Listen to the Stars
My friend Jose is always sending me amazing poems, like this one by David Wagoner.
In the Kalihari Desert told the Bushmen
He couldn’t hear the stars
Singing, they didn’t believe him. They looked at him,
Half-smiling. They examined his face
To see whether he was joking
Or deceiving them. Then two of those small men
Who plant nothing, who have almost
Nothing to hunt, who live
On almost nothing, and with no one
But themselves, led him away
From the crackling thorn-scrub fire
And stood with him under the night sky
And listened. One of them whispered,
Do you not hear them now?
And van der Post listened, not wanting
To disbelieve, but had to answer,
No. They walked him slowly
Like a sick man to the small dim
Circle of firelight and told him
They were terribly sorry,
And he felt even sorrier
For himself and blamed his ancestors
For their strange loss of hearing,
Which was his loss now. On some clear nights
When nearby houses have turned off their televisions,
When the traffic dwindles, when through streets
Are between sirens and the jets overhead
Are between crossings, when the wind
Is hanging fire in the fir trees,
And the long-eared owl in the neighboring grove
Between calls is regarding his own darkness,
I look at the stars again as I first did
To school myself in the names of constellations
And remember my first sense of their terrible distance,
I can still hear what I thought
At the edge of silence where the inside jokes
Of my heartbeat, my arterial traffic,
The C above high C of my inner ear, myself
Tunelessly humming, but now I know what they are:
My fair share of the music of the spheres
And clusters of ripening stars,
Of the songs from the throats of the old gods
Still tending even tone-deaf creatures
Through their exiles in the desert.
Wishing you the peace that comes from knowing that the stars are singing to us, whether you can hear them, or not.
Blessings,
kimberly schneider
http://facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
Email this postLove Is All You Need
I read an insane number of books.
I’m always reading at least one book, and usually I’m working through three or four at a time. So I recommend a lot of them. But once in awhile I read something that seems so powerful, so important, so transformational, that I must tell you about it right away.
I recently finished reading that kind of book.
It’s called Relax into Sex: The Art of Spiritual Lovemaking.
It may seem strange to say that a book about sex is so important. But this isn’t really a book about sex.
At its core, Relax into Sex is a book about consciousness and presence, about becoming more fully alive. And whether or not you are currently in a relationship, you can use the simple concepts in this material to start showing up for your time on earth in a way you never have before.
I recently had the privilege of interviewing the authors of Relax into Sex, Jody Rosen Baron and Peter Beamish, about the concepts in their book. You can listen to the interview by going to the link near the end of the email. And if you want to get a sneak peek of the book, you can read the first chapter at Jody and Peter’s website,
If a critical mass of the people on the planet were incorporating these principles into their lives each day, we’d soon eradicate competition, war, hunger and poverty. How can that be? Listen to the interview and I’ll explain what I mean.
Check it out at: http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WHdpQdjS
or download it to your computer from here:
http://kschneider.audioacrobat.com/download/91c38121-ffb3-271c-47b2-3fcc0f237417.mp3
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
Peace of a relaxed life to you,
Kimberly Schneider
http://facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
Unraveling
Unraveling
Take the knife
that would slice your heart open
and use it to sever
what no longer
serves your destiny.
Don’t let the wall of your security
crush you
as it falls apart.
Dismantle it, consciously,
stone by stone
and be amazed
at what it kept you from seeing.
Open your arms to the storm
and invite the lightning
to ignite your soul
and burn away the rotten remnants
of the false self you’ve been wearing.
Let the waves of emotion
knock you from your feet
and shatter the oxygen tank
on your back
that always left you
wondering
when you would run out of air.
Grab the knife.
Destroy the wall.
Embrace the storm.
Dive into the water.
Stop struggling.
You will not drown.
You will not
drown.
You will only learn
a new way
to breathe.
@2000, 2011 Kimberly V. Schneider
from her forthcoming audio book, Terrible Beauty: Poems and Reflections for Precarious Times
Kimberly Schneider, The Manifestation Maven, empowers disenchanted dreamers to create magic and miracles here and now. She is the author of the forthcoming book Everything You Need Is Right Here (December, 2011, Avalon Emerging Press). Request Kimberly’s free Conscious Manifestation eCourse at www.KimberlySchneider.com or join her Conscious Manifestation community at facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
When Your House Is on Fire…
What do you do when everything is falling apart?
You can either fight it (and, as Jungian psychologist Marion Woodman says, go down like a pig, kicking and squealing),
or, you can trust the process of disintegration.
So much is falling apart on our planet now: financial institutions, political
systems, notions of right and wrong, even weather patterns!
Not surprisingly, many of us are feeling these ramifications in our personal lives as well.
I wrote a poem about my inner experience of feeling my ways of being fall apart (again!) You can read it at the bottom of this email, if you like. I’ll be including it in the audiobook of poems and reflections I’m creating for precarious times.
Meanwhile, if you feel that you’re living in precarious times, Dr. Samantha St. Julian and I have created a new course called Spiritual Power Tools for 2012 and Beyond: Disruption causing Change creating Potential.
We’re offering fun and new things in this class, including lots of simple yet weirdly effective exercises to allow you to move through changing times with grace and ease…AND a “you choose what to pay” option! Check it out here:
http://synergia.bz/spiritualpowertools/welcome.htm
I hope you’ll join us!
Here’s my new poem. Enjoy!
House on Fire
Your house
is on fire.
Quick—
what will you take
with you
into that new
life,
the one
you hadn’t planned?
The one without
the layers
of meaning
and belief,
carelessly constructed yet
protected
with such
blind
tenacity?
Choose now—
will you keep
your relationships
as you’ve known them?
Your ways of being
in the world?
Will you crawl out
of the house
at last,
gasping for clean air,
having risked it all
for one momento
of the person
you used to be?
Arrogant presumption,
this pretense of choosing.
As if the Soul,
having sought
its ego-erasing crucible
would now empower
your illusions
of control.
Why keep running
back
into the wreckage?
Better to surrender
wholeheartedly.
Let the flames
take it all—even
your blueprint
for life after immolation.
Trust in the miracle
beyond your designing:
The post-surrender peace
that comes
from somehow knowing
amidst the ashes
you’ll find the treasure
that was always hiding
beneath your dross,
waiting for one more fire
to set it free.
©2011, Kimberly V. Schneider
from her forthcoming audiobook,
Terrible Beauty: Poems and Reflections
for Precarious Times
P.S. If you feel like your “house is on fire,” our new Spiritual Power Tools course may be just what you need! Find out more and register at http://synergia.bz/spiritualpowertools/welcome.htm
Raise Your Vibes…
Trying something new on the blog.
Since there are 5 steps to my Cornucopia Method of Manifestation, I’m going to start posting a short comment or something fun related to each step, for the corresponding day of the week, Monday through Friday.
Since today is Thursday, that’s Step 4, Raise your Vibration.
One of my favorite ways to raise my vibration is music, so on Thursday’s I’ll often post clips of some of my favorite songs.
Today is a cloudy day, a bit chilly for early May. We’ve had a LOT of rain this spring. So, to raise my vibration I am looking for something to create a sunshine-y feeling. (Somehow, rain feels different at home than it does in Ireland, where I don’t mind it as much).
I find a lot of cool music on Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t know who picks the music for that show but I’d like to invite her over for a dance party. For now, let’s you and I stop what we are doing for 3 minutes and dance around to this tune, which I discovered on the Grey’s Anatomy episode “New History.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMT-iN4HYxc
Now, don’t you feel great?
Abundant Blessings,
kimberly schneider
http://facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
My Favorite Morning Drink (before the Irish Breakfast Tea)…
I get pretty excited about new health finds, especially when they make a difference in how I feel right away!
The third step of my Cornucopia Method of Manifestation is “Befriend Your Body,” because, after all, your body is your first manifestation project. Not only that, but when you become conscious enough to notice your body’s messages about what it needs, you are also becoming sensitive to the energetic vibrations you’re sending out into the Multi-Verse. Shift those, shift your reality. It’s that simple. Many manifestation teachings ignore the body’s role in creating your experience on this earth. Don’t make that mistake. Your body is your Manifestation Matrix.
So, here’s my newest health find: a concoction I’ve made with 4 ingredients you can easily find yourself.
1. 8 oz. of good, clean
water. I used to do bottled water but I’ve gone the filtered tap route in recent years to avoid sending more plastic bottles into the landfills. I like the Wellness Water Carafe, because it re-mineralizes the water as it filters out the impurities. An economical way to get decent water. The link below is a source for the carafe, which also explains how it works (I have no relationship with this site but I like the way they explain the carafe).
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/wellness-water-carafe.php
2. Trader Joe’s Super Red Drink Powder. I couldn’t believe my luck when I stumbled upon this stuff at Trader Joe’s this week. It’s full of fruits and vegetables, antioxidants, enzymes, probiotics and detoxifying herbs. And yes, I know it is best to get my fruits and veggies from whole foods. I’m making collard greens tonight and I had strawberries this morning. But I also know that modern soil is depleted and I’ll take a boost where I can get it!
Trader Joe’s is an incredible little store filled with happy surprises and unbelievably low prices. I love shopping there. You still need to read labels because once in awhile I stumble upon an ingredient I don’t want in my house, but that’s the exception (and besides, reading labels is a good practice anywhere). To find out if there is a Trader Joe’s near you punch your zip code into their store finder at www.traderjoes.com
3. 1 oz. NingXia Red juice. I generally avoid juices because they spike my blood sugar and don’t have enough nutritional value to make up for that–better to get the nutrients from whole fruit and veggies. I make an exception for this juice, because it is so high in ORAC value (Oxygen Radical Absorpbtion Capacity) and it also contains essential oils that support my liver.
4. 2 drops Citrus Fresh Essential Oil from Young Living. A little extra liver & immune support and creativity enhancement too!
The NingXia Red Juice and Citrus Fresh Oils are available from Young Living Eessential Oils. You may already have a source for these oils, which are the ultimate in quality. I use several of them every day. I’m a distributor too if you want to look at them on my site: www.youngliving.com/kimberlyvs
I feel energized, clear and excited to begin my day after I drink this mix. I follow it with a big healthy breakfast (I try to make that the largest, richest meal of my day) and a cup of Irish Breakfast tea with a splash of cream and a spoonful of cocunut oil.
If you try my concoction, let me know how you like it!
kimberly schneider
http://facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
Beltane: Season of Embodiment
May 1 is the beginning of Beltane according to the Celtic calendar.
Beltane is the season of summer: the time of lush growth, fruit and flower, pleasure and sensuality. It is the season for celebrating the joys of being embodied.
Conscious embodiment, the intentional and full engagement of our bodies, is critical to Conscious Manifestation. That’s why “Befriend Your Body” is the 3rd step of my Cornucopia Method of Manifestation.
Your body, after all, is your first manifestation project. It is also a vibrational receiver and transmitter, giving you clues about what energies you are emitting into the Multi-Verse. In fact, your body is your Manifestation Matrix–your vehicle for co-creating your life. Understanding its messages and learning to move energy consciously through your physical being allows you to shape your reality.
So to celebrate Beltane, here are a couple of suggestions for being more embodied:
§ Celebrate the changing seasons. Ancient societies were in tune with the natural cycles of greening, growing, harvest and waiting. In the current age most of us are disconnected from the way food arrives at our table and we spend most of our time indoors. Learning about ancient festivals celebrated by indigenous cultures can be a way of reawakening our physical consciousness. Celtic and Native American traditions are popular in North America now because so many of the people who live here have ancestors in those cultures. Do you have any interest in exploring your own cultural history? Who were your ancestors and how did they celebrate the changing seasons?
§ Sacralize your sexuality. Can you envision sex as an act of faith and blessing? Many ancient cultures believed that conscious sex had healing and creative as well as generative power. The ancient Celts, for instance, encouraged sexual activity especially during their festival of Beltane (summer’s beginning). Lovers participated in and celebrated the Divine union by coming together in field and wood, blessing the crops, herds and homes as they gave expression to the life-force pulsing through their bodies. Dancing, singing, feasting and lovemaking not only gave pleasure to the participants, it demonstrated the community’s intention to enter into the natural energies of the season in hopes that the joys of Beltane would result in healthy babies and bountiful harvests.
Many years ago I was driving to my job at the federal courthouse on Beltane morning, listening to Celtic music on my CD player (Loreena McKennit’s Mystic’s Dream, to be specific). I felt the music awaken something ancient and primal in me, and I sensed the power of Beltane, still pulsing and alive beneath our paved roads and our buttoned up lives.
Beltane Longing
The music surrounds me
in my modern mini-van
and not the ancient stone circle
of my imagination.
But as the highway rolls by
beneath my tires
the bodhran and harp
the flute and the fiddle
throb in my feet
and pulse in my belly
until the asphalt breaks open
and I am dancing away
from my silver van
to a ring of power
on a misty green hill
where the old ones live
and anything is possible.
This must be why the Baptists
don’t want us to dance:
they know that the drums might
awaken the bean sidhe
inside of us all
and if she emerged,
hair flying
arms flailing
feet pounding
mouth screaming,
she would herald the death
of our civilized personas.
We would throw away
our crippling shoes
and rip off
our strangling neckties
and dance barefooted
and bare-chested
until the sun tides
ran in our blood
and we came together
under a full moon to remember
a hundred ways
that lips and hands
can praise creation
in the oldest
dance of all.
©2001, Kimberly Schneider
This Beltane I invite you to give thanks for the glorious and magical body, through which your soul expresses itself. Honor it as the Temple it is.
Beltane Blessings,
kimberly schneider
facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
[Adapted from the forthcoming book by Kimberly V. Schneider, Everything You Need Is Right Here: Mastering the Art of Conscious Manifestation, Avalon Emerging Press, 2011]
Do You Ever Want to Lie Down and Cry?
Last week I had a strange phone encounter.
I was talking to a customer service representative for a company I shan’t name, due to a saga I somehow manifested involving long waits, being ported from person to person to person (none of whom was empowered to do anything about my situation) and weeks—nay, months now—without resolution.
Finally in a conversation with this one particular customer service representative I heard myself saying, “I just feel like crying right now, I am so angry!” And then, I did start crying.
I was embarrassed, because my ego really likes its persona of being in control. I pride myself on handling conflict with aplomb.
And really, while the situation was frustrating, and perhaps even worthy of a good cry, I realized, when I had some time to reflect, that I wasn’t crying over this situation.
Instead, I had to ask myself: when else have I felt out of control, disempowered and helpless?
Oooooh, OK. Now I was getting somewhere.
I recognized unprocessed emotions from something that was really important in my life (a recent decision involving one of our children). And that brought up older unprocessed emotion involving other situations in my life when I felt out of control, disempowered and helpless.
When I was able to name those feelings and hold a compassionate place for them to just be what they were, they began to dissipate.
And now, when I think about the situation that brought me to tears last week (still unresolved, by the way), I can smile and offer thanks for the healing it is bringing into my life.
Sometimes, you just have to lie down and cry.
A few months ago, I wrote this poem about making space for the difficult feelings inside of myself.
Terrible Beauty
A sky like that
ought to be enough
even for the most intransigent
heart.
Just look at it:
light-laden coral clouds
cascading across a cornflower
canvas, coaxing me to thaw
my frozen feelings
in the face of their phenomenal
fire.
And yet, I stand unmoved.
What use have I
for heartbreaking beauty?
I’m holding a heart already
a hundred times broken.
So surround me with sunsets,
beleaguer me with beauty.
Tonight the only tender
thing that I can do
is make space for one
who cannot even weep for
wonder.
Tomorrow
will be time enough
for dénouements and
healing tears.
Tonight, let the beauty be
that while the fading light
leaves me feeling lost
and lonely,
I can sit
heart to heart
with my own longing
and have no need to make it
other than it is.
copyright 2010, Kimberly V. Schneider
The most healing thing you can do when faced with challenging emotions is to stop. Notice how you’re feeling. Breathe. Find your center. Connect with your Essential Self. Know that help is yours. Let love fill you. Be peace.
When you remember who you are, you don’t need to change anything outside your self. Everything you need is right here.
And here’s the really beautiful part: when you let yourself feel your feelings, when you create a compassionate space inside yourself for all of who you are, you no longer need to dump your dense energy into the Collective Unconscious, where it might result in someone uttering an angry word, or hitting a child, or picking up a gun, or dropping a bomb.
Never underestimate the power of a little self-compassion.
May the peace of self-compassion be yours, today and always,
kimberly schneider, The Manifestation Maven P.S. yesterday I talked to my friend Dr. Samantha St. Julian about Self Compassion and the 5 Spiritual Power Tools You Need for 2012 (and Beyond!) We’re planning a super cool TeleSeminar series next month to support you through times of transformational change. If you want to get the details as soon as we announce them, be sure to “like” my Manifestation page on Facebook:
http://facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
Music to Raise Your Vibration
Today I’m offering the 2nd post in my “Music to Raise Your Vibration” Series.
Music has been clinically demonstrated to shift your brainwaves. You can use music to help you relax, learn, sleep, be more alert, heal or focus–and those are just a few of the states you can access by consciously choosing to listen to particular types of music.
For me, Celtic music is near the top of the list for healing and uplifting music, probably because I love Ireland so much and offer workshops in western Ireland. Of course there are many types of Celtic music. I love tapping my toe to a reel or a jig (ideally at a house party or in a small pub for a live performance!) When it’s calming or healing I need, though, I look to sacred music.
Two of my favorite healing performers from Ireland are Noirin Ni Riain, whose unique and exquisite voice has brought her international acclaim (including singing three times for the Dalai Lama) and Brother Seamus Byrne, a monk who brings ancient Celtic Christianity to life.
On this video, you can hear Brother Seamus singing Ar Nathair (the Our Father)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVO7XylvcXg&feature=fvwrel
And on this one, you’ll hear Noirin Ni Riain sing the ancient “Ode to Bridget,” the Irish Goddess who later took the form of the Christian Saint. I often sing a few lines of this one to our daughter Bridget (though I can’t claim to sounding quite like Noirin!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kS_MsHwm8M&feature=related
I have had the great pleasure and privilege of meeting Noirin a few times and I interviewed her for my radio show. We talked about her book, Listen with the Ear of the Heart and also about having a deep and abiding intimacy with the Divine. That Noirin enjoys such an intimacy is quite evident in her music, and in her words. You can hear our interview at
http://webtalkradio.net/2010/11/08/conscious-manifesting-%E2%80%93-direct-line-to-god/
Stay tuned…I’ll post about more of my favorite music for raising your vibration in coming days.
Abundant Blessings,
kimberly schneider
facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
Channel Your Higher Self
Do you ever wish you had a road map, or big arrows along the path of life, to show you what to do?
Well, what the map and the arrows have been with you all along? Maybe, you just need to learn how to read them.
When I interviewed renowned channel Celeste Hammond, she talked about how to tap into your own inner wisdom, right now, for guidance about your life.
You can listen or download the interview right now from my WebTalkRadio site:
http://webtalkradio.net/2010/08/29/conscious-manifesting-%E2%80%93-channel-your-higher-self/
Abundant Blessings,
kimberly schneider
facebook.com/kimberlyvschneider
