Author Archives: Karen Cleveland

Connect with The Support of the Universe

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A meditation to help you remember your connection with everything

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. The meditation is effective with our without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.*

In The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo says on April 25: “Living in modern times has turned us into watchers, placing a sliver of distance between us and everything we meet. It is this watching that disheartens our days, that takes the color out of the earth and makes the songs of time sound flat.”

Have you ever taken note of the seemingly inanimate objects around you? The wall, the door, the chair, the table? How would life be if you recognized these objects were full of life just as plants, flowers and trees are?

It may seem strange to imagine this, but if you remember the Holy Spirit is within everything, and there is no place that escapes the breath and life of God, a healing of separation can begin. Once you again feel connected to everything in the universe, you will know and experience unconditional love, safety, support, wisdom and everything else that is already our Divine Truth.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Enhance Your Connection With Others by Remaining Calm and Centered

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This will bring calm amidst chaos

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. The meditation is effective with our without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.*

It’s hard to be present with our loved ones while life is crazy around us, but if we can remember to keep ourselves centered and grounded we do better in all of our relationships.

This meditation helps you be the steady anchor of your home or work to allow you to focus in areas of importance, and connect deeper with those you desire.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

We Share the Same River, We Are Not Alone

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What does it mean to be connected to all life and how does it serve you?

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. The meditation is effective with our without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.*

If you sit and watch a river or stream flow, you’ll see that it touches everything in its way and then moves on. It does not stop to ponder why a rock is in the way, or how the tree came to fall right across its path. It continues, day after day, to touch all and carry the loose or unnecessary obstacles away with it.

What can this mean for you? Have you ever had the experience, like Mark Nepo mentions in the book on April 2nd, that the waters of emotion may be with you one hour, and in the next another person is having the same experience? Or that the waves of emotion that wash through us are just that, waves that ebb and surge?

What you discover through this process will be unique. I can’t predict what insights you’ll have to your life and that of those around you, but I do know this meditation can help you find peace and balance as you discover the connection through the never-ending flow of water.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Connecting with an Animal

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What wisdom does the animal world hold for you today?

Since we are between our monthly book workshops (the next one starts April 9th), I am sharing a meditation/visualization to guide you in connecting with an animal.

Remembering our connection to nature, and physically feeling the earth beneath our feet whenever possible, is a very powerful practice for staying grounded in Spirit.

*Our next book series begins April 9th and is based on the book The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have, by Mark Neop. The weekly meditations are effective with or without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Let’s Dig in and Find What Only You Can Do to Serve

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You have unique gifts to serve the world

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics by Mirabai Starr. The meditation is effective with or without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

You may already know where you want to change the world, or what you can bring to the table to do it, but let’s put them together to help you serve in the most powerful way you can.

Starr has an exercise in chapter eight to find a way you can help heal our Mother the Earth, and this expands upon that for those that are called to heal people, animals, everything.

You may want a pen and paper nearby for this, although it’s not required; there will only be a few things you’ll want to remember later.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Meditating with One You Admire Leads to Insights and Inspiration

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What Spiritual Leader do you admire most? Now, meditate with them!

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics by Mirabai Starr. The meditation is effective with or without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

In her book, Starr talks about the mystical experience her friend Greta had after a meditative unburdening of her heart with Jesus. We all have this opportunity to pray and meditate with our most admired leader and reap the insights and inspirations that follow.

You’ll first want to decide who your meditation partner is for this exercise. Is it Jesus? Buddha? Mother Mary? St. Francis? No matter who, alive or dead, if they are worthy of your admiration then they have something to share with you.

In this meditation I’ll lead you into connection and then meditation time with them.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

The Use of a Compassionate Meditation Helps Yourself Only as You Help Others

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You can help your loved ones immediately with this practice

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics by Mirabai Starr. The meditation is effective with or without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

Most meditations focus on something self-affirming, enlightening or inspiring, but this week I’d like to introduce you to something that may be new to you: Tonglen. It is a Buddhist practice known as “taking and sending,” and as you help others with it, you are in turn helped by connecting to a deeper spiritual Self.

It is about taking the pain or suffering of another and turning it into something light and bright. Often you will do this for a loved one, but you can most certainly focus on an aspect of your country, the planet, or any group you wish to help ease.

This helps us practice and recognize selflessness and compassion as an important aspect of our being.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Learning to Accept Your Body As Is

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You’re in it for a reason!

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book Love between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path by Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD. The meditation is effective with our without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

Many of us get upset with our bodies: too big, too small, too slow, too clumsy…but what if there are important lessons you need to learn, and share, that you can only get from the body you’re in? What if it’s teaching you to be compassionate in a way you’d never understand otherwise?

The Buddhists believe that it’s necessary we are in the body we have, that otherwise we couldn’t learn the lessons we need in this lifetime.

I will guide you through thought-provoking questions in this meditation to help you love and understand your body a bit better.

Once we understand why we have this body, we can begin to understand how it affects our relationships.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Conflict with a Loved One is a Great Opportunity for Growth

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If your relationships are important to you, learn how to be a mindful witness.

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book Love between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path by Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD. The meditation is effective with our without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

Many of us grow up in conflict-avoidance homes or cultures, so we don’t really know how to effectively deal with conflict in our adult relationships, even though it’s pretty much inevitable if you’re in a relationship of equals, we simply don’t always agree! It’s important to learn to face conflict and not run or get angry, and what to do with it when you do face it.

This meditation will gently walk you through the process of how to be mindful during such situations.

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!

Revealing and Sharing our Greatest Qualities

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Uncover, and love, your best self.

*Please note this is part of a series based on the book Love between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path by Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD. The meditation is effective with our without reading the book, but if you’d like to join the book club, click here.

Sometimes we make up stories that we don’t know what our strongest qualities are, or if we do, we shrink and try to hide them from the world. We need to stop that! If we want to be our most effective authentic selves, we need to let our light shine bright for all to see. This is how we start to step into our personal mission and greatness, by using and sharing our strengths.

This meditation will help you reveal your highest qualities and then to revel in them so you are comfortable expressing them as only you can. We deserve the best You!

 

Thank you for listening. Enjoy!