[This post was inspired by a recent dream.]

In my dream, I was traveling with two women somewhere out in nature, we could have been in Yellowstone National Park. We paused at one of the turn-outs to take in the beauty and get some fresh air. I looked over the concrete barrier down towards a tranquil stream. I noticed a gigantic (I don’t just mean huge, I mean, larger than your face) butterfly beating its wings frantically, but going nowhere.

I mentioned this to my two friends – “Look, there’s a butterfly trapped down there! Somehow the tip of its wing is stuck under one of the rocks. We need to save it!” I briefly discussed with the friend to my right how it’s even possible for a butterfly to get a rock stuck on its wing. We came to the conclusion that the swift moving water, and the series of rapids was probably enough momentum to dislodge a rock, and the butterfly just happened to be flying low enough in the exact moment the rock stopped moving to get trapped.

I turned to ask the friend on my left what she thought, and saw that she had climbed over the concrete barrier, and was bouncing down the embankment to the stream. I watched her jump across boulders to rescue this large and precious butterfly. She carefully picked up the rock and the butterfly graciously and gratefully flew away.

But what does it mean?
When I woke up after this dream, I was overcome with emotion. Oftentimes I associate myself with the symbolism of a butterfly, and I felt grateful that at times when I feel low, I have friends who are willing to rescue me. Sometimes removing a rock or a burden can happen in an instant – a positive conversation or a heartfelt hug. For me, personally, lately the ‘rescuing of the butterfly’ has come in the form of validation, acceptance, support, and encouragement from those who have often seen more in me than I was currently seeing in myself.

The symbolism of the dream seemed pretty obvious – hey, we should be grateful to our friends who are willing to help ease our burdens, who remind us that we ought to be free to fly… who can see us in our time of need, and rescue us – even if it’s just reminding us that if we keep beating our wings against the rock, we could cause serious injury. (Believe me, I could go on and on with different interpretations of the meaning behind this dream… but I won’t because if you are reading this, you are capable of doing that yourself.)

But what does it REALLY mean?
Now, you might think that’s a sweet little story, kinda cute, and maybe even a little bit cliche – but it doesn’t end there. A few days later, I was thinking about this dream, and I wondered why I didn’t go rescue the butterfly. In the dream, I was always sitting… sitting in between these two friends. And guess what – I was paralyzed from the waist down. I couldn’t move. I could not have gotten up, crawled over the barrier, down the embankment, etc. because I WAS THE TRAPPED BUTTERFLY.

The dream took on a new level of meaning for me. I couldn’t have saved that butterfly! In fact, the true significance of the message was to recognize that the butterfly (me) needed saving! But, from what? I stopped to ponder why I felt trapped, what was weighing so heavy on me?

And this is where things got really interesting for me.

I was feeling weighed down by my attachment to the outcome of certain situations. I felt heavy and burdened because I was buying into the idea that I needed to do it all, be everything to everyone, be the leader, and the drill sergeant, and the hall monitor. I was willingly dragging other people’s burdens behind me like a bag of rocks and I hadn’t been able to see what it was doing to my Spirit.

Was I really trapped? Did I really need anyone else to SAVE me? Nope. Not at all. Through my dream I was revealing a truth to myself – that I needed to release myself from my own attachments to just about everything… everything that is not in my control to influence, persuade, convince, affect, change… And as I applied this new insight to my life, I instantly felt lighter – free to fly.

What weighs YOU down?
And now I ask you – what weighs you down? What keeps you feeling trapped, stuck, heavy? In what ways do you perceive you need to be rescued, when what you might need is simply a paradigm shift?

by Janet Louise Stephenson

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Transparency = The condition of being transparent (easy to see through, understand, or recognize; obvious, candid, open, or frank)

Interestingly enough, this word has come up for me several times recently. It’s not normally a word or a concept that I spend much time pondering… and yet, the idea of transparency as a personal trait/characteristic has been on my mind quite a bit lately.

Why am I pondering Transparency?
Last night, a dear friend asked me to share my opinion regarding a personal matter, and when I tapped in to the energy of her situation, I literally kept seeing the phrase ‘lack of transparency’ scrolling across the marquee screen of my third eye. (I wish ALL my intuitive messages were so clearly delivered!)

I have to be honest, some of this recognition and comprehension is new for me – I have no prior fixation on the concept of transparency. I can only admit that in the past few weeks, I’ve been challenging myself to embrace being in the ‘flow’, allowing information to come to me and through me without being attached to where it comes from, or who is giving it to me, or even what I’m supposed to be doing with it.

Just today, I had multiple opportunities to ‘tap in’ to a higher knowing, and just let the response flow out of me without an attachment to the composition, or to the information, or to the outcome. I simply (I describe it simply because it’s really about my intention to just merge and feel than it is about any specific technique) check in to the energy of it, and then calm my mind to articulate what I feel/see/experience.

So, when I tapped into my friend’s situation, I received information via a scrolling marquee with words, a physical response that felt like my heart chakra would beat right out of my chest in the midst of a flurry of scattered emotions, and a surging of emotion that brought me to tears.

This really only makes sense to me in two scenarios: 1) I’m empathically feeling the emotion involved in the situation and/or 2) It’s a trigger for me. Oh, and perhaps 3) A combination of the two.

Let’s discuss these scenarios. First off, yes, it’s true, I’m an Empath… which hasn’t historically been very easy for me. I was either super antsy all the time because I could feel everything, or I was numb so I wasn’t feeling anything. Finding a balance in the middle, where I am more sure of what emotions actually belong to me, has been quite a journey. I’m doing much better now than I ever have, and am learning to interpret the information that is inherent when I feel what others feel.

Because I could feel the emotion encompassing this particular situation, I recognized a lack of transparency from both parties involved. I also picked up on the associated drama due to everything that still remains hidden and unknown. And I will admit, it actually hurt my feelings for a few moments. That is, until I realized that this wasn’t actually MY deal, not my situation, not my emotion.

In an attempt to ‘let go’ of the intense activity rolling around in my heart chakra, I paused to get grounded and centered. I also came to understand that my own crap was triggered when I tapped into this situation. And what do you do when issues that you thought you had cleared come bubbling up again, this time from a deeper place? Well, I’ll tell you what I do. I hop in the shower and bawl my eyes out as a method of releasing the emotion. It doesn’t have to make sense, it just feels like the right thing for me to do. I envision the emotion being washed out of my body and right down the drain.

I also did some Ho’oponopono work, as forgiveness is such a key step in ‘letting go’.

Once I had released this emotion, I was able to think more clearly about why I was having such a strong reaction. Logically, it makes no sense for me to feel so intensely about a situation in which I have no attachment to the outcome. Yet, there I sat, triggered to the point of bawling in the shower.

I realized that my personal upset with the situation was coincidentally the ‘lack of transparency’ and I began to contemplate how often, we, as humans, prefer to hide, rather than reveal the true nature of our selves.

Why do we Hide?
We rarely reveal the intimate parts of ourselves to another soul, and why not? Are we afraid of their judgment? Doesn’t this really indicate we are judging our selves before anyone else even has the chance? It is easy to hide, to preserve our vulnerability, to avoid perceived judgment and criticism. Why do we hide the curiosities that wander through our brains? Why should anyone else be sitting in a position to judge us for the questions we have about life? Why don’t we feel free and brave enough to express our innermost feelings, fears, and desires?

Too often we are caught up in self-doubt, loathing, insecurity, and worried about ‘what the others will think’. We fear that if we share too much, and it’s too far out of the mainstream normal, then we’ll be labeled as ‘crazy’, ‘mad’, ‘psychotic’, ‘mental’, ‘depressed’, etc. We are taught from childhood that if we have any struggles, we ought to take them to a higher power who can convene on our behalf, or maybe we’ll just get diagnosed with some condition so we can be medicated. This isn’t transparency – this is masking who we really are…

When we start hiding the truth of what we think, how we feel, what we struggle with, our weaknesses, insecurities, shortcomings, imperfections, and put on a facade, what we are really doing is creating more hiding places. When we hide, we must create a shield, or a wall to hide behind, and with every wall, essentially, another hiding place is created. Once you start hiding, it gets easier and easier to hide from others, and what is even more damaging – it gets easier to hide from yourself!

I’m done hiding!
I acknowledged how I really felt by crawling in the shower to cry it out. It no longer makes sense to me to pretend that something doesn’t bother me, to swallow it or stuff it back down. Experience has proven that when we do this, whatever the original issue was will come back with a vengeance, and possibly reveal itself as a health issue to draw our attention to the fact that we never released that emotion. When we stuff our emotions, they have to go somewhere to hide – and then we can blissfully pretend like we aren’t aware they are hiding in there. Again, we are really hiding from our Selves.

Being transparent means that we don’t hide these traumas anymore. We boldly face them, acknowledge them, process, and then let it all go.

Transparency is a component of authenticity – where a commitment to integrity compels you to reveal your most protected aspects of your Self because you choose to be seen for exactly who you are. This takes courage!

I’m recognizing how the ‘lack of transparency’ in my own life has caused me some unnecessary hiccups along the way. Sigh. At least I’m learning now, so that I can make mid-game adjustments. Fortunately, my greatest treasure in life has been the discovery that I can be seen and unconditionally loved for who I really am.

All of this pondering has got me thinking about how to apply these new insights (and slight variations on an old theme) to my own circumstances. I am committing to making Transparency a priority in my own life – to be as crystal clear as I dare to be on a daily basis. I can’t promise I will be 100% capable of putting it all out there, and I don’t actually expect perfection from myself. . . just the awareness and a concerted effort is enough for me, as I’m building up my courage.

What about You?
Imagine how your life would transform if you began to value Transparency on a daily basis. Every relationship would shift, as would the persona you reveal to the public. And most importantly, I’m guessing, your own relationship with your Self would change. I’ll be observing the shifts that occur in my life, and I’ll come back and report.

by Janet Louise Stephenson

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As is the human body, so is the cosmic body
As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind.
As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm.
As is the atom, so is the universe.
– The Upanishads.

It’s been said that what you focus your attention on expands, deepens, and amplifies. That has certainly been true of my experience of the body when I was introduced to a different viewpoint of what it was through my years as a practitioner of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

Let’s look at the skeleton. The bones of our body give us structural support and allow us to move. As a child and young adult I was dimly aware of this if I thought about it at all. The long bones of the body were like pieces of rebar to me, no more alive than a rock. In physical anthropology we studied bones more in depth. Age, sex, ancestry and other characteristics of a person are all “written” in the bones and can be decoded by the anthropologist. Bones were alive, constantly reshaping themselves to external forces. A runner’s shin bone may look elliptical in cross-section, whereas the shin bone of a walker may be more cylindrical. Bones are piezo- electric. An electrical current passes through the bone when stress is placed on it, signaling the body to fortify areas of stress. If bone is so responsive and malleable, how much more so is soft tissue? As an intern I was amazed at how much “empty space” I encountered while needling patients where needles could pass right through.

Acupuncturists deal with the body’s electrical system on a daily basis. Nerves signal electrically. While the experience of pain and suffering is subjective and difficult to gauge, the pain signal can be measured in millivolts. Acupuncture meridians have an electrical component and a commonly used handheld locator/stimulator measures the electrical resistance of the skin. Acupuncture points are thought to have lower electrical resistance with “active” points (points in need of treatment) having less resistance still. Acupuncture points with the lowest resistance are often treated electrically, especially on the ear. Electro-acupuncture on the body has long been used to override pain sensations and promote healing. Points are sometimes treated with light (laser and LED) and sound (tuning forks). The ability to treat humans with light and sound as well as electricity implies that we are beings of frequency.

Ancient Chinese saw the body as a microcosm of nature and the universe. This is similar to the western hermetic concept of “As Above, So Below” and arguably the biblical “On Earth as it is in Heaven”. Acupuncture meridians connect every part of the body to every other part, not just on the surface as shown on acupuncture charts but internally as well, much like waterways traverse the planet. Specific areas on the limbs are classified well, spring, stream or river points. Organ functions were understood metaphorically to be an interaction of five elements: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal. Climactic factors such as heat, or wind were known to have a direct impact on health and also had internal counterparts. For example a patient’s experience of arthritis might be seen as a pattern of wind, cold and dampness.

Not only is the body seen as the universe in miniature but different body parts are used as an image of the body in miniature. “Microsystems” are where ancient philosophy and quantum physics meet. In reflexology, the foot is often used to represent and treat the whole body. Acupuncturists are often taught an ear micro-system where the ear is imaged as an upside down human form in fetal position with the center of the lobe area corresponding to the eye. Theoretically any body part may be used as a micro-system but some systems are more intuitive than others and/or more clinically effective. The body seems to exhibit holographic and fractal properties and acupuncture points often demonstrate powerful non-local effects.

Do you have a health problem? Don’t get too attached, as it might not be yours. It may be changed through the application of something as immaterial as light, sound, electricity or magnetism. Moreover YOU might not be there at all. If our body exhibits holographic properties, what does that tell us about the macrocosm and our influence on it? Being the change we wish to see in the world may be more profound than being an elevated drop in a collective ocean or even the ripple effect. The whole universe is within you.

by Joe Siuda

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From all appearances, this woman seems to have psychological issues. But could there be something else going on here? See Video.

Courtesy MSNBC.com

Many times when I see a piece of human drama, I wonder what the bigger picture looks like.

For instance, with regard to this video, it would be simple to say that one lady seems to have lost her mind and the other side in this drama is doing what they need to do, protect themselves and their property. Beyond that however, doesn’t it seem odd that a woman with a nice home and a good job who is seemingly normal in other ways, would act this way at all, much less for such an extended time?

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If you’re like most women and maybe even many men, you cringed or scoffed — or both — when you read the title of this post. After all, cellulite is supposed to be unattractive. The cosmetic companies certainly want you to believe that, so they can sell you creams to combat it. And you know the fitness industry makes a bundle off promoting the image that it’s undesirable. Even your besties might tell you it’s gross. Almost everyone thinks it is. But have you ever really thought about where that belief came from?

If this is the first time you’re considering this, your immediate reaction might be that you’ve always known that cellulite was undesirable. But how did you know it? Were you born with the certain knowledge that dimpled fat was not only ugly but somehow wrong? Or did that information come from your mother, grandmother, sister, father, brother, friends, billboards, the Internet, radio or TV? Chances are very good that it was from a combination of any or all of these, and probably other sources as well.

It might interest you to know that people didn’t always view fat this way. Hundreds of years ago, it was actually a sign of wealth to be heavy. In a world where food was scarce for many, you had to have a good amount of money to be what we now consider overweight. Because of this, being skinny was a sign that you were poor, and having ample weight was definitely a sign of your social status. So how did we get to the belief that women being thin is pretty (a rather frivolous view, since world hunger is rampant) and that cellulite is ugly? Especially considering that you don’t just get cellulite from being overweight: hormones, genetics, standing for long periods of time or even too-tight underwear that blocks blood flow to the legs can cause it. (And let’s be clear here: I’m not advocating obesity or being unhealthful. But even that’s subject to perception. I’m reminded of a documentary I saw once about a dance troupe of women who were all in the 250-to-450-pound range. They danced five nights a week and watched what they ate, yet none of them lost any significant weight over the months they spent practicing for their recital. So clearly not everyone is fat because of poor diet and lack of exercise.)

The point I’m making is that we often take on other people’s perceptions, whether they’re about cellulite or virtually anything else you can think of. When you really think about it, how many of your beliefs and perceptions came from conclusions you arrived at on your own? There’s certainly nothing wrong with getting input from others; that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m just suggesting that if you absorbed your beliefs about cellulite without questioning them, what else might you have taken on without giving it much thought?

By: Stephanie Stacies

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