Mandala2_300px

Life is Ceremony, Ceremony is Life

What if we lived our lives as if everything were ceremonial? What if we lived each day making offerings to the life-giving elements of Fire, Water, Air and Earth. What would the world be like if we took the time each day to bless the trees, birds, plants, rocks and all living things?

This is the path of the Shaman.

The Shaman wakes each morning with blessings and gratitude for the unseen realms that are always supporting and mentoring us.  The Shaman offers rituals to honor that which gives us life. They co-create their realities with the presence of prayer and spiritual inquiry. They see the beauty and magic in all things God’s made.  Everything becomes symbolic and placed in Divine order as messengers along a path of awakening to higher consciousness.  All of life around us – the animals, herbs, crystals – they are guides, allies and healing companions.

We are inextricably connected to all of life on this planet. 

Whatever we do effects the whole, no matter how small you think you are.  Every thought, and word becomes an action that creates a wave of energy that changes the energy around you. It’s time for all of us to recognize how LARGE and IN CHARGE we really are.  How responsible and accountable we must be for the distribution of our energy.

Wake up each day and burn off the negative dross.

According to the Artist’s Way, one of my favorite books of all time, the “Morning Pages” are a very valuable tool in releasing this energy and creating space for creativity to move through you.  Place a notebook by your end table and write 3 stream of consciousness pages to release anything that’s accumulated from the prior day and dream state.  Pay no attention to spelling and grammar, just write! Place it to the side and never read it again. Metaphorically burning it up. Or check out the YogaWakeup app for some of my meditations (see below!).

Practice ceremony daily.

A ceremony is an offering of blessings in our lives. It’s an opportunity to thank your guides, spirit allies, and all of those things around you that bring you life, joy, celebration, love and prosperity. A way that you can honor God in all things.  Even those things that challenge you, are placed there for your own growth.

Ceremony Meditation

If you are unsure of how to start a ceremonial practice or if you want to share your practices with your community, come to Ceremony Meditation at 417 Rose in Venice across from Cafe Gratitude which will open in October.

Our mission as an intentional community is to provide a space where all beings can feel supported and safe within their spiritual practice(s), allowing them to step into the Trust of their own Evolution. We stand with open hearts and minds with all of creation. Ceremony is Life…Life is Ceremony.

Our Purpose:  We acknowledge this World is flourishing with wisdom teachings, sacred practices and conscious raising traditions covering the Globe. At the core of these teachings, we know and understand ‘Paths are many, Truth is one.’ We honor and host all practices that are in agreement with our commitment to every being on the planet discovering his or her Authentic Self, in other words Self-Realization. We will guide all beings to an experience in their heart, where the source of all creation emanates from.

Shamanic & Ceremonial Retreats – Spirit Wisdom Healing Transformational Retreats

You also have the opportunity in September  2016 to connect to all of Nature, experience deeply healing mineral springs hot baths, yoga, meditation and learn Shamanic rituals and ceremonies in Mount Shasta. The Spirit Wisdom Healing Retreats will be an annual retreat offering.  In 2017, you can join us July 27 – August 1st, 2017.

Infinite Blessings on the Path of Awakening to the Truth of It All,

Nicole
Ceremony Meditation
417 Rose in Venice
across from Cafe Gratitude
Open in October.
Nicole Doherty

Creating Ritual & Spiritual Practice

I’m reminded today of the importance of Ritual & Spiritual Practice. As a full-time working mom, it’s more evident than ever that keeping up with Self-Study and Personal Practice is paramount.  And yet, it can seem harder than ever before due to what’s pulling on my attention. What I recognize today is the pressure I place on myself to be perfect in my Practice (Zen on the tallest mountain peak in Lotus with Gian Mudra).  AND, this is not the Practice.

The Ritual of Practice is the Consistency of showing up for myself amidst the Chaos, Suffering, Challenges and every day Irritants that lower my Vibration. Svadyaya (Self-Study) is meeting myself daily to contest the mind’s desires to attach or avert the uncomfortable places that I traverse. The Cure to the Virus of the Mind is the Practice.

Michael Beckwidth of Agape International Spiritual Center, today explained that in our day to day, we live in a lower vibration than our full potential and that our Spiritual Practices (yoga, meditation, chanting, spiritual study) give us the opportunity to merge with our Highest Potential in the Quantum Field. When we were conceived in the Mind of God that version of ourselves was designed and we are evolving Now to meet in that realm of Divine Perfection, Beauty, Love and Prosperity.

It’s so easy daily to get diverted from the Path, so “JUST FOR TODAY… (much like the speak of Alcoholics Anonymous), I COMMIT to a DAILY CEREMONY for MYSELF” whether it be rolling onto my mat for 10 minutes of breath work, staying in the car for an extra 5 minutes to meditate, journaling before bed for a few moments or reading an inspiring article.  All of this is part of Spiritual Practice. Thus, removing the pressure of perfection and performance and making it manageable to achieve!

Infinite Blessings on the Path of Awakening to the Truth of It All,