Sparks in Wisdom's Fire: sacred spark

Showing posts with label sacred spark. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

sauntering with your body, mind, spirit, & heart

Let’s saunter — a slow meandering from here to wherever the paths calls. Who knows where a saunter might lead? You may be asking, what is a saunter? A saunter for Robert A. Johnson is “to walk on the earth with reverence for its holiness.”

As I read this quote, I smiled. To saunter is to live contemplatively. Being contemplative is living in alignment with the Spirit. Each moment is spent focusing our attention on however and wherever the sacred shines. Let’s see how we saunter through the four aspects of self: body, mind, heart, and spirit.

Sauntering with the Body

To saunter physically is to walk loose limbed. Putting one foot in front of the other. Roll from heel to toe placing all our weight on our forward foot before lifting the one in the back. Ongoing sauntering returns our center of balance to our core.

Walking like this raises awareness of where we hold tension and what is not in alignment in our physical body. Through sauntering we rediscover the rhythm of our connection to the sacred. This flowing movement reminds us that our body is a vessel of the sacred.

Sauntering with the Mind

Yes, we can saunter with your mind! Another word for this kind of sauntering is non-attachment. We attend to what is going on in our mind — words, images, noisiness — while not holding on to the dandelion fluff of reaction.

Sauntering is an engaged state of mind. It’s about not pushing away or holding onto our monologue. We watch as the fluff floats in our mind’s current. It lazily spins higher and higher, further and further away from our core. Through mindful sauntering we see the real in our life and live within that real.

Sauntering with the Heart

Our heart beats with emotions. Sauntering with our heart, we feel emotions poignantly, honestly, raw. Slipping into an emotion we feel it percolating; we are aware without judgment of our feelings.

Within the saunter, an emotion is what it is — no more, no less. We acknowledge, feel, and surrender into the emotion. This non-attachment is freeing. To saunter is to rest within the 90-seconds life span of emotion. Being with the emotion as it enters our body, travels through the nervous system, and exits. And, yes, that takes about 90-seconds when we don’t hold on to an emotion!

Sauntering with the Spirit

Our spirit saunter-twines through the other aspects of our being — body, mind, and heart. This twining of spirit makes us whole. Our spirit, our sacred spark, touches all four aspects making us aware of our wounds. It ignites our core fire sealing the cracks of our woundedness.

To spirit saunter is to connect our sacred spark to the All Spark. This connection threads through our being and then crosses our aura and saunter-twines with the energy of others and that of creation. In the spirit saunter, we recognize the sacred spark inherent in all.

This saunter with the spirit (small s and capital S) brings us to wholeness — body, mind, spirit, and heart. The cool part? The more we saunter, the more healing we bring to our self and the world.

Won’t you join me in the saunter? Be contemplative as you engage the whole of your life. You don’t have to accomplish all in this moment. To saunter, to live contemplative, happens one step at a time.

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating the mundane and extraordinary. The result of time with Van? Creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature.

Van is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

2022: The Year of the Self

A message for the New Year: Lots of clearing this year. Don’t hold tight to anything but the truth at your core.

This year is about you letting go of what prevents you from being your true self. This is a year to focus on YOU — not in a selfish, self-centered way that excludes everyone else, but in a way that connects you to your core. This is your year to become strong in who you are; to shine your best self into the world. To clear the way to the truth of your core.

The really cool thing? When you connect to your core, your relationships with others, the sacred, and all of creation become better. They really do. When you show up as your best self, you encourage others to do the same. Win-Win.

Committing to a year of self isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Breathe. Remember you have twelve months, 52 weeks, 365 days. Okay, so you have fewer days and a week less now…but you’ve got all the time that you need to strengthen the connection to your core.

Never forget that life is an ebb and flow. During this year, you’ll have moments when you truly connect. Moments, well, when you feel disconnected. Moments when you aren’t even aware of a connection. Whatever you feel is perfectly okay. A lot of awarnesses happen on the path to strengthening your core.

How do you begin this journey to self? First, be aware that you have always been on this journey. Own your journey no matter where you find yourself.

Then, try this. Get into a quiet space. Breathe through the moment. Ask your breath to flow to your core. Become part of the flow. Ride your breath to your core. Once at the core, notice. Use all your senses. Get a clear picture — create it based upon what you sense: hear, see, smell, taste, feel what is at the core.

You can ask these questions: Does my core have a particular color or colors? A texture? Something else? Then, notice whatever calls to you. Create a picture of what you see. This image can be a word description or a visual image. Remember this is your year, create in ways that work for you.

Next, celebrate using these questions (and others if they come to you). What do I like about me? How do I more easily connect to my core? Recall times when you liked yourself and when you connected to the core.

Be with this knowing. Celebrate your connection to this wonder part of you. Celebrate the person that shines forth from the core. Celebrate YOU!

Add this celebration to your visual or word drawing.

Then ask: What do I yearn for? How would I like things to be different? Just be with whatever arises.

Add your yearnings to the drawing.

Maybe what you discovered makes you uncomfortable. Maybe it fills you with exhilaration. Maybe you feel a little bit of both. You are a journey of awareness of your self. A wild wonderful trek that grounds you into the incredible you. Let’s take this journey to self together. Ready. Set. Manifest.

Van Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those places may scare us. The result of time with Van? Creating a blueprint for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition and contemplative nature.

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

A Tale of Tattered Edges

In the quiet of the moment, in the stillness of the night, I hear the determined uttering of calm in a chaotic me.

Yeah, you heard/read that right — chaotic me. I bet you thought I was going to say chaotic world. I thought about it. Then I realized the chaos of the world wouldn’t impact me so much if I was calm at my core.

The eye of a hurricane. That is what the core is. I wish to be within the calmness of the core as the storm rages around. I realize that as the storm encroaches my core, the edges get a bit tattered. That is inevitable. But, when my spiritual core is strong, I notice the tattering before it destroys too much of my core. With that noticing, I turn within. Awareness, I listen to rustling of calm.

Let’s talk first about how to cultivate calm. Within each of use is a kernel of calm, a sacred spark that ignites our awareness and awakens our objective observer. While our objective observer is always present, It take time and lots of effort to cultivate a connection to the calm — the power behind our awareness. It takes awareness to minimize the impact of irritation, aggravation, fear, and anger — the winds of storm that batter the edges of our core.

So, how do we mitigate the effects of the storm’s ravaging to move into stronger connection to our core? How do we cultivate calm? It is all about being awaken and aware. Until we consciously attend to the world around us, we miss what we judge as good, bad, and indifferent. With awareness we move away from the labels into understanding how these emotions and situations trigger feelings in us.

My goal, one day, is to be so awake, so aware that I live totally in the rolling moments. That I do not hold on to past hurts or am poised to leap into a hoped for future. To be here now and respond in ways that recognize the beauty in me. And the recognition powers the connection to my core.

And, the really cool thing? Through my core, I connect to the sacred, others, and all of creation. Through my core I am part of the Great All. Within my core beats the courage to venture into the brewing storm knowing that it can only superficially touch me. The core affirms that I am invincibly calm and prepared to respond to whatever life presents.

Cultivating calm isn’t easy. In fact, it is really hard. Cultivating calm is a moment-by-moment, lifelong endeavor. It requires that we attend to what is happening in the world and what is happening in our self. Bi-listening you are fully engaged internally and externally. I would even say that when you are bi-listening you have mastered the art of bilocation!

The key to cultivating calm and strengthening your connection to the core is living in the moment. Not holding on. Not pushing away. Acknowledging not absorbing distractions. Not acting out of judgment. Being nonviolent. Being in the determined calm is attending to who you are moment by moment.

In the storm-filled tattered edges, I wish you moments of determined calm.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Who? A Birther of Miracle? You! A Birther of Miracle!

Within each of us is a miracle waiting to be birthed. That sounds really cool, doesn’t it? I can hear those creaky gears turning in your head, “Me? A miracle. I. Don’t. Think. So.” I believe in you, in your ability to birth a miracle, even when you can’t believe in yourself.

What is a miracle? Let’s start with the basics — the definition. According to Merriam-Webster a miracle is something extraordinary. It is an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment. For me, this definition changes everything. It brings my sphere of possibility closer to miracle realm.

Although a miracle may seem otherworldly. It’s not something out there. It doesn’t happen to you. You are not a passive participant. A miracle is an inside job, you instigate the miracle. It a response that simmers from the core of your being. It is birthed from your sacred spark.

A miracle is so bright, so extraordinary that you cannot contain it. Its light bursts forth from your being demanding to be shared with the world.

Let’s ground this talk of miracles into real life situations. I think about the times that people have shown up for me when I was in a bad space. People just spontaneously reached out to me at a moment of despair.

They didn’t know I was in a bad place. It was some unknown that had them reaching out. Their words and actions dispelled the gloom surrounding me. With clarity I could see deep within myself. I knew just how much I mattered — to others and myself. In this mattering, I could show up as my best self to others and myself.

The miracle wasn’t so much the words or actions of another. No, the miracle was the synergy created by their actions and my response. Think of synergy as energy created by two things that is greater than the energetic sum of the two parts. That is what a miracle is: unintended, joy-filled, wild consequence of relationship that stops us in our tracks and invites us into a new way of being.

A miracle doesn’t happen by my energy alone or through your energy alone. No, a miracle is fueled by the collective. It happens when the actions of one are received without expectation by another. A miracle is birthed in the awareness of the extraordinary, a recognition of the outstanding that occurs in that moment of connection.

A miracle changes you forever. That change sparks potential, chases away the dark, and propels us to the heights of joy and possibility. I am a birther of miracles and so are you.

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

The Bright Light That You Are

May you light shine…may your spirit soar…may you breathe in magic…may you ignite wonder…may you know the beauty of your soul

Life is easy until it is not. Those moments of dis-ease create an illusory dimming of our life. But, do we really dim? Of course not. I hope that you, that me, that we, can find a way past the illusion into the light.

May your light shine

The illusion cause by difficulty often overwhelms. Unable to see past that fog, we wander in the gloom. How do we stop this aimless wandering? We have only to open our eyes. It really is that easy. Awake to the beauty in the world, we see, we feel, we know our light shines brightly. We recognize our self in that light.

During these moments of brightness, we turn our light within. We point our light into our shadows. In the shadows we discover the hidden wisdom gems. Using them we clear the fog from our being. And, in the clearing, we lift off into the sky of our soul.

May your spirit soar

The fog of illusion cannot withstand the courage in our heart. Our courage evaporates the illusion, and a vista of possibility appears. Soaring into the sky of our soul, we gain a new perspective. The obstacles shift into learning opportunities. Looking down upon our life, we are finally able to see the path that leads us home to our self.

So, soar high. Soar free. Within the soul sky exists the understanding to seed the garden of our spirit. Within the sky are the drops of rain that bring our garden to life.

May you breathe in the magic

Within each of us is a spark of wonder, a spark of connection, a spark of the sacred — these are the stuff of magic. Living within these magical sparks, we accept the invitation to change our consciousness. We see the world as it is. And, with this paradigm shift, we blow away the illusion. We see our glowing soul embers.

Blowing upon the embers in our soul, the sparkleys fly free. Within their rhythm, we laugh at the sheer joy the sparkleys bring. Hope is birthed from our laughter. We experience of the magic of wholeness. Made whole, we adapt our heart song in ways that heal the world.

May you ignite the wonder of who you are

The light is shining; it clears away our illusions. Fog lifted, we see what gems sparkle within our shadows. We soar higher and higher in the sky of our soul. We survey a land twinkling with possibility and hope. There is magic to behold in the wonder of who we are. And, in that wonder life shifts. The world is a lot less dim when we illuminate the bright light that we are.

May it be so.

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is an intuitive-coach-catalyst. As a contemplative coach, she uses mindfulness practices and intuition tools to create strategies for navigating those scary places. The result? Creating a blue print for your life through a deeper connection to your intuition. She is a professional speaker & author who weaves inner wisdom into all she touches. Her books are available @ www.wildefyrpress.com. Her most recent book, As Natural As Breathing: Being Intuitive, is available on Amazon. Contact Vanessa for life coaching, intuitive consultations, keynotes, and programs.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Through the Veil into Your Truth

Slip into the veil. The between place where the magic of transformation occurs. Slip into the veil where dreams are made real. Slip into the veil where you find your truth.

Many spiritual traditions speak of this in-between place. In the liminal, our awareness shifts. We see, we experience the world differently. Things are brighter, more poignant. That more is our intuition. When we listen intently with all of our senses, we hear the voice of our intuition guiding us to our truth.

To seek this in-between place is to commit to change. To believe in magic. To live in mystery. To let go. To free fall into the moment trusting that the answers that you seek are within reach. Did I mention one little thing? Oh, yeah, you have to have the courage to take those running steps that end in a leap into the unknown.

Once you take that leap and slip through the thin opening, I believe you will find a certain familiarity — a trust that while you may not be home — you are exactly where you need to be. Enter the veil enough and you will discover the home of your heart.

Maybe you are wondering what you will find when you slip through that thin slot. Entering the veil, you begin the journey to the center of your being. At the core you become one with the flickering spark that connects you to those liminal spaces.

I began my journeying into the veil accidentally through meditation. Breathing into the rhythm of my being, I visualized my breath flowing through my being. Traveling on the breath’s flow, I found my sacred spark. What is this spark? A place of multiple portals, a connector to this moment and to liminal spaces beyond. The spark is home to my truth. A place where I embrace who I am. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

I rested in the spark. Took a look around. Asked it to light the way of the next steps. This way into the liminal works best if you have a question. Then I continued to breath into the spark to the rhythm of my inhale and exhale. And, I listen to the whispered message.

Sometimes I would be invited through the veil to explore. Other times my being was soothed by the iridescence in the spark. No matter where I found myself in the liminal, I returned feeling peacefully energized. And, upon each return, I saw the world differently. I realized in those moments I did not go through the veil, the veil went through me.

Let’s return to the spark and the invitation of the liminal. I heard the voice of the liminal with all my senses. I entered it. Allowed it to enter me. Listened to the message. Deciphered it. Then holding my knowing gently, I returned better for the experience.

The veil, the liminal space, a place of transformation. Do you have the hope, the trust, the courage to make the round trip journey? To discover your truth and bring it back? When you do, you, and the world, will be made better because of it.