day 6 ... Rituals of Release

Her voice guides us... "today is the day we're going to forgive, to let go and to free ourselves to accept the blissful, excitement of the future..." she guides us to our sacred place - mine is always the same and incorporates all the usual places suggested - a meadow, leaning against a tree, on top of a mountain, looking out over an ocean. I always want to have it all.

Rituals comfort us because they are familiar and easily repeatable. Many rituals are used to symbolize ancient practices of purification... often water or fire are used in these rituals. Sometimes earth or wind.

Over the past few months I crave water, being by water, immersed in water, gazing out over it....  one gypsy I met along my path said I may have too much heat in my heart and I need to cool it. I am a fire sign, the Sagittarius and seek the heat of life often.

... it's been time to cool and calm my heart through rituals with water.

Centering Thought for Today:
"I am pure existence, pure consciousness, pure love."

And then she guides us on top of cloud we forgive, let go and release...

"Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; 

and if the past can not prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?"
—Eckhart Tolle

David Simon instructed, "The human mind is adept at ignoring emotional pain until it builds up to the point where it can no longer be ignored." Today gives you the gift of healing and letting go through the ritual of release. Trust that in this ritual you will be surrounded by light and love, knowing that the intention of this healing is to lift you up and allow you to soar. 

day 5 ... Freedom to Heal

From Chopra Center .... In today's meditation we will see how healing begins once the memories are brought into the light. Our message for today is to discover that whatever we felt we missed in childhood can become our greatest strength. If we spent a lot of time alone as a child, we learned how to be independent. Those of us who were not able to spend long periods of quality time with our parents or caregivers learned how important it is to be present, and to cherish every moment with loved ones. We can use the past as our teacher. Today is the day we begin to embrace the lessons we've learned as we bring memories into the light for healing. The brightest light exists in the silence of meditation and is the clearest path we can take. As Deepak Chopra writes, "A path is a way to open your Self to spirit...to love." Allow yourself to begin healing through the transformational experience of meditation.  I will share more about this image and how it surfaced for me recently in a EFT healing session.... Centering Thought for Today: me as a princess "Love is what I am, what I give, and what I receive."

day 4 ... Freedom From Old Tapes

what to write about old tapes? well talk about an old tape.... a cassette tape. I still have some of these in my garage with my favourite tunes from high school. So that does date me just a little. I like relating to today's mediation theme like old cassette tapes because listening to old tapes of your view of yourself from the past is as comical as listening to old cassette tapes. At least the cassette tapes have some good music on them.

Free yourself up. It's as simple as that. Be in the present.

"You have the capacity to change the plotline of your life, even if you've been acting from the 

same script since before you can remember."
—David Simon

And write your happily ever after, every day, each day... and make it the best ending you can think of for the day. And then tomorrow write another new happily ever after. And make it all about love.

"I am loved, lovable and loving."

day 3... Freedom to Forgive

I once heard the most beautiful and poignant saying about forgiveness... forgiveness is the scent that the violet leave on the heal of the foot that crushed it.

"I forgive; I release; I let go of anything and anyone that keeps me from my highest good."

This week and this day even more emphasizes that part of the statement that it's your FREEDOM to forgive .... not you must do, will to, have to, chose to.... it's your freedom to forgive.

"Life is too short to carry the burden of a heavy heart. It does not serve you or anyone else. 
Free yourself through the power of forgiveness and compassion."
- David Simon

Then there's the saying to forgive and not forget. Or is it to forgive and forget. Oh I forget and I forgive.

day 2 ... the past is over; I live blissfully loving in the present

I wake up with the will and want to meditate 

.... okay really it was first the cute doggy I'm babysitting for the night that initially wakes me up somewhere around 6:30a and beaconing to come onto my bed. Since we both want just a few more moments of rest I invite her to come on up. I'm a morning person and never mind, usually, getting up early. I just do believe that it's best if it's in a natural way. They say it's healthier for the body to not be shocked into being woken up and I once saw this natural light pillow someone had designed ... oh let me look that up. 

A-ha the glo-Pillow from a talented lad in Ireland. Oh just another reason to make my Ireland, Iceland, Italy trip one day. check it out http://www.embryo.ie/glo/index.html

Centering Thought for Today:

"The past is over; I live blissfully loving in the present."

I'm back in the present, smile. I find with each meditation, with each breath, with each moment you connect with your body and it is evident that we are only in this moment. Your body is the best indication of being in the present, this is your vessel, your vehicle. What does it need for fuel, how far will it get you today, have you been stepping on the gas, or been parked for too long and needing a jump start. Are you revving the RPM's past their capacity and tuning out the sound of the vehicle with the radio. Your body is always in the present moment. It's only your thoughts that are not and though thought gives us access to something beyond to new places, dimensions, new places... remember to pay attention to the body's wishes.

Just be in your body. Feel how it operates, how the breath breathes life into the organs, the blood, through oxygen. Be in a moment and listen, look, feel, expand. What do you hear right now? It is a strategy that we tune out most of the sounds around us however do you know we can hear likely one hundred things. Like right now the sound of the curtain blow, a dog barking far off, birds chirping, my fridge humming, oh the sound of my fingers typing on the keyboard... hhhmmm. Inviting all this new awareness in, where ever you are, you can experience so much more about the present moment.

At the end of my mediation I saw silhouettes moving in deep indigo satin colour. 

By a lake. It was beautiful.

"Unless you loosen the hold that your past has on you, your future will unfold in much the same way . . . it is time to begin writing a new script that accurately reflects the beautiful, powerful, and worthy being you are."
- David Simon

day 1 ... through the eyes of love

Day 1... through the eyes of love

the email arrives at 12:12am ... which is interesting because I finished writing my blog post yesterday at 12:12pm. The mediation is yet to begin as we have our steaming youtube mediation session with Deepak Chopra live at 10:30a PST which I will join today. I'll choose to incorporate the online videos at times that suit me throughout the weeks however starting collectively with all the participants online will be powerful.

Have you ever declared something, commit to something, set a goal, intention and then powerful tools and support show up immediately. I just created to my coach that my next few weeks will be about discipline with health, physical and mental, and some organizing of financial health for 2013 taxes. Promised myself I would do throughout the year, not just year end... oops we're half way through 2012. And this meditation challenge was shared with me only 2 days later by two of my bff's (a couple now) Maria & Shaun. We all start today. Thank you for sending this my way.

Part of the communication today from Chopra Center 21-Day Mediation Challenge™

We have divided our Free to Love challenge into three themes. The first week will focus on "Your Pathway to Freedom," letting go of anything in the past that no longer serves us. Our second week is entitled, "Healing the Heart," looking at all the positive emotions that can emanate from the heart, provided we listen to its voice. Finally, we will focus on "Living in Love," from self-love, to love of family, and finally expanding our love into the world.

Centering Thought for Today:

"I am ready to view my life through the eyes of love."

Listen to your heart. Take care of you. Relax.
Three repeated messages given to me over and over the past few months from a very small select group of people, both trained and just gifted, that showed up to guide me. And let me share that I was confronted by what this meant because my first attempts were thwarted. What I thought the translation meant is not what they meant at all.

Do you know what it means to relax? Really relax? Not just take time out, or a day off, or time away. In the middle of your life to stop and relax. To do nothing. Literally nothing. Having shared this recently with a few friends they have all had similar experiences in which life pulled them to be still, relax, take it easy. We are a society built on distractions, keeping busy, constant stimulation.

How can you listen to your heart through all the noise. And once you start listening first your experience is awareness of it's beating. Then it becomes more, it becomes a rhythm. Then it becomes the guide. And lastly the voice.

Did you know the heart has a brain? That it actually controls more of your body that your own brain does? Do you make choices and respond to life with your head or your heart? Can you make the shift? What does that look like, feel like? May these three weeks uncover that for you!


Take care of you. This one is the center point because it's true without this you have nothing to give.
You must be the love you want to express in the world.

These three themes seem related to these three weeks focuses.
I'm excited to explore more into the deep.

"The purpose of meditation is to stop thinking for a time, wait for the fog of thought to thin, and glimpse the spirit within." - Deepak Chopra

The day before... 21 day Mediation Challenge

.... the day before anything ultimately elicits excitement, anticipation, restlessness, sleeplessness, and preparedness too. All depends on what the day before is anticipating - a trip to somewhere, a exam or test, seeing someone you've missed dearly.

Today for me there is no one word that is intense enough for me to compare to so I will say that I have a nice blend of all these emotions for I am taking this mediation challenge with the greatest of intentions.

Meditation has been a beckoning and a necessity for me over the past few months. My naturopath pretty much insisted I start practicing Mindful Mediations this year to help calm my irregular beating heart after an unexpected life transition. He also reminded me that it was "grace not effort that heals one over time." I have done guided, visualization, and affirmation type mediations yet the practice of mindful mediation is just to follow the breath and quiet the mind... and well is a little more mindful. It's been a new experience and was complimented by my readings of a book sent to m by Pema Chodron, a buddhist monk, in her book When Things Fall Apart, Heart Advice for Difficult Times.

One thing I've yet to practice as part of my mediation is the art of discipline. A key ingredient to a workable mediation recipe. Discipline in life symbolizes a sense of "growing up" with self and with patterns that are no longer serving you. In a way to be disciplined turns into being principled.

In When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chodron understands sila/discipline to be a "process that supports us in going against the grain of our painful habitual patterns."

She notes that:
Discipline provides the support to slow down enough and be present enough so that we can live our lives without making a big mess. It provides the encouragement to step further into groundlessness.

I've been on groundlessness for months, first initially without my own will and now completely with intent. Because it's our desire to move away from the feeling of groundlessness that ultimately has us move away from that which is to become our greatest teacher. And she has taught me, oh has she taught me. She has taught how to love again, fully! In the face of anything. And isn't that what true love is ... not love on solid ground, love on groundlessness. Or maybe a combination of both.

My intention for my 21 day practice is discipline. And with this discipline to take the practice to a new level... to not just to DO meditation to shift it to a way of BEING - being in the present.

Come join me and thousands of others on the challenge.
Love to hear what you're intentions are...
21 Day Mediation Challenge begin Monday, July 16th 2012
http://www.chopracentermeditation.com/

Pema Chodron
http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/pema/bookstore1.php

@CoachCassy

Oops I did it again...

Oops I did it again….  That’s the first thought that enters my mind a month ago after booking my plane ticket.  At least my journeys and their journals continues I think… and though the space of continually sharing myself makes me feel vulnerable I am pulled to carry on. Just as I am to love, and love, and love. And share, and share, and share. So, yes I’m getting on a plane today, being New Years Eve Day December 31^st, 2010.  It’s heading to Los Angeles for a week of fun in the sun, or wait it’s going to be mild and wet, all good!  This trip was inspired by my heart once again, albeit this time it was just more of a gentle push to leave town. 

There are lovers content with longing.

I’m not one of them.

-Rumi

As I walk through the airport, half asleep and exhausted from moving the past two days back into my house on the sunshine coast I remember last year this time. I was excited with the anticipation of my first promise of love at the beginning of last year.  (Note: I continue to not use names and though I’m open to sharing I feel as an “emerging blog writer” I would need to respectfully write… “and the names have been changed to protect the innocent J” so I’ll continue as is.)  Last NYE was the beginning of me being unreasonable, fully self expressed and playing full out and asking for what I wanted… all very NEW to me especially in the world of intimate relationships. I mean I’m slightly nicknamed Wonder Woman for my highly independent lifestyle and accomplishments however I’ve discovered my full self expression (which also means I experience peace when I am) is to give love to another and receive.

So, back to my initial thought “Confetti” haha! for those that get that!

 … As I walk through the airport I think of last year and the man who only 3 days earlier we created spending new years together in Whistler and what was to begin our G2 summit as we “named it.”  Both our last names start with G. This year we were going to celebrate again together with the possibility of our own true loves with us.  He has found his, I have not. As this enters my mind I walk past a departure gate with the name of his current home city on it. I find my immediate following thoughts are of forgiveness and love. And so I’ll share that with him today. We had a lot of fun that weekend and the months that followed and I got my wish of having a loving relationship with a man where we spend weekends and weeks together, met his family and got up to big things too.  And I share with you, as I often have with myself, that I did have a loving relationship this year and though it didn’t end up in “being in love” and “being together” I am now focused and present to what I have had AND not what I have not had. 

There is a quote that says the

“true meaning of happiness is not having what you want

 but wanting what you have”

I continued to open myself up and saw glimpses of what’s out there. I’ve opened myself up to another and I’m learning that vulnerability is to do just that, keep opening yourself up. I discovered that my version of being vulnerable was to open up and then “run away”… which looks like pushing them away, running away, shutting down, stop sharing or booking a ticket and flying somewhere else. So in an inquiry with some friends the resounding definition of vulnerability was to open up, don’t go anywhere, and open up some more.  Ummmmm, okay that feels well, vulnerable? I thought I was because I’d open, hide, open, hide… oohhhh a very different discovery to me. Thanks for Maria for yet again pointing that one out to me as if with a sharp object. Ouch! So, more to come in the New Year on this one J

Until then I’m on another “journey and their journals” adventure. And for the record I don’t want to share, feel content in writing this and not posting on the world wide web and yet, it’s a new exploration to keep well, opening up. Don’t worry I cherish private things held like a jewel for just those that know about it, and those things are under lock and key.

What I do want to share, as it may inspire or be a window for others, is what I’m discovering as I get the travel for me now more too. I was asked a long time ago by a therapist who worked with highly sensitive people and did dream analysis, very cool work… “what activities I enjoyed where I didn’t think?”  I named a few things I enjoyed doing and the one that stood out at the time was cooking. He said, “what do you think about?” I paused. I could think about anything I thought about when I cooked. He said, “good, because you likely don’t think, so do that and be aware that it is a form of therapy for you and take that time to clear your head.” Many people have these activities such as running, or dancing, or composing music.  There are therapeutic activities meant to assist you in processes thoughts and ideas. Others are meant to stop the processing and let you just be, and from there a whole newness emerges. Another way to say this is it can move from thinking with the head to thinking with the heart.

As I sat on the plane watching the landscape pass below, as we landed and the bustle of another city surrounded me, as I settle in … I get that travel is another way I get outside my head and back into the world of “just being.”  That’s newly powerful to me today! My thoughts disappear, my head clears, I’m present to myself, my body and what’s around me. In that space I get connected again. Today is the last day of 2010 and I’m creating a ritual for completion, connection and generous acknowledgement. At midnight I’ll bring in the intention of being light hearted and unleashed for 2011 !! 

Till then… Happy New Year Everyone! xo

My Invitation to you is to read The Invitation….

My Invitation to you is to read The Invitation….

Recently I was in a conversation with a friend who was working through a past relationship and I shared what I feel is a common phenomenon that many of us deal with when “getting complete or finding closure” with past loves.  It’s the idea that I believe you never stop loving those you loved before.  I shared with her my favorite spiritual author who writes beautifully about this concept and about being full present in the world.

So I invite you to read “The Invitation” and explore the depth of yourself, others and the world.  As I read her words again I hear myself speaking to myself and the same feeling that these words are coming from inside me. That I’m saying this to myself, as if I wrote this too and that they’re not just words on a page.  It’s this feeling that pulls me to read more and share this with you. 

So let Oriah and I both invite you to read the book. If you feel the same way I do that as you read her invitation that it’s an invitation coming from yourself then begin.  In Oriah words from her book ““The Invitation” is a declaration of intent, a map into the longing of the soul, the desire to live passionately, face-to-face with ourselves and skin-to-skin with the world around us, to settle for nothing less than what is real.  This book is a journey in to the territory mapped out by “The Invitation.”  If we are to traverse this territory together, there are some things you should know. Because simply saying “yes” to “The Invitation,” feeling the pull of the heart or the quickening of the blood that urges movement forward, is not the same thing as actually making the journey. I want to live with deep intimacy every day of my life.  I am guided, sometimes driven, by an ache to take the necessary risks that will let me live close to what is within and around me.  And I am sometimes afraid that it will be too much, that I will not have, or be connect to, whatever it takes to be with it all, to bear the exquisite beauty and bone-wreaching sorrow of being fully alive. Knowing how frightening both the beauty and the pain can be, I offer you here, at the beginning of this journey, three promises that are, simultaneously, three warnings.”   (You must get the book to continue reading J)

So here I am packing to move back into my house on the sunshine coast this month, reading this book once again and I flip back to the beginning.  I find an inscription I wrote to myself which reads…

November 25 2000

My Birthday

In a brief moment

I touched the center of myself

And learnt yet again

What it truly meant

To love myself and another

I made an ally with sorrow

Knowing she also had something to teach me

Love Cassandra

Ten years later.

I invite you….

The Invitation by Oriah

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful to be realistic to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,” Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreamer, from the book The Invitation published by HarperONE, San Francisco, 1999

All rights reserved

Creating a Theme for 2011- Mine is Being Unleashed

Each year around my birthday (November 25) I set my new intention "theme" for the new year ahead.

This year my theme for my life is being UNLEASHED.  
Yes, unleashed.  

Hhhmmm, what will that look like, what will show up as I create that space, what will I choose as I look through that lens... 

Yes, that is how I create my life newly each year.

Over the past few years I've had many different themes which have guided me far beyond having goals. Usually as I set goals or opportunities present themselves I ask "does that fit with my theme, or how does it fit with my them?"  Last year was Integrity and what it meant to have integrity guide workability and an empowering context for my life. Biggest way I was out of integrity last year was not keeping an empowering context (aka conversation) about myself, others or the situations I found myself in. Surprise there is NO workability to your life when your conversation has you being disempowered. 

Other years have been intimacy, adventure (the year I picked up in 2 weeks and moved to Toronto), transformation and many more.

Often I even come up with a visual image that can describe what that means to me because these words, of course, evoke different things for different people.  The year I had Deeply as a Theme the image was "jumping into the deep end of the pool and splashing around  like no one was there."  The year it was Vulnerability the image was "sitting in a meadow alone at dusk."  Hopefully you get the picture.  HaHa! The picture, pardon the punn. :)

Now, beware... yes with all good things comes a disclaimer of sorts... creating a theme may also push you to the edge, your comfort zone, your limitations already set in this area, many that are blind to you.  Everything that shows up will be aligned with you have MORE of this theme or shine a light on where you don't have this yet. Because the idea is not to have this "theme" such as it is showing up in your life right now... the idea is to have this theme beyond what you even know is possible. 

So go out and create your theme and play BIG! Be UNLEASHED you might say.

p.s.  I also change all my passwords to my theme so I'm constantly typing it in and present to it (of course with some other characters) so as to not have all my accounts accessed.  xo

Take time for yourself, at least an hour, in a place that calls forth your creative, imaginative mind.  There will be reflection as well so be prepared to celebrate all that was and all that was not!  

The Top 10 Steps to Creating a Theme for YOUR LIFE or THIS YEAR

Before choosing a goal for your life, it is essential that you are clear on what it is that you want to BE, and that you create goals that include the whole of your life. By creating a theme for your life you will be assured of setting goals that truly come from your heart and not just from your head – the surefire way of creating lasting success.
1. Write a list of everything that you achieved in the last year.
Include everything, no matter how big or small, in all areas of your life. Your relationships, your work, your home life and especially things that you did for others in your life. Many times the theme that we want for our lives appears in patterns in our lives that we are unaware of. I often go through my calendar, agenda from the year past and it’s fun to re-witness all the big and small moments; people I met, people I said goodbye too, goals I accomplished, those that I didn’t, where did I travel, who did I meet, and so on…
2. What would you like to add to your life this year?
Example: spending more time with your children or friends, allowing more time for your relationship, or enhancing your skills by taking a course or reading a book, donate some money to your charity, etc.
3. Are there any issues from last year that you would like to change this year?
Some examples may be less time listening or spreading gossip, cutting down on involvement with committees, wasting time, watching less TV or living with less stress.
4. Choose a word that would best describe what it is that you would like to BE this year.
Some words that may help you could include BEING more Peaceful, Successful, Happy, Tranquil, Loving, Kind, Generous of Spirit, Adventurous, Intimacy, Abundance, Joyful, etc. As you are writing, say the word over and over to yourself. Choose a word that would best describe the theme you would like to live your life by – one word, one step at a time.
5. How can you incorporate that them into all areas of your life?
Relationships, children, work, finances, family, your health and your body. Take each section of your life and ask yourself what’s one step you can take to create your theme in that area.
6. What is your Passion, Your Gift or Your Dream?
What is it that you would truly love to do? Include in your them a strategy for enhancing that gift or that dream. How can you incorporate that into your life, taking one step at a time?
7. Is there anything about yourself that you would like to change?
This is not about personality, this is about beliefs or habits that you would like to change—whether it be that you would like to be more confident, less critical, to listen more, to become more spiritual. Try and choose just one that you can work on.
8. What will you no longer accept from others in your life?
In order to BE truly you, you many have to look at some relationships in your life that stop you from achieving that – whether it is feelings of guilt from family, obligations from co-workers, negative statements from others. Again, choose just one where you can take back some power into your life. Remember… one step at a time.
9. What is one extra thing that you would like to include in your life this year?
These are not earth shattering changes. But just one or two things that you feel that you could add to your life that would make a difference; i.e. To read more novels, spend more time with friends or family, remember birthdays or to send thank you notes.
10. What would you like to achieve this year?
What steps do you need to take to make this theme a reality? 

© Prophet Coaching | Distinct Planning