Blissful Gratitude

Wow! In this moment my heart is bursting with gratitude as I sit reflecting on all the wonderful things in my life. Mostly I am grateful for the work that I have chosen for myself. (Scroll down to see my detailed list!) Because of that, each day is a continuous opportunity to be “Living Bliss”, to practice “Getting My Bliss-ology On”, and to engage in “Bliss101″. I mean, if I’m going to advocate it, I have to be it, right? And what a gift it is!

Hey, don’t get me wrong. I have my days, and mood swings, and moments of not remembering. I’m not perfect. But as a Messenger of Bliss, I get to be constantly reminded of what choices are available to me, by my work. Some times, in those moments of darkness I hear the same words I shared with a client, and I burst out laughing. I’ve chosen many careers over my lifetime, and this one, by far, is the most fun, and the one that challenges me the most to live with integrity, purpose, passion, and authenticity. And that is an amazing gift to be uber thankful for, I think!

(Recently I interviewed a self-proclaimed “Joyologist”, Melodee Stumpf, on Bliss101Radio. We decided that when we become an honor student of Bliss-ology, we become Certified Joyologists! And, she shared about how she handles those dark days-take a listen, it’s a really fabulous interview.)

Along with the gift of my work comes many other things that I am immensely grateful for, which I’ve listed below. What are you grateful for? Are you paying attention to all the amazing things in your life? Are you sharing that gratitude?

• Top of the list no doubt: YOU!!! Thank you for being the amazing personthat you are, for being in my life, for encouraging me to be the best I can be, just by being here. Yes, you are awesome!
• The ability to live life on my own terms, to create and design the life of bliss I desire.
• My dear friends who stick by me thru think and thin.
• My Kitty-Luv, who currently is in my lap, with her head resting on my right wrist as I type this! Silly cat, doesn’t seem like a comfy way to rest, but I have to admit, that’s a look of bliss on her face. Ha! (see video on right)
• Warm sunshine, soft wind, delicious moon-glow, starry nights, howling coyotes, sunflowers, pomegranate’s, expansive views, mountains…oh heck, all of Mama Nature!
• Music that soothes my soul, moves my body, lifts my day, and inspires my heart. (My current fav’s: Prem Joshua and Herb Albert Tijuana Brass)
• My Ecstatic Dance community-you dance me into Bliss!
• Food on my plate, a warm house, a working car, things that make my life comfortable.
• Eyes that see, hands that touch, ears that hear, a heart that feels, lungs that breath, a body that is healthy, a spirit that loves.
• The opportunity to live yet another awesome day on this most amazing planet, with other incredible beings walking and laughing the bliss path.

How about making a gratitude list, and sharing it with your loved ones??

For me Thanksgiving is all about gratitude, and offering our thanks to the wonderful world around us. May you have an awesome Thanksgiving, surrounded by the very things that you are most thankful for.

Laughing Bliss

This summer I became Certified as a Laughter Yoga Leader. Ha Ha Ho Ho HO! Oh my gosh, this is some fun stuff!!

We all have heard the saying “Laughter is the Best Medicine”. Well, as it turns out, there is a lot of truth to this. Laughter supports our immune systems, is great for our physical bodies, improves our mental/emotional frame, and even benefits our social situations. The benefits are way to many to not consider using laughter as a primary health and wellness tool.

Besides, it feels good and it’s fun!! Isn’t that a good enough reason?

Here are some interesting factoids:

• The International Congress of humor found that laughter is down 66 – 82% worldwide of what it was in the 1950′s.

  In the 1950′s people laughed on the average 18 minutes a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 minutes a day.

• Children tend to laugh an average of 400 times a day. For adults however, it is a totally different story. A recent laughter study shows that: 64 % of people smile less than 20 times a day at home 72 % smile less than 20 times a day at work

• 13 muscles are used to smile, but 47 are required for frowning. You have to smile nearly a quarter of a million times to make 1 wrinkle.

• In terms of exercise, you can get the same benefits from laughing 100 times a day, as you can from 10 minutes of rowing.

• 15 minutes of laughter equals the benefit of 2 hours sleep.

• One good belly laugh burns off 3 1/2 calories.

• Laughing for 15 seconds adds 2 days to your life span.

• Research shows that only 30% of longevity is genetic. Therefor 70% you control with your mind on how you think, with your body on how you keep yourself in shape, and the lifestyle you choose to live.

So, why not choose to laugh? With all these benefits, it’s a giant step that we can take to bring more bliss into our lives. Laughing teaches us to look at the brighter side, to entertain a different perspective, and to not take ourselves so seriously. When we bring laughter more consciously into our lives, we attract other happy people into it, and our relationships are meaningful, joyful, and much more fun, and we make the choice to live a life of gaiety.  How fun is that?

Here is a list of many benefits of laughter:

Physical Health Benefits:

• Boosts immunity
• Lowers stress hormones
• Decreases pain
• Relaxes your muscles
• Prevents heart disease

Mental Health Benefits:

• Adds joy and zest to life
• Eases anxiety and fear
• Relieves stress
• Improves mood
• Enhances resilience

Social Benefits:

• Strengthens relationships
• Attracts others to us
• Enhances teamwork
• Helps defuse conflict
• Promotes group bonding

I recently created a 4 minute laughing video to inspire others to begin laughing today. Feel free to use it as much as needed to get you in the practice of laughing fully and heartily. Then watch how things begin to change in your life as you invite laughter in, on the path towards living your bliss. Share it with your friends too!

Owning Bliss

I recently got an email from a womyn, who happens to be named Bliss. She was upset that I was using her name within the context of “trite self help seminars”.  This got me thinking about the ownership of things like our names, and ideas, and concepts. Actually, my first reaction was …”geez, you’re complaining because I am using your name in a good way?”

I have to admit, I wasn’t very P.C. with my response. I suggested that perhaps she would want to honor her namesake, vs complaining about others who are perusing their own bliss and helping others to do the same. Well, as they say, you can’t please everyone. The important thing is not allowing ourselves to get pulled down by the naysayers, or to doubt the good of what we do. However, I felt sad that rather than seeing the good of my work, she saw it as a personal insult of some kind.

But, back to the ownership idea. Just because we are given a name, do we own it, or what it means? Do we have a right to say how others interpret it, or use it? When we share an idea with the world, is it still ours, or does it become part of the collective mind soup?

Bliss is identified in most dictionaries as a noun. That means it can be either a person, place, or a thing. I’m thinking the Bliss I refer to is a “thing”, as it is a way of being, a lifestyle, something we choose to do or not to do. It can become a part of us, as a person, but it is not our personhood, so to speak.

Bliss is also described as :

1. Supreme happiness; utter joy or contentment: wedded bliss.

2. Theology . the joy of heaven.

3. Heaven; paradise: the road to eternal bliss.

4. Archaic . a cause of great joy or happiness

These don’t seem to be anything that anyone can lay claim too, with regards to suggesting that no-one else can pursue it, help others to find it, or have it themselves. Quite the opposite is true, actually. You can claim it for yourself and your life,  and in fact, I would highly encourage you to do so!

So, here’s the bottom line. Bliss is for everyone. It belongs to all of us. It’s available to all beings, whether we are given Bliss as a namesake or not. All you have to do is choose Bliss, and you can have it too. And, if you happen to have the good fortune of being able to support others in bringing on their bliss, well, that’s an added bonus! So, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Bliss cannot be privatized, corporatized, gentrified, homogenized, or pirated. If you want it, claim it. For yourself. For your life. However you want to express it.  Just remember, everyone gets to claim some for themselves as well.  So, go ahead, buzz around in your own Bliss!

Have you listened to Bliss101Radio on BlogtalkRadio yet? Today I interviewed Gretchen Baer, a womyn whose primary goal in life is sharing creativity and joy with others, being a Bliss Prankster, and celebrating the great festival of life. Check out the show here.

Blissful Chaos

Life is

tumbling,

rolling,

changing,

swirling,

upheaving,

a dancing microcosm

of expanding universal

reality

So much to worry about.

So much to stress about.

So much to feel anxious about.

And,

So much beauty, so much possibility, so much love.

Can you sustain your bliss in the midst of it all?

Can you find beauty among the chaos?

Can you dance in the rain and manifest the rainbow?

Bliss is a state of mind. It does not come to us through situations, people, or things. We harvest bliss within ourselves. This is our work. To realize heaven is right here on Earth, right now.

Despite.

Honoring All Womyn Part 2

As March draws to a close, and Spring is showing up on our doorsteps with singing birds and budding crocuses, I find myself reflecting on the immense and amazing process of the life/birth cycle. Mother Nature, of course, is the ultimate metaphor, and truth, of this process. She is the Divine Mother, the powerful feminine standing strong in her authentic beauty, rawness, expansion and contraction. Her process does not include questioning or doubt, it is inherently trusted that the sun will rise in the morning, day will turn to night, Winter to Spring, and all that lives will die only to live again. It is an intricately designed system that works beyond our wildest imaginations, that is synergy in motion, perfection in the incredible perfection of it all. What lessons we can learn from this divine feminine force, from this iconic state of being.

March, as mentioned in previous posts, is the month that International Woman’s Day gets celebrated. Last weekend, in the small community I live in, we had a lively night of entertainment, showcasing some of Bisbee’s female talent, of which I was honored to be apart of, in acknowledgement of Woman’s day. Reading the original piece of my own, that I shared in my last post,  was sweet and vulnerable, and I felt so lovingly embraced as I did.

“Yoni Speaks”, by Melissa Seaman, is a powerful piece that has resonated with me for years, and this year it resounds strongly in my core even more so. Choosing to read this transforming piece was both scary and freeing. I share it with you here, giving full honor and credit to Melissa as a powerful Yoni Shaman, as she calls herself. This is important and necessary work for us all, men and womyn. It is my story, your story, her-story, his-story, Earth-story. Let me know what you think.

Yoni speaks..

I am angry. I have been transgressed. It was not him who desecrated me. It was you. You let him in to far – again!

I know, Womyn. Together we long to be touched in the Center, to be contacted in the deepest. We long to be seen for the radiant Goddess-carrier we are, in our fullness, in our power. And we long to be met by one who is willing to look on the terrible beautiful face of this full Goddess, to Stay.

But this was not the man. You knew that. And you still seduced him into the Holy of Holies, inviting him to take whatever he wanted from our sacred place. Your longing took the better of you.

How can you now blame him? Did you tell him the truth of your imagined agreement? Did you clear his consent for ownership? How can you forget how to protect yourself so?

You know how a man is programmed. He is dazzled by the light in the Temple. He is driven by desire and instinct. It is your Temple, and you invitation, that draws him or keeps him at bay.

I know. It has been eons since you held the gates of the Temple for yourself. They took away your guards long ago. You were dragged, screaming, by your hair, down the marble steps of the Temple, and into the street. You were cut, raped, opened, and bled. Many times.

You still remember the punishment in every cell of your body. I do not blame you Sister/Mother/Lover/Friend. But, I am calling you Home to your wisdom, with the power of my Rage.

You ask, “How, Mother, will I know how far to let him in?” I tell you. If he comes to leave an offering, allow him to the steps, to leave his first offering at the gates. If he is found worthy to receive from the Temple, then let him in, but only to the entryway, to the foyer, from which he might catch a glimpse of the glory, but not able to revel to long, nor take it away.

If you find he is trusted in Love, then allow him to approach your altar and pledge his devotion, to worship at your table. Meet him there and devote yourself with him. This is a deep place of offering, and even here, you are tempting heart break should you invite one who is not ready.

But only if you intend to let him claim you, should you invite him into the Holy of Holies. You know inside yourself, this place where he touches, and you Fully Open. This is the place of your Priest and Partner. This is the sacred place of Trust reserved for the Priest of the Temple-the one who will protect her with his own Life.

You will know this Priest because he will gladly lay the needs of his ego aside, and devote himself to the Vitality and Mystery that runs through you, honoring you as the keeper and the container, and pledging devotion to caring gently for this container in on going devotion.

Your Priest will not come for a day or a week. He will pledge himself to service of your Temple for his foreseeable future, because he will recognize that All He Seeks is in your eyes, your belly, your womyn’s soul.

He will find that you are his Gateway to the divine feminine, and he will choose wisely to honor you as such, despite his primal ego’s longing to collect Yoni’s in a fruitless habit of tasting gates instead of walking through them and dwelling Within.

Are you listening to your Yoni? Are you feeling healed, sensual, powerful? Yoni is a sacred Sanskrit word for vagina. She represents the secret power and voice of womyn. She has been silenced by the modern patriarchal cultures which have viewed her as dangerous and dirty.

But the voice of the feminine is awakening in the world, a co-creative process that reconnects all people to their creative joy, their integrity, and their feminine beauty and radiance.

Men, too, are finding their Yoni Power, as the feminine is alive in both men and womyn. Men willing to sit in their feminine energy have received some major healing’s in reconnecting to their own deep intuitive wisdom and mother energy.

Womyn everywhere are hearing the Call of their Yoni to become more fully feminine, alive, radiant, and powerful in the world. She again has a voice. Now it is her turn to speak..invite her and she will speak through you, and to you, too….

by Melissa Seaman

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