Wednesday evening I co-hosted a talk and discussion entitled,  ”Creating Cooperative Relationships.”  My co-host was my good friend and colleague Lori Guth Moffett, CYT.  We had an amazing time sharing info about how powerful and sacred the energy between us and within us is, and how it can be a powerful source of healing in this world.  After illustrating how the chakras emanate energy (thanks to my brave volunteer!), I tried something I had never done before.  I asked who in the audience was having a challenging time in the heart/love department of life.  One woman raised her hand and I checked her fourth charkra with the pendulum.  It indicated that her heart energy was very blocked (or protected).  Then I asked her to relax and allow the group to send her loving, healing energy intentions to her heart chakra.  After about a minute of so of our sending her energy (wonderfully led by Lori), I tested her fourth chakra once again.  To the amazement of the entire room, the pendulum began swinging clockwise freely. 

It is always amazing and awe-inspiring how very spiritually enpowered we really are.  In relationships, we have choices.  We can complain, see what we do not like, feel deprived or resentful.  Or we can know there is only love and that it is possible to send this love to others.  We saw how immediately a group of strangers can come together and send love to one of its members who is struggling.  I suggest we do this in all our relationships, including our relationship to Mother Earth and all of us on the planet.   Less complaints and more compassion would serve us all.  And it is far easier than you would think.  Try it.  We thank you.

Recently I have been speaking on the topic of “relationships.” I’m thinking about this topic once again in preparation for my NEW monthly series entitled, “Relationships & the Zodiac” (where the Law of Attraction + the Zodiac meet!) It occured to me that we can indeed think of relationships as a spiritual practice. While this may seem a bit odd at first, consider that spiritual development can happen elsewhere than sitting in an ashram chanting OM. In fact, sitting and chanting is the easy part. Mixing it up in life with others is where the dicey part begins. Some of us avoid intimate relationships. Some of us jump in and become part of the spin cycle. And some of us are interested in learning from relationships to be better versions of ourselves.

Living with another (whether cohabiting or not) is a delicate balance. It involves the intersection of two lives complete with a history of “stories” for each. It involves the web of extended relationships each person is involved in. It reflects the mutual projections of each person upon the other. Not for the weak of heart, right?Know that there is much to gain and to learn, and ways to grow from experience in intimate relationships as well.

Here are just a couple of guidelines for us to remember. 1.) It’s all relationship. You cannot exist in this world without participating in a network of relationships. 2.) Be willing to accept full responsibility for your experience of all your relationships. The only common denominator in all of your relationships is YOU! 3.) Know that you are constantly projecting your stories, past experiences and fears onto your relationships. Get to know yourself in a compassionate and authentic way. This is an important prerequisite to having peaceful and joyful relationships with others. Oh, and 4.) Be light with it all. Enjoy yourself and the other person, and be open to what you two can joyously learn together!

It is the last day of February, and I have been writing and speaking all month on LOVE.  While this month is short on days, I hope that for all of you, it has been long on LOVE.  Let’s consider expanding the association far beyond this one month of the year.

What was your Valentine’s day and month like this year?  How do you feel about LOVE anyway?  Kind of a weird question, isn’t it?  Conceptually redundant?  Not really.  While this word and topic has received a lot of airplay, very few of us are truly comfortable with LOVE, much less have a clue as to what it really is.  That is primarily because of fear.  What is fear?  This one is a bit more clear perhaps.  But I will define it as the pinching off of LOVE.  It is like not really breathing deeply, not opening up to the total expansiveness that a living breath requires.  That is how most people actually breathe most of the time, by the way.  And it is for exactly the same reason, fear.

Let’s not judge, but merely witness this four-letter “F” word for a moment.  What is it really?  How does it arise and what does it do to us?  It arises from our beliefs, which are based on our stories (life experiences and what we conclude from them).  And it restricts us in the name of survival and protection.  Herein lies the grand delusion.  Because anything that restricts you is a death grip.  Your deepest desires and passions are for freedom and joy.  It’s why you do anything.  You believe that it will give you more freedom or happiness.  While your desire is true, your aim is way off.  “You can’t there from here.”  Survival and protection will not lead you toward what you really yearn for.  You cannot get to LOVE from fear.  Never.  Ever.

Hmmmm.  It’s a vicious cycle.  Experiences of disappointment, hurt and pain leave us with fear and a cautious, protective posture towards life.  This raises sensitivity and focus on the unwanted aspects of living instead of on what we really and truly want more of (deep in our heart of hearts).  Much has been written and postulated about this tendency from a suvivalist perspective.  The reptilian brain thing, flight-or-fright, adrenalin surges, etc.  What’s a human to do?

You may have heard about  ”the Shift,” the end of the Mayan calendar, 2012 predictions.  I would suggest that you simply buy one book on all this, as someone else has done all the hard work of putting it together in a way that you (and I) can understand.  Do yourself a favor and get Gregg Braden’s latest, Fractal Time.  In short, it explains that we are at a very crucial point in human history, one we have never been at before in human existence.  It explains everything from the world speeding up to global warming, and everything in between.  So what’s all this have to do with LOVE, you may ask.  Here’s what.

You, me, we are being asked to rise to a new order of our human consciousness.  Well, it’s more than a request.  It’s a requirement.  We have bumbled along at levels of consciousness for thousands of years, gradually ascending to present levels.  But a sizeable leap is now required if we are to live heaven on earth, or even continue to live on earth at all.  This leap is about LOVE.  It is about shortening the distance between the head and the heart.  Indigenous cultures are all aware of the importance of this time in human history and have been anticipating its arrival for hunreds of years.  They are very glad it is here.  They are hopeful that we can rise to the occasion of our energetic invitation (call it “spiritual” if you will) to live, finally, a heart-centered existence.  To live LOVE as it truly is, UNCONDITIONAL.  This is the litmus test of true LOVE.  It only comes in this flavor, UNCONDITIONAL.  Anything other than this is fear (the four-letter “F” word, remember?)

I invite you to think (and feel) on these things as you live through this powerful time in human history.  Practice any ways you can that bring you closer to LOVE (and further from the four-letter “F” word).  Be creative and take it as lightly as you can.  Breathe as deeply as you dare.  Look for beauty everywhere.  See the heart and soul in everyone you meet.  Look into their eyes and let them look into yours.  Soften your face and open to smiling more often than not.  Hang out with babies and animals.  We are all in this together.  We need each other.  We are each other.  Become more consciousness in your every day.  Allow yourself to breathe and believe in the world your heart wants to live in.

We’re closer than you may think.