Meditation Inspiration

I love the beach. I live seaside and visit frequently for the air and quieting of the mind that goes with it, among other reasons, such as my kid can run wild which he needs on a daily basis.

I'm beginning to meditate more regularly (again, my track record is pretty inconsistent), and if you are too then here are some images that I hope will help to relax and center you.

All I do is find a quiet space, but if I'm desperate I stay where I am and put on my headphones and press play.


For hectic days I like to just keep it simple. Sit. Eyes open, eyes closed, whatever floats your boat. Slow, deep down to your belly breaths. Thoughts will come, let them flutter in and out. Observe them but you don't need to feed them. If I'm particularly jittery I'll focus on the very top of my head, the crown chakra. For some reason this seems to help me literally feel above the thoughts and static. Sit for as long or as short a time as you like. Two minutes, ten minutes, twelve minutes. You choose. And you're done. You carved out a little bit of time in your busy day just for you and your much deserving brain. Something to be happy about. Congrats. <3


Please feel free to share your experiences, tips, journeys with meditating in the comments. :)

blurry beach

i love seaweed

overlooking portland, oregon

The Care and Keeping of You / Living Intentionally

Something that I've been hearing about from multiple people lately is that they're feeling worn down. Tired. They know that they need some mega relaxation and rejuvenation time, but are so overtired they don't know where to begin, so the stress just keeps building. I find myself in that boat, as well. And I'm tired of it. I figure, there's got to be some easy ways to deeply relax so that we can feel better and more clear headed and thus able to move forward in life, instead of circling around in indecision. That's something else I think this chronic tiredness leads to- we can't see things clearly. Our minds are rattled along with our bodies and it keep us trapped.

So. Where to begin?

This is counter intuitive, but I think scheduling this time, or consciously allowing it is paramount. Allowing time for it shows us that it is a priority, the same way work, or grocery shopping, or the list you have of things to do is. :) Not saying it has to be exactly at the same time every day, but if you make a general time, or even just have the intention after dinner but before bed, or whenever works best for you, this makes it INTENTIONAL. This needs to be an intentional act. No one is going to hand it to you, ya know?

Secondly, you'll need to ignore your phone/computer/iPad/whatever during this time. A mental break from the dings of notifications and rings of phone calls. I'm sure this goes without saying for many of you, but not for me, haha! So I am writing it here. :)

Third, I think music plays a big part in getting into your zone. Again, this is probably a duh one for most of you. But I needed the reminder, so again, writing it  here.

So by the time you've gotten to this point, you're already focusing on yourself and your needs. You've taken away distractions, gotten yourself in your own peaceful space. You should be feeling better already.

The best part is, by this point you have total freedom. You can do whatever you want. What relaxes you? Maybe you take five or ten for a little meditation to clear your head, to get away from the monkey mind and into your elevated consciousness. In fact, I highly recommend this part, and part of the new goals I have for myself is to get into this state nightly. I've been majorly slacking, and when I FINALLY meditated last night, my head felt hot and jittery at first. Not a good state for me. No wonder I was feeling rattled. (Also, if you're interested, here's a post I did a while back on meditating and clearing chakras)

Okay, so now you should be feeling much, much better. What now? Well, what do you love to do but don't have time for during your busy day? Art, some yoga stretching, reading, playing with cards, playing music, doing some photography, doing a foot soak, whatever. Now is the time to sink into it.

I think that these things, intentionally doing things that you love outside of your busy daily life, help to relax and rejuvenate us. It will make you feel better, like you are living your life intentionally, and making time for yourself because you value yourself and know that you can't run around on empty all the time because you'll go crazy.

I'm seeing how this relates to other areas of life too- making little pockets of time in your day for the things that are important to you. So it can expand out, like the veins in a leaf, to living your life the way you want to, a way that nurtures you and empowers you to move you forward.

What do you do to relax? Please share in the comments below!

Rainy day farmhouse and willow in Maine.

navigating daily life

Boy have I felt scattered today so far, and the past week. I'm sure lots of you feel that way too, with all the different facets of life to keep up with... jobs, other work, school, kids, families, pets, friends, relationships, keeping up with your home, travel...

AND THEN the things we value but have to squeeze in between the things listed above... writing, blogging, art, music, meditating, exercise, FUN, other endeavors, spending time in nature, spending time in the city... what have you. Let's not forget the guilt that can come with neglecting the top list for things on this one...

It feels a little overwhelming at times, right? I've been trying to get a rhythm down... not a strict schedule, but a certain... flow, to my days. Well, I guess it IS a schedule of sorts, but it's super flexible. Even though day to day can vary a lot, there are certain core things that I need to make time for every day. I am feeling the learning curve of it all, but so far it has helped, somewhat, the scattered feeling, if I can think back to my general time map of what I should be doing... it feels like work, to an extent, but GOOD work, if that makes any sense?

Today I'm a little out of it. The moon is void of course, so the moon's a little out there today too. Void of course, or VOC moon means that it's not making any aspects with any of the other planets. To me it feels almost like a free fall of sorts, unattached  It's in Gemini which can feel this way anyway, unfocused because we're trying to focus on too many things... I feel like I'm vibing with the moon. I could have slept all day, I'll tell you that right now. :) I have a certain song I've been obsessed with (I get like that with songs), and have been listening to it over and over to help me focus somewhat. Necessary when blogging or doing readings. Otherwise I get distracted by every little thing.

Second day of my meditation class. It's a challenge, for sure, for me, to meditate every day. Yesterday I did two five minute stretches. Did one ten minute session today. I started to have the thought yesterday that there's no way I will be able to do this every day... I'm too busy... but that's kind of the point... to work these things, that are important to you and beneficial and really help you to be on the path you want to be on, into your life... slowly, slowly, so it sticks...

blocks and clearing.

How do you deal with blockages?

They show themselves in all sorts of ways, and while the antidote seems simple, especially if it's surrounding doing something, like writing, for example- just do it-  it's not. It's like you have to drag yourself, and even if you are able to it, it can feel forced or stiff or just like there's no SOUL in it and it's frustrating.

With me I feel irritable when I'm blocked. If I've been neglecting myself and some semblance of a daily routine of care. And I was feeling this today, bad. It feels gross and heavy. I made myself meditate for, oh, 7ish minutes. I sometimes (often) put it off because I feel like it takes up too much time. Like it's going to be boring when there's other stuff I need to do. But it's never either of those things. Again. Blocks. Resisting.

So since I do rush things sometimes when I'm by myself (My Mars and Uranus are conjunct, and one thing that is, is impatience! In the third house, matters of the mind. btw). My solution was to do a speedy chakra cleanse. Started at the bottom and cleared each one, just moving my hand clockwise (like you're the clock) in front of each chakra. You also raise your energy while doing this- this is energy work, and can feel it at the top of your head. Today it felt like pressure being released. Tangible pressure. Woah. How long had it been? Too long. Far too long.

It's important to feel clear.  I work with people and cards and charts sometimes, (and I would really like to do it more), and I need to be clear before doing this. I don't want to cloud anything, ya know? I need everything to flow. :) Even just in daily matters, daily interactions.

here's a handy guide. ;)

And if you're into it- some Ravi Shankar.

How else can you combat the winter blues?

healing and neutralizing links for grumpiness

To start I just wanted to say thanks to the people who read this!

I was looking at my stats and it's so cool to see that there's people from all over who visit. :) It makes me really happy!

I've been on a bit of a YouTube kick lately. I wanted to share some of the videos I particularly enjoyed. I hope you like them, too.

The always-fabulous Doreen Virtue on moving forward with your life's dreams. I found the part about how your ego doesn't want to allow you to feel fully prepared/qualified especially interesting- food for thought. :)

This was pretty cool. I'm not sure if everyone would enjoy the bliss coded sound, but I did- but I also need a fan or rain sounds app to sleep, haha.

Another Doreen Virtue one! This one is a chakra clearing meditation. My base, heart, and third eye chakras are my top three to work on at the moment! Love what she says about the base- "Learning to earn money WITHOUT suffering." Now that's a goal I need to move toward...

Sometimes I just like to have stuff like this on, just as background noise... I'll still pick up little bits and pieces that help.

Anyway- hope y'all enjoy. I want to do some more research on SAD treatment, as well- I'm a Northerner and I've become more conscious of my mood shifting since we've had shorter days. I'm grumpy. Heh. So is my kid...

I've been out of touch with my Astrology stuff, lately. I think that whole ego thing is part of it... I'll write more later. xo.

not a morning person

preferably, i would sleep through the bulk of it every day, but obviously that is not an option. i like mornings in theory- the stillness, the quiet, the changing sky, the gradual opening of the day. drinking coffee and looking out the window or on the porch, all whimsical-like. obviously, that is not how i get down with mornings, but maybe one day i'll get there. what amazes me is people who get up early and exercise. (*note to self: getting up early to exercise would be amazing.)

but, that is not me. instead i feel fully awake after 8pm, and always want to start various projects around the house at like, 11. then i feel sleepy and pass out. i guess what i'm trying to say is, i really love sleeping and would do it most of the 24 hours of the day if it were culturally acceptable. 

so i really haven't written anything on this for like almost two weeks, or something? i've had terrible writer's block (what else is new), and had started a couple posts but i hated them and they felt so contrived and i got frustrated and gave up. 

also i hadn't gone to my meditation group in two-three weeks, and i realize how out of touch i get with spirituality in any sense when i don't have at least that weekly meditation! i like it because it is so tangible- you actually work with your energy centers, aka chakras, clearing them and such. it feels sooo good to do, i don't know why i slack and don't do it every day. 

but anyway, when i don't do that, it seems as though everything else creatively, or spiritually, or whatever, that i try to do, doesn't flow as well. oh, that kundalini energy.

(if you're interested, it is sahaja meditation that i practice- it's always free, i know there are various groups just around my small portland, maine, so they must be in other pockets of the world too :) )

i do know that i need some sort of positive change in my life, and that just sounds so vague! i mean, i know that like the first rule of making a change is knowing at least in what area of your life you want that change. from an astrological standpoint, i have transiting saturn in my first house, and it is slooowing me down and making me feel sooo stuck! oh and mars is there now, perhaps that's where the urgency is coming from? like, i just want to move (says mars) but haven't figured out any of the specifics (saturn says be careful).

oh and i just realized that the moon is in capricorn, which conjuncts transiting pluto in the early degrees. i learned, last month, i think? that this transit makes me feel crazy! plus it happens right on my natal neptune, which just... adds to it. to my delusions of grandeur. heh. (plus this all happens at the bottom of my chart, the IC, so it's just on that deep level that's hard to shake. so thankful that moon transits are short!)

welp, there it is. i posted something. i should go outside now.

*note to self: talk about the angles of the chart next time. :)

favorite parts of the day.

early bird

it's what i am today. also yesterday- woke up hours before my boys, they are still sleeping as i write this. however, the fact that i decided to do something productive with this rare time most likely means that someone will come out into my writing space any time now... 

it's a gorgeous morning. my desk faces a window, and out it i can see the pale moon in the blue sky, see a green, green field and trees, and hear some birds and other critters running around. oh, and my coffee just finished being made, so.

what's up today? moon in pisces, 17* now, so a little more than halfway through. this makes a nice trine to the sun as i type this. the sun is our true self, the moon our hidden, emotional self, so when they trine- either by transit, or if you have this aspect in your chart- it's harmonious. your wants and needs match up, you feel comfortable with yourself and have a strong sense of self. and right now, i feel oddly calm and awake for 8:23am on a sunday. 

i've been thinking about shadow sides (polarities, aka opposite signs) somewhat lately, and how i am affected by mine. i'm a pisces and so my polarity is virgo- i talked about this once here. it's funny because for so long i wasn't aware of the virgo side of me at all. i just couldn't relate because it wasn't there, or so i thought. then, when mars the past 6 months has been in and out of my 12th house, which is ruled by virgo, i started... seeing it. i couldn't not see it. something that had been hidden (12th house rules this), had been revealed. and now it's there, and i'm working with it. trying to. never realized how controlling i could be, how detail-oriented, scrutinizing, fault-finding, obsessive, and such a perfectionist i could be (the detrimental kind, where you feel defeated all the time).

 (and yes, these are all lower qualities of virgo itself. the higher qualities of virgo are amazing- selfless service, nurturing others, spiritual, focus on health, manifesting their visions for themselves and the world. and i feel like virgo is also a transformational sign. they can go through hell and come back with the same positive outlook, just wiser. oh, and they're also known for having an insane work ethic. i love virgos!)

so i'm trying to transform some of these lower qualities into higher ones, and it is a bitch. but i'm thankful to see it. thankful to see the start of the roots. i realize that anxiety fuels much of this. the other night while laying down in bed but before sleep i cleared my chakras, which helped, but i could still feel anxiety in there. so i started taking deep breaths, and i pinpointed it. the very front of my stomach felt this very tangible anxiety. so i breathed very deeply into that space, visualizing the breaths dissolving it. then i did a short visualization of pulling the cord of anxiety out from that place (my virgo sister-in-law just took a class where she learned, among other things, how to cut cords and she taught me how to do it). right after i did it, i got a sudden jolt in my right forearm. like, it actually hurt a bit, but was very quickly gone. and it helped. meditation is healing, and i know how much i benefit from it, but i still don't do it every day. 

anyway- that was a tangent. i was going to say, i have to keep reminding myself to step back a bit, relax, not get riled up. because it is futile. and so, writing more. photography more. attempting to create/find a meaningful job. 

i think next time i will write a little bit about chakras. also, i have a post that i'm working on that isn't coming to fruition as quickly as i thought it would that's about a card reading i did. en route. 

i think that's all for now. enjoy this day, wherever you are.