The Three Hill Walk

June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I did a "three hill walk" tonight at sundown.  I live in a neighborhood that’s unusual for these parts – it has hills.  There are three streets that go up that hill, and I walked all three of them tonight. Fast. I got up a bit of a sweat. Despite the glow I achieved, it was an Everyday Mystic walk. Even though I’ve walked that route countless times, tonight I walked those hills like I’ve never walked them before – with beginner’s mind and new eyes.

This afternoon, a summer thunderstorm blew in, dumped lots of rain but blew out the humidity and dropped the temperature significantly. Tonight was a magic night – unusually cool for June, but warm enough to envelope a sundown walker in a wrap of summer evening-ness.  As I walked, my senses were alert.  I noticed that I couldn’t hear any traffic noise – which can’t be said for the mornings, when I usually walk those hills.  What I heard were two airplanes flying overhead, one dog barking and the constant sound of my feet walking – per-thum, per-thum, in 2/4 time, accented by an occasional skreek when my shoe scraped the pavement. And then – oh my! – there were the cicadas in the trees, with their rhythmic drone.  I noticed the music of one band of cicadas fade out as I walked away from their trees; then I would hear another band grow louder as I walked toward them.  It reminded me of going to a parade and hearing five bands march by, spaced out over the length of the parade.  Every now and then I heard a tree frog’s quiet squeak-squeak.  I stopped to put my hand in a stream of water coming from an irrigation sprinkler. I was surprised at how warm the water felt.  I nearly swooned as my nose caught an intoxicating waft of perfume from a nearby honeysuckle bush.

Exercise is a great way to get in touch with our bodies and our connection to something greater than ourselves, if we pay attention to the moment. I enjoy going to the gym to get my exercise, but sometimes it feels like a microwave experience – quick, efficient but devoid of true flavor or aroma.  That’s why I enjoy walking so much. If I remember to 1) go alone and 2) be aware as I walk, I can be present to the sites and sounds around me and to the wonder of my body as it propels me through space.

I recommend an Everyday Mystic walk to you, especially after a busy or stressful day. Open your senses – see, hear, feel and touch what is around you. Feel the stress drain from your body. Appreciate your feet as they carry you on your journey. Be in the moment. Be grateful. Feel alive.


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Posted by admin | Filed Under Mind/Body Connection, Stress Management, blog 

Give Negative Energy the Brush-off!

May 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Have you ever been with a person whose negative attitude, perspective or energy seems to suck the very life out of your body?  Or, have you ever become aware of your own negative reaction to a person or situation and noticed how it seems to settle in your body? If you are aware enough to notice these situations, congratulate yourself because awareness is the first step in spiritual maturity.  What I’d like to share today is a technique to literally brush off negative energy and clear the way for your heart to embrace more loving thoughts and feelings.

When we are exposed to negative thoughts or emotions – whether they originate from others or ourselves – our heart space is most affected. It is our heart, more than our brain, that detects and radiates energy.  Researchers have shown that the heart’s energy radiates further from the body than the energy generated from the brain. The heart space is also an antenna for picking up energy that comes at us from others.  Therefore, we need to clear the heart space when we feel that we’ve been emotionally or energetically attacked or when we react negatively to outside stimulus.

The body is the best indicator of our emotions and reactions – the body will hold negative energy and feelings. If I sense a tightness in my stomach muscles, I know that I am either tense or feeling attacked. You may feel tension in your shoulders, your head or some other part of your body. Whenever you feel tension, it is a good practice to examine what is causing it and try to eliminate it. If it is negative energy or thoughts that you are holding (which it often is), give the following technique a try.

The Brush-off

It’s easy: With your hand held palm open, you simply brush your heart space with a downward and outward sweeping motion. Start by touching your heart, and then start the sweep. Do this several times and visualize feelings and vibrations being swept away from your body, your heart and your consciousness. You could hold the image of a broom sweeping out your heart as you do the motion. Flick your fingers a few times at the end of the sweep to clear the energy off your hands.

For extra credit, you can then do an aura self-sweep. Hold your hand about 6 inches above your heart space, palm open and facing your body. Slowly draw your hand up and down the front of your torso and head, hovering about 6 inches above your body. See if you can feel any differences in energy in any part of your torso.  If you do sense some difference, pause at that spot and perform the sweeping motion described above, but without touching your body. Flick your fingers and shake your hands out to completely disburse the vibrations.

When done, be sure to take several deep breaths to re-energize. Don’t forget to congratulate yourself for being aware and taking action to protect yourself!

You can do this exercise discretely at work or any other place.  At work, you can go to the restroom for maximum privacy, or simply turn your body toward a wall in your cubicle so you can discretely do the sweeping motion. I am writing this post in an airport, where I just performed the brush-off in the ladies’ room. Hmm, I feel so much better.

Do the brush-off and feel better!


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Posted by krisrob02 | Filed Under Loving Yourself, Mind/Body Connection, Newest Posts 

The Body does not Lie – The Mind/Body Connection

March 31, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Our bodies tell us a lot if we only listen to them. An Everyday Mystic listens to his/her body, respecting it as the temple of the soul during this earth-bound life, attending to the lessons it provides.  When the body gets sick or experiences any type of disease, we need to listen to what message it might be sending us.

Louise L. Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, was a pioneer in showing the connection between emotional or thought patterns and disease.  Recent scientific research likewise shows that emotional issues such as repressed anger can lead to heart disease and other serious illnesses.

We easily recognize that when we are embarrassed, our cheeks get red.  When we are nervous, our palms sweat.  When we are very sad, we cry. Likewise, long-term, repeated emotional or thought patterns can affect our physical body. That’s why Louise Hay has a dictionary of physical illnesses, their causes and affirmations to counter-act them.

What is the message in the illnesses we have?  Last week, I caught a cold. What a funny phrase – to "catch" a cold, like I was on the hunt for it. Maybe I was!  I started getting a scratchy throat as I was finishing a report for a short consulting gig that I accepted because I needed the cash flow.  I had "resigned" from doing that type of work late last fall, but reneged on my resolve last month when I assessed my lack of income.  I needn’t be too worried, because I saved a generous amount of money to get me through this transition period. As I write this, I realize that it was ego that motivated me to accept the consulting gig.  Ego was telling me to worry about income, to not draw on my savings even though they were set aside for just this situation. I have a lot of ego wrapped around the success of my business and the amount of income I create. I recognize now that my ego needs to step aside.

I got sick last week. Just a cold with a runny nose and one night of fever. A message from my body to my higher self that I’m not making good choices.  A warning that I must listen to my body as it tells me what to do. As if to remind me of the importance of this message, I am now experiencing a cough and nasal congestion – post-cold annoyances for certain, but reminders non the less that I need to pay attention.

Ignoring the wisdom of the body is perilous.  Sometimes we get sick just because we need the down time, the time to stay at home and rest.  Sometimes it is more than that – sometimes it is a wake-up call that we dare not sleep through. I am told that our spirit guides often use our body as a means to communicate with us, which underscores the importance of paying attention to the body’s message.

Eleven years ago I got a bad case of shingles. Usually a disease of the elderly (I was in my early 40’s at the time), shingles is a stress-related illness in which the chicken pox virus, which lies latent in our spinal chords since childhood, resurfaces to work great mischief. In my case, it was the symptom of an exhausted body and stressed out lifestyle. The ultimate outcome of that illness was I resigned from my corporate job and sought a different lifestyle.  That was when I started my consulting and training business, KR Consulting.  I am certain that if I hadn’t re-structured my life to allow more time for my family, rest for my body and attention to my spiritual life, shingles would have been only the start of a long road of disease that would not have had a pretty ending.

So as I write this, I commit again to following my conviction that I am on a new path and that I needn’t accept work that no longer fulfills me.  I know that my body – and my spirit guides – will thank me for listening to its wisdom by staying healthy.

How can you listen to your body?  What spiritual wisdom does it send you?  Please don’t ignore the messages your physical health sends you.  Remember, the body does not lie.

Blessings to you on this journey.


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Posted by krisrob02 | Filed Under Mind/Body Connection, Newest Posts, The Journey