Maya Angelou North Star of Courage

Good morning, Dear IC bloggers. I've had a most interesting morning so far, woke very early in a magical mood and pondered a realization for me--Dreamtime is a portal to "Heaven," a place I rest in consciously at night, pay visits to my loved ones and spiritual ancestors, rejuvenate and often wake with clear insight. I journaled a bit, writing the following IC blessing* for today:

Gossamer
©2014 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com
Part night’s translucent veil, float on gauzy wings,

received by land of metaphor

as silkworms spin silver ropes

pulling you ashore.


I sent it off to my IC folks and proceeded to Facebook to post, where I discovered Maya Angelou, one of my favorite poets and memoirist had passed away early this morning. I paused, looked back on the words I had journaled about dreamtime being a portal to Heaven, reread "Gossamer," and just smiled and filled up with gratitude. Maya Angelou continues to speak, continues to influence me--Energy never dies, it just changes form (IC Truth #2). Maya was a lady who understood the concept of North Star and being committed to a personal guiding light. One of my favorite quotes from her is about the North Star of Courage, she said, "Courage is the most important of all virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently." Maya lived her North Star growing up in the South during a time of tremendous racial tension and change. 

Maya, your life was sweet-water on a fire, you were the river flowing around the obstructions of injustice. Thank you for your bright light and the muse you have become, may your passing be gentle. 

"My Soul Magnifies...."

I woke with three words repeating like a mantra in my head this morning, as soon as my eyes opened and my feet hit the floor..."My soul magnifies...."

This month's IC theme is Dreamtime and although I do dream fairly actively, I wake with word snippets on many more occasions:

"My soul magnifies...."

Curious me, typed the line into a Google search and what popped up caused me to grin like a fool. These three words are part of Mother Mary's proclamation after she was told by the angel Gabriel, "Um, some news--you're pregnant." Mary's one of my spiritual ancestors so her being credited with the line distilled it even stronger. As I journaled, I thought of the metaphor of seeds (one of my favorite) and here's what I wrote:

"As with any seed, we are endowed with gifts entirely specific based on our entirely unique life experiences--recognize, clarify, magnify."

Wow, I had to take pause and really let such a proclamation sink deep. I thought of the little sunflower seed, how it has everything inside to initiate and coax its beautiful form. Aren't we the same? There are unique gifts within each of us, developed out of our life experiences--even the grueling parts. Recognize, clarify and magnify your gifts. Ponder these questions for they hold the potential to turn us toward True North (like that little Sunflower seed turns toward the sun):

1) What are your gifts?
2) How did these come to be?
3) How can these gifts be watered and then ultimately expressed?

Ah, good seeds for the springtime Memorial weekend. I would love to hear any insight and would be honored if you contacted me. I'm off to grab my watering can and begin watering. My soul magnifies....

The Dreaming

Inner Constellation theme for the month of May is Dreamtime--one of my favorite topics. I've studied the role of dreams in many ancient cultures and most recently, the Aboriginal people of Australia, whose perspective on dreaming interests me because it closely aligns with my Native American roots. Aboriginal people believe that the dreaming is a place where past, present and future come together as one reality and which houses all the knowledge of a person's spiritual and blood ancestors. Such a realm lines up perfectly with my dreamtime experiences. Imagine a place you can enter to align with every moment up until the present and then, go beyond, to access the wisdom of everyone who has ever lived. Mind-blowing, yes, and that's why for me the process of consciously dreaming is not a matter of mind alone. How can we enter the dreaming with open and fluid receptivity? Here are a few of my favorite ways to involve my senses in the process of dreaming. I would love to here your tips, please add a comment or contact me for conversation:

• sitting or lying down beneath the stars before bedtime
• spending the last waking hour in candlelight or low lighting
• resting all technology in the last waking hours
• reading some wildly fantastic story or book of poetry before turning out the light
• listening to: Loreena McKennit, Cocteau Twins, or Delerium   
• keeping a dream journal by the bed with a pencil for easy access 
• heightening my sense of smell with the use of herbs, essential oils and scented candles
• defining an intention prior to bed to ground my dreaming practice, while using my breath as an anchor, breathing in and out evenly
• mentally recognizing all the things I'm grateful for in the course of the last 24 hours (puts my mind at ease, and I'm usually asleep by the time I finish:) 
• cultivating a sleeping sanctuary with meaningful decor, feather down comforter, a dream altar and lanterns outside my bedroom windows

Dreams are the wisdom portal inside one's Inner Constellation--the comings and goings, ways to mend and heal, predictions and foretellings. A vast Eternal reality awaits, receives and wraps us in metaphor for eight luxurious hours a day.  May your dreaming be lucid and sweet, a chart on the course to your North Star.  

Brave 273--Nigeria's Kidnapped Girls

Follow: #BringBackOurGirls

The Inner Constellation theme for the month of May is Dreamtime. What inspired the theme was a morning this past April, with a rare but familiar feeling I've learned to call "holy dark." I've woken with holy dark prior to the deaths of loved ones, a few days before 9-11, the Tsunami in Asia....I've learned to honor it, thank it and pay close attention. Not shortly after, news of the 273 girls kidnapped in Nigeria reached me. Hmmm. I picked up my drum, sang some songs and began my prayers. Of course, prayers for me also include writing. Please maintain hope when you read this poem, for the brave 273 are free....

273
©Karla Johnston April, 2014 InnerConstellation.com

Girls, abducted from their Nigerian boarding school,

pulled from sleep into a nightmare.
Where do I possibly go from here?
Unconscionable…
as if one simple word can describe the captors’ actions,
but it cannot.

I try to understand:
Boko Haram, terrorist group whose name translates as,
“Western education is sin.”
Unfathomable.
The way I manage calamity is to pick up forbidden pen,
my saving grace, and write!

Words, my lifeblood, pulse and flow
through me, no different from these 273.
Edified, their story–in outlawed print—goes viral,
spreads all over the world:
Twitter, Facebook, news feeds,
prohibited letters flying.

Here’s something me
and the 273 do understand—
written words have power,
power to transform
all tragic stories.

These beloved 273
are
free,
free,
free. 

*please join the Malala fund in supporting and following the 273. 

Mindful Consumption

We are what we consume. This truth seems so obvious when the categories of consumption are food and drink. Obviously eating and drinking in a healthy way is good for us. However, what if we extend this truth to our minds--we are what we consume. What thoughts and stories are replaying in your experience? If they can be categorized as "junk food," it's time to mindfully consume what is nourishing, light and beautiful. What do I mean? When I focus my attention on these things, they bring me joy:

the robin-egg blue sky, a child's smile, bird song, sending, "I love you" texts, writing inspiring works, listening to Celtic music, singing on a big drum, throwing my cat over my shoulder like a continental soldier...

You get my point. All of these, by the way, are a conditions of the present versus a story of the past. I love to think about everything my body, mind and spirit take in over the course of 24 hours. Is it medicine or poison? In today's TV viewing and media driven world, mindful consumption can present a challenge, but there are so many venues for the nourishing, light and beautiful. My goal in any 24 hours is to consume (physically, emotionally and mentally) things that are wholesome. Doing so has been instrumental in my own healing journey through, what some might have labeled as, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It hit me one fine day that I needed to rewrite my story and in so doing, mindfully recreate my environment. I took it upon myself to be diligent and thus my vision of Inner Constellation began. Mindful consumption is achieved through your beautiful, wise body:

1) Body is the barometer - catch yourself when your thoughts have slipped into painful territory. How do you catch yourself? Your body will send you signals: racing thoughts, physical pain, constriction, etc.

2) Body holds the key - once you become aware that you have slipped into painful territory, transformation begins to happen, in that very instant. What is the transformer? Conscious breath. Breathe in with awareness, breathe out with awareness. Breath is nourishment, breath is life. To me, breath is Holy Spirit, or as my Native roots express, Hushtahli. If your breath is holy medicine, how does your ability to heal change? Breathe a few moments with awareness, and if you can, self compassion for your situation. Transformation has begun.

3) Body knows the answer - Breathing consciously shifts awareness. If you want to change a patterned response in the nervous system, you first change your breathing. In so doing, your thinking brain comes back online, your body comes out of stress response and you become more skillful. Ask yourself--what would help me move into healthier territory right now? Maybe it's going for a walk, star-gazing, or tapping on your points. Whatever it is, do it. Move into healthier terrain. No excuses, do it.

As you can see, the above takes no outside professional or guru, no technique, no equipment--simply mindful you. We are exquisitely designed to balance and regulate. In my personal experience, in moments of practicing mindfulness, I might need the big guns. On these occasions, I will bring out my laser fingers and begin tapping on my meridian points, but that's best reserved for another article. Will you take the Mindful Consumption Challenge? If so, please contact me, so I can be of support on your healing journey.