In preparation for the Academy Awards this weekend, I wrote this affirmation-

Most of us could be nominated for an Academy Award for playing the part of whoever we are pretending to be to gain the approval of our peers. Imagine if you could be completely at ease with who you are and let others be who they are. Stand at the dais and collect the life time achievement award for playing the best version of YOU.

Say to yourself: I am at ease in my own skin, at peace with myself.

I also wrote two articles

1. Not taking things personally- read more here

2. Learn to love yourself- read more here

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Have a great week. Remember to be kind to yourself.

Thriving in Spirit

I continued the theme of body, mind and spirit this week with an emphasis on spirit. I wrote three pieces, as listed below. If you prefer to receive this content by email, click here and you can choose to receive it either daily (as the article are written) or weekly (in one longer email). You can also receive audio and video of the weekly content. Click here for audio or here for video.

1. What is spirit? What does it mean to thrive in spirit as well as body and mind? Click here for more.


2. Spirit is not external. It is an inner sense of wellbeing. YOU have access to it ANY time. Click here for more.


3. Mind and body have intuitive, extraordinary, wisdom. Click here for more. 


I leave you with this thought from Aldous Huxley,

The spiritual journey does not consist in arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one's own ignorance concerning one's self and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. The finding of God is a coming to one's self.

This week I wrote about bodies, as part of a larger intention of thriving in body, mind and spirit in 2012. There are three articles to  look over;

1. Bodies Matter- Appreciate your beauty inside and out. See YOU for who YOU are. Click here for the article.

2. Caring for your body is a way of caring for others. Your body matters. Click here for the article.

3. Wellness is not about being perfect. It is about being perfectly YOU. ALL of you. Click here for the article.

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Have an awesome week. I leave you with this quote from Geneen Roth, author of Women, Food and God.
 

It’s never been true, not anywhere at any time, that the value of a soul, of a human spirit, is dependent on a number on a scale. We are unrepeatable beings of light and space and water who need these physical vehicles to get around. When we start defining ourselves by that which can be measured or weighed, something deep within us rebels. We don’t want to EAT hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to BE hot fudge sundaes. We want to come home to ourselves

Happy New Year. May it be your best ever. I started out 2012 with a series of articles called "Coming Out Head First in 2012". More about those articles below.

First, I want to bring you up to speed with some exciting new developments. I am now offering the ability to subscribe to my weekly content in a way that suits you. I generally write four separate articles per week on a theme. You can opt to receive them by email as four articles over four days, or you can subscribe to receive one longer article once a week.  You can also opt to receive the content by text, audio, video or all three.

I'm offering this content for free but encourage you to make a tax deductible donation (either one time or recurring) to support my work. There are costs associated with the administration of this subscription system, and your donations will help to cover some of these costs. Please visit the Resources page to subscribe to my content in a way that suits your needs. I will continue to post a summary of my weekly articles on this blog.

As for Coming Out Head First, the New Year is a great time to get your head straight about your intentions, claim the power of your mind, recommit to possibility thinking and transform your memories. Please follow any link below that interests you.

1. Diving Into 2012- click here to read more.
2. Claim the power of your mind- click here to read more.
3. Recommit to possibility thinking- click here to read more.
4. Transform your memories- click here to read more.


May your mind transcend limitations.


May your consciousness expand in every direction.


May you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be. Patanjali

Thriving in the Holidays

This is my last post for 2011. Thanks to all who have stayed in touch with my blog. I trust that you received what you needed from it. After a short break over the Holidays I will write again. My first opportunity in 2012 is a teleclass on change that I am leading in conjunction with Brian Johnson's En Theos Academy for Optimal Living. All are welcome to join the class, which is using some cutting edge technology to create a truly interactive experience. Read more about the course here.

Most likely your attention is now focused on the Holidays, time with family and your own journey through Christmas. My writing this week has focused on these things. Take what is meaningful from the following-

1. An inclusive spiritual perspective on Christmas, read more here.

2. Four Agreements to help prepare for an awesome Holiday season. Read more here

3. Inspired by the Christmas story. But which story? Four Christmases, read more here. 

Above you are the stars. Beneath you is the earth. Within you is the light of life. Like the stars may your vision be clear. Like the earth, may your life be grounded. Like the light within, may your spirit shine.

Much love and gratitude, Ian.

Inner Clarity, Outer Vision

Helen Keller said, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

Last week I wrote about doubt. This week I wrote about clarity of vision. There are six articles. Feel free to explore any or all of them at your leisure.

1. Vision grows out of what you see inside yourself (click here for part one in the series).

2. Vision involves squinting at your own sacred essence ( click here for part two in the series).

3. Vision stretches you to see what lies ahead (click here for part three in the series).

4. Di-vision gets in the way of da-vision. Beware of double vision (hypocricy) and focus on authenticity more than size (click here for part four in the series)

5. Vision boarding is a practical way to clarify your vision (click here to read about vision boarding),

6. This visualization on your life five years back and five years forward will help give you perspective on your growth.

Remember that, in the words of Dan Zadra, "Your resources are always far greater than you imagine them to be." Wake up to all that you can be. Shine some light on a vision that may have been buried under a pile of fears for too long. Set out on a path that may feel hard, but you know it’s right. It’s time to emerge from your own dark age and shine your light.

Gratitude and Doubt

This week began with Thanksgiving and ended in Great Doubt. Its been said that successful people have doubts. They just don’t let doubt stop them. So my message this week is to doubt, and doubt boldly but don't let it paralyze you. Let your awareness grow beyond a shadow of doubt and take you from strength to strength. I wrote four pieces. Please peruse at your leisure.


1. Gratitude in ALL Circumstances, both the ups and downs, the doubts and clarity. This article is about gratitude and growth, through ALL that was, all this is, and all that is to come. Read more.
2. Doubt is often seen as a weakness. Reframe doubt as powerful and beneficial. Give yourself the benefit of doubt. This article describes the benefit of doubt both personally and socially. Read more.
3. In the third article, I spoke personally about working through Great Doubt at a Zen retreat in 2005, and outlines the five stages of enlightenment from Tozan. Read more.
4. The fourth article is on a different topic, the ongoing question of how to change well. This piece is about eliminating things that aren’t serving you and adding more of the things that make you feel alive and inspired. Read more.

Namaste!