in need.) I will be there.