Undone

I was in the middle of writing when I was interrupted. I tried to focus again, to concentrate, but I just couldn't. I lost the flow. The more I tried to get it back, the worse it became. I wasn't able to finish what I was working on. The interruption really got to me. I became angry.

Anger keeps the flow away and our minds on what triggered the anger. It distracts us and channels though our body making it unhealthy. So how do we break this cycle so that anger doesn't ruin our flow, our ability to deal? There are different practices we can make use of. One in particular works almost immediately. It's a 16-second breathing exercise we can use anytime and anywhere to break habitual angry reactions. 

In this practice, we breathe for four counts, hold the breath in for four counts, exhale for four counts, and hold the breath out for four counts. Repeat, as necessary. While practicing, focus on the breath. Watching the breath keeps the mind from focusing on what prompted the anger. The body will calm down and inform the mind that there is no alarm, no need to react. 

Today is a good day to put this practice to use when a situation that makes us angry or upset arises. Observe how you feel before and after the practice. Breathe and let the unsettling feelings be undone.

Image found at breathingmandala.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

The big F word

I've been so angry lately. It seems the angrier I get, the more anger I attract to myself. Angry people, angry situations, and reasons to become angry keep showing up in my experience. I'm overwhelmed with anger and it feels awful. I feel frustrated, powerless, impotent, and mad. I don't want to feel this way anymore. I want to feel better so I have to do something different. I have to go to the F word: forgiveness.

This is difficult for it is easier to hold on to the grievance and to complain. In our minds, forgiveness is difficult because it means letting go of something that made us right and made someone else wrong. But not forgiving weighs us down. Unforgiving thoughts are obsessive thoughts. Our minds keep ruminating on what fuels our anger. We are not able to focus, we replay our gripe, we become distracted, and we make mistakes. Physically, we suffer heartburn, headaches, stomach problems, sleeping problems and compromise our immune systems. Our hands shake, our hearts race, and we become jittery. Our moods become depressed, which can reflect as a bad mood, irritation, and hostility. We blame, judge, and get self-righteous reacting to life with resentment and coloring our experience with aggravation and bitterness.

Forgiveness, on the other hand, frees us. It allows us to start anew. It let's us move from feeling done-unto to doing, taking action, moving on, and moving forward. Forgiveness moves us from what hurt us to solutions, productiveness, creativity and a better experience. It moves us from weakness to strength of character. We become empowered over an external situation. We anchor ourselves to how we want to feel. If anything, we forgive to feel better, to lift ourselves up, to be able to put the right intention into what we do, to feel light-hearted, to learn, to be open to something more desirable, to enjoy the good, to breathe, to be done with it.

Today is a good day to forgive whatever we feel is a grievance, whoever we feel wronged us. Forgiveness is not easy sometimes, and it certainly does not mean that we condone what has happened. Forgiveness is a process. It is a change in our mindset. It's a shift from ego to inner peace. It steps us away from reactivity. Let's give forgiveness a chance. Let's let go of what doesn't serve us so that we may enjoy life more sweetly.

Image found at the-open-mind.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Power

Forty-four days after Hurricane María swept through Puerto Rico, the power came back on in our apartment. We haven't seen it. For the last few weeks we have been staying at my parents' house. At some point today we will swing by our home and make sure it is still on. Electricity is being reconnected to very few places on the island, but the system is so fragile that power comes and goes. It will be like this for a while. Meanwhile, life here is still in shambles. We have felt and feel powerless.

Power can be a confusing word. We use it in reference to electricity, to a machine's capability and to force. We talk about too much power or too little. And we confuse it with force, especially in reference to personal power.

We tend to think that personal power does something to us, that we become something different–good or bad. Some people obtain a position of leadership or influence and change. Just as some people lose such a position and they change as well. Yet, it is not that we change with power. Our personalities rise up to meet us where we are. We exercise power at our level of consciousness–or unconsciousness. Once we are in a place or position to exert influence, authority, direction, control, or guidance, we demonstrate how powerful we truly are. We help or hinder, we lift or cripple, we inspire or discourage, we share or self-serve, we can be generous or miserly, we generate aid or we ignore the needs of the people, we promote progress with words, actions and policy, or we politicize, we lead kindly or we begrudge.

The truth is, we don't have to be in a position of leadership to exercise power. Power is a subtle force that moves us spiritually, mentally, and physically to exert a version of ourselves that shines through. It does in the service of the highest and best good. It regenerates itself with each thought and action that serves our highest purpose. Yet, days like today, power may be difficult for us to summon. So days like today are good days to connect with silence and allow good thoughts to rise. Let that be our moving force today. Let's tap into who we really are and power ourselves up that we may help others power themselves up. May we light the way.

Image found at wikiwand.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Dark night

Everything is dark. There are no lights on the streets, no lights in windows, no lights in the sky. The horizon is terribly dark. My eyes can only see night. We are in a very long and very dark night. Collectively. Individually. The world as we have known it is no more.

It is dark in the middle of the day, too, as I look out the window, as I stand in an hour's long line to enter the supermarket and find its shelves empty, and as I walk in the heat on broken roads, empty handed. It is darker still when the president speaks and minimizes our situation, when he drives to a middle class suburban neighborhood for his photo-op 17 days after the hurricane hit and leaves without acknowledgment or recognition of the humanitarian crisis that has already taken hundreds of lives. Hundreds more are dying. Few deaths are reported. That is the real disaster. The inhumanity, the corruption, the greed, the incompetence, and the manipulation of the government who has demonstrated how little people matter and how much big contracts and opportunities do. Political and economic gain has been the priority. It is a dark collective night for this island.

I started writing this 17 days after Hurricane María landed on the whole of Puerto Rico. Today, 38 days later, little to no progress has been made. Commerce has halted. Few schools have opened. Only a very small percentage of businesses and homes have power. Businesses are shutting down, permanently. Where there is running water, it is contaminated. Cancer patients, dialysis patients and others chronically ill are dying. Hospitals are running on generators, some of which have shut down in the middle of surgeries. Disease is spreading. Supplies are scarce, as is food and drinking water. Garbage, waste, rubble, wreckage, and debris are piled on the streets. Mosquitos, flies, and vermon are rampant. Trees lay dead across roads. So do lamp posts and other structures. The press is inaccurate, erroneous, tricky, and deceptive. Politicians have taken to the game. Money raised by some organizations is being held, as are supplies, for political reasons. Crime is on the rise. People are desperate. Telephone communication is unreliable. International help is not allowed in. Obstacles are placed before people who have arrived here to help. Bureaucracy reigns. The airport has become a refugee center. People waiting to leave, but can't. Hopelessness befalls us. Mental health is at an all-time high critical point. We are breaking.

We have survived nature's hurricane, only to succumb to man's aftermath. We are moving from shock, to anger, to full-on despair. It is a stark, dark night. My hope lies in that darkness is not absolute. Even the slimmest sliver of light negates its absoluteness. My hope is that even in this profound sadness we are lifted. Today is a good day to find that little bit of light that can start to contrast our night. May we find it and share it with each other. May Puerto Rico be illumined, electrically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Image found at wired.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Assume the position

She was telling me how her shoes are always scuffed. They make her look unprofessional and unkempt. She buys her shoes cheap because she tears them up, she said. She tears them up at the office. She sits at her desk like a five-year-old, she said–slouched, knees together, dragging her feet sideways, on either side. It's not a big deal, she says, because no clients enter unannounced and when they do, they can't see her feet. Only her coworkers see her.

During our coaching sessions, one of the issues that has come up is how, despite the quality of her work, her dedication, punctuality, reliability, competence, and discipline, she is passed up for career growth opportunities and salary raises. Moreover, she is asked to do menial leftover tasks that no one else wants to tackle. She has assumed that position.

We assume an attitude, a walk, and a talk, that matches that which we believe we are. We receive and experience accordingly. We do this every day even if we are not aware of it, especially when we are not aware of it. Superiority, inferiority, disregard, idleness, carelessness, indifference, inattention, mediocrity, unpleasantness, disrespect, rudeness, and irreverence toward ourselves or others reflect in our experience. So do respect, deference, loyalty, mindfulness, consideration, temperance, friendliness, kindness, joy, politeness, and care.

We sabotage ourselves with thoughts that are contrary to our desires. Not doing so takes some inner work, yet, it is possible and will change our experience. Today is a good day to assume the position. Let's bear the attitude of that which we want for ourselves. Is it respect? Satisfaction? Achievement? Balance? Love? What do we want to experience? Let's keep our thoughts, our intentions, our feelings and our gestures aligned with what we want and then see it unfold in our experience.

Image found at worlddreambank.org.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

In the eye

I'm sitting in lotus in the middle of my living room. Hurricane Irma is headed our way and I sit in meditation. Meanwhile, there's a flurry of related activity around me.

My son still sleeps. My husband is out buying supplies. The streets are heavy with drivers. People are shopping for water, batteries and other goods, protecting property, and taking care of important details. Others are posting concerns, real and fake news, criticism, prayers, and statements of caution on social media. After cleaning, storing, buying, and preparing, I have now tuned out most of it. We have prepared for the storm, but there's no guarantee we are ready. We will not know until the storm hits, yet there's nothing else to do. There is uncertainty.

I don't know what the outer bands of the storm will bring. All I know, as I sit here, is that I don't know. We don't know. Such is life. Uncertainty is real. All we can do is prepare and let go. While we wait, it behooves us to remain calm, to power up with a connection to our Higher Selves, to breathe in order to center ourselves, to call on clarity, to be aware, to be mindful, and to let go.

Today is a good day to take a few moments and sit in meditation. This will help us become calm and clear headed, able to think clearly, keep our thoughts organized and take action when needed, to know what to do and when to do it. We will not anticipate. We wait in uncertainty:

Sit comfortably. Close your eyes.
Visualize yourself in the eye of the storm, where it is calm.
Breathe slowly and deeply.
You are calm. You breathe. You recharge.
Breathe away the stress.
Breathe in faith.
Breathe out the need to control.
Breath in hope.
Breathe out anxiety.
Breath in love.
Breathe out fear.

Repeat. Breathe for a few more minutes. Stay in the eye. Become it. Be calm.

To all of us who are in the path of Hurricane Irma, we send love and light. Blessed be.

Image found at galaxysss.ru.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Love rains, love reigns

Hurricane Harvey has devastated parts of Texas and has flooded other parts up to Louisiana. The images on television and on social media show homes, buildings, cars, and other property under water. The damages are unbelievable. The loss, especially the loss of lives, is overwhelming. Lives lost to the storm, lives lost in rescue efforts, lives lost to circumstances complicated by the storm. This is an incredible disaster.

Yet, in all the devastation, faith, hope, and love are coming through. Rescuers are working around the clock to bring people to safety, businesses and storefronts are opening up to give shelter to people and pets, people are coming together to help each other, celebrities as well as non-famous people are donating money to aid the victims of Hurricane Harvey, and we are coming together in prayer bringing strength and power to help this horrific situation.

This tragedy seems to much to bear and yet love rains, love reigns. Amidst the chaos, destruction and devastation, love is raining. Love is reigning. Even is we don't see it, yet.

Today is a good day to join our thoughts and prayers for Houston and all those affected by Hurricane Harvey. May we see the love and not the fear. May we not look for fault, but for ways to help and uplift. May we hold on to the knowing that miracles abound. May those of us who are safe keep a spirit of solidarity witnessing the suffering to help bear it and to help transform its energy. Let's behold the love. Let's be lightworkers. May we keep our focus on thoughts that embrace, heal, and help and, in doing so, send light Houston's way.

Image found at pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Quick pick-me-up meditation

I woke up in a bit of a funk today. I felt weighed down. I needed a pick-me-up, quickly. I didn't want to start my day with low energy and spread it around. Wherever I went, I was just going to bring everyone else down as well. Before heading out the door, I took a few minutes to practice an awesome Kundalini meditation to jump start my energy. It worked like a charm. Here, I share it with you. I hope it serves you.

Begin in a comfortable seated position, with your back straight and your hands in prayer.

Take a moment to settle. Close your eyes.

Breathe in through your nose for four counts. Hold your breath for four counts.

Exhale through your nose for four counts. Hold out for four counts.

Again. All breathing is through the nose.

Breathe in for four counts. Hold your breath for four counts.

Exhale for four counts. Hold out for four counts.

Again.

Breathe in for four counts. Hold your breath for four counts.

Exhale for four counts. Hold out for four counts.

Continue for a few minutes, focused on your breath, with your hands still in Anjali Mudra or prayer position.

Now breathe normally. Press your hands together for a count of ten. Release for a count of fifteen. Repeat one more time.

Namaste.

Image found on pinterest.com

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Observer effect

It has been 98 days since the last time I posted here. Ninety-eight days ago my son was about to turn into a 16 year-old, I was 64 days away from my wedding, and had an impressive school and client work load to wrap up. Overwhelmed, I took time away. I didn't make a plan or intend any particular outcome. I decided to observe. I limited my intake of social media and focused on what was essential. While I kept up with my obligations and responsibilities, I did it all with observation as my intention.

Quantum physicists have scientific explanations for the effects of observing a phenomenon. They call it the observer effect and base it on quantum field theory, superposition, and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. Their experiments have concluded that observation can affect the outcome of what is observed. Exactly.

There's an inherent magic in observing. As I began to observe my self, my days, my thoughts, my feelings, and my surroundings, I started to feel the overwhelmness dissipate, my stress level decrease, and my awareness increase. I started to see patterns, habits and attitudes, as well as subconscious beliefs that affect my demeanor, behavior and decisions. I had no judgment about this. I was just observing. I don't know how to explain the effect observing has had on me, yet the mystical impression that remains now infuses everything–my thoughts, my feelings, my gestures. I think, feel and do with more awareness and with a sense purpose and of connection to my Higher Self. I am left with a sense of appreciation, joy and subtle eagerness.

Today is a good day to observe, to watch ourselves in thought and action. Let's take time to look at ourselves and make no judgment, make no decision and take no action based on this exercise. Let's just observe. What will we learn about ourselves, our reactions, our moods, our understanding of the world and of our place in it? What effect will observation have on us?

Image found at sevenintentions.wordpress.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

This too shall pass

This too shall pass.
I only have to get through today.
I'm here. I'm now. Only this matters.

This too shall pass.
I only have to get through today.
I'm here. I'm now. Only this matters.

This too shall pass.
I only have to get through today.
I'm here. I'm now. Only this matters.

This too shall pass.
I only have to get through today.
I'm here. I'm now. Only this matters.

Somedays are harder than others. Today is one of those days. This litany of thoughts is what will help me today. A reminder. A small chain of mantras. Thoughts that will help me flow. Today is a good day to only recite that which will help us. This too shall pass.

This too shall pass.
I only have to get through today.
I'm here. I'm now. Only this matters.

Image found at pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Language!

I'm no prude when it comes to swearing. Swearing sometimes helps me express how I really feel. Sometimes it makes me funny. Sometimes it relieves tension. Yet, I know there's a right time and place to use profanity. And there's no need to get offensive. So I watch my language.

I'm not alone. I know many people who speak very properly and then we let loose and the swear words come out. We know what to say and when to say it. Yet, we are not so careful with other words and phrases we use.

We speak without watching the weight of our words, the disempowering ways we speak about everyday circumstances. We set ourselves on a course to fail or succeed with what we say. We do so without being conscious about it. We talk about what we lack, what there's not enough of, what is wrong, what can go wrong, what we don't like, and what we don't want. We complain. We criticize. We tell our children what not to forget rather than what to remember. We warn against what we don't like rather than what we do. We talk about what we have to do, which sounds like an obligation, instead of what we get to do, which sounds like a choice we make. We judge others. We bring ourselves and those around us down.

This is not about positivity. This is about alchemy, about changing our experience by changing the way we speak. We can say we are broke, or we can say we have other things on budget right now (empowering ourselves to put what we want on the budget). We can say I have to work out today, or we can say I get to work out today (which is an opportunity we take). We can say Don't talk to me that way, or we can say I appreciate it when you speak calmly. We can say I have to do it this way, or we can say I do this because it helps me. We can speak as victims or we can speak as masters.

Today is a good day to watch our language and experience something different, something better. Let's not complain, let's not judge. Let's reinforce the good, the positive, the possible. Let's use words of abundance, creativity, wellbeing, confidence, and good neighboring. Let's speak mindfully and change the way we identify with the context of our lives. Let's watch our language.

Image found at es.pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Peace is the way

I'm a pacifist. I don't say that to separate myself from others, to make myself different, or to label myself. I say it as a reminder to myself, a reminder that my power lies in serenity and nonviolence. Being a pacifist means that I draw from inner peace to interact with the world. When I'm at peace, I'm powerful. When I'm at peace, I'm less reactive, more composed and able to make better decisions. I'm centered, grounded, and strong.

As a pacifist, I don't ignore what is going on. With my pacifist mindset, I have participated in and accomplished many changes of things and circumstances that matter to me and that affect the greater good. Some are obvious. Others, not so much. Yet these changes are appreciated by others and contribute to a healthy coexistence, more pragmatism, collective productivity, and communal wellbeing. I may not scream, rant and raise my fist, but I do protest. I protest, make my voice heard and make change happen.

At the moment, we are in turmoil. My country's present is bleak, its future even more so. We are in the midsts of political mayhem. Trust is at an all-time low. Our dignity has been violated. We, as a people, are at our wits end. Our future compromised by governmental corruption. We are suffering injustice after injustice perpetrated by the very people elected to manage our resources, protect and serve, and make decisiones for our country. We have no justice. We have no peace.

To live in peace requires justice, requires action. We as a people are coming together to claim justice. Next Monday, May the 1st, we will march, we will stop commerce, we will stop everything, and we will make our voices heard. I ask for your highest and best thoughts for a peaceful and powerful demonstration. I ask for your highest and best thoughts for a peaceful outcome for the people of Puerto Rico.

Peace requires action. Today is a good day to take action. Sit in meditation for a few minutes. Gather your peace, gather your strength. Meditation is action. It is reaching in for power, strength and guidance. Sustained peace requires this kind of action and action that will garner us justice requires us to be at peace so that our message is heard and not our anger or our rightful indignation.

For those of us who will march on Monday, let's join our minds in silence and stillness before we head out to protest, that we may be imperturbable as we walk. Peace is the way.

Let's gather our peace, let's gather our strength, and let's go and make our voices heard.

Image found at pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Breathing Space

Take a deep breath. Open up the space between this moment and the next. Breathe. Create space between your emotion and your reaction, between your reaction and your decision. Create a space between your anger and what you say. Breathe. Make space between your sadness and your view of the world. Breathe space between you and your reaction to others. Breathe. Create space.

It's Friday. Many view this day as the beginning of the weekend. Yet, many others view Friday as the most difficult day of the week. It's the day in which everything that didn't get done during the week must get done. It's the day when we see what balls we dropped, what deadlines we missed, and what gets pushed on to next week's already full to-do list. Friday, for many, is the day that looms longer than others. It's the in which we hold our breath without noticing, in which we react without thinking, in which we bounce from one thing to another seemingly without a beginning or end in a loop of frantic activity and fragmented thoughts.

Today is a good day to create space for inner peace, calmness, and more composed thoughts. It is a good day to breathe and create space between one thing and another, between one task and another, between one thought and another. Let's breathe while we wait for the elevator doors to open, for the page to load, for the light to change. Breathing space between everything that we say, think and do minimizes mistakes and clumsiness, allows us moments of unexpected joy, brings up kindness, reduces anxiety, and let's a better version of us come through. Breathing space consciously improvises a smile on our face, creating a positive neurochemical reaction that makes us feel good. Let's breathe space between one bite and the next. Let's weave space in conversations. Let's be mindful. Let's take conscious breaths throughout this day creating space in our body, our mind, our spirit, and our soul.

Lotus Mandala 2, painting by Judith Shaw found at feminismandreligion.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Now and later

Last Friday a colleague and I sat around a work table and both commented how off we felt. He had not meditated either that morning. Not meditating made him feel out of focus and forgetful. I, on the other hand, was feeling clumsy and disorganized.

Then, yesterday, I had an appointment for my annual pap exam. These things are never pleasant. I was bit more tense than usual because I was visiting a doctor who was new to me. I was unfamiliar with him, his staff and the office. The waiting room was full of people, including many children and babies. The children were running around the room with moms screaming at them. Many of them brought fast food with them. At one point, french fries became toy missiles flying around the room, with more screaming from the moms. Most of the babies were crying loudly, some unconsolably. On top of that, the air conditioning was not working which made the smell of fast food stronger, pungent even. I knew I had to wait, so I had brought a book with me. Would I be able to read in the midsts of all the noise and discomfort? I focused on my breath.

These two stories bear out some of the results of meditation. Meditation has both immediate and cumulative effects. Many times, right after meditation, I feel grounded and focused. I feel as though I can handle whatever comes my way. There are other times throughout my day when I feel the accumulated effects of my meditation practice. Yesterday, for instance, I was able to read in bosom of life around me. Before I knew it, the nurse had called me into the examination room. Moreover, while the doctor was performing the exam, I was relaxed and comfortable. That had never happened to me before.

The focusing and calming effects on meditation have a real impact on our physical and mental health.  A regular meditation practice can help us be productive and efficient, think more clearly and creatively, reduce our blood pressure, and regulate our emotions, among many other benefits. Today is a good day to meditate for both the now and the later effects. Let's take a few minutes to sit in a quiet place, close our eyes and breathe. Let's do this consciously and bring about inner calm, equanimity, better health and our ability to deal better with daily life.

Image found at irinianagnostaki.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Stop. Drop. Roll.

I could feel my head getting hot. We had an internet security breach. After the initial chaos, we had to reconfigure every gateway into our network. This meant a breakdown of every system and a huge interruption of our work. We had to check every online account we own and reset every password. We had to test and retest our new security measures and fix the new issues that popped up. This is not over, I'm sure.

My head was on fire. I felt my brain was going to explode. As I was burning with anxiety and worry, thinking about everything I had to get done and the possible consequences of the hack, I remembered what we were taught as children, when on fire, stop, drop and roll. I was on fire. I thought for a moment. I could burn, almost quite literally, or I could stop, drop and roll.

I stopped what I was doing, which was not productive, anyways. I dropped my negative and pessimistic thoughts–which allowed me to get creative and feel better, and I rolled with the day. I made a few calls to reschedule work, I caught up with some projects I had on the back burner and I flowed.

Life doesn't always go according to our plan. This can be very disruptive and can upset our psyche and our physical health. When this happens, we can take a moment to breathe and center ourselves in what is at the moment, instead of frustrating ourselves with what we want it to be. And so, today is a good day to stop whatever it is we are doing that is unfruitful and ineffective, to drop our worrisome and discouraging thoughts and just roll with what is presented to us. We may be surprised with what we end up accomplishing. When we stop, drop and roll, we flow, enlivened by creativity and unexpected opportunity.

Image found at Ilustra.org.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Meeting the world

There's so much that shocks us, confuses us, annoys us, offends us, angers us, bothers us, warms our heart, inspires us, makes us proud, enlivens us, and makes us smile. On any given day, we go out into the world and encounter so much. We react to it. We are affected by it. We are part of it. We affect it. It reacts to us.

Whatever we meet in the world, we meet in ourselves. Everything that we recognize, that we fear, that we understand, that we get, we do so because it is in us, it is a reflection of something in us, of something we bring wholeheartedly, something we fear in ourselves and have repressed, or of something we don't completely understand. We then behave accordingly. We act in reaction to our perception, and this has an effect on what we receive in return.

As we head out today, let's be aware that we have an effect in and on the world. Let's meet the best of ourselves out there. Let's expect it. Let's receive it. Let's give it. Today is a good day to recognize our one and only nature and know that we meet ourselves everyday in every circumstance, situation and interaction we have with another.

Image found at mandala.world.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Roundabout

I woke up extra early today. I had to go renew my driver's license. Because these things tend to be lengthy and complicated, I headed out early in order to be in line before the doors opened at 8 am. I dropped my son off at school at 7 am and, by my calculations, should have arrived by 7:30 at the driver's license office. Yeah, right. I passed my exit and ended up on a toll road that led me far from where I needed to be. I took the next exit and turned back around, paying the toll again. I then took several wrong turns, all leading me in strange directions. I was in a bad mood and dumbfounded. I had no idea why this happened or what the point was. I'm usually very good with directions and have an excellent sense of orientation, but today, it failed me. At 8 am, I finally parked my car at the driver's license office.

The whole transaction at the driver's license office took less than five minutes. No lines, no hassles. All is well. Of course, I say all is well after I ranted and cursed. I had to take it a couple of notches down, connect to my breath, and remember the old cliché, everything happens for a reason. Even if I don't know or understand them. After all the roundabouts taken, I ended up where I needed to be.

I am back at my desk. I have taken care of several things already and am flowing. I should have known it was going to be this way for it is my prayer each morning, May I flow. I should have trusted. No matter how many roundabouts I take, I end up where I need to be.

Today is a good day to trust that things are working out in our favor, that we have done our part and that the rest will fall into place. Let's not rush, worry or interfere for those thoughts will delay us, either stopping us in our tracks or detouring us altogether. Let's enjoy the path and believe that we are going in the right direction.

Image found at amagicmomandhermandalas.blogspot.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

The wrap

I had my mind wrapped around an idea. I was set on it. I was bent on it. And it failed. It's alright.

I had my heart wrapped around an idea. I was set on it. I was bent on it. And it failed. It's alright.

I have my mind wrapped around another idea. I have my heart set on it. I'm hopeful for it. I feel good about it. It'll be what it'll be. And it's alright.

Letting go of my need to control the outcome of what my mind and my heart want has allowed me to be alright, to be at peace, to be temperate. I have learned and grown from disappointments and failed attempts. And I have found the gifts in those experiences. I haven't always felt this way. But I do today. And it's alright. I'm alright.

Today is a good day to sit in meditation and wrap our breath around our minds and hearts, around our thoughts and feelings, and let them be. Let's not wish it was different. Let's not struggle. Let's allow the lessons and guidance to come through. Let's wrap our entire being around silence. Let's wrap stillness around our entire being. Let's unfold stronger, better, wiser.

Image found at hermandadblanca.org.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

I give up

I don't feel like writing. I don't feel like doing yoga. I don't feel like meditating. I don't feel like working. I don't feel like reading. I don't feel like socializing. I don't feel like doing anything, except for laying in bed with the curtains drawn closed and the world on mute. I'm sulking. I'm angry. My body is slightly trembling in reaction. My heart has been beating out of my chest for hours. I want to forget everything and just lay in bed.

This is an honest feeling. It is what it is. But it is not productive, I know. It's not healthy, either. Sulking in the dark will only help my rumination, fuel my anger, increase my blood pressure, intensify my negative feelings, and regress me in so many ways. This is a childish reaction. I still don't want to do anything, for me or for anybody else, so I will.

In spite of myself, I will finish my coffee and get ready. I will do it with intention and head out the door. It is an intention of surrender, for I don't want to feel this way. I hate it. I don't want to be angry  and resentful. But I don't feel strong enough to change these feelings, so I surrender them. I know that I have to show up even if I don't want to. So I let it go. I call on what I've learned. This is how we grow. Once we have an awareness, once we know better, we're called to act differently.

Today is a good day to act better in spite of ourselves. When we perceive someone has done us wrong, let us forgive in the moment. When something doesn't work out as planned, let's take a breath and regroup. This allows guidance in. When we become scattered, let's take a few moments to focus on our breath and gather ourselves, recenter. When we lose track and become distracted, let's take a moment to refocus on what matters to us, on what's important. When everything becomes too much, let's surrender. Let's bend our will and give up so that we may be lifted up.

LIGHT mandala by Elspeth McLean found on pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Whisper

The drilling starts early in the morning. The remodeling is a few floors up, but, in this concrete building, the drilling and the hammering reverberate through the walls in an awful staccato. I can't concentrate. I can't talk on the phone. My thinking is disjointed. I feel disconnected. The sound is louder than any sound around me. It has been so every morning for the past few weeks. Yesterday he suggested that we play music. How could I hear the music with all this noise around me? It made no sense to me, but I did.  And it did make a difference. My ear tipped to the native flutes coming out of Spotify on the bluetooth speaker. It not only eased my mood, it helped me concentrate. It is such a metaphor for life.

What do we pay attention to? Is it the loudest sounds around us? What and who is screaming? What demands our attention so immediately and so loudly? Other peoples' problems, worries about the future, gossip, disinformation, rumors, mass confusion, negativity, pessimism, unsound controversy. Whatever we pay attention to grows before us. We move to the rhythm of what we listen to. We react in the same tone and vibration. The loudest sounds can be disorganized, seemingly urgent and in constant competition for our attention. This noise creates a commotion that distracts us, creates dissonance, disrupts harmony, and consumes our energy.

We can cultivate a richer, more peaceful and tranquil life. A few minutes each day focused on our breath will help us create that space within us where we can go to when the world gets too noisy. A few minutes each day in meditation will help us be more centered, balanced and able to listen to ourselves even in the midsts of chaos. The silence delivers clarity, direction, and strength to respond to life rather than react to the ruckus around us.

Today is a good day to listen to the whispers of our heart. Let's know that there will be noise, but that we can tip our ear to the silence within ourselves. Let's listen to our purpose, our plans, our dreams. This is the sound of our highest and best good, which leads us to where we can serve, grow, and resonate with our dreams. Let's listen to a higher vibration, the whispers of our soul.

Image found at creativityforthesoul.com

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Pain and sorrow

Somedays are so tough. Right from the start, we wake up in pain. Physical pain, emotional pain, psychic pain, collective pain, or heartache. And then we go. We go to work, to school, or to run errands carrying our pain with us. Many of us have no choice but to go with our pain.

Yesterday I went to a memorial event to remember the life of a young graduate student who passed away recently. Her parents were there, along with her professors, friends and fellow students. It was so painful to hear the tearful words from those who spoke, especially those words to and from her parents. All the while, pictures of her, full of life and joy, projected from above on to a screen, framing every word. Our hearts crushed when we heard the news of her passing. Our hearts were wrenching as we celebrated her life after her death. It was very difficult to witness her parents' sorrow. There was so much pain in the room. And then we went. Back to work, back to school, back to errands, carrying our pain with us. We had no choice.

Today is a good day to hold on to something that makes us smile, that brings us the smallest kindling of hope, to transcend our pain in small ways by using it to nurture empathy and understanding, to appreciate others, to be thankful for our blessings, grateful for the people and the gifts in our lives. May the pain serve us to overcome the little things, to rise above, to grow, to gain new perspectives, to love more, to love deeper.

Image found on pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Light steps

Twice, recently, the topic of stepping lightly has come up. The conversations were about stepping lightly into existing groups we are new to or when meeting new people. I gave it some thought.

It makes a difference how we enter into both situations–entering into existing groups or meeting new people. Do we enter big and bold to make an impression and make ourselves known? Or do we enter quietly and observant to know and understand who we are meeting and what they are about? It depends on our intention. There are instances in which coming in like a firecracker is best, like when revving up an audience at a sports game or cheering up a group of corporate employees at a company retreat. But there are many times we come into an existing culture or group or meet people individually in which knowing and understanding the other is best. How we come in affects what we interpret and the ensuing relationship.

When we come in forcefully, we bring with us an energy that can be perceived as aggressive, intrusive, and egotistical. It can put up a wall between us and them. Stepping lightly, however, allows us to perceive the other with clarity, to start to know what the other is going through. It also let's us break forces of habit in thought and action, in how we react automatically. It can break down prejudice and intolerance. Stepping lightly also allows us to become aware of patterns in our relationships by letting us think and feel before we react or make decisions. It is that pause that creates space for empathy and compassion.

Today is a good day to take light steps wherever we go. Let's feel the ground we are walking on and the energy in the room we step into. We will then know how to relate to others in that space or to that situation. Let's create a different experience. It's not about me and it's not about them, it's about the us we make up together and how much better it can be if we just step lightly.

Image found at beforeitsnews.com. 

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Desperate times are calling

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We don't have to answer with desperate measures, though. Not at all.

Responding with desperate measures to desperate times has brought us to this precise moment in which the world, politically, socially and economically, seems so chaotic and frenzied. On a more personal level, responding with desperate measures brings us desperate results.

Desperate measures are emotional responses, attacks and counterattacks, overreactions, retribution, exaggerated plans, unsound schemes, and acting from hopelessness and hysterics. We lose our personal and collective power when we react desperately. What desperate times call for are not desperate measures, but stillness, love, centering, connection, spiritual alignment, prayer, meditation, clarity and a remembrance of our Inner-being, our Higher Selves. What we want can get lost in the confusion and emotionalism. We need to go within in order to come out with our full power.

We need to act when times become desperate, but we don't need to act in desperation. We need right action and that will only come after discernment. We need to build inspired movement. We need to call on our inspiration that we may use our power in energized, motivated and clearheaded ways.

Energy that we spend desperately leaves us drained and angry. Today is a good day to walk away from the grapevine, the fear discourses, the gossip, the hysteria, and mainstream media. Let's take ourselves out for a walk in fresh air, or let's go to a place in which we can be quiet and still. Let's clear our heads. Let's ask our questions and be willing to listen. Answers will come when they will. When they do, we will know what to do and when to do it. We will respond from a place of hope rather than a place of desperation.

Image found at pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Heads or Tails

In a coin toss, we look for a side, heads or tails, to tell us what choice to make, who wins a tie, how to proceed in a situation, a starting point, or how to process the pros and cons of an option. Whatever the result of the coin toss, our action is directed by the side of the coin that comes up. It is either one or the other. We may have a whole coin in our hand, but we can only act according to one side. Two sides, two choices, one action.

We may hold two distinct feelings in our heart at one time, two different possible ways to infuse what we do, yet we can only act out of one of them. We can hold fear and we can hold love in our heart at the same time, but we will only act out of one of them. With awareness of our tendencies to act out of one or the other, we can make better sudden choices. The side of fear points to jealousy, anger, anxiety, worry, suspicion, doubt, resentment, hopelessness, hatred, hostility, deception, trickery and animosity. The side of love points to hope, trust, confidence, friendship, joy, peace, honesty, forgiveness, openness, faith, composure, serenity, abundance, optimism, and goodwill. Two sides, two choices, one action. Will it be fear or will it be love? The outcome will depend on what we choose.

Today is a good day to look into our hearts and be aware of what we are feeling. Let us be in touch with our emotions and know that what we choose to act out of will determine our experience. When making decisions–big or small, considered or immediate–choosing to act out of love will have a decidedly different impact than acting out of fear. Our choice is not between heads or tails, for we are not leaving it up to chance. Our choice, and our consequence, is between fear and love. Which will it be?

Image found at coinworld.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Oh, the pressure!

She needs a pressure cooker, but she won't get one. She says she is afraid of it. She understands how it works and how to use it. But the idea of the pressure cooker still scares her.

It's not the pressure, though, that scares us. It's the whistling, the warning, the signal of something impending, the expectation, the constant realization of pressure that makes us uneasy, tense, anxious and worried. Some of us can manage the pressure just fine. Some of us can't. What we can't manage is the stress that we create with the underlying thoughts. There's so much to do. I won't be able to do it all. I'm about to blow. I'm going to miss my deadline. I have so much pressure. I feel so stressed. This is too much! I don't have time. If one thing goes wrong, everything else goes to hell in a hand-basket. We moan in pain.

Sometimes we have to create, cook, produce, and work under pressure, but we can do it with a new awareness. Today is a good day to let go of the tone of distress, the alarm, and the sense of urgency. We can do this for our well-being and the wellness of what we want to accomplish. It is a good day to focus on what we want to do, and how we do it. We can offer ourselves a different attitude, body posture, gestures, and mannerisms. We can adopt a new rhythm. This will not change what we have to do, but it will change us and the way we feel. This will also help us to think more clearly and be more creative ultimately helping us to change our circumstances for the better.

Image found at giphy.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.

Happy 2017!

If there's one thing that can make this year extraordinary for me, is to let it be, whatever it is. This is a mindset of no resistance.

Letting it be, whatever it is, transforms me. This mental state releases me from struggle, allowing me to focus, let go of negative thoughts, do more fully, be more present, argue less–internally and with others, conserve energy, release the bodily tension that goes with anger and judgment, and change circumstances for the better. It changes my focus from what is wrong to what can be right. To stand against what is creates pain, suffering, anguish, frustration, impotence, dysfunction, and unhappiness.

Today is a good day to begin to let it be, whatever it is. When we meet a situation or a person we don't like, in that moment, let's let it be. Let's not form an opinion, judge, or interpret. I don't mean for us to resign to circumstances that we don't like or that are not good for us. There is no victim mentality in this attitude. On the contrary, this is a stance of strength and centeredness in which we are not bogged down by drama or negativity. If we want to create change of any sort, we begin by allowing. We offer no resistance and no denial. In doing so, we open ourselves up to clarity, awareness, intuition, spiritual guidance, insight, inspiration, synchronicity, and alignment with our Higher Self in order to know, respond confidently, act assertively, make things happen, achieve our goals, say no to people that drain us and situations that don't serve us, learn, and grow. Grace comes when we allow it, when we don't fight.

Remarkably, change and transformation happen when we let it be. If we want change in 2017, first we must acknowledge, accept and allow whatever it is. We will then receive understanding and know what to do, and when and how to do it. It is what it is. Here's to an amazing year and an amazing life!

Image found at pinterest.com.

© Millicent Maldonado and www.soulcerer.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.